What if the sh*t you’ve been through is actually leading you to your purpose?
On this episode, I sit down with Zach Thompson, founder of The Scatter Joy Project — a creative, nontraditional mental health nonprofit that’s helping people find affordable therapy, break through stigma, and connect to something deeper.
Zach opens up about:
✨Losing his uncle in middle school and hiding years of anxiety behind perfectionism.
✨Discovering he had the same rare heart condition — and how a defibrillator saved his life more than once.
✨Why facing mortality gave him a “permission slip to recreate” his entire life.
✨ How Scatter Joy Project went from a personal mantra to a full-blown movement helping people find real support (and real joy).
And yeah, we talk about what it actually looks like to turn your pain into power — and your story into something that helps others.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your rock bottom could lead to something bigger, this episode is for you.
Need support? Text SCATTER to 741-741 to connect with a free, 24/7 crisis counselor. Or head to scatterjoyproject.org to find affordable therapy and mental health tools that actually help.
Check out their NEW space — Scatter Joy Studio opening on May 17th in the Short North.
👇 Drop a comment if this hit home — and don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share with someone who needs this.
#TheKeriCroftShow #ScatterJoyProject #ZachThompson #MentalHealthAwareness #TotalBadass #GriefToGrowth #AnxietySupport #MissionDrivenLife #PodcastInterview #MentalHealthPodcast
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey there you beautiful badass.
Welcome to the Keri Croft Show.
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You're welcome.
Zach Thompson is in thebuilding.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
You know I have a feeling we're having a really
good chat, you and I, as I wasdescribing you to my previous
guy, joe Apgar.
I was like you know I only havebeen on one FaceTime with him,
but I will tell you I feel likehe's very pensive, kind of not.
He's deep, very kind.
There's a lot going on therelike in a really good way and
(01:47):
then I was telling him about andI was getting my.
I was like I was trying to sayRalph Waldo Emerson and I was
getting.
I was like Ralph Waldo.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Emerson.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's like a who did I say first, there's another poet
that I was saying, but it'sRalph Waldo Emerson.
Right, that you were readingthe poem, and it said scatter
joy.
I'm like, how perfect, yeah,how so.
When you first read that, howlong did it take you to like
have that aha moment that thatneeded to be the name for the
project.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Uh, honestly, we we read that quote and there was
just something about it.
Scatter joy just stood out, youknow, and the quote says
there's no beautifier of a form,complexion or behavior like the
wish to scatter joy and notpain around us.
I read that in 2020.
We had just had our first kid,my daughter, cooper Joe, and
obviously the pandemic washappening, shutdown was going on
(02:33):
and something about scatter joyand just that quote in general,
like what a gift to scatter joyand not pain and gosh, it felt
like the world needed that atthat time and it feels like it
needs it now more than ever too.
And so something aboutScattered Joy just stood out to
me and I thought it was justgoing to be like a personal,
(02:54):
like mission statement, like allright, this is me, like this is
what I'm going to live by, andyeah, so just turned into
something bigger.
We sat on it for like a year.
It wasn't even supposed to bean organization.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Do you normally, do you read poetry aloud?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Uh, maybe sometimes.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Have you read it?
Like when you were wooing yourwife, did you read her?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
poetry at all.
No, I didn't, I didn't.
I actually like left artisticendeavors uh behind in like
early high school years.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
You know, because I grew up in a town that was like
you're either a creative oryou're like an academic or
you're an athlete, and I wasjust like, well, like I guess
I'm just an athlete then, and soI stopped taking like all these
art classes and, honestly, likepeople I used to read, like
Whitman, who was probably theother poet that you were talking
about, walt Whitman.
(03:44):
Walter, yeah, and Emersonself-reliance and some other
artists and stuff, and no onelike probably none of my friends
knew that I was like into thatgrowing up.
No, it was Edgar Allan Poe,edgar Allan Poe, and then that's
what got my words all mixed up?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
because I was like I was like I think it was Edgar
Allan Poe, and then mixed upbecause I was like I was like I
think it was Edgar Allan Poe andthen I was like, no, it was
Wealth, wealth, waldo Emerson.
But the reason why I ask you ifyou wooed your wife because you
have a very I mean, you're likeyou're like drawing me in with
your voice and so that I have asick twisted like you don't know
me well yet, but like as we getto know each other.
There's something wrong, there'sa screw loose in a good way.
So I just have these randomweird thoughts and I immediately
(04:24):
I thought this on on uhfacetime, because I think you
said that same thing on like youwere so do you remember the
movie, the notebook?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
oh yeah, with ryan, okay, so it's one of my
favorites.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
So when he sits on the porch and he and his father
and they're reading poetry, andthe way his voice yeah, like he
has this like and you sound likehim and I'm thinking, holy shit
, now when you Now, when youwere dating, when you were in
your dating life you know howguys will get the guitar out,
and they'll be like you know youhad the like the poetry I
should have.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
You know, if I could go back, maybe I would have
convinced her to marry me sooner, you know.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
But now hey if you guys ever hit a lull, you got
this in your back pocket.
It'd be like you know, what?
Maybe I should start likereading poetry someday.
Shall I compare thee to asummer's day Thou art more
lovely and more temperate.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I mean I got it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I mean a little you know that's so great.
So tell me, tell us for someoneout there who's like okay, this
guy's cool, Like what, what'shis story?
So why mental health and thecreative aspect, Like what is it
from your world and your lifethat this resonates and hits so
hard with?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder when I
was in seventh grade.
You know, I mean diving deeppretty quick into this just
because it is mental health,like you can't really skate
surface level with mental health.
That's the thing.
And my uncle passed away inseventh grade really
unexpectedly.
That of just cardiac arrest.
(05:46):
I was playing tennis on a lunchbreak and collapsed, um, and
that rocked my world like he wasa huge like mentor and I mean I
grew up and everyone in myfamily was like, oh, you're just
like Uncle Joe, you're gonna bejust like Uncle Joe, you're
gonna be just like him.
Like every mannerism, thingsyou say, the way you show up in
rooms, like it's eerie and uh,when that happened it was just
(06:08):
like flipped everyone's worldupside down.
Like him.
Him in our family, he was kindof like the, he felt kind of
like the glue person.
Um, you know, when someonewalks into a room and you're
just like, oh, yeah, joe's here,like it just felt like that,
and so I think everyone in myfamily was going through
obviously an incrediblychallenging time.
Everyone's room and you're justlike, oh yeah, joe's here, like
it just felt like that.
And so I think everyone in myfamily was going through,
obviously, an incrediblychallenging time.
(06:29):
Everyone's grieving this lossin their lives and through him,
and so am I.
As a seventh grade kid and youknow I don't I didn't have
language for what I was feeling,I didn't have practices and
skills for how to navigate thosethings, and in that time I
don't think a lot of people dideither, like a lot of people
(06:49):
that were trying to care for meand support me and love me
through that.
They did so Like my mom and mygrandparents and my sister and
my dad, like they were there forme, but it still didn't make it
like any easier to navigatethat grief in my life.
And so from that point on, likeI battled with anxiety and
depression and throughout highschool and college and and not a
(07:11):
lot of people knew that like Iwas I was battling in silence,
and I think that resonates witha lot of people, even now where
it's like I'm struggling withthis thing, and even though the
statistics are like one in fiveAmerican adults struggle with a
diagnosed mental illness, thatdoesn't include generalized
anxiety and depression.
That's a huge number and itstill feels lonely, like even
(07:33):
though there's so many peoplegoing through it, it still feels
lonely because it's your story.
But there's incredible power inthis idea of like me too, like
I struggle with that too, likeI've been through that Maybe not
the same uh circumstance, butthe same feeling, the same
emotion, like we can bond overthat and so, through that, like
it's just been a part of my lifeand and a part of my narrative
(07:55):
and kind of comes in in waves,right like there's things that
happen in your life that thatjust like bring back uh, big
emotions, big feelings.
I've always been a big feeler.
I think creatives around thecountry and world are Like we're
just people that feel bigthings and try to make sense of
them, with different arts anddifferent language and different
(08:17):
conversations and creations andstuff, and so I think it's
always been something that hasalways been something missing
from the big feelings that I'vehad.
I've always tried to overcomethe feeling or the negative
emotion, growing up withperformance rather than just
like exploration orexperimentation within my life,
(08:39):
and what I mean by that is likecan I create something to see
what happens within myself andwhat happens within the
community.
From a performance standpoint,I just always held myself to an
extremely high expectation andstandard and inevitably fell
short in every aspect.
And so it was like thisconstant cyclical battle with my
own mental health and my ownself-judgment and self-doubt and
(09:01):
fear and loathing and all thosethings judgment and self-doubt
and fear and loathing and andall those things and it didn't
didn't honestly like becomemanageable until I realized that
you know, like a part of mycure within my own mental health
journey was the creative artsand exploring other people's
creations and other people'spoetry and and all these
(09:22):
different things, and thentrying to create something for
myself.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And and that we're not perfect.
There is no like.
I think perfectionism is likeit's such a dream killer.
But you talk to so many peopleand it's like they're the strive
for perfect or to be perfect isis.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I think it's like culture to culture to uh.
Family dynamic and communitiesare like what you're really
influenced by.
I grew up in in the athleticworld, and so it was like you
win or lost, and so I took thatvery literally and applied that
to the rest of my life too.
You know it's like did I wintoday or did I lose today?
No, it's like life's not blackand white like that, like
(10:02):
there's a lot of nuance andstuff that exists within that,
and so I think, you know, for meit's like the dance with
perfection was, yeah, slowly,just like not even killing
dreams, but just like slowlykilling me you know, and like my
sense of self.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And so then the aha moment, when you're like, wait a
minute, you know like I'm goingto start this thing.
I'm going to shine a light onall this, like talk a little
about how that happened.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, well, I don't even know if that was the the
aha moment that that feels, yeah, that feels like so fateful
down the road.
I you know if.
If I rewind a little bit, ifyou can hang with me for a sec,
I played baseball in college andI graduated and then I found
out that I had the same heartcondition that killed my uncle,
(10:53):
and we didn't know it at thetime, that it was like a
hereditary disease and conditionand that was like the aha
moment for me, it was thismoment of like what is life
going to be like now?
Like I get to recreate myselfall over again.
I had a I found out about thatand then I had a defibrillator
implanted when I was 23.
(11:14):
And then, within the firstthree months, it went off three
times and saved me from goinginto cardiac arrest, potential
cardiac arrest, and like those,those were the aha moments.
Rest, potential cardiac arrest,and like those, those were the
aha moments.
You know that it was.
It was this, uh, it was thispermission that I felt, like
from like God or the universe,to say like you get to recreate
yourself, like this is apermission, slip to figure life
(11:37):
out again and you don't have tolike be who you were, like hold
yourself to those constraints,like mentally and emotionally,
like you can grow, uh, in thissense, Do you think so?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
having anxiety at such a young age but then being
faced with such a life alteringdiagnosis, it kind of freed you
in a weird way, where you'relike because you'd think maybe
you'd be even more anxious,cause you're like what's going
to happen.
You're like, well, becauseyou're like what's going to
happen, but you're like well,you know what.
What's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, yeah, I think so.
I think like it was a mixed bag, honestly, because, like you
have a moment like that happento you and then you instantly
get into a little bit of likeself-loathing, I think, and you
know you're having thosearguments with God of like why
me, what the hell is this?
But then I think, when you likethere's this big shift that
(12:29):
happens within like mental andemotional health, when you just
like befriend every emotion, orwhen you befriend every moment,
like there's no such thing asbad emotions.
Mark Brackett talks about this.
He's massive within likeemotional intelligence, um one
of like the the biggest leadersand authors and writers and
(12:51):
researchers within that field,and he talks about how, like for
for a long time, like we'veassociated certain emotions as
negative and they're really not.
Like if we befriend them andlike sit with them and inquire
like about them, then they'reteachers, like their wisdom.
And so for me it was like andit wasn't perfect, you know,
(13:15):
obviously, but like in thosemoments I think I went through
years of bouncing back and forthbetween why me and why not me.
You know, like, what is thegift within this?
Um, what can I create withinthis?
I think, I think that thatmoment of me like facing not to
(13:38):
like over-dramatize this, butlike facing death or like facing
something like that I thinkthat moment just made me a more
compassionate person, like mademe more empathetic, made me more
caring, more loving, made me abetter listener to people, um,
and it made me want to likefigure out purpose more in life.
You know, like to me, I wasalways just kind of like going
(14:01):
through the motions fromaccomplishment to accomplishment
and thought that that waspurpose, when really, like, I
think purpose is more closelytied to compassion than anything
else.
It's like what are you willingto like?
Sit with people in, uh, sitwithin their suffering with, be
sympathetic, be moved by thatkind of spirit, rather than this
(14:25):
achievement driven, passionatekind of spirit?
I think it's.
It's it needs to be more aboutcompassion than passion, and so,
yeah, it's just, uh, those werelike freeing moments for me
where it was like I get torecreate myself and figure this
whole thing out again in my mindit's like there's this door and
it's knocking and you knowsomething's there and you don't
(14:47):
want to fucking open it and it'snot going away.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That's kind of how it's unfolded for me, and it's
like there's something on theother side of the door, man, and
this is your journey and yourfate, and it is for my life and
my situation has turned out tobe beyond the greatest teacher.
And it is for my life and mysituation has turned out to be
the beyond the greatest teacher.
And what you just said, theparallels of having empathy,
compassion, not judging asituation and not even you know,
(15:15):
you don't need to have anopinion on every situation like
just being there with people andsitting in it.
Sometimes it takes really dark,crazy moments in your life to be
able to get there.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah and it sucks.
It's like the worst in the time.
But I think, like life onlymakes sense looking backward and
uh, you just got to make itthrough, you know.
Like you just got to try to seethe blessing in the, in the
curse there, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I have a technical question for you about your
defibrillator.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
So let's, let's, let's switch gears.
So how do you, is it like um?
Do you have to get it replacedevery so many?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
years, I'm about due.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Really.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, so we'll, uh, we'll get you can't let that.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
You can't like go overtime on that puppy.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
No, it lets you know.
So, actually, my, my mom hasone as well.
So, my, we found out about itwith me because my mom was
having issues my senior year, uh, of college and then she went
through a bunch of testing.
They found out that it was thisheart disease or heart
condition called arvc.
Then that spurred on, like hey,that's hereditary, like
(16:21):
everyone else needs to getgenetically tested for this
thing, and, um, yeah, I was likethe lucky winner and so, uh,
yeah, so she, she has one aswell, and she was like visiting
years ago and, uh, it started tolike it like vibrates when it's
like low on battery it's crazy.
It's like a phone, no shit so,yeah, that's when you know like
(16:43):
it's about time and they do Imean I, I go back in and and do
like testing and they like sharethe battery life and there's a
plan in place.
But yeah, they go in replace it.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah, it's like do you feel like iron man?
I guess, yeah, you are.
Did you feel like there arethings you have to avoid, like
what are the restrictions if?
If any, can you go do sprintsas fast as you want?
Or are you thinking to yourselfI'm not going to push the
envelope here like, what are thenot for me, I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I was so when I was in school I was studying
exercise science, uh, appliedexercise science and kinesiology
, and so, like my life was likesports performance and training
and and uh and all that.
And so you know, I was verymuch so like always like in the
weight room training and doingdifferent things.
(17:29):
And when I got thedefibrillator, you know, you
have about like a six to eightweek period where you're just
like sitting on your butt doingnothing.
You really you're not evensupposed to like raise your arm
because it could uh break thelead that connects to your heart
or it could like detach oralter some like positioning
there, and so like, yeah, you'rejust sitting for like six,
(17:49):
eight weeks.
And then, really for me it waslike, all right, I'm going to
get in and see like what I canstill get away with and
accomplish.
Some of my doctors were like,hey, like take it easy, just
like maybe walk, yoga, do thesethings, like you can work out a
little bit here and there, butnothing too crazy.
But I was like a division onebaseball player, like in school
(18:12):
to become like a sportsperformance coach and and all
these things.
And so I was like well, that'snot my life, like I'm gonna see
what I can get away with andhonestly it was kind of dumb,
like it was kind of stupid.
But I think through that it wasjust like a learning curve of
like what I can and cannot getaway with.
Some of those moments were orwhen, like it went off and saved
(18:34):
me you shit your pants whenthat thing went off.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It's scary.
Well, yeah, because you'rethinking if I didn't have like
lightning strikes?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
yeah, so yeah, but I mean, yeah, it knocks you out.
I mean it is like the way Idescribe it is.
I have in my body what otherpeople see in the movies where
you have the pads.
They're rubbing them together,clear boom, and so that's
happening like inside my body.
It went off, uh, yeah, threetimes in uh 20, 2013.
I had surgery December 2012,.
(19:05):
Went off three times right awayfirst three months in 2013.
And then it didn't happen again, uh, until 2021, 2022, went off
a couple of times there.
So, yeah, we've been prettygood with it so far, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
You're like let's not , we don't need to fuck around
with that thing.
So you're a creative guy.
You're super reflective.
What gives like?
What sparks your creativity themost?
Like aside from, I know thatthe Scatterjoy Project is
obviously your baby, but like,what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Gosh.
I think, like, creativity onlycan happen when you ask, like,
really good questions, and so,like, creativity for me is like,
either it's an extension of thequestion that you're already
asking yourself or it's ananswer to the question, and so,
like writing poems or likewriting short essays or, uh,
(19:54):
designing apparel or differentthings like that.
It's it's either about likeextension of questions or or
answers.
Like for us, like with withscatter joy, the apparel became
a tool for, uh, advocacy.
Um, we launched like scatterjoy in 2021.
Um, we didn't have a communityof like, just a bunch of rich
(20:16):
people being like, hey, it's agood idea, like, we'll donate to
that, here's a kickstarterthing.
And so we were just like youknow what we launch?
Apparel, like we feel like thatcould be something really fun
to create advocates for theorganization, grow awareness,
but then also we can use allthat profit to pour back into
the organization and see if wecan launch these resources that
(20:37):
we have now.
And we started with a tagline,a simple tagline.
That was their strength in yourstory, and so it was an answer
for a lot of people that wereasking their question Am I, am I
enough, am I worth?
It has have things in my lifeuh been too big of a burden for
me to even believe in myself,and so for us, it was like no,
(20:57):
like we're going to answer thatquestion for you because we've
had to answer that question forourselves.
I think you create what you wishyou had.
You know, as an entrepreneur,as a creative like you, you
create what you wish you had, oryou create, uh, you try to
create the belief or theknowledge or the wherewithal for
which you uh came across inyour life, um, when you needed
(21:19):
it the most.
And so that's to me, likethat's where creativity comes
from's.
Like what did I wish I had?
What did I wish someone told me?
What did someone tell me?
How did someone show up in mylife in a really meaningful way?
And then how do I go do thatfor other people?
Through an essay, or through at-shirt, or through a podcast
(21:42):
conversation or through you knowsomething like that.
And so that's where it comesfrom for me.
Might be a lot of differentthings for a lot of people, but
for me it's always rooted inthat idea of like, what are you
most compassionate about?
And so that's always fueled mycreativity.
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(23:27):
out where you're like, holy shit?
Speaker 2 (23:29):
A lady reached out to us a couple of years ago and
shared the story of, like youknow, she, mom of three, walks
into a coffee shop, sees someonewearing a scatter joy t-shirt
and it's just like intrigued.
It's the same moment for mereading the poem as for her,
like scatter joy is just jumpingoff the t-shirt at her and so
(23:53):
she gets her coffee, like getsher kids together.
She goes over to the ladywearing it in the coffee shop
and says like oh, what isscatter joy?
Like, what is that?
And so the the woman wearing itgets to tell the story about,
like her mental health gets totell the story about.
Scatterjoy isn't attached tothe organization at all, it's
(24:13):
just like someone that just likeit resonated with.
She bought the T-shirt, she'srocking it in the community and
supporting in that way.
But what she didn't know wasthe woman asking about it with
the three girls and who hadinquired about the t-shirt, had
just lost her husband to suicidefive or six months prior and
(24:34):
was like trying to scratch andclaw out of this like really
dark place herself and trying tosupport her kids and trying to
support like the rest of theirfamily with that and looking for
resources and doing thosethings.
I think that was a moment wherewe were just like, yeah, that's,
this is important, like this isworth it, this is reaching
people.
Yeah, I mean fast forward, liketwo years later.
(24:55):
Like she's um, she'sfundraising for Scatterjoy.
She's like raising awareness,raising money, coming to events
and has connected her familywith resources and stuff.
Like she is like what we wishedthe organization would become,
you know, and and it just likespeaks to the importance of like
(25:17):
what seems so silly, as like at-shirt, you know, it's like a
piece of apparel, like how howmuch life can that give to a
conversation or to a person?
And it's like that's the story,you know.
It's like that's why we werelike man, maybe apparel.
Like maybe we could do apparelfirst and see what what it turns
into.
It's like that created a wholedifferent life trajectory for
(25:43):
for people in that family.
So, yeah, that was like.
That was a moment where we werelike we can be proud of the
work we're doing for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Well, it's a testament to your messaging too,
cause, like you know, 20 peoplecan go do apparel and it.
You know it's not going to havethat the same impact.
I mean it's it's your messageand the heart and soul of what
you've got, and you just havethese soldiers walking around
carrying it.
You know it's just a hugetestament to the power of what
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, I appreciate that.
You got to make it cool too.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Well, that's I mean like.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I feel like that's what, that's what's interesting.
It's like we always go to um,we always go to different
markets.
Or last year we set up at Southby Southwest in Austin and set
up like a little experience, andpeople would come through and
be like what is this?
Like, tell me all about it.
And yeah, we would always startby saying, yeah, we're actually
a mental health nonprofit.
We don't look like one.
That's intentional.
Let me tell you why.
(26:36):
And so like, really, the way wecreated Scatterjoy was we don't
want it to feel or look orfunction or sound like a medical
organization by any means.
I think that actually increasesthe stigma.
You know, people don't likedoctor's office, and so that's
going to keep people at an arm'slength, especially within the
mental and emotional health lane.
(26:57):
And so what we want to do iscreate, like a way, more
approachable and relatableavenue to the conversations, but
then also to the resources.
And so it's like man scatterjoy, black and white artists
will save us or strengthen yourstory.
Like it doesn't look like uh,it doesn't look like a
traditional non-profit t-shirteither.
You know, like we wanted tocreate something that like met
(27:19):
people where they were, theycould identify with it, they'd
be proud of like rocking thatand their whole wardrobe being
scattered joy, because like itlooks good, it feels good, like
it communicates a really goodmessage too.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
So well, it's brilliant because you're making
it cool to talk about mentalhealth yeah, trying to like or
tough as the the young kids?
We don't say cool anymore,apparently, we say tough oh
really this is what I learned.
Really, this is from like, hotoff the press, from the fresh
okay, we're talking like we'retalking like seniors in high
school in chicago downtown, solike they know what's up.
So cool is no longer cool, it'stough okay, and I'm pretty sure
(27:53):
it's maybe like a t-u-f-f thingbut I haven't researched and
vetted that out.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Yet with chat gpt so you're like.
You guys are making it tough totalk about mental health.
You know what I'm saying which?
Speaker 1 (28:03):
is so it's brilliant.
Think about that, like what youhave, like you're making it
accessible and, oh my God, likeI actually want to wait.
I want to talk about this.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Yeah, it's so important.
We've even threw around theidea.
We did it with one sweatshirtwhere we just like printed the
resources on the sleeve, like wehad the crisis text line number
on the sleeve.
We had the website where you goto like search for free and
reduced cost care.
We had the therapy fund onthere.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Why didn't you do?
Speaker 2 (28:34):
it.
We've thrown around that idea.
It gets a little busy.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
We like very minimalistic stuff.
But you know, like the littlescatter joy up here, if you do
it small, think that's true,that's true we've also thought
about just doing it on like atag.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Inside it almost becomes like a business card in
a way you know, if, like, forinstance, like that conversation
, like that story that I shared,it's like, well, how cool would
it have been if she just likeflipped the bottom of her shirt
like inside out, and there was atag with all the resources or a
qr code.
So we're getting there maybewe'll do that, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
So talk about the, the hotline and what you guys
are doing.
I mean there's a lot of greatthings you're doing yeah, so the
?
Speaker 2 (29:13):
the whole goal is, like our mission statement is to
make mental health care moreaccessible and affordable for
all.
Before we talk about the, thelike those last two words are
the most important words for all.
Like we deeply, deeply believethat.
Like we don't want any labelsor anything on this.
Like we're not for a certaindemographic and for one you know
(29:34):
.
It's like we truly, truly meanthat.
Like we're trying to create anultra-inclusive environment and
community, because it's like ourjob is to to help people.
Our job isn't to tell them tolive a certain way or do a
certain thing.
Like our job is just to likecare for people, to wrap our
arms around them and just say,like how can we help?
(29:55):
How we can help is throughmental health resources and
getting them connected to to, uh, professionals at a hopefully a
reduced cost rate.
I think one thing, for instance,is like it's one thing to
create apparel and make it toughmake it cool, um, what that
does is it creates awareness,but if awareness was the cure
(30:18):
for the mental health crisis, wewouldn't have a crisis.
Right now.
Awareness is at an all timehigh source statistics, and so
we need an organization, or weneed a group of people, groups
of organizations acting togetherto pull people from awareness
to action.
It's actually the.
It's funny, it's the.
I think that that is the themefor the Mental Health America
(30:40):
conference this year, which isreally cool because everyone is
aware of that now.
It's like we have to pull peopleto action.
How do we do that?
Because there's still a lot ofbarriers there, but we have a
crisis text line that people cantext scattered to 741-741,
connected with a crisiscounselor, for free.
That can also be used as a warmline too, like you could just
(31:02):
be having a crappy day and textthat number and process what
you're feeling with the personon the other side of that text
line, and so it's a really coolresource.
It makes it really approachablebecause, like, there's not a
lot of people picking up thephone and calling people these
days.
I fall victim to that sometimes, like I would much rather text
(31:29):
in certain times of the day, andso that text line just makes it
really accessible.
And it's free and it's 24 7.
We also have what we call ourfind help network, which is a
nationwide search engine thatconnects people to free and
reduced cost care.
So you can search a keywordlike anxiety, depression,
addiction, addiction, services,therapy, counseling and a zip
code, and it populates all thesefree and reduced cost programs,
(31:51):
providers, facilities in thatarea.
The caveat is that they'reoffering free and reduced cost
programming, and which is reallycool, I think thing.
Uh, we were just talking aboutthis, like columbus, for
instance, if you would definecolumbus's heart, I think it
would be like social impact,like it's just filled with a
(32:11):
bunch of really amazing peopletrying to do good in the world
and and I think that's rare Ithink that sets us apart from
from cities.
I think we should honestly, asa city, double down on that and
communicate that to the world,because it really is happening.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
I think we're doing that right now, you and I.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, trying to, but yeah, so if you search Columbus
or mental health in a Columbuszip code, there's hundreds of
free and reduced cost programs.
What happens, though, is that alot of nonprofit organizations
or a lot of like healthprogramming organizations.
They're not great at marketing,and so a lot of people don't
(32:50):
really know about them, and sowhat we want to do is we kind of
like view ourselves as likealmost a marketing agency for
all these other experts in theworld that are doing amazing
work, and so, yeah, you can findthat.
And then we also have a therapyfund where people can apply for
financial assistance.
I mean, this all is predicatedon like funding and fundraising,
and so we try to launch thetherapy fund twice a year, and
(33:13):
then it becomes really like afirst come, first serve kind of
thing, where we try to supportpeople for like three to six
therapy sessions.
Support people for like threeto six therapy sessions, so we
pay the pay the provider andwork with the providers and
different things there.
So if people are are applyingfor that, again, it's solely
(33:35):
predicated on like do we havefunding for this at this time?
Have people donated enough,have have has a business come on
board and really wanted tosupport and sponsor the
organization in this way.
But then it also helps ifyou've used the other search
engines or you've usedpsychology today, or you've used
someone in your community tofind a provider first, cause
(33:59):
that's going to speed up thatprocess too.
So all three of those things forus like those are solutions to
make mental health care moreaccessible and affordable.
Like it becomes reallyoverwhelming At least it did for
me when I was going through allmy mental health stuff to
finally get the courage to saylike I think I do need help and
(34:20):
then say where the hell do I go?
Like, where do I look for this?
What expertise do they need tohave for my, in particular,
struggle?
And so like really those tools,those resources that we have
help with that to get peopleconnected.
But then also like the nexthurdle is the affordability
(34:40):
aspect of mental health care.
It's so expensive.
Uh, insurances don't.
Uh, a lot of providers don'ttake insurance and uh, it's
really not on them.
Uh, insurance makes it reallyhard for providers sometimes,
and so we want to eliminate thatbarrier as much as we can too.
And so like working withproviders and trying to cover
(35:01):
the costs with the therapy fundand there's a lot of other
organizations doing really,really the same work.
Like we don't feel like we'resolving all the issues by
ourselves, like we can't, and soI think what's cool about the
mental health nonprofit space isit's a lot of people seeing the
same issues, doing similarthings.
(35:21):
To meet people that relate totheir branding and messaging,
and community and organizationto say like we'll help you
overcome those, and so we'rejust like proud to be a part of
that.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
So tell me about Short North.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, we, uh, we're doing something kind of fun.
We, we got our, we got our ownspace, um, and we just posted
something recently that saidwe're a mental health nonprofit,
uh, opening a physical, our ownspace.
And we just posted somethingrecently that said we're a
mental health nonprofit openinga physical location and it's not
for therapy.
We'll explain, and so it'sreally going to be a third space
and if people aren't familiarwith that, a third space is a
(35:58):
physical location that existsoutside of home and work.
So, if you think about it, it'slike a gym is a third space,
libraries a third space, coffeeshops, cafes or third spaces.
I think really a library is isthe one third space that doesn't
pressure you into buyingsomething while you're there.
It doesn't doesn't mean, youknow it's like you walk into a
(36:19):
coffee shop and I love coffeeshops, we'll have a cafe aspect
within our third space as wellon Saturdays Um, but you almost,
like, have to pay rent to bethere.
You know it's like you grab acoffee and you know I don't mind
doing that, but you know you goto a gym, you pay for a
membership to be there, uh, yougo to the library, you can just
be there you can just exist andread and grow and learn and
(36:40):
connect, and so we hope thatthis space is that Like it's a
space where people feel likethey can come in and just be and
exist and connect, to organize,to create change in the world,
to be inspired to create change.
You know, if you look at themental health crisis, a lot of
it stems from a lonelinessepidemic.
Right now, one in threeAmerican adults feel lonely,
(37:02):
like they would classify aslonely, which is crazy because,
like, we're supposed to betechnologically more connected
than ever before, but that iscreating barriers to this.
Like this is rare, where, like,we're just sitting chopping it
up for an hour and talking aboutlife and and how to solve
problems in the world and havingfun, and, uh, and a lot of
(37:24):
people don't have those spacesto do that anymore or don't feel
comfortable or maybe you don'tfeel the initiative to plan that
on themselves or for themselves, and so we want to create a
space that is that you can justcome, exist and be, but we also
will sell like our apparel outof that space.
It'll be part retail, partlounge, part library, part
(37:46):
creative studio.
We'll have a cafe pop up likeevents on Saturdays and stuff in
the back that's like tip only,which is really cool.
So, yeah, we're really excitedabout that.
It's a I think it's.
I think you would.
You would normally see likeconcept stores like this from
like a Buck Mason or from youknow bigger brands bandit
(38:10):
running does, does stuff likethis.
Uh, I think what's really coolis it's it's a nonprofit.
It's a mental health specificnonprofit that's trying to get
people connected and see whatthat does for the community.
Get people connected and seewhat that does for the community
, and I think it's.
I mean, we are rooted in inadvocacy and activism too, and
so what we want to do is we wantto use the space to provide
(38:32):
opportunities for people to likecreate movements for themselves
.
You know it's like hey, uh, youhave an idea for a nonprofit or
an organization like come meet,like.
We want this space to be likethe incubator for great ideas
that are going to make the worlda better place.
We want it to be an incubatorfor empathy, for compassion, for
(38:54):
heart-led leadership and so,yeah, we're really excited about
that.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Where is it?
We'll see how it goes.
Where is it?
Speaker 2 (39:03):
It is High Street 2nd , so just like a block north
North Star Cafe right on HighStreet, and so it used to be an
art gallery.
It used to be the LindsayGallery, oh yeah, you guys are
in some prime.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
That's a prime look.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah, we're trying to be?
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Yeah, we're trying to be.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
So it was cool because it's just a blank space
and we get to move in and createhow we want it to be.
And so we've hosted some likesoft launch events and different
things like that just towelcome people into the space.
Got the biggest compliment.
Like it's not fully built outyet.
We're launching May 17th as thefirst full operational day.
We're going to host an eventMay 16th, a Studio Stories event
(39:42):
.
That we've been the last year,um, but we get to host it at our
space now, which is cool.
But, uh, we've been doing somesoft launches.
Someone told us last week whenthey were visiting the studio
space we're like man, I justwant to like live here.
I was like that is like thebiggest comp.
That's what we want people tofeel like.
(40:03):
We want people to feel like Iwant this to be my home because
we we want it to be like anextension of your home.
You know, like we want it to bean extension of your home so you
can find people and connect andcreate with people that uh want
to do good things in the world.
So, yeah, we're, we're, uh,we're trying to trying to create
it where it feels likeeverything Scatterjoy is, you
(40:26):
know, like impact-driven,creative, socially connected,
provides opportunity for people.
So it could be too much, couldbe just the right amount.
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Never too much.
You're doing it, dude.
Good for you.
We're trying, we're trying.
Can we talk about you a littlemore?
I'm going to go back to thepoetry.
Yeah, yeah, so we are we donewith the scatterjoy project
stuff I'm gonna dial right backinto my notebook yeah, yeah zach
situation.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
So you write poetry too uh, not a ton, not a lot,
but I I try to yeah so is yourfavorite poet then, ralph, or do
you have an actual favoritepoet?
Gosh.
I mean like I'm friends withsome of my favorite poets,
honestly, Like Donovan Beck,donovan Alexander Beck.
(41:14):
He's actually on the board ofScatterjoy.
He works at MIT in Boston.
He's a genius, but he's aspoken word artist and a poet.
He's actually going to be atthe event on May 16th.
He's going to share some of hiswork and then we're going to
sit down and have a podcast sideto side, knee to knee, fireside
(41:36):
chat combo.
But he's incredible and hiswork is rooted in hope and
mental health and overcomingcertain things in his life and
trying to give language topeople that are kind of like
grasping for it to describetheir own thoughts and ideas and
emotions.
For us he's a creative directorat new york times t brand
(42:09):
studios out in in nyc and he'scome and done some events with
us, but he's incredible.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
What about?
Speaker 2 (42:12):
poets who have passed away.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Oh yeah, emerson for sure then, are you doing any
written word at this event?
Um, maybe see, this is the onlyfeedback I'll give you.
The only gap I'm seeing isthat'm seeing is that we're not
showcasing some of your.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
I'm not the practicing creative.
I like to deflect honestly tobe honest.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Okay, so do you have a favorite poem that you know by
heart?
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Yeah, it's an Emerson piece, it's part of a greater
work in a book, self-reliance,and it actually inspires a lot
of the work we do in SuicidePrevention Month, which is
September.
It says these roses outside ofmy window.
They make no reference toformer ones or to better ones.
(42:56):
They are for what they are.
They exist with God today.
There is no time to them.
They're simply the rose.
They are perfect in everymoment of their existence, and
so it inspires a lot of what wedo.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
Oh, it's goosebumps material man, it's so good We'll
talk about the rose that youthat inspired.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yeah, we just like go all out in September with roses
.
Suicide prevention month's atricky one because it's such a
heavy topic, you know, to people.
It feels untouchable to a lotof people and which is why
there's like a huge stigmaaround it, and so we try to make
it again more approachable,more accessible, to navigate
(43:36):
that conversation or getinvolved in some sort of
movement within suicideprevention month.
Um, and so we just like takeour cues from that, from that
piece, and what's interesting islike obviously it talks about
the roses.
You know, reading between thelines, like you know Emerson's
equating the rose to ourselves.
It's like it's perfect in everymoment of its existence.
(43:59):
And so we kind of like add ontothat we say thorns and all.
And so we always do like a newT-shirt design that talks about
roses or has like a rose theme.
Sometimes it has like a littlepiece of that poem designed
within it.
(44:26):
Community to pass out rosesnationwide Last year was really
cool because I mean we hadmoments where, like the Ole Miss
volleyball team was passing outroses to the LSU team before a
match.
Like it was really cool to seepeople get involved in it.
And we just got lucky because acouple posts went viral on
social media where we weretalking about it or marketing it
and getting people involved init, and so it feels more
accessible to just go to thegrocery store, buy a dozen roses
(44:46):
and pass them out to strangerson the street or friends or
family members or coworkers, andnot really have to, like say
anything when you give it tothem.
Like you just hand them therose and say, yeah, thorns, and
all are like, hey, we're justscattering joy today.
Like do you want a rose?
And you don't have to sayanything about suicide
prevention month.
But that act is suicideprevention.
(45:08):
You know, it's like you can.
You can offer a rose to thebiggest, baddest dude ever and I
guarantee he's gonna crack asmile.
It doesn't matter who he is.
Um, it's gonna make someone'sday, it's gonna make your day.
Like there's something powerfulabout just like the generosity
and the simplicity of it and thebeauty within it.
So, yeah, that that poem, yeah,that's the one that I'm like.
(45:31):
I know that by heart well, I'mgonna go home.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
I'm gonna go home and pack my bag.
I'm my sleeping bag and mytoothbrush and stuff.
Do you think it'd be awkward ifI, like, moved into your space?
Speaker 2 (45:40):
it's your like.
Stage five, it's your home.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
I might, I'm serious, I love, I love you, I love
everything.
Everything you're doing is sogood.
I mean, it's just, it's someaningful and there's so many
layers to it and I just Ihaven't found something that
I've resonated with on so manylevels like this in a really
long time.
(46:03):
So I really I look forward tocontinuing to sort of figure out
how we can improve theatmosphere together.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Yeah, come hang out.
Yeah, no, I'm going to hang out.
All right, I'm going to hangout.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Okay, You'll be like.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Carrie's here again.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Guys, listen.
We told her it was her thirdspace.
You went and did it again, zach.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
You've been awesome.
Thanks for having me and ifyou're still out there following
your girl.
Follow me on YouTube, Spotify,Apple or wherever you get your
podcasts.
And until next time, keepmoving, baby, and Ryan Gosling
ain't got nothing on you,Nothing.
Hey there you beautiful badass.
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You're welcome.
Zach Thompson is in thebuilding.
How are you?
Speaker 2 (01:22):
I'm good.
Speaker 1 (01:24):
You know I have a feeling we're having a really
good chat, you and I, as I wasdescribing you to my previous
guy, joe Apgar.
I was like you know I only havebeen on one FaceTime with him,
but I will tell you I feel likehe's very pensive, kind of not.
He's deep, very kind.
There's a lot going on therelike in a really good way and
(01:47):
then I was telling him about andI was getting my.
I was like I was trying to sayRalph Waldo Emerson and I was
getting.
I was like Ralph Waldo.
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Emerson.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
It's like a who did I say first, there's another poet
that I was saying, but it'sRalph Waldo Emerson.
Right, that you were readingthe poem, and it said scatter
joy.
I'm like, how perfect, yeah,how so.
When you first read that, howlong did it take you to like
have that aha moment that thatneeded to be the name for the
project.
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Uh, honestly, we we read that quote and there was
just something about it.
Scatter joy just stood out, youknow, and the quote says
there's no beautifier of a form,complexion or behavior like the
wish to scatter joy and notpain around us.
I read that in 2020.
We had just had our first kid,my daughter, cooper Joe, and
obviously the pandemic washappening, shutdown was going on
(02:33):
and something about scatter joyand just that quote in general,
like what a gift to scatter joyand not pain and gosh, it felt
like the world needed that atthat time and it feels like it
needs it now more than ever too.
And so something aboutScattered Joy just stood out to
me and I thought it was justgoing to be like a personal,
(02:54):
like mission statement, like allright, this is me, like this is
what I'm going to live by, andyeah, so just turned into
something bigger.
We sat on it for like a year.
It wasn't even supposed to bean organization.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
Do you normally, do you read poetry aloud?
Speaker 2 (03:07):
Uh, maybe sometimes.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Have you read it?
Like when you were wooing yourwife, did you read her?
Speaker 2 (03:12):
poetry at all.
No, I didn't, I didn't.
I actually like left artisticendeavors uh behind in like
early high school years.
Speaker 1 (03:23):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (03:24):
You know, because I grew up in a town that was like
you're either a creative oryou're like an academic or
you're an athlete, and I wasjust like, well, like I guess
I'm just an athlete then, and soI stopped taking like all these
art classes and, honestly, likepeople I used to read, like
Whitman, who was probably theother poet that you were talking
about, walt Whitman.
(03:44):
Walter, yeah, and Emersonself-reliance and some other
artists and stuff, and no onelike probably none of my friends
knew that I was like into thatgrowing up.
No, it was Edgar Allan Poe,edgar Allan Poe, and then that's
what got my words all mixed up?
Speaker 1 (04:00):
because I was like I was like I think it was Edgar
Allan Poe, and then mixed upbecause I was like I was like I
think it was Edgar Allan Poe andthen I was like, no, it was
Wealth, wealth, waldo Emerson.
But the reason why I ask you ifyou wooed your wife because you
have a very I mean, you're likeyou're like drawing me in with
your voice and so that I have asick twisted like you don't know
me well yet, but like as we getto know each other.
There's something wrong, there'sa screw loose in a good way.
So I just have these randomweird thoughts and I immediately
(04:24):
I thought this on on uhfacetime, because I think you
said that same thing on like youwere so do you remember the
movie, the notebook?
Speaker 2 (04:30):
oh yeah, with ryan, okay, so it's one of my
favorites.
Speaker 1 (04:33):
So when he sits on the porch and he and his father
and they're reading poetry, andthe way his voice yeah, like he
has this like and you sound likehim and I'm thinking, holy shit
, now when you Now, when youwere dating, when you were in
your dating life you know howguys will get the guitar out,
and they'll be like you know youhad the like the poetry I
should have.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
You know, if I could go back, maybe I would have
convinced her to marry me sooner, you know.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
But now hey if you guys ever hit a lull, you got
this in your back pocket.
It'd be like you know, what?
Maybe I should start likereading poetry someday.
Shall I compare thee to asummer's day Thou art more
lovely and more temperate.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
I mean I got it.
Speaker 1 (05:09):
I mean a little you know that's so great.
So tell me, tell us for someoneout there who's like okay, this
guy's cool, Like what, what'shis story?
So why mental health and thecreative aspect, Like what is it
from your world and your lifethat this resonates and hits so
hard with?
Speaker 2 (05:26):
Yeah, I was diagnosed with anxiety disorder when I
was in seventh grade.
You know, I mean diving deeppretty quick into this just
because it is mental health,like you can't really skate
surface level with mental health.
That's the thing.
And my uncle passed away inseventh grade really
unexpectedly.
That of just cardiac arrest.
(05:46):
I was playing tennis on a lunchbreak and collapsed, um, and
that rocked my world like he wasa huge like mentor and I mean I
grew up and everyone in myfamily was like, oh, you're just
like Uncle Joe, you're gonna bejust like Uncle Joe, you're
gonna be just like him.
Like every mannerism, thingsyou say, the way you show up in
rooms, like it's eerie and uh,when that happened it was just
(06:08):
like flipped everyone's worldupside down.
Like him.
Him in our family, he was kindof like the, he felt kind of
like the glue person.
Um, you know, when someonewalks into a room and you're
just like, oh, yeah, joe's here,like it just felt like that,
and so I think everyone in myfamily was going through
obviously an incrediblychallenging time.
Everyone's room and you're justlike, oh yeah, joe's here, like
it just felt like that.
And so I think everyone in myfamily was going through,
obviously, an incrediblychallenging time.
(06:29):
Everyone's grieving this lossin their lives and through him,
and so am I.
As a seventh grade kid and youknow I don't I didn't have
language for what I was feeling,I didn't have practices and
skills for how to navigate thosethings, and in that time I
don't think a lot of people dideither, like a lot of people
(06:49):
that were trying to care for meand support me and love me
through that.
They did so Like my mom and mygrandparents and my sister and
my dad, like they were there forme, but it still didn't make it
like any easier to navigatethat grief in my life.
And so from that point on, likeI battled with anxiety and
depression and throughout highschool and college and and not a
(07:11):
lot of people knew that like Iwas I was battling in silence,
and I think that resonates witha lot of people, even now where
it's like I'm struggling withthis thing, and even though the
statistics are like one in fiveAmerican adults struggle with a
diagnosed mental illness, thatdoesn't include generalized
anxiety and depression.
That's a huge number and itstill feels lonely, like even
(07:33):
though there's so many peoplegoing through it, it still feels
lonely because it's your story.
But there's incredible power inthis idea of like me too, like
I struggle with that too, likeI've been through that Maybe not
the same uh circumstance, butthe same feeling, the same
emotion, like we can bond overthat and so, through that, like
it's just been a part of my lifeand and a part of my narrative
(07:55):
and kind of comes in in waves,right like there's things that
happen in your life that thatjust like bring back uh, big
emotions, big feelings.
I've always been a big feeler.
I think creatives around thecountry and world are Like we're
just people that feel bigthings and try to make sense of
them, with different arts anddifferent language and different
(08:17):
conversations and creations andstuff, and so I think it's
always been something that hasalways been something missing
from the big feelings that I'vehad.
I've always tried to overcomethe feeling or the negative
emotion, growing up withperformance rather than just
like exploration orexperimentation within my life,
(08:39):
and what I mean by that is likecan I create something to see
what happens within myself andwhat happens within the
community.
From a performance standpoint,I just always held myself to an
extremely high expectation andstandard and inevitably fell
short in every aspect.
And so it was like thisconstant cyclical battle with my
own mental health and my ownself-judgment and self-doubt and
(09:01):
fear and loathing and all thosethings judgment and self-doubt
and fear and loathing and andall those things and it didn't
didn't honestly like becomemanageable until I realized that
you know, like a part of mycure within my own mental health
journey was the creative artsand exploring other people's
creations and other people'spoetry and and all these
(09:22):
different things, and thentrying to create something for
myself.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
And and that we're not perfect.
There is no like.
I think perfectionism is likeit's such a dream killer.
But you talk to so many peopleand it's like they're the strive
for perfect or to be perfect isis.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
I think it's like culture to culture to uh.
Family dynamic and communitiesare like what you're really
influenced by.
I grew up in in the athleticworld, and so it was like you
win or lost, and so I took thatvery literally and applied that
to the rest of my life too.
You know it's like did I wintoday or did I lose today?
No, it's like life's not blackand white like that, like
(10:02):
there's a lot of nuance andstuff that exists within that,
and so I think, you know, for meit's like the dance with
perfection was, yeah, slowly,just like not even killing
dreams, but just like slowlykilling me you know, and like my
sense of self.
Speaker 1 (10:21):
And so then the aha moment, when you're like, wait a
minute, you know like I'm goingto start this thing.
I'm going to shine a light onall this, like talk a little
about how that happened.
Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah, well, I don't even know if that was the the
aha moment that that feels, yeah, that feels like so fateful
down the road.
I you know if.
If I rewind a little bit, ifyou can hang with me for a sec,
I played baseball in college andI graduated and then I found
out that I had the same heartcondition that killed my uncle,
(10:53):
and we didn't know it at thetime, that it was like a
hereditary disease and conditionand that was like the aha
moment for me, it was thismoment of like what is life
going to be like now?
Like I get to recreate myselfall over again.
I had a I found out about thatand then I had a defibrillator
implanted when I was 23.
(11:14):
And then, within the firstthree months, it went off three
times and saved me from goinginto cardiac arrest, potential
cardiac arrest, and like those,those were the aha moments.
Rest, potential cardiac arrest,and like those, those were the
aha moments.
You know that it was.
It was this, uh, it was thispermission that I felt, like
from like God or the universe,to say like you get to recreate
yourself, like this is apermission, slip to figure life
(11:37):
out again and you don't have tolike be who you were, like hold
yourself to those constraints,like mentally and emotionally,
like you can grow, uh, in thissense, Do you think so?
Speaker 1 (11:51):
having anxiety at such a young age but then being
faced with such a life alteringdiagnosis, it kind of freed you
in a weird way, where you'relike because you'd think maybe
you'd be even more anxious,cause you're like what's going
to happen.
You're like, well, becauseyou're like what's going to
happen, but you're like well,you know what.
What's going to happen.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Yeah, yeah, I think so.
I think like it was a mixed bag, honestly, because, like you
have a moment like that happento you and then you instantly
get into a little bit of likeself-loathing, I think, and you
know you're having thosearguments with God of like why
me, what the hell is this?
But then I think, when you likethere's this big shift that
(12:29):
happens within like mental andemotional health, when you just
like befriend every emotion, orwhen you befriend every moment,
like there's no such thing asbad emotions.
Mark Brackett talks about this.
He's massive within likeemotional intelligence, um one
of like the the biggest leadersand authors and writers and
(12:51):
researchers within that field,and he talks about how, like for
for a long time, like we'veassociated certain emotions as
negative and they're really not.
Like if we befriend them andlike sit with them and inquire
like about them, then they'reteachers, like their wisdom.
And so for me it was like andit wasn't perfect, you know,
(13:15):
obviously, but like in thosemoments I think I went through
years of bouncing back and forthbetween why me and why not me.
You know, like, what is thegift within this?
Um, what can I create withinthis?
I think, I think that thatmoment of me like facing not to
(13:38):
like over-dramatize this, butlike facing death or like facing
something like that I thinkthat moment just made me a more
compassionate person, like mademe more empathetic, made me more
caring, more loving, made me abetter listener to people, um,
and it made me want to likefigure out purpose more in life.
You know, like to me, I wasalways just kind of like going
(14:01):
through the motions fromaccomplishment to accomplishment
and thought that that waspurpose, when really, like, I
think purpose is more closelytied to compassion than anything
else.
It's like what are you willingto like?
Sit with people in, uh, sitwithin their suffering with, be
sympathetic, be moved by thatkind of spirit, rather than this
(14:25):
achievement driven, passionatekind of spirit?
I think it's.
It's it needs to be more aboutcompassion than passion, and so,
yeah, it's just, uh, those werelike freeing moments for me
where it was like I get torecreate myself and figure this
whole thing out again in my mindit's like there's this door and
it's knocking and you knowsomething's there and you don't
(14:47):
want to fucking open it and it'snot going away.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That's kind of how it's unfolded for me, and it's
like there's something on theother side of the door, man, and
this is your journey and yourfate, and it is for my life and
my situation has turned out tobe beyond the greatest teacher.
And it is for my life and mysituation has turned out to be
the beyond the greatest teacher.
And what you just said, theparallels of having empathy,
compassion, not judging asituation and not even you know,
(15:15):
you don't need to have anopinion on every situation like
just being there with people andsitting in it.
Sometimes it takes really dark,crazy moments in your life to be
able to get there.
Speaker 2 (15:27):
Yeah and it sucks.
It's like the worst in the time.
But I think, like life onlymakes sense looking backward and
uh, you just got to make itthrough, you know.
Like you just got to try to seethe blessing in the, in the
curse there, you know.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
I have a technical question for you about your
defibrillator.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
So let's, let's, let's switch gears.
So how do you, is it like um?
Do you have to get it replacedevery so many?
Speaker 2 (15:54):
years, I'm about due.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Really.
Speaker 2 (15:56):
Yeah, so we'll, uh, we'll get you can't let that.
Speaker 1 (15:59):
You can't like go overtime on that puppy.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
No, it lets you know.
So, actually, my, my mom hasone as well.
So, my, we found out about itwith me because my mom was
having issues my senior year, uh, of college and then she went
through a bunch of testing.
They found out that it was thisheart disease or heart
condition called arvc.
Then that spurred on, like hey,that's hereditary, like
(16:21):
everyone else needs to getgenetically tested for this
thing, and, um, yeah, I was likethe lucky winner and so, uh,
yeah, so she, she has one aswell, and she was like visiting
years ago and, uh, it started tolike it like vibrates when it's
like low on battery it's crazy.
It's like a phone, no shit so,yeah, that's when you know like
(16:43):
it's about time and they do Imean I, I go back in and and do
like testing and they like sharethe battery life and there's a
plan in place.
But yeah, they go in replace it.
Speaker 1 (16:53):
Yeah, it's like do you feel like iron man?
I guess, yeah, you are.
Did you feel like there arethings you have to avoid, like
what are the restrictions if?
If any, can you go do sprintsas fast as you want?
Or are you thinking to yourselfI'm not going to push the
envelope here like, what are thenot for me, I mean.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
I was so when I was in school I was studying
exercise science, uh, appliedexercise science and kinesiology
, and so, like my life was likesports performance and training
and and uh and all that.
And so you know, I was verymuch so like always like in the
weight room training and doingdifferent things.
(17:29):
And when I got thedefibrillator, you know, you
have about like a six to eightweek period where you're just
like sitting on your butt doingnothing.
You really you're not evensupposed to like raise your arm
because it could uh break thelead that connects to your heart
or it could like detach oralter some like positioning
there, and so like, yeah, you'rejust sitting for like six,
(17:49):
eight weeks.
And then, really for me it waslike, all right, I'm going to
get in and see like what I canstill get away with and
accomplish.
Some of my doctors were like,hey, like take it easy, just
like maybe walk, yoga, do thesethings, like you can work out a
little bit here and there, butnothing too crazy.
But I was like a division onebaseball player, like in school
(18:12):
to become like a sportsperformance coach and and all
these things.
And so I was like well, that'snot my life, like I'm gonna see
what I can get away with andhonestly it was kind of dumb,
like it was kind of stupid.
But I think through that it wasjust like a learning curve of
like what I can and cannot getaway with.
Some of those moments were orwhen, like it went off and saved
(18:34):
me you shit your pants whenthat thing went off.
Speaker 1 (18:37):
It's scary.
Well, yeah, because you'rethinking if I didn't have like
lightning strikes?
Speaker 2 (18:42):
yeah, so yeah, but I mean, yeah, it knocks you out.
I mean it is like the way Idescribe it is.
I have in my body what otherpeople see in the movies where
you have the pads.
They're rubbing them together,clear boom, and so that's
happening like inside my body.
It went off, uh, yeah, threetimes in uh 20, 2013.
I had surgery December 2012,.
(19:05):
Went off three times right awayfirst three months in 2013.
And then it didn't happen again, uh, until 2021, 2022, went off
a couple of times there.
So, yeah, we've been prettygood with it so far, yeah.
Speaker 1 (19:19):
You're like let's not , we don't need to fuck around
with that thing.
So you're a creative guy.
You're super reflective.
What gives like?
What sparks your creativity themost?
Like aside from, I know thatthe Scatterjoy Project is
obviously your baby, but like,what are you doing?
Speaker 2 (19:34):
Gosh.
I think, like, creativity onlycan happen when you ask, like,
really good questions, and so,like, creativity for me is like,
either it's an extension of thequestion that you're already
asking yourself or it's ananswer to the question, and so,
like writing poems or likewriting short essays or, uh,
(19:54):
designing apparel or differentthings like that.
It's it's either about likeextension of questions or or
answers.
Like for us, like with withscatter joy, the apparel became
a tool for, uh, advocacy.
Um, we launched like scatterjoy in 2021.
Um, we didn't have a communityof like, just a bunch of rich
(20:16):
people being like, hey, it's agood idea, like, we'll donate to
that, here's a kickstarterthing.
And so we were just like youknow what we launch?
Apparel, like we feel like thatcould be something really fun
to create advocates for theorganization, grow awareness,
but then also we can use allthat profit to pour back into
the organization and see if wecan launch these resources that
(20:37):
we have now.
And we started with a tagline,a simple tagline.
That was their strength in yourstory, and so it was an answer
for a lot of people that wereasking their question Am I, am I
enough, am I worth?
It has have things in my lifeuh been too big of a burden for
me to even believe in myself,and so for us, it was like no,
(20:57):
like we're going to answer thatquestion for you because we've
had to answer that question forourselves.
I think you create what you wishyou had.
You know, as an entrepreneur,as a creative like you, you
create what you wish you had, oryou create, uh, you try to
create the belief or theknowledge or the wherewithal for
which you uh came across inyour life, um, when you needed
(21:19):
it the most.
And so that's to me, likethat's where creativity comes
from's.
Like what did I wish I had?
What did I wish someone told me?
What did someone tell me?
How did someone show up in mylife in a really meaningful way?
And then how do I go do thatfor other people?
Through an essay, or through at-shirt, or through a podcast
(21:42):
conversation or through you knowsomething like that.
And so that's where it comesfrom for me.
Might be a lot of differentthings for a lot of people, but
for me it's always rooted inthat idea of like, what are you
most compassionate about?
And so that's always fueled mycreativity.
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Can you think of a specificperson or story that's impacted
you the most through this.
I know there's probably plenty,but are there any that stand
(23:27):
out where you're like, holy shit?
Speaker 2 (23:29):
A lady reached out to us a couple of years ago and
shared the story of, like youknow, she, mom of three, walks
into a coffee shop, sees someonewearing a scatter joy t-shirt
and it's just like intrigued.
It's the same moment for mereading the poem as for her,
like scatter joy is just jumpingoff the t-shirt at her and so
(23:53):
she gets her coffee, like getsher kids together.
She goes over to the ladywearing it in the coffee shop
and says like oh, what isscatter joy?
Like, what is that?
And so the the woman wearing itgets to tell the story about,
like her mental health gets totell the story about.
Scatterjoy isn't attached tothe organization at all, it's
(24:13):
just like someone that just likeit resonated with.
She bought the T-shirt, she'srocking it in the community and
supporting in that way.
But what she didn't know wasthe woman asking about it with
the three girls and who hadinquired about the t-shirt, had
just lost her husband to suicidefive or six months prior and
(24:34):
was like trying to scratch andclaw out of this like really
dark place herself and trying tosupport her kids and trying to
support like the rest of theirfamily with that and looking for
resources and doing thosethings.
I think that was a moment wherewe were just like, yeah, that's,
this is important, like this isworth it, this is reaching
people.
Yeah, I mean fast forward, liketwo years later.
(24:55):
Like she's um, she'sfundraising for Scatterjoy.
She's like raising awareness,raising money, coming to events
and has connected her familywith resources and stuff.
Like she is like what we wishedthe organization would become,
you know, and and it just likespeaks to the importance of like
(25:17):
what seems so silly, as like at-shirt, you know, it's like a
piece of apparel, like how howmuch life can that give to a
conversation or to a person?
And it's like that's the story,you know.
It's like that's why we werelike man, maybe apparel.
Like maybe we could do apparelfirst and see what what it turns
into.
It's like that created a wholedifferent life trajectory for
(25:43):
for people in that family.
So, yeah, that was like.
That was a moment where we werelike we can be proud of the
work we're doing for sure.
Speaker 1 (25:53):
Well, it's a testament to your messaging too,
cause, like you know, 20 peoplecan go do apparel and it.
You know it's not going to havethat the same impact.
I mean it's it's your messageand the heart and soul of what
you've got, and you just havethese soldiers walking around
carrying it.
You know it's just a hugetestament to the power of what
you're doing.
Speaker 2 (26:11):
Yeah, I appreciate that.
You got to make it cool too.
Speaker 1 (26:13):
Well, that's I mean like.
Speaker 2 (26:15):
I feel like that's what, that's what's interesting.
It's like we always go to um,we always go to different
markets.
Or last year we set up at Southby Southwest in Austin and set
up like a little experience, andpeople would come through and
be like what is this?
Like, tell me all about it.
And yeah, we would always startby saying, yeah, we're actually
a mental health nonprofit.
We don't look like one.
That's intentional.
Let me tell you why.
(26:36):
And so like, really, the way wecreated Scatterjoy was we don't
want it to feel or look orfunction or sound like a medical
organization by any means.
I think that actually increasesthe stigma.
You know, people don't likedoctor's office, and so that's
going to keep people at an arm'slength, especially within the
mental and emotional health lane.
(26:57):
And so what we want to do iscreate, like a way, more
approachable and relatableavenue to the conversations, but
then also to the resources.
And so it's like man scatterjoy, black and white artists
will save us or strengthen yourstory.
Like it doesn't look like uh,it doesn't look like a
traditional non-profit t-shirteither.
You know, like we wanted tocreate something that like met
(27:19):
people where they were, theycould identify with it, they'd
be proud of like rocking thatand their whole wardrobe being
scattered joy, because like itlooks good, it feels good, like
it communicates a really goodmessage too.
Speaker 1 (27:31):
So well, it's brilliant because you're making
it cool to talk about mentalhealth yeah, trying to like or
tough as the the young kids?
We don't say cool anymore,apparently, we say tough oh
really this is what I learned.
Really, this is from like, hotoff the press, from the fresh
okay, we're talking like we'retalking like seniors in high
school in chicago downtown, solike they know what's up.
So cool is no longer cool, it'stough okay, and I'm pretty sure
(27:53):
it's maybe like a t-u-f-f thingbut I haven't researched and
vetted that out.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
Yet with chat gpt so you're like.
You guys are making it tough totalk about mental health.
You know what I'm saying which?
Speaker 1 (28:03):
is so it's brilliant.
Think about that, like what youhave, like you're making it
accessible and, oh my God, likeI actually want to wait.
I want to talk about this.
Speaker 2 (28:14):
Yeah, it's so important.
We've even threw around theidea.
We did it with one sweatshirtwhere we just like printed the
resources on the sleeve, like wehad the crisis text line number
on the sleeve.
We had the website where you goto like search for free and
reduced cost care.
We had the therapy fund onthere.
Speaker 1 (28:33):
Why didn't you do?
Speaker 2 (28:34):
it.
We've thrown around that idea.
It gets a little busy.
Speaker 1 (28:38):
We like very minimalistic stuff.
But you know, like the littlescatter joy up here, if you do
it small, think that's true,that's true we've also thought
about just doing it on like atag.
Speaker 2 (28:48):
Inside it almost becomes like a business card in
a way you know, if, like, forinstance, like that conversation
, like that story that I shared,it's like, well, how cool would
it have been if she just likeflipped the bottom of her shirt
like inside out, and there was atag with all the resources or a
qr code.
So we're getting there maybewe'll do that, we'll see.
Speaker 1 (29:07):
So talk about the, the hotline and what you guys
are doing.
I mean there's a lot of greatthings you're doing yeah, so the
?
Speaker 2 (29:13):
the whole goal is, like our mission statement is to
make mental health care moreaccessible and affordable for
all.
Before we talk about the, thelike those last two words are
the most important words for all.
Like we deeply, deeply believethat.
Like we don't want any labelsor anything on this.
Like we're not for a certaindemographic and for one you know
(29:34):
.
It's like we truly, truly meanthat.
Like we're trying to create anultra-inclusive environment and
community, because it's like ourjob is to to help people.
Our job isn't to tell them tolive a certain way or do a
certain thing.
Like our job is just to likecare for people, to wrap our
arms around them and just say,like how can we help?
(29:55):
How we can help is throughmental health resources and
getting them connected to to, uh, professionals at a hopefully a
reduced cost rate.
I think one thing, for instance,is like it's one thing to
create apparel and make it toughmake it cool, um, what that
does is it creates awareness,but if awareness was the cure
(30:18):
for the mental health crisis, wewouldn't have a crisis.
Right now.
Awareness is at an all timehigh source statistics, and so
we need an organization, or weneed a group of people, groups
of organizations acting togetherto pull people from awareness
to action.
It's actually the.
It's funny, it's the.
I think that that is the themefor the Mental Health America
(30:40):
conference this year, which isreally cool because everyone is
aware of that now.
It's like we have to pull peopleto action.
How do we do that?
Because there's still a lot ofbarriers there, but we have a
crisis text line that people cantext scattered to 741-741,
connected with a crisiscounselor, for free.
That can also be used as a warmline too, like you could just
(31:02):
be having a crappy day and textthat number and process what
you're feeling with the personon the other side of that text
line, and so it's a really coolresource.
It makes it really approachablebecause, like, there's not a
lot of people picking up thephone and calling people these
days.
I fall victim to that sometimes, like I would much rather text
(31:29):
in certain times of the day, andso that text line just makes it
really accessible.
And it's free and it's 24 7.
We also have what we call ourfind help network, which is a
nationwide search engine thatconnects people to free and
reduced cost care.
So you can search a keywordlike anxiety, depression,
addiction, addiction, services,therapy, counseling and a zip
code, and it populates all thesefree and reduced cost programs,
(31:51):
providers, facilities in thatarea.
The caveat is that they'reoffering free and reduced cost
programming, and which is reallycool, I think thing.
Uh, we were just talking aboutthis, like columbus, for
instance, if you would definecolumbus's heart, I think it
would be like social impact,like it's just filled with a
(32:11):
bunch of really amazing peopletrying to do good in the world
and and I think that's rare Ithink that sets us apart from
from cities.
I think we should honestly, asa city, double down on that and
communicate that to the world,because it really is happening.
Speaker 1 (32:27):
I think we're doing that right now, you and I.
Speaker 2 (32:29):
Yeah, trying to, but yeah, so if you search Columbus
or mental health in a Columbuszip code, there's hundreds of
free and reduced cost programs.
What happens, though, is that alot of nonprofit organizations
or a lot of like healthprogramming organizations.
They're not great at marketing,and so a lot of people don't
(32:50):
really know about them, and sowhat we want to do is we kind of
like view ourselves as likealmost a marketing agency for
all these other experts in theworld that are doing amazing
work, and so, yeah, you can findthat.
And then we also have a therapyfund where people can apply for
financial assistance.
I mean, this all is predicatedon like funding and fundraising,
and so we try to launch thetherapy fund twice a year, and
(33:13):
then it becomes really like afirst come, first serve kind of
thing, where we try to supportpeople for like three to six
therapy sessions.
Support people for like threeto six therapy sessions, so we
pay the pay the provider andwork with the providers and
different things there.
So if people are are applyingfor that, again, it's solely
(33:35):
predicated on like do we havefunding for this at this time?
Have people donated enough,have have has a business come on
board and really wanted tosupport and sponsor the
organization in this way.
But then it also helps ifyou've used the other search
engines or you've usedpsychology today, or you've used
someone in your community tofind a provider first, cause
(33:59):
that's going to speed up thatprocess too.
So all three of those things forus like those are solutions to
make mental health care moreaccessible and affordable.
Like it becomes reallyoverwhelming At least it did for
me when I was going through allmy mental health stuff to
finally get the courage to saylike I think I do need help and
(34:20):
then say where the hell do I go?
Like, where do I look for this?
What expertise do they need tohave for my, in particular,
struggle?
And so like really those tools,those resources that we have
help with that to get peopleconnected.
But then also like the nexthurdle is the affordability
(34:40):
aspect of mental health care.
It's so expensive.
Uh, insurances don't.
Uh, a lot of providers don'ttake insurance and uh, it's
really not on them.
Uh, insurance makes it reallyhard for providers sometimes,
and so we want to eliminate thatbarrier as much as we can too.
And so like working withproviders and trying to cover
(35:01):
the costs with the therapy fundand there's a lot of other
organizations doing really,really the same work.
Like we don't feel like we'resolving all the issues by
ourselves, like we can't, and soI think what's cool about the
mental health nonprofit space isit's a lot of people seeing the
same issues, doing similarthings.
(35:21):
To meet people that relate totheir branding and messaging,
and community and organizationto say like we'll help you
overcome those, and so we'rejust like proud to be a part of
that.
Speaker 1 (35:33):
So tell me about Short North.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
Yeah, we, uh, we're doing something kind of fun.
We, we got our, we got our ownspace, um, and we just posted
something recently that saidwe're a mental health nonprofit,
uh, opening a physical, our ownspace.
And we just posted somethingrecently that said we're a
mental health nonprofit openinga physical location and it's not
for therapy.
We'll explain, and so it'sreally going to be a third space
and if people aren't familiarwith that, a third space is a
(35:58):
physical location that existsoutside of home and work.
So, if you think about it, it'slike a gym is a third space,
libraries a third space, coffeeshops, cafes or third spaces.
I think really a library is isthe one third space that doesn't
pressure you into buyingsomething while you're there.
It doesn't doesn't mean, youknow it's like you walk into a
(36:19):
coffee shop and I love coffeeshops, we'll have a cafe aspect
within our third space as wellon Saturdays Um, but you almost,
like, have to pay rent to bethere.
You know it's like you grab acoffee and you know I don't mind
doing that, but you know you goto a gym, you pay for a
membership to be there, uh, yougo to the library, you can just
be there you can just exist andread and grow and learn and
(36:40):
connect, and so we hope thatthis space is that Like it's a
space where people feel likethey can come in and just be and
exist and connect, to organize,to create change in the world,
to be inspired to create change.
You know, if you look at themental health crisis, a lot of
it stems from a lonelinessepidemic.
Right now, one in threeAmerican adults feel lonely,
(37:02):
like they would classify aslonely, which is crazy because,
like, we're supposed to betechnologically more connected
than ever before, but that iscreating barriers to this.
Like this is rare, where, like,we're just sitting chopping it
up for an hour and talking aboutlife and and how to solve
problems in the world and havingfun, and, uh, and a lot of
(37:24):
people don't have those spacesto do that anymore or don't feel
comfortable or maybe you don'tfeel the initiative to plan that
on themselves or for themselves, and so we want to create a
space that is that you can justcome, exist and be, but we also
will sell like our apparel outof that space.
It'll be part retail, partlounge, part library, part
(37:46):
creative studio.
We'll have a cafe pop up likeevents on Saturdays and stuff in
the back that's like tip only,which is really cool.
So, yeah, we're really excitedabout that.
It's a I think it's.
I think you would.
You would normally see likeconcept stores like this from
like a Buck Mason or from youknow bigger brands bandit
(38:10):
running does, does stuff likethis.
Uh, I think what's really coolis it's it's a nonprofit.
It's a mental health specificnonprofit that's trying to get
people connected and see whatthat does for the community.
Get people connected and seewhat that does for the community
, and I think it's.
I mean, we are rooted in inadvocacy and activism too, and
so what we want to do is we wantto use the space to provide
(38:32):
opportunities for people to likecreate movements for themselves
.
You know it's like hey, uh, youhave an idea for a nonprofit or
an organization like come meet,like.
We want this space to be likethe incubator for great ideas
that are going to make the worlda better place.
We want it to be an incubatorfor empathy, for compassion, for
(38:54):
heart-led leadership and so,yeah, we're really excited about
that.
Speaker 1 (38:58):
Where is it?
We'll see how it goes.
Where is it?
Speaker 2 (39:03):
It is High Street 2nd , so just like a block north
North Star Cafe right on HighStreet, and so it used to be an
art gallery.
It used to be the LindsayGallery, oh yeah, you guys are
in some prime.
Speaker 1 (39:15):
That's a prime look.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yeah, we're trying to be?
Speaker 1 (39:18):
Yeah, we're trying to be.
Speaker 2 (39:19):
So it was cool because it's just a blank space
and we get to move in and createhow we want it to be.
And so we've hosted some likesoft launch events and different
things like that just towelcome people into the space.
Got the biggest compliment.
Like it's not fully built outyet.
We're launching May 17th as thefirst full operational day.
We're going to host an eventMay 16th, a Studio Stories event
(39:42):
.
That we've been the last year,um, but we get to host it at our
space now, which is cool.
But, uh, we've been doing somesoft launches.
Someone told us last week whenthey were visiting the studio
space we're like man, I justwant to like live here.
I was like that is like thebiggest comp.
That's what we want people tofeel like.
(40:03):
We want people to feel like Iwant this to be my home because
we we want it to be like anextension of your home.
You know, like we want it to bean extension of your home so you
can find people and connect andcreate with people that uh want
to do good things in the world.
So, yeah, we're, we're, uh,we're trying to trying to create
it where it feels likeeverything Scatterjoy is, you
(40:26):
know, like impact-driven,creative, socially connected,
provides opportunity for people.
So it could be too much, couldbe just the right amount.
We'll see.
Speaker 1 (40:37):
Never too much.
You're doing it, dude.
Good for you.
We're trying, we're trying.
Can we talk about you a littlemore?
I'm going to go back to thepoetry.
Yeah, yeah, so we are we donewith the scatterjoy project
stuff I'm gonna dial right backinto my notebook yeah, yeah zach
situation.
Speaker 2 (40:54):
So you write poetry too uh, not a ton, not a lot,
but I I try to yeah so is yourfavorite poet then, ralph, or do
you have an actual favoritepoet?
Gosh.
I mean like I'm friends withsome of my favorite poets,
honestly, Like Donovan Beck,donovan Alexander Beck.
(41:14):
He's actually on the board ofScatterjoy.
He works at MIT in Boston.
He's a genius, but he's aspoken word artist and a poet.
He's actually going to be atthe event on May 16th.
He's going to share some of hiswork and then we're going to
sit down and have a podcast sideto side, knee to knee, fireside
(41:36):
chat combo.
But he's incredible and hiswork is rooted in hope and
mental health and overcomingcertain things in his life and
trying to give language topeople that are kind of like
grasping for it to describetheir own thoughts and ideas and
emotions.
For us he's a creative directorat new york times t brand
(42:09):
studios out in in nyc and he'scome and done some events with
us, but he's incredible.
Speaker 1 (42:12):
What about?
Speaker 2 (42:12):
poets who have passed away.
Speaker 1 (42:13):
Oh yeah, emerson for sure then, are you doing any
written word at this event?
Um, maybe see, this is the onlyfeedback I'll give you.
The only gap I'm seeing isthat'm seeing is that we're not
showcasing some of your.
Speaker 2 (42:26):
I'm not the practicing creative.
I like to deflect honestly tobe honest.
Speaker 1 (42:31):
Okay, so do you have a favorite poem that you know by
heart?
Speaker 2 (42:35):
Yeah, it's an Emerson piece, it's part of a greater
work in a book, self-reliance,and it actually inspires a lot
of the work we do in SuicidePrevention Month, which is
September.
It says these roses outside ofmy window.
They make no reference toformer ones or to better ones.
(42:56):
They are for what they are.
They exist with God today.
There is no time to them.
They're simply the rose.
They are perfect in everymoment of their existence, and
so it inspires a lot of what wedo.
Speaker 1 (43:08):
Oh, it's goosebumps material man, it's so good We'll
talk about the rose that youthat inspired.
Speaker 2 (43:14):
Yeah, we just like go all out in September with roses
.
Suicide prevention month's atricky one because it's such a
heavy topic, you know, to people.
It feels untouchable to a lotof people and which is why
there's like a huge stigmaaround it, and so we try to make
it again more approachable,more accessible, to navigate
(43:36):
that conversation or getinvolved in some sort of
movement within suicideprevention month.
Um, and so we just like takeour cues from that, from that
piece, and what's interesting islike obviously it talks about
the roses.
You know, reading between thelines, like you know Emerson's
equating the rose to ourselves.
It's like it's perfect in everymoment of its existence.
(43:59):
And so we kind of like add ontothat we say thorns and all.
And so we always do like a newT-shirt design that talks about
roses or has like a rose theme.
Sometimes it has like a littlepiece of that poem designed
within it.
(44:26):
Community to pass out rosesnationwide Last year was really
cool because I mean we hadmoments where, like the Ole Miss
volleyball team was passing outroses to the LSU team before a
match.
Like it was really cool to seepeople get involved in it.
And we just got lucky because acouple posts went viral on
social media where we weretalking about it or marketing it
and getting people involved init, and so it feels more
accessible to just go to thegrocery store, buy a dozen roses
(44:46):
and pass them out to strangerson the street or friends or
family members or coworkers, andnot really have to, like say
anything when you give it tothem.
Like you just hand them therose and say, yeah, thorns, and
all are like, hey, we're justscattering joy today.
Like do you want a rose?
And you don't have to sayanything about suicide
prevention month.
But that act is suicideprevention.
(45:08):
You know, it's like you can.
You can offer a rose to thebiggest, baddest dude ever and I
guarantee he's gonna crack asmile.
It doesn't matter who he is.
Um, it's gonna make someone'sday, it's gonna make your day.
Like there's something powerfulabout just like the generosity
and the simplicity of it and thebeauty within it.
So, yeah, that that poem, yeah,that's the one that I'm like.
(45:31):
I know that by heart well, I'mgonna go home.
Speaker 1 (45:33):
I'm gonna go home and pack my bag.
I'm my sleeping bag and mytoothbrush and stuff.
Do you think it'd be awkward ifI, like, moved into your space?
Speaker 2 (45:40):
it's your like.
Stage five, it's your home.
Speaker 1 (45:42):
I might, I'm serious, I love, I love you, I love
everything.
Everything you're doing is sogood.
I mean, it's just, it's someaningful and there's so many
layers to it and I just Ihaven't found something that
I've resonated with on so manylevels like this in a really
long time.
(46:03):
So I really I look forward tocontinuing to sort of figure out
how we can improve theatmosphere together.
Speaker 2 (46:10):
Yeah, come hang out.
Yeah, no, I'm going to hang out.
All right, I'm going to hangout.
Speaker 1 (46:13):
Okay, You'll be like.
Speaker 2 (46:15):
Carrie's here again.
Speaker 1 (46:16):
Guys, listen.
We told her it was her thirdspace.
You went and did it again, zach.
Speaker 2 (46:21):
Thank you so much.
Speaker 1 (46:23):
You've been awesome.
Thanks for having me and ifyou're still out there following
your girl.
Follow me on YouTube, Spotify,Apple or wherever you get your
podcasts.
And until next time, keepmoving, baby, and Ryan Gosling
ain't got nothing on you,Nothing.
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