WEBVTT - Believe the Unbelievable with Jon Freier 0:00:06.480 --> 0:00:07.760 Welcome to the Good Stuff. 0:00:07.800 --> 0:00:09.959 I'm Jacob Shick and I'm joined by my co host 0:00:09.960 --> 0:00:11.280 and wife, Ashley Shick. 0:00:11.960 --> 0:00:14.440 Jake is a third generation combat Marine and I'm a 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:18.480 gold Star granddaughter. And we work together to serve military veterans, 0:00:18.560 --> 0:00:22.360 first responders, frontline healthcare workers, and their families with mental 0:00:22.400 --> 0:00:26.440 and emotional wellness through traditional and non traditional therapy. At 0:00:26.480 --> 0:00:29.240 One Tribe Foundation, we believe. 0:00:28.960 --> 0:00:31.520 Everyone has a story to tell, not only about the peaks, 0:00:31.520 --> 0:00:33.520 but also the valleys they've been through to get them 0:00:33.520 --> 0:00:34.479 to where they are today. 0:00:34.920 --> 0:00:37.559 Each week, we invite a guests to tell us their story, 0:00:37.680 --> 0:00:40.120 to share with us the lessons they've learned that shape 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.199 who they are and what they're doing to pay it 0:00:42.280 --> 0:00:43.479 forward and give back. 0:00:44.240 --> 0:00:46.120 Our mission with this show is to dig deep into 0:00:46.120 --> 0:00:48.480 our guest journey so that we can celebrate the hope 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:50.360 and inspiration their story has to offer. 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:52.920 We're thrilled you're joining us again. 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:54.880 Welcome to the Good Stuff. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:58.960 Our guest today is an executive at one of America's 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:02.880 most well known brands, with over seventy five thousand employees 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:05.720 and many years on the Forbes Top one hundred Places 0:01:05.760 --> 0:01:06.400 to Work list. 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.160 John Fryar t Mobile is here today to tell us 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:13.279 the harrowing story of his childhood and is amazing climb 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:14.800 to the top of the American dream. 0:01:15.280 --> 0:01:17.919 John grew up in West Texas during the oil boom 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:21.160 bus that left countless families dealing with the harsh realities 0:01:21.160 --> 0:01:24.880 of poverty, including his own father's death by suicide when 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:26.640 John was just ten years old. 0:01:27.560 --> 0:01:31.160 It's truly inspiring that a corporate executive is so willing 0:01:31.240 --> 0:01:32.319 to share his story. 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:36.280 Agreed, And it's one that's so honest, vulnerable, and yet 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:40.039 so inspiring. Sit back, you guys are going to thoroughly 0:01:40.280 --> 0:01:45.640 enjoy this. We are so excited about today's episode. We 0:01:45.720 --> 0:01:49.760 have been hoping, praying, wishing and working so hard to 0:01:49.800 --> 0:01:52.400 get you on here with us. John Fryar from T Mobile, 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:54.840 thank you so much for joining us here on the 0:01:54.840 --> 0:01:55.320 good Stuff. 0:01:55.680 --> 0:01:57.880 You're very welcome. Ashley, it is so great s Year. 0:01:58.200 --> 0:01:59.000 It's good to see you. 0:01:59.240 --> 0:02:00.200 Yeah, thank you. 0:02:00.440 --> 0:02:02.400 I know it has been a last time. The last 0:02:02.400 --> 0:02:05.040 time we saw one another, I think was on Veterans 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.120 Day in late twenty twenty one, November eleventh of twenty 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.840 twenty one in New York City. You all came up 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:15.280 and you are a big part of our keynote for 0:02:15.440 --> 0:02:18.280 our Tea Mobile Veterans Day event in New York Right. 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:20.799 So incredible to go up there and get to meet 0:02:20.800 --> 0:02:23.480 more of your team. And we love t Mobile. Team 0:02:23.480 --> 0:02:25.840 Mobile and One Tribe Foundation do a lot together, and 0:02:25.880 --> 0:02:28.520 we are so thrilled to be part of the Magenta 0:02:28.560 --> 0:02:30.400 family and have you as part of the Tribe. 0:02:30.520 --> 0:02:32.880 Yeah, thank you. Well, we love what you're doing with 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:36.240 One Tribe And you know, supporting the military and supporting 0:02:36.320 --> 0:02:38.880 veterans is a big part of the fabric of our company. 0:02:39.400 --> 0:02:43.000 And we have one of our diversity, equity and inclusion 0:02:43.080 --> 0:02:47.120 networks that is called van Or Veterans and Allies Network, 0:02:47.200 --> 0:02:49.799 and tens of thousands of people are a part of that. 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:53.400 Every single year, our biggest event is at Veterans Day 0:02:53.440 --> 0:02:56.720 in New York City where we bring in people veterans 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:59.160 and guests from all over the country and come in 0:02:59.200 --> 0:03:01.560 and we participate the parade. And over the years, I 0:03:01.600 --> 0:03:04.520 know a couple of folks on my team, between Ryan 0:03:04.560 --> 0:03:07.160 Haskell and Dave Plunkett, have gotten to know all of 0:03:07.200 --> 0:03:09.639 you incredibly well. And then I got to hear more 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:12.400 of your story and I was incredibly inspired by the 0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.240 story and I'm like, absolutely, let's get more involved, and 0:03:15.480 --> 0:03:17.600 it's just an honor of ours to be able to 0:03:17.960 --> 0:03:20.720 help and participate and support you guys and what you're 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:21.200 trying to do. 0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:23.320 It's a huge deal for us. 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:27.520 And main reason being too is because T Mobile definitely 0:03:28.000 --> 0:03:31.280 went against the grain, and I dig that just because 0:03:31.520 --> 0:03:34.240 all these people are rowing in the same direction doesn't 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.360 mean they're doing it the right way, you know. And 0:03:36.400 --> 0:03:40.720 I love how T Mobile kind of broke in and 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:42.920 Mule kicked the door in and was pretty much like, 0:03:43.000 --> 0:03:45.960 here we are stand by totally. Me and Buck were 0:03:45.960 --> 0:03:48.160 talking and he runs our watch program, and I was like, 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:50.760 I really want to get to know those guys better, 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.440 because that's really indicative too of like a Marine Corps mindset. Yeah, 0:03:54.640 --> 0:03:58.760 we're going to show up and we're just not taking 0:03:58.800 --> 0:03:59.960 no for an answer. 0:04:00.240 --> 0:04:01.280 And you're going to find a way. 0:04:01.560 --> 0:04:01.760 Yeah. 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:06.120 Yeah, we will not stop moving forward, right right, So 0:04:06.320 --> 0:04:09.280 I dig that. I mean, that's really is twenty two 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.480 kil which is our roots, what we started as, and 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.160 I mean that's definitely really how we got going and 0:04:15.200 --> 0:04:20.239 got momentum in the suicide awareness aspect of the Warrior 0:04:20.279 --> 0:04:24.720 class and then evolving all the way to one trap foundation, 0:04:24.839 --> 0:04:27.680 which is full blown middle and emotional wellness for a 0:04:28.279 --> 0:04:31.200 myriad of demographics. There's a lot of similarities and I 0:04:31.200 --> 0:04:34.480 appreciate that fact. You guys are definitely a trailblazers and 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:36.080 it's to be respected. 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:38.440 Our big mantra at T Mobile for the last ten 0:04:38.520 --> 0:04:42.279 years has been three words, we won't stop. And as 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.360 you just talked about, you're finding a way and you're 0:04:44.400 --> 0:04:46.800 not stopping. That's kind of who we are is pushing 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:50.039 the boundaries and trying to change. You know, this incredible 0:04:50.080 --> 0:04:54.640 technology of smartphones and tablets and we're all connected to 0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.640 the internet, and it's historically come with all of this, 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:02.080 you know, rules and regulation and gotchas, and we wanted 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:04.159 to disrupt all of that and change all of that 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:07.800 and to help people be able to be connected to 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:09.720 their world. I mean, in fact, our mission at our 0:05:09.720 --> 0:05:11.800 company is to be the best in the world at 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:15.560 connecting customers to their world, because you can't really live 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:20.479 life without being connected to these devices. Our work, our hobbies, 0:05:20.520 --> 0:05:25.200 our friends, our family, everything is connected to these smartphones. 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:27.520 So for us, we like to push the boundaries and 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:31.960 think about what's possible, dream about what seems to be 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:35.120 impossible and go chase it. And who better to be 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:39.120 inspired than our nation's military and the veterans who bravely 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:42.760 served this country than to tap into some of that 0:05:42.960 --> 0:05:45.360 DNA and apply that within our own company. 0:05:45.520 --> 0:05:48.000 And we knew you were on the same mission as us, 0:05:48.480 --> 0:05:51.359 cut from the same cloth from the jump. We also 0:05:51.400 --> 0:05:53.359 have a couple other things in common. You are a 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:56.240 son of the Republic of Texas, I am a daughter 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:01.080 of the Republic of Texas. And we're both Native West Texans. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:06.080 That's right. Yeah, So my sixth great grandfather served as 0:06:06.120 --> 0:06:09.680 a Texas Ranger during the American Civil War, and then 0:06:09.720 --> 0:06:12.960 my seventh grade grandfather served as a Texas Ranger during 0:06:12.960 --> 0:06:15.599 the Republic of Texas between eighteen thirty six and eighteen 0:06:15.720 --> 0:06:18.839 forty five, and when Texas was its own country for 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.520 nine years. If you're from Texas, you absolutely know those 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:23.440 dayta that means, you know what that means. 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:26.279 And if you're from Texas and don't know those dates, 0:06:26.720 --> 0:06:27.280 shame on you. 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:31.040 Exactly go back to the seventh grade and retake Texas history. 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.800 You your very big world and everything that you're doing 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:39.919 and connecting so many people started out in a small 0:06:40.200 --> 0:06:42.120 West Texas town of Odessa. 0:06:42.279 --> 0:06:45.320 Yeah, I was in the middle of the vast oil 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:48.920 fields West Texas out in Odessa, the home of Friday 0:06:49.000 --> 0:06:52.080 Night Lights, Permian High School, Mojo back in the day, 0:06:52.120 --> 0:06:54.280 I guess still today they could play. They used to 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.120 can be able to really play. I don't know about today. 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:59.039 I haven't fallen into as much recently, but thanks. Yeah, 0:06:59.080 --> 0:07:02.120 I think that's right. Yeah, yeah, So half of the 0:07:02.160 --> 0:07:04.080 time before I was eighteen was a little bit of 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:07.279 town west of Odessa called Kermit, and then we moved 0:07:07.320 --> 0:07:10.880 to Odessa, and yeah, I went to grade school, junior 0:07:11.000 --> 0:07:14.720 high school, all in the Odessa area. Crazy. 0:07:17.760 --> 0:07:20.520 What was it like growing up in Odessa at that time? 0:07:20.600 --> 0:07:24.120 Ooh, so I am almost forty eight. So I was 0:07:24.120 --> 0:07:26.640 born in nineteen seventy five, so most of my time 0:07:26.760 --> 0:07:30.320 was nineteen eighty eighty one to when I left in 0:07:30.440 --> 0:07:34.240 nineteen ninety four. There's two tales of West Texas in 0:07:34.280 --> 0:07:37.840 the nineteen eighties. The first hill was this economic boom. 0:07:37.920 --> 0:07:41.440 Everybody's looking for oil under every rock because price of 0:07:41.440 --> 0:07:45.120 oil was out of control and just sky high. And 0:07:45.160 --> 0:07:47.760 then that was met by the crash in the mid 0:07:47.840 --> 0:07:50.880 nineteen eighties, and it was a really severe crash. And 0:07:50.960 --> 0:07:54.880 a lot of economic despair and major recession. And this 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:57.800 might be a little bit over dramatizing, but I think 0:07:57.840 --> 0:08:01.520 if you lived during that period of time in that 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:04.520 particular area, it was our generation's depression. It was that 0:08:04.680 --> 0:08:07.040 severe of an economic change where the price of old 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:10.680 went from thirty something dollars a barrel to seemingly overnight 0:08:10.720 --> 0:08:14.360 to about thirteen dollars a barrel, and all economic activities stopped. 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:16.720 And so it was really kind of the two tales 0:08:16.720 --> 0:08:18.800 that I got to see, which is kind of as 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:22.160 a kid, I remember riding high, the family, riding high, 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:24.400 not a care in the world, everybody having fun, and 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:27.000 you know, just all kinds of craziness for a small 0:08:27.040 --> 0:08:30.200 town craziness in the early nineteen eighties, and then by 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:32.679 the mid nineteen eighties, all of that gone away, and 0:08:32.720 --> 0:08:34.800 we're living a very different life. As I just think 0:08:34.840 --> 0:08:38.520 about my own children, who that whole time period so 0:08:38.679 --> 0:08:41.480 far has been kind of one steady time period and 0:08:41.840 --> 0:08:44.400 they don't have like what I experienced, which is just 0:08:44.600 --> 0:08:48.280 two remarkably different points of time within ten years. 0:08:48.640 --> 0:08:55.120 That's a drastic flush, yeah, that most people probably haven't experienced, yeah, 0:08:55.160 --> 0:08:57.480 in their lifetime. Yeah, me because that takes a toll. 0:08:57.640 --> 0:09:00.560 Yeah, it does. It does take a toll. And you know, 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.480 on one hand, it was so great to grow up 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:07.120 in that part of the country because people are so 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:09.840 incredible and West Texas is a little bit of a 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:13.760 different place, like anyone will do anything for you until 0:09:13.840 --> 0:09:17.439 you don't live up to your commitment, until they can't 0:09:17.480 --> 0:09:21.120 trust you, and then it's a whole different experience. But 0:09:21.559 --> 0:09:24.120 I have some of the greatest memories from being in 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:28.040 West Texas and the simple life and the awesome people 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:30.800 and still imprinted in me today. That's awesome. 0:09:30.880 --> 0:09:34.000 Yeah, it is a great special place. Yeah, tell us 0:09:34.040 --> 0:09:38.040 about your childhood when it comes to your home, your family, 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:41.880 and what you experienced as a child growing up in Odessa. 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:44.560 All of my family worked in the oil and gas business. 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:48.880 My grandfather did, and my dad did as well, and 0:09:48.960 --> 0:09:52.679 so what I remember most is just being in the 0:09:52.760 --> 0:09:54.920 vast open fields. I went to work with my dad, 0:09:55.600 --> 0:09:57.520 like in the early eighties, like almost every single day, 0:09:57.559 --> 0:09:59.760 it seemed like, on the weekends and certainly during the summer. 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.960 I wasn't in grade school, I was out in these fields, 0:10:02.960 --> 0:10:07.120 and I still remember vividly a number of things about 0:10:07.120 --> 0:10:09.440 that time. And I can leave here right now with 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.120 no map and go directly where I was as a 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:16.240 five year old or a six year old in these fields. Yeah, 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:19.040 I made an impression. You know. We came from very 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:22.840 humble beginnings, and then once this economic crisis hit in 0:10:22.840 --> 0:10:26.040 the mid nineteen eighties, you lost everything, I mean almost 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:29.160 everything and couldn't rub two nickels together during that period 0:10:29.200 --> 0:10:32.160 of time. It was a tough time. There's elements I 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:35.240 remember that were awesome, and again the people and some 0:10:35.280 --> 0:10:38.439 of the lasting relationships that I still have, but also 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:42.560 a pretty tough time where we didn't have much and 0:10:42.679 --> 0:10:46.200 couldn't do much, and everything was kind of a no 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:50.080 based on money, meaning that can I play football in 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:53.720 junior high No, because we don't have the money. Can 0:10:53.800 --> 0:10:56.280 I do this? No, because we don't have the money. 0:10:56.720 --> 0:10:59.440 A lot of that was kind of tough, despite some 0:10:59.559 --> 0:11:02.559 of the incredible people that I got to build relationships 0:11:02.559 --> 0:11:03.240 with over the years. 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:05.240 Of course, yeah, I mean, but you got to be 0:11:05.280 --> 0:11:06.800 willing to take the bad with the good and the 0:11:06.840 --> 0:11:07.440 good with the bad. 0:11:07.600 --> 0:11:09.640 Yeah, that's right, that's exactly right. 0:11:09.480 --> 0:11:11.880 You know, because if you don't have ball, if you die, Yeah. 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:14.680 That's exactly right. Growing up in Odessa, and then in 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.600 the second half of the nineteen eighties was major economic 0:11:17.640 --> 0:11:21.160 turmoil and personal tragedy in my life. My own father 0:11:21.240 --> 0:11:24.160 took his life at the age of thirty and when 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:26.280 I was ten years old, so he was twenty when 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.240 I was born, and he took his life and suffering 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.640 from mental illness, and I didn't realize it at the 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:35.559 time and still don't have a ton of insight into 0:11:35.600 --> 0:11:39.960 it today, but got into a place where I think 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:43.560 he was hurting. I think he had just incredible despair 0:11:43.760 --> 0:11:46.360 and did not know how to stop the hurt other 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:49.920 than taking a final action to stop the hurt. And 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:52.400 then that left us in a position of my mom 0:11:52.480 --> 0:11:55.400 didn't work and we just didn't have anything. I still 0:11:55.440 --> 0:12:00.120 kind of go through that time period where we had nothing, 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:02.520 and I knew in order for me to kind of 0:12:02.520 --> 0:12:06.319 get out of the cycle and be able to somehow 0:12:06.480 --> 0:12:09.680 break out of this cycle, otherwise I'm going to be 0:12:10.000 --> 0:12:13.000 kind of in this place for the rest of my life. 0:12:13.679 --> 0:12:16.200 Take me back to that ten year old little boy. 0:12:16.240 --> 0:12:19.040 What would you like as a child before that event, 0:12:19.120 --> 0:12:21.160 and then tell us about your life after that? 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:25.200 Oh man, what was I like before? I was probably 0:12:25.240 --> 0:12:29.320 just like your regular little boy that was generally in 0:12:29.480 --> 0:12:34.320 trouble doing things that you shouldn't be mischief or I 0:12:34.400 --> 0:12:36.920 just mischief, like tearing stuff up all the time, and 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.680 you know, harassing people. You know. Old boy, Yeah, old boy. 0:12:40.840 --> 0:12:44.400 Definitely all boy, like in the dirt in the mud 0:12:44.640 --> 0:12:47.400 with the dirt bike and you know, just all boy 0:12:47.520 --> 0:12:50.040 for sure. And again I haven't done any kind of 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.480 psychoanalysis on mean, this is probably my first chance to 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.880 do that with all of you. So it'll be fund Yeah, 0:12:55.880 --> 0:12:56.880 it'll be fun to work at all. 0:12:57.200 --> 0:12:57.959 We're capturing it. 0:12:58.520 --> 0:13:00.680 Yes exactly, it's just got more fun for me. 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:04.200 Yeah exactly. Yeah, Oh you're gonna be like, uh, that's 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:07.000 all the time we have. But I was always a 0:13:07.000 --> 0:13:09.440 little bit more outspoken, probably even in the second and 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:12.000 third and fourth grade little I've spoken, clowning around all 0:13:12.000 --> 0:13:15.160 the time, making jokes and literally like, if I have 0:13:15.160 --> 0:13:17.840 any feedback today, Like sometimes in the corporate world, we 0:13:17.920 --> 0:13:20.680 do these three sixty surveys where it gives you feedback 0:13:20.679 --> 0:13:22.240 and the whole thing, and you love to read the 0:13:22.280 --> 0:13:24.160 awesome feedback, but you don't really like to read them 0:13:24.240 --> 0:13:27.040 not so awesome feedback. But if I literally look at 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.800 my first grade and second grade report cards, and I 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:33.280 match that up with feedback I still get today. It's 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:37.360 the same feedback. It's the same it talks too much 0:13:37.760 --> 0:13:39.680 inappropriate jokes from time to time. 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:41.800 I'm still all boys, all still. 0:13:41.679 --> 0:13:44.560 Right, and so it's still the same stuff. I was 0:13:44.640 --> 0:13:49.120 that way definitely before ten years old, and then after 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:50.959 ten years old. And again I haven't really thought a 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:53.560 whole lot about it, but I was bad. Not bad 0:13:53.600 --> 0:13:56.320 in terms of like no drug use or anything like that, 0:13:56.480 --> 0:14:00.240 nothing like that, but just very disruptive, very disruptive, and 0:14:00.280 --> 0:14:03.240 probably acting out a lot, and one that would start 0:14:03.240 --> 0:14:08.920 some conflict, I correct, confrontational, just kind of run in 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:12.080 my mouth and talking, which in Odessa, Texas, you don't 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:15.160 particularly in the nineteen eighties. That might be true today, 0:14:15.160 --> 0:14:17.520 I don't know, but definitely in the nineteen eighties, if 0:14:17.559 --> 0:14:19.880 you ran your mouth, fists are going to come at you. 0:14:20.240 --> 0:14:22.000 This was no like, hey, let's sit down and talk 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.320 about it and work out our feelings. That was not right. 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.240 That's not how it worked there. No, And so so 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:29.920 I definitely in fights and those kinds of things a lot, 0:14:30.120 --> 0:14:32.000 just largely for run of my mouth, and it was 0:14:32.120 --> 0:14:34.240 probably I didn't think about it at the time, and 0:14:34.280 --> 0:14:39.040 again you didn't really kind of seek out therapy and no, nothing, 0:14:39.120 --> 0:14:41.200 not a thing, talk about nothing. 0:14:41.320 --> 0:14:42.320 Right, You're gonna be fine. 0:14:42.360 --> 0:14:44.440 We just want to talk about it, right, Yeah, of 0:14:44.520 --> 0:14:46.640 course suppression, No, right exactly. 0:14:46.880 --> 0:14:49.880 It was probably, well probably, I guarantee it was related 0:14:49.920 --> 0:14:52.600 to the tragedy that I went through and that was 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:54.520 a tough time. For whatever reason, I kind of got 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:56.240 my act together a little bit more. Actually, I know 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:57.640 why I got my act together a little bit more. 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:00.320 I got my acting a little bit more, and you know, 0:15:00.400 --> 0:15:02.720 kind of the eighth grade and beyond. And the reason 0:15:02.760 --> 0:15:04.520 I got back together a little bit more is that 0:15:05.120 --> 0:15:07.640 I started working, you know, at thirteen fourteen years old, 0:15:08.080 --> 0:15:11.000 and started working and doing a couple of different things 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.600 while I was going in junior high school in in 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:18.760 high school, and I got into an environment that I'm like, Okay, I, 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:20.800 first of all, we have no money. If I want 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:23.960 to be on the school's lunch program basically free lunch 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:25.400 and go over there and sit with people that are 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:28.160 on free lunches, which if that's what I want to do, 0:15:28.240 --> 0:15:30.560 then okay, great. But if I want to hang out 0:15:30.600 --> 0:15:34.000 with the cool kids and people who have money, I'm 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:35.160 going to have to work for it because we don't 0:15:35.200 --> 0:15:37.920 have We don't have anything. And I little remember working 0:15:37.960 --> 0:15:42.480 at this little country store. It was called Hopper's Country Store, 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:45.320 and it was owned by two people. Their names were 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.160 Norman and Joyce Hopper. They're both passed away now. They're 0:15:48.160 --> 0:15:50.000 in their sixties and the nineteen eighty so they both 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:52.800 have passed away. And I was making three dollars and 0:15:52.800 --> 0:15:54.640 fifty cents an hour, and I worked there Tuesday nights, 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.360 Thursday nights, and probably four or five hours on a 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:00.560 Sunday Saturday. Three dollars and fifty cents an hour. So 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:03.760 that's breaking down the boxes, that's sweeping the floors, that's 0:16:03.840 --> 0:16:07.520 mopping the floors, that's cleaning the bathrooms, stocking the shelves, 0:16:07.960 --> 0:16:10.640 all of that for three fifteen hour and so generally 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:12.360 I worked two to two and a half hours on 0:16:12.400 --> 0:16:14.960 a Tuesday night, same thing on a Thursday night. Like 0:16:15.000 --> 0:16:18.840 I said, four or five hours on a Saturday. And 0:16:19.200 --> 0:16:22.360 that was about I don't know, twenty five thirty maybe 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.240 as high as forty dollars for the week. That helped me, 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:28.400 like do what I wanted to do and buy the 0:16:28.520 --> 0:16:31.360 lunch that I wanted to buy and eventually buy the 0:16:31.400 --> 0:16:33.560 shoes I wanted to buy. It's very materialistic in the 0:16:33.640 --> 0:16:36.520 nineteen eighties. I feel like this isn't as much of 0:16:36.560 --> 0:16:38.880 a thing today based on my own children, but in 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.440 the nineteen eighties, it's very materialistic, particularly in this part 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.760 of the country. If you didn't wear the right brand 0:16:43.800 --> 0:16:45.920 of jeans or I have the right brand of shoes, 0:16:46.720 --> 0:16:49.760 you're just not in. And I wanted to be in, 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:50.880 and I wanted to be I don't know if I 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:52.480 wanted to be in, I didn't want to be out. 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.080 I'll say it that way. I didn't want to be out. 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:58.440 I can relate to that, and so, yeah, so I 0:16:58.560 --> 0:17:01.320 quickly just started to work as much as I could 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:03.880 and get the money I could to be able to 0:17:04.840 --> 0:17:12.280 appear like we weren't completely dirt poor, because appearances in 0:17:12.320 --> 0:17:16.960 that particular time, I think, in that particular era, in 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:20.199 that particular time and in my particular age, appearances mattered. 0:17:20.920 --> 0:17:24.359 It's almost yeah, I mean it's perception is reality is 0:17:24.400 --> 0:17:25.080 not just the same. 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:25.879 Yeah, a. 0:17:27.600 --> 0:17:31.280 Timestap, right right. I feel like that's something that we've 0:17:31.320 --> 0:17:32.240 all experienced. 0:17:32.680 --> 0:17:37.000 Who are your role models during that time? I had 0:17:37.040 --> 0:17:41.120 one role model that I just fondly remember and think 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:45.240 of often, and when I say often weekly. After I 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.359 did this country store thing, I did that for I 0:17:48.400 --> 0:17:50.000 don't know, like the seventh and eighth grade, maybe the 0:17:50.080 --> 0:17:52.639 ninth grade too, and then from the ninth grade on, 0:17:52.760 --> 0:17:56.280 I started working on the J. L. Johnson Ranch, which 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:58.239 is just west of Odesta. It's about a twenty five 0:17:58.280 --> 0:18:01.960 thousand acre ranch. And my dad and my grandfather worked 0:18:01.960 --> 0:18:04.359 on the old business there, one of the vast oil 0:18:04.400 --> 0:18:07.560 fields at that time in the nineteen eighties. So when 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.240 I was going out there, I met the rancher. His 0:18:10.320 --> 0:18:12.439 name was Yuel Hammett. He was the ranch foreman of 0:18:12.440 --> 0:18:15.280 the JL. Johnson Ranch up until his death of about 0:18:15.320 --> 0:18:17.680 ten years ago. I think he was the foreman four 0:18:18.320 --> 0:18:22.199 fifty five years. Started, like I think he was a 0:18:22.200 --> 0:18:25.280 fire captain for the Odessa Fire Department and then became 0:18:25.320 --> 0:18:27.639 the foreman of this ranch and kind of did double duty. 0:18:27.640 --> 0:18:29.320 But he was there for fifty five years, and I 0:18:29.400 --> 0:18:32.199 think he passed away at eighty five or eighty six 0:18:32.320 --> 0:18:34.880 years old, so about thirty all the way to eighty 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.239 five eighty six, he was the ranch foremant. So I 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:41.160 met him at a very young age, and one day 0:18:41.280 --> 0:18:43.879 when I'm out there, he asked me, Hey, you know, 0:18:43.920 --> 0:18:45.720 I'm looking for some help. Would you like to help? 0:18:45.760 --> 0:18:49.000 And I said sure. And that started first with a 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.080 little bit of yard maintenance and all that kind of stuff, 0:18:51.119 --> 0:18:54.640 all the way too, fencing and cattle and all of that. 0:18:54.920 --> 0:18:58.480 He was a person that I think taught me one 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:02.520 the value of hard work and to just there was 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:07.000 some stability and a calmness in leadership within him that 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:11.000 I hadn't seen up close like that, and he was 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:13.600 a very very simple man. He and his wife were 0:19:13.640 --> 0:19:16.840 just so incredibly kind to me. They were so passionate 0:19:16.920 --> 0:19:20.119 about what they did, and he was a role model 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:24.239 for me early on that someone that I looked up to, 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:27.760 but also someone that I was not going to disappoint 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.119 anything and everything I was going to disappoint. And what 0:19:30.160 --> 0:19:34.720 he valued was incredible hard work. And so therefore, if 0:19:34.760 --> 0:19:36.680 he valued hard work, and he had a pretty high 0:19:36.680 --> 0:19:39.040 standard for hard work, I wanted to exceed that standard. 0:19:39.600 --> 0:19:43.080 And I think early on in that particular era, I 0:19:43.160 --> 0:19:46.240 got imprinted the value of hard work and the drive. 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:48.399 When I was working for him, I mean he was 0:19:48.440 --> 0:19:50.800 sixty something years old, I mean, I remember when he 0:19:50.840 --> 0:19:55.679 had like a triple or a quadruple bypass and like 0:19:55.840 --> 0:19:58.199