From Hits to Healing: Shea Emry’s Path from the CFL to Men’s Health Advocacy

Episode Transcript
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Dai Manuel (00:08):
Welcome back, my friends, to another episode of
the 2% Solution podcast, wherewe dive into those small,
intentional shifts that createmassive impact in our lives.
I'm your host, don Manuel, andtoday we've got an extraordinary
guest with us, someone who'snot only a powerhouse in the
sports world but also apassionate advocate for men's
health and well-being.

(00:29):
Shea Emery, a two-time Grey Cupchampion, is with us today.
Shea isn't just a formerall-star linebacker known for
his grit on the field.
He's now tackling an entirelynew game off the field, one
that's all about helping menreconnect with their inner child
through play and adventure.

(00:49):
If you've ever wondered how aprofessional athlete transitions
from the rough and tumble offootball to creating a safe
space for men to embracevulnerability and personal
growth, then this is the episodefor you.
We're going to unpack Shea'sjourney from the CFL to founding
Wellman and toxwood AxeThrowing, and how his passion
for play is transforming lives.
You won't want to miss hisinsights on how to live with

(01:12):
intention, embrace adventure andfoster true community.
So stick around.
This is going to be oneinspiring ride.
And hey, before we dive in,make sure you hit that subscribe
button so you never miss anepisode of the 2% Solution.
Let's get into it.

(01:32):
Welcome back to the 2% Solutionpodcast.
I am the host, hi Manuel, Ihaven't changed yet, even though
there's days I wake up and I'mlike, who am I?
I'm excited because, as I saidin the intro, we have Shea Emery
here today, and man talk abouta diverse background, but also a
guy that's making huge impactin waves, and not only his
communities locally, but alsothese waves are being felt

(01:53):
globally.
And so today I just got to saywelcome to the show Shea.
So good to see you.

Shae Emry (01:58):
Likewise, thanks for having me on Always stoked to
have conversations with peoplewith as much energy as you.

Dai Manuel (02:08):
And just to quote you I appreciate that, shane,
you're from the same book, so Iknow that you are very much an
energy guy as well.
Just based on your background,especially as a professional
athlete, I mean you can't getaway from it.
And for those just to remindyou what I said in the intro you
know two-time Grey Cup champion.
Now, for my American listenersand those in other parts of the

(02:28):
world, the Grey Cup is like theepitome of Canadian football.
I mean, you've made it.
That's what us Canadianfootballers, we aspire for, that
.
And so he did it twice, notonce, but twice.
Also a CFL All-Star middlelinebacker, founder of Wellman

(02:48):
axe throwing crew, and avalaunched snowball blitz, which I
want to talk a bit about too.
So, uh, anyways, there's somany cool things that you do,
shay, and I guess what I wantedto start off I think you know.
Obviously we could go back, sotell me about where you're born
and your childhood.
We're not going to go there,we're going to start things off
from sort of where your careerin the CFL started to really
shine, because obviously there'sa lot of things that you had to
do mentally, physically andemotionally to prepare for the

(03:09):
CFL to play at that level.
But I was wondering can youshare your journey from
professional footballer tobecoming a men's health advocate
?
Because I know that's a big partof what you do today.

Shae Emry (03:22):
Yeah, thank you so much for the great intro.
Definitely I've had a journey,because I know that's a big part
of what you do today.
Yeah, thank you so much for thegreat intro.
Definitely I've had a journey.
You know I I went, I got ascholarship out of high school
and played college football inthe U S.
So first experience everplaying college football was in
front of you know, 70,000 people.
It was 30, you know, 35, 40degrees on the pitch, and I just

(03:43):
remember my, my feet.
They felt like melting off andI was like, well, this is what
you signed up for.

Dai Manuel (03:50):
And.

Shae Emry (03:50):
I had a very similar moment.
I got drafted into the CFL,into Montreal, and I was blessed
to be in the perfect situation,right.
I had a very stage leadershipgroup of players in that
organization and I kind ofstepped into the young guy with
a bunch of spit and vinegar andjust started hitting people,

(04:11):
started talking smack and reallyjust got to the point where,
you know, I was able to earn therespect of my peers and earn a
spot on the squad and really, uh, you know that came from years
and years of of preparationthrough great guides and coaches
growing up, on how to preparefor competition, uh, how to, how

(04:31):
to ready your body forcompetition, your mind for
competition, and uh and and alsoto to prepare yourself to have
to endure the hardships of winsand losses and, you know,
getting knocked in the teeth acouple of times here and there.
So, uh, yeah, started inMontreal, went to three great
cups in a in a row and got that.

(04:53):
That was what was normal, whichwas hey, I'm starting in the
great cup, there's 14 millionpeople watch, this is what I'm
supposed to be doing, right, andjust setting that at my
expectation, my standard ofoperation, like, hey, this is
where I expect to be doing rightand just setting that at my
expectation, my standard ofoperation, like, hey, this is
where I expect to be in life.
I've done it in high school,I've done it in college, I've
done it in in the pros and and Ijust it really, you know,

(05:16):
consider, at that point itreally just can really like
concreted the fact that I wasmeant to be one athlete and two
a leader, uh, which then, youknow, transition into being a
spokesperson for, you know, thehealth and wellbeing of our, our
, the community of men in thiscountry that really didn't feel

(05:36):
like they had a voice at thetime.
And, uh, I was glad to have theplatform of, you know, being a
pro athlete to, you know, have avoice that could be really
echoed into, you know, thechasms of this community.

Dai Manuel (05:53):
Man and echo.
You have, like, there's beensome pretty powerful messages
which we're going to get into,so we'll come back to that, but
I you know to play at that level, I mean it is that's it right,
like the margin of error shrinks, uh, the expectations increase,
the pressure increases and I Imean you rose to the occasion.

(06:15):
It was that something that you,was that a trait of you that
you've always had, or was thatsomething that you sort of
cultivated through maybementorship or coaches?
Like I'm just curious, wheredid it come from?
You know?
Failing, failing, good answer,oh yeah.

Shae Emry (06:32):
I think I think really what happened was that
I've, you know, played all thesports growing up and you know I
played the opposite position.
So I played quarterback in highschool.
You know I didn't like to hitpeople.
You know I was a very fastathlete in high school and then
I was given the adversity ofbeing put on the other side of

(06:53):
the ball and being basicallytold hey, bro, you got to learn
how to tackle people if you wantto play this sport.
And so, you know, I had tolearn.
I had to learn somethingcompletely new when I thought
that I had already arrived.
And so then I moved into theprofessional ranks and realized
that I didn't know anythingabout the X's and O's of the

(07:14):
game and hadn't really paidattention to the data, really
afforded the opportunity tolearn for an entire year my
first year playing pro footballfrom the defensive player of the
year previous, the year beforeand because I was on special
teams.
So in football you got offensedefense.

(07:35):
You got the people you knowrunning down on kickoffs not,
you know, the young guys tryingto earn their spot.
So I did that.
But then I also was the backupand got to learn from, you know,
these great football playersand leaders and and and that's
really where I I failed the mostby missing assignments and not
understanding the defenses andnot understanding you know how

(07:56):
to manage my emotions and youknow, get penalties on in
different aspects of the gameand really, um, get told and
shown that that's not howprofessionals operate and that I
needed to, you know, reallylevel up even more than I
thought I could, to the pointwhere, you know, I was able to
earn a starting job my secondyear because I showed up, I did

(08:18):
the work, I made the sacrificesand I really focused on the
details of the, the the game.
When it came to the cerebralaspect of it, which I didn't pay
attention to because I was justnaturally gifted as a young kid
, which you know.
You see that with really reallytall basketball players, like I
don't really need to work thathard.
I'm just bigger than everyone,right and uh, I was very similar

(08:39):
for me.
I was just big, fast, strongand I could do all the things
that was asked of me at thelower ranks.
And then I think this reallyechoes into where I'm at right
now, which is I was able to kindof jimmy rig my career together
post-football, because I justhad the juice to kind of create
things, and now it's aboutstepping back and really

(08:59):
focusing on the details again,which is the learning that I
learned from failing and failingforward.

Dai Manuel (09:08):
Great lessons and I I've got a couple of questions I
want to, but before I jumpahead uh, well, you know I, when
you think about your career,especially as a professional
athlete, what were some of thebiggest lessons that you've
pulled forward that you nowcontinue to leverage?
Do you know what I mean?
Like those?
Because I think there's certainlife lessons that we achieve,

(09:30):
you know, or, I guess, collectalong the way of these
experiences, but you know, wedon't take them with us.
It's not like we pack asuitcase and carry on and take
them.
You know, sometimes we have theexperience and then we forget
it.
you know, but I imagine there'sbeen some very impactful life
lessons that you've takenforward with you, and I'm just
wondering would you mind sharingsome of those?

Shae Emry (09:51):
the key life lesson that I learned from professional
football and being an athletefor my entire life is that
you're going to get kicked inthe teeth, you're going to get
run over, you're going to feellike crud before a workout,
you're not going to feel up toit during the.

(10:12):
You know you're going to be onyour back.
And I remember that samefootball game that I was telling
you about, where it was 70,000people and it was super hot and
I actually, within the firstcouple of minutes of the game, I
got poked in the eye withsomebody's hand, or both my eyes
got jabbed, deformed, right inthe eye.

(10:34):
Uh, the guy ended up playinglike six or seven years for the
Seahawks.
Right after that he was asenior you know he's a grown man
and uh, I went.
I basically couldn't see out ofboth my eyes for about five
minutes.
But I had made a commitment toshow up that day.
Right, I had made a commitmentto my teammates, to my family
who had traveled out to WestVirginia to watch this game.

(10:56):
My cousins and aunts andeveryone kind of was like
rallying around this big momentfor me.
And uh, and I knew that Ineeded to show up again and step
back out on the field, eventhough I felt like I wasn't
prepared to do so.
It was that, just outside mycomfort zone where growth comes,
and that was really the lessonthat I learned is that on that

(11:21):
day, all the guys under theirpads, after they took their pads
off after the game, we shookhands and you know, people were
saying what's up?
They said slot the ball right,which is basically the mindset
in football, like check inbasketball, next play right.
And yeah, uh, such is life.
You gotta put your feet on theground every single day and have
a proper foundation and toprovide you with the positive

(11:45):
trajectory to move into that day.
And so spot the ball was reallyabout around, like you know,
letting the past go, taking yourlearnings and moving forward,
and I remember I was like well,I'm not going to get poked in
the eye anymore today.
So let's make sure my, you know,duck and dodge a little bit and
uh, and I just remember thatthat moment was pivotal for me

(12:06):
because I didn't want to spotthe ball, I didn't want to go
and get poked in the eye.
We lost 56 to three.
It was not a fun day, Iremember.
After the game, the entirestadium was belting out John
Denver's Country Road and itgives me goosebumps to this day.

(12:30):
Right, this is in the state of67.
Oh, my gosh.
And and it really to this day.
Every time it's such a popularsong.
Every time I hear I feel thatday, I, I can smell the turf, I
can smell the sweat and and itjust continuously reminds me to,
you know, approach every daywith positivity that you can
endure.
Uh, if you just spot the ball,take a deep breath and and, and

(12:53):
you know, attack it and.

Dai Manuel (12:56):
I'm like, oh, I guess we can stop the podcast
now.
That was awesome.

Shae Emry (13:02):
Enough said drop the mic Got to go.

Dai Manuel (13:04):
Uh, you know, but that was great.
I see a lot of parallels injust life lessons that I've had,
but not to that level, ofcourse.
I mean talk about pressure, butto be able to still keep your
head in a good place and justembrace the moment, right,
that's super cool.

Shae Emry (13:26):
I think we can all learn from that.

Dai Manuel (13:27):
Now I need to ask you a question, because I also
know that you're you're huge inadvocacy for for men's mental
health and I know there's astory, there's obviously a
connection to it and I'm curious, you know, because I would be
remiss if I didn't at least askthis, because I know I've.
I have a number of otherfriends of professional athletes
.
I've read a lot ofautobiographies of professional

(13:49):
athletes and I see a commontheme when it comes to shifting
away from a professional careeras an athlete because it's been
such an identity piece for theseathletes.
And I see some athletes aregreat at navigating the change
or the shift, meanwhile othersaren't.
And and I'm just curious, howwas that experience for you, you

(14:09):
know, when you decided that,okay, I'm retiring, now I'm
moving on next phase of life?
I mean, what was that like foryou and how has that impacted
the work that you do with othermen and mental health?

Shae Emry (14:22):
Straight up, not, I didn't handle it well.
Mental health, straight up, not, I didn't handle it well.
And I, at the at the time of mytransition out of sport, uh, I
had met my partner.
We had had a child at thatpoint, uh, so I was already in
the fatherhood.
So, um, I had, you know, lostthe identity piece.
And I, I didn't have atraditional trade or

(14:43):
professional degree to or or anysort of certification that I
had been working on.
Um, much to you know, I wasadvised to do so.
I just that is not the paththat I took.
And so, yeah, you know, young,another one on the way, right
when I retire, and I'm sittingthere like I don't know where

(15:07):
I'm going, what I'm doing.
And I just knew that I wantedto support my community.
I wanted to.
I had been advised to share mystory, to be real and
transparent and take risks.
So that is when I jumped intothe mental health game.
I started to share my story of.

(15:29):
You know, the trauma that comeswith concussion, the difficulty
that I was personally having inthe transition, knowing that I
had blinders on my entire life.
Athlete, shake, be the job, dothat thing and do it well.

(15:53):
And so when you know that wasessentially taken away from me
because I had had my umpteenthconcussion, I think I probably
had about 20 or 30 somewhere inthere.

Dai Manuel (16:00):
Gosh, so many Wow.

Shae Emry (16:02):
It's a lot right, A lot of hits to the head.
That is a lot, right, a lot ofhits the head a lot, and when I
realized that I was no longergoing to be strapping up the
pads, I didn't want to move intofitness training and coaching
football camps.
And you know the truth, I wasan innovator.
I wanted to do thingsdifferently and I wanted to.
I wanted to really lean intowhat was important to me, which

(16:23):
was, you know, I knew that therewere other men out there that
were in the very same situationthat I was in, which was
concussed, you know, out ofsport due to injury, depressed,
lack of identity, no certaintyin my future, and I really was
heavily associating myself as anenforcer on the football field.

(16:45):
I played middle linebacker, youknow.
You mentioned that I had wontwo great cups.
I was also all-star, but great.

Dai Manuel (16:52):
Right.

Shae Emry (16:53):
The thing that I was most proud of, Dai, was that I
was peer voted the nastiestplayer in the CFL twice Don't
worry, are you kidding?
Me.

Dai Manuel (17:03):
I didn't know that Dude.
Wow, how'd you earn that one?

Shae Emry (17:08):
exactly.
I don't want to tell you, um,but I earned it right and, and
so when I I was going through alot, I was trying to figure out
okay, who am I gonna?
be, I just gotta keep smashing,keep smashing, round block.
You know, square block, roundhole mindset like I don't care

(17:28):
and uh.
And so I remember when Istarted, I knew that it was
going to be over and I didn'thave all these ducks lined up in
a row that I just needed.
I needed to do something, Ineeded to take the risk, I
needed to be real and tell mystory of how scared I was in
that moment.
One from concussion, two fromyou know I'd already dealt with
depression, my entire you knowadolescence and you know young

(17:52):
adult life and had numerousbouts where I had just kind of
gone down this deep, deep, darkhole.
Football training, sacrificeand success really kind of
pulled me back out of that.
And that's continued, you know,really to this day.
I continuously battle it.
That's why it's saying, youknow, spot the ball every day.

(18:12):
You got to set up yourtrajectory and your aim for the
day so that you have a purposeand you're guided towards light
and positivity.
But yeah, I just rememberstarting with what I knew, knew,
which was I love to be outside.
I wanted to share my love of theoutdoors as a mechanism to kind
of let get men to let theirguards down so we could have

(18:35):
conversations around their truehuman experience, which is
what's actually going on.
Are you good, like what'shappening, not like I'm fine,
like I'm looking for a littlebit more depth and I had gone to
counseling, I had a wonderfulpartner and have a wonderful
partner who guided me throughand up into those conversations
and and to have the confidenceand courage to have confident

(18:58):
converse, uh, conversationsaround mental health and
depression and concussion andlack of certainty and identity
and what have you uh.
So I just again I listened tomy advisors and I just kind of
went and and what was createdwas wellman and you know,
retreats across the country anda bunch of uh notoriety in the

(19:21):
men's health space, uh, whichcontinues to this day to provide
me with a platform to share mystory and really just support
dudes and having again thoseconversations with themselves
around how they might want toshow up better and might need to
show up better.

Dai Manuel (19:40):
Man.
Thank you for the vulnerability, shay.
I know anytime we start talkingabout mental health pieces,
it's not always easy, right?
But yet it is more common thanmost people are even aware you
know and I think we're becomingmore aware of that, especially
after COVID and the COVIDhangover that we're still
enduring and there's still lotsof those remnants around the

(20:02):
conversation around mentalhealth and isolation and just
the stuff that we were sort ofenduring and and we didn't
really have any choice in thematter, right.
So, um and I know that youradvocacy started a long time ago
you were really leading thisconversation in this space
online.
I remember I was still, uh, youknow, running fitness town.
You know, back in the day whenwe first really were connected,

(20:25):
and it was because we had somany mutual connections, you
know, even if our names keptcoming up in conversations.
We had one another, which Ithought was really funny.
You because, like you know, likeeven harvey stable, I was at
tommy europe and I know theseguys that you trained with and
guys that I talked to, right,and I just think they're always
bringing up your name right andthe work you're doing and then
also following you online, andso I really appreciate that you

(20:46):
have been leading the charge inthis conversation for a long
time now over a decade and sorry, excuse me, uh, I wanted to you
know before I dive into thewellman conversation, because I
I know there's a lot of realimportant values that you
support within that communityand it's and it's being embraced
and it's helping a lot of men.

(21:08):
But before we get to that, I Idid want to talk briefly about
the concussion piece okaybecause it is more common than
most people are aware of the thehead traumas and how it's
affecting professional athletesin many, many, many sports.
I lost a friend many years ago.
This is going back about 17years ago.
He was a professionalbobsledder competing in the

(21:30):
olympics and unfortunately hadso many concussions he really
suffered mental health-wise andeventually took his life.
It was just awful.
None of us knew, but also theconversation wasn't front of
mind, none of us had theresources or the tools to even
address it.
It was just sort of like ignoredit.
We knew he was suffering, wecould see it in his personality

(21:54):
and yet nothing.
You know, and I wish I knew.
Now you know, and back then Iwish I knew what I knew.
Now you know, because I wouldhave loved to have been able to
support and help, and I knowthat this is something that's
very real for you.
You know, you've experiencedthis firsthand on the field, but
also with people that you know.
And I'm just curious do you seechange happening around this?

(22:15):
You know the concussion piecebecause I've seen it hit and
miss, right like they talk aboutit but then they sort of brush
it aside again yeah, you know,and I just I was curious your
opinion on it.

Shae Emry (22:25):
That's all you know my my experience with it is when
I was playing I I didn't likeeven when I was hitting I was
having the concussion.
I didn't feel like I was making, like creating permanent damage
.
I felt like I was stillstructurally good and everything

(22:46):
was good.
I just had a headache for alittle bit, or I could, you know
, swoggy for a little bit, butthen and I came back to life
pretty quickly.
But what I came to understandover the longterm is that when
people would ask me thisquestion or what are your
symptoms?
How is it?
How has it manifested itselfwithin your life?

(23:07):
I don't get headaches, I don'thave sensitivity, crazy
sensitivity to light all thetime.
But what it did was it wasreally again, I'm going to use
the word echo it echoed itselfin a negative fashion when I was
having too many drinks, or Iwasn't sleeping properly, or my

(23:30):
diet was crap, or myrelationship energy wasn't in
alignment, diet was crap, or myrelationship energy wasn't in
aligned, in alignment, or youknow, go through the list of all
of the different aspects ofyour life.
Uh, I wasn't managing the, thelittle details of those, because
I was so I was just kind of,you know, masking the pain of

(23:50):
whatever, the uncertainty ofidentity or the identity piece
that we talked about before, andso I didn't really come to
understand that really, whereconcussion shows up for me is
lack of organization, myinability to handle stress,
irritability, not concussions orlight sensitivity or you know

(24:10):
those sorts of things.
And and this is really whereI've actually come to understand
now is that when precipitationcomes into the atmosphere, no
different than someone with abad knee back in the day would
be like oh, I can tell it'sgoing to rain in an hour because
my knee is sore from thearthritis right or the the scar

(24:32):
tissue or what have you.
I get the same thing in my headIf the weather changes and it's
about the rain, all that,whatever barometric pressure.
I'm not a doctor, but I knowthat every single time that it
happens, my mood goes down andmaybe I get a tiny little
headache not really, but it's mymood that changes and I'm like
huh, and that's really been myexperience and the fact that

(24:58):
it's not showed up in physicalfeelings, more so now, emotional
feelings and obviously, as youmentioned, with what your friend
had taken his life, is when yousee these men in community or
women in community that are,that are taking their lives or

(25:18):
not.
Well, due to concussions.
I always want to take a look atthe root cause, which is the
things that we can control,which is our diet, our sleep,
our stress, what we do for work.
You know again, do we live in aclimate where it's rainy and
sunny all the time?
Like all of these, theyactually do matter, and so
that's really where I come backto the concussion part is that

(25:42):
it is real.
There are physical, mental,emotional side effects and we
need to be mindful of them, andI think you know, not trying to
reinvent the wheel, but justtaking care of the basic, basic
health and wellbeing practiceshas been so crazy effective for

(26:04):
me.
Right, it's like it's been socrazy effective.
Like just go to sleep at nine,don't 30,.
Like don't stay up till midnightand wake up at five and be like
I gotta work, I gotta do thisbro, you slept four hours, you
had nine cups of coffee, yousmoked a joint last night and I
think you had three beers atdinner with your buddies and you

(26:24):
ate mcdonald's.
How are you feeling today?
Not great, not great.
So it's really.
It's really like take care ofthe basics and manage my
concussion experience.
But when I saw what washappening with Derek Bouguere,
rick Griffin, wade Belak, juniorSayle, javon Fletcher, all
those guys that was 2011,.

(26:44):
2012.
That's when I was in my deep,dark depression from concussion.
I was just like oh, what thisis, I can see myself there.
That is dangerous.
Something needs to change.
And that's where I startedwhelming to have that
conversation and just be like.
I needed to get it off my chest.

(27:05):
I needed to share, like, hey,this is a serious thing for me.
Like, am I going to be okay?
Like, am I going to be okay?
I still have thoseconversations with my wife now I
have to be like, hey, like Iknow, this is the thing.
Like, well, I'm not, it's notan excuse, I'm just, I'm sorry,
I'm really having a tough daytoday and I'm not providing.

(27:28):
It's like I know that I need tohave more mindfulness around my
communication or my hydrationor what have you, because I
didn't sleep and I didn't eatwell, but at least I know I can
again adjust those inputs alittle bit more so that I can
just again show up as a happier,healthier person when I spot
the ball.

Dai Manuel (27:50):
Thank you for sharing.
I know it's not always easy totalk about some of these things,
especially you know it's, Ihate to say.
It's not always easy to talkabout some of these things,
especially you know it's.
It's I hate to say it, but italmost feels like a dirty little
secret at times.
You know, about professionalsport especially in the high
contact sports.
You know, it doesn't reallyhappen in tennis, uh or golf
right Like a lot of these ofsports where they're separated

(28:11):
by distance.
But man, when you get thatcontact, you know I mean, gosh,
like football is as primal as itgets.
Man, it's like straight up, andas much equipment as you wear
still isn't very much.
All right, yeah, I know you'rea big dude, man, I'm a big dude,
but I'm I look small comparedto you.
Okay, when we're side by side,I know that.
But I'm working on it, you know.

(28:32):
But uh, regardless, I can justimagine it feels like you run
into a brick wall or a brickwall is running into you, you
know.
And so do you feel that this hasbeen addressed by sport?
Do you feel that they'reactually taking steps to deal
with this or at least offersupport?
Because what you so eloquentlyput, you know your experience in

(28:53):
2011, 2012,.
Have you started to see changein professional sport?
Like, I hear snippets and oncein a while, you know, but I
always wonder.
It's like ah, this is just a PRstint.
You know that they're justtrying to.
You know, as they say, they uh,I forget the term, but you know
it's.
It's it's like whitewashing inthe media, right, like they're
just sort of make themselveslook really good but really no
big significant changes arehappening.

(29:14):
And I'm just wondering, withyour connections in the industry
and what you've seen aroundsporting, are changes being
implemented to help with thisissue?

Shae Emry (29:24):
I would say that there are 1000% new programs
that have been created andimplemented within player
associations.
Alumni associations are reallysupporting the issue of the lack
of identity in that transitionpiece.
Okay, nice, which was difficultfor me from a mental health

(29:44):
standpoint within my concussionequation.
Yeah, with regard to theconcussion equation, football is
football.
You know, jumping off of cliffson mountain bikes, he's going
to be jumping off of cliffs onmountain bikes.
Um, you know, jumping off ofcliffs on mountain bikes, he's
going to be jumping off ofcliffs on mountain bikes.
Um, you know, I did this talk acouple of weeks, a couple of
months ago, with a bunch of youknow, really, really brilliant

(30:06):
UBC neurosurgeons and doctorsand around concussion and you
know the.
What I gathered from it is thatwe are in a.
You know, we have some scubagear on and we are trying to get
down to the Marianas trenchLike we're just finding out,

(30:26):
we're just figuring out theimaging, we're just like.
Time and energy needs to gointo this, how to figure out how
we can prevent concussion.
We're not going to preventbroken bones, right, unless
weverine and everyone you knowcan heal themselves.
We're not going to preventconcussions, right, people are
going to hit people, or thesports are just going to need to
change, and I don't see thathappening anytime soon because,

(30:49):
right, the almighty dollar justloves that, those things, they
love entertainment.
And so when it comes to withinthe sport, I think, yes, there
there's a little bit of a prcloak going over all of the
sports, and I was, you know, thefirst couple years of me being

(31:09):
out of football.
I didn't want to have anythingto do it, I didn't want to watch
it.
I didn't want to go anything todo with it.
I didn't want to watch it.
I didn't want to go to thegames.
I was like football, my son'snever going to play football,
right.
And then I would go to theCrankworx event up here, where
the people are doing triplebackflips on mountain bikes,
landing on concrete wood, and myson turned around and he goes

(31:32):
after everyone cheered Dad, Iwant to do that.
And I was like footballpractice is next week, bro, yeah
, right.
I was like cause those guysneed right and and and I, again,
to Easter, own apples andoranges here.
But if and then.

(31:52):
This is what I said in this,this panel conversation is
really if, like, if you're gonnahave, if you're gonna coach
your kid and provide the energyto your kid where they need to
walk around wearing a bubble ontheir head, they're not gonna
take risks.
They need to fail.
They need to fall down right.
They need to learn how to pickthemselves back up because
you're not always going to havethe ability to give them a hand

(32:15):
to pick them up off the ground.
They got to learn that fromthemselves and and whether it's
concussions or you know, I havesome friends in my adventure in
adventure sport world who have20 times the injuries that I've
had and I'm at this.
So I stepped away from trying tomanage or gatekeep what my kids

(32:42):
would like or maybe not like todo and just say what do you
want to do?
Because I'm going to supportyou, I'm going to push you, I'm
going to train you to be thebest in whatever you decide to
do, and life will happen.
And that's my mindset towardsconcussions right now, no
different than it is towardsspinal injury, or you know.
I mean we can even talk aboutdiet and how that's affecting

(33:05):
people's chronic illnesses anddiseases.
So again, there's so manydifferent things that can come
at you these days.
I think for now it's like golive your life again, spot the
ball and get after and don'twork.
You can't always worry aboutthe.
You know everything comingaround the corner for sure I
listen.

Dai Manuel (33:23):
I appreciate that.
Again, it's uh when I I Inotice out there it seems like
there's a lot more conversationand dialogue around this and I
think that just makes moreawareness and presence around
the conversation.
So as soon as people are moreaware of it, it changed normally
happens organically, right,like just people recognize.
There's got to be a better wayor a safer way, you know.
So yeah, but I do alsoappreciate sports.

(33:45):
Of sport there's always gonnabe a risk.
There just is it's the nature ofit um, I don't know if they can
create a helmet that's to beguaranteed to be concussion
proof, but who knows, maybesomebody's going to figure that
out right but, uh, I, I don'tthink so, because our noggins
just don't have that extrasupport yet.
So, uh, um, listen, I I thankyou for this, because I can see

(34:07):
how that would have been theseeds for what grew into wellman
, but also your businesses thatare really focused on play.
And I was wondering what's,what's the deal with that man?
What's up with all the play?
I mean, I love to play, so I'mnot.
This is not a negative, this isa positive.
But why, why?
Why that focus, or thatintentional focus to create?

(34:28):
Businesses that encourage moreplay, especially for adults.
Okay, like this is adults playtime, man and some of your
business dude, I've seen it onsocial.
My wife um you know she's.
She's uh been a big Joey'srestaurant supporter.

Shae Emry (34:40):
Correct.

Dai Manuel (34:41):
And often we get hired to come and support them
during their big event.
That's always in Whistler and Iknow that you've been
contracted by them a number oftimes your businesses to support
the play.
And, man, she comes back andshe can't wipe the grin off her
face, okay, so, um, I, Iremember her telling me about
those experiences.
So please just talk about wheredid this, where did this

(35:01):
inspiration to help people playmore come from and why?

Shae Emry (35:05):
thanks.
That's such a great prompt.
I think, really, how it allformulated was playing football,
right, you're a kid a kid whenI was 28,.
I was playing a game that Igrew up playing right.
And you play with so manydifferent people from all over
the world and you come togetherin that moment of competition.
There are no titles, there isno bank accounts measurements,

(35:33):
there's none of that right.
It's like, hey, we're here todo this job.
I don't care if you have anaccent like this or an accent
like that, or you grew upplaying this sport or going to
that school.
We're here to do this job, doyour job, I'll do mine.
We'll win High five, boomFrench for life.
And so, transitioning out offootball and not knowing what I

(35:53):
want to do, but knowing that Iwant to service this community
and bring people togetherthrough positive experiences,
because I had such a greatupbringing, was afforded so many
great opportunities to playgolf, tennis, snowboarding, play
all the sports and do all thecamps.
And I was very privileged inthat when I got to the point

(36:14):
where I didn't have an answer tothe question, when my wife
asked me like what are youpassionate about?
What do you want to do like youshould get a job or start
something or whatever.
And I started wellman.
I just knew that I wanted tocreate those positive
experiences for people to, youknow, come out of their skin a
little bit and, you know, havefun around activities that we
love do.
And then it really turned intolike competition and play are

(36:37):
something that really bringspeople together.
So, whether it was throughWellman or then you know, which
transitioned and transformedinto my events company, axewood,
it was really around.
I can have a CEO, a CFO, ajanitor, the head of marketing,
all competing on four acts,throwing targets and I'm making

(36:58):
jokes and they're all competingand they're high-fiving against
each other.
And you know, johnny and Sallyare competing in the finals and
it's just.
I'm there like a commentatorbut I'm also facilitating the
shit talking a little bit, youknow.
Well, we already know that youwere voted twice by your peers,
so I can imagine you're a greatshit talker precisely precisely

(37:20):
and uh, and so I had thatexperience with axwood and then
I just wanted I kind of wantedto do more, but lay, it really
prompts camaraderie andtogetherness.
So, whether it was the workthat I did within corporate or
in community events, I justreally loved the moment that you

(37:40):
and I we never met each otherbut we're doing this random
carnival stand thing togetherand now we're competing and
we're high-fiving at the end.
I just love that and theplayfulness really prompts, you
know, again, people take theirjackets off, they put their
wallets and their sunglassesdown and they're like, okay, I

(38:01):
get to throw a snowball at myboss right now.
This is pretty awesome play andand it all spawned from again
such a positive upbringing andbeing able to, you know, be a
kid in a locker room till 28, 29and and wanted to provide that

(38:23):
opportunity for other you knowwork environments and that's
where actward and and everythingcame together and and I've been
super fortunate honestly diedto work with.
You know.
You mentioned, you know, joeyand every organization in the
lower mainland, tons of globalorganizations that would come to

(38:44):
Whistler or to BC to work, youknow, to do some sort of
conferencing or team buildingand be vended out and I actually
, yeah, just really thrived infront of people and having that
micro opportunity to say to getthem to smile and to compete and
to have fun, uh in a way thatthey might not have expected, or

(39:06):
throw axes, it's like no, I'mlike, I'm, I'm, I'm like kind of
surgical with this whole thing,right.
So, yeah, it's a funopportunity.
I'm super grateful to have hadthe opportunity to to kind of
work into the, the businesscommunity, uh, through play and
and really through camaraderieand, you know, the growth of the
people that are, that are thereI well, I think it's great.

Dai Manuel (39:29):
Yeah, because again, I've spoken to a number of
people that have hadopportunities to play with your
specific events, you know and.
I've even had the opportunity.
I forget which event it was,but you had set up your axe
throwing kits and gosh.

Shae Emry (39:44):
Superhuman.

Dai Manuel (39:44):
Summit.
Thank you, superhuman Summitman.
Good memory Shay Gosh look atthis guy.
This guy's awesome.

Shae Emry (39:51):
Cautions what.

Dai Manuel (39:52):
Yeah, how you doing man, I can see those neurons
firing because mine weren't.
But, uh, I, I, yeah, and it wasjust.
It's such a fun experience.
You can't help but just smile,right, and that that emotion and
psychological benefit, but alsothe physical uplifting of that
right.
Things just feel lighter.
So I can see how this impactsthings.

(40:14):
But also, competition's not abad thing.
Competition breeds innovation,right, but also it does bring
people together.
It builds camaraderie.
I really got to you know.
My hat's off to you.
Thank you, it's awesome.
A little logistical questionwhat was the deal with snowballs

(40:34):
?
Do you have a snowball machineor do you hire a team of people
that pack snowballs, like?

Shae Emry (40:40):
a couple of Sasquatches, you know.
I think you know.
Speaking of innovation andcompetition, I've been running
an axe throwing business forabout six years and then Axtron
became this like global trend,kind of like, you know, and you
know every town, you would go toevery city.
there's now an Axtron venue,right like you know, a bowling

(41:01):
alley or whatever, with beer andfood, great social, and I was
like I got what's different,what's next?
What's next here, right.
And so I remember I was at thetop of Whistler St Patrick's Day
, 2017, 2018.
And there's this big party outthere, right, a bunch of young

(41:24):
adults having fun, maybe athousand people on one side, a
thousand people on the other,with a big event.
It was unsanctioned, but a bigjump in the middle and people
are, you know, going off withtheir shirts off it's.
You know, springtime, springskin, classic whistler vibes.
And I remember that this massivesnowball fight broke out and

(41:48):
everyone was so uninhibitedbecause they had helmets on and
they had goggles on and they hadlike some sort of balaclava or
whatever, so they felt super andso it was just like crazy.
So I was like that's it, and soI came up with this idea for
avalanche avalanche, which isessentially a paintball style
snowball fight, and that turned,you know, turned into, you know

(42:10):
, taking over the tennis clubhere in whistler, implementing
an entire advanced program andthis brand new ideated tourism
option.
You know, unfortunately, covidhit the day.
So March 13th, 2020, was thefirst time I ever operated a
commercial snowball fight and itwas all I remember the kids

(42:33):
from the birthday party therewas a or the.
It was a school field trip.
The kids were like, hey, takemy COVID helmet.
And I was like, ah, maybe thisis going to be a thing.
And, you know, ended up endedup working through that and uh,
and creating the idea and andbeing able to operate at great
events like the Joey event and acouple of different you know
big events and.

(42:54):
But done it all over and inthis winter, in the summer,
anywhere, right, and uh, I justhad so much fun again, you know,
leveling the playing field,creating some competition,
innovating and just completelysurprised with people with the
amount of fun they can have,just like what I'm going to say
it's 25 degrees.
They're snowballs.
These are real.
Oh my God, boom Right, it's thecoolest thing man yeah.

Dai Manuel (43:20):
Like Shane, so, and it's just so novel but also
genius, you know, I, I really, Ithink it's just great, I think
it's great.

Shae Emry (43:28):
Thank you.

Dai Manuel (43:29):
Like, who doesn't love to throw snowballs, you
know?

Shae Emry (43:31):
it's fun.

Dai Manuel (43:35):
There's just something about it and it's
instant nostalgia, right like Igrew up in ontario, I mean
there's snow out there, you know, and snowball fights.
It was a, you know, it's a riteof passage, man.
Yeah, so um speaking of rite ofpassages, though, back to
wellman for a second here.
Yeah, um, I I was curious, youknow, like with the work that
you've done with malam, becauseyou were, you were ahead of the
curve there.

(43:56):
Yes.
You know like and I I'm not abig fan of the terminology
around woke and the wokemovement.
Okay, like I, just I think it'sbeen misappropriated and it's
not necessarily.

Shae Emry (44:07):
You know it's, it's very.
Don't get me started.
Yeah, I don't want to go there.
Um want to go there.
Um, I've already got a podcastepisode in the can where I go
off a little bit about.

Dai Manuel (44:20):
we don't need more woke men, we just need men that
are awake and present to life,you know.
But again about the work thing,anyways, I don't want to go
there, um, but I do realize thatyou were getting involved in
these conversations online andoffline, before it was really a
thing, because, I mean, the metoo movement really brought some
of these conversations andthemes to the forefront, yeah,
and that didn't happen until,you know, mid to what was it
like around 2014 to 2017?
I mean, the Me Too movementreally brought some of these
conversations and themes to theforefront, yeah, and that didn't
happen until, you know, mid towhat was it like around 2014 to
2017?

Shae Emry (44:40):
Somewhere in there.

Dai Manuel (44:41):
Somewhere in there, but you were doing this before
that.
So what have you learned?
Since operating Wellman BecauseWellman's now you know it's got
tenure it's been around.
For over 10 years You've beenfacilitating so many different
conversations bringing mentogether.
What, for over 10 years, you'vebeen facilitating so many
different conversations bringingmen together?
What are some of the themesthat you've been seeing?
but also how have you beenseeing some of those things
improve or change Like cause,you know, I want to get a little

(45:01):
bit of optimism here as we getto the end and let all the men
out there know that listen, hey,it's all good yeah.
It's going well, you know.

Shae Emry (45:20):
So, please, I'd love to hear your thoughts on that.
So there's a pendulum, right,yeah, and I think when I found
my calling with Wellman and Iwanted to have these
conversations and do this typeof work, yes, I was.
I was 10 years early, becausenow you look at where it's at
now, there's tons of men's,groups, lots of retreats
happening, so much great workbeing done Amazing Right.
So much great work being doneAmazing Right.
And uh, and again, I I wouldsay from a operational

(45:41):
standpoint I stopped doing theretreats probably about, yeah,
five years ago.
I wonder what prompted that.

Dai Manuel (45:46):
Yeah, right, right.

Shae Emry (45:48):
So I stopped doing that and really focused on the
commercial operation of mybusiness, which was like
corporate events, activations,those sorts of things that were,
you know, paying money so Icould feed my family.
But I digressed, going back tothe pendulum.
So when I jumped into it it wasvery like yoga was exploding
and mindfulness and conversation.
So I I, I lost myself right inthat.

(46:10):
I stopped lifting heavy weightsand and feeling like I could be
like a man with bravado and astransitioning out of football
and into this, I didn't know ifI had any left or where we were
going to come from went fromwhere it was 10 years ago to,

(46:37):
you know, like you said, uh, thewokeness, and men being even
further repressed or feelingthat they were further repressed
.
Thank you, uh, hey, you can'tbe like that anymore.
You can't even be how you wereraised to be right and to the
point where it's.
It went way over the side of itin the screen anymore, maybe
two, three years ago, wheremyself I mean men, they just

(47:01):
didn't want to open their mouthbecause they're just like, well,
if I say anything, the rest ofmy business might get shut down
right Might get canceled.
God Canceled right Totally.
But business family, who knows?
Who knows what people arethinking and where they're at on
the spectrum and it is comingback right and I think there's

(47:22):
like a normalcy that people arelike hey, everyone is welcome
right.
Yeah, and the conversation iswelcome, the reasonable
conversation around.
Hey, you have your humanexperience.
This is a dude that's showingup in the world and they're

(47:58):
making it approachable for allmen to have conversations.
Yeah, some are a little bitmore off sides, which you know,
take it or leave it, theinformation's there, but the
lines of communication haveopened back up.
Lines of communication hadopened back up and I feel like,
personally, I'm being calledback to the table and I remember

(48:24):
, I remember I think it was aJordan Peterson thing or
something like that, and he waslike we don't need leaders who
slap back right All thispendulum stuff.
We don't need leaders who arecoming back and just start
slapping everyone and and causeslapping turns to kicking and
punching and it's just back andforth, back and forth.
We need leaders who can havethat conversation, take it in

(48:49):
you, you know, water off aduck's back, but also provide
with you know, a little bit moreempathy and compassion.
But still go, lift weight, stillgrunt, still be the man that
you were raised to be, the onethat you've been always trying
to become, and and empower youngmen to do that as well right
and and I think that's where itis it's like we need to empower

(49:10):
young men to be men and youngwomen to be women and people to
really, you know, blossom intothemselves and then whatever
they choose to do, because thewhole conversation around um,
you know where, where oureconomic, where our economy is
going, uh, how we're going tosurvive, we need trades, we need

(49:31):
, we need people who are goingto do the dairy work and, and
you know, be able to work withtheir hands and get shit done.
And that's where I I love it,because those conversations are
happening and I see them and andthat's kind of what I'm
communicating to my young son,who's nine, is, you know, hard
work, being a good person,proper etiquette of the dinner

(49:54):
table, just simple stuff.
Like you know all the rules,and if something doesn't fit
with my ethos, which reverts tolike some of those other voices,
then I just exclude it, or it'sjust not the way that I'm
nurturing my child, and andthat's really where I'm the
positivity and optimism comesfrom, because you can make your
own decisions, you can dowhatever you want, uh, as long

(50:16):
as you're not hurting people.
Like, go after your dreams andthe things that you want to do
right.
I wanted to start an axethrowing company and a snowball
fight company, and it reallyprovided me access to every
demographic of people.
So I've worked with X to Z, ato Z.
I've worked with everybody andI've had the opportunity to, you

(50:37):
know, show up in that moment asmyself, not someone who you
know, is a bravado masculinedude, but like a guy that
coaches young five, six yearolds how to make snowballs and
makes jokes and have fun withthem.
But you know, because you know,at some point, as you know a
22-year-old man, you're going toneed to learn how to have a

(51:00):
conversation with a young,six-year-old girl, because you
might be a father one day, andso that's really where I'm so
optimistic.
Again, a lot of noise comingfrom all angles.
We need to really protect oursphere, we need to protect our
ecosystem and and that is whatI've been focusing on the most
which is the energy that I have,the music that goes on my ears,

(51:22):
how I, you know, launch my day,because everything's reflective
and how I'm gonna, it likeliterally goes down into my
bones if I'm listening to thewrong music and I come home
angry because I'm like, oh, Ihad to hype myself up at the gym
and now I'm just angry.
Dad, like no, bro, like, manageyour frequency, manage your
energy.
Who's in your life, what kindof people are they complaining

(51:44):
all the time?
You got to cut out thatnegative frequency and really
just nourish everything aboutwhat you spend your time doing,
who you spend your time with.

Dai Manuel (51:56):
You know those are all wonderful insights and
reminders and I know that's alsocome through not only the
experience that you've hadprofessionally, but also just
your own personal journey, andthat's why I resonate very much
with what you've shared and Irelate a lot to it.
And you know keep in mindeveryone that's listening that
we are two men.
You know, she and I, that youknow we identify as men.
Okay, like this is ourperspective, our experience.

(52:20):
Uh, just like you know, mydaughters are women who identify
as women you know, and I havefriends that are are transgender
, I have friends that are lgbtqt, you know, like all that stuff.
So we all, gender is important,you know, but the watering down
of the conversations aroundgenders, I I think is a little
bit misleading at times, rightlike because it's, you're right,

(52:43):
this whole woke movement hasmade men start questioning
what's okay and what's not okayto say anymore and how to
express ourselves, and we'realready challenged to be
vulnerable, right?
like we already are like justthe cliches, the stereotypes,
especially since you know the50s, 60s, 70s, you know, and
beyond.
It's really done a number onhow men are represented,
especially in north america anddeveloped countries.

(53:03):
And, um, I, I just love thatyou have an organization that is
just opening people's ears,minds and hearts to this
conversation.
That's how we all grow and howwe identify change.
Is we got to just be able totalk about this in a civil way
and constructive way, you know,and I just really appreciate

(53:25):
what you're doing to helpfacilitate that and to create
the space for theseconversations to happen
organically and and and actuallymake a difference you know,
like it's.
Uh.
So I, I just I commend you, butI also a deep amount of respect
for what you've created, shay,and what you continue to create,
what you're going to continueto offer the world.
Uh, it's been such a treathaving you here today, and I I

(53:48):
was curious because I want tojust ask this before I go to my
sort of last question.
I always like to let my guestshave the last word and I I know
what.
So what's going on with the thegolf long drive competitions?
Because, dude, I, I, you knowwhat that's about.
As manly as it gets all right.

Shae Emry (54:05):
Yeah, that is awesome .
It's a, it's a great segue.
So, quick story COVID, my wifeand I separate for three and a
half years.
We just got back together.
A year ago I had been running atennis club, axewood Wellman,
doing a lot of this and notshowing up as my best self, so

(54:28):
I've actually ceased operationsof Axewood, of Avalanche, of
like well, I'm again, I show upas myself and I provide the
vision for what I'm I want myvoice to sound like and that is
the ethos of it.
And you know, play is superimportant with how I'm showing
up in, you know, public speakingor conferencing, or you know,

(54:49):
corporate events, moving forwardactivations.
And I needed to get a blankslate and move on.
And so, you know, we got backtogether and we've kind of like
journeyed to the point where,hey, what are you committing to
physically to make you inalignment every day?
I've got proper trajectory.
And so she started bodybuilding,uh, to really just get back

(55:12):
into her body and really connectwith everything.
And she's like, well, I'm doingthis, what are you going to do?
And that, as a pro athlete orformer pro athlete, I have been
looking for something where Icould compete, to be long to be
world class at something right,or to be professional at

(55:33):
something.
And I was on Instagram at thetime and I was like what about
this?
And I turned the camera around.
It's like two like six foot two, six foot four dude, just like
hitting and be like after thescreaming at the ball right, and
she's like you need to do that.
Yes, and so you know, I kind ofdabbled a little bit.

(55:56):
I went to a couple competitionsand you know, didn't register
one on the first competition.
You know came second in thesecond competition, got the
longest ball of the day in thethird competition and then uh
how far did you hang it?

Dai Manuel (56:11):
wait, wait, wait.
How far to go?

Shae Emry (56:13):
383.
Yeah, um, so that was that's mypr right now.
And then I went to another onelast sunday and it was like the
Canadian team qualifier.

Dai Manuel (56:31):
So you have to get a certain, I won Dude.

Shae Emry (56:35):
So does that mean you don't have Ken I.
You had to get enough points tomake it onto the team, so I
didn't make it, but you know I'm.
This is the.
The decision that I made thisyear, uh, was again step away
from most businesses and andreally move into the business of
facilitating team growth andteam building through my wife's

(56:57):
company, sphere, where weprovide access to the 400
coaches that use our app that mywife created, and so it was in
alignment with me, is gettingback into competition, getting
my own personal fitness coach,swing coach you know, coach

(57:18):
coach on the platform as welland and really striving for
something different, strivingfor something great, and so in
that process, I told myself like, hey, this year is going to be
about a slow step into the golfworld and figure it out.
I just won my, my firstcompetition and I'm competing at

(57:39):
the world long drive uh amateurevent in Ontario July.
Wow, which golf course.

Dai Manuel (57:46):
Is it at?

Shae Emry (57:47):
It's, it's in port Rowan, so I can't remember the
name of the golf course.
But the World Long Drive Touris essentially, you know, the
PGA Tour, but for a long driveand I think they're on ESTN for
like five of the events or threeof the events.
So this event is in Canada.
And so I was like, hey, I'll goover there, I will look at the

(58:10):
stage, step on the stage and ifI win that amateur session I go
into the regional qualifier thenext day and then, if I win that
, I actually can go to the worldchampionships.
And so, you know, die, I've puteverything into my fitness over
the last two years.
It was my one foundation, andso I'm stronger now than I was

(58:33):
playing college football, whereyou're lifting heavy every day.
I am, you know, obviouslydialed in watching my nutrition
and my and my sleep and myrecovery.
But you know, I'm using afitness trainer, my old trainer,
jim deal from ellipse athletics, who I've been working with
basically my entire cfl career.
Uh, and you know, we're gettingmyself to be ready to be a

(58:56):
professional athlete again, andthat day on last sunday was the
first time that I showed up atany of these events as a pro
athlete here, right, yeah, allthe things stopped.
And you know, my and I was, Iwas, I was locked in, I had my
notes, I had my and I wasprepped and, uh, it wouldn't
have happened if I didn't haveall the coaches and the guides

(59:17):
to.
You know, invite me to do that.
No, show up as your best self,bro.
And that's where, you know, thework that I've been doing with
sphere has really it's been.
You know, it's been forcing meto to really think about what
I'm selling.
Right, what I'm selling is likeno, you've got to show up as

(59:46):
your best self because you'regoing to be able to serve your
people.
Take care of yourself, manageall those little aspects of your
life that we talked about.
All.
Manage all those little aspectsof your life that we talked
about so that when you show upfor your kid, you have good
energy, or show up for work, youhave great energy, or you show
up for your wife's or date night, it's the best version of
yourself.
And when I showed up to that,that tournament, I was like I'm
I gotta win this thing, like, ifI want to do this, like I gotta

(01:00:06):
, I'm gonna start like let'sperform.
And uh, and that's where I wasjust stoked to.
You know, I hit it 351 into thewind, uh, and it was.
I was just stoked to be able tocompete with, uh, you know,
guys that are on team canadalast year and the year before
that and win, and just know that.
Like I know that I'm supposedto be there and I'm just getting

(01:00:27):
started.

Dai Manuel (01:00:29):
I think that's so great and, uh, you know, keep my
eyes out to watch thecompetition as it unfolds.
And good luck in the area.
Crush it man.
And uh, it must be exciting foryou to just to get back to that
competitive Like I know myself,like I never played
professionally in any sports,but I've always been competitive
with myself.
You know self, like I neverplay professionally in any
sports, but I've always beencompetitive with myself, you

(01:00:51):
know.
And when I discovered crossfitand started competing in that,
it was just this.
It's still more about just mecompeting against myself, but it
was fun to to have thatcamaraderie so I can see where
that appeal is, just to connectwith the community that are as
passionate about something likea sport, uh and, and share that
passion, right Like it's justit's fun, like to come right

(01:01:13):
back to your plate, comments andand I think that's the
important piece right Like I canimagine now being at the level
that you're at maturity wise,especially mentally and
spiritually.
You know just being much moremature.
You know, as a father and justas an entrepreneur, that's built
in businesses.
You know it's always easy to sayin hindsight, you know I wish I

(01:01:33):
knew that's back then um, butthe fact that you're approaching
this, this new sportingendeavor it looks like you're,
you have it's fun, right like,right from the get-go.
It's playtime and, uh, is thatfair to say?
Is it is, is this play Like?
Do you look at sport andcompetition differently now than
you did in the past?

Shae Emry (01:01:55):
My mom is calling me.

Oh, that's okay.
Hey, mom, what's?

Shae Emry (01:01:59):
up.
Sorry, are we going to edit?
No, totally.

Hey, so so when it comes to play and the new sport,
like when you're looking at newsports now, and especially now
with long drive, right, yeah, itdid you find that your approach
coming back to sport now is somuch different than when you
went into professional football?

Shae Emry (01:02:22):
100% Right now.
I know that what it takes toperform at a high level, I trust
my physical abilities, mymental capabilities, you know,
and my spiritual preparation forit all.
And so, you know, moving intoit, uh, and understanding that I
want to take it slow, I'm not,I'm not expecting to win the

(01:02:43):
world championship in.
After six months of work andusing a driver my buddy gave me
out of his bag Cause he's likeoh, I have a long drive driver
here, you go, go um.
But you know I'm gonna give itmy darndest, that's for sure.
And I am, you know, I'm gonnacompete at with every facet of
my being, uh, and and so that'sreally where I know that I'm,

(01:03:03):
I'm able to give something, myall uh, because I'm okay, I'm,
I'm already doing the fitnesstraining and now have a purpose
for that.
It's not taking any more time,uh.
And then, with the mental stuffis like I'm having
conversations with my wife andmy kids around how much time
it's going to take, and takingit slow, uh, but uh, you know,

(01:03:27):
knowing what it takes to competeat the highest level.
And you know I'm not doing thatthis year.
This is next year's summer goal,which is world tour, and you
know, build up to the startingjob, right, I'm not trying to
expect her come into camp and belike, yeah, this is my team,
but it's like, no, you're goingto work up to that.
I'm all in an effort to one.

(01:03:48):
It's a great business communitygolf.
It's on an upswing for sure.
So everything leads towards mebeing in the ring, being in the,
in the arena, uh, and you know,conversing with, you know, the
sponsors, people that I'm, youknow business development for
sphere, right, so, uh,everything, everything is in
alignment with the directionthat we've decided to go.

(01:04:10):
And it really brings me back tothe primal nature of playing
football, right, the gladiators,and, and you know, when you
come back to golf, you know it'slike golf is such a crazy sport
.
You know corporate golftournaments I'm sure you've been
to a bunch of those oh yeah,and you, you know for golfers

(01:04:39):
who golf the long drive contest.
It means something, right?
Ah, it sure does right and andin within that golf tournament.
And so I was trying to explainit to my, my wife, and she I
don't know if she gets it yet onlike that that specific part of
the tournament.
But I told her my dad is like,oh yeah, it's like the only
thing that matters, like peoplejust love, like who can hit the
ball furthest, and and so that'sreally where I'm just excited

(01:05:02):
to get onto the stage and beable to unleash and ventilate
all the stresses of life intothat singular moment when I know
I've hit the ball and it's theprep, is all in alignment and
again just enthused to again,you know, release some of the
shackles that I put on myself inthe past, whether it be through

(01:05:23):
COVID or, you know, being atransition athlete out of
football, you know a youngentrepreneur trying to figure
out that and juggle all thosethings and now just be, you know
, super focused on my, my, myfamily's frequency, and you know
, moving through kind of afinancial hardship of COVID and
running an events company andtruly just being able to kind of

(01:05:47):
step back into my, you know,visceral being and and
absolutely annihilate a goal andand do it in in a fashion that
really, um, you know, I've beenplaying golf since I was like a
walk and, uh, I feel like I'mright where I need to be.

Yeah, it's exciting, man, and, uh, it's been just
such a wonderful conversationtoday.
I know we didn't really getinto sphere too much, uh, but I
I do.
I would love to have your wifeon in a future episode to really
talk about sphere and wherethat came from.
And, uh, you know, I think thatwould be wonderful to have her
back because, uh, I know I havea lot of coaches that listen to

(01:06:24):
this podcast.
Uh, just be part of my networkand any tool that helps us make
greater impact with the peoplethat we work with and the
communities that we work with.
I'm all about promoting soWonderful Footnote here
everybody, we're going to havemore conversation on Sphere, but
I do link to it in the shownotes for those that are curious
and want to know a bit moreabout it.
It's in the show notes.
Go check it out, Along with allof Shay's contact information

(01:06:46):
and links to his socials.
You definitely want to followalong.
It's always entertaining.
But also, you're going to learnsomething, You're going to be
inspired, You're going to getmotivated, You're going to be
you know what.
You're going to get treated tosome real conversation you know,
which we all need more of,especially in the filtered world
and filtered landscape ofsocial media.
It's nice to see you knowpeople being raw, being wrong,

(01:07:09):
to be honest, yeah, so, uh, I Ithank you for that, shay, and
you know it is.
I like to give my, my, myguests, the last word, and so I
got a question for you.
You ready, you ready, you ready.

Shae Emry (01:07:21):
I'm ready.

Sure For those that are listening or watching this
and they're still here, right?
What advice would you givesomeone that's feeling stuck but
also looking for a way torealign their lives their life
specifically?
What advice would you give thatperson?

Shae Emry (01:07:41):
fearguide.
All transparency coaches needcoaches.
All the great leaders haveleaders.
You know you've had parents oradvisors raising you, teachers
in school, older friends.
Find people that you can alignwith, that have the right energy

(01:08:02):
, not like what it's servingyour mentality right now, people
that are going to call you upand out.
And you know, do a uh inventoryon the Rolodex of your friends,
because I'm I'm sure that halfof them might not fit the bill
for who you want to be in thefuture.
And, uh, and I'm just sograteful that I've been able to,

(01:08:24):
you know, have thoseconversations with myself and
and nourish the friends thatmight not fit.
Nourish them to have thoseconversations with them.
Like, hey, is this how you wantto show up?
So, again, again, coaches needcoaches and leaders need leaders
.
And I'm just happy to have had,you know, the gamut, full gamut
of great people in my life toyou know, support me through

(01:08:46):
dark, dark times and tough times, uh, and stand by me when I
wasn't showing up as that person.
So I showed up to my wife for,you know, again, three and a
half years of separation and nowwe're back and happier than
ever.
And it only happened throughcounseling and working with
people to help us get to wherewe want to be.

Well, thanks for being just a wonderful example
of what's possible, you know,possible when we embrace hey, I
want to change, I want to makesome changes, I want to be
intentional with my changes andand it's okay not to know how to
do that but also a greatreminder about we'll find
someone, a mentor, a coach, youknow, somebody that maybe a few
steps ahead, that can offer ahand and just help us along a

(01:09:27):
little bit for that next littleleg of the journey.
It doesn't have to be forever,but for the moment that that
segment of the journey right,that segment of the trailheads,
I guess and and I, I just lookat your life it's been very much
that living example, and sothank you for being here today
to share some of thosehighlights.
I know we, we, we condensed alot into a very short period of
time and it just means I'm goingto have to have you back again

(01:09:48):
to talk more about some of thetopics let's do it.
Yeah, there's going to bequestions.
I know that and everybody.
If you haven't seen the newfeature and when you click open
the show notes, there's a littlelink there it says shoot me a
text questions, thoughts,feedback, suggestions for future
shows.
Please take that, use it, justclick on it.
Send me a message, comments forShay anything that you've taken

(01:10:10):
away from today, uh, I like topass that on to the guests, uh,
so they can also come back andaddress some of those questions.
So, uh, don't hesitate to toengage and interact.
Go check out Shay's profilesand, and, shay, you know, thank
you and honestly, this has beenjust an awesome conversation
today.
I really enjoyed it.
I know it's gone a lot longerthan my normal episodes, but

(01:10:32):
it's because, man, we were justvibing and I loved what we were
talking about.

Shae Emry (01:10:35):
So this has just been , awesome, amazing, well, thank
you.

Appreciate the time Now.
As I said in the intro, wasthat not an incredible convo
with Shea Emery?
I'm so inspired by his journeyfrom a fierce competitor on the
football field to acompassionate leader in men's
health and wellness.
His message about theimportance of play, adventure
and fostering authenticconnections is something we can

(01:11:02):
all take to heart.
Remember, growth isn't justabout the big wins.
It's about those small,consistent actions, those 2%
solutions that all add up toreal change.
Today's episode resonated withyou.
Be sure to check out Shay'swork at Exwood and Wellman.
You'll find all the links inthe show notes.
So don't hesitate to divedeeper into the world of men's

(01:11:23):
health and adventure that Shayis pioneering.
And, of course, we want to hearfrom you.
What do you think of today'sepisode?
What's one small action you'regoing to take after hearing
Shay's story?
Drop us a review, share yourthoughts and let's keep this
convo flowing.
Your feedback means the worldto me and helps me bring more

(01:11:43):
impactful content your way.
Lastly, if you found value intoday's discussion, make sure to
subscribe and maybe just hitthat little share link, because
I bet you there's one person inyour life that could benefit
from Shay's story.
Feel free to share it out tothem and let's keep that ripple
effect of positive changeflowing, one 2% shift at a time.

(01:12:06):
Thanks for tuning in and untilnext time, keep challenging
yourself to be just a little bitbetter every day, because
you're worth it.
Take care, I'll see you nextepisode.

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