WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.279 Jim Carrey had a quote. He said, like, I wish 00:00:02.279 --> 00:00:04.219 everyone in the world had all the fame and money 00:00:04.219 --> 00:00:06.940 and accolades and understand that at the end 00:00:06.940 --> 00:00:08.679 of the day, it won't make them happy. And man, 00:00:08.759 --> 00:00:11.339 that is so correct. It's an okay thing to pursue 00:00:11.339 --> 00:00:13.679 if that is honestly what you want to pursue. 00:00:14.060 --> 00:00:16.239 If you want to pursue it because you think it's 00:00:16.239 --> 00:00:18.579 going to lead you to some happiness at the end 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:24.320 of the day, you're incorrect. We have a great 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:27.179 guest today, Garrett Powell. America's sweetheart, 00:00:27.519 --> 00:00:30.839 a candidate on Bachelorette. Can't wait to hear 00:00:30.839 --> 00:00:35.659 his story of his rise and fall from grace and 00:00:35.659 --> 00:00:38.460 his personal struggles. Thank you, Garrett. Thanks 00:00:38.460 --> 00:00:40.340 for joining us. So happy to have you on the show. 00:00:41.020 --> 00:00:43.100 Yeah, man. Thank you for having me. You know, 00:00:43.140 --> 00:00:44.759 I don't know if you're aware. The reason for 00:00:44.759 --> 00:00:47.380 the show is because my wife and I have also experienced 00:00:47.380 --> 00:00:50.100 our own personal challenges with cancel culture. 00:00:52.320 --> 00:00:54.200 Learning more about yourself and your own journey 00:00:54.200 --> 00:00:57.299 resonates deeply with me because there's a lot 00:00:57.299 --> 00:01:01.159 of self -questioning and wondering, you know, 00:01:01.200 --> 00:01:04.719 did I do the wrong thing? Did I say the wrong 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:07.640 thing? And it's a process to work through that. 00:01:07.760 --> 00:01:10.599 So I'm really happy to have you on the show because 00:01:10.599 --> 00:01:12.359 I really want to hear how you were able to deal 00:01:12.359 --> 00:01:14.299 with all that and how you emerged from all this 00:01:14.299 --> 00:01:16.859 intact. Why don't you take us from the beginning? 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:19.780 How did you even get on this show in the first 00:01:19.780 --> 00:01:21.420 place? What were you doing at the time? Why did 00:01:21.420 --> 00:01:23.519 you agree to do it? And tell us about the format 00:01:23.519 --> 00:01:25.400 of The Bachelorette. How does that actually work? 00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.200 Yeah, I'll try to give you the somewhat quick 00:01:29.200 --> 00:01:34.780 version. So this is back in 2018, August. No, 00:01:34.920 --> 00:01:38.099 actually about this time, 2018, Labor Day. I 00:01:38.099 --> 00:01:40.340 was dating a girl from Atlanta, and we were down 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:42.920 at the beach, and I was... The idea was we would 00:01:42.920 --> 00:01:44.840 stay there for a few days. I had a golf tournament 00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:47.219 in South Alabama later on, and I'd just go over 00:01:47.219 --> 00:01:48.959 from the beach to South Alabama, or Florida to 00:01:48.959 --> 00:01:51.819 South Alabama, and play that event. And she ended 00:01:51.819 --> 00:01:54.260 up dumping me out of nowhere. I was devastated. 00:01:55.840 --> 00:01:58.799 Got back home, and my sister -in -law, Jessalyn, 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:01.239 told me, hey, just want to let you know I filled 00:02:01.239 --> 00:02:04.519 you out a profile on ABC's website for The Bachelorette. 00:02:04.579 --> 00:02:06.239 I think it'd be funny. I think you'd be good 00:02:06.239 --> 00:02:08.389 for it, but just want to let you know. Will you 00:02:08.389 --> 00:02:10.330 just please promise me that if they call you, 00:02:10.389 --> 00:02:13.030 will you try to get on? And I'm like, I'm still 00:02:13.030 --> 00:02:14.729 like heartbroken at this point. I'm still trying 00:02:14.729 --> 00:02:16.530 to figure out. She didn't tell me why she broke 00:02:16.530 --> 00:02:18.789 up with me, of course, so my head's like just 00:02:18.789 --> 00:02:21.789 in a wash. So I'm like, sure, whatever, Jessalyn, 00:02:21.830 --> 00:02:23.509 they're not going to call me. At the time, I 00:02:23.509 --> 00:02:25.949 was a golf professional in a club called Shoal 00:02:25.949 --> 00:02:30.050 Creek in Alabama, deep south, old school country 00:02:30.050 --> 00:02:33.550 club. They have caddies. They encourage caddies 00:02:33.550 --> 00:02:36.189 more than golf cars. That tells you how old school 00:02:36.189 --> 00:02:38.830 it is. So my job was day -to -day operations, 00:02:39.110 --> 00:02:42.169 teaching, fitting, tournament operations as well. 00:02:42.629 --> 00:02:45.169 So complete opposite end of the spectrum of like, 00:02:45.349 --> 00:02:48.150 hey, I'm looking to be this social media personality 00:02:48.150 --> 00:02:50.789 guy. You know, Lele, we talk on the show a lot 00:02:50.789 --> 00:02:52.650 about how your online reputation can be used 00:02:52.650 --> 00:02:54.530 against you. But what if you could take back 00:02:54.530 --> 00:03:00.250 control? Guess what? What? Erase .com does exactly 00:03:00.250 --> 00:03:03.370 that. Are you kidding me? They're an online reputation 00:03:03.370 --> 00:03:06.669 management company that is fantastic. They allow 00:03:06.669 --> 00:03:10.349 you or you to take back the power and not let 00:03:10.349 --> 00:03:13.509 the digital world decide what is said about you. 00:03:13.629 --> 00:03:16.229 You know, you bring up a good point. Don't let 00:03:16.229 --> 00:03:18.610 your online past define your future. These folks, 00:03:18.729 --> 00:03:20.789 they should call the experts at Erase .com because 00:03:20.789 --> 00:03:23.250 they can help. Like they helped us? They sure 00:03:23.250 --> 00:03:26.530 did. And because you listened to Erase, if you 00:03:26.530 --> 00:03:29.830 just type in the promo code ERASED10, you will 00:03:29.830 --> 00:03:32.770 receive 10 % off these amazing services that 00:03:32.770 --> 00:03:35.030 help you take back your power. That's a great 00:03:35.030 --> 00:03:37.990 deal. Reference promo code ERASED10. You can 00:03:37.990 --> 00:03:40.449 get a 10 % discount off their services. I like 00:03:40.449 --> 00:03:44.729 it. Do it now. Do it now. So fast forward to, 00:03:44.810 --> 00:03:48.229 I believe it was October. i was playing a kickball 00:03:48.229 --> 00:03:50.689 game and got we had a kickball league every thursday 00:03:50.689 --> 00:03:52.370 it was like a one night to like have fun and 00:03:52.370 --> 00:03:54.889 let her hair down and i got this call from a 00:03:54.889 --> 00:03:58.310 number in la and i immediately chalked it up 00:03:58.310 --> 00:04:02.189 as spam well i'm in a uber home on the way back 00:04:02.189 --> 00:04:04.389 from the kickball game and i listened to a voicemail 00:04:04.389 --> 00:04:06.669 from a recruiter named sandy saying that she 00:04:06.669 --> 00:04:10.189 got our pro my profile thinks i'd be great for 00:04:10.189 --> 00:04:13.590 it wants me to consider interviewing and so the 00:04:13.590 --> 00:04:16.410 next day um i don't know how much you know about 00:04:16.879 --> 00:04:20.800 private club professionals but we work uh 50 00:04:20.800 --> 00:04:23.240 to 80 hour weeks sometimes 90 hour weeks depending 00:04:23.240 --> 00:04:25.680 on which week it is what the membership has going 00:04:25.680 --> 00:04:27.480 on you are there in support of the membership 00:04:27.480 --> 00:04:30.300 so it's very demanding from a time perspective 00:04:30.300 --> 00:04:34.420 um job so i go to my boss and our merchandiser 00:04:34.420 --> 00:04:36.860 at the time and i play the voicemail in front 00:04:36.860 --> 00:04:39.060 of both of them because honestly my boss was 00:04:39.060 --> 00:04:40.500 having kind of a bad day and i thought it'd be 00:04:40.500 --> 00:04:42.300 something funny i was kind of known as like the 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:45.019 uplifting like kind of goober dude and they both 00:04:45.019 --> 00:04:47.339 started laughing my boss is like eric you have 00:04:47.339 --> 00:04:50.339 to do it i'm like okay so like you know i could 00:04:50.339 --> 00:04:52.899 be gone for months at a time if i do this he's 00:04:52.899 --> 00:04:55.259 like i don't care we'll make it happen i'm like 00:04:55.259 --> 00:04:57.879 okay all right so i went through the interview 00:04:57.879 --> 00:05:01.120 process the next step in the process was they 00:05:01.120 --> 00:05:03.720 wanted me to film a video while answering questions 00:05:03.720 --> 00:05:09.519 that they sent me so i paid a cart kid a kid 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.339 who takes care of the golf carts 20 bucks to 00:05:12.339 --> 00:05:15.000 film me play hole 11 at shoal creek and it's 00:05:15.000 --> 00:05:18.639 super cringy and it's super awkward but at the 00:05:18.639 --> 00:05:21.540 same time i guess it was something that they 00:05:21.540 --> 00:05:24.079 like to see a little bit of realism if you will 00:05:24.079 --> 00:05:26.680 they took me to atlanta for a face -to -face 00:05:26.680 --> 00:05:28.839 interview then they flew me out a month later 00:05:28.839 --> 00:05:33.720 this is january of 2019 to la for their like 00:05:33.720 --> 00:05:37.329 final casting call if they will Um, and it was 00:05:37.329 --> 00:05:39.649 just a meat grinder, man. Like so much stuff 00:05:39.649 --> 00:05:41.189 they threw at you that you weren't expecting. 00:05:41.310 --> 00:05:46.350 Like, I remember I walk up for like noon and 00:05:46.350 --> 00:05:48.649 Sandy who recruited me from day one was there. 00:05:48.730 --> 00:05:49.870 And she said, Hey, what do you want to drink? 00:05:49.949 --> 00:05:51.689 I'm like, Sandy, it's noon. I don't really want 00:05:51.689 --> 00:05:53.970 anything to drink. She's like, well, if you knew 00:05:53.970 --> 00:05:55.850 what they're about to do to you, then I'm sure 00:05:55.850 --> 00:05:58.870 you would want one. So I'm like, Oh, I'll take 00:05:58.870 --> 00:06:02.569 a Jameson then please. And so they walked me 00:06:02.569 --> 00:06:04.949 in this room. right before they're like hey there's 00:06:04.949 --> 00:06:06.709 a bunch of people in this room just want you 00:06:06.709 --> 00:06:08.709 to say hey to them well they walk in this room 00:06:08.709 --> 00:06:11.790 and there's this couch of 30 to 40 producers 00:06:11.790 --> 00:06:14.709 sitting in like a u -shape and there's one chair 00:06:14.709 --> 00:06:16.550 right in the middle and they just like hammer 00:06:16.550 --> 00:06:19.329 you with questions and like what like one was 00:06:19.329 --> 00:06:22.310 uh do you consider yourself oh no the first one 00:06:22.310 --> 00:06:25.170 was uh who in hollywood do you most resemble 00:06:25.170 --> 00:06:27.310 and i said chris pratt and they're like why and 00:06:27.310 --> 00:06:29.389 i said well honestly it's just the first guy 00:06:29.389 --> 00:06:31.129 come to mind i'm big on my faith and i consider 00:06:31.129 --> 00:06:33.600 myself kind of a jokester goober so i can see 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.199 that i guess they like that the second one which 00:06:36.199 --> 00:06:38.920 i thought i answered great but apparently it 00:06:38.920 --> 00:06:41.439 was hilarious they said do you consider yourself 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:44.160 to be romantic and i was like yeah well i've 00:06:44.160 --> 00:06:46.759 been known to give a girl some flowers a time 00:06:46.759 --> 00:06:48.399 or two and they all just busted out laughing 00:06:48.399 --> 00:06:51.139 i'm like is that not what you were looking for 00:06:51.139 --> 00:06:54.879 so there's that there's the psychological exams 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.399 and then there's like the constant waiting i 00:06:57.399 --> 00:07:00.120 didn't know i was on until march 6th of 2019 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:03.000 And I had to leave for filming starting March 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:07.300 12th of 2019. And so, yeah, I basically just 00:07:07.300 --> 00:07:09.660 didn't eat and was on the Stairmaster for all 00:07:09.660 --> 00:07:11.680 six of those days for what it seems like. You 00:07:11.680 --> 00:07:14.240 gave one week notice, I suppose. Yeah, yeah. 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:18.339 Well, thankfully, I was filming my boss with 00:07:18.339 --> 00:07:20.980 everything that was going on. Like, hey, man, 00:07:21.060 --> 00:07:23.699 this is the most I can tell you. You know me. 00:07:23.800 --> 00:07:25.680 I have no idea what's going on. I'm just kind 00:07:25.680 --> 00:07:27.600 of flying by the seat of my pants at this point. 00:07:28.040 --> 00:07:30.800 So they were already kind of prepared. i ended 00:07:30.800 --> 00:07:35.420 up being gone for 42 days and i came back i guess 00:07:35.420 --> 00:07:39.839 i came back late april early may um and i was 00:07:39.839 --> 00:07:42.199 just i look like i say i look like tom cruise 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:44.399 from castaway i had this beard i was bloodshot 00:07:44.399 --> 00:07:47.819 eyed just like no sleep was not prepared for 00:07:47.819 --> 00:07:50.819 what was coming and that was the events leading 00:07:50.819 --> 00:07:54.199 up to all the social media mayhem of 2019 2020 00:07:54.199 --> 00:07:59.300 2021. so when the show had wrapped Had any episodes 00:07:59.300 --> 00:08:02.600 aired yet at that point? No episodes aired. I 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:05.579 think they aired like two weeks later. But there 00:08:05.579 --> 00:08:07.819 were these like spoiler pages that already had 00:08:07.819 --> 00:08:09.600 like their insights on like who the bad dudes 00:08:09.600 --> 00:08:12.660 were and all this stuff too. So it was just like 00:08:12.660 --> 00:08:15.779 a big storm. I didn't know it was coming. But 00:08:15.779 --> 00:08:18.199 from a good perspective and a bad perspective, 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:20.500 if that can make sense. So you went back to your 00:08:20.500 --> 00:08:23.360 normal life and now the show is getting ready 00:08:23.360 --> 00:08:29.579 to launch. And was it explosively? every like 00:08:29.579 --> 00:08:32.720 what was that what what what did that feel like 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:34.820 just uh being on tv and everybody talking about 00:08:34.820 --> 00:08:38.559 it being naked in a public space to be honest 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:42.340 with you um i mean you know it's i've i was never 00:08:42.340 --> 00:08:45.720 one to grow up saying i want to be famous if 00:08:45.720 --> 00:08:48.539 i viewed being famous as something that i did 00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:50.700 want it was from an athletic perspective like 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:53.700 i was a big football baseball golf guy and i 00:08:53.700 --> 00:08:56.340 always thought you know If I ever be famous, 00:08:56.440 --> 00:08:58.000 it's not because I'm an actor or something like 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.720 that. It's because I got good at a sport. And 00:09:00.720 --> 00:09:03.779 the hardest thing for me to comprehend was all 00:09:03.779 --> 00:09:07.620 these people wanted a piece of me or a picture 00:09:07.620 --> 00:09:10.700 with me. And I wasn't famous for being good at 00:09:10.700 --> 00:09:12.379 anything. I just got dumped on your TV screen. 00:09:12.500 --> 00:09:14.779 That's the only reason why you know my name. 00:09:14.980 --> 00:09:17.159 And so that was something that was hard for me, 00:09:17.179 --> 00:09:20.940 kind of like I wasn't deserving of it, which 00:09:20.940 --> 00:09:24.120 you can make an argument that I was or wasn't. 00:09:24.519 --> 00:09:28.340 Um, but I remember I went the first episode aired 00:09:28.340 --> 00:09:30.600 and it scared me because I watched it in my parents' 00:09:30.700 --> 00:09:33.840 house and I was on the last limo during limo 00:09:33.840 --> 00:09:37.779 night. I was like number 27 of 31, 32 dudes who 00:09:37.779 --> 00:09:40.559 got out. But when they aired it, they cut it 00:09:40.559 --> 00:09:42.799 to where I was the first guy out of the limo. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:45.460 And that right then there's like, Oh, like they 00:09:45.460 --> 00:09:47.919 can make me look however they want to make me 00:09:47.919 --> 00:09:50.600 look. I did everything that I would normally 00:09:50.600 --> 00:09:52.600 do, but I have no idea how they're going to frame 00:09:52.600 --> 00:09:55.879 this. So it was like week to week. Well, what's 00:09:55.879 --> 00:09:57.259 going to happen this week? Like how are they 00:09:57.259 --> 00:09:59.019 going to make me look this week? I'm trying to 00:09:59.019 --> 00:10:00.620 remember like stuff that I said and stuff that 00:10:00.620 --> 00:10:05.299 I did. And I guess the worst moment was, so when 00:10:05.299 --> 00:10:07.460 you're a assistant golf professional at a club, 00:10:07.539 --> 00:10:09.919 you report to a head golf professional who reports 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:12.840 to a director of golf. The director of golf reports 00:10:12.840 --> 00:10:15.639 to the golf chairman. Well, the golf chairman 00:10:15.639 --> 00:10:19.159 pulls me aside one day. He said, Hey, my buddy's 00:10:19.159 --> 00:10:21.879 daughter's having her 16th birthday tonight. 00:10:22.480 --> 00:10:25.480 would you mind just stopping by and saying hey 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.139 and this is like when episode three or four popped 00:10:28.139 --> 00:10:31.179 on so i'm like sure i mean you literally control 00:10:31.179 --> 00:10:33.799 my salary i can't tell you no so i show up to 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:36.700 this party and i open the door and this girl 00:10:36.700 --> 00:10:40.179 faints and her friends like step over her body 00:10:40.179 --> 00:10:42.139 to come say hey to me and that's when i was like 00:10:42.139 --> 00:10:45.980 i am so uncomfortable with this right now i have 00:10:45.980 --> 00:10:49.500 no idea what i'm doing and why i got a little 00:10:49.500 --> 00:10:52.279 faint when you popped up on my screen just just 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:58.700 oh yeah sure yeah appreciate it so that's that's 00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:01.960 that's wild it's trippy you know from so your 00:11:01.960 --> 00:11:04.200 social media how many followers did you have 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:06.980 at the beginning before nobody had known of you 00:11:06.980 --> 00:11:10.679 and how how did that progress it was like it 00:11:10.679 --> 00:11:14.620 was in the 600s like 46 60 or something like 00:11:14.620 --> 00:11:22.299 that okay um my most i think Was $254 ,000. From 00:11:22.299 --> 00:11:26.220 a few hundred to a quarter million. Yeah. In 00:11:26.220 --> 00:11:32.759 what period of time? Gosh, if I had to lay dates 00:11:32.759 --> 00:11:36.860 down, I would guess early March was mid -600s. 00:11:37.220 --> 00:11:40.720 And I would guess beginning of that summer, it 00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:44.200 was quarter million. At the risk of a spoiler 00:11:44.200 --> 00:11:46.919 alert for a show that aired years ago, how did 00:11:46.919 --> 00:11:51.889 you do on the show? uh finished fifth so i finished 00:11:51.889 --> 00:11:53.990 fifth i didn't make it to hometowns but they 00:11:53.990 --> 00:11:55.769 kind of cut me in a way where i was like a martyr 00:11:55.769 --> 00:11:58.090 like she picked the dude that everyone didn't 00:11:58.090 --> 00:12:00.870 like over me so i like died for a good cause 00:12:00.870 --> 00:12:06.110 so i mean it's yeah it was it was such a crazy 00:12:06.110 --> 00:12:08.070 experience man i'm so thankful for from multiple 00:12:08.070 --> 00:12:11.129 aspects but it has and we will talk about i'm 00:12:11.129 --> 00:12:14.169 sure but everything that ensued from that prepared 00:12:14.169 --> 00:12:16.190 me in many more ways than i could ever imagine 00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:20.399 both from a outward and inward perspective. So 00:12:20.399 --> 00:12:23.980 how realistic were the editors' portrayal of 00:12:23.980 --> 00:12:28.059 you on the show with who you actually are? You 00:12:28.059 --> 00:12:29.799 know, because you said they took great liberties 00:12:29.799 --> 00:12:33.860 with everything. Well, yeah, I accept everything 00:12:33.860 --> 00:12:35.700 they did, to be honest with you. Like, they showed 00:12:35.700 --> 00:12:39.580 the good and the bad of me. A good and bad part 00:12:39.580 --> 00:12:41.340 about me is that I'm someone that, like, if I 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:42.639 think you're full of crap, I'm going to tell 00:12:42.639 --> 00:12:45.779 you you're full of crap and encourage people, 00:12:45.879 --> 00:12:48.580 hey. This is my reasoning for this. I wouldn't 00:12:48.580 --> 00:12:51.139 trust this person. Some people may turn that 00:12:51.139 --> 00:12:53.580 as a gospel. Some people may turn that as someone 00:12:53.580 --> 00:12:57.019 who likes to pursue truth. I can see both sides. 00:12:57.100 --> 00:12:59.559 That's just who I am. And I'm someone also I'm 00:12:59.559 --> 00:13:02.340 very stubborn, too. If I want to do something 00:13:02.340 --> 00:13:05.639 that I think is best for me, that completely 00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:09.580 goes against what the lead or anyone else has 00:13:09.580 --> 00:13:11.399 to say about it, that I'm going to try to do 00:13:11.399 --> 00:13:13.340 it. And that got portrayed in the season. And 00:13:13.340 --> 00:13:14.740 I'm not going to sit here and say it's not me. 00:13:15.230 --> 00:13:16.649 Because it is. I mean, overall, they could have 00:13:16.649 --> 00:13:18.730 given me a much better cut. They also could have 00:13:18.730 --> 00:13:20.629 given me a much worse cut. So I think it's about 00:13:20.629 --> 00:13:24.450 accurate who I am. Pretty accurate. So as things 00:13:24.450 --> 00:13:26.049 are progressing along, did you see like, you 00:13:26.049 --> 00:13:29.090 know what? This could be my career. I can monetize 00:13:29.090 --> 00:13:31.950 this in some way. Where can I take this next? 00:13:32.149 --> 00:13:34.250 I mean, that would go through my mind. That's 00:13:34.250 --> 00:13:37.169 what I would be thinking probably. Not once, 00:13:37.309 --> 00:13:43.379 man. So again, our show ended. late, I think 00:13:43.379 --> 00:13:48.360 it was July 29th, 2019. And the opportunity to 00:13:48.360 --> 00:13:50.720 go for Paradise came up and they were talking 00:13:50.720 --> 00:13:53.379 to me about that. And what is Paradise? Yes, 00:13:53.519 --> 00:13:58.559 Bachelor in Paradise. And so at the time, you 00:13:58.559 --> 00:14:03.620 know, I work 40 to 50 to 80 hour weeks and make 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:07.059 $32 ,000 salary a year, which is obviously nothing. 00:14:07.200 --> 00:14:10.179 And it was something I love doing. But as soon 00:14:10.179 --> 00:14:12.759 as I got back home, The only thing I wanted to 00:14:12.759 --> 00:14:15.179 do was to return to being a golf pro and like 00:14:15.179 --> 00:14:17.600 a normal dude again. And I worked more after 00:14:17.600 --> 00:14:19.779 that show because inside the gates of Shoal Creek, 00:14:19.940 --> 00:14:23.159 no one cared about that show. Outside the gates, 00:14:23.259 --> 00:14:25.700 I'm not saying everyone cared, but in my age 00:14:25.700 --> 00:14:27.440 group, a lot of people cared, a lot more than 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:30.700 normal. So I just wanted to be a golf pro again. 00:14:30.919 --> 00:14:34.139 But when they were interviewing me and talking 00:14:34.139 --> 00:14:36.399 to me about Bachelor in Paradise, my thought 00:14:36.399 --> 00:14:40.000 process was, I mean, I want to be a head guy 00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:42.320 at a private club, a high -end private club one 00:14:42.320 --> 00:14:45.940 day. That's what I love to do. And I do not think 00:14:45.940 --> 00:14:49.200 I am hireable in that position. No one will take 00:14:49.200 --> 00:14:51.659 me serious enough. They see me with my shirt 00:14:51.659 --> 00:14:55.500 off on a beach again for three months. You know, 00:14:55.519 --> 00:14:57.620 even if they think I'm hireable after this, right? 00:14:58.639 --> 00:15:01.120 I did not view that as a possibility, so I didn't 00:15:01.120 --> 00:15:03.539 pursue it. Now, as far as like the social media 00:15:03.539 --> 00:15:05.720 stuff, I did that out of necessity of making 00:15:05.720 --> 00:15:08.299 $32 ,000 a year. It's like, yeah. I'll do an 00:15:08.299 --> 00:15:10.940 ad. But I was very good about, hey, if I wouldn't 00:15:10.940 --> 00:15:12.879 use this and it's not genuine, I'm not going 00:15:12.879 --> 00:15:15.960 to take that money. I did that for a certain 00:15:15.960 --> 00:15:18.379 amount of time. And then COVID hit and the ads 00:15:18.379 --> 00:15:20.299 kind of went down. And I realized, you know what, 00:15:20.379 --> 00:15:23.120 I don't really like doing these ads. It's cool, 00:15:23.120 --> 00:15:24.779 but I kind of feel like I'm selling people on 00:15:24.779 --> 00:15:29.179 stuff, if that makes sense. So did things turn 00:15:29.179 --> 00:15:33.250 dark at some point? What happened? Were there 00:15:33.250 --> 00:15:35.929 posts that you made or made in the past? What 00:15:35.929 --> 00:15:38.590 happened that kind of things started to unravel 00:15:38.590 --> 00:15:43.289 a little bit? Well, episode two or three, Us 00:15:43.289 --> 00:15:46.210 Weekly, I think it was Us Weekly, came out with 00:15:46.210 --> 00:15:47.929 an article about how it was problematic based 00:15:47.929 --> 00:15:51.450 off stuff that I liked on Twitter. It's very 00:15:51.450 --> 00:15:55.210 pro -conservative stuff. Things that I don't 00:15:55.210 --> 00:15:57.210 think are really that crazy, but I guess other 00:15:57.210 --> 00:15:59.509 people at that time and other places in the world 00:15:59.509 --> 00:16:06.500 did. What was it? It was like, you know, Jesus 00:16:06.500 --> 00:16:08.720 Christ is a cool dude. Trump's a great president. 00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:12.460 Hard work means nothing. Or no, sorry. Words 00:16:12.460 --> 00:16:14.179 mean nothing. Hard work means everything. It 00:16:14.179 --> 00:16:18.139 was stuff like that. I think the other stuff 00:16:18.139 --> 00:16:21.019 was like pro -Trump stuff. And they just wrote 00:16:21.019 --> 00:16:23.379 about how I was this problematic. They wrote 00:16:23.379 --> 00:16:25.179 how I like grew up in the country club world, 00:16:25.240 --> 00:16:27.220 which we grew up like very low middle class. 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:31.070 I don't know where they got that from. it hurt 00:16:31.070 --> 00:16:34.149 because it wasn't it not only was it wasn't true 00:16:34.149 --> 00:16:38.029 but i just was like okay like cool you're a liberal 00:16:38.029 --> 00:16:39.990 i don't i don't really care what you have to 00:16:39.990 --> 00:16:42.370 say about my beliefs it's your beliefs you know 00:16:42.370 --> 00:16:43.990 you believe it i'm gonna believe what i believe 00:16:43.990 --> 00:16:46.029 right i didn't really know that was a thing where 00:16:46.029 --> 00:16:48.669 you could kind of push people over the edge for 00:16:48.669 --> 00:16:50.649 what they believe in and that's when i started 00:16:50.649 --> 00:16:53.289 thinking all right well like if people are coming 00:16:53.289 --> 00:16:57.070 at me for this is this am i an okay person for 00:16:57.070 --> 00:16:58.669 believing this way and that's when i started 00:16:59.149 --> 00:17:01.590 dive in deep and not only political but personal 00:17:01.590 --> 00:17:05.410 you know i tell people the simplest way to describe 00:17:05.410 --> 00:17:09.130 my journey is the bible story of the prodigal 00:17:09.130 --> 00:17:11.849 son you know and if you're unfamiliar with it 00:17:11.849 --> 00:17:15.029 short version there's two sons the dad comes 00:17:15.029 --> 00:17:17.250 up to two sons one day and says hey sons who 00:17:17.250 --> 00:17:20.569 wants to cash out their inheritance and go off 00:17:20.569 --> 00:17:22.210 and do whatever with it the younger son says 00:17:22.210 --> 00:17:24.269 that's me dad i'll go do it so the younger son 00:17:24.269 --> 00:17:26.849 cashes out his inheritance goes off into the 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:31.130 world spends money on drugs, alcohol, strippers, 00:17:31.190 --> 00:17:33.450 all this stuff, until he ends up with nothing 00:17:33.450 --> 00:17:36.089 years later, comes crawling back to his dad, 00:17:36.130 --> 00:17:37.769 and his dad takes him in and says, it's okay, 00:17:37.809 --> 00:17:39.769 you were lost, and now you're found. And the 00:17:39.769 --> 00:17:43.289 metaphor behind that is the nature of this world 00:17:43.289 --> 00:17:45.569 makes you think that you're not enough, and whatever 00:17:45.569 --> 00:17:47.329 is out there in this world that you don't have, 00:17:47.450 --> 00:17:50.390 you need. And that was me. Growing up kind of 00:17:50.390 --> 00:17:54.069 poor, it was like, okay, I want to be rich. I 00:17:54.069 --> 00:17:56.650 want people to know who I am. I want this. I 00:17:56.650 --> 00:17:58.670 want that. And I went out there and tried to 00:17:58.670 --> 00:18:00.630 grab all that until I realized two years later, 00:18:00.710 --> 00:18:03.109 it's like, man, that's not what I want. And so 00:18:03.109 --> 00:18:05.829 it wasn't just a political growth. It was kind 00:18:05.829 --> 00:18:07.769 of a personal and spiritual growth, too, with 00:18:07.769 --> 00:18:11.869 all that. So week two, week three, Us Weekly 00:18:11.869 --> 00:18:15.190 is talking about how you're kind of a bad guy 00:18:15.190 --> 00:18:18.490 in one way, but your social media following is 00:18:18.490 --> 00:18:22.910 like booming, right? Where's your head at in 00:18:22.910 --> 00:18:25.289 that? It's got to be super confusing at that 00:18:25.289 --> 00:18:31.960 time. Yeah, I didn't really know how. I was a 00:18:31.960 --> 00:18:34.180 big comment reader, which you probably know where 00:18:34.180 --> 00:18:36.759 I'm going by leading with that. And it's funny 00:18:36.759 --> 00:18:39.740 how 90 comments can be great. But boy, you get 00:18:39.740 --> 00:18:41.539 that one bad one and it keeps you up at night 00:18:41.539 --> 00:18:43.640 sometimes. And it's like, I didn't understand 00:18:43.640 --> 00:18:45.859 that. I didn't understand why I felt that way 00:18:45.859 --> 00:18:49.299 and didn't understand why I felt the need to 00:18:49.299 --> 00:18:51.720 really care what other people thought until it 00:18:51.720 --> 00:18:55.220 kept compiling. And what eventually led to. kind 00:18:55.220 --> 00:18:59.400 of my peak, if you will, was fast forward a year 00:18:59.400 --> 00:19:02.940 later. June 2nd, 2020 was Blackout Tuesday, where 00:19:02.940 --> 00:19:04.380 everyone was supposed to post like a black square. 00:19:04.680 --> 00:19:07.859 And I can't stand social media trends because 00:19:07.859 --> 00:19:11.259 people who were on the show 10 years ago find 00:19:11.259 --> 00:19:13.920 an opportunity to somehow become relevant again. 00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:17.579 And I don't believe that it really produces any 00:19:17.579 --> 00:19:20.099 change whatsoever. It's like, cool, you posted 00:19:20.099 --> 00:19:21.980 a black square. What else did you do? Nothing. 00:19:22.099 --> 00:19:26.309 Okay. So. The idea of that infuriates me. And 00:19:26.309 --> 00:19:29.589 so a Green Beret that I follow, Mike Glover, 00:19:29.670 --> 00:19:32.750 posted an American flag. And I was DMing him 00:19:32.750 --> 00:19:34.710 because at the time, like blue checks meant something 00:19:34.710 --> 00:19:36.170 different back then. I guess he had more access 00:19:36.170 --> 00:19:39.309 than they do now. But I messaged Mike and I was 00:19:39.309 --> 00:19:40.789 like, just curious, like, why did you post this? 00:19:40.930 --> 00:19:43.789 And he was like, our flag's changed. So if we 00:19:43.789 --> 00:19:45.490 need to change, we have a track record of showing 00:19:45.490 --> 00:19:47.609 that we have changed. So I think it's a good 00:19:47.609 --> 00:19:49.829 message. I'm like, yo, that's a great message. 00:19:50.250 --> 00:19:53.869 So I posted that. with like fist emojis of every 00:19:53.869 --> 00:19:56.269 skin color below and said like, hashtag justice 00:19:56.269 --> 00:19:58.250 for George Floyd together as one, something like 00:19:58.250 --> 00:20:03.109 that. And I mean, man, the storm that came after 00:20:03.109 --> 00:20:06.230 that was nuts. And that's when I started developing 00:20:06.230 --> 00:20:10.670 like a hatred, a hatred of not only for the hate 00:20:10.670 --> 00:20:12.230 that was coming to me, but a little bit of hatred 00:20:12.230 --> 00:20:14.089 towards myself because I let their words get 00:20:14.089 --> 00:20:16.309 to me. And I kind of lost sight of who I was 00:20:16.309 --> 00:20:17.950 with all that and kind of got lost with all the 00:20:17.950 --> 00:20:21.079 anger that came with social media. and a good 00:20:21.079 --> 00:20:27.299 example of that too is we um um in july 4th of 00:20:27.299 --> 00:20:29.279 that year i posted a picture of me holding the 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:33.460 ar um in front of an american flag and some of 00:20:33.460 --> 00:20:35.539 the comments were really raunchy too and so i 00:20:35.539 --> 00:20:36.980 remember waking the next day i was like all right 00:20:36.980 --> 00:20:38.500 well if you if you didn't like that you're gonna 00:20:38.500 --> 00:20:41.079 hate this and then i posted a picture of me holding 00:20:41.079 --> 00:20:43.900 american flag in front of american flag no sorry 00:20:43.900 --> 00:20:46.619 holding a trump flag and a bud light and that 00:20:46.619 --> 00:20:49.380 just got people riled up and i found myself like 00:20:49.900 --> 00:20:52.019 I was just posting stuff just to get reactions 00:20:52.019 --> 00:20:56.480 because I knew that, like, the confusion and 00:20:56.480 --> 00:20:59.480 kind of all the bad I felt about myself deep 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:01.819 down for giving them weight, it was kind of like 00:21:01.819 --> 00:21:03.619 trying to battle that, if that makes sense. And 00:21:03.619 --> 00:21:05.980 it changed who I was. It absolutely changed who 00:21:05.980 --> 00:21:08.960 I was. Was there any particular post that you 00:21:08.960 --> 00:21:11.900 can recall now that really got under your skin 00:21:11.900 --> 00:21:18.920 the most? Man, I wouldn't say any one particular 00:21:18.920 --> 00:21:21.579 one. It was just, I was like a Coke bottle. It 00:21:21.579 --> 00:21:24.920 was, you know, you get shaken up, you unleash 00:21:24.920 --> 00:21:27.079 the cap and the fizz comes out and everything's 00:21:27.079 --> 00:21:30.000 good. I just never unscrewed the cap. It kept 00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:32.160 building and building and building and building. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:33.920 Finally, I hit a point that fall where I was 00:21:33.920 --> 00:21:35.380 like, I got to take a break from this. Like I 00:21:35.380 --> 00:21:40.019 have to. And so I took a month off. And it was 00:21:40.019 --> 00:21:42.140 fantastic, man. It was the best thing I could 00:21:42.140 --> 00:21:43.160 have done. I probably should have taken more 00:21:43.160 --> 00:21:45.509 time off than that. And that taught me a big 00:21:45.509 --> 00:21:49.089 lesson of like, this is not, we were not meant 00:21:49.089 --> 00:21:52.029 to be in this echo chamber of what social media 00:21:52.029 --> 00:21:55.509 is. We were meant to have about 10 to 20 people 00:21:55.509 --> 00:21:57.369 outside of our family, maybe just a little bit 00:21:57.369 --> 00:22:00.230 more than that of friends. Like, and it completely 00:22:00.230 --> 00:22:02.849 changed my mindset on how to treat social media 00:22:02.849 --> 00:22:06.009 to this day. Yeah. I mean, and it all started 00:22:06.009 --> 00:22:08.329 with that. You liked something. You didn't even 00:22:08.329 --> 00:22:10.309 make comments, right? Or you didn't, you didn't 00:22:10.309 --> 00:22:12.730 post anything. It was started with likes. Simple, 00:22:12.769 --> 00:22:15.279 simple as that. Yeah. Started with likes and 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:17.740 just posting what I believed in. Super scary 00:22:17.740 --> 00:22:21.240 that people are like waiting to track or waiting 00:22:21.240 --> 00:22:23.980 to emerge. Like I'm thinking maybe when I heard 00:22:23.980 --> 00:22:25.799 this about your story, I started to think, what 00:22:25.799 --> 00:22:29.000 have I liked in my past that can actually come 00:22:29.000 --> 00:22:31.420 up and bite me in the butt one day? You know? 00:22:31.480 --> 00:22:35.230 Yeah. Yeah. And I remember. There's this guy 00:22:35.230 --> 00:22:37.950 named Scott Jenstad. No idea if he's still affiliated 00:22:37.950 --> 00:22:41.829 or not, but he was their ABC or the production 00:22:41.829 --> 00:22:44.789 companies like social media guy where he scoured 00:22:44.789 --> 00:22:46.990 your social media before you got on the show 00:22:46.990 --> 00:22:52.089 and told you things to delete. And he came up 00:22:52.089 --> 00:22:55.289 with two things, both of which I was basically 00:22:55.289 --> 00:22:57.470 wishing a buddy happy birthday and included the 00:22:57.470 --> 00:23:02.069 word gay in. And so then I was like, OK, are 00:23:02.069 --> 00:23:04.200 you sure that's it? like because i don't think 00:23:04.200 --> 00:23:05.579 i have anything else he's like no i was like 00:23:05.579 --> 00:23:07.839 what about i know i'm a trump supporter i know 00:23:07.839 --> 00:23:10.599 that can you know i know it's kind of polarizing 00:23:10.599 --> 00:23:13.039 these days in some eyes like how does abc view 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.880 that and say abc views that everyone else has 00:23:15.880 --> 00:23:19.339 the right to believe any way they want to in 00:23:19.339 --> 00:23:21.799 any form or fashion i'm like okay cool so like 00:23:21.799 --> 00:23:25.079 the whole trump stuff with me posting about and 00:23:25.079 --> 00:23:26.900 the stuff i liked about never popped up that 00:23:26.900 --> 00:23:30.150 was going to be an issue at all And so I just 00:23:30.150 --> 00:23:32.470 came in this thinking like, whoa, what is all 00:23:32.470 --> 00:23:35.250 this stuff and where is this coming from? So 00:23:35.250 --> 00:23:38.369 it wasn't really true. What's that? It wasn't 00:23:38.369 --> 00:23:43.589 really true. You did not have the outlet to have 00:23:43.589 --> 00:23:46.569 your conservative voice be heard. If it was liberal, 00:23:46.769 --> 00:23:50.869 if you leaned liberally, then it would have been 00:23:50.869 --> 00:23:54.339 okay, I assume, right? Yeah, and I had some dudes 00:23:54.339 --> 00:23:56.220 who were on the show with me who were big conservatives 00:23:56.220 --> 00:23:58.660 who actually did liberal campaigns after the 00:23:58.660 --> 00:24:01.960 show too. And that shows you what some people 00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.940 will do to compromise their own integrity just 00:24:04.940 --> 00:24:09.359 to maintain their fame. They sold out. Mm -hmm. 00:24:10.660 --> 00:24:16.380 Wow. So what was the lowest point that you got 00:24:16.380 --> 00:24:20.160 to? And how did you dig out mentally, emotionally 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:24.650 from all this? an epiphany that you had or um 00:24:24.650 --> 00:24:28.329 you were doubling down and i'm like oh yeah well 00:24:28.329 --> 00:24:30.609 you know i'll show you oh here's i'll i'll show 00:24:30.609 --> 00:24:34.309 you a rifle and a bud light you know at what 00:24:34.309 --> 00:24:36.390 point you're like you know this is this is crazy 00:24:36.390 --> 00:24:39.190 i'm going this is really bad for me what was 00:24:39.190 --> 00:24:41.930 it that things started to shift for you what 00:24:41.930 --> 00:24:45.359 happened Three things, more so in steps. So number 00:24:45.359 --> 00:24:47.740 one, October of that year, November, I forgot 00:24:47.740 --> 00:24:49.740 which one it was, one of those two months. October, 00:24:49.819 --> 00:24:51.900 November of 2020, I took that month break. That 00:24:51.900 --> 00:24:54.880 was number one. That kind of reset my mind of 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:57.779 like, hey, you know what, this little box that 00:24:57.779 --> 00:24:59.799 I'm holding on to, nothing really matters inside 00:24:59.799 --> 00:25:02.660 of here. It's really all about this, right? Number 00:25:02.660 --> 00:25:06.960 two was actually breaking up with the woman I 00:25:06.960 --> 00:25:09.640 was dating at the time when all of this stuff 00:25:09.640 --> 00:25:12.130 was happening. behind closed doors, she was getting 00:25:12.130 --> 00:25:14.450 on to me about how it was affecting her image. 00:25:15.089 --> 00:25:18.490 And my mindset at the time was, I need support 00:25:18.490 --> 00:25:21.430 right now. Like, I feel like I'm lost. I don't 00:25:21.430 --> 00:25:23.970 know how to get out of this. I need support. 00:25:24.190 --> 00:25:25.910 And this is not being given to me. And after, 00:25:25.950 --> 00:25:28.509 after all that, man, I went through 16 weeks 00:25:28.509 --> 00:25:30.230 of therapy, because I just couldn't deal with 00:25:30.230 --> 00:25:32.890 it. And at the end of the 16 weeks, I call it 00:25:32.890 --> 00:25:34.849 was kind of like a metaphorical test day, I realized, 00:25:34.970 --> 00:25:36.950 man, this relationship is not doing anything 00:25:36.950 --> 00:25:41.099 for me. And so we broke up. And then a month 00:25:41.099 --> 00:25:43.779 later, after I told myself I don't want to date 00:25:43.779 --> 00:25:47.279 anyone for a year, I met my now wife. And that 00:25:47.279 --> 00:25:50.059 was step number three. She really changed the 00:25:50.059 --> 00:25:52.339 game for me. And it was going from someone who 00:25:52.339 --> 00:25:56.440 was going from such just emotional heartbreak 00:25:56.440 --> 00:25:59.200 within myself to emotional heartbreak within 00:25:59.200 --> 00:26:01.960 a relationship that I knew did not suit me to 00:26:01.960 --> 00:26:03.900 meeting someone who was there for me in every 00:26:03.900 --> 00:26:05.920 aspect, which is why we're still married and 00:26:05.920 --> 00:26:09.500 our first son eight weeks ago. so those were 00:26:09.500 --> 00:26:11.839 really the three steps that kind of set my life 00:26:11.839 --> 00:26:17.039 back in order um now after i met my wife and 00:26:17.039 --> 00:26:19.079 still posting on social media i still had this 00:26:19.079 --> 00:26:21.740 it wasn't nearly as bad i still had this kind 00:26:21.740 --> 00:26:23.859 of thought of like all right well you know kind 00:26:23.859 --> 00:26:25.680 of have to prove myself a little bit to people 00:26:25.680 --> 00:26:27.500 you know i'm this like influencer let me post 00:26:27.500 --> 00:26:32.700 this this this and then late last year i actually 00:26:32.700 --> 00:26:34.819 got my account hacked by somebody and i didn't 00:26:34.819 --> 00:26:37.579 have access for two months and that was the day 00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:40.319 Whenever I got it back, I didn't care anymore. 00:26:40.759 --> 00:26:42.660 And so I guess that's kind of the fourth and 00:26:42.660 --> 00:26:44.839 final step, if you will. It took a little while 00:26:44.839 --> 00:26:47.799 for me. Do you think there's anybody in social 00:26:47.799 --> 00:26:52.559 media who is able to stay grounded and true to 00:26:52.559 --> 00:26:55.259 themselves and be successful? Or has everybody 00:26:55.259 --> 00:27:00.599 sold themselves out to some extent? My opinion, 00:27:00.799 --> 00:27:04.559 to one extent or another, everyone sells themselves 00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:10.019 out at some point. It can be a little bit, it 00:27:10.019 --> 00:27:12.559 can be a little compromise here or there. This 00:27:12.559 --> 00:27:14.420 person can be a lot better than what I was and 00:27:14.420 --> 00:27:16.279 catch themselves in that compromise and kind 00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:18.799 of back up from it and become back who they are. 00:27:18.920 --> 00:27:21.960 It is a very slippery slope. And what I've told 00:27:21.960 --> 00:27:26.160 people for years, the reason for that is I think 00:27:26.160 --> 00:27:29.099 that the way the human brain sees fame is very 00:27:29.099 --> 00:27:32.220 similar to a drug. You experience just a little 00:27:32.220 --> 00:27:34.660 bit. just a little bit of someone kind of praising 00:27:34.660 --> 00:27:36.380 you here and there praise that you're not used 00:27:36.380 --> 00:27:39.119 to praise that you've only heard about and then 00:27:39.119 --> 00:27:42.400 you get it and i mean even to this day man there's 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:44.380 a part of me like a small part of me that still 00:27:44.380 --> 00:27:46.460 wants to go down that rabbit hole but i know 00:27:46.460 --> 00:27:49.299 it's like if i do that i'm not i'm gonna end 00:27:49.299 --> 00:27:51.900 up being the person that i was then that i don't 00:27:51.900 --> 00:27:54.440 want to be anymore and so that's why like you 00:27:54.440 --> 00:27:56.819 look at my social media it is my wife my dog 00:27:56.819 --> 00:27:59.500 and my baby and maybe a couple of golf things 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:03.289 here or there but i'm a terrible influencer, 00:28:03.369 --> 00:28:06.130 if you want to still call me that. Yeah, I believe 00:28:06.130 --> 00:28:09.089 people compromise for the most part. Most people 00:28:09.089 --> 00:28:11.869 will when it comes to social media. Do you have 00:28:11.869 --> 00:28:15.630 a message for young people who are, I mean, they 00:28:15.630 --> 00:28:17.710 all want to be, not all, many of them want to 00:28:17.710 --> 00:28:20.930 be influencers. They gauge their self -worth 00:28:20.930 --> 00:28:22.710 by the number of likes and followers that they 00:28:22.710 --> 00:28:26.730 have. I mean, you had a taste of it at the highest 00:28:26.730 --> 00:28:30.180 levels. What's your... recommendation or suggestion 00:28:30.180 --> 00:28:33.420 to young people? What do we do? This is a problem. 00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:39.740 I would say it's an okay thing to pursue if that 00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:42.480 is honestly what you want to pursue. If you want 00:28:42.480 --> 00:28:44.200 to pursue it because you think it's going to 00:28:44.200 --> 00:28:48.259 lead you to some light or happiness at the end 00:28:48.259 --> 00:28:50.980 of the day, you're incorrect. And I think it 00:28:50.980 --> 00:28:55.210 was Jim Carrey had a quote. i read when all this 00:28:55.210 --> 00:28:58.210 stuff was going on or it was before this he said 00:28:58.210 --> 00:28:59.809 like i wish everyone in the world had all the 00:28:59.809 --> 00:29:04.849 fame and money and and accolades or whatever 00:29:04.849 --> 00:29:06.970 the quote is and understand that at the end of 00:29:06.970 --> 00:29:08.789 the day it won't make them happy and man that 00:29:08.789 --> 00:29:13.190 is so correct because i had all that you know 00:29:13.190 --> 00:29:16.029 and at that time i had the most money i've ever 00:29:16.029 --> 00:29:18.589 had had all these people tell me they love me 00:29:19.210 --> 00:29:20.750 I had all these brand deals that wanted me to 00:29:20.750 --> 00:29:22.690 do this, this, and that. I had people fly me 00:29:22.690 --> 00:29:26.029 out to go to clubs to pay me $3 ,000 just to 00:29:26.029 --> 00:29:28.390 party in a club for two to three hours. Like, 00:29:28.390 --> 00:29:31.609 had all that. And for me, being a kid from Alabama, 00:29:31.769 --> 00:29:33.529 that's a huge deal. I understand it's all relative. 00:29:33.730 --> 00:29:36.369 But it didn't do anything for me in the end. 00:29:36.490 --> 00:29:38.769 It just left me wanting more. Because at what 00:29:38.769 --> 00:29:41.609 point, when do you stop with that? You don't 00:29:41.609 --> 00:29:43.470 just cut that off and say, hey, I'm satisfied. 00:29:43.750 --> 00:29:47.170 You're not. And so I would stress highly that. 00:29:47.920 --> 00:29:51.160 It is a career field that will not satisfy long 00:29:51.160 --> 00:29:54.940 -term. It's like I think of the Kardashians, 00:29:54.940 --> 00:29:58.619 and they've done it long -term, but at what cost? 00:29:58.640 --> 00:30:01.619 I mean, the way they've done it just must be 00:30:01.619 --> 00:30:06.559 so manufactured. I can't even imagine what it's 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:09.660 like to be them or how much of their souls they've 00:30:09.660 --> 00:30:12.960 sold in order to have this long -term successful 00:30:12.960 --> 00:30:17.470 career. Yeah, that's a really good point. I feel 00:30:17.470 --> 00:30:19.230 like you have to give up so much to get to that 00:30:19.230 --> 00:30:21.349 point, and there's no telling what all they've 00:30:21.349 --> 00:30:25.309 given up. Do you have any regrets about your 00:30:25.309 --> 00:30:27.630 journey? I mean, it's such a unique experience 00:30:27.630 --> 00:30:29.670 that you've had. I believe I saw an interview 00:30:29.670 --> 00:30:32.170 where you said 1 % of the people have experienced 00:30:32.170 --> 00:30:34.869 what you have. It's not 1%. I mean, we're talking 00:30:34.869 --> 00:30:41.890 like .0001 % have experienced what you have to 00:30:41.890 --> 00:30:44.730 be extraordinarily well -known in a very short 00:30:44.730 --> 00:30:47.319 period of time. you know do you have any regrets 00:30:47.319 --> 00:30:49.960 if you could do things all over again what would 00:30:49.960 --> 00:30:54.220 you have done differently i love this question 00:30:54.220 --> 00:30:56.980 man because my first thought to it is yeah and 00:30:56.980 --> 00:30:59.339 i automatically go back like every human and 00:30:59.339 --> 00:31:02.200 look at all the bad stuff that i ever did and 00:31:02.200 --> 00:31:04.119 all the things or all the things that people 00:31:04.119 --> 00:31:06.400 thought were bad that i ever did and all the 00:31:06.400 --> 00:31:08.579 stuff on social media and all this but in reality 00:31:10.290 --> 00:31:12.349 I don't regret it at all. Wouldn't be on here 00:31:12.349 --> 00:31:14.049 with you. Wouldn't have my baby boy downstairs 00:31:14.049 --> 00:31:16.009 crying. Wouldn't have my wife. Wouldn't have 00:31:16.009 --> 00:31:18.210 the life that I live right now. I do not regret 00:31:18.210 --> 00:31:20.549 a single bit of it. And it's easy to think about 00:31:20.549 --> 00:31:24.490 what could I change? And when you have that mentality, 00:31:24.529 --> 00:31:26.470 you tend to overlook what's in front of you right 00:31:26.470 --> 00:31:28.470 now. And I've been doing that for way too long. 00:31:28.690 --> 00:31:31.970 And so don't regret anything. I love everything 00:31:31.970 --> 00:31:34.490 that's given me. You know, there's a paradox 00:31:34.490 --> 00:31:37.740 like. The people that are most successful on 00:31:37.740 --> 00:31:39.900 social media are the ones that are authentic 00:31:39.900 --> 00:31:43.880 because people can smell inauthenticity a mile 00:31:43.880 --> 00:31:47.619 away. But if you're authentic, then you might 00:31:47.619 --> 00:31:51.579 be pigeonholing yourself because you have conservative 00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:56.099 values, for example. And so you alienate a huge 00:31:56.099 --> 00:32:00.839 portion of the world. Do you have any thoughts 00:32:00.839 --> 00:32:05.059 on that? What's the right thing to do? I think 00:32:05.059 --> 00:32:06.940 it's something that you enjoy and you truly believe 00:32:06.940 --> 00:32:13.259 in. I don't think I thought about that for a 00:32:13.259 --> 00:32:15.259 long time. Like when I was back in it, should 00:32:15.259 --> 00:32:17.440 I post political stuff or do I want to stay out 00:32:17.440 --> 00:32:18.980 of it? Stay out of it. Then technically a hundred 00:32:18.980 --> 00:32:21.359 percent in the country, I have access to the 00:32:21.359 --> 00:32:23.460 post political stuff and it's only 50%. Do I 00:32:23.460 --> 00:32:26.299 really want to do that? And I just think at some 00:32:26.299 --> 00:32:28.259 point what you really care about and what you 00:32:28.259 --> 00:32:31.000 really value will come out. And when it does 00:32:31.000 --> 00:32:32.759 come out, you're going to find yourself enjoying 00:32:32.759 --> 00:32:34.900 that a whole lot more because you feel like you're 00:32:34.900 --> 00:32:37.119 being true to yourself than just trying to speak 00:32:37.119 --> 00:32:40.420 to a wide range of audiences. Now, there are 00:32:40.420 --> 00:32:42.160 plenty of people who have done something completely 00:32:42.160 --> 00:32:44.240 different than that, been very successful. Speaking 00:32:44.240 --> 00:32:49.200 from my end, through my lens, I view what you're 00:32:49.200 --> 00:32:51.299 passionate about and what you love to do. That's 00:32:51.299 --> 00:32:53.160 what you should speak about. I think so, too. 00:32:53.220 --> 00:32:58.240 Just be true to yourself. who cares what people 00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:01.039 think and really don't try not to chase those 00:33:01.039 --> 00:33:04.480 likes and the positive comments and subscribers 00:33:04.480 --> 00:33:07.900 and followers so much because it's You know, 00:33:07.920 --> 00:33:09.940 you can get consumed by it. It's a very strange 00:33:09.940 --> 00:33:14.039 times that we live in yeah, and food for thought 00:33:14.039 --> 00:33:18.480 too, it's it's like It's easy to say, you know 00:33:18.480 --> 00:33:21.579 don't care what other people say but we often 00:33:21.579 --> 00:33:24.740 get caught in this mindset of We try to think 00:33:24.740 --> 00:33:26.920 about what other people think about us, whether 00:33:26.920 --> 00:33:29.700 they like us or don't like us. It's funny. If 00:33:29.700 --> 00:33:31.880 you really think about that, you are telling 00:33:31.880 --> 00:33:34.500 yourself that this person thinks negatively about 00:33:34.500 --> 00:33:37.000 you and you're trying to put your own thoughts 00:33:37.000 --> 00:33:39.279 into their mind. When in reality, you have no 00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:41.599 idea what this person's thinking of you. And 00:33:41.599 --> 00:33:44.039 in reality, most of the time, no one's thinking 00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:45.460 of you. They're all thinking about themselves 00:33:45.460 --> 00:33:48.460 and how to try to get by on their own. And even 00:33:48.460 --> 00:33:50.700 a little snippet on social media, they leave 00:33:50.700 --> 00:33:52.779 you. More than likely, you're in a... they're 00:33:52.779 --> 00:33:54.380 in a bad mood and you were just their outlet. 00:33:54.880 --> 00:33:58.400 And I wish I would have known that years ago 00:33:58.400 --> 00:34:01.359 because it would have saved me a lot of time, 00:34:01.559 --> 00:34:04.599 a lot of anger and a lot of heartache. And now 00:34:04.599 --> 00:34:06.940 you have a kid somehow, I mean, if you could, 00:34:06.980 --> 00:34:09.780 so you, you learned the hard way and you experienced 00:34:09.780 --> 00:34:11.940 a lot of lows and I was a similar, similar way. 00:34:12.039 --> 00:34:14.599 I were, we're wired kind of similarly and I had 00:34:14.599 --> 00:34:17.789 to dig myself out. realize, hey, time out. I 00:34:17.789 --> 00:34:19.369 didn't do anything wrong. There's nothing wrong 00:34:19.369 --> 00:34:24.670 with me. But now you have a kid. How are you 00:34:24.670 --> 00:34:27.210 going to be a parent to this kid to teach him 00:34:27.210 --> 00:34:31.989 to keep his head on straight and not be whipsawed 00:34:31.989 --> 00:34:35.349 by what people out there think of him? And in 00:34:35.349 --> 00:34:36.670 a few years from now, it's going to be even worse, 00:34:36.710 --> 00:34:41.369 I'm sure. So I am putting a heavy emphasis on 00:34:41.369 --> 00:34:45.659 effort. I'm going to praise him in public. for 00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:48.360 his effort. If he gave it a hundred percent and 00:34:48.360 --> 00:34:50.719 he knows that he gave it a hundred percent, no 00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:52.619 matter what it is, I don't care if it's school. 00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:54.739 I don't care if it's baseball. I don't care. 00:34:55.500 --> 00:34:58.099 I'm going to praise that effort. Um, and something 00:34:58.099 --> 00:35:00.139 again, it's like, you know, for years I was, 00:35:00.139 --> 00:35:01.880 I was mad at my parents because I felt like they 00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:03.760 didn't do that for us. But in reality, every 00:35:03.760 --> 00:35:05.659 parent is doing the best that they can with what 00:35:05.659 --> 00:35:08.739 they have. Right. And you know, my dad, my mom 00:35:08.739 --> 00:35:12.090 was raised on a farm. with a dad who was very 00:35:12.090 --> 00:35:14.449 strict. My dad was raised by a World War II veteran 00:35:14.449 --> 00:35:17.170 who battled demons all the time. So frankly, 00:35:17.389 --> 00:35:18.929 neither of them really knew how to be parents 00:35:18.929 --> 00:35:22.429 to my parents. I would make that argument. But 00:35:22.429 --> 00:35:26.289 I find that if I can get my child, Rowan's his 00:35:26.289 --> 00:35:29.210 name, focus on asking himself the question, did 00:35:29.210 --> 00:35:32.269 I give it my full effort? Then that's where he's 00:35:32.269 --> 00:35:34.289 going to root his happiness in is, okay, I'm 00:35:34.289 --> 00:35:35.969 going to feel satisfied. I'm going to feel happy 00:35:35.969 --> 00:35:38.510 if I felt like I really gave it my all. Not on 00:35:38.510 --> 00:35:40.909 the results. The world likes to focus on results. 00:35:41.269 --> 00:35:43.889 I want him to focus more on the process, getting 00:35:43.889 --> 00:35:46.230 to those results, more so the journey. Beautiful. 00:35:46.309 --> 00:35:49.369 And how important has your faith been on this 00:35:49.369 --> 00:35:54.949 path? Any stories you can share where your faith 00:35:54.949 --> 00:35:58.369 really propped you up or questioned your faith? 00:35:59.070 --> 00:36:03.670 Anything like that? Yeah, definitely after the 00:36:03.670 --> 00:36:07.610 show, kind of had that. You know, the victim 00:36:07.610 --> 00:36:09.630 mindset of, God, why would you do this to me? 00:36:10.210 --> 00:36:13.969 Like, why does this happen to me? And my dad 00:36:13.969 --> 00:36:15.809 actually helped me with this a lot. You know, 00:36:15.869 --> 00:36:18.849 I had, it was one of those nights where I just 00:36:18.849 --> 00:36:22.210 broke down, had way too much to drink. My family 00:36:22.210 --> 00:36:24.309 was over, and my dad, the next day, pulled me 00:36:24.309 --> 00:36:26.489 aside. He's like, son, you're not a victim. You 00:36:26.489 --> 00:36:29.050 need to quit acting like a victim. And he called 00:36:29.050 --> 00:36:31.030 me out. In the moment, I was kind of shocked 00:36:31.030 --> 00:36:33.050 and taken aback by that, but that was the best 00:36:33.050 --> 00:36:37.039 thing he could have told me. And it's like, Metaphorically 00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:38.539 speaking, what he was telling me is that all 00:36:38.539 --> 00:36:41.019 this bad stuff that you think is happening to 00:36:41.019 --> 00:36:43.659 you that you're focusing on is taking away your 00:36:43.659 --> 00:36:45.320 vision from all the great things that you have 00:36:45.320 --> 00:36:47.039 in your life and things you need to be thankful 00:36:47.039 --> 00:36:50.900 for. You are not a victim. And so instead of 00:36:50.900 --> 00:36:52.800 waking up thinking about all the bad stuff I 00:36:52.800 --> 00:36:54.980 did yesterday, I wake up and I have a gratitude 00:36:54.980 --> 00:36:57.039 journal. I write down all the stuff that I have 00:36:57.039 --> 00:36:59.360 and things I'm thankful for in that moment right 00:36:59.360 --> 00:37:01.380 there. And then I pray to God that I have them. 00:37:01.780 --> 00:37:03.639 And that's something that's been huge for me 00:37:03.639 --> 00:37:06.739 and huge for my family. It seems goofy, but every 00:37:06.739 --> 00:37:10.559 morning, me and my wife, before our dog Hogan 00:37:10.559 --> 00:37:13.059 has his breakfast, we pray over him. And it's 00:37:13.059 --> 00:37:14.820 just little acts of prayer like that throughout 00:37:14.820 --> 00:37:17.079 the day really help uplift the household. You 00:37:17.079 --> 00:37:20.059 know, Rowan, our son, is an IVF baby. Our first 00:37:20.059 --> 00:37:22.820 baby that we had, my wife had an ectopic pregnancy. 00:37:23.300 --> 00:37:26.199 And it was a huge ordeal where she got one fallopian 00:37:26.199 --> 00:37:28.059 tube removed. And so there was a lot of prayer 00:37:28.059 --> 00:37:30.460 after that because we... We've always wanted 00:37:30.460 --> 00:37:32.440 to start a family, and it seemed like our chances 00:37:32.440 --> 00:37:34.539 of starting a family got cut significantly down. 00:37:34.639 --> 00:37:37.519 And we talked about IVF, and we prayed about 00:37:37.519 --> 00:37:40.739 it. And, man, well, Roe is healthy and strong 00:37:40.739 --> 00:37:43.239 as can be. You know, it's more than just being 00:37:43.239 --> 00:37:47.340 a victim. I think these challenging times serve 00:37:47.340 --> 00:37:50.320 us in some way that are beyond our understanding. 00:37:50.659 --> 00:37:54.320 You know, how do you think it's these challenges 00:37:54.320 --> 00:37:57.090 that have been put in front of you? very unique 00:37:57.090 --> 00:38:01.110 journey have served you to become a leveled up 00:38:01.110 --> 00:38:04.690 human being well it's about exposure right it's 00:38:04.690 --> 00:38:07.510 you know if you're if you're somebody who's never 00:38:07.510 --> 00:38:09.610 been exposed any kind of significant problem 00:38:09.610 --> 00:38:10.989 like that then you're someone who's never really 00:38:10.989 --> 00:38:14.510 gonna be able to help anybody else um deal with 00:38:14.510 --> 00:38:16.469 their issues and i like to think that because 00:38:16.469 --> 00:38:20.309 i was exposed to a certain set of circumstances 00:38:21.679 --> 00:38:24.340 Although, hopefully, they're going to be very 00:38:24.340 --> 00:38:27.099 different than what my son gets exposed to. But 00:38:27.099 --> 00:38:29.800 I know how to reach in those deep, dark places 00:38:29.800 --> 00:38:31.460 and kind of pull myself out of that. And that's 00:38:31.460 --> 00:38:33.239 something I feel like I can help my family, whether 00:38:33.239 --> 00:38:36.099 it's my wife or my son, if they're ever in that 00:38:36.099 --> 00:38:40.219 predicament. And I do believe, based off how 00:38:40.219 --> 00:38:42.739 our family has each and all been exposed to different 00:38:42.739 --> 00:38:46.579 setbacks. You know, my parents went through the 00:38:46.579 --> 00:38:50.159 08 financial crisis. I mean, they had pennies 00:38:50.159 --> 00:38:52.590 to their name. at certain points in my childhood. 00:38:52.650 --> 00:38:54.550 And I remember them getting through it. And them 00:38:54.550 --> 00:38:56.329 getting through it taught me a valuable lesson 00:38:56.329 --> 00:38:58.809 on how to get through things in my own life. 00:38:58.969 --> 00:39:01.889 And I hope that me digging myself out of that 00:39:01.889 --> 00:39:03.309 hole after the show and after all the social 00:39:03.309 --> 00:39:06.150 media mayhem and everything, I can use that and 00:39:06.150 --> 00:39:08.130 teach my son valuable lessons in the future too. 00:39:08.530 --> 00:39:11.849 So you've navigated the path. You found your 00:39:11.849 --> 00:39:14.989 peace. Completely, utterly at peace and happiness 00:39:14.989 --> 00:39:18.860 and joy where you are today. Yeah, I am. Yeah. 00:39:19.199 --> 00:39:21.139 So thank you for being on the show, Garrett. 00:39:21.280 --> 00:39:25.059 It was a pleasure to meet you. God bless little 00:39:25.059 --> 00:39:27.659 Rowan. He sounds like he's in great hands and 00:39:27.659 --> 00:39:30.739 he's got a great dad. I'm sure your wife is a 00:39:30.739 --> 00:39:33.320 beautiful reflection of you. I wish you all kinds 00:39:33.320 --> 00:39:35.980 of love and success and prosperity and everything 00:39:35.980 --> 00:39:38.380 that you decide to do in your life going forward. 00:39:39.139 --> 00:39:40.880 Thank you, man. God bless. Thanks for having 00:39:40.880 --> 00:39:41.719 me. Thank you, brother.