Joe Quattrone 00:34
Welcome back to the FUZZEE’-ish podcast, the kind of sober show. I’m your host, Joe Quattrone and with me, as always are my co-hosts JMG and Kary Youman. How’s it going? How’s it going, folks?

Kary Youman 00:48
What’s going on, guys, I can’t believe we’re at the tail end of the year.

Joe Quattrone 00:51
I know. And speaking about the tail end of the year, this is a very special episode, we’re not going to bring on any additional guests, we’re just going to sit here, just the guys. And we’re going to recount what’s been going on in 2023 as it pertains to the FUZZEE’-ish podcast as well as MeTotal as a mantra. And just get into some of the best stories we’ve heard or, you know, some, some of our recollection of where we’ve been at today, just really kind of take stock, take inventory. And, you know, just give you guys a little bit of a summary episode. So you can go into next year, looking forward to future episodes. You know, real quick as we’re starting off, we’ve got some really interesting news. It was about a year ago that I thought I was flying or taking a bus. I don’t know what I was doing. I was traveling for work, and me and Jay. And we’re going back and forth on this idea of a mantra that really encapsulated what we were trying to do with this podcast. And we came up with the idea of MeTotal, which I’ve always kind of espoused it as excellence through temperance, but we’ve kind of evolved that over the time we’ve added in some layers, you know, now we’re talking about things like, you know, one better day at a time, and we’re really trying to add some depth and some texture to this movement that we’re trying to create. But yeah, we’re celebrating a year anniversary of that time. And we also just had our trademark come through so MeTotal is an actual thing now so jam, add some color to this situation. Yeah, man pumped about

JM Guthrie 02:24
it. Happy Birthday MeTotal boys. Pretty cool. November 15 2023, will be the first birthday of MeTotal. And I think reflecting on that year, and even the 12 episodes that we’ve done of this show so far, is crazy to think how we kind of started down a path of thinking about a community that we could build specific to some of the other business ventures that we’re working on together. And somehow landed on this idea of MeTotal playing off of the T total teetotallers or tea totalism pre prohibition. And I think the thing that is most interesting to me, as I’m been battling a week or two here on this side, personally within my family is like, the idea of MeTotal, and the responsibility that we’ve created by creating this show, but also just starting to really get transparent and talk about this topic is something that I think has become much greater than I could have ever expected. And I’m just so excited about where we’re headed. So we’ve got 12 episodes, and we’ve had some really interesting conversations, we’ve had some that are super deep and super heady and very, like 12 steps, a firewalking to other guests that we’ve had that really have never consumed alcohol at all, and have found a way to find purpose through other things and just live life without any substance, which is obviously the kind of the opposite end of that spectrum. And everything in between. And I think we’re just obviously scratching the surface. But the neat thing is, continuing to hear I’m interested in your guides, I have so many people reach out and say this is a topic that is not only resonating with them, but it is encouraging them to have different thoughts about consumption generally. Which, you know, I don’t know if that was the intent, but it’s so cool to feel this sheer amount of responsibility. And the opportunity really, to help people to find a different perspective and potentially, you know, go down a path of a different relationship, which ultimately could mean for a much different life and lifestyle and the thing that keeps coming back to legacy for themselves, both personally and obviously, to their families.

Joe Quattrone 04:55
Yeah, I mean, I’ve definitely seen it in friends and Family, you know, people, people are definitely seeing and receiving the message. And it’s an interesting thing because I think drinking and alcoholism versus, you know what we’re trying to espouse, which is just, you know, more of a temperate lifestyle that’s more about wellness. Either way, you cut it in either dimension that you look at it from, like, alcohol is so omnipresent within everybody’s life. So a lot of people I’ve talked to, they still drink, they have no plans on stopping drinking, but they know what we’re, they know what we’re doing, they appreciate the message, and they’ve got somebody in their life that this could be relevant for. So it’s an easy copy, paste and click and send over a text message for somebody. I’ve also heard from people in my life that do have problems with alcohol, and they’ve sworn allegiance to the podcast. And they’re loyal listeners every week, because they’re trying to figure out ways to put the bottle down and ways to kind of move in a different direction. And, you know, I think the other thing that I’m exceptionally proud of is that I think what we were trying to do originally is starting to come through because I’ve had people really appreciate the fact that we’re putting, you know, this lifestyle in a different light, you know, this idea of abstinence from alcohol, and kind of just being the best person you can be. We don’t typically hear that in Hollywood and in corporate America about people that don’t drink. So I’m excited that people are starting to really pay attention that these stories are of people that are doing an amazing job like adulting, to use a term that is thrown around quite a bit. So I’m super excited about where we’ve been to date in the first dozen or so episodes. And yeah, I

JM Guthrie 06:42
I mean, I think the thing that’s really interesting is, like most shows, most of the content that you can consume around this topic has a very explicit direction on how to do it. Like even when you think about our interview with Mike, where he’s talking about neurosciences. And he’s talking about 66 days, and he’s talking about I have this book, he wants you to follow his path. And while we want to offer that as an option, we’re here to support whatever path you have, right. So it’s, and I say this over and over, and my wife even gave me shit about it, because I’ve said it a few times, but there’s not just a zero and one, it’s everything in between. And each of our walks are different. And that’s where MeTotal comes into it that it truly starts with yourself, right? It doesn’t matter what it is, whether it’s drinking, or drugs, or gambling, or adultery, or eating too much, or what on and on, you can’t change that, if you’re not in for it for yourself, you know, if there’s any sway from pure conviction and making a change, then you’re gonna go back to it’s just the way it goes. That’s psychology. And the reality for us, with MeTotal, starts with me. And if I’m able to find that in myself, then I can give total to the rest of the folks around me. My part, you know, my family, my professional friends, my community, obviously, you guys. And so the neat thing is also, we thought about this commercially, right? Like we were really thinking about this as a commercial enterprise to some degree because of some other things that we’re working on. And I think one of the things, and Kary, I would love to get your perspective on this, like the thing that’s been really cool lately, as we start to think about, well, maybe it isn’t, it isn’t in our commercial best interest for us as individuals, like maybe what we’ve created is a community of people that are really interested in helping others. And so there’s a nonprofit or sort of foundation aspect of this, that should be where we’re really focusing. And I think that that’s the direction that we’ll see in 2024 is we’re creating a foundation around FUZZEE’ish, we’re going to start to talk about some topics and some and some nonprofits that we care about as people some of the themes that we’ve even heard on this show. It’s themes that hit close to our hearts, alcoholism, obviously, in the center of a lot of it, but veterans and veteran suicide, addiction, etc. Kary, what are your thoughts on that? Just the transition from a commercial enterprise to now, you know, really something that we want to give back to others and to be a community that can support those around us? Yeah,

Kary Youman 09:08
I mean, you guys have both said a lot. And, you know, as you guys were sharing, I know, I’ve said this in a previous podcast, and it’s just, it’s just something I’ve been sitting on a lot lately. But it’s this whole thing of like, pain pushes you until a vision pulls you and, you know, I think something that’s just been really insightful for me, just being on the podcast and talking to people is, you know, we’ve joked about it, but everyone who sort of gets on this new total path is starting from their own place, like not everyone has lost their job, you know, going through like complete rock bottom. It’s really just a switch. So just having a safe space where people can just start to talk about that I think has just been very insightful. You know, the amount of people who have reached out to me who have just been really what’s the best word to use? I keep saying inspire but I think inspired is really the best word. It’s just like, hey, you know this whole week guy decided to not drink. And instead of doing this, I’m just almost intrigued, right? Yeah, just those little, those little shifts and you start to realize like, like, sometimes your comfort can be enough pain to to create a new vision for you, you know, because I think a lot of people again, you don’t have to be rock bottom, sometimes it could just be the comfort and monotony of your life that you’re just really getting tired of, and what an incredible way, you know, to commit yourself to a MeTotal lifestyle and just kind of going back to your point JM, with us just having a wider scope and tapping into some of these organizations. I mean, its power and numbers, you know, and I think at the end of the day, you know, you have organizations that have already laid the foundation and groundwork for exactly what we’re doing, it just has a different name. So for us to align ourselves, and to have more conversations around some of these topics is going to be, I think, really impactful. But I think also to just really gonna widen our reach as we continue to just open up this talk around being kind of sober meets total, etc. So just really excited for those transformations.

Joe Quattrone 11:02
I think that’s an important one to carry, because we’ve been having this debate from a programming perspective, when we’re trying to figure out who to bring on the show. And on one hand, we want to bring in people with more hard hitting stories, because we want to cultivate an audience with people that could really use the pod, right. But on the other end, we’ve dealt with people that were more like me, which were more like, you know, I would, I would say, I’m probably still even less than a functioning alcoholic would be, but people that have been able to, you know, have alcohol in their life, and it doesn’t destroy their life. And I think one thing that has really been helpful is to see that spectrum because both ends of it need help, right. So like, there’s such a thing of picking somebody out of the ditch, right, somebody that had a really big problem with alcohol. But then one thing that we’ve been noticing is, especially on the functional alcoholic side, there’s really not a lot of programs or services that are designed and geared and catered towards those folks. But it’s still a massive problem, because you don’t know what you don’t know. And there’s no, you know, because those people can kind of keep their head above water so well and hide and conceal these things. We don’t really know the people in their lives don’t really know there’s a problem that’s much deeper than the surface that they need help digging themselves out. And so I think there’s so many people out there that don’t want to go to the 12 step route, they want to figure out how to land the plane on the tarmac and like, get off of this thing without a lot of pomp and circumstance. And I think this podcast can be for those people as well. Yeah, pretty excited, though.

JM Guthrie 12:33
I mean, I can say this for myself, I didn’t realize I had a problem until I stopped. Right? So I stopped drinking. And all of a sudden, the world just opened up differently, like I was drinking, because it was part of my life. And I was telling myself because it was part of my persona, that that was just part of who I was on a daily basis. And I was pushing back on relationships that mattered because I was in almost like a bubble of self consumption of what you know what my life needed to be and who I was. And I think about conflicts that I had with certain people over time. And it all centered back to that kind of bubble that I was living in. And alcohol was right in the middle of it, right. And so by removing myself, and starting to feel those connections, so much more visceral. And to be able to really lean into relationships in a connectedness in a connectedness way that doesn’t have any substance to take away from the true feel of that starting with at home with my wife, right? Like, wow. And I think the cool thing is, I’ve had people reach out and say, Dude, I hadn’t even really been thinking about this as a problem for me. In fact, I thought everything was all good. Like, I’m just having a beer or two with my friends after work, or I’m having beers at the club over the weekend, or I’m playing golf or whatever. And as I think about this, or I listen to your guys’ show, and I start to hear these stories, and start to hear the fulfillment that it sounds like people are finding in their life outside of the bottle that wasn’t available previously. It’s like, Hmm, maybe I should think about that. And the reason that that matters, is that the reality is, that’s the society that has been created. People just believe drinking is totally fine and normal, and it’s all good, and everybody does it. So we should all know, support each other in our consumption of alcohol, when in reality, it’s not good for you. And if you consume it more than just once every one, you know, once every month or two months or three months or once a year, it is poisoning your body and it becomes a disease. And there’s so many stories like that. And I think you know, helping to share where it can end up for people as part of also what we’re able to achieve outside of it has just created a new thought a new thought a new thinking, a new ability for people to even consider Hey, maybe I give this a shot like you know whether it’s For me or not, who knows, but it doesn’t sound like I’m a square anymore, or they got X’s on my hands or that I, you know, hit my wife and I’m in the 12 steps, even if the 12 steps is the way you have to go, we’re here to support you. Right? I just think that the way that this is all navigating, has been incredibly inspiring, and something that I’m just so excited to continue to click into with you guys.

Joe Quattrone 15:21
So two things boys. So David haggard, he’s episode I thought was a great little encapsulation, because I feel like it hits very much in between like me and J. FM’s like spec range of the spectrum, you know, kind of a problem, you know, becoming a problem, but you didn’t really see it as much of a problem until after you left the drinking world. And a lot of it was due to shame and regret. He talked a lot about, you know, having those feelings of regret after the fact and stuff like that, which I could definitely cope with, like, there’s some things that I’ve done or said, In my time drinking, we look back on it. I’m like, How could anybody have wanted to work with me or be married to me and stuff like that. But then we also had Dave out and right before him, Dave, JM kind of alluded to him as the Firewalker. The Tony Robbins guy, that kind of stuff was an alcoholic from the moment a bottle hit his lips at age 11. And now he’s 35 years sober. He still calls himself an alcoholic, he still goes to AAA he still collects a chip every year. And Kerry as the elder statesman of the Mito movement, I want to bring this back to you a little bit and ask you a question to put you on the spot a little bit. I know you didn’t, I know you, when you were getting ready to go on your journey and your walk. AAA wasn’t something that you were really interested in pursuing. You found other means to kind of quit the bottle and stuff like that. But similar to Dave, do you still find yourself this far out? Like he still doesn’t he didn’t. He said, he doesn’t think about it anymore. He’s very much past, you know, the phase of his life where he gets tempted by alcohol. But do you have the kind of reverence for alcohol that he has? He almost considered alcohol to be one of the most formidable foes that he has in his life? Because it’s so powerful that if he were to relapse, he would be dead within 24 hours? He said, How do you feel about alcohol as a formidable foe?

Kary Youman 17:17
Yeah, I mean, again, I feel like it is different for everybody. But I do think there are some people who have the disease of alcoholism, you know, there’s science that proves alcohol was on the Right. Exactly. Yeah. And I know some people are funny about that. But I truly feel for me just the way my personality is with alcohol. Because I felt kind of like di was saying in his episode, how drinking kind of turned him into, like, it opened him up, it was kind of like a social elixir to where he just felt more like himself. I think for me, because I’ve been away from it for so long. And I know how long it took me to stop. Just the thought of even trying alcohol doesn’t mean that the trade off just doesn’t feel like it’s worth me even having a SIP at this point, I could potentially be just fine and could have a glass of wine, just on New Year’s Eve. But I know myself, you know, I’d rather put that energy and attention into something that’s going to be productive and allow me to deepen my mind. So simple answer. Again, I don’t have anything against alcohol. I’m not the type of person that’s preaching at people if they want to drink a beer. But for me, personally, I just feel like it’s just not, it’s not a mix. For me.

JM Guthrie 18:27
I think he made a great point. Because I think alcoholics are so different that you meant you touched on the disease, it is a disease for people, there are people in this world, I just lost one last weekend, who truly have the disease and have no ability to get out of the way. Right. The reality of that situation is it is in their blood. That’s what Dave touched on in his episode for sure is that it hit his lips at 11 years old. I think the same thing probably happened for my uncle, and he was never able to get away from it. And then due to other health issues, got got got clean for a little bit was in recovery for several months, cancer comes back and it’s just like fucking, I’m going right back to the bottle because that’s what makes me feel okay. And that’s what sort of covers the feelings that I have in my heart and ultimately supports the disease that I have. But there are so many more people and I think this is the really interesting thing, even like Kary and I, who you know, carries 1000s of days into his alcohol sobriety. I’m only 800 and some days, but I don’t think I would kill myself and in 24 hours, in fact, I think I’d probably feel bad about it. And more importantly, I would hate to have to reset my clock. Think it’s almost a competition at this point. Just getting to the next better day.

Kary Youman 19:41
Right? Like I love the 800 days, man. There’s no only about 100 Yeah,

JM Guthrie 19:45
I mean, thank you, I feel you but like in comparison to yours, it’s nothing. But I couldn’t go back to zero at this point. I understand the responsibility that I have been fortunate enough to acquire for 100 days and to be able to share this message with you guys, because I could have never imagined being here, I really couldn’t. I had a like, really emotional time last night with my, with some family members around the recent passing of my uncle. And the reality of the situation for me is that I can’t believe that I’m here. And it’s 800 days later, and I would never have been here without you guys, I would never have been here without the support of my family, I would never have been here without support of other people that have put the bottle down before me and have given me all the wisdom and the great things that have happened. And reality is, I wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for the disease in my family. And having observed it in a variety of places, including my uncle, right. Like I saw that I saw that from a very early age, I saw the struggle, I spent lots of time with him over the last several months, both in person and through email and text communication, phone calls, etc. spent lots of time hearing him and learning about just how much of a challenge it was, and how hard it was that he wasn’t able to represent the person that he truly wanted to be at the what ended up being towards it. And he knew it towards the end of his life. And I found him motivation in what you guys do. I find affirmation that what we’re talking about matters and will make a difference for people before it’s too late. And will make a difference for people not only in our families in our own community, sort of personal spheres. But in the greater world. Because this is something that is impacting just about every single person on a daily basis. And if we can, to your point carry, just show some amount of intrigue that wonder would be like if I went a couple of days without drinking, or maybe I’ll just have one beer tonight instead of 10 beers. Or maybe I’ll go a month and all of a sudden it’s 66 days, like Mike talked about. And then before you know it’s there 800 days, and they’re talking about it, that that is what this is all about. And I’m just so excited about where we’re headed, because it matters and it’s meaningful. And it’s such a big part of this world right now. And we have such a responsibility to continue to share around.

Joe Quattrone 22:09
Amen. So yeah, I mean, I think we’ve been hitting around cancer and a couple of things. I mean, that’s the thing that I feel like is so important. And one of these days, you know, I think we’re going to as a society, we’re going to move past this thing. But for right now alcoholism is like cancer in the sense that if you don’t have it yourself, somebody in your immediate family or extended family has it, you know, so you’re going to you’re going to have to cope with it at some point whether as a direct person coping with it or as a support system for somebody else that’s dealing with things. So it’s a hugely important topic and this is not a responsibility that any of us take lightly. JM switching gears real quick. I saw a really cool picture the other day of you in PT and AR T. How was the reunion? Yeah, man I was. I was fortunate. I don’t want to name their names because I want to protect those guys ended up to be fortunate

JM Guthrie 23:01
enough to make it up to Rochester, New York to celebrate the life of their grandmother. We’ll call her KD. She passed away at 97 years old, I think on the 20/19 of October. And I think the thing that was most impressive is just that generation in general, you know, went through the Great Depression and lost her brother in World War Two. He was MIA for almost three years and ended up finding his remains in the Philippines. Her sister died of leukemia before there was any sort of treatment very quickly. And then here she made it out. Mary’s the love of her life has 10 Kids 10 And no and what during the eulogy, P T. and R T ‘s mom said she had said she was either pregnant or recovering for 20 years of her life. Wow, in a row. We’re glad that 20 Half of our life she was pregnant or recovering from it. So the neat thing about that time, though, Joe, thanks for bringing it up. It’s just the connection to people that matters, right? You cannot see somebody for a really long time. A lot of their family members I hadn’t seen in 2530 years. And you’re just right back to where we were when we were 15 years old. And the scariest part is not to take it here. But most of the people in his family I saw more when we were in high school. So we’re somewhere between let’s say 13 and 18 years old, which is right around 30 years ago. And so the ages of the people in the room that I recognized and knew very well. were our age when I was around them. So they were 4040 to 45. Now they’re 6060 to 6570 years old. And I think that was something that really helped me, to really sort of quantify how fast life is and how precious every single day is. And while they’re challenging, more times than not, you know, they’re precious and they go quick. And so, you know, staying focused on relationships and connectedness with your people is what really matters. And so I’m grateful to be able to be there with them and share that time.

Joe Quattrone 25:19
Great. Well, I think that brings us to the point in the show where, you know, since this is our end of the year recap episode, we’re, you know, for anybody that’s out there in the audience, keeping time, it is the week of Thanksgiving, right now, it’s Monday, the 20th. And by the time you hear this, it’ll be close to Christmas. So I think it’s a great time to really reflect on what we’re grateful for, you know, going into the end of the year and into 2024. And so I think the cliche thing would be to sit here and say how grateful I am for you guys, which is absolutely 100% True, but I want to, I want to go a couple of layers beneath the surface in that, and say that, I’m very excited to be sharing a common purpose with other human beings that are so amazing and, and are on a very similar walk. It’s not just that I get to spend time with my friends, it’s that we get to do so you know, like, I think I was telling you guys before the show, you know, I’m happy to go out to like a, you know, like a homeless shelter and give out Turkey servings on Thanksgiving and stuff. I’ve done that in the past, I’ll continue to do that in the future. I’m happy to tie the church and stuff like that. But there’s really something that’s been missing in my life. And that’s the ability to connect at scale with, with people with a really good message. And I think this has been something that has been missing in my life. And so, you know, I’ve I’ve always been happy and proud of myself that I’ve been able to quit drinking alcohol, but I think I don’t. I’m not really like a guy that likes to take credit for a lot of things. I’d like to be helpful to people. And I think this is serving that hole in my life. So that’s what I’m thankful for to be on that bus with you guys like driving this into the future and helping people out. How about you guys, but

JM Guthrie 27:07
I have a question for you. Have you? Have you read or heard any of Matthew Perry’s biography?

Joe Quattrone 27:15
I haven’t, I haven’t actually sat down and read it. But I’ve been seeing some stuff on social media, some I’ve been seeing a lot of things come out about his life that are just incredibly inspiring, including a lot of his interview excerpts recently that, you know, talk about how he he wants to leave a legacy outside of friends and this particular topic, I think we would get along really well with Matthew Berek, I think he’s in MeTotal are so

JM Guthrie 27:41
good, he would have crushed it, he would have crushed the show. And he would have applauded what you just said. I think one of the things I really needed was that I just finished his book, went through it really quickly after his death. And he wanted to be remembered as somebody that could help people to stop drinking or to find recovery from addiction. And one of the things that really stuck for me that he says is that he knew he could help people to find that path. And when people said, Well, what’s your trick? He said, I don’t have a trick. And they said, Well, how do you do it? He says, I’m not really sure. There’s some greater force involved. And I sort of had to just stop and really think about that for a minute. But there’s no it’s not ones and zeros. Everybody has their own journey. And I think what he kept talking about is what is on the other side of those decisions. And that’s the core of our show. So I love that, that you’re grateful for that. And I certainly am too.

Joe Quattrone 28:40
But one of the things that I’ve also heard about him is that he took it to extremes just like when he was an addict. He was extreme. He was extreme and sobriety even down to having a live-in roommate that was an accountability partner that was also sober for like a decade. That’s,

JM Guthrie 28:55
yeah, yeah. It’s a lady that actually worked at a rehab that he was in. I loved her just disposition and the connection that he had with her that he ended up hiring to be his assistant. I think they ended up seven, eight years together and were with him just about every single day of his life for the last seven or eight years. He could also apparently have a lot of jacks, I think it was two packs of Marlboro reds

Joe Quattrone 29:20
a decade, okay, most of these people aren’t from rest and you’re gonna have to unpack what Jack’s are,

JM Guthrie 29:25
ya know? So he talks about that, you know, his day hid in his pocket. He had his phone and his cigarettes. And that was basically what got him through these terrible times. After he had a horrible health emergency his colon exploded and you know, six or seven months off of basically rehab and he never really recovered, but afterwards when he got on his feet, he said he couldn’t lose his Marlboro reds, cigarettes. Like considering he says Latin was his favorite drug which is like some crazy ass prescription that they give you to basically chill you out when you’re having a seizure. He had been on one for a minute for sure. Wow. Yeah. But you carry?

Kary Youman 30:13
Yeah, you know, it’s interesting. Um, I mean, real talk, this has been a, it’s been a very it’s been a very colorful year for me. And I guess I could say that every year. But I think this year in particular, I feel like I felt the full spectrum of things. And gratitude really is at the base of everything that I’m experiencing. Because without it, I don’t know where I would be right now. So instead of sharing gratitude, I’m going to share a quote that I heard a few years ago, but for whatever reason, it just really resonates. I’ll just read it. And, you know, when I read this, this isn’t from a religious standpoint, so I’m not trying to, you know, put my faith on anybody. This is just from a spiritual component. So I’ll take it well, but it’s, I asked for strength. And God gave me difficulties to make me strong. I asked for wisdom. And God gave me problems to solve. I asked for prosperity. And God gave me brain and brawn to work. I asked for courage, and God gave me a danger to overcome. I asked for love. And God gave me troubled people to help. I received nothing that I wanted, and I received everything I needed. And it’s just interesting, because I think sometimes in life, it’s like, we want something. But I think the realization is, well, if you really want this thing, you have to build the muscle to be able to maintain it. And that’s what I’m realizing right now. It’s like, all of my prayers are coming true. But it’s like, oh, wow, this is actually kind of hard. So just hanging in there. And just having gratitude for the journey has been just really important for me this year, I think, without tapping into this mean, total lifestyle, I would definitely be in a much darker place, and very disconnected from my heart, which I feel very connected to. So yeah, I’ll just say that. I love that.

32:03
It’s awesome.

JM Guthrie 32:03
I’m reading a book on a daily basis, the daily stoic, I’ve told you guys about that in I think two days ago, basically said, live in the present. Right? Like, you know, and the reality is, you can be worried about something or you can be excited for something and that ship goes away. So you just have to focus on what you have right in front of you certainly aligns to a lot of that quote, which I’m a huge subscriber to as well. Yeah.

Joe Quattrone 32:27
I love what you said, Kary, I love that quote. It’s amazing. And it kind of speaks to that purpose, right? So like, if, you know, for me, it’s like, you have to understand why you’re here on this earth, right? And you’re not here by chance. And it’s just not, it’s not a random thing. And as long as you understand that, you understand that the things that we need in life aren’t, aren’t often going to be the things that we want, we’re here to learn. We’re here to learn things not to be coddled and pampered. Right. So like, you know, you know, going through long suffering, leads to knowledge and knowledge leads to purpose, right. So I think that’s kind of like the space in which that comes from. I also, I mean, not necessarily get too deep into philosophers or psychologists or whatever. But I heard another great one that kind of stopped me in my tracks the other day. And it’s less of a quote, and it’s more of like a principle for how to live your life. And that is don’t compete with other people, compete with who you were yesterday, right? Because if you’re competing with other people, you’re always going to fall short of some grandiose expectation, plus, you don’t know what’s going on in their life, what fuels their success, or lack of success. But you know, what fueled your lack of success yesterday, and you can compete with that person to be slightly better today. Right? So as long as we’re striving to up, you know, JM, you mentioned your 800 days, well, tomorrow could be 801. And that’s better than 800? Yeah, I saw,

JM Guthrie 33:53
I saw another feeling, you know, I’m living in my dreams, I gotta, and I’ve said that to both of you. I don’t know how this all happened. But I feel like I’m 42 years old and have gotten to a place where I truly feel like I’m living in my dreams, but I’m still waking up from time to time on a daily basis and having concerns about something going on in my life, either personally or professionally. And I saw a quote similar to the one about not comparing yourself to others that said, You dreamed for this life, right? Like 10 years ago, I think it’s 10 years ago, you dreamed for everything that you have now, and I think it just gives me an ability to take a step back and realize 10 years ago, I dreamed for way less than what I have now. And so you know, being grateful and and having a level of humility, and staying, you know, convicted to getting better on a daily basis sharing that with the people that matter in my immediate sphere, but then also with you guys on this show, to hopefully make a difference is something that I’m Probably the most passionate about today than I am about anything professionally because it just comes with such a responsibility. And when things happen, like these last couple of weeks, it just reaffirms how important it is, and how close to home it is for all of us. So.

Joe Quattrone 35:17
So, you know, I’ve loved those gratitudes that we all shared. But you know, since we want to keep our feet firmly planted here on planet Earth, I’m going to ask you guys on the ground, what, what, what’s on those feet that are firmly planted here on Earth, and we’re going to do a segment of feet heat. So I think Joe should go first, because, you know, he’s

JM Guthrie 35:38
got the same new balances that he always has on,

Joe Quattrone 35:42
He gets so excited that they always look the same. It’s the standard deviation.

JM Guthrie 35:47
Right? Yeah, exactly. Let’s see the standard deviation. Oh, the new 999 90 Made in America. Oh, clean? I didn’t know.

Joe Quattrone 35:59
of the other 920 $200 I’ve got all the different kinds of new bounces. But these are: Is there a difference between things made in other places and made in America? I can tell you, these are solid constructed shoes. I mean, things are I haven’t

JM Guthrie 36:13
had a 990 odd since the orange sub school. I’m pretty sure. Orange school was the last time I had a 990 on while

Kary Youman 36:21
I had five, seven fours at that time. Five, seven fours have sizes black.

JM Guthrie 36:27
Yeah, those are? Did they start going up? So they used to go up every year? Did they just stop at 990 and then just start adding accouterments to it? No, they in America join or they have like a 999. Or

Joe Quattrone 36:40
they’re also I mean, I went for many years like 2013 to 2015. And I was getting into the 1500s and the 13. And then a lot of different ranges of shoes. But what happens is every like 10 or 20 years, they recycle the old ones and bring back new colorways

JM Guthrie 36:56
I might need to grab a pair of 990s so

Joe Quattrone 37:00
if you’re if you’ve ever spent time with anybody out in Hollywood, like this is what all of the people working on sets us Yeah,

JM Guthrie 37:06
That was 12 hours. Yeah, yeah, when I got my ass kicked is the oh and 10 qB one except for that one throw the 990s to feel better on one day. Let’s go carry what you got, man.

Kary Youman 37:18
I mean, these are tried and true men. Not in the best shape. But the old Nike SB man I like the SB firm Halloween is easy to put on. And

JM Guthrie 37:29
solid noir black.

Joe Quattrone 37:31
I don’t own a single pair of Nike ESPYS. I’m into Nikes. But I’ve always been more like the airMAX guy.

JM Guthrie 37:36
Right on Naiad. I’m out on that. I’m an SP. I’m an SPS. I’m a Nike dunker. And then as you guys know what you got on today, though, as you guys know, J like J.

Kary Youman 37:51
And so these like, great, are

JM Guthrie 37:53
great are the OG Georgetown George Jordan 180 fives Georgetown cleaner Navy Gray, and has a yellowing. Oh, the easy to try to show kind of easy try to show an old school version of said J once.

Joe Quattrone 38:15
So right off Patrick Ewing’s feet.

JM Guthrie 38:17
That’s right. No doubt. Those are nice right there. Yeah, it’s the same. There’s a red and black pair called the loss and bounce. It’s actually a recent graph.

Kary Youman 38:26
So the real question is, how many J’s do you do now? Or you have?

JM Guthrie 38:31
How many J’s Do I own that are in the rotation of Warren? Are the shirts? Yeah. Probably 30 pairs. 30. Pair.

Kary Youman 38:44
Wow. Imagine how much booze you haven’t drank?

JM Guthrie 38:47
Actually, you know, it’s interesting. It’s on my app. Let’s see what that says. So my app says, because I was putting into it, per day what I was consuming and alcohol. And it’s $40 a day because I don’t think it was every day, but there would be days I would go and spend $120. So I think you know 200-200 bucks a month is probably about right, guys. $32,480. See Jays? What, two years? 813 days?

Kary Youman 39:19
Oh, two and a half years? Yeah.

Joe Quattrone 39:21
Wow, a lot. A lot of Jordans right there.

JM Guthrie 39:24
That’s a lot of money. That’s crazy. I remember when it said 2000 And I was like, dang, that’s tight. Already. 3000 is crazy. Yeah, so afford the Jays man. I hadn’t bought it. It’s funny. I had not bought a pair in almost a year. And I had an alert on eBay for the lost and found the red and black version. You

Joe Quattrone 39:42
know, you need to do a Nike ID if I don’t know if Jordan participates in Nike ID but it would be tight to put like an 1115 on the back of one so we could commemorate me

JM Guthrie 39:51
That would be cool. Yeah, I actually found out yesterday that a friend of my daughter came over four years old. They hung out all day, the day the ad showed up. The guy’s got more Nike on than I do. I’m like Geez This guy likes the swoosh My goodness even got the swoosh pants on I’m usually a swoosh top swoosh shoes and and some Lululemon pants is usually the my go to but he’s got Nike all the way down had to turn. Yeah. And I’m like dang, clearly you like sweet she’s like, oh, actually my wife works for them I’m like, is that right? So you know, I put that in the back of my head and didn’t make an ask on the spot. But the next time that one of those really nice drops comes along, we might have to figure out how the lady in Nike, I think she’s an HR analyst. What is eight? Carey? What is HR? I wanted to know exactly what I thought that that meant. Do you think that that’s analytics around the actual humans that work at Nike? Do you think that’s analytics around the people that they want to hire? Is it some combination? What is your guess?

Kary Youman 40:53
Well, my guess is, you know, there’s the side of HR that’s more like payroll and numbers and then April, HR, that’s more human focus. So people Yeah, I’m gonna say maybe more on like actual people turnover versus how long they stay? How often they promote things like that. Yeah, I

JM Guthrie 41:12
I was like, you start thinking about all the data that they have on humans. It sounds

Kary Youman 41:17
like a very well paying job. I’ll tell you that.

Joe Quattrone 41:19
Yeah. It sounds like the cat biologist in the NFL for NFL teams, like somebody that can have oh, I want to hire this VP. But can we fit him into the cap? I’m not sure. I’m not sure.

Kary Youman 41:29
Let me do some research.

Joe Quattrone 41:32
All right, guys. This has been a great episode. And you know, I’m grateful for shoes, because that’s one of those things that ties together all the outfits so I’m grateful that all of us have an appreciation for shoes.

JM Guthrie 41:44
I say hold on, let’s close it out with one other thing and then you can carry you said this week. We were talking about something else. And Sutton, one of the preachers that you guys all listened to, now we gotta get Mike Guthrie on here. I’m a big we got it. We got to do some things like a really evangelical version of the MeTotal movement with Michael Bathory. At the hell do well,

Joe Quattrone 42:06
We’ll launch it on Sunday. That’d be perfect.

JM Guthrie 42:09
Yeah, exactly, exactly. But you mentioned one of your, one of your preacher guides that you’re listening to, was doing a sermon around just being put through trial and tribulation. So you challenge TD Jakes. And the whole idea of you got to be tested to have a testimony. And man, I haven’t I haven’t, I think that was about 10 days ago that you said that, to me, I have not had a day go by since where I haven’t literally reflected on that very small, profound statement. Because the reality is everybody that you listen to, that tells you how you can do something better, or how you can improve on something or how they went from rags to riches, or how they started their business, or how they became George, you know, the Jordan Brand, or the leader of that. It started with a trial. And man, that’s just another way to be, I think, take what we’re talking about here, but just generally across life and find motivation to keep going right? The reality is, you’ll be able to talk about it when you make it to the mountaintop. So I’m excited to do that with you guys.

Joe Quattrone 43:20
So the concept of long suffering. I think I posted about this on LinkedIn about a month ago, but like, when the Israelites asked God to deliver them from Pharaoh, he delivered them into the desert for 40 years. He didn’t just say here, here’s Israel, like go hang out and have fun and like your prayers answered, go wander around the desert for 40 years and they still were there. Mine wasn’t right all the way like they didn’t deserve to be punished by Pharaoh and be enslaved. But they also didn’t deserve their you know, their namesake or whatever the holy land until they can get past some of their selfishness and work as a team and work as a community and stuff like that. So, you know, that’s a powerful man. The world works in one weird ways, but like yeah, the Bible is littered with like examples of long

JM Guthrie 44:07
suffering. Ain’t no testimony without being tested and shit. Stopping drinking is a fucking example of that. And it is a test that is not easy. But there’s testimony on the other side. Look forward to talking about it with you boys.

Kary Youman 44:22
Absolutely, man. Glad we could do this today. Yeah,

Joe Quattrone 44:25
to refer Alright, that’s it for this episode. Check out fuzzeeishpodcast.com For other episodes, but we are your hosts. We love being here. We love delivering this message. And feel free to reach out to any of us on social media if you need help. If you want to talk to somebody, you know you’ve always got a friend in us. You’re happy to help you out. So signing off Happy Thanksgiving. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year, the whole nine yards we’ll talk to you guys later!

JM Guthrie 44:53
Happy Birthday, MeTotal.

Joe Quattrone 44:55
Happy Birthday!

JM Guthrie 44:56
Happy Birthday, MeTotal. Peace y’all. Peace out.