Latest / Ready To Drink Podcast / Laid Off, But Still Fighting: Matt Compton on Cannabis Dispensary Merchandising, Career Reinvention & Sobriety

Transcript

Laid Off, But Still Fighting: Matt Compton on Cannabis Dispensary Merchandising, Career Reinvention & Sobriety · Ready To Drink Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, this is um Matt Conkton.
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um I formerly was the commercial um operations director for uh Juchi, uh covering mainly merchandising over um Illinois, Ohio, and Massachusetts, and was laid off due to some corporate realignment June 1st.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Um so I'm actively looking for another senior level role or even a contract um, you know, a temporary role, but really wanting to stay in the industry um if at all possible.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: So when you talk a little bit about a lot of times uh when you're in the cannabis space, terms are used differently.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_00: My my my history is in the alcohol space, got into the hemp uh space a couple years ago with the farm bill.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about what it is you did prior and what how you kind of went to market, the merchandising, and kind of what your strategy was prior.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so while I was when I was with Juci, um a lot of what I did was the promotional strategy um and also the higher level buying strategy.
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: So we utilized um we utilized tools like hoodie and pistol, so data analyst models um to really look at what the market's doing.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then we would also dig into um our own tools via Dutchy and Power BI to dig into what our sales were doing across our stores.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we were really data focused.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: So we really, really used that data to try to justify every skew that we would bring into a store.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then promotion wise, you know, it was all about trying to drive customer traffic while at the same time maintaining a tight margin as as all cannabis companies and MSOs try to do.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Now, walkthrough for anybody that doesn't know what what what is it, Jushi or Juchey?
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_00: Just so I make sure it's juicy.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: All right, so so that everybody knows so that we can start with there, and then I'll go back even deeper to your history.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_00: But what is it that they do?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: And is it's a brand, but also retail experience as well?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, they are a um cannabis company, they have both dispensary and grower processing in several states.
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um Virginia, Massachusetts, Ohio, um Illinois, Pennsylvania, um California, and uh Nevada, I believe.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um processing in all of those states except Illinois, and then dispensaries in all of the states that I listed.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh dispensary is beyond hello.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so very focused on all aspects of the cannabis side of things.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: So were you um were your responsibilities on the retail experience or the the package experience at other retailers across those markets?
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_00: Or was it a combo of the two?
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_01: I was largely in charge of the retail experience at our Beyond Hello stores, largely in charge of Hellos, okay.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um doing the promotional activity, uh, that sort of thing.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Well, let me ask you this then.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: I've not had any, you're the first one that has experience in the in the retail interior retail side of the dispensary world.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about what it is to merchandise in there and what are the objectives.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, in a in a liquor store, we know what what what are the hot points, what are the the ideals, what what's the optimal spacing placements, etc.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's a little different in dispensaries.
• 3:38
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, we're not looking at pallet drop displays and we're not looking at massive wall type things.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: How do what's the strategy for marketing and promoting products in a minimalistic retail environment?
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_01: That's a it's a good question.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it can be extraordinarily tricky due to the um, you know, just the legal complications of the side, like for Illinois, for instance.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: You and I think that in a lot of states you can't have products on the floor.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that, you know, like you said, that that limits that completely.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so what my experience was is working really closely with our brand partners to have them come in and they would usually provide the merchandise that we would display.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, be it a lot of times at some of our stores it would just be signs because we literally would have no shelf space available.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: So it would just be their signs on walls and things like that.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, other times they would come in and actively work with us to set up our displays in some of the stores.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_01: And then in the stores that were, you know, we're selling our own product, obviously we want our shelf space to really be highlighting the GUC experience.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: So in those stores, we would largely focus on our internal products and making them work with small amounts of brands that really drive sales in in parts that we did not have.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: For instance, drinks.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_01: Giuchi did not have drinks.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that would be an opportunity for us to partner with a drink partner to probably fill some of that brand space.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And um I'll go to back to you on an individual basis.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, like I had a a pretty jarring layoff in in 2017 from a from a from a project I was working on from the same thing, corporate, corporate realignment.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I think it was that ended up being 20, 30 percent of the of the entire employment, you know, labor force and everything like that in various departments.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: What is what has what has been the biggest lesson you've taken from this?
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'll ask another question, but what's the lesson from this so far?
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I not not that anything's your fault in layoffs.
• 5:43
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be very clear as far as like it's not your responsibility, yeah.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_01: Uh I think it's um unfortunately times have changed, and so you have to always have a game plan for if it happens, because this was my first layoff in I'm 45 years old, and it was the first time I was not expecting it foolishly.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I had seen it happen with several of my colleagues, and and when you get to especially corporate cannabis, it it's a business, it's a you know, business decisions are made, and it's not a lot of times doesn't have anything to do with how talented you are, unfortunately.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and so yeah, that was my biggest takeaway is just make sure you always have a game plan you know ready.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: Good to have a backup resume, keep yourself networked.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, just have that backup plan ready because unfortunately you never know when it when it could happen.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's important, I think it's an important lesson, and I'm glad you brought that up because a lot of times, and I was the same way.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: I it it it hit me, and honestly, I'm I've said this before, uh, it put me into like a six-month depression.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and a good bit of that was bedridden, and I mean bedridden.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: And um, I have two small kids, and I don't mean to take you back as much to those initial days or anything like that, as much as I want I want people to have a two-pronged approach to this.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: I want them to see you as a valuable asset because I've done my research on you, unlike a lot of other people, where I've come in blind.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't do that with this.
• 7:15
  SPEAKER_00: I wanted to take this with care, and I want to be honest with my audience that I'm taking this interview with care because I want your story to be a platform for somebody to be of interest in this.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: At the same time, I want this to be a story of agency and and showing people what you just said, which is that number one lesson to know that when you are in a big company, as much as that brings comfort to some people to be in a large organization.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry, but you all always we will always be a number to a large organization.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes even in a small organization, we're just a number.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I want as much as I can help anybody to get to not hit the certain states I hit, and I don't know where you are with it, but it it it delayed a lot of pieces of my life at a very pivotal time.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and as being a new father and and all those things, um, I don't blame it in the sense of like some sort of resentment, but I do I do wish I'd handled it differently in the agency of myself in doing something, and I'm I'm admiring you uh because you're doing this right now, and that's what I want publicly to be said.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: You have more guts and balls than I did.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: I hid in a corner for six months and it's shame.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: You fuck you fuck, I'm gonna say you fucking said I'm going on a podcast and I'm putting myself out there, and dude, I fucking love it.
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm I don't even know you, I'm so fucking proud of you.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate that a lot.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_01: I really do.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's a lot because yeah, it's tough.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I got three teenage daughters, 19, 17, and 15-year-old, and they they all got stuff that they, you know, not only want but need.
• 8:54
  SPEAKER_02: And so finding a job or at least some sort of income is a high priority right now to make sure that they don't go without.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_00: So let's let's go with that right now.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: Let's let's go with this right now.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: Right now, specifically, obviously, the easiest transferable job if anybody's looking to hire right now in in the cannabis industry, or even are you open to other industries of similar things?
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because you you you have very transferable skills to other industries in the same industry.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: If I can't find a cannabis job, I would be.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: I really do want to want to stay in cannabis because it saved my life.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it brought me out of disability off out of a seven-year disability and let me get back to work.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so if I can stay in the industry, that would be my ultimate goal.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, as far as like transferable skills, I think obviously, you know, being in charge of like a multi-state buying organization would probably be the easiest just do what I've already done.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_01: But with that being said, I love challenges.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_01: So I really do think I'd also be good at taking over and running like a wholesale team as well.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um just because I've got that seven years of buying experience.
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: So I know what the customer wants.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I've done some sales earlier in my career.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and with cannabis selling, it's just kind of natural.
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I I I had worked with our wholesale teams arm in arm for years um just with partnerships.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um you know, we've had big meetings and I try to help sell our product, they try to help sell theirs.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so I just I think that would also be a really good role for me.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: Plus, it would also help me really build up that resume for my next step, which I would ultimately love to be like a VP of commercial operations.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_02: So getting some of that wholesale experience under my belt would also be valuable, I think.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: I agree.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then in the meantime, I'll tell you that honestly, like what you're doing, there's a lot of brands that if they're smart enough to spend the right money on it, a whole you're what you're talking about is what I do as a as a business since 08, uh, in reverse.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Um so I work with the portfolio brands helping them get into retail, merchandise into retail, increase their rate of sale, work alongside their distributors to help that accelerate that entire market development.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: So just a food for thought.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know where you are with benefits and and all that stuff.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: But if you have the opportunity to go and try something out without benefits and just with the cash part, um, I strongly suggest with your experience considering that as well.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: But again, I understand with benefits and kids, if that's not an option, then definitely I hope that this uh I hope this episode gets that going for you.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: Go back to me with your passion for the industry.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: You said about the disability and stuff like that.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_00: Talk to me about this is more than just a paycheck for you to stay in this industry.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: So talk about what it means to you as far as an industry goes.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, so um I suffered a traumatic brain injury um and had to go on permanent total disability back in 2010, um, and was on that until Illinois passed their uh medical cannabis law.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought I'd give that a try.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it actually worked so well that I was able to get off of opiates.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and then I was hired part-time um by Sarah Whitmeyer, who I just love, um, formerly with Trinity, now with Good Day Farms.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Um, she gave me a chance and hired me as a part-time bintender, um, and then saw something in me to um give me a chance at buying the uh ancillary products, and then from there moved me up pretty quickly to buying uh their cannabis products.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: And then when we transitioned to two stores, when the bell east came, I became the director of purchasing.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh and then about a year and a half later, I was recruited to Juicey by um Rob Jones, who I also love uh as the um inventory manager, but essentially I was the buyer for their four stores in Illinois and um just really took off there um relatively quickly, then promoted to senior manager, um where I was over where I was overseeing the buying of Illinois, Ohio, and Massachusetts.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then about a year and a half after that promoted to director, where I was also then pretty much in charge of all of the promotions and had more of a role in our wholesale relationships.
• 13:41
  unknown: Things like that.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: No, that's awesome.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: That's uh we were we're kindred spirits in in the in the most uh depressing way is actually uh as uh I got into the hemp beverages from a passion standpoint, not just because of the business model, but because it helped I tried four or five times to quit opiates and alcohol.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_00: And working in the alcohol industry, it was tough.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, my nickname and the platform I built was called the beer race.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, you go out to a bar and everybody knows you and and you're in your certain market, and you gotta you buy them a beer and you buy them a beer and they buy you a beer and all this other stuff.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I uh I have the same passion.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people think I'm crazy for staying in this uh with the impending hemping coming and all this stuff, and I'm like, I'm still going hard, and they're like, You're fucking nuts, and I'm like, Yeah, I am, uh, but also it saved my life.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: And I have no problem telling people, yeah, I did the work to get sober, but I was I was suicidal.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: I had suicidal tendencies that I couldn't quit and I couldn't figure out how to do it, and it felt like a chain and an oppressed situation, and it was debilitating physically, mentally, and all of the above.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people think being an alcoholic's fun and addicted to pills is fun because you get to check out, but actually, guess what?
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: You do get to check out, and the world just keeps going.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_00: And when you finally get your head out of your ass and you get sober, or you or you figure out the the right path to that, uh, the clarity brings brings uh a lot of lessons.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I I appreciate your honesty about uh what was going on and also to let more people know that while this product and these products in this greater industry, they're fun, but they also serve a life-saving tool.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: They're a life-saving tool for a lot of people that we don't talk about enough because that's not cool.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's not cool to talk about sobriety and this, it's not cool to talk about suicide, it's not cool to talk about it, but it's true, and it's the reality of where we are in in the today's world as a society, let alone not having the proper tools and now having to fight to access those tools in proper areas.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_01: I could not agree with you more.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: I uh personally also use the beverages to help with alcohol use.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm no longer drinking all like you with the beverages.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_01: Just not even just at home, but especially I think socially when available it makes it so much easier for people that drink or even want to drink still, but shouldn't to have that available on the market.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I really do hope that something gets done about that in the people.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: I do think that's absolutely so many people.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and we and we have uh audience members that are in all aspects of beverage.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: So there's some that are in the alcohol, wine, you know, whatever they want to say.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, some people would say to me, Oh, you just took one vice and inserted the other.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: Well, for me personally, and it sounds like the same for you, it's not it's not a 5 p.m.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_00: thing for me.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: I in actuality of hemp beverages, I don't really drink that much on a on a routine basis because I'm a big ritual.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_00: I I carry I rituals scare me.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: They always have, and I never considered rituals as like a beverage thing, but once I got into that rhythm of five o'clock, four o'clock, you know, all that stuff, I realized how that ritual serves.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm the same way.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: Like uh in markets where I can consume them while out at bars and and restaurants and breweries with friends, I will.
• 16:52
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and but at home it's not, it's something where it helped it was in the first year, it was it was a crutch, and now it's a tool that I grab occasionally, you know what I mean?
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And it and it serves its purpose, and it's not repeating the vice, it's not repeating the system, it's not repeating anything.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: That molecule does not affect me the same way the alcohol did.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_01: A hundred percent.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_01: I you don't wake up with hangover or sleeping function, it doesn't make you, at least for me.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm I like you said, everybody's different, but it did it.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_01: I don't make bad decisions when I have one average when I was drinking, definitely made one or two bad decisions on my hour.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: You get me on a tear, you'll find me three or four days later with the with the alcohol, with the with the hemp.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: You you're you're you're lucky you're lucky to find that ever happening to a never.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um so let's talk, let's come out of the out of the dark stuff and come into the light stuff.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: What what are some of the some of the greatest tools you found in this industry and lessons you've learned over the time?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh easy.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um that's the people.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: That's they just the cannabis.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um the cannabis community is amazing.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I've gotten so much support since I was laid off.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's just been quite honestly, probably the thing that with my family that's kept me out of the depression because just the overall support.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, obviously still looking for a job, but I truly believe that there are so many people out there trying to help me find a job.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_01: It's just knowing that I've got that support is is amazing.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: And that is the best part of the cannabis industry.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_01: It's just the people that are in it.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_01: Um, obviously there's gonna be some bad people, but that's that's every industry.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: But I've just I've never seen a more supportive group of people than they're in the cannabis industry.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: I I I'd fully agree with that.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's one of those things when I when I took my first year of sobriety, I left I left the alcohol industry completely, did a completely different thing for a year, year and a half, but it was the people that drew me back.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: And I was like, I had to work for a year and a half to be like, okay, if I go back, it has to be strict rules, strict, strict guidance for myself, and and no more, no drinking at all.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Even like not even there's three times where I took a an eyedropper uh when we were forming, I was working with a client and formulating, and I was like, I don't feel like I don't feel good recruit this until I've actually tried it.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_00: And when I took that eyedropper, I the hair, hair, hair stood up.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: I got I started sweating and all this stuff, and I was like, oh, okay, this is a problem that I had, and I think I have to step out of that service that I'm providing to this world.
• 19:32
  unknown: Wow.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_00: And it was part of it was part of the immersion therapy that I did.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: My my therapist I went through a bunch of therapists, and the last therapist I had was a recovering uh alcoholic that was he had 10 or 15 years of sobriety, and he literally goes, You remind me of myself.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_00: He goes, I'm gonna tell you something that I may lose my license, and I'll never share his name publicly.
• 19:51
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, I may lose my license for this, but I want you to go to a bar uh every time you feel like a craving, and I want you to order a beer, and then I want you to stare at that beer, and I want you to tell that beer in your head everything negative that that beer ever caused to you in your life.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_00: I did that six times.
• 20:10
  SPEAKER_00: That was it.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_00: I never drank the beer, never chugged the beer, but six times going to the bar and and reminiscing about not the good stuff, not the fun times, not the money, not the jobs, not the travel, bad stuff.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: Because what I did was he realized through my therapy, I glorified it so much that I was never gonna stop drinking unless I villainized it temporarily to set a balanced expectation of reality of what it does to me.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_00: Because it's confusing too, like when you you're with other people, my girlfriend, she she'll I she'll rarely ever drink more than a second drink ever.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: You know what I mean?
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's one of the and I get I I get jokingly jealous of those types of people where it's like, yeah, I'll have one or two, and then they will have one or two, whereas I'll be like, Yeah, I'll have one or two, and four hours later you get me with a hundred dollar tab, you know what I mean?
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_02: So you mean, yes.
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_00: Perfect.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_00: Well, hey, I wanna I wanna make sure uh as we kind of w close through and and wind down a little bit, anything that you want to discuss or anything that you want out there, I want to give you kind of the last few minutes here to kind of get get that out there, man.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um first off, just again, a huge thank you to everybody that's helped me so far.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_01: I I genuinely appreciate it.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_01: It's been it's been heartwarming.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um and yeah, if if you guys, if anybody knows of any opportunities, please please let me know.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Um, looking for obviously something permanent would be great, but I would also love just to have you know a contract job for a month or two would be wonderful just to help pay some bills and buy me some time so I can find that perfect role.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's awesome.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_00: Matt, that's that's all you can ask, man.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: And I want everybody out there, you know, Matt Compton.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna remind everybody, never met anything like that.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: We're complete strangers, but I saw your story and I wanted to give you a platform to put it out there.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I hope that this can lead to something, or at least somebody can hear this and refer and tell somebody else.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you're listening and you don't have anything in your company, please share this episode.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_00: You know, it's a simple click and a text message out.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's all it takes.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: And share, share it with people.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: If you like Matt's story, if you know somebody that's looking, share it.
• 22:22
  SPEAKER_00: It doesn't cost anything to click the share button as far as the story goes.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_01: So very much appreciated.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate the time and the opportunity.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I'll close out here, Matt.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want to thank you, man.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's uh there's I want everybody else to remember there's no scripts, there's no agenda.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Matt did not get prepped, Matt did not have any questions.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: Matt's got the cojones to come on here and tell his story in a situation where most people like myself have cowered into the closet and into the bedroom and turned off the lights.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: You got up here, you turned the lights on, and you went on a damn podcast.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_00: And I want everybody to know the passion I have for being proud to be able to share your story.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to tell everybody as well, that's what this is about.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: The show is called Ready to Drink.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's about drinks, it's about ROI, it's about business, but most importantly, it's about human connection and it's about giving a shit about other people because this world is beautifully destructive in every aspect of the way.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: The best of intentions can turn out with the worst results with no malicious intent.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_00: And also on the other side, there's a lot of people with malicious intent.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to challenge everybody as I do every single episode.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Five minutes of kindness to a stranger a week, 20 minutes of kindness to a stranger a month.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: Do it in practice.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_00: I do it every day.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not saying that to brag.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_00: I'm saying that because I care, because I've been in a situation like I shared on this episode with Matt, where I have been in a dark place, not wanting to be on this earth, not wanting to be able to go forward.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_00: And people stood up, people picked me up, people dusted me off and showed me who I was, and that's who I want to be, helping people like you, Matt, and everybody else to understand that even if you're not in a job and you're not being able to provide and do what you want to do, it doesn't devalue you.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: Your job is out there, and hopefully somebody's listening that's going to get it.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_00: So everybody else, while you're walking down the street, put your phone in your pocket, look at the strangers while they're walking down the street.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Don't be creepy and stare at them or anything like that, but read the vibe and then know if you can smile, you can wave, you can wink, you can nod, whatever.
• 24:17
  SPEAKER_00: When you're at the gas station filling up your cup of coffee, look to the person next to you, ask them how they're doing, shut your mouth and listen to their story.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_00: Read the body language, know if you need to ask another question, if they want to continue talking.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_00: If not, you just said hi and you move on.
• 24:29
  SPEAKER_00: Five minutes, guys, five minutes, 20 minutes a month.
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna help somebody in that every single month.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_00: I guarantee you're gonna help one person.
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: You're gonna help one person a month.
• 24:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then after a course of a year, that's 12.
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_00: We have thousands of people that listen to this show.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: If everybody can do that, good God, how we can help, how many people we can help.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: So, Matt, thank you for having the courage to come on.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: That is a testament to your personality, and it's a testament to how lucky anybody's gonna be to hire somebody like you that has the courage and the cojones to do what you're doing.
• 24:59
  SPEAKER_00: It's more, it's more than just 30 minutes on a podcast, man.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I know it and I I respect you for doing, man.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_00: So thank you so much for your time today.
• 25:07
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_01: I appreciate it.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Awesome.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_00: You have a good rest of your day, buddy.
• 25:11
  SPEAKER_00: You take care.