Latest / Local Legends with Jess: Arizona Edition / Just Like Old School

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Just Like Old School · Local Legends with Jess: Arizona Edition

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Local Legends with Jess, the Arizona Edition.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Jessica Benavento, your mortgage matchmaker, opening doors with ease and bringing you the stories behind Arizona's most inspiring people.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: From best-selling authors and elite athletes to business badasses making moves across the valley.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: These are the local legends shaping our communities.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yet the inside scoop, real talk, and powerful conversations you won't hear anywhere else.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Local legends with Jess, where Arizona's stories connect.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Local Legends with Jess and Jason?
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: Jason.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: It's okay.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'll forget yours tonight.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I have a special guest today.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: This is a dear friend of both Jason and mine.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: You say that?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: Is that grammar correct?
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's usually it is Jess.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: Jason.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: I did, right?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Mr.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_00: Jerry Hug.
• 0:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but before mine and Jason.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: Mine and Jason's good dear friend, really family member, uh, Jerry Hugg.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_00: But before we start, we get into it.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna give a special shout out to our sponsors or our sponsor, Justin.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And he's our insurance guy.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_00: Covers all of Arizona.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_00: He does car, home, life, and business.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: We actually use him personally for all our stuff.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: And he is absolutely amazing.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_00: So shout out to Justin.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for sponsoring this episode.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: First and last name, please, Jess.
• 1:27
  SPEAKER_00: Justin Lisk.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 1:29
  SPEAKER_02: Because we're not allowed to use who he works for.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_00: What is wrong with you?
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_02: Say you started Jay, even though your name's not officially We're gonna make something actually a good lead-in because what we're gonna do is put a J here in Felt.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: And if anybody knows anything about Felt, it's real old school.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_02: And today I actually have an old school friend.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_02: We have Jess and I, which is perfect grammar, have an old school friend from the old school days in the 90s.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Much older than my school days in the 2000s.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: Gerard, right?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: Huh?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_02: AKA Jerry.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: AKA one R in my phone, because no one's name is spelled correctly.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: She just doesn't have time to type the extra R.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: Of course I know.
• 2:20
  SPEAKER_00: I'm way too busy to properly spell anyone's name.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_04: You could text a paragraph, but it would be four letters.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_04: And we all know what you're saying.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_02: We all we could we can read Jess.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: You could totally read Jess.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, when I read my, I'm like, how did she I get it?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_02: Now I'm actually speaking in her language.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, just my language.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: All right.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: Why are we having Jerry Hugg on here?
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_02: So local legends, and now Jer Jerry is a local legend and a legend among the nation.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: Because actually, when Jerry was in high school.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, you're gonna go back old school?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I'm gonna go old school.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: See, I played football, but I played at a level of Mr.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_02: Hug here.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: And when you play football, you may be decent, but I really want to know what it was like to be an all-American in high school at your age.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_02: And if anybody knows anything, it was a two-time All-American, right?
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: Adidas and parade?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_02: You were a two-time?
• 3:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_02: And if you really want to go deep, he was on the Adidas Hall of Fame with, I mean, Adidas um All-American with Hall of Fame athletes like Thurman Thomas.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Tim Brown.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: Correct.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_04: Ironhead.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_04: Ironhead, I don't Ironhead wasn't a running back.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_04: He wasn't um he wasn't on that team, but he was clearly, you know, uh an elite running back when we were in high school.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_04: Um he was a man amongst boys.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but yeah, there's uh uh Keith Jackson from the United States.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_04: Oh yeah, from the Broncos.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_04: From the Broncos.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and then yeah, he went to Oklahoma.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_04: Uh just a lot of great athletes on that team.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_04: Um that's amazing when you think about it.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: So at what age, because Jess and I have Michael, right?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: And uh we're every day since he's been four has been filled with sports.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_02: So at what point in your life did you realize you were actually different?
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: Like you were the athlete?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: Things probably came a lot easier at an early age for you than most kids.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, you know, I think um one of the things for me, I I matured very quickly.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_04: I went through puberty very quickly.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_04: And you you guys have seen that picture of me where I look like a giant.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_04: Um like it's absolutely absurd, but um I I grew very quickly.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_04: So I was like 5'10 in fifth grade, sixth grade.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my god.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_04: And I had a size, you know, 12 shoe.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_04: And I was like a full head above everyone else in my class.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um, but I was pretty athletic.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_04: So everyone thought, and people would tell me because I I played baseball, basketball, football, and then high school I ran on track, um, I that I was gonna be this monster kid good because my dad is 6'4.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_04: And so once you start to hear that from everyone, um, and you're out there playing and competing, and by the grace of God, things did come easier for me.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_04: I was blessed with good hand-eye coordination, was blessed with speed.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and then at that time I had height.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_04: So um yeah, it was once once you start to get gain that self-confidence and people telling you what you're gonna be, it starts to build on itself.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_04: And that's when I started to realize, you know, wow, this is uh I'm different, right?
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, and um and and that's when I really started to think about like as I went into middle school um and preparing for high school, you know, this is maybe something that I could do in high school.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_04: And I always had the goal of getting a scholarship in high school.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_04: In fact, I had a bet with my father that um if I got a full ride, that he would have to buy me the car of my choice.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: No way.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, and we always used to talk about it.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_04: Always, always.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_04: We used to go down to West Orange, myself, my brother, my father on Saturdays.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_04: We would do the same thing.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_04: We would go down there, we'd get a haircut by Mr.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_04: Sal.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_04: Um, then we would go across the street to each East Orange Sporting Goods, we'd get our sneakers, cleats, torturellas on that.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, the torturellas, yeah, whatever uh sport we were playing.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_04: And um, and yeah, I used to always tell my father, um, you better keep your word because you know I'm gonna get a scholarship.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_04: So yeah, you start to think about that, and then you know, that's where I started to not knowing what manifestation was, I started to manifest it.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_04: I had no idea what I was doing, but it just goes to show you the the more you the more you think um and believe it, and believe it, the the higher probability it's gonna come to you.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_04: So uh so that was kind of when when it sort of happened.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_04: So obviously, with you being a two-time All-American, you know, actually it wasn't two time I mean, it was uh two separate.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_04: And the parade, to be fair, on parade, I was lower down on the list, but Adidas, I was um But still, I mean so you definitely got a scholarship.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: Number one, where did you go?
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_02: And number two, what car did you get?
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_04: So um back in those days, you were allowed to take five paid visits from the school, um, the schools that recruited you.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_04: And uh I went to um I wound up going to Penn State.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_04: Um the five visits I took were Penn State, um Miami, Notre Dame, University of Virginia, and Boston College.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_04: Um wound up going to Penn State.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_04: They had just won the national championship, and uh I was recruited pretty hard by them.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_04: And um I thought it would be good because it was close to home.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_04: Uh my parents could come and see me play.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_04: And uh and yeah, I went uh decided to uh I took my talents to Penn State.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_02: I wish you could put the hat on, but I wish I could too.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_02: It was before hats.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: Okay.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: So you went to Penn State.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_02: What car did you get?
• 8:36
  SPEAKER_04: I got a 280 um ZX Camaro with the T tops.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_04: And it was white with the blue 280 on it.
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_04: With white wheels and blue interior.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_02: I had that max box car.
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: But I did talk about homeschool.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_02: I really did.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: That thing would just fly across the floor.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, it was a lot of fun.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_04: A lot of fun.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_04: With the T tops, you put them in the covers.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it was the best.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: That was a lot of fun.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's awesome.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, so here's I think people are really gonna find this fascinating.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_02: So you get to Penn State.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Everything you did up until high school, you were the best, if not one of the best in the whole country.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: You get to Penn State.
• 9:18
  SPEAKER_02: Did you dominate?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_04: No.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_04: No, it was it was um it was a really eye-opening experience for me.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_00: It's probably humbling us.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_04: Humblings an understatement.
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_04: But what I will say is I can still remember like it was yesterday when my parents drove me up there to drop me off for um for preseason camp.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_04: So we had to go up there in uh, I think it was August while school was still out, right?
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_04: Football's gonna start.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_04: And my freshman year, we were playing in the um, we were playing uh we were gonna play uh Texas uh at the Meadowlands.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_04: So I was getting my mindset like, oh, I'm gonna start, but then my family can come and see me play.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_04: People are gonna come, everyone's gonna help.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_04: I made it right.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_04: Man plans, God laughs.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, totally.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_04: So um, but when I was driving up there, you know, because you don't know what to expect.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_04: And what wound up happening is that year we re we had a really outstanding recruiting class, and the three wide receivers that decided to commit there was myself, guy by the name of Greg Johnson, who was the 100 meter state um high hurdle champion from Hiawa, Tennessee, and um Ray Roundtree, who was from Aiken, South Carolina.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_04: Like I still remember these guys like it was yesterday.
• 10:49
  SPEAKER_04: And the three of us were coming in, and then um, and we were kind of hailed to be like these are the young guns that are gonna take the the uh you know the the team to the next level, and there was articles written on us.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_04: I mean, it was they really built it up big time.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_04: So you're you're kind of wondering, you know, okay, what's this competition gonna be like?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_04: And I remember driving up there with my parents and in the car, as I was looking out the window, and you're seeing just cow pastures, like you're going out to Penn State.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and I remember thinking to myself, you know, if if they recruited me that heavily, like they must think I can play here.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_04: Sure.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_04: So I if they think I can play here, I should be able to play here.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_04: And then after I'm done playing here, well, then the next step is the NFL.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_04: That's just the way things progressed, right?
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_04: Um well.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_02: So you still have that self-doubt, huh?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: Always.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_04: With all those athletes.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_04: I just never had I I feel like I feel like I've I always had some I didn't have enough innate confidence um in my like I always doubted myself, but throughout high school and with, you know, I always wound up doing okay.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_04: But um, and then what happened was my freshman year, I uh I got hurt.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_04: I got hurt pretty bad.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_04: I I um I was about blocking and and one of the linemen came around and had a fell on top of me and I rolled my ankle and I was out.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_04: So I redshirted my freshman year.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_04: So then you you go, and then what winds up happening when you redshirt, you go from, hey, we're gonna I'm gonna compete for a place on the team to you go into oblivion.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you try to earn it.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_04: You wind in like going from the highest, most relevant thing in high school that no one like no one cares in college because there's five guys ready to take your job.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_04: The same thing with the pose.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you don't even travel, you don't go to the away games on the home games, you're on the sidelines, you don't dress, you're in like regular clothes.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_04: So you you go from feeling part of this euphoric experience that you want to have to feeling so dislocated with that.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_04: It was just it was bizarre.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_04: Oh my god.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_04: That was a really, it was a really difficult time for me.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_02: Um plus you don't have like your close-knit friends there or family.
• 13:21
  SPEAKER_04: People there, no support system.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_04: You have other guys that are, you know, your your boys becoming your brothers and your friends.
• 13:28
  SPEAKER_04: Um but uh, you know, it's it's a business, you know.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_04: College football, it was a business then.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_04: It's a much, much, much bigger business now.
• 13:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_04: So um, yeah, you kind of just you you you're you're fighting for relevance and you go through doubting yourself, depression, you know, and and um so it was it was it was a difficult freshman year for sure.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: That that's crazy.
• 13:58
  SPEAKER_02: I didn't even know that about you.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: Like I knew, but I didn't know that how depth that was and and the difficulties.
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_02: So then, okay, you graduate.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_02: Where do you go from there?
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so um after that I wound up taking a job in a brokerage firm that I worked at um as a summer intern uh called Financial Northeastern.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_04: It was a great job, great experience.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_04: Put your right on the phones.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and it was raising um selling insured CDs to like institutions, pension funds, credit unions, um, family offices.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_04: Uh and at that point in time.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_04: So very technical sales.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_04: Yes.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_04: At that point in time, interest rates were you could get a uh an one-year insured CD, fully insured by the FDIC, that would pay you 11% for six months.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_04: Jesus.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_00: Oh my gosh.
• 14:50
  SPEAKER_04: And that's when the our economy was in the tank.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_04: Um, interest rates were sky high.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_04: I don't even know what mortgage rates were.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_04: Obviously, double digits.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um, so that was like, it was insane.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_04: Wow.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_04: And it was a great learning experience.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and then from there, I went uh buddy of mine went to work for Merrill Lynch, and he convinced me to go over there.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_04: So I went to went to work for Merrill for, I don't know, 10 years probably, and went into the retail brokerage side of the business and learned that um and built up a business.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_04: And um, yeah.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_04: So that was kind of where I got my footing in financial services.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_02: Now you made your way back to Arizona, right?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: And you were here for a while, then you went back and forth.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: Raised my family here.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_04: We moved out here um 15 years ago, raised my children here, loved it, fell in love.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_04: The first time I came out here, I absolutely just fell in love with the sunshine and the vibe and the cleanliness and the healthy outdoor, active lifestyle that Arizona affords someone, and I fell in love with it.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_04: Um and luckily at the time, um, you know, Kim, my ex-wife, was very amenable to following my dream and, you know, wanting to come out here.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_04: And and um I had wound up selling a company because after I left Merrill, I went into private equity or venture capital, and we invested in a company that I wound up selling to the larger competitor out here.
• 16:26
  SPEAKER_04: And as part of the deal, they offered me the opportunity to come out as chief strategy officer.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_04: Um it was a big company, big business, you know.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and I I just I I just had no fear at that time.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_04: So I w I wanted to do it.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_04: And um, and luckily, you know, Kim was all in and followed.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_04: So we moved the kids out here and um raised the kids.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_04: Uh you know, lived here for nine years.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_04: Uh, and then my dad got sick, and we wound up moving back to uh um to Jersey.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_04: Um and now I'm back for the second round uh you know, after some lifestyle changes, um, getting divorced.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_04: And um, you know, I I wanted to be in a place where I was happy.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_04: And this is, you know, it's my happiness.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_04: I I the sunshine's, you know, very um addictive and um, you know, it it affords you the ability to to be outside a lot.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_04: And I I mean I just I I'm award by their guy.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, I'm not sure.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, I have to say, because Jess and I are so close with you that like your life seems to be like cycled, like very cyclical.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, what I mean is like you've had this success, right?
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_02: Then you got humbled on the football field, then you had success in business, and then you actually got humbled.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_02: And now hold on.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: You got kicked in the boss.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: That's what happened.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: I watched you being very you got you got thrown down.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't even know you were here.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: I'm here.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I'm I'm here.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: You got thrown down, and now you're it's it's amazing to watch what you've done.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: And that's why you're on here.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: You are a local legend to us.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_01: Oh, that's sweet if you are I wouldn't know about that, Jess.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_01: But yeah, less no, it's true, Jar.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you did your penance living with my brother.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's for sure.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_05: That I should get a medal for.
• 18:13
  SPEAKER_04: Um no, this time last year, in fact, uh you guys don't know this.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_04: Um so it's Good Friday today, right?
• 18:22
  SPEAKER_04: And this time last year, um, I got water baptized.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_04: It was on Good Friday.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_00: I remember that.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_04: Today's the one-year anniversary of me surrendering my life to Jesus and and just really deepening my faith and and my um and my belief system and um and and like surrender realizing that my plan that I've had for my life, right, um hasn't worked out.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 19:01
  SPEAKER_04: And and our faith teaches you that, well, God's already he's put your plan in place, you just don't know it.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_05: Right.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_04: Um so when you make that decision to like surrender and and allow him to guide your footsteps, that's when things started, you know, to really change because I was like just it was well, you guys lived through with me.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_04: So there was a time I was I was busted, broken, meaning I had, you know, was finalizing my divorce, um, trying to, you know, um, then I then we had to close down my company because our largest investor wouldn't fund it anymore.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_04: Um, then I was diagnosed with a rare brain disorder, um, and not having any certainty about what was going on.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_04: I was broken.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_04: I was absolutely and I remember like sitting, you know, kneeling down on next to my bed and just being like, I just want to be happy.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_04: I just like I I just want to find happiness again because I I felt like I no matter what I did, everything that I was doing wasn't bringing me happiness.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_04: And that's when I like I turned to God and I'm like, look, I'm yours.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_04: I'm I'm out of this game now.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_04: Like take me where you need to take me.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_04: And I and I bought into that.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_04: And my that's what got me through.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_04: Like I was unemployed for nine months, you know, and if I didn't have my faith during that time, I would have uh who knows what I would have done, but you know, I I And not to interrupt, but you're missing something too, and and you're definitely not missing it, but when I say it, you're gonna agree.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_02: Your faith and your cheerish and your support system, your kids, Jess and I talk to you all the time, and like we knew, they knew, and we see you rising, like honestly, like a Phoenix, and that's what kind of brings us to your newest adventure.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: And really, what Jess and I want to do is we want to be a partner in this business with you.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: We want to make it a grassroots thing.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_02: We believe in your vision, and I think Jess and I can add a lot to this, and I think it would be an amazing story.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_02: So I want you to commit to us that you allow us an opportunity to do that.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, no, I'd be honored, and like you've you've already made a huge contribution because through Jess's introduction, I got to meet my partner in crime.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_04: And without me getting introduced to her, like in business, you have you need to know what you're good at, know what you're not good at.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_04: And I know what I'm good at, and I know what I'm not good at.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_04: And what I'm not good at, she fills in all of the um missing pieces to now make my thought, my vision that I've been thinking about for five years actually come to fruition and become a reality.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_04: And yeah, you guys are gonna definitely play a role.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_04: Because there's no, I don't want to roll.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_02: We want ownership.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_02: We had our lawyers looked in the valuation.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's a negative.
• 22:08
  SPEAKER_02: So we're you don't have to pay us anything, but we want, we want to be a partner in the business.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Now, before we go any further and jump into what old school is.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_00: That was a shitty like introduction to the business.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_02: You just threw the No, because I want to do something.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_02: Because as if I didn't think Jerry was gonna cry, I had something planned for him.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_02: I have somebody that's gonna tell a couple stories about you.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: No stop.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_03: Hugger.
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_03: What's going on, Jay?
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: We have your beautiful brother here.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_02: He's all teed up.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: Hasn't shed a tear yet.
• 22:53
  SPEAKER_03: I thought, I I thought this, I thought it was I thought it was gonna be pop, dude.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_03: I thought for the SX County Ball of Feeds.
• 23:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, yes.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sorry.
• 23:04
  SPEAKER_02: I had to say it was for Pop, but it's for Jerry.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_03: I gotta, I gotta hunt, I gotta hold Mike.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's what the good Gorgonzola cheese does.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_03: We're shaking, buddy.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_03: Happy, happy Good Friday, guys.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: Happy Good Friday.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: So I'm sitting here with your brother.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: Hi, honey.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_02: We're sitting here with your brother.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: We're just about to talk about old school, and I thought it was a perfect opportunity for you to kind of say how it was old school to be living with your brother.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_03: Well, uh, you know, I I I was been thinking about like a lot of things that I could say, uh, you know, growing up old school, and I guess, you know, what comes to mind actually is uh you know, as uh as young kids, which were old school back in the day, we shared a bedroom with your brother.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_03: You know, that doesn't happen today.
• 23:51
  SPEAKER_03: Everybody has their own bedrooms with their king-sized beds and uh in TV.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_03: But you know, back in the day, you know, Jeremy and I in in West Owen shared a bedroom together, two uh two single beds.
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_03: We probably shared a bedroom until sixth or seventh grade.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_03: And that reminds me kind of a school of stories of uh you know, just a lot of time growing up together.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_03: Watching, you know, him grow as as as a as a as a young person into a young man and uh you know it definitely it definitely uh has always been my you know I I love my brother to death.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_03: But uh you know, I've always looked up to him because you know, Jerry was Michael is a Jerry was uh unique individual.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_03: Jerry was the same size at the age of twelve years old as he is you know, one one of those kids, he had a size twelve foot, it was five foot eleven in the sixth grade and and everything came easy to him.
• 24:52
  SPEAKER_03: You know, he was an incredible athlete uh you know that just uh I I love to watch and I uh I like that.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: He still is my old work.
• 25:03
  SPEAKER_03: So uh that that's what kind of comes to mind from a from an old school perspective.
• 25:08
  SPEAKER_03: I I drive through Verona all the time, J.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_03: I you know, the old car watch in Verona where the Adam Flag building is, where there's that there's that baseball field and every time I drive by that Everett Field very Yeah, so they're so they're redoing it right now, and when I drive by it it it it just brings back memories because I remember my brother in sixth grade playing in that in that in that in that field actually, and hitting a home run onto Oldfield Avenue or the other side of Oldfield Avenue as a twelve year old.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_03: So he was a man child.
• 25:44
  SPEAKER_03: So uh when I think old school, that's what that's what I think of just the the great memories of uh of spending time being, you know, uh you know, just as little kids.
• 25:53
  SPEAKER_03: You know, just always always uh trying to keep up with him uh and his friends.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_03: He he had a great group of friends that were amazing, amazing athletes.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_03: You know, a couple of his best friends played uh, you know, in in the NFL and uh it was just a a great innocent time to grow up uh and to be Jerry Hunt's brother.
• 26:13
  SPEAKER_03: So I'd love to do that.
• 26:14
  SPEAKER_02: I love you, bro.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: I love you.
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_02: And you know what what else is old school, to be quite honest with you, and and not to be corny, but like I know you're his, right?
• 26:23
  SPEAKER_02: Because when he tells me he's going home for Christmas Eve, he's like, wait till you see the meal that my brother's gonna cook.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_02: And he took the videos.
• 26:31
  SPEAKER_02: He's he's like, honestly, I just love that guy.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_02: He's the best.
• 26:35
  SPEAKER_02: And you are the best, Jeff.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_02: And so is your brother Terry.
• 26:38
  SPEAKER_03: I I appreciate it.
• 26:39
  SPEAKER_03: It's funny that you said that because my whole day day that I've been shopping like a maniac.
• 26:43
  SPEAKER_03: I went to the butcher, I got a 14-pound leg of lamb that we're gonna get the bow for me.
• 26:49
  SPEAKER_03: I just went, I got a warm out of the cottage, I got like uh making uh pizza housica.
• 26:59
  SPEAKER_03: I got we're we're bringing it out, dude.
• 27:01
  SPEAKER_03: We're gonna bring it out on Sunday.
• 27:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, times are tough here.
• 27:04
  SPEAKER_02: We we have a leg of a horse that just passed away in this house next to us.
• 27:09
  SPEAKER_02: My goal is just to make it edible.
• 27:13
  SPEAKER_03: I know you can bring it, but you can't make it so nice, nice, nice, nice.
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: What's going on tonight?
• 27:19
  SPEAKER_03: What are you guys doing?
• 27:20
  SPEAKER_02: That's it.
• 27:21
  SPEAKER_02: Hey, we're gonna cut it short just because we're gonna finish this up.
• 27:23
  SPEAKER_02: But I love you, buddy.
• 27:24
  SPEAKER_02: Your brother loves you, Jess loves you.
• 27:26
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see you soon.
• 27:29
  SPEAKER_03: Love you, Jeffrey.
• 27:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thought that was cool.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: That's why the alarm is going off to call your bra.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 27:34
  SPEAKER_02: He's uh one of a kind.
• 27:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he is.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: So with that, tell us about your old school.
• 27:39
  SPEAKER_00: Old school give us old school.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_04: So um, so old school has been in my mind and in my mind's eye probably seriously for like the last five years.
• 27:54
  SPEAKER_04: And I've looked I'm a I'm I'm a brand lover.
• 27:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um, you know, I love clothes, I love and and I'm a brand advocate.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_04: And when I find something that I like and and um and wears well, like that's what I buy.
• 28:11
  SPEAKER_04: And I could go through my wardrobe with each, I buy these types of suits, these types of shirts, the like, um, so I've always been kind of an aficionado of brands, and I've always been fascinated with what makes them work, what makes them tick, how it all happens.
• 28:28
  SPEAKER_04: I've always had this desire to like build a brand.
• 28:31
  SPEAKER_04: Um but it costs you know cost a lot of money to do that.
• 28:38
  SPEAKER_04: Um it costs a a lot of uh time, effort, and energy uh up until recently, where now you have the tools you have with social media helps, with Shopify, with automation.
• 28:53
  SPEAKER_04: Um it's become attainable for people that don't have to go out and raise$20 million to build a brand.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_04: So um the the reason why old school is like as I said, over the past couple years, I've just started to really pay attention on how often that term is used.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_04: And how diverse that term is used.
• 29:24
  SPEAKER_04: And as I started to really think about it, I'm like, no one's really wrapped that into a badge of honor.
• 29:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 29:36
  SPEAKER_04: And when I think about the term old school, um what I'm so excited about is that we want to harness all of the inherent goodwill that this phrase has and how diverse it is.
• 29:58
  SPEAKER_04: And we want to launch a lifestyle like a movement almost.
• 30:06
  SPEAKER_04: It is well, yes, and a movement defines itself.
• 30:09
  SPEAKER_04: We don't define it, it'll define itself if we're that fortunate, right?
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_04: But that's certainly the goal, it's certainly what we talk about.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_04: Um but what what wound up happening is I've been kind of kicking around for the last five years, and I was listening to Joe Rogan's podcast, um, and he had Guy Fierti on, and they were talking about a lot of stuff that's going on in the world, and they were talking about a lot of the negativity, and there's all this content out there that men are putting out around you know, the manosphere and how to be masculine and how to treat women shitty, and how to, you know, get up and all you gotta do is go to the gym and trade crypto, and you're gonna be like, and and they're taking these kids' money, and it's really awful.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_04: Um and and guy at the end of the podcast, Guy Fieri said, you know, we need we just need more positivity in this work.
• 31:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 31:06
  SPEAKER_04: And man, that hit me like I remember where I was when I heard it.
• 31:09
  SPEAKER_04: It hit me like a sledgehammer.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_04: And I'm like, well, if you think about old school, right?
• 31:14
  SPEAKER_04: The term old school is used to compliment someone.
• 31:18
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_04: It's it's a it's a cool compliment, right?
• 31:23
  SPEAKER_04: Nobody's ever said to someone, you're old school in a derogatory way.
• 31:30
  SPEAKER_04: Every time you hear it, I heard it this morning on the Pat Mac, every time you hear it, whether it's describing a car, describing a recipe, describing music, sign people with good, not just memories, just good memories, yes, and happiness in their life, whether they were at a concert or they remember, you know, old school, you know, like we were growing up, we had to have go home for dinner every night at six o'clock.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_04: Right, right.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_04: We had dinner as a family, and if you didn't, like you were not eating.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_04: Right?
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_04: And and there was no ifs, ands, or buts about it.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: Um You know what I love about it though, Jared?
• 32:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I didn't even think of this when you were saying it.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_02: So when I asked my son Michael, old school, he's like, I remember old school for me was when I was playing T ball.
• 32:22
  SPEAKER_02: But the thing is that's so cool about it, is you see it click in somebody where they just get happy because it's a warm memory, and everybody's old school is different.
• 32:33
  SPEAKER_02: Which is so cool.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_02: Because and like no matter what your day is, no matter what your politics are.
• 32:39
  SPEAKER_02: When you say old school, I'm thinking of the 90s, Jakar, where you used to peg your legs, like going out like uh Sebastian Manascalco, actually going out and talking to girls instead of like swiping, right?
• 32:52
  SPEAKER_02: But my son's old school is totally different.
• 32:55
  SPEAKER_02: My dad's old school is like shooting dice at go go betting horses.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_02: Like everybody's is so different and it's so near and dear to their heart that who isn't gonna love it?
• 33:07
  SPEAKER_02: That's what's so amazing about it.
• 33:08
  SPEAKER_04: Well, here's what we have going for us, right?
• 33:11
  SPEAKER_04: With this I like that you said wait.
• 33:13
  SPEAKER_04: But this with this movement is old school is a term that never dies.
• 33:20
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 33:21
  SPEAKER_04: Ever.
• 33:22
  SPEAKER_04: It's timeless, yeah, it's generational, and every year it redefines itself based upon that generation.
• 33:31
  SPEAKER_04: Like if you look at fashion, right?
• 33:33
  SPEAKER_04: Every 15 years, what does fashion do?
• 33:35
  SPEAKER_04: It just redoes the old trends bell bottoms, skinny jeans, tight jeans, short jeans, right?
• 33:41
  SPEAKER_04: Like there's almost so many things you could do with fashion, right?
• 33:44
  SPEAKER_04: But every 20 years, the trends and they they reset themselves.
• 33:48
  SPEAKER_04: Right.
• 33:49
  SPEAKER_04: Um, and and we want to I want to create a place.
• 33:53
  SPEAKER_04: We want to create a place that gives people the ability to share their old school memories.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_01: Okay.
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_04: Um, share it, live it.
• 34:01
  SPEAKER_04: Like we're gonna put out like how to be old school.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah.
• 34:03
  SPEAKER_04: Like, what are the things that define you as someone who lives a lifestyle that's kind of old school?
• 34:10
  SPEAKER_04: Because it like it is, it's a badge of honor.
• 34:13
  SPEAKER_04: It's we say it's earned, not given.
• 34:15
  SPEAKER_04: You don't just get it.
• 34:16
  SPEAKER_04: Like you gotta live it and then wear it with the clothing line that we're gonna launch.
• 34:22
  SPEAKER_04: And I mean, it's just it's really super exciting.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_04: Um I'm so grateful to be in this place at this time with the resources and the people around it.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_04: It's the right time.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_04: It's this is the time.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: And it's got the plans, which is old school.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, and that's how we're gonna do it.
• 34:37
  SPEAKER_04: We're gonna we're gonna launch it just round roots, round up, hard work, going out, talking to people.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_04: Because this is the thing.
• 34:47
  SPEAKER_04: When when I know we have something, like I know that I feel it in that that core of my soul in my bones.
• 34:56
  SPEAKER_04: I'm not gonna be disappointed because every time you ask someone what's your old school, they have an answer.
• 35:02
  SPEAKER_04: So and he answers something positive.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:05
  SPEAKER_04: No, I what's your old school?
• 35:06
  SPEAKER_04: Like people don't say, Oh, it's when my dad uh died.
• 35:10
  SPEAKER_04: Like, it's always a positive thing.
• 35:12
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, so this term has been out there, right?
• 35:16
  SPEAKER_04: And we're gonna we're gonna bring it to life, and we're gonna we're gonna bring this audience, this movement, this platform, and we're gonna get people to share what it means to them.
• 35:33
  SPEAKER_04: And and uh it's I think it's gonna be a blast.
• 35:36
  SPEAKER_04: I think it's gonna be a lot of fun.
• 35:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's gonna be amazing.
• 35:38
  SPEAKER_04: So uh yeah, I can't wait.
• 35:39
  SPEAKER_04: We're uh hard at work and you know coming soon.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_04: Oh, that's awesome.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_04: Yeah, for sure.
• 35:46
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you for being here, Terry.
• 35:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh man, this was amazing.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_00: This was so fun.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_00: Um sorry we have to wrap it up.
• 35:50
  SPEAKER_00: I could talk, we could talk about it.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: I could talk for hours with you guys.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we do anyway.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you again for being here.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: You're a local legend, excited for old school.
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: Love you, love you, and that's a wrap.