April 18, 2025 • 60 mins
John Knopick starts the episode with a recap of WrestleMania, then dives into his upbringing and childhood memories, sharing insights on family dynamics and personal loss during his school years. He recounts earning his GED, his impactful military service, and meeting his life partner. The narrative continues with stories of marriage, family developments, and a career trajectory that took him from the Game Show Network to Universal Music Group. John reflects on family life and relocations, finally settling in Columbia, Tennessee, and discusses future plans. The episode concludes with reflections on the podcast, social media engagement, and a preview of an upcoming episode on trauma, wrapping up with closing remarks and a sign-off.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Welcome to the smorgasbord with John Kanopic.
I, of course, am John Kanopic.
This is gonna be a first for me.
This is the first time I've ever actuallyrecorded a podcast live on video.
I've always been the face behind the sound.
Never done it before in person.
Never done it before live.
(00:21):
So I'm definitely stepping out of my comfortzone, and this is gonna be an adventure to say
the very least.
So thank you guys very, very much for tuningin.
I really, really appreciate it.
Hope you guys enjoyed my previous episode,which leaned into my upbringings as well as
some of my history in addition to going andtaking a deep dive into the big pay per view
(00:43):
event coming up this weekend, WrestleManiaforty one live from the Death Star aka
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I went through the entire card, gave myinsight, predictions, as well as went over some
of the match breakdowns and things like that.
So I thought for this particular episode, wewould dive a little bit further into my goings
(01:08):
on from pillar to post, from where I began towhere we've moved over the years to where we
now call home, which is down here in the greatstate of Tennessee.
So if you guys will bear with me, I do promiselots of laps, loss, and actually some U Haul
(01:30):
drama.
So stick with me.
Again, thank you guys very, very much fortuning in to this mortise board.
I am John Kanopik.
And what better way to kick it off than whereit all began?
And that is the great and fantastic fantasticstate of Iowa.
I was a kid born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa.
(01:55):
I was born actually the day Mount Saint Helenserupted.
I'm aging myself just by telling you that.
Hasn't erupted since.
I was fully expecting it to once I had my son,but that didn't happen.
He had his own little adventures when he wasgetting ready to come out.
But, yeah, I was born in 1980 in Iowa City,Iowa, Mercy Hospital.
(02:18):
Grew up, and I thought Iowa City was just thegreatest, most amazing, outstanding,
spectacular city in all of the world.
It's all I knew, obviously.
As a little kid, you don't unless your familyis well off or, you know, your dad travels for
business, your mom travels for business, or,you know, you're like an army brat or
(02:41):
something.
Back in those days, we didn't travel much.
We took road trips, you know, to other areasbecause, I mean, obviously, Iowa City is not a
huge metropolis by the way of, like, Chicago orMilwaukee or St.
Louis.
So we took trips.
You know, we went went down to Branson,Missouri, the Las Vegas of the Midwest.
(03:05):
You know, we did those kinds of things.
We went, you know, to Milwaukee, as I said.
We've been to Kansas City.
I have stories about Kansas City that I wouldindulge you guys in later on.
But, yeah, we didn't do a lot of travelinggrowing up, so Iowa City became my central hub.
I got to know that place inside and out.
(03:26):
Luckily, back in the, you know, days of theeighties and nineties, crime and just the world
in general was a safer place.
So it allowed me to be able to, as I got older,walk around the campus of the University of
Iowa.
You know, we lived right in what they calledGoose Town, which is a very old historic
(03:50):
neighborhood inside Iowa City.
We were actually only about four to five blocksaway from Mercy Hospital where my mother, rest
in peace, she worked for worked at Mercy as anurse for many, many, many, many decades.
She was an incredibly giving, outstandingwoman, one of the strongest woman I've ever met
(04:11):
in my entire life, and just wish she was stillhere.
But, unfortunately, you know, trauma took thatfrom us, and I'll go into that more as time
goes on.
But, yeah, we grew up.
You know, it was me, my father, my mother.
They were married the entire time we weretogether.
I have two older sisters.
I have one.
She's actually getting ready to turn 50 thisyear, which is mind blowing.
(04:35):
And I have an older sister that I kind of wekinda had a falling out years ago.
She's 54.
So I am the youngest.
I am the baby, and I'm gonna be 45 this year,which, again, mind blowing to think about the
fact that, you know, how how is it 40 how amhow am I 45?
How is it the year 02/2025?
(04:57):
It seems like only yesterday, I was getting myfirst Head Start Explorer all in one monitor,
keyboard, computer, and setting it up in our inour dining room or buying you know, winning a
contest and picking up our first ever VCR.
You know, the the highlights of of being alittle kid growing up in the the mid eighties.
(05:22):
But, yeah, now it's 2025, and everything isdigitized, and everything is just small and
compact and easily accessible.
It just blows my mind to see how fast timeunfortunately moves, and I really hate that,
especially in certain instances.
But, yeah, we grew up East Side Of Iowa City.
I went to Horace Mann Elementary School, and itwell, again, the beauty of where we lived in
(05:47):
Iowa City was that everything was in withinwalking distance.
My grandmother literally lived a block down thestreet from us.
We lived at 815 Bloomington.
She lived at 719 Bloomington.
So I had the privilege of getting to grow upwith her for at least through the first decade
of my life, and she was an incredible woman aswell.
Obviously, I see where my mom got it from.
(06:08):
She always had blueberry muffins ready for mewhen I got home from school.
Sometimes she cut up some grapes or had, like,string cheese.
We used to when I was sick and wasn't able togo home or wasn't able to go to school, we
stayed home together, and, you know, we watchedFandango on the old Nashville network.
Obviously, now it's CMT, if you guys still evenwatch cable television.
(06:30):
We watched Fandango.
We watched Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune.
Big story about Wheel of Fortune later on.
I wanna dedicate an episode to that for a verybig reason.
Jeopardy, Let's Make a Deal, you know, all allthe hits.
So even though I was feeling cruddy and underthe weather, my grandma always made sure that I
(06:51):
had an absolute blast being able to just veg,relax, get better, and, you know, do things
with her.
So it was a beauty of living very, very closeto to her.
But, yeah, I went to Horace Mann ElementarySchool.
And, again, that was about a six to seven blockwalk.
At the time, my both of my sisters were goingat the same time I did, so we were all able to
(07:13):
walk there together.
And it was really nice at the time, you know,growing up with them.
I felt really connected to them.
Unfortunately, as time went on, you know, asthings progressed with our lives, we fell
apart.
But in certain cases, we've come back together.
But Horace Mann is an amazing school.
(07:35):
I loved going there.
My things that stick out to me about going togoing to elementary school was I actually had
my first acting gig where I partook in a classlittle skit, and I could still, to this day,
remember my line.
I think it was in first or second grade.
And my line for the the skit that I was in wasdeep sea fishing.
(07:58):
It's a great sport.
Deep sea fishing.
That's fun.
So, yeah, as you could tell, Hollywood already,baby.
But, yeah, we had we had a blast there,kindergarten through sixth grade.
I broke my wrist falling on the ice.
And the funny part was I didn't even realize itwas broken until I was at home playing my
(08:21):
Atari.
Again, eighties, obviously.
And I noticed that my wrist was hurting.
I was telling my mom, hey.
My mom, my wrist hurts.
And she took me to the doctor and, like, oh,yeah.
You broke your wrist.
Wasn't even aware of it.
And yeah.
So I got it all.
I got a cast, got everybody to sign it.
And then in third grade, we were playing soccerduring soccer practice, and a kid had full on
(08:45):
metal pleats and was trying to kick the ball.
The ball had already gone by briefly.
He nailed me right in the shin with his metalpleats.
Needless to say, I was in a wheelchair for sixweeks because I could not do crutches.
I tried and tried, and just it did not work.
So, yeah, it was fun getting my sisters towheel me around in a wheelchair.
(09:08):
Loved that.
That was always a a fun time for had by all, soto speak.
After elementary school, moved our ontoSoutheast Junior High School.
Again, it was a further it was a little bitfurther of a walk.
Some people took the bus, but we, as a family,just didn't do the school bus thing outside of
(09:28):
if we were in sporting clubs and, like,baseball, track, things like that.
But, yeah, we were able to go to SoutheastJunior High School.
I loved the couple years that I was there.
We did things.
We actually had a couple we had a bowling alleynot that far from the school.
It was called Playmore Lanes.
No longer exists, unfortunately.
So for a PE class, rather than just doing it ina in the gym on the parquet floor, we actually
(09:50):
got to walk over to Playmore and actuallypractice actual bowling, and I've gotten really
good at bowling thanks to that and other eventsthat I've taken part in.
Another thing we got to do during junior highyears and into high school was we had a club
called the First Avenue Club.
And at the time, it's not the same way anymore.
More of it's a country club now.
(10:11):
But when we were growing up, it had a bunch ofarcade games.
Again, eighties and nineties.
You know?
But it had arcade games in there.
It had air hockey table, and I didexceptionally well in air hockey.
It had a big dance floor.
It had snacks.
I have so many fond memories of doing that.
And afterwards, we'd walk across Caddy Cornerto Mazio's Pizza and eat some eat some grub
(10:37):
after that, and it was just a blast.
After that, we moved onwards and upwards tocity high school, Iowa City, city high.
Go little hawks, where I was there for fouryears.
I didn't graduate because around my junior yearwas when I really the the whole family dynamic
(10:59):
changed.
And, unfortunately, I was a kid that grew upwith or I should say I was diagnosed at the
time with ADHD, whereby I I was tested by GrantWood Elementary service school services.
And they determined it was, like, fifth orsixth grade, I wanna say it was, fourth or
(11:19):
fifth grade, actually.
I had a I have a 45 IQ and a brain that won'tshut off.
So I needed that constant stimulation andconstant feedback.
And if I was slipping or failing, I neededpeople to be there to help me, to help get me
back on track.
And, unfortunately, at the time, my family wefell out of disrepute by the time I got into
(11:43):
the middle part of high school.
So much so that even though I love my mother todeath, and I always always will, and I miss her
dearly, the one thing she said to me that willalways stick in my head and, again, I'll
probably end up addressing this more in atrauma future related related episode dealing
with trauma was you're just a tax exemption.
(12:04):
So being the last of three kids, yeah, it wasgood to know that your parents considered you
to be just a tax exemption.
My father just to take a little sidetrack herebecause I do this on on occasion, and I
apologize in advance.
My father and I had never really had a goodrelationship from the time that I got into
(12:28):
junior high, high school onward.
A lot of that had to do with his upbringing,the fact that he was born in 1939 in
Pennsylvania, and his parents basically wantednothing to do with him.
He had no other family members that would carefor him, so he got shuffled around boys' homes
(12:49):
for years.
And they went into the military, joined the airforce, served in Korea during the Korean
conflict.
And because of that, he never really knew howto raise a son and to take care of a boy.
My older sister, Jenny, Jennifer, she wasalways his favorite, and to this day, still is.
(13:13):
And to this day, because he's still around,still kicking and screaming, gonna be eighty
eighty six this year.
Myself and my oldest sister are persona nongrata to him, which is fine.
Again, I will cover that in a in a traumarelated episode down the road.
But because of that fact that he never reallyknew how to raise his son.
(13:37):
Growing up as an infant and a toddler andthings like that, he did the best he could.
He he was a truck driver for many years forblended protein, BP, feeds, And I got to ride
in his cab with him.
I got to go on some runs with him.
He always made sure if he went on a longer run,he brought me home, like, Reese's or Cheetos
and little little trinkets and things likethat.
(13:59):
But, unfortunately, that the owner of thecompany, Court Kelly, passed away.
The business was sold.
It went belly up, and he lost his job, and hejust bounced from job to job from that point.
And because of that, his demeanor soured, thedynamic of the family soured, and his true,
like, dis or his true negligence and andmisunderstanding and and not being familiar
(14:26):
with how to handle a son, a teenage son, cameout in full effect, and we got into many
battles.
And, again, we'll cover that in a traumaepisode.
But long story short on on that on that front,I didn't make it through high school because I
cried out for a lot of help, and my familyessentially wanted nothing to do with me at the
(14:47):
time.
So I dropped out of high school right after myjunior year, ended up getting my GED when I
turned 18, and that was a proud moment for meto know that I finished high school.
I didn't obviously get any pomp andcircumstance from them because it wasn't a
traditional graduation.
But you know what?
I went my path.
I got it done.
I persevered.
I found a way, and I made it.
(15:07):
So to me, I accomplished what I needed to.
And in the grand scheme of things, who cares?
You got the paper regardless of how you got it.
So after high school, I decided, you know,nobody wants to help me, guide me.
You know, I reached out for help continue toreach out for help, but it never materialized.
(15:29):
So I ended up having to go on my own, and Imoved out of high school or I moved out moved
out of my house, my parents' house, when Iturned 18, and I went into I went on my own,
essentially.
And I apologize.
I'm about ready to have a timer go off, and Ireally don't want to go off for you guys.
(15:52):
But, yeah, I left home at 18, and I startedliving, you know, with friends, and I had, you
know, psychotic girlfriends at the time.
Again, I got a whole trauma episode.
You guys are gonna love it.
But I went, and I moved in with yeah.
I had girlfriends that bounced back and forth.
I moved in with some roommates that I found andthings like that.
(16:13):
And by the time that I was 20, I decided, hey.
You know what?
You know?
Well, actually, let me back up a step.
When I was 18, right before I turned 18, I gotinto trouble.
I lashed out essentially because of the needinghelp and not getting any help from people.
So I moved on to doing nefarious things thatI'm not proud of.
(16:40):
And in doing so, my mother, in her infinitewisdom, decided to do a scared straight
situation with me by way of what they calledthe ACE program.
And essentially what it is, it's a program Idon't if it's still around.
It might be.
But it was a program where if your teenagechild was getting into trouble and you didn't
(17:08):
feel like they needed to be jailed, you couldgo in the ACE program.
ACE program essentially would pick your childup, take them to the armory.
You would have PT, physical training.
You would do different activities and thingslike that.
And, essentially, it was like a you this we'regonna we're gonna, you know, folk refocus you
(17:35):
because if you don't get refocused and get backon track to the way you should be, you're gonna
end up in jail or in prison.
So I went through that program at the armory,and I even slipped a little bit further to
where I was getting having thoughts of harmingmyself.
Again, trauma, trauma, trauma.
We're gonna have an episode all about that.
(17:57):
But yeah.
And by doing that, they actually had to put mein a a forty eight hour like, I wouldn't say it
was, like, a boy's home kind of a thing, but itwas more like a you're going to a like, juvie
as the term.
I don't if they still use the term anymore.
Juvie, juvenile delinquency home for fortyeight hours, where you literally you know,
(18:22):
where you were there being you watched theentire time, and you had bunk beds, and you do
different and things like that.
But working out at the armory, the localrecruiters noticed my skills and my abilities.
And they were like, hey.
You know, we see how easily you're handlingthis PT stuff, and you're really getting the
(18:43):
hang of it, and you're really enjoyingyourself.
You ever thought about joining the military?
And at the time, I was like, you know, whatelse do I got to hang around here for?
You know?
What do I got?
I got no family that wants anything to do withme.
I don't have a large group of friends.
Even though I blended in well with all of thegroups, I was kind of a chameleon in school.
I didn't have a massive large core group ofpeople that I associated with.
(19:06):
I had my my two, three best friends.
Some they're still my best friends to this day,but that was about it.
So I was like, sure.
Why not?
You know?
What what do I have to be here for?
I got no reason to be here.
And at the time, my problem had always been Istarted things, projects, goals, school, and I
(19:27):
never finished them.
And I didn't have people to help guide me andkeep me focused and and grounded to help me
finish them.
But I decided, hey.
Let's do this.
Let's join the military.
I can get structure I that I don't have.
I can get support that I don't have.
I can get people that will help me navigatethis crazy world that I didn't have.
So in February, right before I turned 21, Ijoined the military.
(19:54):
I joined the National Guard Army National Guardand went over to went over to basic training
down at Fort Benning in just outside of Atlantain Columbus, Georgia.
That was a life changing event.
I'll go through that more later, but let's justsay, yeah, if you wanna go if you ever thought
(20:15):
had thoughts of going into the military, Idon't know what they're like now, but in
02/2001, it was definitely a culture shock tosay the least.
I was luckily able to graduate basic training.
I got sharpshooter badges, things like that,and then moved on to advanced individual
training in San Antonio because I my MOS waswas going to be a psychologist, but they ended
(20:40):
up switching me to combat medic because itallowed me to get out of training sooner, get
bigger kickbacks, and then I could move into,like, an ambulatory type role and then progress
into into psychology, which is what I wanted todo at the time.
But I got through there.
Got through AIT as well.
I loved San Antonio.
Loved going on the river walk.
Had a blast down there.
(21:01):
It was hotter than balls, but it was a dryheat.
But, yeah, I I made it through.
Came back home again.
Again, no fanfare, anything.
My family did show up for my basic traininggraduation.
I had a very awkward picture with my fathertaken.
I still have it.
I still see it all the time.
(21:22):
And they did show up for my a my San Antoniograduation as well.
So they at least put forth the effort, so tospeak.
And I appreciated that more than you knowbecause I needed them.
And I went through some health scares downthere when I was in San Antonio and in in
basic.
(21:42):
And, again, I can lump that all into the traumaepisode as well.
But after I got back home, again, I startedbouncing.
I did I pulled my father, said Jeff.
Pulled I pulled what my dad did.
I kinda was bouncing between jobs andrelationships.
Didn't really have anybody solid that was therefor me.
(22:03):
I had just a bunch of psycho exes from one laneto another.
And, yeah, it was a a crazy period of timethen.
And then we made our way to 02/2003 where I mylife got changed forever.
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And to this day, I feel like if this person hadnot have made their way into my lives when they
did, I probably wouldn't be sitting heretalking to you guys right now.
She means that much to me.
And, again, gonna date myself because this,again, was 02/2003.
So I was in a Yahoo chat room late one nightand met this incredible woman, and she sent me
(22:54):
her profile picture, and I just was floored.
Absolutely stunning, gorgeous, jaw dropping.
And I knew I had I knew just in my gut, I'mlike, this is different.
This is different than any other woman I'veever met in my entire life.
This one's gonna be different.
Do not screw this one up.
(23:14):
And I nearly still did because that's how Irolled.
But, yeah, at the time, I was dating anotherpsycho ex when I came across her, and the
psycho ex decided to go off the rails.
And there was a restraining order issued, and Iwas going back to my because this is my
apartment that the psycho was living in at thetime.
(23:36):
I was going there to get some things, and shewas there.
And I happened to be arrested because of therestraining order.
Even though I was the one that issued it, westill couldn't be within 50 feet of each other
because she was cuckoo crazy nutso.
So I was in the jail overnight, and I calledher, my savior, and explained to her the
(24:04):
situation.
And she was mad, and she thought that I wasjust trash.
And I thought that was the end of it, and Ithought I'd screwed up my chance even though I
did nothing to truly cause it.
But, luckily, she gave me another chance afterfiguring out, you know, hey, what the real
situation was.
And then we met when she lived in Washington,Iowa.
(24:25):
And I still, again, quotes stick in my head,especially ones of of great importance.
And I still remember her saying on the phone tome as I was making my way to her apartment, oh
my god.
You're here already.
And that just stuck in my head.
And then when I got to her place, opened thedoor, my life changed.
(24:49):
You there are moments in your life where yousit back and you go, this is a defining moment.
This is a moment that I will remember for therest of my life.
That was my one of my moments by far and away.
She was breathtaking, still is.
She was hilarious, still is.
(25:09):
She was intelligent, still is.
Everything that I had ever wanted, needed,could ask for in a in a a soulmate, she is that
and then some.
Needless to say, we hit it off.
(25:30):
We had an amazing night, and we have beentogether ever since.
And that was way back in February.
We will now be celebrating twenty two yearstogether coming up on May 7.
And, again, I wouldn't be here without her.
I was at the lowest point of my life, and I wasrunning out of time and patience and mental
(25:53):
health, and I just was thinking the darknessshould just take me now.
But she brought me out, and she saved my lifeevery single day.
And that's why our actual wedding song thatwhen we got married in 02/2010, our wedding
song was Everyday by Rascal Flatts because partof the lyrics are every day you saved my life,
(26:15):
and she does.
But, yeah, we were together, you know, eversince 02/2003.
We lived together.
We moved in shortly after that.
She moved up to where I was living at the time,which was up in Cedar Rapids.
We were together seven years.
We wanted I had some messy I had a previousmarriage that lasted, like, six weeks.
(26:38):
Again, I could tie that into trauma andrelationship based episode that I'll do later
on.
And I have a trauma relationship based storyabout her as well.
So seven years is what it took for us tofinally tie the knot.
There are reasons behind that, but we workedthrough them.
We had our moments where I was an idiot a lotat first and slipped up and almost put the
(27:04):
kibosh on the whole thing as guys do whenthey're in their mid twenties and ignorant.
But, luckily, she's hung with me, and thosedays are long gone.
But, yeah, we got married in 2010, had a cutelittle ceremony down in Brighton, Iowa, just
outside of Washington.
Her family, which I refer to as the sopranos,reason why I call her family the sopranos is
(27:30):
because of the fact that they're a massivefamily.
Lots of cousins, lots of sisters, lots ofaunts, uncles, you name it.
And whenever they had, like, a medical issue orthey needed to go somewhere, they tended to
sell out all of the waiting rooms and things.
And, also, if you screwed with one of them orif you screw with one of them because they're
(27:52):
still that way, you get everybody.
And they live in a tiny little town called ormost of them live in a tiny little town called
Keota, Iowa, which is about forty five minutessouth of Iowa City.
I met them in 02/2003, when we went down forChristmas, and they welcomed me with open arms.
They gave me the love and the support of afamily that I had always wanted but never had
(28:16):
the true chance of of having because of,obviously, my upbringing.
Now my side of the family, very, very small.
You just had my father, my mother, my twosisters.
You had my uncle, Johnny.
Rest in peace.
I loved him.
He was, like, one of my best friends growingup.
(28:37):
We talked about sports and tech and all thisother stuff.
He was an incredible man.
You know, if you ever see John when I ever sawSteve Martin or John Madden, they always were
spitting images of my uncle.
But I had my my mom, my dad, my two sisters, myuncle.
I had my aunt Irene who became a de factograndma to my amazing son when my mom
(28:59):
unexpectedly, tragically passed away.
She had her husband, Cliff.
They had one daughter named Mary, who is mycousin.
Mary had one son, which is my cousin, Jake.
And then outside of that, I I knew my grandmafor, like I said, the first decade of my life.
(29:21):
My grandpa, unfortunately, passed before I wasborn.
I was gonna be named David, but because mygrandpa passed right before I was born, they
named me John David.
And then I got to know my aunt's mother.
Her name was Hannah.
I got to know her briefly before she passed,but that was it.
(29:43):
And I have now my oldest sister, Jenny, hasthree children, and my oldest sister, Katie,
has two.
But growing up as a kid, I had a very smallfamily.
So my wife's family was, like, blew mine out ofthe water.
But, yeah, they welcomed me in with open arms,and I love them to the death to this day.
(30:03):
And they still call me their geek squad agent.
Anytime they have tech issues, I'm the guy theycall.
But yeah.
So we lived together.
Got married in 02/2010.
Had a nice little ceremony down in Brighton.
And at the reception, again, calling thesopranos, my wife's uncle, Tommy, decided to
(30:28):
get drunk.
And, basically, the cops were getting called tothe point where he had to leave because he
already had like, he already had some warrantsout at the time, or he was already on the cop's
bad side.
So he had to leave because he got drunk andbelligerent, and they're like everybody was
karate around me going, welcome to the family.
I'm like, thank you so much.
This is fantastic.
(30:51):
My my family would not are not drinkers orpartiers like that.
So I didn't have that growing up.
And now that's been the only time in our entirelives that my family and their family had
gotten together, and it was kind of awkward,but they they meshed, and he still kinda mesh a
little bit now.
(31:12):
But, yeah, we got married in 02/2010, andeverything was going really good.
And, you know, we were we were living thedream.
My wife and I tried to get a house up inCentral City, and we did briefly, but we
weren't stable financially.
So we ended up selling or, you know, doing a ashort sale.
(31:33):
And shortly after that comes 02/2016.
And this is where the this is where the wholething takes off.
So I'm gonna need a quick drink, so I'm gonnaput this on pause really quick, and I'll be
back with you guys to give you all the deets on2016 and onward here in one moment.
(31:55):
Alright.
Welcome back.
Thank you for the thank you for allowing me totake quick pause.
I needed to take a quick little hydration breakthere.
But where were we?
Oh, yes.
We were talking about 2016.
This is where the game changes, so to speak,ladies and gentlemen.
I was working at the time for Toyota FinancialServices, which then in 2016 had a an office
(32:23):
headquarter not headquarters, but their one oftheir offices was in Hiawatha, Iowa, which is
outside of Cedar Rapids.
My wife at the time was working for Hibu.
Hibu.
Used to be called Yellow Book.
Again, if you're old enough to remember theYellow Pages, they were the publishing company.
(32:43):
Excuse me.
They were the ones that distributed all thephone books to all all across the country.
They transitioned into Haibu once the phonepages telephone yellow pages started to cycle
down and become more digital, they had to adaptwith the times.
But she was working for them for many, manyyears, almost a decade.
(33:06):
And I was working for Toyota Financial Serviceswhen I received the very unexpected opportunity
to apply for a job with Game Show Network, andthey were obviously not in Iowa.
They were actually out of Santa Monica,California.
(33:28):
So I had the ability to interview for that roleand did really well, so much so that they
decide I interviewed through Zoom.
I didn't actually fly out for an interview oranything like that.
But before I did the interview with them,Toyota allowed me to go out to their they were
(33:54):
actually opening a center in Arizona.
That's outside of Phoenix.
And they allowed me to go out to their mainheadquarters, which at the time was in
Torrance, California.
And they allowed me to go out there to do someIT help their help desk troubleshoot some stuff
out there because they saw how well I was doingwith the helping run the help desk at the Iowa
(34:16):
location.
So I actually got to go to Los Angeles for twoweeks, and needless to say, my mind was blown.
At the time, my favorite city it still is myfavorite city at this point, Chicago.
It was all I knew and loved growing up in Iowa.
But getting the chance to go to Los Angeles,seeing the skyline, getting into LAX, driving a
(34:41):
a Mustang convertible down the 405, those werelike, it just ingrained in me.
I now have a new love as far as the city goes,and it's LA.
So I got to go out there for two weeks.
So when I came back, I'm like, I wanna find ajob out there.
So that's when I started throwing applications,looking for opportunities that were up my alley
(35:04):
with what I've been doing, and that's when Icame across the game show network one where I
was gonna be a desktop support representative.
I interviewed, knocked it out of the park, didreally, really well, so much so that they were
they were going to fly me out, but decidedbecause it was such a long distance to go just
(35:31):
for an interview.
We did it through Zoom, and, essentially, theyprovisionally hired me with the the caveat that
once I made it my way out to LA, I had toessentially just sit down in their boardroom
and meet with the president of the network.
(35:53):
It was a formality.
It was the job was already mine.
I had already gotten it.
I just had to sit down with him.
And as long as he didn't hate me, I was golden.
So my wife and I, you know, and the job paidwell enough where I'm like, sweetheart, I know
that you your dream has always been to write anovel, and you've always wanted to do that.
(36:15):
And I wanna give you that opportunity to dothat.
And the way you can do that is I'm gonna gowork for Game Show Network.
We're gonna move out to California, and I'mmaking enough money where you're gonna be able
to stay home and just write your book.
And that's, you know, essentially what she did.
And that's been a labor of love passion projectfor hers that's still ongoing to this point,
(36:39):
but she's almost done that.
I'm gonna bring up her book her book dreams andand what's going on with that in a future
episode as well.
But yeah.
So for her bringing grubbringing, she nevereven left really left the state ever.
Like, they went to Missouri a few times, but,like, my family and I, furthest places we ever
went in our entire life was one summer.
(37:02):
My father and mom saved up enough money, andthey took us to Hawaii.
That was our biggest trip we ever took in ourlives.
And so I have had travel under my belt at thetime.
She did not.
But I got to be able to go out to we got to flyout to to Hawaii.
(37:23):
So I was familiar with air air airfares andairlines and things like that.
But, yeah, we didn't get to fly when we movedto LA because we had a we had a lot of our
stuff.
And, again, at the time and to this day, westill struggle financially.
So we didn't have the credit to be able to belike, hey.
We're going to get airline tickets and justhave you guys drive our stuff.
(37:49):
They did.
We were able to afford to have our stuff drivencross country, so we weren't stuck in a U Haul
from Iowa to California.
However, we had to drive ourselves.
So it was a cross country getaway that took usthrough the booming metropolises in Nebraska.
(38:09):
We went through, and we stayed in Denver,Colorado.
We drove through Vail, saw all the hoity toitystuff over there.
We got to got we got to drive through Utah.
We got to drive through Las Vegas.
We my wife and I had been to Vegas beforepreviously because even you know, by the but
from the time we got together in 02/2003 to thetime that we had moved in 2016, we did take
(38:35):
several vacations.
And I'm gonna go through I'm gonna create avacation episode as well down the road to go
through all of our little vacations that we'vetaken over the years.
But we drove through Vegas and eventually madeour way to California, and my wife got to get
her first taste of stepping her foot into anocean because all she'd ever known was lakes
(38:59):
and rivers and creeks.
Creeks is what they're called.
She calls them creeks.
I give her crap for that, but, you know, it'swhat we do.
But, yeah, we made it out to California.
And, of course, what would a new venture bewithout a little hiccup along the way?
And I gave my job previous job, Toyota, twoweeks notice.
(39:23):
Let them know, hey.
I'm yeah, I've got a new opportunity.
I'm gonna be taken off.
I'm gonna be living in California.
They decided to cut me loose without giving methe two weeks.
And because of that, they didn't pay me forthose two weeks even though I gave them proper
notice.
So we were stuck there, and we had to wait anextra day to get my final actual paycheck from
(39:44):
them.
So we had to stay in a hotel an extra day.
Funny part was we stayed in Torrance.
And hilarious as it may seem, this will allcircle back together in a very weird way, and
I'll explain why here in a moment.
But we moved to California and lived inWoodland Hills.
(40:07):
Now let you guys know, I fully intend on doingan episode geared toward each of our jaunts.
So I'm gonna be doing a full episode just oneverything we went through in California where
we lived there for the four years.
I'm gonna be doing a full episode on our timein Alabama and Tennessee as well.
(40:28):
So I'm not gonna get into all the details ofeverything we did when we lived in California
over the four years, but I'll give you just ageneral overview.
2016, we moved and lived in Woodland Hills,California, which we lived they call it The
Valley.
And we lived just down the street.
We lived on Burbank Boulevard in someapartments, Woodland House Apartments, just
(40:52):
down the street from Universal Music Group.
They have a an office in Woodland Hills.
So we lived there.
And I took a drive every day to go to work.
Took me down to Topanga Canyon Boulevard allthe way down hit till you hit the PCH, Pacific
Coast Highway, drove along that, made it to thethe one freeway, drove that up into Santa
(41:14):
Monica, and made my way to Game Show Networkand their office over on Colorado Boulevard.
Right next door to them is, of course,Universal Music Group.
There is a theme.
We will uncover that.
But, yeah, living working in GainesvilleNetwork was mind blowing.
Having the palm trees, the incredible weather,we had food trucks constantly coming by our
(41:37):
place on a daily basis.
Just walked through just right around theblock.
I was able to go to my local Ralph's grocerystore.
It was an amazing setup.
Plus, I got to drive home to PCH every nightand drive back up the canyon and stuff.
And sometimes, had to take Mulholland Boulevardwhen the traffic was bad on on Topanga or there
(41:57):
was accidents or things like that.
And if you've ever watched Saturday Night Liveback in the nineties no.
Two thousands, I think it was, they had a skitwith Fred Armisen and Bill Hader and Kristen
Wiig and Anna Gassiter called the Californians.
And I feel like that.
(42:18):
Every time I talk about it going, okay.
Gonna get on my home.
I'm gonna take you to the tent and get off onSan Francisco where you belong.
So, yeah, every time I every time I talk aboutwhere we had to go in California and stuff, it
always just reminded me of that skit, and Ilove that skit.
But we lived in Woodland Hills for a coupleyears.
I worked at Game Show Network for a while thereuntil they had some budget cuts.
(42:42):
And, unfortunately, because I was one of thelast ones in, I was one of the first ones out,
and my job got eliminated.
Got a good severance package, though, enough tokeep us afloat until I found my next gig.
And my next gig actually was with another evenbigger channel, and I worked for Fox Sports.
Playing the fame for me was I got to, as Imentioned in the previous episode, I got to
(43:05):
help troubleshoot laptop and phone issues forthe likes of Terry Bradshaw, Aaron Andrews,
Jimmy Johnson, just to name a few.
Plus, I got to help them build their conciergewhite glove tech support service for those VIPs
from the ground up.
So I had an amazing time getting to do that forFox Sports.
(43:30):
Unfortunately, it was through a third partycompany called Turner Tektronix, and their
contract with them kind of waned.
And the marketing for the white glove servicedidn't take off the way they needed it to.
So they kind of relegated me back down to justdoing phone help tech support, and that I can
(43:51):
never do ever again.
So again, needless to say, I went and searchedfor greener pastures.
And I was able to find a better job with amarketing or open to close digital mortgage
company called Doc Magic.
And they were ironically out of Torrance,California, the exact place where I went when I
(44:14):
visited California working for ToyotaFinancial.
And believe it or not, Toyota Financial wasliterally just down the street from Doc Magic.
So, again, it's all circling together in a veryweird way.
So that allowed us to move to the South Bay, asthey called it, towards California.
(44:36):
We lived in a one bedroom, one bath apartmentbecause it was just my wife and I and a couple
cat or three cats.
And it was $1,950 for a one bedroom, one bath,but it was only three miles from the ocean.
They didn't even give us central air because,oh, you could feel the breeze from the ocean,
So, yeah, luckily, I made good enough moneywhere I was we were able to live there
(44:59):
comfortably at the time, and she was able tostill be working on her book.
This entire time, we had tried to start afamily.
And, again, I'm gonna tie that into the traumaepisodes as well.
In 2020, we were fortunate enough to be able tofinally have our rainbow baby after a couple
miscarriages, including one just a couplemonths before.
(45:23):
In 2020, we were able to have a rainbow baby.
We didn't even realize it at the time, but wewere pregnant in 2019.
And, again, this is gonna tie into someCalifornia stories.
But, yeah, we had our son in 2020.
He was strong, outgoing from the very get go.
His his heart rate was amazing.
(45:44):
He was always ahead of the curve on every allof his measurements, height, head size, da da
da da.
So in 2020, we had our son.
We decided, you know what?
Let's go home.
Let's go back to our original home.
Let's go back to Iowa.
We've done all we could do out here even thoughI left a lot of things on the table from an
(46:05):
acting and whatnot perspective.
Let's go back to Iowa.
I was able to find a job with Hearst Televisionand got on with a local television station in
Iowa, KCCI, in Des Moines.
So we moved back.
Moved back to Iowa, Everything was gonna be,again, as I said, unicorns and rainbows.
And then the massive trauma of my life hit.
(46:27):
And literally less than twelve hours, we droveback from Iowa or from California to Iowa.
Again, we had our stuff all transported, but wedrove back.
And, unfortunately, we didn't drive fast enoughbecause literally twelve hours less than twelve
hours before we were going to be surprised witha knock on the door and my mom and dad be
(46:50):
standing there to hold my son for the veryfirst time.
She'd she'd seen him on video because this hewas born in January.
So she'd seen him on video through video chats,but we didn't move back until the February.
Less than twelve hours before she was slated tomeet him and hold him for the very first time,
which would be her their last grandchild.
(47:11):
She passed away.
Just in her sleep.
Just like that.
So if anybody asks me why I'm not religious,part of it was my upbringing and the way I was
(47:31):
try they tried to force it upon me.
Part of it was this.
Because you have people that say, oh, like, mysister, I love her to death.
My older sister, Jenny, she's religious.
And she's like, oh, God has a plan for us.
God has a plan for all of us.
And, you know, da da da da da da.
(47:55):
If God was so giving and loving and nurturingand caring and da da da da, Why would he do
something so heartless like that?
Why would he just up and rip away something somad amazingly magical less than twelve hours
before it was to become reality?
(48:15):
Why?
So, yeah, again, this is a reason why Iowa willnever be a place that we will ever live.
We'll go back.
We'll visit because our family is there, butwe'll never live there again.
Just from the trauma I went through as a kidgrowing up to the trauma I lived at lived with
(48:38):
there, there was nothing positive that camefrom living in that place.
And, yeah, you know, a lot of people havenothing nothing but positive things to say
about Iowa, and that's great.
And more on you.
And you wanna visit it, feel free.
But to me, it's it's never gonna be my homeagain.
(49:00):
My home is wherever my wife and son are.
That's my home.
But we lived there from February February 2020through the July June, July of '20 '20 '1.
About a year and a half, we lived there.
I worked for KCCI, as I said.
(49:22):
Wife was still working on the book, taking careof our amazing little dude at the same time.
My my aunt, Irene, loved her to death.
She became his grandma because when my when mymom went, she was the one that was there for
him.
She was the one that was giving him all thegrandmotherly love that my mom couldn't
(49:43):
anymore.
And, unfortunately, before we moved away fromIowa, she passed away.
She had some health issues.
She decided not to have them treated, and shepassed.
So she was gone.
And right before she went, her husband, myuncle Cliff, passed.
(50:07):
My uncle Johnny passed in 02/2010.
My grandma passed in '92.
And not to be outdone because, you know, hey.
Share the wealth.
In the time that we lived there in back inIowa, my wife lost her grandma, her grandpa,
(50:28):
her I believe her aunt one of her aunts wasthere during that period.
We she passed away.
And her her father her stepfather, but hebecame a father to her because her actual
father yeah.
Trauma episode, guys.
So, yeah, she lost four people in the time thatwe were there over the year and a half year and
(50:50):
a half ish.
I lost three.
So, yeah, Again, you know, Iowa, always giving.
Yay.
Luckily, though, I was gifted an opportunitythat came up on our internal message boards
with Hearst Television that they were lookingfor an IT manager in training because there was
(51:12):
an an IT manager that was gonna be retiring,and he needed his to create an heir apparent.
So I threw him a hat in the ring and landed thegig.
They actually created a position for me calledsenior IT manager.
They they created a position called senior ITmanager in training.
(51:34):
They created a position for me, and we wereable to move from Iowa to another booming
metropolis, Birmingham, Alabama.
And I can honestly tell you on the scorecard oflife as far as places to live and places to
call home or reside, Alabama was never on ourbingo card, but the opportunity was there.
(52:00):
The advancement within the company was there.
The money was definitely there at the time.
So we thought, hey.
Why not?
Iowa obviously, Iowa is a massive manure pile,so let's do it.
Let's move.
And that's what we did.
We moved down to Alabama.
And, yeah, they had a target on my back fromsquare one.
(52:23):
They I was tasked by Hearst Televisionmanagement, I should say, to essentially
Birmingham, WVTM, I believe is what it is, WVTMin Birmingham.
They basically were a outlaw station.
(52:44):
Essentially, they ran things the way theywanted to.
But Hearst because they were one of the newerstations that Hearst had brought into their
into their portfolio.
And Hearst wanted them to basically fall inline, and manager the IT manager at the time
was ingrained to their way of doing things.
And they're like, well, you know, he's gonna beretiring now.
(53:04):
We're bringing in fresh fresh blood here.
And we're like, we want you to shape thatstation in our image.
So they we butted heads.
They kind of knew.
Like, I was questioning things.
I was da da da da da.
And they're like, okay.
This kid is trying to do things we don't wanthim to do, so we gotta find a way to get him
(53:26):
out.
So they did everything they could to get rid ofme.
And, essentially, I went on a business trip toanother station actually in Charlotte, North
Carol in in Raleigh, Durham, North Carolina, WX I WXXI or WXII or something.
(53:47):
They wanted me to go out there to see how theyran their station and bring back bring stuff
back and help implement it.
And during that period of time, the managementof the Birmingham station decided, hey.
You know what?
This is our opportunity because we can get ridof him because it was an at at will work
environment.
(54:08):
So when I got back, I thought everything wasgoing okay.
They pulled me in with HR, and they told me,you know, hey.
You didn't you didn't itemize your receiptsproperly when you were on your business trip.
And why do you spend so much money at a Chickfil A?
Yeah.
They actually said that.
They called me out on my food eating habits.
(54:29):
And I had HR there with me, and I was basicallybattling them back and forth, meeting, you
know, meeting them head on with what the Vimthe vinegar they were flinging at me.
I was going back at them going, hey.
How dare you come at me like this?
And, essentially, after that, they were like,hey.
I got a phone call on a Sunday night tellingme, hey.
(54:50):
We don't want you to come in anymore.
We don't feel you comfortable having you hereat the station.
We're terminating you.
I got another severance.
But, yeah, again, so my wife is still notworking at the time.
We were like, what are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
We don't know what to do.
But, luckily, I was able to get a gig withwe're tying it all together, folks.
(55:14):
You guessed it.
Universal Music Group.
Ironically, the what the the office that welive just down the road from in Woodland Hills,
the office that I live just down the road fromwhere I worked in tore in Santa Monica now are
going to be the ones that employ me.
(55:36):
And the best part was was that at the time,because this was 02/2022 I'm sorry.
Yeah.
02/2022.
Wow.
My ears are off, guys.
It was all remote.
100% remote.
I did not have to work at all in the office.
(56:00):
So we were able to live in Birmingham while Iworked there.
And, eventually, we're like, hey.
You know, we wanna they wanted me to be alittle bit closer to their one of their main
offices, which is in Nashville.
So I was able to do that.
We were able to move in 2023 up to Jackson,Tennessee.
(56:22):
Actually, I apologize.
2020 '20, yeah.
2023, we moved up to Jackson, Tennessee, akaGunshot Alley, aka Mini Memphis.
It's about 60 miles east of Memphis.
We thought it was a nice area where the part welived in, we thought was a nice area.
We didn't realize how bad crime was andcontinued to get worse as we were there.
(56:47):
But UMG has been a godsend to us, and I'll getinto more of that later on with our trauma and
health scares and things we've gone through.
But I've been with them three years and stillworking hard to them to this day.
But we moved to Jackson in 2023.
We lived there for a year, and we decided, youknow, crime was getting really bad.
(57:11):
My wife and son went to a weekly librarychildren's hour thing, and they were being
approached multiple times by transients andother people.
And I didn't feel safe with them going evendowntown there anymore.
So in last year, in June, we moved here toColumbia, Tennessee, where we now call home.
(57:32):
And we've lived here since June in a brand newdevelopment.
Literally, our house is four months old, andit's been incredible.
My son has made a lot of fast friends.
My wife, who has stepped out of her comfortzone, has made very fast friends as well.
And she's got her own little crew that she'sbuilt, and he's got his crew.
(57:53):
And I'm starting to branch out a bit more hereas well.
But, yeah, Tennessee over these last coupleyears has been really good to us so much so
that once we get our credit lined up and we'rewhere we need to be, we're gonna set up our
forever home here.
I have a feeling.
I have a very strong feeling that we're gonnabe this is gonna be our roots.
Even even more so than that, our son's gonna beenrolling in kindergarten in the fall, which is
(58:18):
mind blowing.
But for now, guys, that is this episode, thismonth's or this week's episode this month.
This week's episode of the Smarter Sport withJohn Kanopik.
I hope you guys enjoyed my little round thehorn tour that I took you guys on from Iowa to
(58:40):
California back to Iowa down to Alabama and upto Tennessee.
It's been a journey, guys, over the four and ahalf decades I've been on this rock.
It's been a journey, and it's gonna be an evencrazier one going forward.
So for now, I'm gonna be signing off.
Next week's episode is gonna be dealing withtrauma.
(59:02):
I wanna get that trauma episode out of the way.
Want you guys to reach out to me on all socialmedia platforms, please, and thank you.
I am at the smorgasbord j k on all social mediaplatforms, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter, x, whatever you wanna call it, TikTok.
Let me know what you guys wanna see on theseepisodes.
(59:23):
Smorgasbord is all about little bit ofeverything.
Last week, we focused on wrestling.
This week, we focused on moving and upbringingsand things like that.
Next week's gonna be trauma and life changingevents and things of that nature.
But I wanna know what you guys think.
I wanna know what you guys wanna hear and seeon this show.
Is there anybody you'd like me to interview?
(59:45):
I'll do inter I love to do interviews too.
I'd love to talk to people about variousthings.
I'm gonna be dabbling into conspiracy theories,bunch of other things as time goes along.
So let me let me know what you guys wanna seeon future episodes.
As I get more comfortable, I'll be doing morevideo related ones too.
But, again, thank you guys very, very, very,very much for your time, your patience, your
(01:00:08):
energy, and for listening.
Love you guys all very, very much.
I hope you guys have a great week.
There'll be another episode coming up nextFriday as well.
Same bat time, same bat channel.
But for now, this has been the smorgasbord withJon Knoepak.
I have been Jon Knoepak.
And as always, as we close out every show,ladies and gentlemen, take my advice.
(01:00:33):
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
We'll see you guys next time.
Thanks for tuning in.
Bye.
Welcome to the smorgasbord with John Kanopic.
I, of course, am John Kanopic.
This is gonna be a first for me.
This is the first time I've ever actuallyrecorded a podcast live on video.
I've always been the face behind the sound.
Never done it before in person.
Never done it before live.
(00:21):
So I'm definitely stepping out of my comfortzone, and this is gonna be an adventure to say
the very least.
So thank you guys very, very much for tuningin.
I really, really appreciate it.
Hope you guys enjoyed my previous episode,which leaned into my upbringings as well as
some of my history in addition to going andtaking a deep dive into the big pay per view
(00:43):
event coming up this weekend, WrestleManiaforty one live from the Death Star aka
Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.
I went through the entire card, gave myinsight, predictions, as well as went over some
of the match breakdowns and things like that.
So I thought for this particular episode, wewould dive a little bit further into my goings
(01:08):
on from pillar to post, from where I began towhere we've moved over the years to where we
now call home, which is down here in the greatstate of Tennessee.
So if you guys will bear with me, I do promiselots of laps, loss, and actually some U Haul
(01:30):
drama.
So stick with me.
Again, thank you guys very, very much fortuning in to this mortise board.
I am John Kanopik.
And what better way to kick it off than whereit all began?
And that is the great and fantastic fantasticstate of Iowa.
I was a kid born and raised in Iowa City, Iowa.
(01:55):
I was born actually the day Mount Saint Helenserupted.
I'm aging myself just by telling you that.
Hasn't erupted since.
I was fully expecting it to once I had my son,but that didn't happen.
He had his own little adventures when he wasgetting ready to come out.
But, yeah, I was born in 1980 in Iowa City,Iowa, Mercy Hospital.
(02:18):
Grew up, and I thought Iowa City was just thegreatest, most amazing, outstanding,
spectacular city in all of the world.
It's all I knew, obviously.
As a little kid, you don't unless your familyis well off or, you know, your dad travels for
business, your mom travels for business, or,you know, you're like an army brat or
(02:41):
something.
Back in those days, we didn't travel much.
We took road trips, you know, to other areasbecause, I mean, obviously, Iowa City is not a
huge metropolis by the way of, like, Chicago orMilwaukee or St.
Louis.
So we took trips.
You know, we went went down to Branson,Missouri, the Las Vegas of the Midwest.
(03:05):
You know, we did those kinds of things.
We went, you know, to Milwaukee, as I said.
We've been to Kansas City.
I have stories about Kansas City that I wouldindulge you guys in later on.
But, yeah, we didn't do a lot of travelinggrowing up, so Iowa City became my central hub.
I got to know that place inside and out.
(03:26):
Luckily, back in the, you know, days of theeighties and nineties, crime and just the world
in general was a safer place.
So it allowed me to be able to, as I got older,walk around the campus of the University of
Iowa.
You know, we lived right in what they calledGoose Town, which is a very old historic
(03:50):
neighborhood inside Iowa City.
We were actually only about four to five blocksaway from Mercy Hospital where my mother, rest
in peace, she worked for worked at Mercy as anurse for many, many, many, many decades.
She was an incredibly giving, outstandingwoman, one of the strongest woman I've ever met
(04:11):
in my entire life, and just wish she was stillhere.
But, unfortunately, you know, trauma took thatfrom us, and I'll go into that more as time
goes on.
But, yeah, we grew up.
You know, it was me, my father, my mother.
They were married the entire time we weretogether.
I have two older sisters.
I have one.
She's actually getting ready to turn 50 thisyear, which is mind blowing.
(04:35):
And I have an older sister that I kind of wekinda had a falling out years ago.
She's 54.
So I am the youngest.
I am the baby, and I'm gonna be 45 this year,which, again, mind blowing to think about the
fact that, you know, how how is it 40 how amhow am I 45?
How is it the year 02/2025?
(04:57):
It seems like only yesterday, I was getting myfirst Head Start Explorer all in one monitor,
keyboard, computer, and setting it up in our inour dining room or buying you know, winning a
contest and picking up our first ever VCR.
You know, the the highlights of of being alittle kid growing up in the the mid eighties.
(05:22):
But, yeah, now it's 2025, and everything isdigitized, and everything is just small and
compact and easily accessible.
It just blows my mind to see how fast timeunfortunately moves, and I really hate that,
especially in certain instances.
But, yeah, we grew up East Side Of Iowa City.
I went to Horace Mann Elementary School, and itwell, again, the beauty of where we lived in
(05:47):
Iowa City was that everything was in withinwalking distance.
My grandmother literally lived a block down thestreet from us.
We lived at 815 Bloomington.
She lived at 719 Bloomington.
So I had the privilege of getting to grow upwith her for at least through the first decade
of my life, and she was an incredible woman aswell.
Obviously, I see where my mom got it from.
(06:08):
She always had blueberry muffins ready for mewhen I got home from school.
Sometimes she cut up some grapes or had, like,string cheese.
We used to when I was sick and wasn't able togo home or wasn't able to go to school, we
stayed home together, and, you know, we watchedFandango on the old Nashville network.
Obviously, now it's CMT, if you guys still evenwatch cable television.
(06:30):
We watched Fandango.
We watched Price is Right, Wheel of Fortune.
Big story about Wheel of Fortune later on.
I wanna dedicate an episode to that for a verybig reason.
Jeopardy, Let's Make a Deal, you know, all allthe hits.
So even though I was feeling cruddy and underthe weather, my grandma always made sure that I
(06:51):
had an absolute blast being able to just veg,relax, get better, and, you know, do things
with her.
So it was a beauty of living very, very closeto to her.
But, yeah, I went to Horace Mann ElementarySchool.
And, again, that was about a six to seven blockwalk.
At the time, my both of my sisters were goingat the same time I did, so we were all able to
(07:13):
walk there together.
And it was really nice at the time, you know,growing up with them.
I felt really connected to them.
Unfortunately, as time went on, you know, asthings progressed with our lives, we fell
apart.
But in certain cases, we've come back together.
But Horace Mann is an amazing school.
(07:35):
I loved going there.
My things that stick out to me about going togoing to elementary school was I actually had
my first acting gig where I partook in a classlittle skit, and I could still, to this day,
remember my line.
I think it was in first or second grade.
And my line for the the skit that I was in wasdeep sea fishing.
(07:58):
It's a great sport.
Deep sea fishing.
That's fun.
So, yeah, as you could tell, Hollywood already,baby.
But, yeah, we had we had a blast there,kindergarten through sixth grade.
I broke my wrist falling on the ice.
And the funny part was I didn't even realize itwas broken until I was at home playing my
(08:21):
Atari.
Again, eighties, obviously.
And I noticed that my wrist was hurting.
I was telling my mom, hey.
My mom, my wrist hurts.
And she took me to the doctor and, like, oh,yeah.
You broke your wrist.
Wasn't even aware of it.
And yeah.
So I got it all.
I got a cast, got everybody to sign it.
And then in third grade, we were playing soccerduring soccer practice, and a kid had full on
(08:45):
metal pleats and was trying to kick the ball.
The ball had already gone by briefly.
He nailed me right in the shin with his metalpleats.
Needless to say, I was in a wheelchair for sixweeks because I could not do crutches.
I tried and tried, and just it did not work.
So, yeah, it was fun getting my sisters towheel me around in a wheelchair.
(09:08):
Loved that.
That was always a a fun time for had by all, soto speak.
After elementary school, moved our ontoSoutheast Junior High School.
Again, it was a further it was a little bitfurther of a walk.
Some people took the bus, but we, as a family,just didn't do the school bus thing outside of
(09:28):
if we were in sporting clubs and, like,baseball, track, things like that.
But, yeah, we were able to go to SoutheastJunior High School.
I loved the couple years that I was there.
We did things.
We actually had a couple we had a bowling alleynot that far from the school.
It was called Playmore Lanes.
No longer exists, unfortunately.
So for a PE class, rather than just doing it ina in the gym on the parquet floor, we actually
(09:50):
got to walk over to Playmore and actuallypractice actual bowling, and I've gotten really
good at bowling thanks to that and other eventsthat I've taken part in.
Another thing we got to do during junior highyears and into high school was we had a club
called the First Avenue Club.
And at the time, it's not the same way anymore.
More of it's a country club now.
(10:11):
But when we were growing up, it had a bunch ofarcade games.
Again, eighties and nineties.
You know?
But it had arcade games in there.
It had air hockey table, and I didexceptionally well in air hockey.
It had a big dance floor.
It had snacks.
I have so many fond memories of doing that.
And afterwards, we'd walk across Caddy Cornerto Mazio's Pizza and eat some eat some grub
(10:37):
after that, and it was just a blast.
After that, we moved onwards and upwards tocity high school, Iowa City, city high.
Go little hawks, where I was there for fouryears.
I didn't graduate because around my junior yearwas when I really the the whole family dynamic
(10:59):
changed.
And, unfortunately, I was a kid that grew upwith or I should say I was diagnosed at the
time with ADHD, whereby I I was tested by GrantWood Elementary service school services.
And they determined it was, like, fifth orsixth grade, I wanna say it was, fourth or
(11:19):
fifth grade, actually.
I had a I have a 45 IQ and a brain that won'tshut off.
So I needed that constant stimulation andconstant feedback.
And if I was slipping or failing, I neededpeople to be there to help me, to help get me
back on track.
And, unfortunately, at the time, my family wefell out of disrepute by the time I got into
(11:43):
the middle part of high school.
So much so that even though I love my mother todeath, and I always always will, and I miss her
dearly, the one thing she said to me that willalways stick in my head and, again, I'll
probably end up addressing this more in atrauma future related related episode dealing
with trauma was you're just a tax exemption.
(12:04):
So being the last of three kids, yeah, it wasgood to know that your parents considered you
to be just a tax exemption.
My father just to take a little sidetrack herebecause I do this on on occasion, and I
apologize in advance.
My father and I had never really had a goodrelationship from the time that I got into
(12:28):
junior high, high school onward.
A lot of that had to do with his upbringing,the fact that he was born in 1939 in
Pennsylvania, and his parents basically wantednothing to do with him.
He had no other family members that would carefor him, so he got shuffled around boys' homes
(12:49):
for years.
And they went into the military, joined the airforce, served in Korea during the Korean
conflict.
And because of that, he never really knew howto raise a son and to take care of a boy.
My older sister, Jenny, Jennifer, she wasalways his favorite, and to this day, still is.
(13:13):
And to this day, because he's still around,still kicking and screaming, gonna be eighty
eighty six this year.
Myself and my oldest sister are persona nongrata to him, which is fine.
Again, I will cover that in a in a traumarelated episode down the road.
But because of that fact that he never reallyknew how to raise his son.
(13:37):
Growing up as an infant and a toddler andthings like that, he did the best he could.
He he was a truck driver for many years forblended protein, BP, feeds, And I got to ride
in his cab with him.
I got to go on some runs with him.
He always made sure if he went on a longer run,he brought me home, like, Reese's or Cheetos
and little little trinkets and things likethat.
(13:59):
But, unfortunately, that the owner of thecompany, Court Kelly, passed away.
The business was sold.
It went belly up, and he lost his job, and hejust bounced from job to job from that point.
And because of that, his demeanor soured, thedynamic of the family soured, and his true,
like, dis or his true negligence and andmisunderstanding and and not being familiar
(14:26):
with how to handle a son, a teenage son, cameout in full effect, and we got into many
battles.
And, again, we'll cover that in a traumaepisode.
But long story short on on that on that front,I didn't make it through high school because I
cried out for a lot of help, and my familyessentially wanted nothing to do with me at the
(14:47):
time.
So I dropped out of high school right after myjunior year, ended up getting my GED when I
turned 18, and that was a proud moment for meto know that I finished high school.
I didn't obviously get any pomp andcircumstance from them because it wasn't a
traditional graduation.
But you know what?
I went my path.
I got it done.
I persevered.
I found a way, and I made it.
(15:07):
So to me, I accomplished what I needed to.
And in the grand scheme of things, who cares?
You got the paper regardless of how you got it.
So after high school, I decided, you know,nobody wants to help me, guide me.
You know, I reached out for help continue toreach out for help, but it never materialized.
(15:29):
So I ended up having to go on my own, and Imoved out of high school or I moved out moved
out of my house, my parents' house, when Iturned 18, and I went into I went on my own,
essentially.
And I apologize.
I'm about ready to have a timer go off, and Ireally don't want to go off for you guys.
(15:52):
But, yeah, I left home at 18, and I startedliving, you know, with friends, and I had, you
know, psychotic girlfriends at the time.
Again, I got a whole trauma episode.
You guys are gonna love it.
But I went, and I moved in with yeah.
I had girlfriends that bounced back and forth.
I moved in with some roommates that I found andthings like that.
(16:13):
And by the time that I was 20, I decided, hey.
You know what?
You know?
Well, actually, let me back up a step.
When I was 18, right before I turned 18, I gotinto trouble.
I lashed out essentially because of the needinghelp and not getting any help from people.
So I moved on to doing nefarious things thatI'm not proud of.
(16:40):
And in doing so, my mother, in her infinitewisdom, decided to do a scared straight
situation with me by way of what they calledthe ACE program.
And essentially what it is, it's a program Idon't if it's still around.
It might be.
But it was a program where if your teenagechild was getting into trouble and you didn't
(17:08):
feel like they needed to be jailed, you couldgo in the ACE program.
ACE program essentially would pick your childup, take them to the armory.
You would have PT, physical training.
You would do different activities and thingslike that.
And, essentially, it was like a you this we'regonna we're gonna, you know, folk refocus you
(17:35):
because if you don't get refocused and get backon track to the way you should be, you're gonna
end up in jail or in prison.
So I went through that program at the armory,and I even slipped a little bit further to
where I was getting having thoughts of harmingmyself.
Again, trauma, trauma, trauma.
We're gonna have an episode all about that.
(17:57):
But yeah.
And by doing that, they actually had to put mein a a forty eight hour like, I wouldn't say it
was, like, a boy's home kind of a thing, but itwas more like a you're going to a like, juvie
as the term.
I don't if they still use the term anymore.
Juvie, juvenile delinquency home for fortyeight hours, where you literally you know,
(18:22):
where you were there being you watched theentire time, and you had bunk beds, and you do
different and things like that.
But working out at the armory, the localrecruiters noticed my skills and my abilities.
And they were like, hey.
You know, we see how easily you're handlingthis PT stuff, and you're really getting the
(18:43):
hang of it, and you're really enjoyingyourself.
You ever thought about joining the military?
And at the time, I was like, you know, whatelse do I got to hang around here for?
You know?
What do I got?
I got no family that wants anything to do withme.
I don't have a large group of friends.
Even though I blended in well with all of thegroups, I was kind of a chameleon in school.
I didn't have a massive large core group ofpeople that I associated with.
(19:06):
I had my my two, three best friends.
Some they're still my best friends to this day,but that was about it.
So I was like, sure.
Why not?
You know?
What what do I have to be here for?
I got no reason to be here.
And at the time, my problem had always been Istarted things, projects, goals, school, and I
(19:27):
never finished them.
And I didn't have people to help guide me andkeep me focused and and grounded to help me
finish them.
But I decided, hey.
Let's do this.
Let's join the military.
I can get structure I that I don't have.
I can get support that I don't have.
I can get people that will help me navigatethis crazy world that I didn't have.
So in February, right before I turned 21, Ijoined the military.
(19:54):
I joined the National Guard Army National Guardand went over to went over to basic training
down at Fort Benning in just outside of Atlantain Columbus, Georgia.
That was a life changing event.
I'll go through that more later, but let's justsay, yeah, if you wanna go if you ever thought
(20:15):
had thoughts of going into the military, Idon't know what they're like now, but in
02/2001, it was definitely a culture shock tosay the least.
I was luckily able to graduate basic training.
I got sharpshooter badges, things like that,and then moved on to advanced individual
training in San Antonio because I my MOS waswas going to be a psychologist, but they ended
(20:40):
up switching me to combat medic because itallowed me to get out of training sooner, get
bigger kickbacks, and then I could move into,like, an ambulatory type role and then progress
into into psychology, which is what I wanted todo at the time.
But I got through there.
Got through AIT as well.
I loved San Antonio.
Loved going on the river walk.
Had a blast down there.
(21:01):
It was hotter than balls, but it was a dryheat.
But, yeah, I I made it through.
Came back home again.
Again, no fanfare, anything.
My family did show up for my basic traininggraduation.
I had a very awkward picture with my fathertaken.
I still have it.
I still see it all the time.
(21:22):
And they did show up for my a my San Antoniograduation as well.
So they at least put forth the effort, so tospeak.
And I appreciated that more than you knowbecause I needed them.
And I went through some health scares downthere when I was in San Antonio and in in
basic.
(21:42):
And, again, I can lump that all into the traumaepisode as well.
But after I got back home, again, I startedbouncing.
I did I pulled my father, said Jeff.
Pulled I pulled what my dad did.
I kinda was bouncing between jobs andrelationships.
Didn't really have anybody solid that was therefor me.
(22:03):
I had just a bunch of psycho exes from one laneto another.
And, yeah, it was a a crazy period of timethen.
And then we made our way to 02/2003 where I mylife got changed forever.
(22:27):
And to this day, I feel like if this person hadnot have made their way into my lives when they
did, I probably wouldn't be sitting heretalking to you guys right now.
She means that much to me.
And, again, gonna date myself because this,again, was 02/2003.
So I was in a Yahoo chat room late one nightand met this incredible woman, and she sent me
(22:54):
her profile picture, and I just was floored.
Absolutely stunning, gorgeous, jaw dropping.
And I knew I had I knew just in my gut, I'mlike, this is different.
This is different than any other woman I'veever met in my entire life.
This one's gonna be different.
Do not screw this one up.
(23:14):
And I nearly still did because that's how Irolled.
But, yeah, at the time, I was dating anotherpsycho ex when I came across her, and the
psycho ex decided to go off the rails.
And there was a restraining order issued, and Iwas going back to my because this is my
apartment that the psycho was living in at thetime.
(23:36):
I was going there to get some things, and shewas there.
And I happened to be arrested because of therestraining order.
Even though I was the one that issued it, westill couldn't be within 50 feet of each other
because she was cuckoo crazy nutso.
So I was in the jail overnight, and I calledher, my savior, and explained to her the
(24:04):
situation.
And she was mad, and she thought that I wasjust trash.
And I thought that was the end of it, and Ithought I'd screwed up my chance even though I
did nothing to truly cause it.
But, luckily, she gave me another chance afterfiguring out, you know, hey, what the real
situation was.
And then we met when she lived in Washington,Iowa.
(24:25):
And I still, again, quotes stick in my head,especially ones of of great importance.
And I still remember her saying on the phone tome as I was making my way to her apartment, oh
my god.
You're here already.
And that just stuck in my head.
And then when I got to her place, opened thedoor, my life changed.
(24:49):
You there are moments in your life where yousit back and you go, this is a defining moment.
This is a moment that I will remember for therest of my life.
That was my one of my moments by far and away.
She was breathtaking, still is.
She was hilarious, still is.
(25:09):
She was intelligent, still is.
Everything that I had ever wanted, needed,could ask for in a in a a soulmate, she is that
and then some.
Needless to say, we hit it off.
(25:30):
We had an amazing night, and we have beentogether ever since.
And that was way back in February.
We will now be celebrating twenty two yearstogether coming up on May 7.
And, again, I wouldn't be here without her.
I was at the lowest point of my life, and I wasrunning out of time and patience and mental
(25:53):
health, and I just was thinking the darknessshould just take me now.
But she brought me out, and she saved my lifeevery single day.
And that's why our actual wedding song thatwhen we got married in 02/2010, our wedding
song was Everyday by Rascal Flatts because partof the lyrics are every day you saved my life,
(26:15):
and she does.
But, yeah, we were together, you know, eversince 02/2003.
We lived together.
We moved in shortly after that.
She moved up to where I was living at the time,which was up in Cedar Rapids.
We were together seven years.
We wanted I had some messy I had a previousmarriage that lasted, like, six weeks.
(26:38):
Again, I could tie that into trauma andrelationship based episode that I'll do later
on.
And I have a trauma relationship based storyabout her as well.
So seven years is what it took for us tofinally tie the knot.
There are reasons behind that, but we workedthrough them.
We had our moments where I was an idiot a lotat first and slipped up and almost put the
(27:04):
kibosh on the whole thing as guys do whenthey're in their mid twenties and ignorant.
But, luckily, she's hung with me, and thosedays are long gone.
But, yeah, we got married in 2010, had a cutelittle ceremony down in Brighton, Iowa, just
outside of Washington.
Her family, which I refer to as the sopranos,reason why I call her family the sopranos is
(27:30):
because of the fact that they're a massivefamily.
Lots of cousins, lots of sisters, lots ofaunts, uncles, you name it.
And whenever they had, like, a medical issue orthey needed to go somewhere, they tended to
sell out all of the waiting rooms and things.
And, also, if you screwed with one of them orif you screw with one of them because they're
(27:52):
still that way, you get everybody.
And they live in a tiny little town called ormost of them live in a tiny little town called
Keota, Iowa, which is about forty five minutessouth of Iowa City.
I met them in 02/2003, when we went down forChristmas, and they welcomed me with open arms.
They gave me the love and the support of afamily that I had always wanted but never had
(28:16):
the true chance of of having because of,obviously, my upbringing.
Now my side of the family, very, very small.
You just had my father, my mother, my twosisters.
You had my uncle, Johnny.
Rest in peace.
I loved him.
He was, like, one of my best friends growingup.
(28:37):
We talked about sports and tech and all thisother stuff.
He was an incredible man.
You know, if you ever see John when I ever sawSteve Martin or John Madden, they always were
spitting images of my uncle.
But I had my my mom, my dad, my two sisters, myuncle.
I had my aunt Irene who became a de factograndma to my amazing son when my mom
(28:59):
unexpectedly, tragically passed away.
She had her husband, Cliff.
They had one daughter named Mary, who is mycousin.
Mary had one son, which is my cousin, Jake.
And then outside of that, I I knew my grandmafor, like I said, the first decade of my life.
(29:21):
My grandpa, unfortunately, passed before I wasborn.
I was gonna be named David, but because mygrandpa passed right before I was born, they
named me John David.
And then I got to know my aunt's mother.
Her name was Hannah.
I got to know her briefly before she passed,but that was it.
(29:43):
And I have now my oldest sister, Jenny, hasthree children, and my oldest sister, Katie,
has two.
But growing up as a kid, I had a very smallfamily.
So my wife's family was, like, blew mine out ofthe water.
But, yeah, they welcomed me in with open arms,and I love them to the death to this day.
(30:03):
And they still call me their geek squad agent.
Anytime they have tech issues, I'm the guy theycall.
But yeah.
So we lived together.
Got married in 02/2010.
Had a nice little ceremony down in Brighton.
And at the reception, again, calling thesopranos, my wife's uncle, Tommy, decided to
(30:28):
get drunk.
And, basically, the cops were getting called tothe point where he had to leave because he
already had like, he already had some warrantsout at the time, or he was already on the cop's
bad side.
So he had to leave because he got drunk andbelligerent, and they're like everybody was
karate around me going, welcome to the family.
I'm like, thank you so much.
This is fantastic.
(30:51):
My my family would not are not drinkers orpartiers like that.
So I didn't have that growing up.
And now that's been the only time in our entirelives that my family and their family had
gotten together, and it was kind of awkward,but they they meshed, and he still kinda mesh a
little bit now.
(31:12):
But, yeah, we got married in 02/2010, andeverything was going really good.
And, you know, we were we were living thedream.
My wife and I tried to get a house up inCentral City, and we did briefly, but we
weren't stable financially.
So we ended up selling or, you know, doing a ashort sale.
(31:33):
And shortly after that comes 02/2016.
And this is where the this is where the wholething takes off.
So I'm gonna need a quick drink, so I'm gonnaput this on pause really quick, and I'll be
back with you guys to give you all the deets on2016 and onward here in one moment.
(31:55):
Alright.
Welcome back.
Thank you for the thank you for allowing me totake quick pause.
I needed to take a quick little hydration breakthere.
But where were we?
Oh, yes.
We were talking about 2016.
This is where the game changes, so to speak,ladies and gentlemen.
I was working at the time for Toyota FinancialServices, which then in 2016 had a an office
(32:23):
headquarter not headquarters, but their one oftheir offices was in Hiawatha, Iowa, which is
outside of Cedar Rapids.
My wife at the time was working for Hibu.
Hibu.
Used to be called Yellow Book.
Again, if you're old enough to remember theYellow Pages, they were the publishing company.
(32:43):
Excuse me.
They were the ones that distributed all thephone books to all all across the country.
They transitioned into Haibu once the phonepages telephone yellow pages started to cycle
down and become more digital, they had to adaptwith the times.
But she was working for them for many, manyyears, almost a decade.
(33:06):
And I was working for Toyota Financial Serviceswhen I received the very unexpected opportunity
to apply for a job with Game Show Network, andthey were obviously not in Iowa.
They were actually out of Santa Monica,California.
(33:28):
So I had the ability to interview for that roleand did really well, so much so that they
decide I interviewed through Zoom.
I didn't actually fly out for an interview oranything like that.
But before I did the interview with them,Toyota allowed me to go out to their they were
(33:54):
actually opening a center in Arizona.
That's outside of Phoenix.
And they allowed me to go out to their mainheadquarters, which at the time was in
Torrance, California.
And they allowed me to go out there to do someIT help their help desk troubleshoot some stuff
out there because they saw how well I was doingwith the helping run the help desk at the Iowa
(34:16):
location.
So I actually got to go to Los Angeles for twoweeks, and needless to say, my mind was blown.
At the time, my favorite city it still is myfavorite city at this point, Chicago.
It was all I knew and loved growing up in Iowa.
But getting the chance to go to Los Angeles,seeing the skyline, getting into LAX, driving a
(34:41):
a Mustang convertible down the 405, those werelike, it just ingrained in me.
I now have a new love as far as the city goes,and it's LA.
So I got to go out there for two weeks.
So when I came back, I'm like, I wanna find ajob out there.
So that's when I started throwing applications,looking for opportunities that were up my alley
(35:04):
with what I've been doing, and that's when Icame across the game show network one where I
was gonna be a desktop support representative.
I interviewed, knocked it out of the park, didreally, really well, so much so that they were
they were going to fly me out, but decidedbecause it was such a long distance to go just
(35:31):
for an interview.
We did it through Zoom, and, essentially, theyprovisionally hired me with the the caveat that
once I made it my way out to LA, I had toessentially just sit down in their boardroom
and meet with the president of the network.
(35:53):
It was a formality.
It was the job was already mine.
I had already gotten it.
I just had to sit down with him.
And as long as he didn't hate me, I was golden.
So my wife and I, you know, and the job paidwell enough where I'm like, sweetheart, I know
that you your dream has always been to write anovel, and you've always wanted to do that.
(36:15):
And I wanna give you that opportunity to dothat.
And the way you can do that is I'm gonna gowork for Game Show Network.
We're gonna move out to California, and I'mmaking enough money where you're gonna be able
to stay home and just write your book.
And that's, you know, essentially what she did.
And that's been a labor of love passion projectfor hers that's still ongoing to this point,
(36:39):
but she's almost done that.
I'm gonna bring up her book her book dreams andand what's going on with that in a future
episode as well.
But yeah.
So for her bringing grubbringing, she nevereven left really left the state ever.
Like, they went to Missouri a few times, but,like, my family and I, furthest places we ever
went in our entire life was one summer.
(37:02):
My father and mom saved up enough money, andthey took us to Hawaii.
That was our biggest trip we ever took in ourlives.
And so I have had travel under my belt at thetime.
She did not.
But I got to be able to go out to we got to flyout to to Hawaii.
(37:23):
So I was familiar with air air airfares andairlines and things like that.
But, yeah, we didn't get to fly when we movedto LA because we had a we had a lot of our
stuff.
And, again, at the time and to this day, westill struggle financially.
So we didn't have the credit to be able to belike, hey.
We're going to get airline tickets and justhave you guys drive our stuff.
(37:49):
They did.
We were able to afford to have our stuff drivencross country, so we weren't stuck in a U Haul
from Iowa to California.
However, we had to drive ourselves.
So it was a cross country getaway that took usthrough the booming metropolises in Nebraska.
(38:09):
We went through, and we stayed in Denver,Colorado.
We drove through Vail, saw all the hoity toitystuff over there.
We got to got we got to drive through Utah.
We got to drive through Las Vegas.
We my wife and I had been to Vegas beforepreviously because even you know, by the but
from the time we got together in 02/2003 to thetime that we had moved in 2016, we did take
(38:35):
several vacations.
And I'm gonna go through I'm gonna create avacation episode as well down the road to go
through all of our little vacations that we'vetaken over the years.
But we drove through Vegas and eventually madeour way to California, and my wife got to get
her first taste of stepping her foot into anocean because all she'd ever known was lakes
(38:59):
and rivers and creeks.
Creeks is what they're called.
She calls them creeks.
I give her crap for that, but, you know, it'swhat we do.
But, yeah, we made it out to California.
And, of course, what would a new venture bewithout a little hiccup along the way?
And I gave my job previous job, Toyota, twoweeks notice.
(39:23):
Let them know, hey.
I'm yeah, I've got a new opportunity.
I'm gonna be taken off.
I'm gonna be living in California.
They decided to cut me loose without giving methe two weeks.
And because of that, they didn't pay me forthose two weeks even though I gave them proper
notice.
So we were stuck there, and we had to wait anextra day to get my final actual paycheck from
(39:44):
them.
So we had to stay in a hotel an extra day.
Funny part was we stayed in Torrance.
And hilarious as it may seem, this will allcircle back together in a very weird way, and
I'll explain why here in a moment.
But we moved to California and lived inWoodland Hills.
(40:07):
Now let you guys know, I fully intend on doingan episode geared toward each of our jaunts.
So I'm gonna be doing a full episode just oneverything we went through in California where
we lived there for the four years.
I'm gonna be doing a full episode on our timein Alabama and Tennessee as well.
(40:28):
So I'm not gonna get into all the details ofeverything we did when we lived in California
over the four years, but I'll give you just ageneral overview.
2016, we moved and lived in Woodland Hills,California, which we lived they call it The
Valley.
And we lived just down the street.
We lived on Burbank Boulevard in someapartments, Woodland House Apartments, just
(40:52):
down the street from Universal Music Group.
They have a an office in Woodland Hills.
So we lived there.
And I took a drive every day to go to work.
Took me down to Topanga Canyon Boulevard allthe way down hit till you hit the PCH, Pacific
Coast Highway, drove along that, made it to thethe one freeway, drove that up into Santa
(41:14):
Monica, and made my way to Game Show Networkand their office over on Colorado Boulevard.
Right next door to them is, of course,Universal Music Group.
There is a theme.
We will uncover that.
But, yeah, living working in GainesvilleNetwork was mind blowing.
Having the palm trees, the incredible weather,we had food trucks constantly coming by our
(41:37):
place on a daily basis.
Just walked through just right around theblock.
I was able to go to my local Ralph's grocerystore.
It was an amazing setup.
Plus, I got to drive home to PCH every nightand drive back up the canyon and stuff.
And sometimes, had to take Mulholland Boulevardwhen the traffic was bad on on Topanga or there
(41:57):
was accidents or things like that.
And if you've ever watched Saturday Night Liveback in the nineties no.
Two thousands, I think it was, they had a skitwith Fred Armisen and Bill Hader and Kristen
Wiig and Anna Gassiter called the Californians.
And I feel like that.
(42:18):
Every time I talk about it going, okay.
Gonna get on my home.
I'm gonna take you to the tent and get off onSan Francisco where you belong.
So, yeah, every time I every time I talk aboutwhere we had to go in California and stuff, it
always just reminded me of that skit, and Ilove that skit.
But we lived in Woodland Hills for a coupleyears.
I worked at Game Show Network for a while thereuntil they had some budget cuts.
(42:42):
And, unfortunately, because I was one of thelast ones in, I was one of the first ones out,
and my job got eliminated.
Got a good severance package, though, enough tokeep us afloat until I found my next gig.
And my next gig actually was with another evenbigger channel, and I worked for Fox Sports.
Playing the fame for me was I got to, as Imentioned in the previous episode, I got to
(43:05):
help troubleshoot laptop and phone issues forthe likes of Terry Bradshaw, Aaron Andrews,
Jimmy Johnson, just to name a few.
Plus, I got to help them build their conciergewhite glove tech support service for those VIPs
from the ground up.
So I had an amazing time getting to do that forFox Sports.
(43:30):
Unfortunately, it was through a third partycompany called Turner Tektronix, and their
contract with them kind of waned.
And the marketing for the white glove servicedidn't take off the way they needed it to.
So they kind of relegated me back down to justdoing phone help tech support, and that I can
(43:51):
never do ever again.
So again, needless to say, I went and searchedfor greener pastures.
And I was able to find a better job with amarketing or open to close digital mortgage
company called Doc Magic.
And they were ironically out of Torrance,California, the exact place where I went when I
(44:14):
visited California working for ToyotaFinancial.
And believe it or not, Toyota Financial wasliterally just down the street from Doc Magic.
So, again, it's all circling together in a veryweird way.
So that allowed us to move to the South Bay, asthey called it, towards California.
(44:36):
We lived in a one bedroom, one bath apartmentbecause it was just my wife and I and a couple
cat or three cats.
And it was $1,950 for a one bedroom, one bath,but it was only three miles from the ocean.
They didn't even give us central air because,oh, you could feel the breeze from the ocean,
So, yeah, luckily, I made good enough moneywhere I was we were able to live there
(44:59):
comfortably at the time, and she was able tostill be working on her book.
This entire time, we had tried to start afamily.
And, again, I'm gonna tie that into the traumaepisodes as well.
In 2020, we were fortunate enough to be able tofinally have our rainbow baby after a couple
miscarriages, including one just a couplemonths before.
(45:23):
In 2020, we were able to have a rainbow baby.
We didn't even realize it at the time, but wewere pregnant in 2019.
And, again, this is gonna tie into someCalifornia stories.
But, yeah, we had our son in 2020.
He was strong, outgoing from the very get go.
His his heart rate was amazing.
(45:44):
He was always ahead of the curve on every allof his measurements, height, head size, da da
da da.
So in 2020, we had our son.
We decided, you know what?
Let's go home.
Let's go back to our original home.
Let's go back to Iowa.
We've done all we could do out here even thoughI left a lot of things on the table from an
(46:05):
acting and whatnot perspective.
Let's go back to Iowa.
I was able to find a job with Hearst Televisionand got on with a local television station in
Iowa, KCCI, in Des Moines.
So we moved back.
Moved back to Iowa, Everything was gonna be,again, as I said, unicorns and rainbows.
And then the massive trauma of my life hit.
(46:27):
And literally less than twelve hours, we droveback from Iowa or from California to Iowa.
Again, we had our stuff all transported, but wedrove back.
And, unfortunately, we didn't drive fast enoughbecause literally twelve hours less than twelve
hours before we were going to be surprised witha knock on the door and my mom and dad be
(46:50):
standing there to hold my son for the veryfirst time.
She'd she'd seen him on video because this hewas born in January.
So she'd seen him on video through video chats,but we didn't move back until the February.
Less than twelve hours before she was slated tomeet him and hold him for the very first time,
which would be her their last grandchild.
(47:11):
She passed away.
Just in her sleep.
Just like that.
So if anybody asks me why I'm not religious,part of it was my upbringing and the way I was
(47:31):
try they tried to force it upon me.
Part of it was this.
Because you have people that say, oh, like, mysister, I love her to death.
My older sister, Jenny, she's religious.
And she's like, oh, God has a plan for us.
God has a plan for all of us.
And, you know, da da da da da da.
(47:55):
If God was so giving and loving and nurturingand caring and da da da da, Why would he do
something so heartless like that?
Why would he just up and rip away something somad amazingly magical less than twelve hours
before it was to become reality?
(48:15):
Why?
So, yeah, again, this is a reason why Iowa willnever be a place that we will ever live.
We'll go back.
We'll visit because our family is there, butwe'll never live there again.
Just from the trauma I went through as a kidgrowing up to the trauma I lived at lived with
(48:38):
there, there was nothing positive that camefrom living in that place.
And, yeah, you know, a lot of people havenothing nothing but positive things to say
about Iowa, and that's great.
And more on you.
And you wanna visit it, feel free.
But to me, it's it's never gonna be my homeagain.
(49:00):
My home is wherever my wife and son are.
That's my home.
But we lived there from February February 2020through the July June, July of '20 '20 '1.
About a year and a half, we lived there.
I worked for KCCI, as I said.
(49:22):
Wife was still working on the book, taking careof our amazing little dude at the same time.
My my aunt, Irene, loved her to death.
She became his grandma because when my when mymom went, she was the one that was there for
him.
She was the one that was giving him all thegrandmotherly love that my mom couldn't
(49:43):
anymore.
And, unfortunately, before we moved away fromIowa, she passed away.
She had some health issues.
She decided not to have them treated, and shepassed.
So she was gone.
And right before she went, her husband, myuncle Cliff, passed.
(50:07):
My uncle Johnny passed in 02/2010.
My grandma passed in '92.
And not to be outdone because, you know, hey.
Share the wealth.
In the time that we lived there in back inIowa, my wife lost her grandma, her grandpa,
(50:28):
her I believe her aunt one of her aunts wasthere during that period.
We she passed away.
And her her father her stepfather, but hebecame a father to her because her actual
father yeah.
Trauma episode, guys.
So, yeah, she lost four people in the time thatwe were there over the year and a half year and
(50:50):
a half ish.
I lost three.
So, yeah, Again, you know, Iowa, always giving.
Yay.
Luckily, though, I was gifted an opportunitythat came up on our internal message boards
with Hearst Television that they were lookingfor an IT manager in training because there was
(51:12):
an an IT manager that was gonna be retiring,and he needed his to create an heir apparent.
So I threw him a hat in the ring and landed thegig.
They actually created a position for me calledsenior IT manager.
They they created a position called senior ITmanager in training.
(51:34):
They created a position for me, and we wereable to move from Iowa to another booming
metropolis, Birmingham, Alabama.
And I can honestly tell you on the scorecard oflife as far as places to live and places to
call home or reside, Alabama was never on ourbingo card, but the opportunity was there.
(52:00):
The advancement within the company was there.
The money was definitely there at the time.
So we thought, hey.
Why not?
Iowa obviously, Iowa is a massive manure pile,so let's do it.
Let's move.
And that's what we did.
We moved down to Alabama.
And, yeah, they had a target on my back fromsquare one.
(52:23):
They I was tasked by Hearst Televisionmanagement, I should say, to essentially
Birmingham, WVTM, I believe is what it is, WVTMin Birmingham.
They basically were a outlaw station.
(52:44):
Essentially, they ran things the way theywanted to.
But Hearst because they were one of the newerstations that Hearst had brought into their
into their portfolio.
And Hearst wanted them to basically fall inline, and manager the IT manager at the time
was ingrained to their way of doing things.
And they're like, well, you know, he's gonna beretiring now.
(53:04):
We're bringing in fresh fresh blood here.
And we're like, we want you to shape thatstation in our image.
So they we butted heads.
They kind of knew.
Like, I was questioning things.
I was da da da da da.
And they're like, okay.
This kid is trying to do things we don't wanthim to do, so we gotta find a way to get him
(53:26):
out.
So they did everything they could to get rid ofme.
And, essentially, I went on a business trip toanother station actually in Charlotte, North
Carol in in Raleigh, Durham, North Carolina, WX I WXXI or WXII or something.
(53:47):
They wanted me to go out there to see how theyran their station and bring back bring stuff
back and help implement it.
And during that period of time, the managementof the Birmingham station decided, hey.
You know what?
This is our opportunity because we can get ridof him because it was an at at will work
environment.
(54:08):
So when I got back, I thought everything wasgoing okay.
They pulled me in with HR, and they told me,you know, hey.
You didn't you didn't itemize your receiptsproperly when you were on your business trip.
And why do you spend so much money at a Chickfil A?
Yeah.
They actually said that.
They called me out on my food eating habits.
(54:29):
And I had HR there with me, and I was basicallybattling them back and forth, meeting, you
know, meeting them head on with what the Vimthe vinegar they were flinging at me.
I was going back at them going, hey.
How dare you come at me like this?
And, essentially, after that, they were like,hey.
I got a phone call on a Sunday night tellingme, hey.
(54:50):
We don't want you to come in anymore.
We don't feel you comfortable having you hereat the station.
We're terminating you.
I got another severance.
But, yeah, again, so my wife is still notworking at the time.
We were like, what are we gonna do?
What are we gonna do?
We don't know what to do.
But, luckily, I was able to get a gig withwe're tying it all together, folks.
(55:14):
You guessed it.
Universal Music Group.
Ironically, the what the the office that welive just down the road from in Woodland Hills,
the office that I live just down the road fromwhere I worked in tore in Santa Monica now are
going to be the ones that employ me.
(55:36):
And the best part was was that at the time,because this was 02/2022 I'm sorry.
Yeah.
02/2022.
Wow.
My ears are off, guys.
It was all remote.
100% remote.
I did not have to work at all in the office.
(56:00):
So we were able to live in Birmingham while Iworked there.
And, eventually, we're like, hey.
You know, we wanna they wanted me to be alittle bit closer to their one of their main
offices, which is in Nashville.
So I was able to do that.
We were able to move in 2023 up to Jackson,Tennessee.
(56:22):
Actually, I apologize.
2020 '20, yeah.
2023, we moved up to Jackson, Tennessee, akaGunshot Alley, aka Mini Memphis.
It's about 60 miles east of Memphis.
We thought it was a nice area where the part welived in, we thought was a nice area.
We didn't realize how bad crime was andcontinued to get worse as we were there.
(56:47):
But UMG has been a godsend to us, and I'll getinto more of that later on with our trauma and
health scares and things we've gone through.
But I've been with them three years and stillworking hard to them to this day.
But we moved to Jackson in 2023.
We lived there for a year, and we decided, youknow, crime was getting really bad.
(57:11):
My wife and son went to a weekly librarychildren's hour thing, and they were being
approached multiple times by transients andother people.
And I didn't feel safe with them going evendowntown there anymore.
So in last year, in June, we moved here toColumbia, Tennessee, where we now call home.
(57:32):
And we've lived here since June in a brand newdevelopment.
Literally, our house is four months old, andit's been incredible.
My son has made a lot of fast friends.
My wife, who has stepped out of her comfortzone, has made very fast friends as well.
And she's got her own little crew that she'sbuilt, and he's got his crew.
(57:53):
And I'm starting to branch out a bit more hereas well.
But, yeah, Tennessee over these last coupleyears has been really good to us so much so
that once we get our credit lined up and we'rewhere we need to be, we're gonna set up our
forever home here.
I have a feeling.
I have a very strong feeling that we're gonnabe this is gonna be our roots.
Even even more so than that, our son's gonna beenrolling in kindergarten in the fall, which is
(58:18):
mind blowing.
But for now, guys, that is this episode, thismonth's or this week's episode this month.
This week's episode of the Smarter Sport withJohn Kanopik.
I hope you guys enjoyed my little round thehorn tour that I took you guys on from Iowa to
(58:40):
California back to Iowa down to Alabama and upto Tennessee.
It's been a journey, guys, over the four and ahalf decades I've been on this rock.
It's been a journey, and it's gonna be an evencrazier one going forward.
So for now, I'm gonna be signing off.
Next week's episode is gonna be dealing withtrauma.
(59:02):
I wanna get that trauma episode out of the way.
Want you guys to reach out to me on all socialmedia platforms, please, and thank you.
I am at the smorgasbord j k on all social mediaplatforms, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook,
Twitter, x, whatever you wanna call it, TikTok.
Let me know what you guys wanna see on theseepisodes.
(59:23):
Smorgasbord is all about little bit ofeverything.
Last week, we focused on wrestling.
This week, we focused on moving and upbringingsand things like that.
Next week's gonna be trauma and life changingevents and things of that nature.
But I wanna know what you guys think.
I wanna know what you guys wanna hear and seeon this show.
Is there anybody you'd like me to interview?
(59:45):
I'll do inter I love to do interviews too.
I'd love to talk to people about variousthings.
I'm gonna be dabbling into conspiracy theories,bunch of other things as time goes along.
So let me let me know what you guys wanna seeon future episodes.
As I get more comfortable, I'll be doing morevideo related ones too.
But, again, thank you guys very, very, very,very much for your time, your patience, your
(01:00:08):
energy, and for listening.
Love you guys all very, very much.
I hope you guys have a great week.
There'll be another episode coming up nextFriday as well.
Same bat time, same bat channel.
But for now, this has been the smorgasbord withJon Knoepak.
I have been Jon Knoepak.
And as always, as we close out every show,ladies and gentlemen, take my advice.
(01:00:33):
Pull down your pants and slide on the ice.
We'll see you guys next time.
Thanks for tuning in.
Bye.
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