October 25, 2025 • 45 mins
What if the most effective mental health leadership in America came from the firearms community itself? We sit down with Michael Sodini, a third‑generation industry insider and founder of Walk The Talk America (WTTA), to unpack how gun owners, trainers, and manufacturers are driving practical suicide prevention—no new laws required. Michael shares the candid origin story behind WTTA, the loss that made silence impossible, and the simple question that sparked a movement: if we can’t collaborate on legislation, what can we build together that actually helps people?
We walk through the game‑changing idea of putting free, anonymous mental health screenings directly into gun boxes and onto product packaging with partners like Ruger and Armscor. By meeting owners where they are, these tools normalize regular check‑ins, set a personal baseline, and make it easy to act early—without surveillance or stigma. Michael explains why focusing on suicide prevention is the most impactful path, how the industry’s trusted voice increases adoption, and what “the mental game” of responsible ownership looks like inside the home and around family.
The conversation dives into WTTA’s cultural competence course for clinicians and the growing national directory of pro‑2A, firearms‑informed therapists. We talk about real barriers to care—judgment, fear of confiscation, confusion about laws—and how better language, safer off‑ramps, and telehealth access change outcomes. Michael also tackles the unintended consequences of red flag and transfer laws, offering a nuanced view that resonates across political lines because it centers on one goal: making it safe to ask for help.
If you care about practical safety, civil rights, veteran and first responder wellness, or smarter mental health access, this story matters. Explore resources at wtta.org, share this episode with a friend who might need it, and subscribe to the show. Your review helps more people find tools that save lives.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
Hi, welcome to the Arctic Podcast, Season 1,
Episode 2.
Today we'll be joined by MikeSedini off the Talk America.
Mike will be talking to us todayabout mental health and firearms
and how we can help bridge thegap between issues regarding
care for people that might begoing through issues.
So stay tuned, listen, and hopeyou enjoy.
(00:23):
Hi, and today's guest uh we haveMichael Sedini from Walk to Talk
America.
How are you doing, Michael?
SPEAKER_03 (00:30):
I'm doing good, man.
I'm I'm glad to be here.
I know you're kicking off thisshow and uh I'm glad to be a
part of it.
SPEAKER_01 (00:37):
Well, you're you'll be our first uh guest that we
have going live on the podcast.
And uh looking forward to thetopic uh Walk to Talk America.
Something real dear, I think, tomy heart, and I think it will
hit the chord with uh otherpeople that listen that may not
have heard about Walk to TalkAmerica.
Uh so who is Michael Sedini andwhere does he come from?
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
Yeah, so I'm a I'm a third generation firearms
industry professional.
Uh I I got into the firearmsindustry through nepotism.
Um my family owned one of thelargest uh importers of firearms
in the U.S.
And so basically, what we werefor anyone in the listening
audience that is not familiarwith how firearms importation
(01:22):
works is if you had a firearmscompany and let's say you were
in Colombia or somewhere inEurope, right?
And you had an interest and youhad a firearm and you had an
interest in breaking in the USmarket, you would find somebody
like us, which was at the timecalled it was Eagle Imports, and
we used to import Bursa fromArgentina, grand power from
(01:42):
Slovakia, and uh uh Metro Arms,which is American Classic, Mac,
and SPS from the Philippines.
So you would you would findsomebody like us to basically do
your importing, handle yoursales, handle your customer
service, your warranty.
It's like a turnkey operation,right?
You just sell it to us and webuild your brand in the US and
take care of everything else.
(02:04):
So I got into the firearmsindustry, not because I was
interested in guns at all.
Um, I was basically told by myfamily, like it was an
assumption, like you're comingto work with us.
You know, my grandfather and myuncle had started this business,
which actually played into myadvantage when it came to what
we're about to talk about today.
Um, because not growing uparound firearms, because I
(02:26):
didn't, I grew up with a singlemom in San Francisco.
And um my family's company wasin New Jersey, right?
Uh probably two of the worstplaces to grow up if you're if
you're into firearms.
Yeah.
You know, so uh, anyways, gotinto the industry after college
and literally learned on thefly.
Learned about firearms and andrights and everything, like on
(02:49):
the job.
So that that's that's mybackground.
SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
Well, to Talk America is something that like
we were talking just before westarted recording, is uh
something that I find uh is thatmissing link that kind of breaks
that uh taboo subject that uh alot of people are need
assistance but are afraid toreach out because of that taboo
and what could happen.
(03:11):
So, what what is Walk TalkAmerica?
SPEAKER_03 (03:14):
Okay, so Walk Talk America, it basically we are an
organization that's homegrownfrom the firearms industry that
looks for innovative ways to getpeople to help they need when
they're in crisis without fearof consequence.
Um, we figure out ways to workwith people outside of the 2A
community, the Second Amendmentcommunity, the firearms
industry, um, and kind of cherrypick the things that we uh we
(03:38):
think will make a difference,and then also has nothing to do
with legislation, right?
Because we believe that theanswers are there.
I feel like it's one and and letme rewind for a second.
Let me go back to kind of whatsparked this, but it wasn't the
it wasn't the main reason why Istarted it.
But in in 2009, um the presidentof my company, Eagle Imports,
(04:00):
the one I was just talkingabout, uh took it.
The the president's name is BillStrominger, he took his life
with one of our firearms.
Um, and at that time in 2009,suicide was not talked about in
the firearms industry.
And and one of the main reasonswas um I think we were all
scared that things like thatwould be weaponized against us.
(04:22):
Or we knew it, right?
Um, anybody that's in thefirearms community, whether
you're a trainer, whether youown a gun shop, we all know that
any negative outcome is going toget used in that giant number
that they throw out every year,right?
Um, so and there was kind ofthis rhetoric from the NRA that
was kind of like if you, youknow, you can't trust mental
(04:43):
health or just gun grabbers, youknow, and it it kind of made
sense for everything that wasgoing on back then.
But I always wanted to dosomething that helped people
because one of the things thatthe president of the company at
the time and I used to talkabout, uh, and it's this is
this, you know, we could we cantouch on this later, right?
Because usually people that talkabout suicide or they they
(05:05):
notice something about suicideor or you know, mental health,
um, they're in tune to it.
So Bill and I used to talk abouthow crazy it was that the gun
industry didn't really doanything to address mental
health when we were losing thepeople that our industry holds
near and dear to our hearts themost.
(05:25):
And I'll give you an example ofthat.
So we used to have a booth atSHOT Show and we used to have
couches, right?
Like that was our, you know, soif anyone's been to SHAT Show,
you know, like everyone's justbouncing around booths and
talking.
It's it's kind of like a gunstore.
If anyone goes in the gun store,we used to call it like the
barber shop, the white man'sbarbershop.
Now it's everybody's barbershopbecause now you have all
different walks of life, right?
(05:45):
You have the fastest growingshooters of minorities and
women, right?
So now it's everybody'sbarbershop.
People will go into gun shopsand just literally talk to the
guy at the counter all day.
And people will, you know,customers will talk.
It's a fun experience.
It's kind of interesting towatch.
But we used to have all kinds ofpeople that would come to our
booth every year, and it wasalmost like we expected to see
(06:08):
those faces again and again andagain.
And so many of them were, youknow, former military, you know,
active duty military, firstresponders.
Um, like I said, the people thatour our industry absolutely
stops and salutes no matterwhat.
And every year it seemed like wewould lose one person, and it
would be like, it's weird.
So you know, John didn't show upthis year.
(06:28):
I wonder where I hope he's okay,right?
And then you'd find out later,like, hey, I don't know if you
heard about John, but John tookhis own life.
And it was like all the it's oneof those things where you're
looking at this, like, hey,we're not supposed to talk about
this.
We don't address it, we don'tknow how to, but it's something
that affects our industrybecause obviously, you know, 22
a day, all those things that youheard back then, it was kind of
(06:51):
like, hmm, why didn't we dosomething?
Now I didn't know what to doafter Bill took his life.
I didn't have the idea for Walkto Talk America.
Walk to Talk America was bornfrom a conversation in 2018, so
cut to nine years later, when II met a complete stranger that
asked a question.
She was asking about whathappens during a mass shooting.
(07:13):
And uh I basically told her thetruth.
I said, Everybody blames us.
We we blame mental health, andnothing ever gets done because
we can't work together, becausethe the solutions that they have
all deal with stuff that wecan't accept, right?
Like infringing on rights andpunishing people who actually do
the right thing with a firearm,which is the vast majority of
(07:33):
people that own firearms.
Um, and after I said that, sheasked one question, completely
changed my life.
She was like, if you can't workwith the mental health community
on those things because oflegislation, like what are the
policies or what are the thingsthat you can work on with them?
Because I'm sure there arethings you can work together on.
And I, you know, I thought aboutit and I was like, I don't think
(07:55):
we do, we don't, right?
And that's how Walk to TalkAmerica was born.
It was from a like chanceconversation where someone asked
a question, and at the time Ididn't even know if it was
possible, right?
Um, but it's something I becameobsessed with, and then one year
later, I ended up selling Eagleimports to do this full time
because there was a need forthis, people wanted this.
(08:18):
So that's how Walk the TalkAmerica came about.
And and we can kind of get intothe details as this conversation
starts to flow about what we do,but um, that's how it started.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
Yeah, uh I know gun grabbers and people you know
blame guns for a lot of the theincidences and all actuality a
lot of the I've heard youmention this before, but
two-thirds of the actual guns orshooting something that's
(10:39):
something that I think is justgetting individuals getting
proactive exemptions as far asuh where somebody can if they
recognize that they're doing thethe right thing or something
good that you know they're notpenalized for trying to help
save somebody.
SPEAKER_03 (11:29):
And uh yeah, yeah, the unintended consequences is
what you're talking about ofthese things, and that's so in
the beginning, like when Istarted this, I didn't know what
was gonna happen, but I knewafter the first year, the first
year of doing Walk Talk America,I was like, if it's if it ends
today and nothing else comes ofthis, at least I got the the
(11:50):
firearms industry thinking aboutmental health, right?
Because I feel like for so longit was kind of like there's so
many good people in the 2Acommunity, just like I mean,
take it from me, like a guy whowhat when I first got into the
community, I was like, I amnothing like these people
because most most of the time Iwas hanging around with people
that were talking about hunting,fishing, all these things that I
(12:11):
never did growing up, right?
Like I never went shooting, Ididn't have a dad who took me
shooting.
I I had there was a learningcurve that I had to hit.
But what I did love about thetwo-a community in the firearms
industry was how welcoming likethey were, and and how many like
good, solid individuals thereare in this industry, you know,
(12:32):
just like everything, you haveyour clowns, but you know, uh
overall it it's kind of likewhen I would go back to my
friends who didn't understandfirearms and they didn't
understand the industry, theywould they would talk about the
industry in a certain way, like,oh, it's uh the NRA is doing
this, or you know, it's racistor anything like that.
And I was like, no, it's reallynot.
Like if you if you actually hangout at an NRA show or you hang
(12:54):
out at a at any kind of event,like a shot show, I'd like it
the pe what they're saying,like, hey, people celebrate
during a mass shooting.
Like, I've never seen that.
I've never seen that.
We we hate that, right?
And so for me, if walk the talkwould have ended just on the
just the fact that the peoplewere talking about mental
health, but here we are, cuttwo, right?
(13:16):
Like now we're in this positionwhere I think it's super
important for our industry tolead the way on this, and
similar to how um alcohol gotahead of drunk driving, right?
Like, nobody's blaming JohnnyWalker when somebody gets behind
the car wheel and does somethinghorrific, right?
So, for me to have the industrylike step up and and have
(13:40):
firearms trainers like yourselfand um gun shop saying, Look,
you have you have to be preparedas a gun owner for everything.
You have to be prepared foroutside threats, you have to be
prepared for this, you have tobe, you have to have safety
down, right?
Like all this stuff is we alsohave to have this key element of
firearms ownership, which isyour mental game.
(14:01):
It has to your mental game hasto be up everywhere, right?
Like you have to know it, andand it also extends to everybody
else who is around you with thatfirearm um in the house.
So there's nothing wrong withbeing prepared.
What we talk, that's why wetrain, that's why we take
courses, that's why we do it, isto be prepared.
So to have the preparation ofthe mental game, too, to say, I
(14:24):
may not be in crisis, like maybeI am, like, I don't know.
Like, I'm not feeling too goodbecause of the things that you
said earlier, right?
Maybe it's money issues, maybeyou got family members fighting.
You're just like, I need to beon top of it as a gun owner, and
there's nothing wrong with that.
And once we like accept that,once we take that all in and
we're like, okay, we're doingthe most, and and believe me, I
(14:46):
know it sounds crazy, but like Ithink right now the firearms
industry is with the the peoplethat are actively involved in
WTTA, the Rugers, the armscorps, the the Canon Safes, like
the things that they're doing,it's so different than what the
mental health community can dobecause they don't have the
reach we do.
They don't have they can't, youknow, all they could do is say,
(15:08):
like, hey, we'd love for you tosay this.
It's all language, right?
And most of the time they don'tknow the language, so they have
to rely on us to know thelanguage.
But us being proactive, nowwe're going to be taking serious
on a national level with all thepeople that thought originally
that we don't care or we don'tdo anything.
You see what I mean?
Like, that's why that's why it'simportant for us to kind of take
(15:30):
this and run with it.
Don't let the government tell uswhat to do with it.
Like, show the government we'realready on top of it.
Like, you can't help us.
You know what I mean?
Like, we got this.
So it's been kind of fun thislast five years, you know, it's
a wild ride.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
Great, great.
I'm I'm glad to see you.
And uh, I think it's like you'reactually in uh some of the
people in the firearms industry,uh manufacturer-wise and
camera-wise, that are actuallysupporting you and backing your
uh by putting aren't theyputting like labels and cards
and stuff in there?
SPEAKER_03 (16:06):
Yeah, so so that was the that was the first.
So here's the fun part aboutwhat we talk America.
When I first started theorganization, and I'm grabbing a
card to show you, to show thelisteners, uh, but when I
started first started theorganization, I want to take the
easy way out.
Like in my head, I was like,we'll raise money in the
firearms industry and we'lldonate it to mental health.
(16:27):
And when I first started, Ididn't I didn't even know if
there was a mental healthorganization that was gonna
listen to me.
Because you know, you know howpeople think about us, right?
Like, you know, they have theselike preconceived notions and
just whatever, you know, we'restigmatized.
We our industry is stigmatizedjust like mental health.
Um, but anyway, so I I ended upconnecting with mental health
(16:50):
America, and you know, the ideain the beginning was hey, look,
I'm gonna donate money, I'mgonna go to the Rugers, and I'm
gonna go to the arms corps, andI'm gonna go to the Bursas, and
I'm gonna get them to donatemoney, and we're gonna donate it
to you, and you're gonna solvethe problem.
Like you're gonna fix theproblem.
And originally I was kind ofaiming towards what can we do to
(17:10):
stop mass shootings?
Um, and this is actually areally important part of our
conversation today for people tounderstand because sometimes
people are like, well, why areyou focusing on the gun?
Well, number one, I focus on thegun because I'm from the gun
industry.
If I worked in the ropeindustry, I'd probably focus on
ropes, right?
But I'm I'm in the gun industry.
But we all seem to think thatthere is a way to stop mass
(17:31):
shooters, right?
We and there are things thereare things, obviously, this goes
beyond just mass shooters.
There are things you canidentify in people, but it
really is finding a needle in ahaystack because for as much as
these mass shooters have shown aparticular behavior that you
could point to, just like gunowners, you could point to a
(17:54):
million examples of people thathad that same behavior and never
shot up a grocery store orschool, right?
So when I first started, thewhole idea was hey, I'm gonna
give you all this money, you'regonna run out there and figure
out how we we end this and we'reall gonna work together.
Well, I learned real fast thatthey didn't have the answers.
And everybody on the mentalhealth side, uh,
(18:16):
epidemiologists, like all thesepeople were just like, hey,
listen, you gotta slow down,focus on suicide prevention.
And I was like, that's great.
I want to do suicide preventiontoo, but I really want to do
mass shooters, so we're gonna doit all.
And they're just like, no, no,no, laser focus on suicide
prevention because it is the onething that you guys can actually
make a dent in, right?
(18:36):
And at first I couldn'tunderstand it.
I was like, make it make sensefor me.
And they're just like, fightingthe next mass shooter is the
needle in a haystack.
And I said, Okay, well, explainthat to me.
And there I remember it was Dr.
Jeffrey Swanson out of NorthCarolina.
Yeah, he's a leader inepidemiology, and he basically
was like, You could take a gunand hand it to 10 people that
have schizophrenia or bipolardisorder.
(18:58):
And he's like, they'll go theirwhole life without doing
anything to anybody, eventhemselves.
And he's like, You could comehome one day after a really
tough day at work, find yourwife in bed with your best
friend and snap.
And he's like, needle in ahaystack.
And I was like, damn, he'sright.
Right.
But like with suicideprevention, if we can be on the
forefront of giving ourcustomers or our our students,
(19:22):
right, the information and theresources to where they could
stay on top of it or get helpwhen they want it.
Um, like I said before, that'sthat's the cherry on the top.
Just the fact that you'reletting your students know or
your customers know that you'remaking it okay to talk about
mental health or think aboutyour mental health.
Like take, for example, Ruger orArms Corps.
(19:45):
Arms Corps is a perfect exampleof people who put it, put the
the screening on the side of thebox.
And um, this is an example.
This is a card.
It's it's kind of tough to see,but this is a a card that that
Ruger and Bursa and Arms Corps,they put in all the boxes of
their guns.
And it basically says, you know,mental health, it's okay to talk
(20:06):
about it.
You know, we're from thefirearms industry.
Take a free and anonymous mentalhealth screening.
Stay on top of your mentalhealth.
I can't stress enough howimportant it is to stay on top
of it.
Screenings aren't just forpeople who are in crisis.
You don't have to be like, well,I feel wonderful.
I don't need a screening.
It's good to take the screening,even if you feel great, right?
(20:26):
Because you need to see whereyou're at.
The screenings are free andanonymous, which is gun owners
we love, especially theanonymous part.
You don't have to give them anyinformation because we we
partner with Mental HealthAmerica on this.
They don't ask you aboutfirearms at all.
So there's nothing in there thatasks you about your guns or
anything like that.
It's just what it's thedifferent categories of what you
want to do, whether that's Iwant to, I think I might be
(20:49):
depressed, I think I might besuffering from anxiety, I think
I might have ADHD, right?
So you you can go on there andtake those.
And that was the first step.
That was the first step ofgetting industry and the the the
fine, and I know I'm a littlelong-winded on this, but I like
I love talking about it.
But like the first I didn't knowat first, I didn't know how the
industry would react to this,right?
(21:10):
Because one of the biggest fearsI had as someone who owned a gun
company was I didn't want likethe NRA or NSSF being like,
Mike, what are you doing?
Like, what what are you doinghere?
Like you're walking a very fineline.
And um I I kept putting them inmy guns, which was the guns that
Eagle imports.
And I had thank God I had theseforeign manufacturers who you
(21:30):
know they I don't, you know,they're not in touch with what
we do as much.
So they were kind of like, whatis it?
And I'm like, free and anonymousmental health screenings for our
customers so they can stay ontop of their mental health and
be good.
We want our customers to begood, right?
And they're just like, Yeah,yeah, yeah.
So you could do it.
So we're putting a card in thebox, and I'm waiting.
Like, I waited like three monthsjust to see what type of
(21:51):
reaction because I didn't knowif there was going to be a
negative reaction.
I didn't know if customers weregonna call and be like, What are
you doing?
And it was the completeopposite.
We were getting so manycustomers that were calling, and
they're like, Hey, you put thisin the box.
You know, I just bought a bursaand it's inside the box.
Thank you.
Like, I really appreciated youdoing that, right?
And then I was like, Oh, this iscool.
(22:12):
It's like good PR for us.
You know what I mean?
Like it, um, so then itgraduated and I started to just,
I was like, okay, nothing'snothing's happened.
I'm not on the NRA's, like, whatare you doing list?
I started walking around aChacho to my friends, like my
peers that I grew up with inthis industry, like uh Martin
from Arms Corps or Charlie Brownfrom from High Point, you know,
(22:34):
MKS.
And I was just like, hey, canyou put this in the in your your
box?
And they're like, what is it?
Freedom and auto's mental healthscreenings.
And I'm like, pause, wait, seewhat they they're like, that's a
really good idea.
Yeah, we could do that.
I was like, damn, it's thateasy.
Right?
It's just it's it would.
I feel like as an industry, andand that includes everything
(22:55):
from firearms trainers to I feellike we always wanted to do
something, but we just didn'tknow how to fit into it.
Because it was it's not rocket.
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
But uniqueness to join together.
SPEAKER_03 (23:09):
Yeah, almost like we couldn't, right?
Like we thought it was mutuallyexclusive.
You can't have guns and youcan't talk about mental health
or suicide prevention, likethey're mutually exclusive.
They're not like we totally can,and it can come from us.
It's actually better coming fromus because you know, and this is
what I say when I speak in infront of you know, anyone that's
from the outside, the mentalhealth side or the healthcare
(23:30):
provider side.
I'm like, the the industry, ifyou walk around our industry,
everybody there was a time whenI felt like I was the only one
who didn't serve the country,like it at the SHOT show.
You know what I'm saying?
Like everybody, like everybodythat works in the industry, like
they all had served or they wereall for a first responder at
some point in their life.
And I was kind of like, damn,I'm like the only one in the
(23:51):
right.
So first responders and uh vetsand active duty military, they
gravitate towards our community,right?
It's a natural fit, like you,right?
Yeah, right.
So, you know, for when that whenI saw that, and and I was kind
of like, who are they gonnalisten to?
(24:13):
People listen to the groups thatthey trust, right?
Skateboarders or surfers havetheir own community, and I
thought, we're no different.
The gun industry is just like aStar Wars freak that goes to a
convention, right?
Like we we we trust theinformation that's gonna be
passed by our people, so that'swhy it's so important for us to
do it, not mental health, likewe work with mental health, but
(24:36):
we do it as the community.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
Yeah, I think this is part of the missing link,
like we've talked uh before thatyou know it was needed because
of the fear of I don't want tobe labeled as someone needs
mental assistance, uh mentalhealth assistance, but it's an
issue.
I think it shows that we dohardly I really like that shows
(25:55):
shows your heart that you'reyou're out there serving both
sides and trying to bring themtogether.
Let's try to solve this.
SPEAKER_03 (26:02):
Well, and it's it it's and I appreciate that,
thank you.
Um it's been really interestingbecause one of the things and
I've said this in in othershows, but it's really true.
One of the things that used todrive me crazy uh about just
anything is is like when I hademployees that would like come
to me and they'd point outproblems and they had like zero
(26:24):
solutions, like they're like,Yeah, there's a problem back
there, and it's like, yeah, Iknow, you know, I could see it.
Um, but it's like I don't careif it's a silly solution.
And I feel like that's the onething we as an industry, that's
where I get critical of us.
We always kind of lacked that,well, it's a mental health
thing, there's nothing we cando, right?
Like we we almost defaulted tothat, and it's kind of like,
(26:44):
well, there is something we cando, and we figured that out.
Like we we we've now figured outthat we could do a lot.
Um, and like I said, it's almostto the point where I think we've
figured it out and we've we'vegone, we've transcended beyond
what the mental health communitycan offer us.
Um, they can they I'm not sayingthey can't offer things, right?
The just the screenings alonethat they do is brilliant.
(27:07):
But like I said, we have thereach, we have everything.
So now we're we're betterequipped to bridge the gap with
people that don't see eye to eyewith us.
And and I'll give you an exampleof that.
Uh a couple months ago, I wasinvited to speak at the Aspen
Institute of Health of Festival,which is a very like heavy
(27:28):
hitter, mostly center left uhcrew group of people that deal
with anything that that's inhealthcare.
So it's not just um guns oranything like that, right?
It's it's everything that dealswith healthcare.
So I was invited to be one oftheir guest speakers, which was
an honor in itself.
I was the very first person fromthe firearms industry to be
(27:50):
asked to speak there.
And um, I was amongst alldifferent types of speakers,
everyone from like Dr.
Fauci to um Chelsea Clinton toFink from BlackRock, like
there's all these differentwalks of life speaking at this
event, and I was treated withthe utmost respect.
But really going into thatsituation, I knew that I could
(28:10):
win that crowd over because theytried to warn me.
Um they they were scared for me.
It was cute because likenumerous times I had numerous
people that are like, hey,listen, this crowd is not
necessarily like sometimes gunsis kind of a triggering thing
for them.
So da-da-da-da.
And they didn't realize, like, Ido this all day in my sleep,
like it's fine.
(28:30):
Right.
I'm I'm better.
Sometimes I'm better in front ofthe non-2A crowd than I am in
front of the two A crowd becausethe two A crowd tends to be kind
of stuck in their ways.
Whereas the non-2A crowd, it'slike once I show them as an
industry what we're doing, andgoing back to that, we've
transcended past just thetalking points, like mental
(28:50):
health awareness and all thosethings that are important, but
really is like what are youdoing?
You're advocating, but you'renot really doing anything.
Once I get the crowd or thepeople to see what we do, they
they're drawn in by it.
Like they're like, they're like,oh my god, like I never even
thought about that.
Like mental health screeningflyers in the boxes of the guns,
(29:14):
and you guys are doing that.
And I'm like, Yes, like Ruger isdoing that, you know.
Yeah, so then what happens isonce they see that we're
providing solutions, they backoff their stance a little bit.
Because I felt like many peoplefor many years, the gun grabbers
and them were like, Okay, if youdon't want to do legislation,
what do we do?
(29:34):
And we're like, I don't know,it's a mental health thing,
right?
Now we're at least saying, Okay,let me show you what to do.
Right.
Um, you can't do what we do, butwe'll show you how good we do
it.
Okay, right.
So, so for me, when thathappens, when the when the
barrier breaks down and they'reready to listen and accept
(29:57):
information, now we've reallybridged the gap because they're
like, okay, this is cool.
I get I I see where they'regoing with this.
Now I'm listening.
And we talked about earlierbarriers to entry, right?
So one of the things, one of thethings that came out of the
Aspen Institute thing, becauseone I was on a panel and they
asked about red flag laws.
And of course, the two mentalhealth people, the two
(30:18):
healthcare people, they theywere like, red flag laws are
great, you know, they da da da.
And I'm like, I live in adifferent world than these two.
Right.
I'm not saying they're wrong.
Like, I'm not saying they'rewrong.
Like, there's probably timeswhen a red flag has has stopped
somebody.
If that somebody has admittedlike I was gonna kill myself,
(30:40):
right?
Like, like there are there areoutliers, there are there are
anecdotal stories we can alltell fun things.
But I was like, I live in aworld where red flag laws
probably cost people their livesbecause they're afraid to go get
help.
Right.
So it's an unintentionalconsequence of being afraid to
go get help.
(31:00):
And it was crazy because likethe crowd, there's so many
people came up to me afterbecause they wanted to chat or
talk.
They're like, I never thoughtabout that red flag laws in that
way.
Because I always thought it wasyou guys going, I want to arm
everybody, right?
Like and just being stubborn.
And I'm like, no, see, I live ina world where one to two people
(31:22):
contact me a week and they'relike, I want to go get help, but
I'm afraid to because of thisred flag law in Florida or this,
you know.
Um, what do I do?
How do I do this?
So the unintentional consequenceis the like you said, now we
have a spot at the table wherepeople doesn't mean they're
gonna change the laws, but atleast they're listening, you
know, transfer laws.
(31:44):
The fact that, like in Nevada,where I'm sitting right now, if
you come to my house and I don'tlook so good, like because my
wife just left me or somethinglike that, I can't even give you
my gun.
Wow, you know what I mean?
Like those that has to change.
Like I we might not be able toget rid of transfer laws, but we
can totally navigate them withnow that we can come to the
(32:05):
table and say this is the issuewith that.
And many times, this is theother crazy thing.
A lot of times these people havenever thought about it from that
lens because they're not in ourshoes, right?
You know, so it's important tobring them into our world and
not necessarily be combative,you know.
You know, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_01 (32:26):
So you've got uh a lot of uh things available on
you know through Walk the TalkAmerica that people can go to
actually straight on thewebsite.
Um I know uh couple of thingsthat I I noticed that uh I'm
grateful for that you have aresome of the resources that you
have, like your free screeningsand your uh directory where you
(32:48):
can put in your location andactually find somebody that's uh
partnered with Walk to TalkAmerica and the mental health
organization you're with to towork on uh you know trying to
help them overcome or getthrough whatever struggle
they're going through.
Uh, do you want to elaborateelaborate on any of those or you
know some of the uh maybe someof the other resources that you
(33:10):
have on your website?
SPEAKER_03 (33:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
One of the things that I'mreally proud of um as a whole of
the organization, obviously it'slike me talking about my child.
So it's like take what I saywith a grain of salt because I'm
not gonna say anything bad aboutmy kid.
Um, but but but one of thethings that we kicked off at
Walk Talk America was a culturalcompetence course for mental
health clinicians, and we haddecided uh, because I had found
(33:36):
a mental health clinician namedJake Wiscurshian, um, who was
super pro-gun, but he walked inthis world of his profession
where it was kind of a no-no tobe pro-gun.
And for a long time, like Jakewas like, I can't, I you know,
like the first time I met Jake,I was on one of his podcasts.
He had a mental health podcast,and I was so excited because he
(33:57):
was the first person on themental health side that had
brought me on.
I had been doing the rounds ofall the firearms industry
podcasts and radio shows.
Okay, but like, you know,getting on Jake's show is it's
called Noginotes, and it wasreally exciting because he was
bringing me in.
And I remember the first time wetalked, he said, Listen, I gotta
tell you something before we goon air.
I'm a gun owner and I have myCCW, but listen, we cannot talk
(34:18):
about it.
And I was like, okay, that'scool, right?
But cut two, Jake and I hestarts to become more involved
in WTT after he hears about whatwe're doing.
So we had come up with this ideato start a cultural competence
course for mental healthclinicians that will give them
CEU credits, continuingeducation credits.
So every year they have to getso many credits towards their
license.
Um, and we thought this is thisis a great way to educate people
(34:42):
that don't understand us, and wecould show them about our fear,
and uh you know, and so thecourse took off and it became
this thing where we were like,Oh my god, like like we have to
keep throwing these things, andthen COVID hit because we used
to do it do it in person, thenwe brought it online, um, and it
just soared from there.
(35:03):
I thought it was gonna be thedeath of it.
I was like, who's gonna sitthrough three hours?
But I didn't realize that Ithink a lot of people don't want
to actually come into aclassroom or a five uh a
shooting range.
They they might want to learn athome, right?
The greatest thing about thiscourse is that you know you
could take it at your ownleisure, and um, you know, you
(35:24):
don't necessarily have to comeout of it.
We we don't the expectationlevel is not that you're gonna
be all like super gung-ho aboutfirearms, but you're just gonna
get a different perspective.
And it worked like a charm.
We would get all kinds offeedback, like there were so
many people that would say,like, this is an example, this
is an anecdotal, but like oneperson I remember it because it
really touched me, had written,When I I was anti-gun when I
(35:46):
came into the course, and nowI'm gun.
And I was like, That's that'sexactly where I want you to go.
Right.
So the evolution of thateventually, because we became
sort of this resource for peoplewere calling, and we don't do
actually any like you can't callwalk the talk America if you're
in crisis.
We could we will help you, wewill try to find someone for you
(36:08):
to talk to, but we're notlicensed.
We we can't do that.
So, you know, I was gettingcalls and getting people
emailing me that that were doingthe thing where they were just
like, Hey, like I'm I gotsomebody who's in trouble, or
this and this and that, and youhave anybody in your area.
So, about a month ago, like Jakeand I were like, We need to
start our own nationaldirectory, like we need to get
(36:31):
clinicians who are not afraid tocome out and say, like, I own a
gun or I'm pro 2A.
Right.
Because every if you look atmental health clinicians or
people that work in any kind ofhealthcare, there are
categories.
Like, if you go, if you go topsychology today and you look
up, you know, just put up put inyour zip code, there are
(36:51):
literally like groups that thereare people, clinicians that
specialize in like airlinepilots or like moms, right?
And so our whole thing is is whycan't we have culturally
competent in firearms or proSecond Amendment, whatever,
right?
Like um, and and that's whatwe're building now.
(37:12):
And we feel like this thisnetwork that we're building, you
know, ideally what we want is wewant to have at least one
person, just to start off, isone person in uh you know, every
state, but I think we have like15 states right now.
Um I want one Jake withScursion, right?
I want one person that could dotelehealth and be available, but
this is the start.
(37:32):
Um, and I think once we havethis network of clinicians that
kind of speak our language, andevery one of these clinicians,
by the way, we don't just letanybody on there.
Okay.
You have to go through thecourse.
You could either take the freeone or you could take the one
where you pay for it and you'reguaranteed to get your CEU.
Some states recognize it, somedon't.
(37:52):
Like in Nevada, if you take thefree one, you could just submit
it to the the state licensingboard and they'll give you your
CEUs.
Other states, we don't, we'renot sure, but we took care of
that angle by partnering with acompany that will let you pay.
We we actually pay half the fee,right?
So, like we encourage that.
Um, so you get CEU credits forlike$25 by sitting to the
course, but they all comethrough the course.
(38:14):
So when they're they're whenthey're listed on directory, you
know it's somebody that isculture economy, it's not just
somebody is like, Yeah, I don'tcare, you know, like I don't
care if you're in the guns, likeyou can still come to me.
No, they they know they knowlike what we're talking about.
So good, you know.
I'm excited about that.
I think it's to me, once we getthis thing really off and
running and going, uh to me,it's like a small little army of
(38:36):
people who are going to berepresenting us that can kind of
do both things, right?
They can walk in that mentalhealth space and then obviously
come right into the firearmspace and they understand the
complexities, the nuance,everything that that we go
through as firearms owners.
Um, so that's what that's allabout.
SPEAKER_01 (38:54):
Okay, good.
Uh so um if somebody wanted tofind out more about Walk the
Talk America or contact uh youor the the company, uh what's
where where would they find outabout you?
SPEAKER_03 (39:07):
Well, uh first and foremost, our website, you know,
wtta.org.
There's a lot of information onthere to digest and go through,
but uh walktalkamerica.org orwtta.org.
If you're on social media, it'sat walkthalk us.
And that's the platforms we'reon are um Facebook, uh,
Instagram, and Twitter.
(39:28):
So at walkthalk US.
And if you have any questions,you can email us or send us a
message.
We always have somebodymonitoring something, you know,
so we're we're on top of it andwe're pretty responsive.
And uh we're there to answer anyof your questions you have, or
even if you want to share astory, right?
Like there's there's beenadvocacy that we've done um
through someone reaching out tous saying, Hey, did you know
(39:50):
about this or this is a problem?
And then we can kind of that'sthe other beauty of having a
good relationship with mentalhealth America.
Um, is pretty much if I spotsomething that isn't really, it
goes against the mental healthAmerica way, right?
Like it stigmatizes mentalhealth, or there's somebody
who's being screwed over wholost their rights.
(40:12):
We can kind of be an advocatefor them if they tell us a
story, because we could sharethose stories with Mental Health
America and the otherorganizations that we work with
and kind of point out, like,hey, don't be a hypocrite.
This is what you told us.
You know, here's a perfectexample.
So sometimes, you know, billsget shot down, right?
You know, we bring it topeople's attention that normally
wouldn't look at it.
SPEAKER_01 (40:33):
Okay.
Well, um, I appreciate your timethis afternoon.
And uh, you know, talking aboutuh walk the talk America, like I
said, it's something that I'veuh fell in love with and I've uh
put in all of my firearmsclasses, and uh it's um I I'm
I'm thankful for for your youryour heart and you know what
(40:55):
you're doing for the firearmscommunity and the mental health
community, trying to bridge themtogether to where we can meet in
the middle and try to weprobably won't ever solve it
completely, but at least we'vegot a a firm ground to where we
can start working on and tryingto minimize any effects that are
out there.
SPEAKER_03 (41:15):
So yeah, no, thank you, thank you.
Uh thank you for the support andthank you for the kind words and
and and really thank you forincorporating like you
incorporating that into to thepeople that you educate.
Um that says a lot too, and andit's it's super important
because people are gonna respectyou, and if you're not afraid to
talk about it and you make themaware of it, then they know it's
(41:37):
okay as firearms owners, youknow what I mean?
So you know, I think I thinkit's great.
SPEAKER_01 (41:42):
Okay.
One thing I didn't go on on uhwarn you about beforehand.
Uh what's uh what's your hobbyor your your relief from from
life?
When it what do you findenjoyment away from the stress
of the everyday routine?
SPEAKER_03 (41:59):
Ooh, it's a good question.
Uh does it ever not getstressful?
No, uh I I have a beautifulfamily, uh, very supportive of
what I do.
As a matter of fact, like when Iget done off here, I'm actually
going to be interviewed by mydaughter who's doing a class
project on Walk to Talk America.
Um, so so it it's really likeputting my my attention into my
(42:22):
family.
I got beautiful kids, I gotbeautiful dogs.
Um, you know, it's reallystaying focused.
But honestly, uh walk to talkAmerica is is to me like it it's
bigger than just a job.
Um it's just become a way oflife for me.
So it's like helping others, um,which I indirectly or directly
(42:42):
do on a daily basis, that thatkind of is my therapy, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (42:45):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (42:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (42:47):
Cool.
Well, thank you for sharingthat.
And um, if uh I'll put all thatcontact information in the show
notes for the podcast.
And uh I hope if anybody has anyquestions or anything, feel free
to reach out to Michael or myeven myself, and we'll get you
in contact with them.
But uh thank you, Michael, foryour time, and I hope you have a
(43:09):
wonderful interview with yourdaughter.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
SPEAKER_00 (43:14):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are those of the hostand the guest, and do not
necessarily reflect the viewsand opinions of the podcast
publisher, its affiliates, orany other entities.
SPEAKER_01 (43:24):
The information contained in this podcast is for
example purposes only andnothing, medical, legal, or
practical advice.
The podcast publisher isaffiliated to no responsibility,
liabilities, loss, or damagecaused by the information
contained in this project.
Listric are advised to consultwith a qualified professional
(43:45):
before making the decisions thatyou can make the contained to
this project.
Hi, welcome to the Arctic Podcast, Season 1,
Episode 2.
Today we'll be joined by MikeSedini off the Talk America.
Mike will be talking to us todayabout mental health and firearms
and how we can help bridge thegap between issues regarding
care for people that might begoing through issues.
So stay tuned, listen, and hopeyou enjoy.
(00:23):
Hi, and today's guest uh we haveMichael Sedini from Walk to Talk
America.
How are you doing, Michael?
SPEAKER_03 (00:30):
I'm doing good, man.
I'm I'm glad to be here.
I know you're kicking off thisshow and uh I'm glad to be a
part of it.
SPEAKER_01 (00:37):
Well, you're you'll be our first uh guest that we
have going live on the podcast.
And uh looking forward to thetopic uh Walk to Talk America.
Something real dear, I think, tomy heart, and I think it will
hit the chord with uh otherpeople that listen that may not
have heard about Walk to TalkAmerica.
Uh so who is Michael Sedini andwhere does he come from?
SPEAKER_03 (00:59):
Yeah, so I'm a I'm a third generation firearms
industry professional.
Uh I I got into the firearmsindustry through nepotism.
Um my family owned one of thelargest uh importers of firearms
in the U.S.
And so basically, what we werefor anyone in the listening
audience that is not familiarwith how firearms importation
(01:22):
works is if you had a firearmscompany and let's say you were
in Colombia or somewhere inEurope, right?
And you had an interest and youhad a firearm and you had an
interest in breaking in the USmarket, you would find somebody
like us, which was at the timecalled it was Eagle Imports, and
we used to import Bursa fromArgentina, grand power from
(01:42):
Slovakia, and uh uh Metro Arms,which is American Classic, Mac,
and SPS from the Philippines.
So you would you would findsomebody like us to basically do
your importing, handle yoursales, handle your customer
service, your warranty.
It's like a turnkey operation,right?
You just sell it to us and webuild your brand in the US and
take care of everything else.
(02:04):
So I got into the firearmsindustry, not because I was
interested in guns at all.
Um, I was basically told by myfamily, like it was an
assumption, like you're comingto work with us.
You know, my grandfather and myuncle had started this business,
which actually played into myadvantage when it came to what
we're about to talk about today.
Um, because not growing uparound firearms, because I
(02:26):
didn't, I grew up with a singlemom in San Francisco.
And um my family's company wasin New Jersey, right?
Uh probably two of the worstplaces to grow up if you're if
you're into firearms.
Yeah.
You know, so uh, anyways, gotinto the industry after college
and literally learned on thefly.
Learned about firearms and andrights and everything, like on
(02:49):
the job.
So that that's that's mybackground.
SPEAKER_01 (02:51):
Well, to Talk America is something that like
we were talking just before westarted recording, is uh
something that I find uh is thatmissing link that kind of breaks
that uh taboo subject that uh alot of people are need
assistance but are afraid toreach out because of that taboo
and what could happen.
(03:11):
So, what what is Walk TalkAmerica?
SPEAKER_03 (03:14):
Okay, so Walk Talk America, it basically we are an
organization that's homegrownfrom the firearms industry that
looks for innovative ways to getpeople to help they need when
they're in crisis without fearof consequence.
Um, we figure out ways to workwith people outside of the 2A
community, the Second Amendmentcommunity, the firearms
industry, um, and kind of cherrypick the things that we uh we
(03:38):
think will make a difference,and then also has nothing to do
with legislation, right?
Because we believe that theanswers are there.
I feel like it's one and and letme rewind for a second.
Let me go back to kind of whatsparked this, but it wasn't the
it wasn't the main reason why Istarted it.
But in in 2009, um the presidentof my company, Eagle Imports,
(04:00):
the one I was just talkingabout, uh took it.
The the president's name is BillStrominger, he took his life
with one of our firearms.
Um, and at that time in 2009,suicide was not talked about in
the firearms industry.
And and one of the main reasonswas um I think we were all
scared that things like thatwould be weaponized against us.
(04:22):
Or we knew it, right?
Um, anybody that's in thefirearms community, whether
you're a trainer, whether youown a gun shop, we all know that
any negative outcome is going toget used in that giant number
that they throw out every year,right?
Um, so and there was kind ofthis rhetoric from the NRA that
was kind of like if you, youknow, you can't trust mental
(04:43):
health or just gun grabbers, youknow, and it it kind of made
sense for everything that wasgoing on back then.
But I always wanted to dosomething that helped people
because one of the things thatthe president of the company at
the time and I used to talkabout, uh, and it's this is
this, you know, we could we cantouch on this later, right?
Because usually people that talkabout suicide or they they
(05:05):
notice something about suicideor or you know, mental health,
um, they're in tune to it.
So Bill and I used to talk abouthow crazy it was that the gun
industry didn't really doanything to address mental
health when we were losing thepeople that our industry holds
near and dear to our hearts themost.
(05:25):
And I'll give you an example ofthat.
So we used to have a booth atSHOT Show and we used to have
couches, right?
Like that was our, you know, soif anyone's been to SHAT Show,
you know, like everyone's justbouncing around booths and
talking.
It's it's kind of like a gunstore.
If anyone goes in the gun store,we used to call it like the
barber shop, the white man'sbarbershop.
Now it's everybody's barbershopbecause now you have all
different walks of life, right?
(05:45):
You have the fastest growingshooters of minorities and
women, right?
So now it's everybody'sbarbershop.
People will go into gun shopsand just literally talk to the
guy at the counter all day.
And people will, you know,customers will talk.
It's a fun experience.
It's kind of interesting towatch.
But we used to have all kinds ofpeople that would come to our
booth every year, and it wasalmost like we expected to see
(06:08):
those faces again and again andagain.
And so many of them were, youknow, former military, you know,
active duty military, firstresponders.
Um, like I said, the people thatour our industry absolutely
stops and salutes no matterwhat.
And every year it seemed like wewould lose one person, and it
would be like, it's weird.
So you know, John didn't show upthis year.
(06:28):
I wonder where I hope he's okay,right?
And then you'd find out later,like, hey, I don't know if you
heard about John, but John tookhis own life.
And it was like all the it's oneof those things where you're
looking at this, like, hey,we're not supposed to talk about
this.
We don't address it, we don'tknow how to, but it's something
that affects our industrybecause obviously, you know, 22
a day, all those things that youheard back then, it was kind of
(06:51):
like, hmm, why didn't we dosomething?
Now I didn't know what to doafter Bill took his life.
I didn't have the idea for Walkto Talk America.
Walk to Talk America was bornfrom a conversation in 2018, so
cut to nine years later, when II met a complete stranger that
asked a question.
She was asking about whathappens during a mass shooting.
(07:13):
And uh I basically told her thetruth.
I said, Everybody blames us.
We we blame mental health, andnothing ever gets done because
we can't work together, becausethe the solutions that they have
all deal with stuff that wecan't accept, right?
Like infringing on rights andpunishing people who actually do
the right thing with a firearm,which is the vast majority of
(07:33):
people that own firearms.
Um, and after I said that, sheasked one question, completely
changed my life.
She was like, if you can't workwith the mental health community
on those things because oflegislation, like what are the
policies or what are the thingsthat you can work on with them?
Because I'm sure there arethings you can work together on.
And I, you know, I thought aboutit and I was like, I don't think
(07:55):
we do, we don't, right?
And that's how Walk to TalkAmerica was born.
It was from a like chanceconversation where someone asked
a question, and at the time Ididn't even know if it was
possible, right?
Um, but it's something I becameobsessed with, and then one year
later, I ended up selling Eagleimports to do this full time
because there was a need forthis, people wanted this.
(08:18):
So that's how Walk the TalkAmerica came about.
And and we can kind of get intothe details as this conversation
starts to flow about what we do,but um, that's how it started.
SPEAKER_01 (08:27):
Yeah, uh I know gun grabbers and people you know
blame guns for a lot of the theincidences and all actuality a
lot of the I've heard youmention this before, but
two-thirds of the actual guns orshooting something that's
(10:39):
something that I think is justgetting individuals getting
proactive exemptions as far asuh where somebody can if they
recognize that they're doing thethe right thing or something
good that you know they're notpenalized for trying to help
save somebody.
SPEAKER_03 (11:29):
And uh yeah, yeah, the unintended consequences is
what you're talking about ofthese things, and that's so in
the beginning, like when Istarted this, I didn't know what
was gonna happen, but I knewafter the first year, the first
year of doing Walk Talk America,I was like, if it's if it ends
today and nothing else comes ofthis, at least I got the the
(11:50):
firearms industry thinking aboutmental health, right?
Because I feel like for so longit was kind of like there's so
many good people in the 2Acommunity, just like I mean,
take it from me, like a guy whowhat when I first got into the
community, I was like, I amnothing like these people
because most most of the time Iwas hanging around with people
that were talking about hunting,fishing, all these things that I
(12:11):
never did growing up, right?
Like I never went shooting, Ididn't have a dad who took me
shooting.
I I had there was a learningcurve that I had to hit.
But what I did love about thetwo-a community in the firearms
industry was how welcoming likethey were, and and how many like
good, solid individuals thereare in this industry, you know,
(12:32):
just like everything, you haveyour clowns, but you know, uh
overall it it's kind of likewhen I would go back to my
friends who didn't understandfirearms and they didn't
understand the industry, theywould they would talk about the
industry in a certain way, like,oh, it's uh the NRA is doing
this, or you know, it's racistor anything like that.
And I was like, no, it's reallynot.
Like if you if you actually hangout at an NRA show or you hang
(12:54):
out at a at any kind of event,like a shot show, I'd like it
the pe what they're saying,like, hey, people celebrate
during a mass shooting.
Like, I've never seen that.
I've never seen that.
We we hate that, right?
And so for me, if walk the talkwould have ended just on the
just the fact that the peoplewere talking about mental
health, but here we are, cuttwo, right?
(13:16):
Like now we're in this positionwhere I think it's super
important for our industry tolead the way on this, and
similar to how um alcohol gotahead of drunk driving, right?
Like, nobody's blaming JohnnyWalker when somebody gets behind
the car wheel and does somethinghorrific, right?
So, for me to have the industrylike step up and and have
(13:40):
firearms trainers like yourselfand um gun shop saying, Look,
you have you have to be preparedas a gun owner for everything.
You have to be prepared foroutside threats, you have to be
prepared for this, you have tobe, you have to have safety
down, right?
Like all this stuff is we alsohave to have this key element of
firearms ownership, which isyour mental game.
(14:01):
It has to your mental game hasto be up everywhere, right?
Like you have to know it, andand it also extends to everybody
else who is around you with thatfirearm um in the house.
So there's nothing wrong withbeing prepared.
What we talk, that's why wetrain, that's why we take
courses, that's why we do it, isto be prepared.
So to have the preparation ofthe mental game, too, to say, I
(14:24):
may not be in crisis, like maybeI am, like, I don't know.
Like, I'm not feeling too goodbecause of the things that you
said earlier, right?
Maybe it's money issues, maybeyou got family members fighting.
You're just like, I need to beon top of it as a gun owner, and
there's nothing wrong with that.
And once we like accept that,once we take that all in and
we're like, okay, we're doingthe most, and and believe me, I
(14:46):
know it sounds crazy, but like Ithink right now the firearms
industry is with the the peoplethat are actively involved in
WTTA, the Rugers, the armscorps, the the Canon Safes, like
the things that they're doing,it's so different than what the
mental health community can dobecause they don't have the
reach we do.
They don't have they can't, youknow, all they could do is say,
(15:08):
like, hey, we'd love for you tosay this.
It's all language, right?
And most of the time they don'tknow the language, so they have
to rely on us to know thelanguage.
But us being proactive, nowwe're going to be taking serious
on a national level with all thepeople that thought originally
that we don't care or we don'tdo anything.
You see what I mean?
Like, that's why that's why it'simportant for us to kind of take
(15:30):
this and run with it.
Don't let the government tell uswhat to do with it.
Like, show the government we'realready on top of it.
Like, you can't help us.
You know what I mean?
Like, we got this.
So it's been kind of fun thislast five years, you know, it's
a wild ride.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
Great, great.
I'm I'm glad to see you.
And uh, I think it's like you'reactually in uh some of the
people in the firearms industry,uh manufacturer-wise and
camera-wise, that are actuallysupporting you and backing your
uh by putting aren't theyputting like labels and cards
and stuff in there?
SPEAKER_03 (16:06):
Yeah, so so that was the that was the first.
So here's the fun part aboutwhat we talk America.
When I first started theorganization, and I'm grabbing a
card to show you, to show thelisteners, uh, but when I
started first started theorganization, I want to take the
easy way out.
Like in my head, I was like,we'll raise money in the
firearms industry and we'lldonate it to mental health.
(16:27):
And when I first started, Ididn't I didn't even know if
there was a mental healthorganization that was gonna
listen to me.
Because you know, you know howpeople think about us, right?
Like, you know, they have theselike preconceived notions and
just whatever, you know, we'restigmatized.
We our industry is stigmatizedjust like mental health.
Um, but anyway, so I I ended upconnecting with mental health
(16:50):
America, and you know, the ideain the beginning was hey, look,
I'm gonna donate money, I'mgonna go to the Rugers, and I'm
gonna go to the arms corps, andI'm gonna go to the Bursas, and
I'm gonna get them to donatemoney, and we're gonna donate it
to you, and you're gonna solvethe problem.
Like you're gonna fix theproblem.
And originally I was kind ofaiming towards what can we do to
(17:10):
stop mass shootings?
Um, and this is actually areally important part of our
conversation today for people tounderstand because sometimes
people are like, well, why areyou focusing on the gun?
Well, number one, I focus on thegun because I'm from the gun
industry.
If I worked in the ropeindustry, I'd probably focus on
ropes, right?
But I'm I'm in the gun industry.
But we all seem to think thatthere is a way to stop mass
(17:31):
shooters, right?
We and there are things thereare things, obviously, this goes
beyond just mass shooters.
There are things you canidentify in people, but it
really is finding a needle in ahaystack because for as much as
these mass shooters have shown aparticular behavior that you
could point to, just like gunowners, you could point to a
(17:54):
million examples of people thathad that same behavior and never
shot up a grocery store orschool, right?
So when I first started, thewhole idea was hey, I'm gonna
give you all this money, you'regonna run out there and figure
out how we we end this and we'reall gonna work together.
Well, I learned real fast thatthey didn't have the answers.
And everybody on the mentalhealth side, uh,
(18:16):
epidemiologists, like all thesepeople were just like, hey,
listen, you gotta slow down,focus on suicide prevention.
And I was like, that's great.
I want to do suicide preventiontoo, but I really want to do
mass shooters, so we're gonna doit all.
And they're just like, no, no,no, laser focus on suicide
prevention because it is the onething that you guys can actually
make a dent in, right?
(18:36):
And at first I couldn'tunderstand it.
I was like, make it make sensefor me.
And they're just like, fightingthe next mass shooter is the
needle in a haystack.
And I said, Okay, well, explainthat to me.
And there I remember it was Dr.
Jeffrey Swanson out of NorthCarolina.
Yeah, he's a leader inepidemiology, and he basically
was like, You could take a gunand hand it to 10 people that
have schizophrenia or bipolardisorder.
(18:58):
And he's like, they'll go theirwhole life without doing
anything to anybody, eventhemselves.
And he's like, You could comehome one day after a really
tough day at work, find yourwife in bed with your best
friend and snap.
And he's like, needle in ahaystack.
And I was like, damn, he'sright.
Right.
But like with suicideprevention, if we can be on the
forefront of giving ourcustomers or our our students,
(19:22):
right, the information and theresources to where they could
stay on top of it or get helpwhen they want it.
Um, like I said before, that'sthat's the cherry on the top.
Just the fact that you'reletting your students know or
your customers know that you'remaking it okay to talk about
mental health or think aboutyour mental health.
Like take, for example, Ruger orArms Corps.
(19:45):
Arms Corps is a perfect exampleof people who put it, put the
the screening on the side of thebox.
And um, this is an example.
This is a card.
It's it's kind of tough to see,but this is a a card that that
Ruger and Bursa and Arms Corps,they put in all the boxes of
their guns.
And it basically says, you know,mental health, it's okay to talk
(20:06):
about it.
You know, we're from thefirearms industry.
Take a free and anonymous mentalhealth screening.
Stay on top of your mentalhealth.
I can't stress enough howimportant it is to stay on top
of it.
Screenings aren't just forpeople who are in crisis.
You don't have to be like, well,I feel wonderful.
I don't need a screening.
It's good to take the screening,even if you feel great, right?
(20:26):
Because you need to see whereyou're at.
The screenings are free andanonymous, which is gun owners
we love, especially theanonymous part.
You don't have to give them anyinformation because we we
partner with Mental HealthAmerica on this.
They don't ask you aboutfirearms at all.
So there's nothing in there thatasks you about your guns or
anything like that.
It's just what it's thedifferent categories of what you
want to do, whether that's Iwant to, I think I might be
(20:49):
depressed, I think I might besuffering from anxiety, I think
I might have ADHD, right?
So you you can go on there andtake those.
And that was the first step.
That was the first step ofgetting industry and the the the
fine, and I know I'm a littlelong-winded on this, but I like
I love talking about it.
But like the first I didn't knowat first, I didn't know how the
industry would react to this,right?
(21:10):
Because one of the biggest fearsI had as someone who owned a gun
company was I didn't want likethe NRA or NSSF being like,
Mike, what are you doing?
Like, what what are you doinghere?
Like you're walking a very fineline.
And um I I kept putting them inmy guns, which was the guns that
Eagle imports.
And I had thank God I had theseforeign manufacturers who you
(21:30):
know they I don't, you know,they're not in touch with what
we do as much.
So they were kind of like, whatis it?
And I'm like, free and anonymousmental health screenings for our
customers so they can stay ontop of their mental health and
be good.
We want our customers to begood, right?
And they're just like, Yeah,yeah, yeah.
So you could do it.
So we're putting a card in thebox, and I'm waiting.
Like, I waited like three monthsjust to see what type of
(21:51):
reaction because I didn't knowif there was going to be a
negative reaction.
I didn't know if customers weregonna call and be like, What are
you doing?
And it was the completeopposite.
We were getting so manycustomers that were calling, and
they're like, Hey, you put thisin the box.
You know, I just bought a bursaand it's inside the box.
Thank you.
Like, I really appreciated youdoing that, right?
And then I was like, Oh, this iscool.
(22:12):
It's like good PR for us.
You know what I mean?
Like it, um, so then itgraduated and I started to just,
I was like, okay, nothing'snothing's happened.
I'm not on the NRA's, like, whatare you doing list?
I started walking around aChacho to my friends, like my
peers that I grew up with inthis industry, like uh Martin
from Arms Corps or Charlie Brownfrom from High Point, you know,
(22:34):
MKS.
And I was just like, hey, canyou put this in the in your your
box?
And they're like, what is it?
Freedom and auto's mental healthscreenings.
And I'm like, pause, wait, seewhat they they're like, that's a
really good idea.
Yeah, we could do that.
I was like, damn, it's thateasy.
Right?
It's just it's it would.
I feel like as an industry, andand that includes everything
(22:55):
from firearms trainers to I feellike we always wanted to do
something, but we just didn'tknow how to fit into it.
Because it was it's not rocket.
SPEAKER_01 (23:05):
But uniqueness to join together.
SPEAKER_03 (23:09):
Yeah, almost like we couldn't, right?
Like we thought it was mutuallyexclusive.
You can't have guns and youcan't talk about mental health
or suicide prevention, likethey're mutually exclusive.
They're not like we totally can,and it can come from us.
It's actually better coming fromus because you know, and this is
what I say when I speak in infront of you know, anyone that's
from the outside, the mentalhealth side or the healthcare
(23:30):
provider side.
I'm like, the the industry, ifyou walk around our industry,
everybody there was a time whenI felt like I was the only one
who didn't serve the country,like it at the SHOT show.
You know what I'm saying?
Like everybody, like everybodythat works in the industry, like
they all had served or they wereall for a first responder at
some point in their life.
And I was kind of like, damn,I'm like the only one in the
(23:51):
right.
So first responders and uh vetsand active duty military, they
gravitate towards our community,right?
It's a natural fit, like you,right?
Yeah, right.
So, you know, for when that whenI saw that, and and I was kind
of like, who are they gonnalisten to?
(24:13):
People listen to the groups thatthey trust, right?
Skateboarders or surfers havetheir own community, and I
thought, we're no different.
The gun industry is just like aStar Wars freak that goes to a
convention, right?
Like we we we trust theinformation that's gonna be
passed by our people, so that'swhy it's so important for us to
do it, not mental health, likewe work with mental health, but
(24:36):
we do it as the community.
SPEAKER_01 (24:37):
Yeah, I think this is part of the missing link,
like we've talked uh before thatyou know it was needed because
of the fear of I don't want tobe labeled as someone needs
mental assistance, uh mentalhealth assistance, but it's an
issue.
I think it shows that we dohardly I really like that shows
(25:55):
shows your heart that you'reyou're out there serving both
sides and trying to bring themtogether.
Let's try to solve this.
SPEAKER_03 (26:02):
Well, and it's it it's and I appreciate that,
thank you.
Um it's been really interestingbecause one of the things and
I've said this in in othershows, but it's really true.
One of the things that used todrive me crazy uh about just
anything is is like when I hademployees that would like come
to me and they'd point outproblems and they had like zero
(26:24):
solutions, like they're like,Yeah, there's a problem back
there, and it's like, yeah, Iknow, you know, I could see it.
Um, but it's like I don't careif it's a silly solution.
And I feel like that's the onething we as an industry, that's
where I get critical of us.
We always kind of lacked that,well, it's a mental health
thing, there's nothing we cando, right?
Like we we almost defaulted tothat, and it's kind of like,
(26:44):
well, there is something we cando, and we figured that out.
Like we we we've now figured outthat we could do a lot.
Um, and like I said, it's almostto the point where I think we've
figured it out and we've we'vegone, we've transcended beyond
what the mental health communitycan offer us.
Um, they can they I'm not sayingthey can't offer things, right?
The just the screenings alonethat they do is brilliant.
(27:07):
But like I said, we have thereach, we have everything.
So now we're we're betterequipped to bridge the gap with
people that don't see eye to eyewith us.
And and I'll give you an exampleof that.
Uh a couple months ago, I wasinvited to speak at the Aspen
Institute of Health of Festival,which is a very like heavy
(27:28):
hitter, mostly center left uhcrew group of people that deal
with anything that that's inhealthcare.
So it's not just um guns oranything like that, right?
It's it's everything that dealswith healthcare.
So I was invited to be one oftheir guest speakers, which was
an honor in itself.
I was the very first person fromthe firearms industry to be
(27:50):
asked to speak there.
And um, I was amongst alldifferent types of speakers,
everyone from like Dr.
Fauci to um Chelsea Clinton toFink from BlackRock, like
there's all these differentwalks of life speaking at this
event, and I was treated withthe utmost respect.
But really going into thatsituation, I knew that I could
(28:10):
win that crowd over because theytried to warn me.
Um they they were scared for me.
It was cute because likenumerous times I had numerous
people that are like, hey,listen, this crowd is not
necessarily like sometimes gunsis kind of a triggering thing
for them.
So da-da-da-da.
And they didn't realize, like, Ido this all day in my sleep,
like it's fine.
(28:30):
Right.
I'm I'm better.
Sometimes I'm better in front ofthe non-2A crowd than I am in
front of the two A crowd becausethe two A crowd tends to be kind
of stuck in their ways.
Whereas the non-2A crowd, it'slike once I show them as an
industry what we're doing, andgoing back to that, we've
transcended past just thetalking points, like mental
(28:50):
health awareness and all thosethings that are important, but
really is like what are youdoing?
You're advocating, but you'renot really doing anything.
Once I get the crowd or thepeople to see what we do, they
they're drawn in by it.
Like they're like, they're like,oh my god, like I never even
thought about that.
Like mental health screeningflyers in the boxes of the guns,
(29:14):
and you guys are doing that.
And I'm like, Yes, like Ruger isdoing that, you know.
Yeah, so then what happens isonce they see that we're
providing solutions, they backoff their stance a little bit.
Because I felt like many peoplefor many years, the gun grabbers
and them were like, Okay, if youdon't want to do legislation,
what do we do?
(29:34):
And we're like, I don't know,it's a mental health thing,
right?
Now we're at least saying, Okay,let me show you what to do.
Right.
Um, you can't do what we do, butwe'll show you how good we do
it.
Okay, right.
So, so for me, when thathappens, when the when the
barrier breaks down and they'reready to listen and accept
(29:57):
information, now we've reallybridged the gap because they're
like, okay, this is cool.
I get I I see where they'regoing with this.
Now I'm listening.
And we talked about earlierbarriers to entry, right?
So one of the things, one of thethings that came out of the
Aspen Institute thing, becauseone I was on a panel and they
asked about red flag laws.
And of course, the two mentalhealth people, the two
(30:18):
healthcare people, they theywere like, red flag laws are
great, you know, they da da da.
And I'm like, I live in adifferent world than these two.
Right.
I'm not saying they're wrong.
Like, I'm not saying they'rewrong.
Like, there's probably timeswhen a red flag has has stopped
somebody.
If that somebody has admittedlike I was gonna kill myself,
(30:40):
right?
Like, like there are there areoutliers, there are there are
anecdotal stories we can alltell fun things.
But I was like, I live in aworld where red flag laws
probably cost people their livesbecause they're afraid to go get
help.
Right.
So it's an unintentionalconsequence of being afraid to
go get help.
(31:00):
And it was crazy because likethe crowd, there's so many
people came up to me afterbecause they wanted to chat or
talk.
They're like, I never thoughtabout that red flag laws in that
way.
Because I always thought it wasyou guys going, I want to arm
everybody, right?
Like and just being stubborn.
And I'm like, no, see, I live ina world where one to two people
(31:22):
contact me a week and they'relike, I want to go get help, but
I'm afraid to because of thisred flag law in Florida or this,
you know.
Um, what do I do?
How do I do this?
So the unintentional consequenceis the like you said, now we
have a spot at the table wherepeople doesn't mean they're
gonna change the laws, but atleast they're listening, you
know, transfer laws.
(31:44):
The fact that, like in Nevada,where I'm sitting right now, if
you come to my house and I don'tlook so good, like because my
wife just left me or somethinglike that, I can't even give you
my gun.
Wow, you know what I mean?
Like those that has to change.
Like I we might not be able toget rid of transfer laws, but we
can totally navigate them withnow that we can come to the
(32:05):
table and say this is the issuewith that.
And many times, this is theother crazy thing.
A lot of times these people havenever thought about it from that
lens because they're not in ourshoes, right?
You know, so it's important tobring them into our world and
not necessarily be combative,you know.
You know, it is what it is.
SPEAKER_01 (32:26):
So you've got uh a lot of uh things available on
you know through Walk the TalkAmerica that people can go to
actually straight on thewebsite.
Um I know uh couple of thingsthat I I noticed that uh I'm
grateful for that you have aresome of the resources that you
have, like your free screeningsand your uh directory where you
(32:48):
can put in your location andactually find somebody that's uh
partnered with Walk to TalkAmerica and the mental health
organization you're with to towork on uh you know trying to
help them overcome or getthrough whatever struggle
they're going through.
Uh, do you want to elaborateelaborate on any of those or you
know some of the uh maybe someof the other resources that you
(33:10):
have on your website?
SPEAKER_03 (33:12):
Yeah, absolutely.
One of the things that I'mreally proud of um as a whole of
the organization, obviously it'slike me talking about my child.
So it's like take what I saywith a grain of salt because I'm
not gonna say anything bad aboutmy kid.
Um, but but but one of thethings that we kicked off at
Walk Talk America was a culturalcompetence course for mental
health clinicians, and we haddecided uh, because I had found
(33:36):
a mental health clinician namedJake Wiscurshian, um, who was
super pro-gun, but he walked inthis world of his profession
where it was kind of a no-no tobe pro-gun.
And for a long time, like Jakewas like, I can't, I you know,
like the first time I met Jake,I was on one of his podcasts.
He had a mental health podcast,and I was so excited because he
(33:57):
was the first person on themental health side that had
brought me on.
I had been doing the rounds ofall the firearms industry
podcasts and radio shows.
Okay, but like, you know,getting on Jake's show is it's
called Noginotes, and it wasreally exciting because he was
bringing me in.
And I remember the first time wetalked, he said, Listen, I gotta
tell you something before we goon air.
I'm a gun owner and I have myCCW, but listen, we cannot talk
(34:18):
about it.
And I was like, okay, that'scool, right?
But cut two, Jake and I hestarts to become more involved
in WTT after he hears about whatwe're doing.
So we had come up with this ideato start a cultural competence
course for mental healthclinicians that will give them
CEU credits, continuingeducation credits.
So every year they have to getso many credits towards their
license.
Um, and we thought this is thisis a great way to educate people
(34:42):
that don't understand us, and wecould show them about our fear,
and uh you know, and so thecourse took off and it became
this thing where we were like,Oh my god, like like we have to
keep throwing these things, andthen COVID hit because we used
to do it do it in person, thenwe brought it online, um, and it
just soared from there.
(35:03):
I thought it was gonna be thedeath of it.
I was like, who's gonna sitthrough three hours?
But I didn't realize that Ithink a lot of people don't want
to actually come into aclassroom or a five uh a
shooting range.
They they might want to learn athome, right?
The greatest thing about thiscourse is that you know you
could take it at your ownleisure, and um, you know, you
(35:24):
don't necessarily have to comeout of it.
We we don't the expectationlevel is not that you're gonna
be all like super gung-ho aboutfirearms, but you're just gonna
get a different perspective.
And it worked like a charm.
We would get all kinds offeedback, like there were so
many people that would say,like, this is an example, this
is an anecdotal, but like oneperson I remember it because it
really touched me, had written,When I I was anti-gun when I
(35:46):
came into the course, and nowI'm gun.
And I was like, That's that'sexactly where I want you to go.
Right.
So the evolution of thateventually, because we became
sort of this resource for peoplewere calling, and we don't do
actually any like you can't callwalk the talk America if you're
in crisis.
We could we will help you, wewill try to find someone for you
(36:08):
to talk to, but we're notlicensed.
We we can't do that.
So, you know, I was gettingcalls and getting people
emailing me that that were doingthe thing where they were just
like, Hey, like I'm I gotsomebody who's in trouble, or
this and this and that, and youhave anybody in your area.
So, about a month ago, like Jakeand I were like, We need to
start our own nationaldirectory, like we need to get
(36:31):
clinicians who are not afraid tocome out and say, like, I own a
gun or I'm pro 2A.
Right.
Because every if you look atmental health clinicians or
people that work in any kind ofhealthcare, there are
categories.
Like, if you go, if you go topsychology today and you look
up, you know, just put up put inyour zip code, there are
(36:51):
literally like groups that thereare people, clinicians that
specialize in like airlinepilots or like moms, right?
And so our whole thing is is whycan't we have culturally
competent in firearms or proSecond Amendment, whatever,
right?
Like um, and and that's whatwe're building now.
(37:12):
And we feel like this thisnetwork that we're building, you
know, ideally what we want is wewant to have at least one
person, just to start off, isone person in uh you know, every
state, but I think we have like15 states right now.
Um I want one Jake withScursion, right?
I want one person that could dotelehealth and be available, but
this is the start.
(37:32):
Um, and I think once we havethis network of clinicians that
kind of speak our language, andevery one of these clinicians,
by the way, we don't just letanybody on there.
Okay.
You have to go through thecourse.
You could either take the freeone or you could take the one
where you pay for it and you'reguaranteed to get your CEU.
Some states recognize it, somedon't.
(37:52):
Like in Nevada, if you take thefree one, you could just submit
it to the the state licensingboard and they'll give you your
CEUs.
Other states, we don't, we'renot sure, but we took care of
that angle by partnering with acompany that will let you pay.
We we actually pay half the fee,right?
So, like we encourage that.
Um, so you get CEU credits forlike$25 by sitting to the
course, but they all comethrough the course.
(38:14):
So when they're they're whenthey're listed on directory, you
know it's somebody that isculture economy, it's not just
somebody is like, Yeah, I don'tcare, you know, like I don't
care if you're in the guns, likeyou can still come to me.
No, they they know they knowlike what we're talking about.
So good, you know.
I'm excited about that.
I think it's to me, once we getthis thing really off and
running and going, uh to me,it's like a small little army of
(38:36):
people who are going to berepresenting us that can kind of
do both things, right?
They can walk in that mentalhealth space and then obviously
come right into the firearmspace and they understand the
complexities, the nuance,everything that that we go
through as firearms owners.
Um, so that's what that's allabout.
SPEAKER_01 (38:54):
Okay, good.
Uh so um if somebody wanted tofind out more about Walk the
Talk America or contact uh youor the the company, uh what's
where where would they find outabout you?
SPEAKER_03 (39:07):
Well, uh first and foremost, our website, you know,
wtta.org.
There's a lot of information onthere to digest and go through,
but uh walktalkamerica.org orwtta.org.
If you're on social media, it'sat walkthalk us.
And that's the platforms we'reon are um Facebook, uh,
Instagram, and Twitter.
(39:28):
So at walkthalk US.
And if you have any questions,you can email us or send us a
message.
We always have somebodymonitoring something, you know,
so we're we're on top of it andwe're pretty responsive.
And uh we're there to answer anyof your questions you have, or
even if you want to share astory, right?
Like there's there's beenadvocacy that we've done um
through someone reaching out tous saying, Hey, did you know
(39:50):
about this or this is a problem?
And then we can kind of that'sthe other beauty of having a
good relationship with mentalhealth America.
Um, is pretty much if I spotsomething that isn't really, it
goes against the mental healthAmerica way, right?
Like it stigmatizes mentalhealth, or there's somebody
who's being screwed over wholost their rights.
(40:12):
We can kind of be an advocatefor them if they tell us a
story, because we could sharethose stories with Mental Health
America and the otherorganizations that we work with
and kind of point out, like,hey, don't be a hypocrite.
This is what you told us.
You know, here's a perfectexample.
So sometimes, you know, billsget shot down, right?
You know, we bring it topeople's attention that normally
wouldn't look at it.
SPEAKER_01 (40:33):
Okay.
Well, um, I appreciate your timethis afternoon.
And uh, you know, talking aboutuh walk the talk America, like I
said, it's something that I'veuh fell in love with and I've uh
put in all of my firearmsclasses, and uh it's um I I'm
I'm thankful for for your youryour heart and you know what
(40:55):
you're doing for the firearmscommunity and the mental health
community, trying to bridge themtogether to where we can meet in
the middle and try to weprobably won't ever solve it
completely, but at least we'vegot a a firm ground to where we
can start working on and tryingto minimize any effects that are
out there.
SPEAKER_03 (41:15):
So yeah, no, thank you, thank you.
Uh thank you for the support andthank you for the kind words and
and and really thank you forincorporating like you
incorporating that into to thepeople that you educate.
Um that says a lot too, and andit's it's super important
because people are gonna respectyou, and if you're not afraid to
talk about it and you make themaware of it, then they know it's
(41:37):
okay as firearms owners, youknow what I mean?
So you know, I think I thinkit's great.
SPEAKER_01 (41:42):
Okay.
One thing I didn't go on on uhwarn you about beforehand.
Uh what's uh what's your hobbyor your your relief from from
life?
When it what do you findenjoyment away from the stress
of the everyday routine?
SPEAKER_03 (41:59):
Ooh, it's a good question.
Uh does it ever not getstressful?
No, uh I I have a beautifulfamily, uh, very supportive of
what I do.
As a matter of fact, like when Iget done off here, I'm actually
going to be interviewed by mydaughter who's doing a class
project on Walk to Talk America.
Um, so so it it's really likeputting my my attention into my
(42:22):
family.
I got beautiful kids, I gotbeautiful dogs.
Um, you know, it's reallystaying focused.
But honestly, uh walk to talkAmerica is is to me like it it's
bigger than just a job.
Um it's just become a way oflife for me.
So it's like helping others, um,which I indirectly or directly
(42:42):
do on a daily basis, that thatkind of is my therapy, you know.
SPEAKER_01 (42:45):
Okay.
SPEAKER_03 (42:46):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (42:47):
Cool.
Well, thank you for sharingthat.
And um, if uh I'll put all thatcontact information in the show
notes for the podcast.
And uh I hope if anybody has anyquestions or anything, feel free
to reach out to Michael or myeven myself, and we'll get you
in contact with them.
But uh thank you, Michael, foryour time, and I hope you have a
(43:09):
wonderful interview with yourdaughter.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir.
SPEAKER_00 (43:14):
The views and opinions expressed in this
podcast are those of the hostand the guest, and do not
necessarily reflect the viewsand opinions of the podcast
publisher, its affiliates, orany other entities.
SPEAKER_01 (43:24):
The information contained in this podcast is for
example purposes only andnothing, medical, legal, or
practical advice.
The podcast publisher isaffiliated to no responsibility,
liabilities, loss, or damagecaused by the information
contained in this project.
Listric are advised to consultwith a qualified professional
(43:45):
before making the decisions thatyou can make the contained to
this project.
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