Joe Quattrone 00:34
On this episode of the FUZEE’-ish Podcast, me and JM catch up and JM, we haven’t seen each other in a while, we find out about my spring break with my kids, we’re gonna get ready to hear a little bit more about the trip that he’s taken to bougie paradise with his family in the next couple of hours, get into what’s going on in our professional lives. And we also get into recounting all of our fond memories of guests passed over these first 2930 episodes. So JM, what, what really stands out about this episode, and why should somebody Stay tuned for the entire thing?

JM Guthrie 01:14
Yeah, I think it was a great conversation, Joe is good to catch up. I think it was a great reflection, I think it was some honest communication about these last 30 episodes, and what’s gotten us to this point, and also what we’re so excited about for the future. And that, you know, ultimately, the level of responsibility we feel specific to this message. And really driving this mission forward is something that we don’t take lightly and want to ensure that we bring the passion and conviction on a show to show bases, both around the comps, the interviews, as well as even the promotion of the various aspects of of content that we want to bring on a weekly basis to you as our audience. So lots of conversation around that, lots of excitement for the future. And just really looking forward to continue to hone around how best to present MeTotal to a world that clearly I think is is not just resonating, but listening and you know, lots of other people are in need of so let’s look forward to would

Joe Quattrone 02:18
you say that that’s a wrap on season one. Are we announcing to the folks right now that we’re going to take a quick hiatus and come back bigger and better in a couple months?

JM Guthrie 02:28
Yeah, that’s a wrap for season one. We’ll we’ll chapter one, version one brand one, and whether it’s a couple months or even less, we’ll be back before you know it with a renewed amount of as I said, focus commitment and conviction to this this story and and this space that we feel so passionate about and look forward to continuing the narrative for

Joe Quattrone 02:55
All right, well that’s a wrap on season one when you see us next time we might have different backgrounds I might let you know what’s behind door one two or three who knows JM might not be in the in the fishbowl when you see a man but we’ll still be the same guys with the same hardcore message about really focusing in on your personal wellness and and learning that so love yourself and live your best self outside of alcohol and yeah, we thank you so much for your attention and your tune in and we will see you see you around very shortly. Signing off Welcome back to the FUZZEE’ish podcast the kind of sober Show I’m your host Joe classroom and with me as always, my boy am J Yeah. Are you doing today? We’re doing a bro sesh right now so it’s just gonna be me and you know, guests. But you know, we haven’t even had a chance to catch up the past couple of weeks . I feel kind of strange that a lot more often. What’s been what’s been going on and you in the family’s life how things go,

JM Guthrie 03:59
man, busy, busy. In my world. Work has been crazy. Lots of different customers and people related stuff that I’ve been working through. And it’s been sort of all encompassing to some degree. Just got back from shop talk. The big retail commerce show out in Las Vegas. It always kind of feels like deja vu. The same people, the same venue, the same software, the same clients, but it was a good good time out there. Got to see some folks I’ve known for a really long time.

Joe Quattrone 04:37
You know, how’s the sphere looking in Vegas? I haven’t been back to Vegas since the sphere opened up. Does that look very prominent on the Strip? Yeah,

JM Guthrie 04:45
I mean, we were out at the Mandalay Bay. So when you land you can see the sphere. You can definitely see the sphere sort of out there. It’s far enough away that it’s kind of outside of like the general strip as it may but yeah, dude, it’s super cool the way that It basically can be a display advertisement as well as like this immersive spherical item in the, in the sort of grander scene of the of the strip is is pretty cool. I’ve had a bunch of people that have gone there and apparently it’s like out of this world but some of the concerts yeah so some folks that I was with actually went and saw the movie, the sort of immersive nature movie that they play every hour or so and said it was super cool. I think for the first time I want to see some sort of artists. It’s too bad I missed you too. I think that would have been super cool. But um, yeah, maybe apparently it was pretty awesome to do.

Joe Quattrone 05:39
Maybe one day we can get Fuzzee water into that venue as something that you can partake in while you’re looking at cool stuff.

JM Guthrie 05:47
Yeah, man, for sure. And that you know, it was obvious that the whole scene in Vegas was big. Nevada’s have obviously a pretty predominant rec legal state now. So there’s a lot of different sorts of outlets. A lot of people talked about cannabis generally while I was there as well, which was interesting. So yeah, man, just super busy trying to stay healthy, trying to continue to eat the right things and move my body 20 minutes a day. We’re actually going on vacation tomorrow for spring break. No, you already did that. But looking forward to some r&r with the family as well. You guys go well, since we got out of now we’re actually going Yeah. So we’re going down to the Caribbean to a place that some people recommended to us that has a great sort of water pool experience for the kids kids club. A little bit of golf, so should be. Should be pretty awesome. Yeah.

Joe Quattrone 06:43
Spring break was not that relaxing. We loaded up the Denali and headed out to Northeastern North Carolina and hung out with Jenny Quattrone or Jenny Olivary, I should say, and this up dogs crew, we had eight kids and six adults in Jenny’s house, which was pretty funny because actually Jimmy Donaldson Mr. Beast still lives in Greenville, from what Jeff tells me and in their house is bigger than his house. So that’s their kind of claim to fame. He still lives in

JM Guthrie 07:14
the house that he lives in, the house that he lives in. He owns the whole neighborhood, I think, right? Like he has like,

Joe Quattrone 07:19
open like, he’s also got a massive creator studio there or whatever. But sadly, we didn’t run into Jimmy but we did go to soft dogs twice. And that’s more calories than I care to consume. And an entire month. We’ll probably get our fix for the year there for sure. But it was good. It was the first time my parents had all of their grandkids in the same place at the same time. Oh, wow. So yeah,

JM Guthrie 07:45
so Big Joe and Barbara were in town to see it live.

Joe Quattrone 07:50
Okay, they moved down to Greenville, like five years ago from retirement to, you know, obviously Greenville doesn’t cost as much as Reston. So they moved down to Greenville. You know, because close to Jenny and her kids and whatnot and get into the fold. I didn’t I didn’t I didn’t take too much of offense because at the time I was living in New York City, and I realized that pretty Manhattan’s so now,

JM Guthrie 08:18
I didn’t. I guess I didn’t realize that they had moved down there. That’s cool.

Joe Quattrone 08:21
That’s, that’s your reason. It’s hard for me to get back to Nova because I don’t have criteria there. And I have gotten to see her once or twice. But you know, when I load up the family, it’s every time it’s gonna cost like 2000 $3,000 would go out to Virginia. Yeah, make it count. You know, so that’s why this last time I took a solo trip with two kids. And we went to the commander’s game. That was a nice, yeah,

JM Guthrie 08:46
I remember that. That was yeah, the commander a lot, a lot of good news in that, that world these days, too. So how was the new? Did you check out the new venue? Their new cocktail place was? Yeah,

Joe Quattrone 08:57
It’s really cool. I mean, they’re just, you know, Jenny, and Brett, they just keep, you know, they’re just keep hitting like, you know, gap doubles all the time working on that business, because they’ve got their successful restaurants, they’ll probably move into Raleigh one of these days as well. And their beloved, you know, that’s kind of their biggest college thing down there. But then they’ve also got, you know, some rental properties that they own. From a gist housing perspective, they own a couple warehouses. And the warehouse thing was what gave them the idea to create the distillery and then the distillery gave them the idea to create the brand and now, actually, they were the number one buyer of vodka in the state of North Carolina, and now they just buy it from themselves. So it’s a nice little racket if you can come across it. Yeah, it’s also very important to create a successful brand that purchases a ton of alcohol and then buys it from yourself. Right? Yeah, that’s awesome. I don’t really condone the consumption of alcohol but once I know I condone it, but I don’t partake in it myself. But you know, it’s because they’re doing it the right way. It’s their way of making it super clean. It’s mega distilled, it’s got no real impurities in it. And even the way they mix it in with other stuff that’s all organic, like, you know, good natural products, no fake sugars and artificial stuff. So I’m happy for them. Well,

JM Guthrie 10:23
The interesting thing is, this show is all about being our best selves. And clearly those folks have been living a great life and being their best selves for some time and have created a community and our, our catering to a community through the various things that they do and all the philanthropic stuff that they do specific to the charitable causes. And obviously, the university, the ECU, and that’s all commendable. So whether it’s what we partake in or not all good, and obviously always want to throw some shine on those folks, not just because they’re your blood relatives, but because they’re good humans as well, right? Yeah, for sure. And,

Joe Quattrone 11:05
You know, I can’t help but think one of these days that the state of North Carolina will go the same way as some of these other states, and we’ll be doing them down the road. So Brad is just one of those humans where you meet him. I mean, I’ve known him now for 20 years, but like, you meet him and you instantly like him, and you want success for him. So, so I’m happy for

JM Guthrie 11:28
him. You know how long I’ve known that dude, do you know this? Know that I’ve known him? Longer than you? Yeah. Yeah, he was in a jam. Yeah, yeah. So he was my age or he is my age. She’s the same grader. JMU Oh, three, same year. Jenny, Rob, went to Lake Braddock High School is 99 Grad just like I was at South Lakes. 99. And here’s where it gets really interesting. He played for Burke, select basketball, starting at about the age of like, I think eight or nine years old. So we’re talking 3334 years ago, Brett Oliver Aereo. His dad was the coach. Basketball in Indiana, there’s, you know, yeah, so his dad was his coach for all those years. And I played for the rest of the Seahawks, which then obviously became the South Lake Seahawks with a bunch of heads that you would recognize name wise. And we lined it up against Brett from like eight or nine years old through senior year of high school and basketball, right. So that was, you know, 789 years of hoops. And then we went to JV together and had known each other since we were eight or nine. I

Joe Quattrone 12:36
i still probably knew around the same amount of time because you weren’t strong words for that. Yeah. You

JM Guthrie 12:40
and I have known each other maybe longer, but I’m saying I’ve known him longer than I got him longer than I’ve done. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah. And so when he was 20 years old. Yeah, exactly, exactly. So that’s, you know, it’s funny when you start to think about just how intertwined the world is, and relationships and all those things. And I think that’s the thing that I’ve really learned as part of this process. And having gone through these, you know, shows with you, over these last several months, and all the different conversations and all the different backgrounds of people and all the different relationships that folks have with alcohol, or all the different ways that people are trying to live their best selves through better relationships with alcohol, that we’re really onto something right. So the interesting thing is, it’s gone so far outside of the sphere, of what we intended, being, as we talked about a few different times kind of a platform for some of the more commercial things that we’re thinking about, on our side, specific to, to Fuzzee and Fuzzee water, but also just, you know, supporting what is becoming a much different industry specific to cannabis and other ways, you know, sort of more natural ways to relieve stress to, you know, drive less anxiety to help suicide awareness to help people from committing suicide and on and on and on. And I think it’s gotten just so much bigger than what we intended, or what we even thought it was going to be. And so what has been, you know, sort of like to tie this back to what we wanted to really get into today, like, me, total is a big deal, right? Like all of a sudden, we’re starting to hear from so many people about the impact that even just that thinking or that specific thought, sort of string of being a better person, living a better life with alcohol, but ultimately, just living our best lives and being the best version of ourselves. How there’s really not a great motto for that, and there’s really still not a great theme. And we’ve done a poor job of really expressing that or putting that out in front of this show. And I think you know, that’s the thing. You and I have been talking a lot about how we improve the message How we can help people even more than we have been, by, you know, looking at the way that we both talk about, but also mark it or push the content that we create as part of this podcast. Yeah.

Joe Quattrone 15:13
So I think, you know, being as transparent as possible for the audience, we are getting ready to kind of take a break from producing and putting out podcast episodes, mainly due to what Jim is saying, but also to kind of get some of our lives in order. Because we’re at a busy season of life in general, obviously, it’s why our third co host is not here today, we’ve just got a million things going on. We’re trying to launch several businesses. And although we’ve done a pretty fairly good job of getting together regularly and hosting these episodes and booking guests, we don’t want to do it in vain necessarily. And we do feel like in the order of magnitude, or the pecking order, you should say, when it comes to communicating out what’s on our heart minds as it pertains to this subject matter. We feel like coming back stronger, with a more refined MeTotal message is better than, you know, coming in with a convoluted Fuzzee message when Fuzzee is the commercial enterprise for us. It’s just not really, as maybe we once intended it to be, it’s not as relevant for this podcast as the broader kind of movement that we’re trying to, you know, wrap our heads around and wrap the words around, if you will. So, you know, I think we’ve learned a ton, I think we have a ton of insight, I feel like what we’re doing, and what we’re saying, is really scratching the surface of a much larger thing out there. And I see it every day, I see it just in general interactions, you know, casual conversation, serious conversations, there just seems to be a lack of interest in alcohol, probably more so than there ever has been in my entire life. And, you know, I think people are more, they’re trying to look out for themselves and trying to put themselves in better positions to succeed as human beings, which is something that I’m excited about watching and participating in, in the future. So it’s my hope that we come back with a renewed sense of purpose and better words to describe what we’re trying to do here. But I still feel like MeTotal is a great encapsulation. And we just have to figure out a way to make it more consistent, make it more loud and proud, if you will. Yeah,

JM Guthrie 17:40
no, I think that all that all, that is very true. And I would just add, this is an enormous responsibility, right? This is such a, this is such a huge and heavy topic that so many people are challenged with on a daily basis, or so many people are on different levels, or variations of Journey specific to changing their relationship with, with anything that is obviously impacting their ability to do do their best or be their best. And obviously, alcohol is sort of the center theme for us. I don’t feel comfortable continuing to get on this microphone and talking with you guys, even talking with our guests without having the right level of passion and commitment to that story. Right. And so as soon as you and I had the conversation over the last king of two weeks about the fact that we weren’t putting enough emphasis into the things that we had put emphasis around, but also the thinking that we needed to put into both our message as well as the sort of duty by which we were bringing these folks on to to our channel. It just makes sense to take a step back and look at how we can do that better? How can we ensure that we’re carving out the right amount of time? How can we make sure that we’re putting enough passion and emphasis around something that we feel so passionately, in emphasized around right, and it’s just in so it’s kind of like a perfect time to book and think about the brand, think about the way we talk about it, think about really putting MeTotal centerstage potentially putting some even some creative and some illustration around MeTotal start to actually reflect that from a more visual perspective versus just words. And, you know, I think we’re, at least I just feel so confident about the message generally. And the fact that we total really captures what it is that we’re trying to, to move forward and just needs that level of investment both from a time energy and passion perspective, in order to really be delivering for our audience, but also this space in a way that all of us can feel good and sort of proud about if that makes sense.

Joe Quattrone 19:47
Yeah, and for the audience members out there. I encourage all of you guys if you know us on social media, you know that we’re accessible. You can reach out to us in the DMS. You can email us if you have our email addresses. Whatever you need to do, I encourage you to reach out to us, give us your input, give us your insight, and help us come back with a vengeance here. But, you know, I still hold firm. And the vision for this is right, right. So the world is moving beyond alcohol in a really meaningful way in the near future. And there’s just never been a time in human history where I can recall where you had anything else other than a 12 step program to help you get past that. And I think I’m not necessarily saying that we need to step into that void in a very, you know, massive commercial capacity. But I think the world deserves a bunch of different options when it comes to showing them, you know, the way forward in a more healthy, healthy way, that’s more positive. And I think there’s room in the world for a movement like MeTotal. So any insights you have, we’re all ears help us come back, even better than we are now. Yep. Now,

JM Guthrie 21:00
for sure. And if nothing else, you know, it’s cool to have scenarios and situations that just remind us of the journeys that each of us are on, and just this past weekend, there’s a pop up store at the new market in DC. That’s a non alcoholic beverage, basically, a wine shop, you know, has fake beer and fake liquors and all these different fake wines and tastings. And so my oldest son Jack runs over and says, Dad, dad, dad, there’s this, there’s a fake beer store over here, you got to check it out. And I tell you what, man, just to see in his face, the enthusiasm and excitement of supporting my desire and my journey of being a non drinker. Like that’s what it’s all about, right? That just the fact that it’s having an impact on him is enough to say, for me, that this is the right decision. And that, you know, has created at least the best model that I can, given the circumstances. And you know, I’m not there yet, I definitely don’t think I’m living the best version of myself yet. But if I keep moving my body on a daily basis, and I can keep staying away from that alcohol, at least I think you miss close to it as I’ve ever been. And I believe very much that this platform will continue to be a big part of my life. And certainly, Joe our relationship as we go forward as well.

Joe Quattrone 22:26
Cool. So we’ve put out 2029 episodes now, which is more than 99.7 or 99.9% of people that attempt to create podcasts. What people are, which people are which moments stand out to you the most over the past 30 or so episodes to call people’s attention to if somebody’s casually watching right now. And this may be the first time they ever tuned in. What should they go back into the archives and pull out what were some of your favorite podcasts and favorite favorite moments on the pod?

JM Guthrie 23:01
Yeah, so we had Dave on who had worked for Tony Robbins and he talked about he was a world renowned Firewalker and he put on these big firewalking shows I’d never heard of. And so just even the education of what, like two weeks, Okay, nice

Joe Quattrone 23:20
quarter with Dave Alban doing a firewalk for vets out there in California. So nice.

JM Guthrie 23:25
Yeah, so that was you know, one way especially because of just how passionate and how much conviction he had for mental wellness of veterans, and the fact that what he’s doing, you know, a big part of it is to support that crew, which is obviously something that hits really close to home. For me personally, that’s certainly one that stands out. We learned all about hypnosis, you know, I’d always thought of hypnosis as, you know, sort of a class but go to sleep, you know, do stupid stuff, that sort of thing. And I think you know, just the learning around the fact that that has such an enormous impact on mental wellness and, and anxiety and all sorts of other aspects was really super interesting. I loved all the

Joe Quattrone 24:14
viewers out there real quick that before we move on, if anybody wants to get in contact with Sarah Donner at Siva Siva wellness out of New York City, she actually hypnotizes you via zoom. So reach out to Sarah, she’s a great person.

JM Guthrie 24:27
Yes, so Sarah was a beast. You know, I love all of the themes around the various aspects of, you know, psychedelic drugs, right, whether it’s cannabis or any of the other, more sort of serious ceremonies of psychedelics like talking to Mike Holden, Brooke about all of those types of topics, I think is a really interesting world that we just kind of glanced over, but it’s going to be an enormous aspect of the just mental wellness of this planet. but also the continued sort of the continued shift of focus away from alcohol being the only thing to sort of take the edge off. Just as more and more data from a health perspective is shown that that’s not necessarily the best thing. For me, it’s really frightening. I’m not, that’s not something I don’t think I personally am that interested in doing. But just listening to the stories of people that truly have had their life change around that has been, you know, you know, really awesome. And then the last one we just recently did, or I did solo with Jack Burke, it was awesome to talk to somebody who truly said our show had a meaningful and a very real impact on his own decision making. Right. So he was six months, no beers. And you know, he had some things happen on his side, from a personal perspective that sort of helped him to see that. But he basically said, Your guyses message and leaning into the stuff that you were talking about was so helpful and so supportive of my decision and helped to get me over the hump. And I’ve enjoyed every week listening to the various stories, and it’s helped me to stay focused or steadfast in my decisioning, to move away from alcohol, and that the best version of myself, that was cool to just hear that right. And I think that there were plenty of times of people that weren’t on the show that I heard the same thing. And that’s why I’m as excited as I am to, you know, take this time to really sort of get our ducks in a row, re emphasize the focus where things need to be potentially even rebrand the way we think about the show, put some visualization around it and come back bigger and better than then we were even for these first 30 or so episodes.

Joe Quattrone 26:47
Yeah, I got the same vibes from my network as well. Hank lever actually was my friend from grad school. So it was interesting, the way we rekindled he reached out to me like, Hey, listen to this episode of FUZZEE’ish, like last week, it was awesome. I love it though you’re talking about this. And that, which spawned a separate conversation where I started drilling in on what he’s done, because I didn’t know him and somebody had given up alcohol. And it turns out, he hasn’t really he just gave it up for like, two months, it’s kind of experimenting around. And I think that’s the other thing that I want to make sure that we wrap into our tent is that we’re accepting of all people, even if you’re still not sure whether or not you want to quit drinking alcohol. We’re not anti alcohol necessarily as a group as a pie. I mean, some of us have harder feelings towards it than others. But it’s really just about supporting people, supporting your friends, supporting strangers, supporting everybody trying to live the best life that they can, and, and he was able to deliver some pretty valuable insights. Yeah, you know, the creators and Gen Z and how younger folks are even thinking about alcohol these days. So it’s, it’s beyond just people in our demographic, like it’s stretching down to people that are much, much younger than us. And that gives me a lot of hope for humanity, given that both of us are people with exceptionally young children. Yeah, I

JM Guthrie 28:04
I think I think you just summed it up really well, right. Like the Hank example is a great one. He wasn’t even sure he needed to now he has now he’s like, Man, I’m living the best version of myself. And then you have people like Willie McKenzie, who obviously had a much different, like super heavyweight addiction problem way past booze that obviously had to go to like a really significant rehab. And I think the interesting thing is, it all sums back to what we’ve talked about this whole time. It’s not about one or zero, right? It’s not about not drinking at all, it’s about how can we improve our relationship with the bottle, right? So for some people, that’s one less drink a day for others, maybe that’s one less day a week that they’re having a drink. And then, you know, obviously, the other side of that is not drinking at all. And I think that there’s so many different versions of that everybody. And we’ve learned this really, you know, tightly coupled to a lot of the conversations that we’ve had, everybody has a different journey. Everybody gets there a different way. Everybody has a different vehicle, right? Whether it’s rehab, or a, or just talking about it in a community like this. There’s no right answer. Because everybody’s everybody’s story. Everybody’s journey is a little bit different. And so if we can continue to create a space where people feel comfortable to listen and share and understand that it’s not one or zero, it really is what helps you as a human and as yourself to really start to strive to be the best version of yourself by finding a better relationship with whatever it is that that you’re having challenges with and in our case, starting with alcohol, and we really are driving this MeTotal story for it and the way that we want to, and I’m super confident that that will continue to be the case and will only come back bigger and better in this next iteration. After a short little pause here.

Joe Quattrone 29:54
Great. Well, on behalf of myself, JM and Carrie we do We appreciate all of your attention and tuning in in the several hours of conversations you’ve sat in on eavesdropped in on and listened to all of the Facebook messages Instagram, DMS, any words of encouragement we’ve gotten from people in our own personal lives that are tuned in to this podcast. You don’t have to do that. So we’re exceptionally grateful and you’ll be seeing and hearing from us in the next couple of months and we’ll be sure to alert you when we get close to that date. Signing off for now. I’m Joe patroon. And this is JM and we are the FUZZEE’-ish podcast. Much love!