November 22, 2024 • 33 mins
Gabe Wren is an independent filmmaker, producer, and director. He has served in multiple branches of the military, including the Marine Corps, Army, and Air Force. After his military service, Wren transitioned into the music industry and eventually found his passion for filmmaking. He is currently working on several projects, including a Christmas rom-com movie and a reality TV show called "Flipping Farms."
Key Takeaways:
- Wren's military background and experiences have influenced his approach to filmmaking and storytelling.
- He discusses the differences between the various military branches and his decision to serve in multiple branches.
- Wren shares how he got into filmmaking and the projects he's currently working on, including a Christmas movie and a reality TV show.
- He emphasizes the importance of being adaptable and open to new opportunities, which has been a key to his success.
Where to Find Gabe Wren:
- Instagram: @gabrielrentn
- "Flipping Farms" show Instagram: @flippingfarmsshow
Be sure to tune in next week for part two of the conversation with Gabe Wren, where they'll dive deeper into his military experiences and extreme sports background.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:01):
Hi, everybody. You're listening to Wake up with
Patty Katter. And today I have a special guest
for you. His name is Gabe Wren, and Gabe
is an independent filmmaker, producer, director.
Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, yeah.
Yeah. I'm excited to have you on
because you mentioned to me thatyou served in more than one
(00:22):
branch of military and I'm always excited to kind of hear
more about the thought process behind that.
But before we go all there, justtell my listeners a little bit
about yourself. How far back you want to go
like? Oh, to the day you were born.
You remember when you were coming out of your mother's
womb? I do.
It was it was. I was born in a state of
(00:44):
confusion. Is is where I was at wasn't sure
what was happening and then all of a sudden there's a bright
light and I guess it's the same when you die, right?
You see a bright light when you start, you see a bright light
when you die. It's like this circle that's.
What I hear. No, I, so I came from Northern
California originally and I was a rodeo cowboy in high school,
(01:06):
row bulls and Bronx and then ended up for a very short time
trying my hand at the pro rodeo while I was in the Marine Corps.
Obviously that side. I joined the Marine Corps right
out of high school and then stayed there for four years
until the war kicked off. And then I went back after a
(01:26):
small break in service and endedup in the Army.
Did that for one contract and then switched over to the Air
Force or a contract and then came back to the Army and stayed
there until about 2013 and then got out.
So my son mentioned to me there's a big difference between
the Army and the Marines, and it's the Army.
(01:47):
They don't even blouse their boots, is what he said.
Yeah, there there's a a massive difference.
You know, structurally all the branches have kind of the same,
same jobs and purpose, but we all have different tasks within
the DoD. And so switching from branch to
branch isn't as difficult as youwould think it is other than
(02:11):
understanding the rank structure.
Like I think the thing that got me between the, the biggest one
was the Air Force, like the Marines and the Army was very
similar except for a discipline level, which the Marine Corps
has over the top of them. But the Air Force was the one
that got me and I only stayed there for a year and then I had
to like I had to go. I couldn't, I couldn't handle
(02:34):
it. When I got there, I was walking
around with my service record book in hand.
I'm just walking around and thisthis officer comes up to me.
He goes, hey, are you, are you, you checking in?
And I was like, you know, I got position of attention sounded
off as I guess, Sir, I'm checking in.
I'm looking for, you know, the office.
And he goes, let's come right down here.
(02:55):
And he goes, who you with? And I told him and he goes, oh,
hey, I'm, I think his name was Joe or something.
He's like Joe. I'm your, I'm your commander.
Nice to meet you. What's your name?
And I said, you know, Sergeant Ren, and he goes, no, what's
your first name? And I was like, I, I don't know
about that. I was thinking the same thing.
When you're talking that story through, I'm like Joe.
Yeah, yeah. It's really strange.
(03:16):
The Air Force is very lackadaisical in their
structure. They're very, and it's, it's
very much where the Marine Corpswas like physical performance
and ability to do your job. The Air Force, I noticed there
was a lot of testing and a lot of ways to get ranked that way.
You had to test well. And then they included your,
(03:38):
your physical fitness scores with that.
In the Marine Corps, we don't, we didn't really care how you
tested. We cared how your performance
was. Yeah.
So how did you decide to go fromit was the Marines to the Air
Force right the. Marines to the Army.
Yeah, the Army, OK. And then the Air Force.
So how did you only get and if this is too much question for
(03:58):
you, let me know. But only a year in the Air
Force. Yeah.
So I got out of the Marine Corpsin, I'll date myself in June of
2001. That was my first four year
enlistment. And then when I got out, you
know, there was the war kicked off almost immediately after I
got out. You know, September happened.
(04:19):
And then we were in Afghanistan.And I sat back on the couch and
watch the war happen for about four years.
And in 2004, some of our guys went to Fallujah.
(04:39):
It's a big battle over there. And some of the guys I knew were
over there and a couple of them got killed.
And I just remember thinking that here I am, this 20
something year old guy who professes to love his country
and, and believes in it. And, and, you know, I've got
this big Marine Corps flag wherever I go and I'm watching
(05:01):
it all happen. And so, you know, I had a bit
of, you know, maybe survivor's guilt.
I had a bit of conviction and soI sought the Marine Corps out
again, but it was four years past the time.
And so a lot of us that tried togo back in the Marine Corps
couldn't go back in the Marine Corps at that point.
And a buddy of mine told me he'slike, hey, man, I just went and
(05:22):
joined the Army and they they took me.
So I went and talked to an Army National Guard recruiter is
where I ended up going and endedup in the infantry.
It was a straight trade. So I came from the Marine Corps,
went right into the infantry and, and I actually had a blast.
The Army infantry guys were a lot like the Marines.
(05:44):
You know, it was very similar. And I ended up on counter drug
for a while working drug teams and then did one full cycle of
that and the Air Force was offering $10,000 bonuses.
And so I was like, well, I mean,same job, 10,000 bucks extra,
like why not? So I hopped over there, spent a
(06:05):
year there. By the end of that first year I
was like, I can't do this anymore.
So I did what's called a blue togreen transfer.
OK. Where literally you just like
lateral back over to the other side.
And so I just went right back over to the other side and
hopped a deployment to Afghanistan a year later and
then finished out after Afghanistan in in the army and
(06:29):
then left. I wondered how that worked
because I know my listeners would ask the same.
Thanks. I'm like, wait a minute, you did
a year. How does that even work?
So that's a really good explanation and I don't think
I've heard it that way. I've heard green to gold as the
only colors that I've I, I know of.
So that's a good explanation. Thank you for explaining that
because I don't think some of mylisteners would know.
(06:51):
So you how are you in school growing up?
Like I'm talking elementary, middle, high school?
And what made you decide to jointhe military in the first place?
So I was all boy all the time. You know, I mean, there was
always those conversations with my mom and my dad at the school,
(07:13):
like he's too rowdy, he's too hyper, he's too all these
things. And now they just, you know,
medicate your kids to the to theother rank of stupidity.
But back then they would just you know, we got like when I
went to school, we were still getting spanked by principals.
You. Know like.
That's how long ago that was. And then then you get spanked by
the principal and it was worse because then you go home and you
(07:34):
get spanked by your dad as well because.
It's Oh yeah. You know, double, double it up.
But I spent. So I was, I was raised, I was
kind of raised all over the place until about fourth grade
and we ended up in a town calledDurham, California, which is
near Chico, CA. It's in the northernmost part of
California up there. It's actually considered, we
(07:56):
call it the state of Jefferson because back in the early 1900s
they annexed from the entire state of California them in
Southern Oregon and they put up barricades and everything was
this whole like coup. And so we're really proud of
our, our Northern California heritage.
It's very country. It's very rural, very red, very
not Southern California. And so I grew up kind of rowdy
(08:21):
and I grew up, you know, runningaround on dirt bikes and levee
roads and in the country and working on rice farms and, you
know, almond orchards. And, and I was, my grandpa was,
was in the Navy in Korea. And so I always had this strong
(08:41):
influence from him, you know, for the military.
And I loved hearing the stories,but I think what I always tell
people is it's either born in you or it's not.
There's a sense of there's a sense.
There's a sense inside you that says I need to protect and I
(09:03):
need to defend. And you either have or you
don't. I mean, there's just my son is
15 right now and he's in the SeaCadets and all he talks about is
joining the military. And it's not because I sat there
and beat it into him. It's because it's innate in who
he is. I mean, my family fought every
single war all the way to the revolution.
Everybody, every, every man in my family, every generation is
(09:24):
fought in a war all the way backto the revolution.
And it's, it's just, I think it's just in your DNA.
It is, I think, too. I remember hearing a study one
time about the different things that are passed down in your
DNA. And if you conceive before a
certain time, for example, like if a military veteran has PTSD
(09:45):
but they are conceived before that, then the odds are their
kid won't have that passed down to them or whatever those traits
passed down. Yeah.
So I also remember hearing that something like military service
or maybe somebody's mother is a nurse and then they always have
that like urge to be a nurse. So yeah, I mean and.
My mom and dad were like, my dadwas an associate pastor growing
(10:08):
up and my mom was a preschool teacher.
And so, you know, I, I always saw them in acts of service
growing up. And then we had foster kids in
and out of our home. And so it was another like act
of service and I was always meeting new people.
And it's like it kind of all just prepped me for the military
being in that type of environment.
And so when I was 17 years old, it was June 15th of 1996, I
(10:36):
walked into the recruiting station and walked around and
checked all the different placesout.
And I really had no direction. I was kind of looking at the
Coast Guard because I really is interested in their there's like
their special warfare, their drug teams and, you know, all
all that fun stuff. And then I looked at the Navy.
And as I'm walking around these different offices, there's this
(10:57):
Marine outside. He's just smoking a cigarette
and he's in his, he's in his alphas at the, no, not alphas.
What was he in? He was in Bravos at the time,
the blue pants, tan khaki shirt.And so I walk through all these
different recruiters and I nevereven looked at the Marine Corps
because I honestly had no idea what it was.
I, I, I was that sheltered kid to the military where like, I
(11:18):
knew what the Navy was because my grandpa, but I never explored
the military, had no idea what was happening.
And so I walk out of, of the Coast Guard.
And at that time, affirmative action was a really big deal.
And so he goes, let me guess, you can't join for two years
because you're a white male? And I was like, yeah.
(11:39):
And he goes, huh, Because you try the Navy.
And I was like, yeah, I don't know.
And he goes, what about the Army?
I was like, Nah, not really my thing.
And he goes, all right, well, good luck, Right.
And so that was his hook. And his name was.
His name was Sergeant Steve Koza, who's still to this day is
one of my closest friends. I have no doubt we'll watch this
(12:02):
when I send it to him. He's been the biggest
cheerleader in my life since theday I met him.
And I said, what's what's with you guys?
What's what's, what do you guys do?
He just looks at me and he goes.Probably not our kind.
No, he didn't. You know, you're like, Oh, yeah,
I'm going to prove you wrong. And he knew, he knew just taking
(12:25):
a look at me that that was my motivation, you know, because
I've always been that guy, that kid that was like, tell me I
can't, you know, I was always underestimated.
I've been underestimated my whole life.
Every scenario I walk into. I used to be a curse and now
it's a strength because I walk in and I like to be
(12:47):
underestimated. I love walking in the room and
not and not being counted, you know, because that gives me an
advantage. It's a tactical advantage at
this point. So he hooked me that that day I,
I went home, I told my mom and dad, I was like, I want to join
the Marine Corps because, you know, and I started researching
it and studying it and learning that it was like, you know, the
(13:08):
boot camp was, was the toughest boot camp you could do, you
know, And so I did it. And for one year to the day that
I left, I was in the delayed entry program and Steve Koza
cheered me on every day, called me every day.
And we spent a ton of time together.
And what's really funny about him is he he is genuinely
(13:29):
probably one of the best recruiters I've ever met.
But he absolutely hated recruiting duty, hated it with a
passion. But he loved the Marine Corps so
much that he believed in bringing in good people and he
would actually genuinely turn people away.
So he wasn't about the numbers, he was about, you know, the
(13:49):
needs of the Marine Corps and and giving it the best
opportunity. That's the amazing thing about
the Marines, too, is they don't have to accept everybody.
They're smaller than some of theother branches, right?
For a reason. Oh yeah.
So, yeah. So that's.
Quick quick story of how I got there.
Quick, quick. That's amazing.
(14:10):
I like it. I think we have a lot in common.
Not the Marine Corps, but the whole if you tell me I can't do
something, I'm going to do it five times.
So, you know, so one of the reasons that I want to do on my
show is you're in the process ofor there's a film getting ready
to come out that I want to hear about.
(14:32):
I like it because already because first of all, the
military background in you says that that film is going to be
really done as well as it can be.
And then the other part of it isyou mentioned that you're a
strong man. For example, when you were
younger, you had all these man tendencies already built inside
of you, which I think is so important to highlight because
(14:54):
too many times I think that men get a bad rap for being too
manly. But you can't be manly enough to
be on my show. So the, you know, the last,
Yeah. That's funny and I don't, I
don't mean to interrupt you, butyou know, I hear that that whole
societal like, oh, you know, too, too, mainly toxic
masculinity. But I come from a Christian
(15:14):
background and the Bible is veryspecific about what men should
look like, right? Our heroes in the Bible are guys
like David and Moses, you know, and these were strong men that
stood up to adversity that that we're willing to to fight to the
death. You know, I mean, Moses, not
people understand this, but there's a small little piece in
(15:35):
the Bible that talks about Moses.
He was like a special forces kind of guy, like small unit
tactics. He goes in the middle of the
night under the cover of darkness that kill everybody
quietly, right? And then they pillage the place.
Like those are our examples, youknow, of, of what manly men look
like. And so I don't think there's
(15:57):
anything wrong with it. No, I think it's great because
we need people to protect our country and we can't have a
bunch of weak people leading thecountry.
We just can't. I mean, bad guys aren't weak.
Bad guys don't care if you, you know, your fingers aren't,
fingernails aren't looking nice,you know?
So I, I appreciate that good mencan get tough and do harm when
(16:23):
needed. Can I?
Can I fix something real quick that's bothering me?
Absolutely. All right.
Give me a second and then. Yeah.
All right, so what's what I'm about to fix has been bugging me
since we started and it's just because of the way this monitor
system works. I've got to change this flag
around because it's all. Backwards.
I saw it and I'm like. Yeah, yeah, no, it's bugging me,
(16:46):
so let me fix this real quick. Yeah, no problem.
I don't. Want to get called out by the
Marine Corps populace and just be like that guy's flags crooked
and backwards on the SO anyway, let me fix it.
All right, awesome. While you're doing that, we're
just checking out your tattoos. Don't mind us.
And he can't hear us right now because he took his his ear pods
off. Surprised he doesn't start
(17:10):
singing. The halls of Montezuma do this.
Oh, there we go. There we go.
There we go. There we go.
It was hiding my safe anyway. Oh this is my office that I
built inside the garage. Just so I can edit.
(17:31):
I've got like this whole consolesetup thing.
You can't see it. Yeah, I like it.
I've done podcasts out of my garage before.
I get it. Yeah, no, I literally built a 8
by 10 room inside my garage justto have an office because I'm,
I'm in here when I'm editing, I'm in here, you know, for weeks
at a time. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(17:53):
So. So tell us about this film
you're working on and and tell wait back up for one second.
How did you go from military into producing films?
Yeah, gosh, it's a, it's a wild little journey.
So I moved to Nashville, TN, which is where I live now, South
of Nashville in 2013 right afterI got out of the military and I
(18:17):
ended up on accident in the music business as a touring
artist playing and singing. And that's actually How I Met
Adam Byrd. So Oh my gosh, I didn't even
realize you knew Adam. I've known Adam.
I've known Adam since 2015. We're really close.
Oh. My gosh.
And The funny thing is when you took your headphones out, I said
something about I'm surprised he's not singing from the halls
(18:40):
of Montezuma. And I didn't realize you had a
music career. Yeah, I did.
I I started in Nashville. I wrote a couple songs and they
got synced to a television show back in 2016 called Outlaw
Country. And it started just kind of
launched me off on a little bit of a music career.
And so I kept doing that for a while.
And then I bought a gun store, which is like what every Marine
(19:03):
should do, I think at some pointown a gun.
Shop and. So I own a gun shop and I also
owned a motorcycle repair shop doing Harley's and in the middle
of all that I was making these dumb videos for this new thing
called Instagram because Vine had just like died.
I remember that that platform. Yeah, so, so Vine was like the
(19:23):
big thing, right? It was these little do it for
the Vine stuff. Well, Vine was dying, but this
new thing, Instagram had popped up and I was like, oh, this is
pretty neat. So I started massing a following
out of this little bitty gun shop in Tennessee.
And I have like, I mean 30,000 plus like followers in the
store. And I mean my store it was
probably 2020 by 20 at the most.And I would go places and I'd be
(19:51):
wearing my shirt and people would be like, hey man, you're
the guy from the gun shop. And I'm like in the towns like 4
hours away. Like I love your videos.
And I was like, that's weird. OK, people watch this stuff.
And so as I was in the gun business, IA good friend of mine
named Zeke Stout who used to have.
(20:12):
He was on a podcast called Talking LED for a long time and
then he ended up on ATV show called Master at Arms.
He was a host. Well, him and I always kind of
just bounce things off of each other and work with each other
and, and have for years. And so I got into doing videos
for other people and kind of just slowly progressing.
(20:33):
And then it was my old contacts from the music business called
me up now like, Hey, can you do music videos?
And I was like, why not? You know, like, I didn't know
the first thing about shooting amusic video.
And I was just like, why not? I'll, I'll take a shot at it.
And then it's just escalated from that point to where we are
now. That is amazing.
Tell us about the film that you have coming out.
(20:56):
Or it's a series. Or tell.
Tell me about that. A couple of things.
Yeah. So I I got a chance to work on a
film that comes out November 23rd on Great American.
It's a ROM com Christmas movie and it's called A Little Women's
Christmas. And it was written, the story,
the original story is written byDionne Sheehan, who is amazing
writer. She's 25 years old.
(21:17):
She sold her first script at 25.I mean, she's just brilliant
girl. And that movie comes out on the
23rd of November. I think it's like 8:00 PM
Central time. And I got to work on that film.
My friend Brandon Clark and his dad, they they directed and
produced it along with Brian Byrd, who does ATV show called
(21:40):
when calls the Heart. It's a big show on Hallmark and
and so on that I met Dionne and previously to that I had started
working on this TV show called Flipping Farms, which is the
show that it is now. And we went and shot the first
(22:01):
part of the show back last year.And then I was able to work with
a friend of mine named Jesse Hutch, who's a as an actor in
the ROM com world, but he does action films.
He's on a new movie coming out called Homestead, and we were
able to get a deal with Warner to put the show on streaming
platforms. And so we went and finished up
(22:23):
shooting just recently. I'm actually flying out to shoot
a couple more shots here at the end of the week.
And it's a show about a father and daughter that they buy
farms, renovate the whole property and then sell it for a
profit. And it's not just the
renovation. The show's actually about the
relationship. It's kind of Duck Dynasty meets
(22:44):
a Magnolia Farms Chip and JoannaGaines thing.
Yeah, I mean, even the graphic for the show to promote the show
was really eye-catching to me because I automatically went
from one of those extreme home makeover kind of scenarios or
something like that, but to a much better thought process of
wow, like flipping a farm is a big deal.
(23:07):
It's not, you know, flipping a house, a whole farm.
I mean that that's a lot. Oh, yeah.
And the, the property that they renovate in this in this first
season is, you know, each episode has a renovation built
in on the farm. But also their characters are so
big in real life that we just couldn't ignore that part of it.
(23:27):
So we built a story, you know, from start to finish around the
farm. But also Jeff the the dad is
just he's a character. I mean, he is.
I love that guy. Like I can, I can live
vicariously through some of his antics and I think he could do
the same through me. But he gets into some pretty
(23:50):
crazy stuff. He's very off the wall.
He'd he's like buys random things.
He's got a great sense of humor.And then his daughter Rachel,
she's kind of the more like rulefollower structured type person,
but she's also very funny in herown right.
And so you put the two of them together and their relationship
just really shines. Yeah, it looks good.
(24:12):
I want to see it. I also want to see that ROM com
you're talking about. Yeah, we just did the red carpet
for that about a week ago here in in Tennessee where we shot
shot all the the footage for. It's a really good film.
I'm pretty proud of it. That's exciting.
Where can people find your films?
Or are they all over the place? Yeah.
So right now everything's just kind of like as an independent
(24:34):
guy, you get called to go do a lot of different things.
And so I mean, check out a little Women's Christmas, that's
one of them. And then Flipping Farms we have
in Instagram and and Facebook set up and we're working on the
rest of it now. But if they want to follow
Flipping Farms, they can find its Flipping Farms show I
believe is what it is on Instagram.
And what what is your Instagram handle?
(24:56):
Mine is Gabriel Wren. It's Gabriel under score Wren
TN. OK.
And if you're listening to this,you can go to the show notes and
you'll find it in the show notesas well.
What else is coming up for you, Gabe?
Do you have any plans? Are you just kind of winging it
as you go? You know, I've been winging it
my whole life and and so I'm going to continue to wing it.
(25:20):
But there there are plans. I'm in in talks right now about
a few other interesting things. A friend of mine named Jack Bale
has he's got a pretty great career in the in the comedy
world, in the prank space, and he's moving into feature films.
And so we're working on something together right now to
try to put put out there. And yeah, there's a lot of
(25:43):
things coming up that have some potential I'm really excited
about. And, and one of those is a
script that Dion wrote and it's about a Marine, you know, who
comes back from combat and his, his wife has passed away.
And there's, you know, there's some, some, some drama and
things with his his daughter. And it's a really interesting
(26:03):
script and it takes a really a neat look at the decisions that
we make in our life and how those choices affect us carrying
forward. Absolutely.
And, you know, people don't really realize too in real life,
in the military, you sometimes do come home to crazy situations
(26:25):
that you never foreseen. So one of the things that I used
to do with my kids when they were little is we used to play
Let's go wherever the wind blowsus.
And I'm a huge firm believer just to fly by the seat of your
pants. Because when you do that and
you're not thinking too hard into things and you just kind of
go with that gut intuition, things work out amazingly.
(26:47):
Yeah, I think the same thing. And, you know, you talk about
situations and the reason that this, this film that she wrote
resonates with me is because when I was in Afghanistan, I, I
got a Red Cross message the lasttwo weeks we were there.
And it said, you know, recommendthat that Sergeant Wren returns
home, father's in the hospital, life expectancy unknown.
(27:09):
And so here I am, you know, in, in Afghanistan.
And I get this message that justlike, wait, what?
Like this isn't supposed to be happening right now.
And my dad's body had gone toxic.
And so I, you know, flew home like 3 days on planes just to
get home. And I got home and my dad's
hooked up, you know, he's got a tube down his throat and he's
(27:31):
sitting up in a bed because he can't lay back.
They've got him propped up on anangle.
And so, you know, you talk aboutsituations that are stressful.
Like, I don't think I've found amore stressful situation than
that in my life at this point. And granted, he, he pulled
through eventually 30 days in the hospital, they, they said,
(27:52):
you know, that he wasn't sure ifhe was going to make it.
He died multiple times on the table.
But you know, God had a better plan.
And he's still here for a reason.
In fact, he's here at my house right now, which is great.
Wow, that's amazing. We're going to the Lowe's after
this. I got to go buy some stuff.
Nice, that is so great. But yeah, that that mentality
(28:13):
about flying by the seat of yourpants, it's the, it's the
maverick mentality from Top Gun.You know, it's like you just
take an open door. I mean, what, what do you got to
lose? It either it either sucks or it
doesn't. And I think you you win more
times than you lose when you jump through those doors.
Absolutely. The last two years of my life, I
(28:34):
try to say yes a lot more than no once in a great while, saying
no if I think I'm going to get killed or something, you know,
like that might not be a great. That's where I say yes.
Yeah, it depends. Yeah.
Is there, is there a chance we're going to die?
I'm in. Like, I don't mind if I die, I
just don't want it to be a slow,painful death.
So I guess if I'm going to say yes, like it better be all in or
(28:57):
let's think about this because Idon't want to be a vegetable.
Sure. So let me ask you a question
because you probably don't get this side of the house, but all
right, so you you mentioned the slow death.
What is your, everybody has this.
What's your death fear? My death fear, my death fear is
if my family has to watch me suffer for any period of time.
(29:20):
I don't want that. I want to just go fast for real,
like so, so I don't want to die of something that's like a slow,
long, you know, process for the family.
Yeah, yeah, mine is. My only fear is drowning, right?
(29:40):
Or being buried alive. Those are the two that are like.
Yeah, I've thought about those things.
Maybe we watched too many Titanics or or there was some
soap opera once where a lady wasburied alive and this like evil
lady had a camera in her casket and stuff.
It was so crazy, those. Are those are two?
Those are two for me that just don't work.
(30:03):
Well, I'm getting cremated and yeah, other than that, I don't
know. Yeah, yeah.
No, I I have, I have challenged myself to the I mean, I love,
you know, jumping out of airplanes.
I loved riding bulls. I used to race motorcycles, did
flat track on Harley. Like I'm in for excitement.
If if I'm going to die, it's going to be exciting.
(30:24):
I don't want to just, you know, even when I get old and it's
like the end of life is coming, I'm going to probably start
doing more extreme stuff just topush the.
Envelope. Yeah.
Because you want people to remember like, Oh yeah, that was
the great whatever, the great, great, great uncle that that he
died, you know, because he was out doing something really cool
(30:45):
other than, you know, I don't want it.
That's true, too. I don't want to be the one
that's just like, boring. Yeah, I always.
You know. I always said like I would, I
would go out, you know, you knowthat you like when you're
driving. This is kind of, I guess it's
morbid in a way, but it's not. Why not?
It's just because I'm, I'm an adventurous guy and I'm a
Marine. So I think about things.
(31:05):
But you know, when you're driving down the road and in the
center is the grass and they have those big jumps that go
over, you know, like I've alwaysthought, like when I get old,
maybe I'll just maybe that's theway I go.
I just try to Dukes of hazard that thing one time.
Just give it a run. With my luck, though, I'd do
that and then I'd like break a couple legs and you know, like,
(31:29):
oh man, wow, the conversations that I have, I think this is one
of the fun ones definitely. So thank you for that.
Again, tell everybody your Instagram and everybody make
sure you go follow Gabe. You're awesome, Gabe.
Thanks, I appreciate. I'm I'm happy to be here.
So this is fun. I wish we could keep going.
I've got. All I know, I was just thinking
(31:49):
I have another show after this one, but I want to have you on
because I think we should, again, I think we should talk
about like some extreme sports and some of the other things.
I want to get more into your bull riding and all that stuff
too because that sounds really fun.
I think we should have another recording.
So use that link I sent you and sign up again and we'll do it.
Yeah, yeah, sounds good. But yeah, you can.
(32:11):
You can find me at Gabriel underscore Ren TN in like Tennessee
on Instagram and and then our show is flipping farms, which
you can just type in flipping farms and it should pop up.
Flipping farms show I believe isthe handle on that.
All right, awesome. So if you're listening to this,
Ren, do I have our friend call you your last name?
Do I have an OK to do a Part 2? Because if I do, then I'll tell
(32:34):
my guests right now. Listen for Part 2 next week.
Yeah, let's do it. So next week I will be actually
would be fun. I'll be in Pennsylvania doing
some filming so we can we can doit from Pennsylvania.
All right, and how I do it too is this is a pre record, so I
have one extra show out in frontof your so it'll be boom boom.
And all my listeners know that. So yeah.
(32:56):
So we'll do. Yeah.
If you're listening right now, I'm going to have Gabe on the
show again, so make sure you tune in next week.
All right, sounds. Good.
All right, thanks. Thanks a lot everybody for
listening. And Gabe, thank you so much.
If you are listening, make sure you go to the show notes.
You can find a Gabe's Instagram there.
You'll be able to keep up with him on Instagram.
(33:19):
Also, if you're listening, make sure you go back through the
show archives if you've missed any.
We have a phenomenal couple of months coming up.
Everybody's re energized. We have a new president coming
up and and I think we're all thankful for that.
So it's going to be a great, great 2025, too.
We've got the House, the Senate,the Supreme Court.
(33:40):
I mean what else you need. Yes, yes, yes.
So thanks everybody. Until next time.
Hi, everybody. You're listening to Wake up with
Patty Katter. And today I have a special guest
for you. His name is Gabe Wren, and Gabe
is an independent filmmaker, producer, director.
Welcome to the show. Thanks for having me, yeah.
Yeah. I'm excited to have you on
because you mentioned to me thatyou served in more than one
(00:22):
branch of military and I'm always excited to kind of hear
more about the thought process behind that.
But before we go all there, justtell my listeners a little bit
about yourself. How far back you want to go
like? Oh, to the day you were born.
You remember when you were coming out of your mother's
womb? I do.
It was it was. I was born in a state of
(00:44):
confusion. Is is where I was at wasn't sure
what was happening and then all of a sudden there's a bright
light and I guess it's the same when you die, right?
You see a bright light when you start, you see a bright light
when you die. It's like this circle that's.
What I hear. No, I, so I came from Northern
California originally and I was a rodeo cowboy in high school,
(01:06):
row bulls and Bronx and then ended up for a very short time
trying my hand at the pro rodeo while I was in the Marine Corps.
Obviously that side. I joined the Marine Corps right
out of high school and then stayed there for four years
until the war kicked off. And then I went back after a
(01:26):
small break in service and endedup in the Army.
Did that for one contract and then switched over to the Air
Force or a contract and then came back to the Army and stayed
there until about 2013 and then got out.
So my son mentioned to me there's a big difference between
the Army and the Marines, and it's the Army.
(01:47):
They don't even blouse their boots, is what he said.
Yeah, there there's a a massive difference.
You know, structurally all the branches have kind of the same,
same jobs and purpose, but we all have different tasks within
the DoD. And so switching from branch to
branch isn't as difficult as youwould think it is other than
(02:11):
understanding the rank structure.
Like I think the thing that got me between the, the biggest one
was the Air Force, like the Marines and the Army was very
similar except for a discipline level, which the Marine Corps
has over the top of them. But the Air Force was the one
that got me and I only stayed there for a year and then I had
to like I had to go. I couldn't, I couldn't handle
(02:34):
it. When I got there, I was walking
around with my service record book in hand.
I'm just walking around and thisthis officer comes up to me.
He goes, hey, are you, are you, you checking in?
And I was like, you know, I got position of attention sounded
off as I guess, Sir, I'm checking in.
I'm looking for, you know, the office.
And he goes, let's come right down here.
(02:55):
And he goes, who you with? And I told him and he goes, oh,
hey, I'm, I think his name was Joe or something.
He's like Joe. I'm your, I'm your commander.
Nice to meet you. What's your name?
And I said, you know, Sergeant Ren, and he goes, no, what's
your first name? And I was like, I, I don't know
about that. I was thinking the same thing.
When you're talking that story through, I'm like Joe.
Yeah, yeah. It's really strange.
(03:16):
The Air Force is very lackadaisical in their
structure. They're very, and it's, it's
very much where the Marine Corpswas like physical performance
and ability to do your job. The Air Force, I noticed there
was a lot of testing and a lot of ways to get ranked that way.
You had to test well. And then they included your,
(03:38):
your physical fitness scores with that.
In the Marine Corps, we don't, we didn't really care how you
tested. We cared how your performance
was. Yeah.
So how did you decide to go fromit was the Marines to the Air
Force right the. Marines to the Army.
Yeah, the Army, OK. And then the Air Force.
So how did you only get and if this is too much question for
(03:58):
you, let me know. But only a year in the Air
Force. Yeah.
So I got out of the Marine Corpsin, I'll date myself in June of
2001. That was my first four year
enlistment. And then when I got out, you
know, there was the war kicked off almost immediately after I
got out. You know, September happened.
(04:19):
And then we were in Afghanistan.And I sat back on the couch and
watch the war happen for about four years.
And in 2004, some of our guys went to Fallujah.
(04:39):
It's a big battle over there. And some of the guys I knew were
over there and a couple of them got killed.
And I just remember thinking that here I am, this 20
something year old guy who professes to love his country
and, and believes in it. And, and, you know, I've got
this big Marine Corps flag wherever I go and I'm watching
(05:01):
it all happen. And so, you know, I had a bit
of, you know, maybe survivor's guilt.
I had a bit of conviction and soI sought the Marine Corps out
again, but it was four years past the time.
And so a lot of us that tried togo back in the Marine Corps
couldn't go back in the Marine Corps at that point.
And a buddy of mine told me he'slike, hey, man, I just went and
(05:22):
joined the Army and they they took me.
So I went and talked to an Army National Guard recruiter is
where I ended up going and endedup in the infantry.
It was a straight trade. So I came from the Marine Corps,
went right into the infantry and, and I actually had a blast.
The Army infantry guys were a lot like the Marines.
(05:44):
You know, it was very similar. And I ended up on counter drug
for a while working drug teams and then did one full cycle of
that and the Air Force was offering $10,000 bonuses.
And so I was like, well, I mean,same job, 10,000 bucks extra,
like why not? So I hopped over there, spent a
(06:05):
year there. By the end of that first year I
was like, I can't do this anymore.
So I did what's called a blue togreen transfer.
OK. Where literally you just like
lateral back over to the other side.
And so I just went right back over to the other side and
hopped a deployment to Afghanistan a year later and
then finished out after Afghanistan in in the army and
(06:29):
then left. I wondered how that worked
because I know my listeners would ask the same.
Thanks. I'm like, wait a minute, you did
a year. How does that even work?
So that's a really good explanation and I don't think
I've heard it that way. I've heard green to gold as the
only colors that I've I, I know of.
So that's a good explanation. Thank you for explaining that
because I don't think some of mylisteners would know.
(06:51):
So you how are you in school growing up?
Like I'm talking elementary, middle, high school?
And what made you decide to jointhe military in the first place?
So I was all boy all the time. You know, I mean, there was
always those conversations with my mom and my dad at the school,
(07:13):
like he's too rowdy, he's too hyper, he's too all these
things. And now they just, you know,
medicate your kids to the to theother rank of stupidity.
But back then they would just you know, we got like when I
went to school, we were still getting spanked by principals.
You. Know like.
That's how long ago that was. And then then you get spanked by
the principal and it was worse because then you go home and you
(07:34):
get spanked by your dad as well because.
It's Oh yeah. You know, double, double it up.
But I spent. So I was, I was raised, I was
kind of raised all over the place until about fourth grade
and we ended up in a town calledDurham, California, which is
near Chico, CA. It's in the northernmost part of
California up there. It's actually considered, we
(07:56):
call it the state of Jefferson because back in the early 1900s
they annexed from the entire state of California them in
Southern Oregon and they put up barricades and everything was
this whole like coup. And so we're really proud of
our, our Northern California heritage.
It's very country. It's very rural, very red, very
not Southern California. And so I grew up kind of rowdy
(08:21):
and I grew up, you know, runningaround on dirt bikes and levee
roads and in the country and working on rice farms and, you
know, almond orchards. And, and I was, my grandpa was,
was in the Navy in Korea. And so I always had this strong
(08:41):
influence from him, you know, for the military.
And I loved hearing the stories,but I think what I always tell
people is it's either born in you or it's not.
There's a sense of there's a sense.
There's a sense inside you that says I need to protect and I
(09:03):
need to defend. And you either have or you
don't. I mean, there's just my son is
15 right now and he's in the SeaCadets and all he talks about is
joining the military. And it's not because I sat there
and beat it into him. It's because it's innate in who
he is. I mean, my family fought every
single war all the way to the revolution.
Everybody, every, every man in my family, every generation is
(09:24):
fought in a war all the way backto the revolution.
And it's, it's just, I think it's just in your DNA.
It is, I think, too. I remember hearing a study one
time about the different things that are passed down in your
DNA. And if you conceive before a
certain time, for example, like if a military veteran has PTSD
(09:45):
but they are conceived before that, then the odds are their
kid won't have that passed down to them or whatever those traits
passed down. Yeah.
So I also remember hearing that something like military service
or maybe somebody's mother is a nurse and then they always have
that like urge to be a nurse. So yeah, I mean and.
My mom and dad were like, my dadwas an associate pastor growing
(10:08):
up and my mom was a preschool teacher.
And so, you know, I, I always saw them in acts of service
growing up. And then we had foster kids in
and out of our home. And so it was another like act
of service and I was always meeting new people.
And it's like it kind of all just prepped me for the military
being in that type of environment.
And so when I was 17 years old, it was June 15th of 1996, I
(10:36):
walked into the recruiting station and walked around and
checked all the different placesout.
And I really had no direction. I was kind of looking at the
Coast Guard because I really is interested in their there's like
their special warfare, their drug teams and, you know, all
all that fun stuff. And then I looked at the Navy.
And as I'm walking around these different offices, there's this
(10:57):
Marine outside. He's just smoking a cigarette
and he's in his, he's in his alphas at the, no, not alphas.
What was he in? He was in Bravos at the time,
the blue pants, tan khaki shirt.And so I walk through all these
different recruiters and I nevereven looked at the Marine Corps
because I honestly had no idea what it was.
I, I, I was that sheltered kid to the military where like, I
(11:18):
knew what the Navy was because my grandpa, but I never explored
the military, had no idea what was happening.
And so I walk out of, of the Coast Guard.
And at that time, affirmative action was a really big deal.
And so he goes, let me guess, you can't join for two years
because you're a white male? And I was like, yeah.
(11:39):
And he goes, huh, Because you try the Navy.
And I was like, yeah, I don't know.
And he goes, what about the Army?
I was like, Nah, not really my thing.
And he goes, all right, well, good luck, Right.
And so that was his hook. And his name was.
His name was Sergeant Steve Koza, who's still to this day is
one of my closest friends. I have no doubt we'll watch this
(12:02):
when I send it to him. He's been the biggest
cheerleader in my life since theday I met him.
And I said, what's what's with you guys?
What's what's, what do you guys do?
He just looks at me and he goes.Probably not our kind.
No, he didn't. You know, you're like, Oh, yeah,
I'm going to prove you wrong. And he knew, he knew just taking
(12:25):
a look at me that that was my motivation, you know, because
I've always been that guy, that kid that was like, tell me I
can't, you know, I was always underestimated.
I've been underestimated my whole life.
Every scenario I walk into. I used to be a curse and now
it's a strength because I walk in and I like to be
(12:47):
underestimated. I love walking in the room and
not and not being counted, you know, because that gives me an
advantage. It's a tactical advantage at
this point. So he hooked me that that day I,
I went home, I told my mom and dad, I was like, I want to join
the Marine Corps because, you know, and I started researching
it and studying it and learning that it was like, you know, the
(13:08):
boot camp was, was the toughest boot camp you could do, you
know, And so I did it. And for one year to the day that
I left, I was in the delayed entry program and Steve Koza
cheered me on every day, called me every day.
And we spent a ton of time together.
And what's really funny about him is he he is genuinely
(13:29):
probably one of the best recruiters I've ever met.
But he absolutely hated recruiting duty, hated it with a
passion. But he loved the Marine Corps so
much that he believed in bringing in good people and he
would actually genuinely turn people away.
So he wasn't about the numbers, he was about, you know, the
(13:49):
needs of the Marine Corps and and giving it the best
opportunity. That's the amazing thing about
the Marines, too, is they don't have to accept everybody.
They're smaller than some of theother branches, right?
For a reason. Oh yeah.
So, yeah. So that's.
Quick quick story of how I got there.
Quick, quick. That's amazing.
(14:10):
I like it. I think we have a lot in common.
Not the Marine Corps, but the whole if you tell me I can't do
something, I'm going to do it five times.
So, you know, so one of the reasons that I want to do on my
show is you're in the process ofor there's a film getting ready
to come out that I want to hear about.
(14:32):
I like it because already because first of all, the
military background in you says that that film is going to be
really done as well as it can be.
And then the other part of it isyou mentioned that you're a
strong man. For example, when you were
younger, you had all these man tendencies already built inside
of you, which I think is so important to highlight because
(14:54):
too many times I think that men get a bad rap for being too
manly. But you can't be manly enough to
be on my show. So the, you know, the last,
Yeah. That's funny and I don't, I
don't mean to interrupt you, butyou know, I hear that that whole
societal like, oh, you know, too, too, mainly toxic
masculinity. But I come from a Christian
(15:14):
background and the Bible is veryspecific about what men should
look like, right? Our heroes in the Bible are guys
like David and Moses, you know, and these were strong men that
stood up to adversity that that we're willing to to fight to the
death. You know, I mean, Moses, not
people understand this, but there's a small little piece in
(15:35):
the Bible that talks about Moses.
He was like a special forces kind of guy, like small unit
tactics. He goes in the middle of the
night under the cover of darkness that kill everybody
quietly, right? And then they pillage the place.
Like those are our examples, youknow, of, of what manly men look
like. And so I don't think there's
(15:57):
anything wrong with it. No, I think it's great because
we need people to protect our country and we can't have a
bunch of weak people leading thecountry.
We just can't. I mean, bad guys aren't weak.
Bad guys don't care if you, you know, your fingers aren't,
fingernails aren't looking nice,you know?
So I, I appreciate that good mencan get tough and do harm when
(16:23):
needed. Can I?
Can I fix something real quick that's bothering me?
Absolutely. All right.
Give me a second and then. Yeah.
All right, so what's what I'm about to fix has been bugging me
since we started and it's just because of the way this monitor
system works. I've got to change this flag
around because it's all. Backwards.
I saw it and I'm like. Yeah, yeah, no, it's bugging me,
(16:46):
so let me fix this real quick. Yeah, no problem.
I don't. Want to get called out by the
Marine Corps populace and just be like that guy's flags crooked
and backwards on the SO anyway, let me fix it.
All right, awesome. While you're doing that, we're
just checking out your tattoos. Don't mind us.
And he can't hear us right now because he took his his ear pods
off. Surprised he doesn't start
(17:10):
singing. The halls of Montezuma do this.
Oh, there we go. There we go.
There we go. There we go.
It was hiding my safe anyway. Oh this is my office that I
built inside the garage. Just so I can edit.
(17:31):
I've got like this whole consolesetup thing.
You can't see it. Yeah, I like it.
I've done podcasts out of my garage before.
I get it. Yeah, no, I literally built a 8
by 10 room inside my garage justto have an office because I'm,
I'm in here when I'm editing, I'm in here, you know, for weeks
at a time. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
(17:53):
So. So tell us about this film
you're working on and and tell wait back up for one second.
How did you go from military into producing films?
Yeah, gosh, it's a, it's a wild little journey.
So I moved to Nashville, TN, which is where I live now, South
of Nashville in 2013 right afterI got out of the military and I
(18:17):
ended up on accident in the music business as a touring
artist playing and singing. And that's actually How I Met
Adam Byrd. So Oh my gosh, I didn't even
realize you knew Adam. I've known Adam.
I've known Adam since 2015. We're really close.
Oh. My gosh.
And The funny thing is when you took your headphones out, I said
something about I'm surprised he's not singing from the halls
(18:40):
of Montezuma. And I didn't realize you had a
music career. Yeah, I did.
I I started in Nashville. I wrote a couple songs and they
got synced to a television show back in 2016 called Outlaw
Country. And it started just kind of
launched me off on a little bit of a music career.
And so I kept doing that for a while.
And then I bought a gun store, which is like what every Marine
(19:03):
should do, I think at some pointown a gun.
Shop and. So I own a gun shop and I also
owned a motorcycle repair shop doing Harley's and in the middle
of all that I was making these dumb videos for this new thing
called Instagram because Vine had just like died.
I remember that that platform. Yeah, so, so Vine was like the
(19:23):
big thing, right? It was these little do it for
the Vine stuff. Well, Vine was dying, but this
new thing, Instagram had popped up and I was like, oh, this is
pretty neat. So I started massing a following
out of this little bitty gun shop in Tennessee.
And I have like, I mean 30,000 plus like followers in the
store. And I mean my store it was
probably 2020 by 20 at the most.And I would go places and I'd be
(19:51):
wearing my shirt and people would be like, hey man, you're
the guy from the gun shop. And I'm like in the towns like 4
hours away. Like I love your videos.
And I was like, that's weird. OK, people watch this stuff.
And so as I was in the gun business, IA good friend of mine
named Zeke Stout who used to have.
(20:12):
He was on a podcast called Talking LED for a long time and
then he ended up on ATV show called Master at Arms.
He was a host. Well, him and I always kind of
just bounce things off of each other and work with each other
and, and have for years. And so I got into doing videos
for other people and kind of just slowly progressing.
(20:33):
And then it was my old contacts from the music business called
me up now like, Hey, can you do music videos?
And I was like, why not? You know, like, I didn't know
the first thing about shooting amusic video.
And I was just like, why not? I'll, I'll take a shot at it.
And then it's just escalated from that point to where we are
now. That is amazing.
Tell us about the film that you have coming out.
(20:56):
Or it's a series. Or tell.
Tell me about that. A couple of things.
Yeah. So I I got a chance to work on a
film that comes out November 23rd on Great American.
It's a ROM com Christmas movie and it's called A Little Women's
Christmas. And it was written, the story,
the original story is written byDionne Sheehan, who is amazing
writer. She's 25 years old.
(21:17):
She sold her first script at 25.I mean, she's just brilliant
girl. And that movie comes out on the
23rd of November. I think it's like 8:00 PM
Central time. And I got to work on that film.
My friend Brandon Clark and his dad, they they directed and
produced it along with Brian Byrd, who does ATV show called
(21:40):
when calls the Heart. It's a big show on Hallmark and
and so on that I met Dionne and previously to that I had started
working on this TV show called Flipping Farms, which is the
show that it is now. And we went and shot the first
(22:01):
part of the show back last year.And then I was able to work with
a friend of mine named Jesse Hutch, who's a as an actor in
the ROM com world, but he does action films.
He's on a new movie coming out called Homestead, and we were
able to get a deal with Warner to put the show on streaming
platforms. And so we went and finished up
(22:23):
shooting just recently. I'm actually flying out to shoot
a couple more shots here at the end of the week.
And it's a show about a father and daughter that they buy
farms, renovate the whole property and then sell it for a
profit. And it's not just the
renovation. The show's actually about the
relationship. It's kind of Duck Dynasty meets
(22:44):
a Magnolia Farms Chip and JoannaGaines thing.
Yeah, I mean, even the graphic for the show to promote the show
was really eye-catching to me because I automatically went
from one of those extreme home makeover kind of scenarios or
something like that, but to a much better thought process of
wow, like flipping a farm is a big deal.
(23:07):
It's not, you know, flipping a house, a whole farm.
I mean that that's a lot. Oh, yeah.
And the, the property that they renovate in this in this first
season is, you know, each episode has a renovation built
in on the farm. But also their characters are so
big in real life that we just couldn't ignore that part of it.
(23:27):
So we built a story, you know, from start to finish around the
farm. But also Jeff the the dad is
just he's a character. I mean, he is.
I love that guy. Like I can, I can live
vicariously through some of his antics and I think he could do
the same through me. But he gets into some pretty
(23:50):
crazy stuff. He's very off the wall.
He'd he's like buys random things.
He's got a great sense of humor.And then his daughter Rachel,
she's kind of the more like rulefollower structured type person,
but she's also very funny in herown right.
And so you put the two of them together and their relationship
just really shines. Yeah, it looks good.
(24:12):
I want to see it. I also want to see that ROM com
you're talking about. Yeah, we just did the red carpet
for that about a week ago here in in Tennessee where we shot
shot all the the footage for. It's a really good film.
I'm pretty proud of it. That's exciting.
Where can people find your films?
Or are they all over the place? Yeah.
So right now everything's just kind of like as an independent
(24:34):
guy, you get called to go do a lot of different things.
And so I mean, check out a little Women's Christmas, that's
one of them. And then Flipping Farms we have
in Instagram and and Facebook set up and we're working on the
rest of it now. But if they want to follow
Flipping Farms, they can find its Flipping Farms show I
believe is what it is on Instagram.
And what what is your Instagram handle?
(24:56):
Mine is Gabriel Wren. It's Gabriel under score Wren
TN. OK.
And if you're listening to this,you can go to the show notes and
you'll find it in the show notesas well.
What else is coming up for you, Gabe?
Do you have any plans? Are you just kind of winging it
as you go? You know, I've been winging it
my whole life and and so I'm going to continue to wing it.
(25:20):
But there there are plans. I'm in in talks right now about
a few other interesting things. A friend of mine named Jack Bale
has he's got a pretty great career in the in the comedy
world, in the prank space, and he's moving into feature films.
And so we're working on something together right now to
try to put put out there. And yeah, there's a lot of
(25:43):
things coming up that have some potential I'm really excited
about. And, and one of those is a
script that Dion wrote and it's about a Marine, you know, who
comes back from combat and his, his wife has passed away.
And there's, you know, there's some, some, some drama and
things with his his daughter. And it's a really interesting
(26:03):
script and it takes a really a neat look at the decisions that
we make in our life and how those choices affect us carrying
forward. Absolutely.
And, you know, people don't really realize too in real life,
in the military, you sometimes do come home to crazy situations
(26:25):
that you never foreseen. So one of the things that I used
to do with my kids when they were little is we used to play
Let's go wherever the wind blowsus.
And I'm a huge firm believer just to fly by the seat of your
pants. Because when you do that and
you're not thinking too hard into things and you just kind of
go with that gut intuition, things work out amazingly.
(26:47):
Yeah, I think the same thing. And, you know, you talk about
situations and the reason that this, this film that she wrote
resonates with me is because when I was in Afghanistan, I, I
got a Red Cross message the lasttwo weeks we were there.
And it said, you know, recommendthat that Sergeant Wren returns
home, father's in the hospital, life expectancy unknown.
(27:09):
And so here I am, you know, in, in Afghanistan.
And I get this message that justlike, wait, what?
Like this isn't supposed to be happening right now.
And my dad's body had gone toxic.
And so I, you know, flew home like 3 days on planes just to
get home. And I got home and my dad's
hooked up, you know, he's got a tube down his throat and he's
(27:31):
sitting up in a bed because he can't lay back.
They've got him propped up on anangle.
And so, you know, you talk aboutsituations that are stressful.
Like, I don't think I've found amore stressful situation than
that in my life at this point. And granted, he, he pulled
through eventually 30 days in the hospital, they, they said,
(27:52):
you know, that he wasn't sure ifhe was going to make it.
He died multiple times on the table.
But you know, God had a better plan.
And he's still here for a reason.
In fact, he's here at my house right now, which is great.
Wow, that's amazing. We're going to the Lowe's after
this. I got to go buy some stuff.
Nice, that is so great. But yeah, that that mentality
(28:13):
about flying by the seat of yourpants, it's the, it's the
maverick mentality from Top Gun.You know, it's like you just
take an open door. I mean, what, what do you got to
lose? It either it either sucks or it
doesn't. And I think you you win more
times than you lose when you jump through those doors.
Absolutely. The last two years of my life, I
(28:34):
try to say yes a lot more than no once in a great while, saying
no if I think I'm going to get killed or something, you know,
like that might not be a great. That's where I say yes.
Yeah, it depends. Yeah.
Is there, is there a chance we're going to die?
I'm in. Like, I don't mind if I die, I
just don't want it to be a slow,painful death.
So I guess if I'm going to say yes, like it better be all in or
(28:57):
let's think about this because Idon't want to be a vegetable.
Sure. So let me ask you a question
because you probably don't get this side of the house, but all
right, so you you mentioned the slow death.
What is your, everybody has this.
What's your death fear? My death fear, my death fear is
if my family has to watch me suffer for any period of time.
(29:20):
I don't want that. I want to just go fast for real,
like so, so I don't want to die of something that's like a slow,
long, you know, process for the family.
Yeah, yeah, mine is. My only fear is drowning, right?
(29:40):
Or being buried alive. Those are the two that are like.
Yeah, I've thought about those things.
Maybe we watched too many Titanics or or there was some
soap opera once where a lady wasburied alive and this like evil
lady had a camera in her casket and stuff.
It was so crazy, those. Are those are two?
Those are two for me that just don't work.
(30:03):
Well, I'm getting cremated and yeah, other than that, I don't
know. Yeah, yeah.
No, I I have, I have challenged myself to the I mean, I love,
you know, jumping out of airplanes.
I loved riding bulls. I used to race motorcycles, did
flat track on Harley. Like I'm in for excitement.
If if I'm going to die, it's going to be exciting.
(30:24):
I don't want to just, you know, even when I get old and it's
like the end of life is coming, I'm going to probably start
doing more extreme stuff just topush the.
Envelope. Yeah.
Because you want people to remember like, Oh yeah, that was
the great whatever, the great, great, great uncle that that he
died, you know, because he was out doing something really cool
(30:45):
other than, you know, I don't want it.
That's true, too. I don't want to be the one
that's just like, boring. Yeah, I always.
You know. I always said like I would, I
would go out, you know, you knowthat you like when you're
driving. This is kind of, I guess it's
morbid in a way, but it's not. Why not?
It's just because I'm, I'm an adventurous guy and I'm a
Marine. So I think about things.
(31:05):
But you know, when you're driving down the road and in the
center is the grass and they have those big jumps that go
over, you know, like I've alwaysthought, like when I get old,
maybe I'll just maybe that's theway I go.
I just try to Dukes of hazard that thing one time.
Just give it a run. With my luck, though, I'd do
that and then I'd like break a couple legs and you know, like,
(31:29):
oh man, wow, the conversations that I have, I think this is one
of the fun ones definitely. So thank you for that.
Again, tell everybody your Instagram and everybody make
sure you go follow Gabe. You're awesome, Gabe.
Thanks, I appreciate. I'm I'm happy to be here.
So this is fun. I wish we could keep going.
I've got. All I know, I was just thinking
(31:49):
I have another show after this one, but I want to have you on
because I think we should, again, I think we should talk
about like some extreme sports and some of the other things.
I want to get more into your bull riding and all that stuff
too because that sounds really fun.
I think we should have another recording.
So use that link I sent you and sign up again and we'll do it.
Yeah, yeah, sounds good. But yeah, you can.
(32:11):
You can find me at Gabriel underscore Ren TN in like Tennessee
on Instagram and and then our show is flipping farms, which
you can just type in flipping farms and it should pop up.
Flipping farms show I believe isthe handle on that.
All right, awesome. So if you're listening to this,
Ren, do I have our friend call you your last name?
Do I have an OK to do a Part 2? Because if I do, then I'll tell
(32:34):
my guests right now. Listen for Part 2 next week.
Yeah, let's do it. So next week I will be actually
would be fun. I'll be in Pennsylvania doing
some filming so we can we can doit from Pennsylvania.
All right, and how I do it too is this is a pre record, so I
have one extra show out in frontof your so it'll be boom boom.
And all my listeners know that. So yeah.
(32:56):
So we'll do. Yeah.
If you're listening right now, I'm going to have Gabe on the
show again, so make sure you tune in next week.
All right, sounds. Good.
All right, thanks. Thanks a lot everybody for
listening. And Gabe, thank you so much.
If you are listening, make sure you go to the show notes.
You can find a Gabe's Instagram there.
You'll be able to keep up with him on Instagram.
(33:19):
Also, if you're listening, make sure you go back through the
show archives if you've missed any.
We have a phenomenal couple of months coming up.
Everybody's re energized. We have a new president coming
up and and I think we're all thankful for that.
So it's going to be a great, great 2025, too.
We've got the House, the Senate,the Supreme Court.
(33:40):
I mean what else you need. Yes, yes, yes.
So thanks everybody. Until next time.
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