March 22, 2024 • 28 mins
Embark on an extraordinary journey with Mike Bolland, a congenital amputee who defies the odds and transcends barriers with his remarkable resilience and ingenuity. Born without a right hand in Montclair, New Jersey, Mike's story is a testament to the power of perseverance and creativity.
From his early years in beautiful Hazlet, NJ, where he attended Beers Street School, to his family's relocation to Arizona at the age of eight, Mike's life took unexpected turns that would shape his remarkable trajectory. It was in Arizona where Mike's journey into the spotlight began when he landed the role of Danny in the movie "The Trial of Billy Jack." While initially drawn to the glitz and glamour of the movie industry, Mike quickly realized that his casting was not due to his acting talents, but rather his unique physical condition.
Undeterred by the challenges he faced, Mike's resilience only grew stronger with time. At the age of 13, he embarked on a bowling journey that would change his life forever. Introduced to the sport by a friend, Mike quickly discovered a natural talent for bowling. By the age of 16, he clinched his first state bowling title, propelling him onto the national stage and earning him a coveted spot in the Coca-Cola Nationals in Washington, D.C. This opportunity marked Mike's first real taste of independence and success away from home.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
This is Leave Your Mark.
I'm Vince Cortese, andtoday's guest is Mike Bolland.
A congenital amputee has maderemarkable strides besides
being born without a right hand.
Mike's journey is as inspiring as it isunconventional, including his unexpected
entry into the world of pro bowling.
and the creation of his innovativeTwo Fisted Drinker Beer Month.
(00:23):
Mike, thank you for beingmy guest here today.
Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
(00:57):
Now, you have literally, uh, just anincredible variety of experiences in life,
and you're a cancer survivor as well.
And I want to get to that in a minute,because to hear your journey up to that
point, You're quite the remarkable man.
Yeah, you, you take life, uh,full head on, and you make
(01:21):
everything work for your benefit.
And I need the audience to hear whatmakes you tick, and how you got to be
this incredible individual that you are.
So, thank you.
You're born and raised, or you're bornin Montclair, New Jersey, and then
in Hazlitt for a little while, andthen you wind up in Mesa, Arizona.
Uh, parents, Joe and Mary Baldwin.
(01:44):
Uh, dad was a machinistand mom was a homemaker.
Now, based on your story, I wantto slow down right here, because
these are two special individuals.
You're the middle child of three, andshare with me what your mom was like.
My mom was an Italian, and she wasa very, very strong willed person.
(02:06):
I give her a tremendous amount ofcredit for the person I am today,
as my brother and sister also do.
If you think about it, in the mid 60s,when I was born, there was no ultrasounds.
My parents were suddenly Given thisone handed little boy and they were
(02:27):
very determined to make sure that Iwas no different than anyone else.
And I had a very good upbringing.
So as far as my mom wasconcerned, great cook, strong
personality, very good leader.
And I shouldn't say good, fantasticand great leader in my life.
How about that?
Now, Dad was a machinist.
Was he a tradesman?
(02:47):
Yeah, he was a machinist his entire life.
I always wanted to go tag along withhim because I like working on cars
and motorcycles and things like that.
For whatever reason, he didn'twant me to tag along with
him to his place of business.
But he did that for many years.
But we shared a lot as far as like workingon, you know, Cars and motorcycles,
like I said, and to this day, I'm veryfortunate that I still have some of
(03:11):
his tools and I own a car that I boughtin 1981 and I still find myself using
some of those same tools and thinkingof my dad when I use those tools.
Now, you're in the middle of threechildren, your sister, Anita.
And your younger brother, Mark.
What was life like?
Now you, you went over to Mesa, you werein middle school still or grade school?
(03:34):
I was in grade schoolOkay, so your childhood years
are beyond getting into theteen years, you're in Mesa.
So, and then myself being from the EastCoast, I lived out West a little bit,
that's a pretty big change, especiallyfor somebody at that age to go coastal.
So share with me what that was likewhen everybody went over to Mesa.
(03:55):
Well, we really didn't like it.
You know, to be honest that we werevery, very much loving New Jersey.
We especially Haslet.
I went to a school calledBeer Street School.
We had a place called Tiny Glen's andwe shout out to everyone from Haslet.
Really great area to grow up in and Istill remember so much of that area.
So many some so many greatpeople that grew up there.
So we really didn't want to move out.
(04:16):
But when we got here just like anythingelse, you know, we've made do and you
know, my parents also had to find a place.
to get prosthetics.
That was an additional challenge for them.
They had no idea.
There was no internet for them to lookthings up, but they did a great job.
And we ended up, to behonest, loving Arizona.
It was the best move for ourfamily coming out to Arizona.
(04:38):
Now, when you go out to Arizona atthat age and you don't have a hand,
are you wearing a prosthetic at thatpoint, or how are you dealing with this?
Cause I mean, I don't think life is anymore sensitive than those years just prior
to being a teenager where we're just kindof getting used to being in our body.
(05:00):
And we don't know who we are just yet.
No identities come out and youhave this as serious a situation as
it can get for somebody that age.
So, what was going through your mind?
To wear a prosthetic back then.
I wore a prosthetic untilI was about 12, I believe.
Roughly 12, when I kept breakingthem, to be honest with you.
(05:22):
And my parents asked if I wantedto get it replaced at that time.
And I said, no, because I wasreally on and off with them.
But at that time, I probably, you knowI don't know, 50 percent of the time.
And I just figured in my lifeat that time, I didn't need one.
And as far as my story, my story ismaybe a little different than others.
I don't want Torepresent everyone that
was born without a hand.
(05:43):
Because I've just never I've neverthought of it any differently, and
I think it's because of the greatparents and the great family I have.
I never thought about myself anydifferently than anyone else.
I actually like the way I am,and I like having one hand.
This is the way I was supposed to be Butagain, I don't want to represent others.
I know others have had manychallenges because of how they
were born, and it can be difficult.
(06:04):
be that young with the peer pressuresand the kids not saying nice things and
that nature, to find an inner peace.
I mean, we have people that go throughtheir entire lives that never find
that place in themselves where they'recomfortable in their skin, who they are,
and how they're going to address life.
(06:25):
So, I mean, at a young age, you'relike, I don't need the prosthetic,
I'm going to get on with life.
And you're moving through your high schoolyears, so, uh, you take up bowling, and,
you know, I mean, it sounds kind of odd,because the whole idea, you know, you're
going to use your fingers on the ball andeverything like that, you do have another
(06:47):
hand, but it's still one of those thingswhere, how are you being skewed, like, uh,
you know, what does the coach think whenyou want to come out and play bowling?
I was fortunate.
I had a friend that asked meto join a bowling league, and
when I say fortunate, I mean it.
I guess I possess some natural talent,but I also possessed a determination
to practice and put a lot of time in.
(07:08):
My mom would drop me off at thebowling alley, I'd bowl 50 games a day.
And again, it was just one of thosethings that I was so driven to be as
good of a bowler as I possibly could.
I was, able to win my first state title,a scratched title, by the time 13 and I
won my first state title when I was 16.
It's your perfect game.
(07:29):
yeah, I have a few perfect games.
Yeah, yes.
you eventually go on to be a probowler, which is, you know, Hollywood's
probably trying to steal your story.
Wasn't that, uh, WoodyHarrelson and Kingpin?
Wasn't that this, they hadsimilar storyline as yours?
Yeah, it was definitelya one handed bowler.
I think he lost his hand at I actuallyhaven't seen the movie because it does
(07:51):
kind of parallel my life a little bit.
And they didn't even askme to be in the movie.
I kid around about that.
Yeah, I don't mind.
But yeah, it was definitelyabout a one handed pro bowler.
But it was fun.
I really had a great time on tour.
I cashed on National Tour.
My highest finish in anyPBA event was second.
I came in second in aregional event in California.
But more than anything, what I wantedto do was become the first one handed
(08:14):
and or amputee professional bowler.
And I was very fortunateI was able to do that.
How long did you bowl for professionally?
I pursued that for about five yearsand the thing about the tour, just
like anything else, you know, you haveto have a backer and I had backers or
most of the time I tried to back myselfand it just could be a very difficult
life if you're not, if you don't havethat backer to really make sure that
(08:37):
you're out there and getting, you'recomfortable and not thinking about having
to cash, putting pressure on yourself.
So I was on and off for about five years.
So now you're at Mountain View HighSchool, the Toros, and you also
write for the school newspaper.
And you have some unique interests.
Uh, you like helping othersand volunteering and working
(09:00):
out, and you love sports.
So, how does life progress throughhigh school there and you're about to
graduate and get out into the real world?
What was going on then?
I really enjoy sports.
I'm glad you brought that up.
I still, to this day,I play a lot of golf.
I play basketball, which I think ismore of an age thing now for me, but
I still, I still like basketball.
(09:22):
I can dribble with both, theysay hands, I only have the one,
but I can dribble both sides.
Sports has just beena big part of my life.
I've built myself some prosthetics,I guess is the best way to do it.
So I can do the curls andpresses and things like that.
It's been, athletics and being activehas been a very big part of my life.
And I really enjoyed writingfor the school newspaper.
(09:45):
Actually My senior year, I was alsothe school photographer, which was
fun, you know, for the high school,for the paper, and that was my passion.
That's what I was really going to pursue,but I decided midway through college that
I was going to instead join the Pro Bowlerstore and give that a shot because I knew
that was more of a young person's decisionto try to do that, and that's what I did.
This is incredible.
(10:06):
Now, what I love about you is this isyour strong spirit and your approach
to life and when we're looking at aslife progresses for you, um, now you
mentioned that you had aspirations whereyou like, um, doing stand up comedy.
And you, I mean, you've got quitea variety of things going on.
(10:27):
And then besides the comedy was the,uh, podcasts were not stumped that
you created as well as, uh, you're,you're having other inventions.
So how, what is the process of, afteryou're out of school, how did things
begin to play out early in life?
You're what, in thenineties at this point?
(10:47):
Yes, it was, it was the 1990s andthere was a period of my life where
I went to work for a corporation andI worked at Corporate America for
25 years, the company for 30 years.
Are you okay with me bringing up theYeah, that's fine.
Sure.
It was Discount Tire.
They don't have any locations whereyou're at, but there's quite a
bit of locations and not to jumpahead, but there was a great career.
(11:10):
I really enjoyed it.
But.
Having cancer, like I know you wentthrough really when I got to be a
little later in life, that's when Idecided, you know, there's some things
that I want to do in my life and leavemy mark like you're exactly doing with
your podcast, which I really like.
It makes you think what's mylegacy going to be or what do
I want to give back to mankind?
And that's why I decided to dowhat I'm doing currently now.
(11:33):
Well, just to kind of touch backon it, you had a career, 25 years.
And that sounds like that wasinfluenced by your experience
when you were youth with your dad.
Yeah, my brother was alreadyworking for Discount Tire.
And an interesting story, if youdon't mind me sharing about that, that
has to do with me having one hand.
One of the things I'll say aboutbeing born the way I was is, and I
(11:56):
know that a lot of people go throughthis, employment can be difficult.
And it was for me at many times.
Points of my life,including Discount Tire.
And I don't say it in a bad way.
Discount Tire, when they interviewedme, they didn't bring up the fact that
I had one hand until the last gentlemanthat I interviewed with said, do you
think you can change tires with one hand?
(12:16):
And I said, yes, I think I can.
He said, okay, here'swhat we're going to do.
We're going to put you at X store.
We're going to that is a negativebut I look at that as a positive
because at least I was given thechance to prove myself and at the end
of the day, let's, let's be honest.
I mean, tires on a vehicle.
(12:37):
If, if I couldn't do the job, Iwould be putting people at risk.
So that wouldn't have been fair.
So I worked in the stores for five years.
And then I reeducated myself and talkabout the college and things like that.
I did this on my own, but Ireeducated myself to build websites.
So I was able to move up to theorganization and run our e business
department, our digital marketing area.
(12:58):
And then when I decided to leave theorganization, I was running the customer
experience portion of Discount Tire.
Wow.
25 years later, so you could havebeen, you could have run the place.
Oh, I don't know about that.
We, we had a, we had a great founder, Mr.
Holly, unfortunately he passed away in2018, but boy, he was, and he's, the
company's still strong and doing well.
They have great leadership there.
(13:20):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, you learned the skillsets on being entrepreneurial.
You go boots on ground first,and you come into that title and
none of the way, it sounds likea bit of the adventure you had.
Exactly.
Connect with us on LinkedIn, beour friend on Facebook, follow
us on Twitter and Instagram.
You are listening to Vince Cortese.
(13:42):
We just want you to leave your mark.
you go from that, so.
After 25 years of being there, howdid you find out you had cancer?
It was really, I'm going to say Ilucked into it and it sounds kind
of crazy, but I had throat cancer.
I was driving home from, wehave a, if you know, Arizona,
we have a place in NortheasternArizona, a cabin that we frequent.
(14:04):
It was 4th of July, 2016.
And I had an itch on my neck.
We're about 20 minutesaway from getting home.
It's a three hour drive from wherewe live to where our cabin is.
20 minutes from getting home.
And I just had an itch inmy neck and I itched it.
And I was like, man, I have a lump there.
And my, my wife goes, well, you know,you should get that checked out.
Of course me, you know, I'm like,yeah, I should, you know, the person,
(14:26):
yeah, I better get that checked out.
Kind of forgot, you know, wasn'treally top of mind for whatever reason.
And then I was at a vendor dinnerabout a week later and I've turned
and I could feel something in my neck.
It's like, oh, that feels kind of weird.
And I was like, yes, I bettergo get that checked out.
the pain was strong enough foryou to realize it was serious.
something wasn't right.
Now, as a cancer survivor myself,what was your first thoughts when
(14:51):
you were told you had cancer?
Yeah, it was devastating.
You know, I had a, I got a call on aFriday when I was in my office, and I
remember you try to prepare yourselfbecause as you know, you go through
the biopsy and you go through thePET scan, you go through a lot of
those tests, and you try to prepareyourself for that call, hoping it's
(15:12):
going to be good news, but trying tothink through what you're going to do.
And I remember telling myself, take,have a piece of paper, take notes, Make
sure you get down everything they say.
Well, you know, I'mgonna, it's gonna be hard.
It's even hard for me to talkabout now but, when they called,
uh, I wasn't able to do that.
It was just, it was justtoo hard of news, you know.
(15:34):
When you go through, when youare told that news, it's just
devastating because you're, Yourlife flashes before you, I guess.
And I don't know what to say, youknow, that's the way I think of it.
I think of my family, my wife.
At the time, my mom anddad were still alive.
There was just a lot to process.
So what I did, I went down, my brotherworks for Discount Tire as well.
(15:56):
I went down to his office and I said,Mark, I was just diagnosed with cancer,
um, kind of a basket case, basically,and we called the, the doctor's office
back, and he was able to really takethe notes and figure out where we
were going next in that journey.
So I thank him very much for that.
Now, after finding out, how longdid you decide to address the
(16:19):
situation and what did you do first?
I, I decided immediately, we were,Discount Tire has a nurse on staff,
like a corporate nurse, and he reallyhelped guide some of those things
and get me to the right people.
And I really appreciate that.
Dr.
Jordan Weiner here was anear note, ear throat and nose
specialist here in Arizona.
(16:40):
And I was recommended to him andhe did a great job of the care.
There was, there were, therewere a couple, as you know,
a couple options, right?
You can go through the chemoor my, these were my options.
I can go through thechemo or get the surgery.
He recommended surgery because hethought that would have been the
best way to get it completely out.
And then if they didn't get it all out,I'd have to go through the radiation.
(17:03):
So I chose the surgery and, andI, and then I ended up going
through the, the radiation as well.
It was very evasive as you canimagine, as I'm sure you, you more
than understand where I'm coming from,but it was the right decision for me.
Now, um, was it localized or did itspread that you had to have the cancer
treatment or the chemo treatment?
(17:24):
They were afraid it did spread.
So that's why they did, I didn'tdo the chemo, I did the radiation,
but they were afraid it did spread.
They weren't sure whether they got it all.
They took out 45 lymph nodes and the tumorwas the size of a golf ball, they said.
And it's amazing to think thatsomething can be in your body
that big and you don't really evenrealize or you just kind of hit it.
You know, it's not like Ihit it when I was shaving.
It was just, Oh, uh, yeah.
(17:46):
That's an area where it's shaving.
You hit it frequently.
Now, with it being life threatening,you'd had managed at this point in
your life, quite a bit of struggle.
And is this any different?
And why?
This was much differentfrom my personal story.
This was, I actually havea story I can, I can share.
(18:09):
Please do.
after, on that Friday, get home and I tellher my, my oldest daughter at the time
was going to Northern Arizona University,NAU, and my youngest daughter was going
to Dobson High School here in Mesa.
My daughter, my oldest daughter,happened to be in town from from college.
So I was able to tell my wife, andtogether we were able to tell my
(18:31):
daughters, and that was, you know,I, as you know, some of the roughest
things is telling other people,well, my wife goes, well, you know.
What do you want to do Now, I mean, alittle later in the evening, I said,
you know what, I feel like going outfor a glass of wine or four, right?
You know, it's like one of those, likeI, I just need to, I need to get away.
So we went to a local restaurant andwhere we happen to sit, we sat in the
(18:55):
bar, nice restaurant, nice Italianrestaurant, but we sat in the bar.
And I go to sit down and it'sinteresting when you have one hand
people or any amputation or maybe otherthings, you know, as I walk through
the restaurant, people look at me.
I don't care.
I love having one hand.
So I'm very comfortable with that part.
But people assume they know what'swrong with you by saying, Oh,
(19:15):
well, I see what's wrong with him.
He has one hand, but that was thefirst time in my life that that
wasn't what was wrong with me.
What was wrong with me?
was I had cancer.
And it, that hit me like a ton of brickswhen I was sitting there with my wife.
And then here's what it reallymade me realize more than anything.
I may be guilty of that too, lookingat someone going, hey, I know a
(19:35):
little bit more about that personthan maybe I really did know.
I don't.
None of us know the personal strugglesthat people are going through
just based on their appearance.
And that was a very goodlesson that I learned that day.
I'm not going to say I wasa bad guy before that, but I
think I was better after that.
Now, that being, what did you takefrom that, then, moving forward,
(19:58):
as far as how you internally weredealing with your emotions as
they were come up, come forward?
I'll just say it was difficult.
Again, you know, I can'tpersonally compare the two.
The cancer to the, to being bornwith one hand, the cancer was just a
lot more devastating to me and, andlet's face it, I mean, people lose
(20:22):
limbs because of cancer, so they,they, they may have a double whammy.
I was just someone that would sayjust, but I was born with one hand.
It was, uh, I had over 50 yearsof experience there, but I
had no experience with cancer.
But one of the things I did,and I don't know if this is.
I didn't read this anywhere, I don'tknow if this is a best practice, but
what I decided to do was get somegoals for myself on the other side.
(20:46):
That's kind of how I thoughtabout it, meaning that when I
beat this, What do I want to do?
And there's two things thatI wanted to do in life.
Number one, I wanted to go back ontour and bowl one more tour stop.
And I still haven't donethat, but I, I will do that.
I, I will do that.
Now I'll go over on the PBA 50.
That's kind of the neat thing.
I get to go, I get togo on the senior tour.
(21:06):
Yeah.
But number two, I wantedto try stand up comedy.
And that's really why I did it.
Because I always wanted to try it.
And when you are dealt a hand that youdon't know when that, I love saying that,
if you don't know when the, if you'renot guaranteed tomorrow, which none of
us are, but you really get that slappedin the face when you have a diagnosis
of anything major, including cancer, yourealize that, you know what, tomorrow is
(21:31):
the day or the today is the day today.
If I want to try stand up comedytoday is the day to do it.
So, that's why I tried it.
So, would you say that thecancer experience has brought
you a greater urgency for life?
Yes, it absolutely has, and that'swhy I decided to move on from my
(21:52):
career at Discount Tire, which I verymuch enjoyed, to do other things,
including the podcast, and I reallythank you for mentioning that podcast.
It's the We're Not Stump Podcast, andwhat we do, what I do, is I interview
other amputees and hear their lifestories and get their other side,
and I've learned so much about that.
My mission after that, when I, when Icame through all that, was to try to give
(22:14):
back to a community that I had been a partof, but I really didn't participate in,
if that makes sense, being, you know, aperson with one hand, just living life,
enjoying life, not necessarily caring.
Again, personally, okaywith it and enjoying it.
Other people's stories aredifferent, but I wanted to give
that back to that community.
Any way I could, and the We'reNot Stunned podcast is one of
(22:35):
the ways that I try to do that.
Yeah, it's very nice.
I would, uh, we'll have a linkon that at the end or in the
description so that people can hearit because it's a great podcast.
Now, you've got about how many episodes?
getting close to 50.
I've been doing it abouta year and a half now.
(22:55):
Okay, so the podcast is fresh and new.
So, um, I want to talk to youabout some of the different things
that you've done here as well.
You also founded a non profit.
Share with me what Helping Hands is about.
It's all about.
trying, again, in my mission or my lifejourney, my north started to help other
(23:18):
amputees, I founded a non profit calledJoe and Marie Boland's Helping Hands, and
the inspiration for that is my parents.
The people that provided me withprosthetics when I needed it, I thought
there was no better honor to them thanfor me to name a non profit after them.
Not only did it give me the opportunityto wear prosthetics and have
(23:40):
prosthetics when I needed to, but theyalso gave me the ability to choose
whether I wanted to have one or not.
And there's many, many reasons.
amputees that choose not to have itfor whatever reason in their life.
But for the ones that do choose,it can be very difficult.
Insurance can be very inconsistent.
The cost of prostheticsare quite astronomical.
So we just try to do our partwith the cost, but not only
(24:03):
that, the resources needed.
Whether it be support groups, whetherit be introducing them to people
like them so they understand theirjourney, we try to do whatever
we can to support other amputees.
Now, what are you currently doingbesides the podcast and some of these
organizations that you've set up?
(24:26):
Well, primarily what I really enjoydoing, even more so than the comedy,
even though I enjoy comedy, I'mnot going to say I don't do that.
But what I do right now is a lot ofspeaking, and I really enjoy the speaking.
And what I do, and you're givingme an opportunity to share, and I
can't tell you how much I appreciatethis, and I thank you so much.
(24:46):
What I try to do is share myperspective as a transcriber.
One handed person and maybe some ofthe lucky things that happened to me as
opposed to some of the unlucky things.
Like, I was lucky and blessedto have parents like I did.
I was lucky and blessed to havemy brother and sister, my family
now, my friends, you know.
There's a big support group that makesall of this possible, that makes me look
(25:09):
good, I guess is a good way to put it.
I mean, your ability to have thatinner strength and the courage
to see the situation through.
So many of us, um, we play the handthat we're dealt, and we get upset
with what we're dealt, and then we kindof, we become our own worst enemies.
And that doesn't seem like anything thatever happened to you, even as a child.
(25:34):
And dealing with those pressuresof other children or juveniles, you
know, that can just be so hurtful.
The words are piercing,and they're long lasting.
So, to come battle tested as you have,realizing that you came from a strong
core with your mom and dad, Yoursis an incredible story and journey.
(25:55):
I mean, I have to do this.
I want to just name, because you,I'm going to say speaker first,
because I didn't have that one writtendown, but it's a congenital amputee.
You're an athlete, a comedian,an inventor, a nonprofit
founder, a podcaster, a bowler.
And a child actor, and I, I mean, Ididn't go through all, I mean, so,
(26:17):
to say that you're living a fulllife is an understatement, you,
you are drinking it up, you know.
So the idea then, that leads me tothis point, in the podcast, where,
how would you like to be remembered?
How would you want to leave your mark?
The way I'd like to leave my mark?
is someone that really inspired otheramputees to live their full life.
(26:40):
To realize that there is anotherside, as I even talk about,
as I've talked about here.
That understanding that we're allhuman, and That's something that
comes out a lot in the podcast.
A lot of the things that we go through asamputees, and I'll lump myself into this,
we have a feeling of alone, because I'llgo to a Phoenix, or Arizona Cardinal game,
Phoenix Cardinal, That was 30 years ago.
(27:01):
Like an Arizona Cardinal game, I'm aseason ticket holder, and I'll walk
around, right, and I'll be the onlyperson like me in the whole stadium.
It's natural, but I'll tell you what, youknow, that's part of the human condition.
There's a lot of times anyonefeels like they're alone.
And I think if we overcome thatfeeling of alone and, you know,
Bring other people into our lives.
(27:22):
Our lives could be even more fulfilling.
That's beautiful.
Mike, you're truly an inspiration.
I want to thank you for yourtime and coming by and sharing
your story with me today.
I can't tell you how much Iappreciate being on your podcast.
You have a fantastic podcast andthe guests you've had on and the
stories that you're sharing aremaking an impact in people's lives.
(27:44):
So thank you.
I appreciate that, Mike.
You're, you're a big contributor to that.
This is Leave Your Mark.
I'm Vince Cortese, andtoday's guest is Mike Bolland.
A congenital amputee has maderemarkable strides besides
being born without a right hand.
Mike's journey is as inspiring as it isunconventional, including his unexpected
entry into the world of pro bowling.
and the creation of his innovativeTwo Fisted Drinker Beer Month.
(00:23):
Mike, thank you for beingmy guest here today.
Thank you so much for having me.
I appreciate it.
(00:57):
Now, you have literally, uh, just anincredible variety of experiences in life,
and you're a cancer survivor as well.
And I want to get to that in a minute,because to hear your journey up to that
point, You're quite the remarkable man.
Yeah, you, you take life, uh,full head on, and you make
(01:21):
everything work for your benefit.
And I need the audience to hear whatmakes you tick, and how you got to be
this incredible individual that you are.
So, thank you.
You're born and raised, or you're bornin Montclair, New Jersey, and then
in Hazlitt for a little while, andthen you wind up in Mesa, Arizona.
Uh, parents, Joe and Mary Baldwin.
(01:44):
Uh, dad was a machinistand mom was a homemaker.
Now, based on your story, I wantto slow down right here, because
these are two special individuals.
You're the middle child of three, andshare with me what your mom was like.
My mom was an Italian, and she wasa very, very strong willed person.
(02:06):
I give her a tremendous amount ofcredit for the person I am today,
as my brother and sister also do.
If you think about it, in the mid 60s,when I was born, there was no ultrasounds.
My parents were suddenly Given thisone handed little boy and they were
(02:27):
very determined to make sure that Iwas no different than anyone else.
And I had a very good upbringing.
So as far as my mom wasconcerned, great cook, strong
personality, very good leader.
And I shouldn't say good, fantasticand great leader in my life.
How about that?
Now, Dad was a machinist.
Was he a tradesman?
(02:47):
Yeah, he was a machinist his entire life.
I always wanted to go tag along withhim because I like working on cars
and motorcycles and things like that.
For whatever reason, he didn'twant me to tag along with
him to his place of business.
But he did that for many years.
But we shared a lot as far as like workingon, you know, Cars and motorcycles,
like I said, and to this day, I'm veryfortunate that I still have some of
(03:11):
his tools and I own a car that I boughtin 1981 and I still find myself using
some of those same tools and thinkingof my dad when I use those tools.
Now, you're in the middle of threechildren, your sister, Anita.
And your younger brother, Mark.
What was life like?
Now you, you went over to Mesa, you werein middle school still or grade school?
(03:34):
I was in grade schoolOkay, so your childhood years
are beyond getting into theteen years, you're in Mesa.
So, and then myself being from the EastCoast, I lived out West a little bit,
that's a pretty big change, especiallyfor somebody at that age to go coastal.
So share with me what that was likewhen everybody went over to Mesa.
(03:55):
Well, we really didn't like it.
You know, to be honest that we werevery, very much loving New Jersey.
We especially Haslet.
I went to a school calledBeer Street School.
We had a place called Tiny Glen's andwe shout out to everyone from Haslet.
Really great area to grow up in and Istill remember so much of that area.
So many some so many greatpeople that grew up there.
So we really didn't want to move out.
(04:16):
But when we got here just like anythingelse, you know, we've made do and you
know, my parents also had to find a place.
to get prosthetics.
That was an additional challenge for them.
They had no idea.
There was no internet for them to lookthings up, but they did a great job.
And we ended up, to behonest, loving Arizona.
It was the best move for ourfamily coming out to Arizona.
(04:38):
Now, when you go out to Arizona atthat age and you don't have a hand,
are you wearing a prosthetic at thatpoint, or how are you dealing with this?
Cause I mean, I don't think life is anymore sensitive than those years just prior
to being a teenager where we're just kindof getting used to being in our body.
(05:00):
And we don't know who we are just yet.
No identities come out and youhave this as serious a situation as
it can get for somebody that age.
So, what was going through your mind?
To wear a prosthetic back then.
I wore a prosthetic untilI was about 12, I believe.
Roughly 12, when I kept breakingthem, to be honest with you.
(05:22):
And my parents asked if I wantedto get it replaced at that time.
And I said, no, because I wasreally on and off with them.
But at that time, I probably, you knowI don't know, 50 percent of the time.
And I just figured in my lifeat that time, I didn't need one.
And as far as my story, my story ismaybe a little different than others.
I don't want Torepresent everyone that
was born without a hand.
(05:43):
Because I've just never I've neverthought of it any differently, and
I think it's because of the greatparents and the great family I have.
I never thought about myself anydifferently than anyone else.
I actually like the way I am,and I like having one hand.
This is the way I was supposed to be Butagain, I don't want to represent others.
I know others have had manychallenges because of how they
were born, and it can be difficult.
(06:04):
be that young with the peer pressuresand the kids not saying nice things and
that nature, to find an inner peace.
I mean, we have people that go throughtheir entire lives that never find
that place in themselves where they'recomfortable in their skin, who they are,
and how they're going to address life.
(06:25):
So, I mean, at a young age, you'relike, I don't need the prosthetic,
I'm going to get on with life.
And you're moving through your high schoolyears, so, uh, you take up bowling, and,
you know, I mean, it sounds kind of odd,because the whole idea, you know, you're
going to use your fingers on the ball andeverything like that, you do have another
(06:47):
hand, but it's still one of those thingswhere, how are you being skewed, like, uh,
you know, what does the coach think whenyou want to come out and play bowling?
I was fortunate.
I had a friend that asked meto join a bowling league, and
when I say fortunate, I mean it.
I guess I possess some natural talent,but I also possessed a determination
to practice and put a lot of time in.
(07:08):
My mom would drop me off at thebowling alley, I'd bowl 50 games a day.
And again, it was just one of thosethings that I was so driven to be as
good of a bowler as I possibly could.
I was, able to win my first state title,a scratched title, by the time 13 and I
won my first state title when I was 16.
It's your perfect game.
(07:29):
yeah, I have a few perfect games.
Yeah, yes.
you eventually go on to be a probowler, which is, you know, Hollywood's
probably trying to steal your story.
Wasn't that, uh, WoodyHarrelson and Kingpin?
Wasn't that this, they hadsimilar storyline as yours?
Yeah, it was definitelya one handed bowler.
I think he lost his hand at I actuallyhaven't seen the movie because it does
(07:51):
kind of parallel my life a little bit.
And they didn't even askme to be in the movie.
I kid around about that.
Yeah, I don't mind.
But yeah, it was definitelyabout a one handed pro bowler.
But it was fun.
I really had a great time on tour.
I cashed on National Tour.
My highest finish in anyPBA event was second.
I came in second in aregional event in California.
But more than anything, what I wantedto do was become the first one handed
(08:14):
and or amputee professional bowler.
And I was very fortunateI was able to do that.
How long did you bowl for professionally?
I pursued that for about five yearsand the thing about the tour, just
like anything else, you know, you haveto have a backer and I had backers or
most of the time I tried to back myselfand it just could be a very difficult
life if you're not, if you don't havethat backer to really make sure that
(08:37):
you're out there and getting, you'recomfortable and not thinking about having
to cash, putting pressure on yourself.
So I was on and off for about five years.
So now you're at Mountain View HighSchool, the Toros, and you also
write for the school newspaper.
And you have some unique interests.
Uh, you like helping othersand volunteering and working
(09:00):
out, and you love sports.
So, how does life progress throughhigh school there and you're about to
graduate and get out into the real world?
What was going on then?
I really enjoy sports.
I'm glad you brought that up.
I still, to this day,I play a lot of golf.
I play basketball, which I think ismore of an age thing now for me, but
I still, I still like basketball.
(09:22):
I can dribble with both, theysay hands, I only have the one,
but I can dribble both sides.
Sports has just beena big part of my life.
I've built myself some prosthetics,I guess is the best way to do it.
So I can do the curls andpresses and things like that.
It's been, athletics and being activehas been a very big part of my life.
And I really enjoyed writingfor the school newspaper.
(09:45):
Actually My senior year, I was alsothe school photographer, which was
fun, you know, for the high school,for the paper, and that was my passion.
That's what I was really going to pursue,but I decided midway through college that
I was going to instead join the Pro Bowlerstore and give that a shot because I knew
that was more of a young person's decisionto try to do that, and that's what I did.
This is incredible.
(10:06):
Now, what I love about you is this isyour strong spirit and your approach
to life and when we're looking at aslife progresses for you, um, now you
mentioned that you had aspirations whereyou like, um, doing stand up comedy.
And you, I mean, you've got quitea variety of things going on.
(10:27):
And then besides the comedy was the,uh, podcasts were not stumped that
you created as well as, uh, you're,you're having other inventions.
So how, what is the process of, afteryou're out of school, how did things
begin to play out early in life?
You're what, in thenineties at this point?
(10:47):
Yes, it was, it was the 1990s andthere was a period of my life where
I went to work for a corporation andI worked at Corporate America for
25 years, the company for 30 years.
Are you okay with me bringing up theYeah, that's fine.
Sure.
It was Discount Tire.
They don't have any locations whereyou're at, but there's quite a
bit of locations and not to jumpahead, but there was a great career.
(11:10):
I really enjoyed it.
But.
Having cancer, like I know you wentthrough really when I got to be a
little later in life, that's when Idecided, you know, there's some things
that I want to do in my life and leavemy mark like you're exactly doing with
your podcast, which I really like.
It makes you think what's mylegacy going to be or what do
I want to give back to mankind?
And that's why I decided to dowhat I'm doing currently now.
(11:33):
Well, just to kind of touch backon it, you had a career, 25 years.
And that sounds like that wasinfluenced by your experience
when you were youth with your dad.
Yeah, my brother was alreadyworking for Discount Tire.
And an interesting story, if youdon't mind me sharing about that, that
has to do with me having one hand.
One of the things I'll say aboutbeing born the way I was is, and I
(11:56):
know that a lot of people go throughthis, employment can be difficult.
And it was for me at many times.
Points of my life,including Discount Tire.
And I don't say it in a bad way.
Discount Tire, when they interviewedme, they didn't bring up the fact that
I had one hand until the last gentlemanthat I interviewed with said, do you
think you can change tires with one hand?
(12:16):
And I said, yes, I think I can.
He said, okay, here'swhat we're going to do.
We're going to put you at X store.
We're going to that is a negativebut I look at that as a positive
because at least I was given thechance to prove myself and at the end
of the day, let's, let's be honest.
I mean, tires on a vehicle.
(12:37):
If, if I couldn't do the job, Iwould be putting people at risk.
So that wouldn't have been fair.
So I worked in the stores for five years.
And then I reeducated myself and talkabout the college and things like that.
I did this on my own, but Ireeducated myself to build websites.
So I was able to move up to theorganization and run our e business
department, our digital marketing area.
(12:58):
And then when I decided to leave theorganization, I was running the customer
experience portion of Discount Tire.
Wow.
25 years later, so you could havebeen, you could have run the place.
Oh, I don't know about that.
We, we had a, we had a great founder, Mr.
Holly, unfortunately he passed away in2018, but boy, he was, and he's, the
company's still strong and doing well.
They have great leadership there.
(13:20):
Yeah.
Well, I mean, you learned the skillsets on being entrepreneurial.
You go boots on ground first,and you come into that title and
none of the way, it sounds likea bit of the adventure you had.
Exactly.
Connect with us on LinkedIn, beour friend on Facebook, follow
us on Twitter and Instagram.
You are listening to Vince Cortese.
(13:42):
We just want you to leave your mark.
you go from that, so.
After 25 years of being there, howdid you find out you had cancer?
It was really, I'm going to say Ilucked into it and it sounds kind
of crazy, but I had throat cancer.
I was driving home from, wehave a, if you know, Arizona,
we have a place in NortheasternArizona, a cabin that we frequent.
(14:04):
It was 4th of July, 2016.
And I had an itch on my neck.
We're about 20 minutesaway from getting home.
It's a three hour drive from wherewe live to where our cabin is.
20 minutes from getting home.
And I just had an itch inmy neck and I itched it.
And I was like, man, I have a lump there.
And my, my wife goes, well, you know,you should get that checked out.
Of course me, you know, I'm like,yeah, I should, you know, the person,
(14:26):
yeah, I better get that checked out.
Kind of forgot, you know, wasn'treally top of mind for whatever reason.
And then I was at a vendor dinnerabout a week later and I've turned
and I could feel something in my neck.
It's like, oh, that feels kind of weird.
And I was like, yes, I bettergo get that checked out.
the pain was strong enough foryou to realize it was serious.
something wasn't right.
Now, as a cancer survivor myself,what was your first thoughts when
(14:51):
you were told you had cancer?
Yeah, it was devastating.
You know, I had a, I got a call on aFriday when I was in my office, and I
remember you try to prepare yourselfbecause as you know, you go through
the biopsy and you go through thePET scan, you go through a lot of
those tests, and you try to prepareyourself for that call, hoping it's
(15:12):
going to be good news, but trying tothink through what you're going to do.
And I remember telling myself, take,have a piece of paper, take notes, Make
sure you get down everything they say.
Well, you know, I'mgonna, it's gonna be hard.
It's even hard for me to talkabout now but, when they called,
uh, I wasn't able to do that.
It was just, it was justtoo hard of news, you know.
(15:34):
When you go through, when youare told that news, it's just
devastating because you're, Yourlife flashes before you, I guess.
And I don't know what to say, youknow, that's the way I think of it.
I think of my family, my wife.
At the time, my mom anddad were still alive.
There was just a lot to process.
So what I did, I went down, my brotherworks for Discount Tire as well.
(15:56):
I went down to his office and I said,Mark, I was just diagnosed with cancer,
um, kind of a basket case, basically,and we called the, the doctor's office
back, and he was able to really takethe notes and figure out where we
were going next in that journey.
So I thank him very much for that.
Now, after finding out, how longdid you decide to address the
(16:19):
situation and what did you do first?
I, I decided immediately, we were,Discount Tire has a nurse on staff,
like a corporate nurse, and he reallyhelped guide some of those things
and get me to the right people.
And I really appreciate that.
Dr.
Jordan Weiner here was anear note, ear throat and nose
specialist here in Arizona.
(16:40):
And I was recommended to him andhe did a great job of the care.
There was, there were, therewere a couple, as you know,
a couple options, right?
You can go through the chemoor my, these were my options.
I can go through thechemo or get the surgery.
He recommended surgery because hethought that would have been the
best way to get it completely out.
And then if they didn't get it all out,I'd have to go through the radiation.
(17:03):
So I chose the surgery and, andI, and then I ended up going
through the, the radiation as well.
It was very evasive as you canimagine, as I'm sure you, you more
than understand where I'm coming from,but it was the right decision for me.
Now, um, was it localized or did itspread that you had to have the cancer
treatment or the chemo treatment?
(17:24):
They were afraid it did spread.
So that's why they did, I didn'tdo the chemo, I did the radiation,
but they were afraid it did spread.
They weren't sure whether they got it all.
They took out 45 lymph nodes and the tumorwas the size of a golf ball, they said.
And it's amazing to think thatsomething can be in your body
that big and you don't really evenrealize or you just kind of hit it.
You know, it's not like Ihit it when I was shaving.
It was just, Oh, uh, yeah.
(17:46):
That's an area where it's shaving.
You hit it frequently.
Now, with it being life threatening,you'd had managed at this point in
your life, quite a bit of struggle.
And is this any different?
And why?
This was much differentfrom my personal story.
This was, I actually havea story I can, I can share.
(18:09):
Please do.
after, on that Friday, get home and I tellher my, my oldest daughter at the time
was going to Northern Arizona University,NAU, and my youngest daughter was going
to Dobson High School here in Mesa.
My daughter, my oldest daughter,happened to be in town from from college.
So I was able to tell my wife, andtogether we were able to tell my
(18:31):
daughters, and that was, you know,I, as you know, some of the roughest
things is telling other people,well, my wife goes, well, you know.
What do you want to do Now, I mean, alittle later in the evening, I said,
you know what, I feel like going outfor a glass of wine or four, right?
You know, it's like one of those, likeI, I just need to, I need to get away.
So we went to a local restaurant andwhere we happen to sit, we sat in the
(18:55):
bar, nice restaurant, nice Italianrestaurant, but we sat in the bar.
And I go to sit down and it'sinteresting when you have one hand
people or any amputation or maybe otherthings, you know, as I walk through
the restaurant, people look at me.
I don't care.
I love having one hand.
So I'm very comfortable with that part.
But people assume they know what'swrong with you by saying, Oh,
(19:15):
well, I see what's wrong with him.
He has one hand, but that was thefirst time in my life that that
wasn't what was wrong with me.
What was wrong with me?
was I had cancer.
And it, that hit me like a ton of brickswhen I was sitting there with my wife.
And then here's what it reallymade me realize more than anything.
I may be guilty of that too, lookingat someone going, hey, I know a
(19:35):
little bit more about that personthan maybe I really did know.
I don't.
None of us know the personal strugglesthat people are going through
just based on their appearance.
And that was a very goodlesson that I learned that day.
I'm not going to say I wasa bad guy before that, but I
think I was better after that.
Now, that being, what did you takefrom that, then, moving forward,
(19:58):
as far as how you internally weredealing with your emotions as
they were come up, come forward?
I'll just say it was difficult.
Again, you know, I can'tpersonally compare the two.
The cancer to the, to being bornwith one hand, the cancer was just a
lot more devastating to me and, andlet's face it, I mean, people lose
(20:22):
limbs because of cancer, so they,they, they may have a double whammy.
I was just someone that would sayjust, but I was born with one hand.
It was, uh, I had over 50 yearsof experience there, but I
had no experience with cancer.
But one of the things I did,and I don't know if this is.
I didn't read this anywhere, I don'tknow if this is a best practice, but
what I decided to do was get somegoals for myself on the other side.
(20:46):
That's kind of how I thoughtabout it, meaning that when I
beat this, What do I want to do?
And there's two things thatI wanted to do in life.
Number one, I wanted to go back ontour and bowl one more tour stop.
And I still haven't donethat, but I, I will do that.
I, I will do that.
Now I'll go over on the PBA 50.
That's kind of the neat thing.
I get to go, I get togo on the senior tour.
(21:06):
Yeah.
But number two, I wantedto try stand up comedy.
And that's really why I did it.
Because I always wanted to try it.
And when you are dealt a hand that youdon't know when that, I love saying that,
if you don't know when the, if you'renot guaranteed tomorrow, which none of
us are, but you really get that slappedin the face when you have a diagnosis
of anything major, including cancer, yourealize that, you know what, tomorrow is
(21:31):
the day or the today is the day today.
If I want to try stand up comedytoday is the day to do it.
So, that's why I tried it.
So, would you say that thecancer experience has brought
you a greater urgency for life?
Yes, it absolutely has, and that'swhy I decided to move on from my
(21:52):
career at Discount Tire, which I verymuch enjoyed, to do other things,
including the podcast, and I reallythank you for mentioning that podcast.
It's the We're Not Stump Podcast, andwhat we do, what I do, is I interview
other amputees and hear their lifestories and get their other side,
and I've learned so much about that.
My mission after that, when I, when Icame through all that, was to try to give
(22:14):
back to a community that I had been a partof, but I really didn't participate in,
if that makes sense, being, you know, aperson with one hand, just living life,
enjoying life, not necessarily caring.
Again, personally, okaywith it and enjoying it.
Other people's stories aredifferent, but I wanted to give
that back to that community.
Any way I could, and the We'reNot Stunned podcast is one of
(22:35):
the ways that I try to do that.
Yeah, it's very nice.
I would, uh, we'll have a linkon that at the end or in the
description so that people can hearit because it's a great podcast.
Now, you've got about how many episodes?
getting close to 50.
I've been doing it abouta year and a half now.
(22:55):
Okay, so the podcast is fresh and new.
So, um, I want to talk to youabout some of the different things
that you've done here as well.
You also founded a non profit.
Share with me what Helping Hands is about.
It's all about.
trying, again, in my mission or my lifejourney, my north started to help other
(23:18):
amputees, I founded a non profit calledJoe and Marie Boland's Helping Hands, and
the inspiration for that is my parents.
The people that provided me withprosthetics when I needed it, I thought
there was no better honor to them thanfor me to name a non profit after them.
Not only did it give me the opportunityto wear prosthetics and have
(23:40):
prosthetics when I needed to, but theyalso gave me the ability to choose
whether I wanted to have one or not.
And there's many, many reasons.
amputees that choose not to have itfor whatever reason in their life.
But for the ones that do choose,it can be very difficult.
Insurance can be very inconsistent.
The cost of prostheticsare quite astronomical.
So we just try to do our partwith the cost, but not only
(24:03):
that, the resources needed.
Whether it be support groups, whetherit be introducing them to people
like them so they understand theirjourney, we try to do whatever
we can to support other amputees.
Now, what are you currently doingbesides the podcast and some of these
organizations that you've set up?
(24:26):
Well, primarily what I really enjoydoing, even more so than the comedy,
even though I enjoy comedy, I'mnot going to say I don't do that.
But what I do right now is a lot ofspeaking, and I really enjoy the speaking.
And what I do, and you're givingme an opportunity to share, and I
can't tell you how much I appreciatethis, and I thank you so much.
(24:46):
What I try to do is share myperspective as a transcriber.
One handed person and maybe some ofthe lucky things that happened to me as
opposed to some of the unlucky things.
Like, I was lucky and blessedto have parents like I did.
I was lucky and blessed to havemy brother and sister, my family
now, my friends, you know.
There's a big support group that makesall of this possible, that makes me look
(25:09):
good, I guess is a good way to put it.
I mean, your ability to have thatinner strength and the courage
to see the situation through.
So many of us, um, we play the handthat we're dealt, and we get upset
with what we're dealt, and then we kindof, we become our own worst enemies.
And that doesn't seem like anything thatever happened to you, even as a child.
(25:34):
And dealing with those pressuresof other children or juveniles, you
know, that can just be so hurtful.
The words are piercing,and they're long lasting.
So, to come battle tested as you have,realizing that you came from a strong
core with your mom and dad, Yoursis an incredible story and journey.
(25:55):
I mean, I have to do this.
I want to just name, because you,I'm going to say speaker first,
because I didn't have that one writtendown, but it's a congenital amputee.
You're an athlete, a comedian,an inventor, a nonprofit
founder, a podcaster, a bowler.
And a child actor, and I, I mean, Ididn't go through all, I mean, so,
(26:17):
to say that you're living a fulllife is an understatement, you,
you are drinking it up, you know.
So the idea then, that leads me tothis point, in the podcast, where,
how would you like to be remembered?
How would you want to leave your mark?
The way I'd like to leave my mark?
is someone that really inspired otheramputees to live their full life.
(26:40):
To realize that there is anotherside, as I even talk about,
as I've talked about here.
That understanding that we're allhuman, and That's something that
comes out a lot in the podcast.
A lot of the things that we go through asamputees, and I'll lump myself into this,
we have a feeling of alone, because I'llgo to a Phoenix, or Arizona Cardinal game,
Phoenix Cardinal, That was 30 years ago.
(27:01):
Like an Arizona Cardinal game, I'm aseason ticket holder, and I'll walk
around, right, and I'll be the onlyperson like me in the whole stadium.
It's natural, but I'll tell you what, youknow, that's part of the human condition.
There's a lot of times anyonefeels like they're alone.
And I think if we overcome thatfeeling of alone and, you know,
Bring other people into our lives.
(27:22):
Our lives could be even more fulfilling.
That's beautiful.
Mike, you're truly an inspiration.
I want to thank you for yourtime and coming by and sharing
your story with me today.
I can't tell you how much Iappreciate being on your podcast.
You have a fantastic podcast andthe guests you've had on and the
stories that you're sharing aremaking an impact in people's lives.
(27:44):
So thank you.
I appreciate that, Mike.
You're, you're a big contributor to that.
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