September 7, 2024 • 34 mins
The One About Pocket Hugs And Promises w/ Brandy Vega
Just Blane and Becks are back with a powerful and heartfelt episode of Radio Daybreak. This time, we’re diving into a topic that’s incredibly important—Suicide Prevention. Join us as we feature a special guest, Brandy Vega, the inspiring force behind the Promise2Live campaign.
First, Blane and Becks highlight the importance of Suicide Prevention Month and the critical resource, 988, the new mental health crisis hotline. They emphasize the ease and importance of reaching out for help when needed.
Next, we meet Brandy Vega, founder of the Promise2Live campaign and Vega Media Studios. Brandy shares her personal journey, having almost lost her daughter to suicide, and how this experience inspired her to create impactful initiatives. She discusses the Promise2Live campaign, which encourages people to make a commitment to seek help if they ever find themselves in a dark place. Brandy also introduces us to the Pocket Hug project, a touching way to provide comfort and connection.
Blane and Becks reveal their excitement about participating in the upcoming Promise2Live event in Hollywood, which coincides with National Suicide Awareness Day on September 10. They’ll be on the red carpet, interviewing guests and spreading messages of hope.
Finally, Brandy discusses her other ventures, including Vega Media Studios and Dancan AI, a groundbreaking company dedicated to authenticating content in the age of deepfakes and manipulated media. She shares her passion for creating a world where truth and transparency are paramount.
Don’t miss this episode filled with emotional stories, valuable resources, and a true sense of community. Tune in and be part of the movement to spread awareness and hope.
00:00 Introduction and Serious Topic Announcement
00:40 Special Guest Introduction: Brandi Vega
01:42 Upcoming Event in LA
03:05 Interview with Brandi Vega Begins
04:52 Brandi Vega's Personal Story and Mission
08:25 Promise to Live Campaign and 988 Awareness
14:11 Pocket Hug Project and Community Impact
16:48 Support and Coping Mechanisms
18:01 Upcoming Event Details and Conclusion
18:34 Invitation to Avalon
18:56 Celebrating Mental Health Heroes
19:54 Red Carpet Events and Performers
20:45 Importance of Donations
21:51 Peer Support and Mental Health Initiatives
23:45 Honest Conversations About Suicide
26:23 Brandy's 40 Over 40 Award
27:42 Dancan: Fighting Deepfakes and Misinformation
32:55 Future Events and Final Thoughts
Links:
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) https://afsp.org
JED Foundation https://jedfoundation.org
Trevor Project https://www.thetrevorproject.org
MTV "Ask" Campaign https://www.mtv.com/ask
#NewEpisode #Podcast #SuicidePrevention #MentalHealth #Community #Utah #RadioDaybreak #Promise2Live #VegaMedia #DancanAI
Keywords: Suicide Prevention, Mental Health, Community, Utah, Radio Daybreak, Blane and Becks, Promise2Live, Pocket Hug, Vega Media Studios, Dancan AI, Red Carpet Event, Hollywood
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:14):
Alright, it's Just Blane here.
And I'm Becks.
It's Radio Daybreak.
The best podcast in Utah.
Now, we gotta get tosomething serious here.
September is Suicide Awareness Month.
Or Suicide Prevention Month.
I guess it's both.
Yes.
And first up, 988, that'sthe number you hit.
If you've got any issues,please call that number.
They made it a whole lot easier.
(00:35):
Yeah, full resources are availablethere if you are struggling.
Absolutely.
This episode is very special.
We recorded this a little bit ago,and it's with a very special person
that we met at a another place.
in Utah, the Lake House.
Yeah.
Studios.
Yeah.
Miss Brandi Vega.
She's absolutely awesome.
(00:56):
What she's doing.
And I didn't even know whoshe was until we met her.
And now she's one of my favorite people.
So you're going to hear me say, I don'tknow who you are in a joking way, of
course, because yeah, I love our guest.
She's, but she is thehead of promise to live.
That's right.
And I actually have, let mefind it in my pocket here.
(01:16):
I've got your pocket hug.
Now look at this.
This is the promise to live.
We might not get it focused in there, buton the back of this, it says Colortex 988.
When you are struggling, when timesare tough and you don't know what
to do, here is a hug from me to you.
Yeah.
She gave us these and the more we talkedto her and found out what she was doing,
(01:39):
we basically got involved with an event.
We are going to a hugeevent in LA this weekend.
We're flying out.
The event is actually on.
National Suicide AwarenessDay, which is September 10th.
And, um, again, it's goingto be at Avalon Studio.
(01:59):
So we are taking Radio Daybreak out there.
We will be participating in that.
And tell them more, Blane.
Yeah, we're going to be out theredoing red carpet interviews and
talking to people that come inand getting, you know, Messages of
hope from whoever comes through.
I've seen, I've seen the list.
I can't even name off some of thesepeople, but the list was long.
Yeah, they've got a massive talent list.
There will be some celebritiesthere, some guests.
(02:22):
I mean, the whole LAscene, red carpet event.
It's going to be right off.
So we're going to be out therehosting that right off of
Hollywood Boulevard at the Avalon.
We're going to have footage for thatnext week, but right now let's go.
Go ahead.
You got one more.
I do.
They can still get tickets.
Yes, we will share the link whereyou guys can get free tickets.
Come and join us out in LA.
(02:42):
It will be an amazing event.
All of those proceeds go to her charity.
And again, to purchase more of thosepocket hugs and, um, for suicide tools,
awareness, and spreading the message.
Yeah, because that's what it's all about.
So, more about the message right here.
Let's go to the interviewwe did with Brandy.
(03:03):
We'll see you guys in Hollywood.
Let's do it.
All right.
We got our guests right now.
And let me, let me just tell youthat I'm not really sure who Brandy
Vega is, but he said what's happeningwas last week, me and Becks were
at the creative chamber with CJ.
Now I'm having a conversationwith CJ as I'm leaving and I
see Becks over there and I just.
(03:24):
Chop it up.
And later I find out, Brandy.
Becks comes to me and she'slike, That's Brandy Vega.
And I'm like, Brandy Vega?
Like, is that a wrestler or something?
What is that?
Yeah, she's got a catchy name.
Right?
I love the name.
But Becks, Becks told me a little bit moreabout her and I was like, well, we got to
(03:46):
get her on, got to get her on like ASAP.
Becks, please introduceher to us as you did to me.
Yes, absolutely.
First off, Brandy, thank you.
I know you are a busy ladyand you wear lots of hats.
Um, but yes, we've gotBrandy Vega here in studio.
Brandy, again, wearslots of different hats.
She's involved in many amazingorganizations and businesses,
(04:08):
um, namely Promise to Live.
So we're going to talk alittle bit about that today.
Uh, Dan Can, and thenalso Vega Media Studios.
So again, Brandy, thank youso much for joining us today.
Well, thank you guys for having me.
It's fun to connect.
Yes.
Awesome.
Where do we start?
Like, where do we start with, with Brandy?
No, I, I really, well, you know,we're in the month of August.
(04:32):
Here we are.
August is here.
National Suicide PreventionMonth is coming up.
In September, I, let's dive into,um, her work and what she's doing
with promise to live campaign.
It has an incredible, it'sso incredibly impactful.
Um, Brandy, assure us how yougot started with this initiative.
(04:52):
Well, I think often when people getinvolved in something, It's because
they have a purpose behind it.
So I almost lost my child to suicide aboutthree years ago and she was just 14 years
old and it was actually her second time.
And it was just absolutely terrifyingbecause we weren't entirely
sure if she was going to makeit through for a couple of days.
(05:13):
And if she did, if she would havepermanent disabilities and, um, So
it kind of sent me down this darkpath because thankfully her friend
had the courage to call 9 1 1.
We found her in time.
We got to primaries, but they didn'teven have a bed because they had so
many children attempting to end theirlives, and I was just devastated.
I actually volunteered at the hospitalat IHC doing spiritual care and
(05:34):
nobody dies alone for seven years.
And I'd sat with a lot of patients,but when you're looking at your
baby, It's just, it hurts so bad.
It just hits different.
And, um, I was justbegging God to save her.
And I actually did mymost vulnerable video.
My background, I was in the army.
I served the military from 95 to 03as a broadcast journalist, public
(05:57):
affairs specialist, reported forFox News at just 20 years old.
Got to interview the president.
I did a lot of cool things in my career.
I worked in TV news for about 15years and then I founded Vega Media.
Um, and I, I founded my nonprofit in 2015.
The nonprofit's calledGood Deed Revolution.
Our campaign and initiativeis a promise to live.
So I founded that in 2015 after somany years of working in news and
(06:20):
covering, you know, if it bleeds, itleads type stories that are very sad.
And PTSD and all the things.
So we were just kind of going throughthis and when, when I almost lost
my daughter, um, I did a video inmy car and I just said, I need help.
I don't know where to go.
I don't know what to do.
(06:42):
Um, and I know some ofyou have been through it.
And that video on my personal Facebookpage got 12, 000 views overnight.
I had hundreds of messages from people.
I would have never thoughtpeople like you or whoever going
through things that I never saw.
And my friends at NBC reached outand said, will you share your story?
I said, no way.
Not too private, personal,painful, not going to happen.
(07:03):
But I was also beggingGod to save my daughter.
And I felt, you know, the second day Igot this message that I'd get a second
chance, but there wouldn't be a third.
And shortly after she woke up and Iwas holding her hand and I just said,
babe, are you glad you're alive or doyou really wish you would have died?
And she said, mom, Ididn't really want to die.
It was just too late.
And we know people don't want to die.
(07:24):
They just want to kill the pain.
And this kind of journey of mybackground has been producing media TV.
And I remembered back to Live Aid in 1985.
And I thought, wow, what if wecould do a show where we deliver
hope, help, healing, and resources?
You know, Utah does a greatjob of disagree better.
My mission is tocollaborate when it counts.
(07:45):
And I think most peopleshould be in that mindset.
And so we created this show.
Our first one was almost three yearsago, and we actually, we hit 160, 000.
We hit around 400, 000 this year.
We're on track to hit between twoand a half and 10 million people.
We're doing the show in Hollywood.
(08:05):
We're working with celebrities,influencers, bands.
We have some folks from Pink Floyd,from Foo Fighters, from just all kinds
of different groups, the Simpsons.
And it's exciting, but, but justbriefly, and I know I'm talking a lot.
I'm sorry.
Every 40 seconds,somebody dies by suicide.
Yeah.
I don't know if you guys knew that every40 seconds, somebody dies by suicide.
In 25 or 30 seconds, what we ask peopleto do with promise to live, because
(08:28):
we have to shift this from awareness.
We're all aware there's a problemto action and accountability.
Yeah.
So we ask everyone, whether or not youstruggle to make a promise right now, this
second, that if you ever find yourselfin that dark, dark place, that you'll
reach out to a friend, a family member,a trusted resource like AFSP, NAMI J.
(08:49):
Ed Trevor live on or call or text 988and 988 is a 911 for mental health.
That's been out two years that only20 percent or so of people know about.
So that's kind of our mission.
We're doing a lot of really coolthings and it's just, it's amazing.
Yeah.
I mean, truly just absolutely amazing.
And you know, I am a retired ER nurse.
(09:10):
I am ashamed to say, Ididn't know about 988.
I didn't know that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I didn't know that.
It's been out two years.
That's probably why.
I'm retired out of, you know,medical about three years ago.
I've got a wild story.
I have a wild story.
Go ahead, Blane.
It's on
Hotline.
And this is, this is a true testamentto you never know when you're
going to really help somebody.
(09:32):
I worked at a radio station.
I was working overnightshifts and our phone number, I
didn't know this at the time.
Our phone number was a 186 number.
1866.
It was one digit off fromthe suicide hotline, right?
Did not know this at the time.
So I answered the phone at threein the morning, and I think it's a
(09:54):
caller trying to get on a radio show.
So it's, what's your name?
What city are you in?
And it kind of took them aback.
They were, they were like, uh, so I get tochatting with this, with this individual.
And I, I literally go from almostasleep cause it's three in the morning
and I'm doing boring radio work andI sit up and I'm like, Oh my gosh,
(10:18):
this, this is, this is, This is real.
This guy, girl, don't want to giveany more information than that.
Is going through something,and this, they don't think
they're calling a radio station.
That's when I looked it up.
Sure enough, it was like 1 866something something something something.
One digit away.
Yeah.
And I said, hey, whateveryou're thinking, don't do that.
(10:40):
I'm not the one to talk to.
Call this other number right now.
But I knew, I knew, I knew.
It felt different when I startedtalking to this individual.
They were going through something.
So you never know when somethinglike that will come up.
It was to this day, it'sstill, it's still, you see me.
I'm a little bit rattled.
(11:00):
It kind of rattled me that I wasthat individual that they ran into.
And I never answered a phone call on theradio station anymore with a, who are you?
Who was on that other side?
Yeah.
Gives you a different perspective.
Yeah.
That was, but that's.
Back to 988 is, is relativelynew, um, two years ago.
(11:22):
988
is the number one.
Yeah, 988 is the 9 1 1 for mental health.
You can call, you can text 24 7, and sowe're really trying to get that out there.
In fact, you know, I, when youmake the promise to live, you
go to promise number two, live.
org.
Yeah, you can, um, when you gothere and you make the promise,
(11:43):
it takes 25, 30 seconds.
I mean, all you're doing is puttingyour, in your email and your
phone number if you choose to,and then you click the, I promise.
And, um, you can opt in for ourinformation, which is really great
because then we can bring you hope andresources and events and just different
things that are happening, like ourglobal live stream, September 10th.
And then we ask you to share that onsocial media because the deaths have
(12:04):
gone up 71 percent in youth since 2010.
So our mission at Promise to Liveis to reach people where they are
on the devices and platforms theyuse through They already know trust
and follow so that's really criticalto us And we're doing a lot of it
through our pocket hug project too.
Yes, I wanted to ask you about that.
Yep
(12:25):
Yeah.
So that's, that's one ofthe ways we're doing it.
Yeah.
You want me to tell you more about it?
Let me jump in right there becauseyou, if you, if you're watching the
video feed, you saw me just make thatpromise as she was talking about it.
It's that it was thateasy to make the promise.
It's that easy to do that.
But now you've got to follow through.
(12:46):
And I think that's where we're
now you see this share withothers option over there.
Share it on
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, because whenyou share things, you become a safe space
and that safe space helps stop stigma.
And it starts conversations.
And that's what we'rereally, really trying to do.
We got to let people know that it's okay.
Mental health, addiction, trauma, allof this, it's okay to talk about it.
(13:07):
We're humans and it doesn't, it's brave.
So we want people to help us stop thestigma by making the promise to live.
And there's actual studies out therethat shows, you know, if somebody
makes a promise ahead of time, notdirectly related to mental health
or suicide, and this isn't a suicidepact, this is a promise to reach out.
If you find yourself struggling,friend, family member, resource.
(13:27):
Um, so we just, we want everybody to do itand share it and become that safe space.
Cause like you were talking about, I getpeople reaching out to me all the time.
I mean, I get a textor an email every day.
I had somebody on LinkedIn theother day, just message me and
say, Hey, I met you one time.
At an event for Dan Can, my tech company,where we were doing a panel, but I had
(13:48):
mentioned some mental health duringthat because, you know, manipulated
media and sex torsion and, and all thesethings can lead to suicide as well.
But he goes, I'm reallystruggling right now and I don't
know who I can reach out to.
Can I, can I talk to you?
And he just, a person I met one timeon a, you know, at an event I attended.
And so it's happening all the time.
(14:09):
And that's kind of why we've done these.
Pocket hugs.
I think this is the cutest, coolest thing.
So this is a promise to live pocket hug.
It has our website on the front andon the back it says, when times are
tough and you don't know what todo, here's a hug from me to you.
And we're on a mission to do ahundred thousand of these this year.
(14:30):
We've already done about 40, 000of these that we've given out.
Kevin Bacon's group got 5, 000.
The YSA, the young single adultsdid it as a service project.
So they put out, um, about 16, 500 andthen just all these various groups.
So people can go online andget these if, if you want.
(14:51):
And we're doing letters, handwritten,heartfelt letters of love that go out.
But these pocket hugs are so nice.
So we ask people make the promiseto live, and then you get a coin to
keep, and you get a coin to give.
We want you to connect.
The Surgeon General says there'san epidemic of loneliness.
We, this is a, this is a calling card.
This is a tool to reach out and giveto somebody in the drive thru or at the
(15:13):
market or wherever you go at your church.
Love that.
Love that.
And again, to find thosepromise to live dot com dot org.
for correcting
me on
that.
Absolutely.
You keep it in your pocket
and you know, the way thesecame about real quick.
(15:35):
Sometimes the stuff we do is heavy.
You know, and, and I had, um,I had a friend who sent me a
letter with a generic pocket hug.
I'd never seen one.
And I just thought, wow, that was nice.
She goes, I just want you to know you'reloved cause you're sometimes doing the
hard things and maybe you're struggling.
And I put it in my pocket.
I had it there for a month and everytime I reached in there, it was winter.
I would rub it, feel itkind of gave me courage.
(15:55):
It was that tactile, you know,something I could fidget with.
My friend's 35 year old sondied by overdose and they asked
me to speak at his funeral.
Um, Yeah.
And I'd already spoke at theirdaughter's funeral nine years earlier.
And I was sitting there getting ready tospeak and was talking to the mom and I was
feeling this in my pocket for comfort andI just felt inspired to give it to her.
(16:17):
So I reached in and I said, youknow what, I want you to have this.
And she took it and sheread it and she cried.
And the next week she wroteme back after the funeral.
And she said, that coin, that pockethug got me through the whole week.
I felt like you were with me.
It gave me the comfort and the courage.
And And right there, the idea wasborn that we have to give people
hope and resources in their pocket.
Let them know they're loved,but also a way to connect.
(16:39):
And find resources.
So I absolutely love that.
Incredible stuff.
You're doing like, it's, it's a lot.
Like you said, it's heavy.
How do you, how do you cope?
Like, you know what I mean?
Like it's, it's a lot for you totake in and who checks on you?
Who is the watcher?
You know?
(17:01):
Yeah.
Dr.
Pepper.
Here.
I was my best friend.
Yeah.
Right.
I, uh, you know, I havea great support team.
We have amazing advocates and ambassadorson my advisory team and in the community.
I, I just, I wake up every day with asense of urgency and DaVinci said it best.
He said, I've been impressedwith, with the sense of urgency.
(17:22):
Knowing is not enough.
We must apply.
Being willing is not enough.
We must do.
So I've been gathering doersbecause literally, I know People are
struggling now and need the help.
That kind of gets me through whenI have people message me and say,
I'm here because I made the promise.
I know what I'm doingmatters and it's hard.
It's hard because we're a small nonprofit.
We have a global reach of, we had117 countries come to our site.
(17:45):
We're doing all of this with avolunteer army because we don't
have budget to hire people yet.
We're getting there, but, um, it,it's just, you know, the love and the
comfort that comes from knowing you'remaking a difference and hearing it.
It's the ROI.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I know, as I mentioned,you know, with your intro, that
National Suicide Prevention Monthis just right around the corner.
(18:06):
So we really wanted to get you onthe pod to, you know, talk about your
messaging and you do an event, right?
You've got an event coming up on the10th, which is I am so excited about it.
So excited.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
Yes.
There you go.
It's our third annual Promise to LiveGlobal Livestream and Gala at the iconic
(18:27):
Avalon Theater in Hollywood, like wherethe stars are, Hollywood Boulevard.
All right.
I love Avalon.
So fun.
I love Avalon.
Have you been there?
Blane is from Hollywood.
I used to play at Avalon.
Oh yeah.
Then you should come.
You see this invite?
Grab a ticket.
Let's go.
Let's get you over there.
It's going to be fantastic.
I mean, we're putting together an
(18:51):
incredible
lineup.
Come broadcast.
I come broadcast that.
Perfect.
Well, we're going to be doing, um,we're going to be celebrating heroes
in the mental health community.
So if people have somebody that theywant to nominate, like a leader, an
advocate, an individual, a business,Let me know, reach out to me because
we're looking for heroes to honor.
This'll be an annual eventwe do every September 10th.
(19:12):
Our current reach, like we mentioned is250 million globally, because what we do
differently is we're live streaming tomultiple, multiple platforms, people with
a hundred thousand, a million followers.
And so we'll be just live streaming on,on TV and broadcast and radio networks.
We've teamed up with Dashradio, which is now lit live.
(19:32):
They're going to be, um, streaming ourshow, just a lot of cool things, but we
want people to tune in to learn about988 AFSP, all these different groups.
Our partners are listed there, butthat's our mission is to, to bring
some healing through music and media.
Let people know they're not alone,encourage them, and then let
them know about the resources.
(19:54):
Yeah, just, so yeah, you can gettickets online for Promise to Live.
It's gonna be, we have a red carpet.
Like, I did the red carpet.
I was there a couple of weeksago for the Hollywood Independent
Music Awards, the HEMAs.
I'm on their board now.
Look at me.
Anyway, it was fun.
It was my first time walking a red carpet.
I didn't know what to do.
I walked out there and I like,smiled at all the cameras.
They're like, no.
(20:14):
Smile at this one.
Stop here.
It was fun.
So we're going to havethat red carpet event.
It's going to be a great, greatnight full of incredible people.
And guess what?
Every single one of our performersor speakers, they're donating or
volunteering their time becausethis means something to them.
We couldn't afford to put this show on.
I mean, we pay for productionand everything, but we couldn't
(20:34):
pay the amount of talent.
I mean, last year, if we hadpaid our talent, For everything,
we'd be in the millions ofdollars, and this year even more.
Easily, I'm sure.
Yeah.
Alright Blane, mark your calendar.
I want to put this up too, becauseit's a way to donate for you.
Oh yeah.
Well, Thank you.
(20:54):
Yeah,
it's hard to ask for money, butI don't think this, this is, this
is like money to, uh, to humanity.
It's, it's, you know what I mean?
Like that to me, that'swhat it feels like.
So not soliciting people formoney, but if you want to give
some money, like do it right here.
It is.
Well,
I think, I think it's one of thosesituations where it's like, if you
(21:16):
haven't been impacted by suicidein your life or a loved one, it's,
you're one of the very lucky few.
Right?
I mean, it is so prevalent to yourpoint earlier, Brandy, with every 40
seconds, another person takes their life.
That's massive.
That's massive.
So if you feel compelled,here's the ways to donate.
Blane, thank you so very much forthrowing that up because it, I
(21:38):
personally have been impacted by this.
So it's means a lot, you know,it's a, it's a hard topic.
It means a lot.
And thank you for gettingthe awareness out, Brandy.
Yeah,
for sharing that.
And I hope what people know too is themoney donated, we're, we're getting these
pocket hugs and we're getting them intoschools and colleges and universities and
(21:59):
we're giving them out wherever we are.
So, you know, that'swhere some of it goes.
Some of it goes foreducation and training.
Some of it goes for counseling.
Some of it, yeah, there you go.
Production.
Um, so we sure, we sure appreciate that.
We're working to create.
content so people can find peer to peer.
You know, my, my daughter tried to endher life five days before her appointment.
(22:20):
We waited three months for, and sothere's just a lack of providers and,
you know, no faults of their own,but the system's a little bit broke.
So we believe in peer to peerAI, self guided online, all these
different things that we can kindof implement beforehand and AFSP
these guys, they have great programs.
We want to.
(22:40):
Put a fence at the top of themountain instead of bringing an
ambulance to the bottom of it.
Yeah, so that's kind of our goalWe've teamed up with Resilient
you they go to schools and theywork with the K through 6 and it's
amazing teaching them resilience and
watch on that Yeah, your work that you'redoing in the school We hadn't talked a
whole lot about that, which is absolutelygreat that you're getting in early, right?
(23:01):
You're getting in early K through6, which is wonderful because
we're finding younger and younger
individuals,
right, are, you know,more attempting suicide.
So sad.
We had a day last year where I was, Iwork with the fraternal order of police to
like, we're forming a partnership there.
(23:21):
They're great to do wonderful work,but on that same day, they had lost an
eight year old to suicide and we lostan 80 year old same day, uh, an older
grandmother who was just done and alittle eight year old boy, and I have a
seven year old and I think about that.
Like, how do they even know?
And people will often say not my kid.
My kid's fine.
My husband's fine.
My mom's fine.
(23:42):
They're not.
So here's what you need to do.
You need to stop what you'redoing and ask people point blank
if they're feeling suicidal.
Honest questions, honest answers.
You're not going to plant an idea.
Studies prove that.
So I would challenge anyone andeveryone within the sound of this voice,
check on the people you love todayand ask them that honest question.
We teamed up with MTV this year.
(24:03):
Um, on some activations and MTV,they have a campaign called ask ASK.
So people are often afraid becausewhat if they are, what do I say?
What do I do?
You acknowledge that's the a, you supportthat's the S and you keep in touch.
That's okay.
Just ask knowledge,support, keep in touch.
(24:23):
And you know, and then nine,eight, eight, and just reaching
out and things like that.
And when you talk about people not knowingor being involved, one of the guys I
reached out to who's now heavily involvedin our show, September 10th, When I first
reached out to him two years ago, I said,we're doing this really great thing.
He's a musician and a producer director.
(24:43):
Do you want to participate?
Yeah.
I care about that.
Teen mental health is important.
Yeah.
That's a good cause.
A year later, Brandy, mydaughter tried to end her life.
I want in.
I want to help.
I want to do whatever I can do.
How do I do this?
How do I navigate?
You've been through it.
Wow.
To
you Becks.
If you haven't been through it yet.
Yeah.
Stand by.
Fortunately, but we're trying to preventthat we're trying to prevent that.
(25:07):
So have these conversations now, you'llnever regret a conversation you have now.
And I love that you said stepone, honest conversation.
Are you feeling suicidal?
Sometimes that is a veryhard question to ask.
Right?
I mean, even with my nursingbackground in the ER, often we
got those crisis situations asthey're coming in the door, right?
(25:27):
And, or after the attempthas already been made.
So I love what you say about preventionand everything that you're doing.
Um, Blane, you have a question.
Yeah.
No,
I just, before we get out, I got tothrow some respect towards Becks, because
I have seen you ask that question.
Yeah,
I have seen you do that tosomeone and it's not easy.
(25:48):
Good job.
I've seen that in person.
I've seen you do that andthat takes so much courage.
There was other people around.
I'm sure other people were thinking it.
Want to ask it, but she did it.
So gotta give her respect for that.
Um, Brandy, Whatever, whenever youwant us, you want to come on, whatever
(26:10):
you got, come on, let us know.
Shoot us a text, shoot us an email.
We'd love to get the word out even more.
Um, Well,
I want to switch gears a littlebit, just if that's okay.
And I, I want to congratulateBrandy, because I know that you
just received a 40 under 40 awards.
So congratulations on that.
(26:32):
And I want you to touch a little biton, because we talked about you do wear
multiple hats and multiple businesses.
So, um, please share a little bit of thatwith us and let us celebrate with you.
Congrats.
Well, thank you.
I actually got the 40.
Over 40 award, which is, there'sa funny story there because
I won 40 under 42 years ago.
And they're like, congratulations,you're 40 under 40.
(26:55):
And I was like, I amso excited, but I'm 44.
Do I still win?
And they're like, just kidding.
Move.
So this year I got the 40 over40 and I'll be pushing 47.
So I was, I was thankful for that,but yeah, I run Vega Media Studios.
I've been doing production, as Imentioned early on for almost 30 years.
30 years.
I can't believe I'm that old.
(27:15):
I started at 17 military professionally.
Um, but I love it.
So I have a video production company.
We do training, education,product commercials.
You can see some of ourcommercials at Megaplex.
You can see them on the billboards.
I mean, we, we do everything.
It's fun.
Which is part of the reason I'mable to do the show is because
I
understand productionand how it all works.
(27:37):
And I'm connected pretty well into various industries and people.
And then I have a new companythat I'm super excited about,
and I hope people will check out.
It's called Dancan, D A N C A N dot AI.
And that stands for Digital AuthenticationNetwork, Certified and Non Negotiable.
Essentially, I'm sure you guys haveseen it, but you, you can't believe
anything you see, hear or read anymore.
(27:59):
You just can't.
Not with the advancements of AI,deepfake, synthetic, manipulative media.
So what my company does,is we authenticate content.
So, you know, a hundred percenttruth, trust, and transparency
with the stuff you're seeing.
So if anybody edits your footage at all,a pixel, a frame, manipulated media,
anything like that, you're going toknow that it's, that it's been edited.
(28:23):
And so this is our way ofauthenticating content, letting
people know where the truth lies.
Because it's dangerous and destructive.
I mean, people release deep fakes withZelensky and people died, you know,
and elections have been lost becausehe releases a deep fake video or audio.
And literally with one minute and 1.
(28:44):
We could take anybody in theworld and, and have them say
anything we wanted them to say.
We did it with thegovernor just as a joke.
Right.
And, and so we have to fight that.
And that's part of my mission in, inmedia and production is we want to
know what, where the truth lies andit's going to come to a point where.
You're going to have to say you can'tbelieve anything you see unless you
(29:07):
see it on my side as authenticated.
And it's a drag and drop.
We have, is it real?
Is it fake?
Um, those aren't, uh, totally operationalbecause it's going to take a minute
to get it out to the community.
We're working more B2B rightnow, but it'll be B2C as we grow.
Yeah.
That's, that's how we're going to haveto know to look at it and say this,
Oh, that video actually came fromBrandy or somebody, you know, overseas
manipulated it and uploaded it as her.
(29:29):
And with organizations that careabout reputation and, you know,
there's a company in China, they lost25 million over a deep fake video.
Oh, 25 million bucks.
We fake the entire conference andconference call and all this stuff.
And then why are the money out?
That's wild.
I saw that.
Oh my gosh.
It's only going to get crazier.
That's all it is.
It's going to get crazier.
I'm on top of this.
(29:50):
I love what you're saying, Brandy.
Brandy, man, you need tolink up after this because We
need to link up.
We got
Well, we also fight piracy with that.
Just so you know, like,we can fight piracy.
We can record content and thenif anybody's something that's
stealing it, we can fight that.
So, yes, please.
Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm all about Gettingrid of misinformation out there.
(30:13):
I got a journalist background.
I graduated from University of Memphisin journalism and broadcasting.
Been doing this for 20 plus years.
Awesome.
Produced, went to Hollywood,did the whole thing.
And it's, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'mlooking at this and I'm like, whoa.
So needed.
Yeah.
So absolutely needed.
But I'm not against AI.
(30:35):
I'm not against AI.
No, I love AI.
It's a, it's a great tool to use.
Not for this.
Not for, not for the deepfakes and getting people killed
and getting people bankrupt.
Like that's not what it's here for.
Um, I think it's here to helphumans basically do stuff that
is monotonous or whatever.
(30:56):
Whatever you want to do.
Or, to me, I think put something init and get a creative idea sparked.
There's a lot of stuff you can do with it.
Not that.
I use AI all the time in my company.
It's amazing.
But the problem is you justhave to have some regulations.
There's no oversight.
It's like the wild, wild West.
Anyone can do anything,anywhere right now.
And we, we don't know truth, especiallyfor some of our older population.
(31:17):
They just, you used to livein a world where you could,
if you saw it, you'd believe
it,
you're going to see it.
with my own
parents.
Yep.
It's crazy the stuff that they thinkbecause they find it on the internet,
you know, and, and some of the thingsnot to jump into politics or anything
like that, but they believe this,this or the other because they've
seen it online or they've seen video.
(31:40):
Oh my gosh.
It is wild.
I got to go earlier this yearto Iowa for the warrior rising.
So I got top 10 in the country for newstartup, new tech, new tech company.
So we're on a mission there.
Because it's just, we have to, andwe're on the cutting edge of it.
So we need to get it out there now.
Yeah.
This, this, this is anamazing, this is amazing.
(32:01):
This is going to, this will be,make your, make your, your billion
dollars right here, Brandy.
This will be your billion dollar.
This is her uniform.
Yes.
Really, really.
I'm not,
this is the forefront of, thisis, this is the, the wall.
This is the security, the checksand balances for the AI to keep
(32:23):
it from Becoming, what, sentient?
And becoming, uh, what was, uh, Skynet?
Becoming Skynet from the Terminator?
Like this, yeah, but, but in allrealness, this is, this is cutting edge,
like you said, full front for sure.
I'm gonna, I can't wait.
I'm gonna be, I'll be on thewatch for this over the next year.
(32:45):
Uh, because it, it will be.
We're gonna be
like, yeah,
totally.
I see that.
Let's do it.
I didn't see this happening.
You said Terminator.
Guess who's going to beat our global live stream?
Is Arnold going to be there?
Is Arnold going to be there?
I don't know yet.
We've got a lot of people who mayor may not be there, but we have
(33:08):
some really great people on ourlist right now, and uh, the producer
director From some of these moviesyou just mentioned might be there too.
Awesome.
Awesome.
So it's gonna be a good time.
You guys need to come and, and deck outand join me on the red carpet and enjoy
a, a great show or at least live stream.
And, and we're gettingtickets right after we
end this pod.
We're getting tickets.
. I'm good.
(33:29):
Alright.
Thank you.
I love it.
I
almost see, I'm glad I threw it backto Becks because I almost cut outta
here before I even get to that.
And that's right here.
I'm telling you what, this is the
hard part about my life.
I want to bring you back on
and do a whole show on Dan Can.
I think that's
(33:49):
and Vega Media Studios.
Yeah.
Need to jump.
And you know what?
We didn't even get, we didn't even geta talk about when I was a surrogate
mom six years ago and when I adoptedmy little boy from foster care,
like I love talking about fostercare, surrogacy, all the things
like, let's just, Continue sometime.
There's the teaser.
(34:10):
Part two is on the way.
Part two is coming.
Thank you, Brandy.
We really will.
We'll be in touch.
We'll see you around.
Come to some events.
We'll do whatever we can to getthe word out about PromiseToLive.
org and Dan Camp, because I'm just asinterested in that, on another level.
(34:30):
You know, like that's tome is That's touching.
That's touching my heart on another level.
So
yes, I love all
that you're doing.
Um, come back and see us.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks again, Brandon.
Anytime.
Alright, it's Just Blane here.
And I'm Becks.
It's Radio Daybreak.
The best podcast in Utah.
Now, we gotta get tosomething serious here.
September is Suicide Awareness Month.
Or Suicide Prevention Month.
I guess it's both.
Yes.
And first up, 988, that'sthe number you hit.
If you've got any issues,please call that number.
They made it a whole lot easier.
(00:35):
Yeah, full resources are availablethere if you are struggling.
Absolutely.
This episode is very special.
We recorded this a little bit ago,and it's with a very special person
that we met at a another place.
in Utah, the Lake House.
Yeah.
Studios.
Yeah.
Miss Brandi Vega.
She's absolutely awesome.
(00:56):
What she's doing.
And I didn't even know whoshe was until we met her.
And now she's one of my favorite people.
So you're going to hear me say, I don'tknow who you are in a joking way, of
course, because yeah, I love our guest.
She's, but she is thehead of promise to live.
That's right.
And I actually have, let mefind it in my pocket here.
(01:16):
I've got your pocket hug.
Now look at this.
This is the promise to live.
We might not get it focused in there, buton the back of this, it says Colortex 988.
When you are struggling, when timesare tough and you don't know what
to do, here is a hug from me to you.
Yeah.
She gave us these and the more we talkedto her and found out what she was doing,
(01:39):
we basically got involved with an event.
We are going to a hugeevent in LA this weekend.
We're flying out.
The event is actually on.
National Suicide AwarenessDay, which is September 10th.
And, um, again, it's goingto be at Avalon Studio.
(01:59):
So we are taking Radio Daybreak out there.
We will be participating in that.
And tell them more, Blane.
Yeah, we're going to be out theredoing red carpet interviews and
talking to people that come inand getting, you know, Messages of
hope from whoever comes through.
I've seen, I've seen the list.
I can't even name off some of thesepeople, but the list was long.
Yeah, they've got a massive talent list.
There will be some celebritiesthere, some guests.
(02:22):
I mean, the whole LAscene, red carpet event.
It's going to be right off.
So we're going to be out therehosting that right off of
Hollywood Boulevard at the Avalon.
We're going to have footage for thatnext week, but right now let's go.
Go ahead.
You got one more.
I do.
They can still get tickets.
Yes, we will share the link whereyou guys can get free tickets.
Come and join us out in LA.
(02:42):
It will be an amazing event.
All of those proceeds go to her charity.
And again, to purchase more of thosepocket hugs and, um, for suicide tools,
awareness, and spreading the message.
Yeah, because that's what it's all about.
So, more about the message right here.
Let's go to the interviewwe did with Brandy.
(03:03):
We'll see you guys in Hollywood.
Let's do it.
All right.
We got our guests right now.
And let me, let me just tell youthat I'm not really sure who Brandy
Vega is, but he said what's happeningwas last week, me and Becks were
at the creative chamber with CJ.
Now I'm having a conversationwith CJ as I'm leaving and I
see Becks over there and I just.
(03:24):
Chop it up.
And later I find out, Brandy.
Becks comes to me and she'slike, That's Brandy Vega.
And I'm like, Brandy Vega?
Like, is that a wrestler or something?
What is that?
Yeah, she's got a catchy name.
Right?
I love the name.
But Becks, Becks told me a little bit moreabout her and I was like, well, we got to
(03:46):
get her on, got to get her on like ASAP.
Becks, please introduceher to us as you did to me.
Yes, absolutely.
First off, Brandy, thank you.
I know you are a busy ladyand you wear lots of hats.
Um, but yes, we've gotBrandy Vega here in studio.
Brandy, again, wearslots of different hats.
She's involved in many amazingorganizations and businesses,
(04:08):
um, namely Promise to Live.
So we're going to talk alittle bit about that today.
Uh, Dan Can, and thenalso Vega Media Studios.
So again, Brandy, thank youso much for joining us today.
Well, thank you guys for having me.
It's fun to connect.
Yes.
Awesome.
Where do we start?
Like, where do we start with, with Brandy?
No, I, I really, well, you know,we're in the month of August.
(04:32):
Here we are.
August is here.
National Suicide PreventionMonth is coming up.
In September, I, let's dive into,um, her work and what she's doing
with promise to live campaign.
It has an incredible, it'sso incredibly impactful.
Um, Brandy, assure us how yougot started with this initiative.
(04:52):
Well, I think often when people getinvolved in something, It's because
they have a purpose behind it.
So I almost lost my child to suicide aboutthree years ago and she was just 14 years
old and it was actually her second time.
And it was just absolutely terrifyingbecause we weren't entirely
sure if she was going to makeit through for a couple of days.
(05:13):
And if she did, if she would havepermanent disabilities and, um, So
it kind of sent me down this darkpath because thankfully her friend
had the courage to call 9 1 1.
We found her in time.
We got to primaries, but they didn'teven have a bed because they had so
many children attempting to end theirlives, and I was just devastated.
I actually volunteered at the hospitalat IHC doing spiritual care and
(05:34):
nobody dies alone for seven years.
And I'd sat with a lot of patients,but when you're looking at your
baby, It's just, it hurts so bad.
It just hits different.
And, um, I was justbegging God to save her.
And I actually did mymost vulnerable video.
My background, I was in the army.
I served the military from 95 to 03as a broadcast journalist, public
(05:57):
affairs specialist, reported forFox News at just 20 years old.
Got to interview the president.
I did a lot of cool things in my career.
I worked in TV news for about 15years and then I founded Vega Media.
Um, and I, I founded my nonprofit in 2015.
The nonprofit's calledGood Deed Revolution.
Our campaign and initiativeis a promise to live.
So I founded that in 2015 after somany years of working in news and
(06:20):
covering, you know, if it bleeds, itleads type stories that are very sad.
And PTSD and all the things.
So we were just kind of going throughthis and when, when I almost lost
my daughter, um, I did a video inmy car and I just said, I need help.
I don't know where to go.
I don't know what to do.
(06:42):
Um, and I know some ofyou have been through it.
And that video on my personal Facebookpage got 12, 000 views overnight.
I had hundreds of messages from people.
I would have never thoughtpeople like you or whoever going
through things that I never saw.
And my friends at NBC reached outand said, will you share your story?
I said, no way.
Not too private, personal,painful, not going to happen.
(07:03):
But I was also beggingGod to save my daughter.
And I felt, you know, the second day Igot this message that I'd get a second
chance, but there wouldn't be a third.
And shortly after she woke up and Iwas holding her hand and I just said,
babe, are you glad you're alive or doyou really wish you would have died?
And she said, mom, Ididn't really want to die.
It was just too late.
And we know people don't want to die.
(07:24):
They just want to kill the pain.
And this kind of journey of mybackground has been producing media TV.
And I remembered back to Live Aid in 1985.
And I thought, wow, what if wecould do a show where we deliver
hope, help, healing, and resources?
You know, Utah does a greatjob of disagree better.
My mission is tocollaborate when it counts.
(07:45):
And I think most peopleshould be in that mindset.
And so we created this show.
Our first one was almost three yearsago, and we actually, we hit 160, 000.
We hit around 400, 000 this year.
We're on track to hit between twoand a half and 10 million people.
We're doing the show in Hollywood.
(08:05):
We're working with celebrities,influencers, bands.
We have some folks from Pink Floyd,from Foo Fighters, from just all kinds
of different groups, the Simpsons.
And it's exciting, but, but justbriefly, and I know I'm talking a lot.
I'm sorry.
Every 40 seconds,somebody dies by suicide.
Yeah.
I don't know if you guys knew that every40 seconds, somebody dies by suicide.
In 25 or 30 seconds, what we ask peopleto do with promise to live, because
(08:28):
we have to shift this from awareness.
We're all aware there's a problemto action and accountability.
Yeah.
So we ask everyone, whether or not youstruggle to make a promise right now, this
second, that if you ever find yourselfin that dark, dark place, that you'll
reach out to a friend, a family member,a trusted resource like AFSP, NAMI J.
(08:49):
Ed Trevor live on or call or text 988and 988 is a 911 for mental health.
That's been out two years that only20 percent or so of people know about.
So that's kind of our mission.
We're doing a lot of really coolthings and it's just, it's amazing.
Yeah.
I mean, truly just absolutely amazing.
And you know, I am a retired ER nurse.
(09:10):
I am ashamed to say, Ididn't know about 988.
I didn't know that.
Yeah.
Yeah, I didn't know that.
It's been out two years.
That's probably why.
I'm retired out of, you know,medical about three years ago.
I've got a wild story.
I have a wild story.
Go ahead, Blane.
It's on
Hotline.
And this is, this is a true testamentto you never know when you're
going to really help somebody.
(09:32):
I worked at a radio station.
I was working overnightshifts and our phone number, I
didn't know this at the time.
Our phone number was a 186 number.
1866.
It was one digit off fromthe suicide hotline, right?
Did not know this at the time.
So I answered the phone at threein the morning, and I think it's a
(09:54):
caller trying to get on a radio show.
So it's, what's your name?
What city are you in?
And it kind of took them aback.
They were, they were like, uh, so I get tochatting with this, with this individual.
And I, I literally go from almostasleep cause it's three in the morning
and I'm doing boring radio work andI sit up and I'm like, Oh my gosh,
(10:18):
this, this is, this is, This is real.
This guy, girl, don't want to giveany more information than that.
Is going through something,and this, they don't think
they're calling a radio station.
That's when I looked it up.
Sure enough, it was like 1 866something something something something.
One digit away.
Yeah.
And I said, hey, whateveryou're thinking, don't do that.
(10:40):
I'm not the one to talk to.
Call this other number right now.
But I knew, I knew, I knew.
It felt different when I startedtalking to this individual.
They were going through something.
So you never know when somethinglike that will come up.
It was to this day, it'sstill, it's still, you see me.
I'm a little bit rattled.
(11:00):
It kind of rattled me that I wasthat individual that they ran into.
And I never answered a phone call on theradio station anymore with a, who are you?
Who was on that other side?
Yeah.
Gives you a different perspective.
Yeah.
That was, but that's.
Back to 988 is, is relativelynew, um, two years ago.
(11:22):
988
is the number one.
Yeah, 988 is the 9 1 1 for mental health.
You can call, you can text 24 7, and sowe're really trying to get that out there.
In fact, you know, I, when youmake the promise to live, you
go to promise number two, live.
org.
Yeah, you can, um, when you gothere and you make the promise,
(11:43):
it takes 25, 30 seconds.
I mean, all you're doing is puttingyour, in your email and your
phone number if you choose to,and then you click the, I promise.
And, um, you can opt in for ourinformation, which is really great
because then we can bring you hope andresources and events and just different
things that are happening, like ourglobal live stream, September 10th.
And then we ask you to share that onsocial media because the deaths have
(12:04):
gone up 71 percent in youth since 2010.
So our mission at Promise to Liveis to reach people where they are
on the devices and platforms theyuse through They already know trust
and follow so that's really criticalto us And we're doing a lot of it
through our pocket hug project too.
Yes, I wanted to ask you about that.
Yep
(12:25):
Yeah.
So that's, that's one ofthe ways we're doing it.
Yeah.
You want me to tell you more about it?
Let me jump in right there becauseyou, if you, if you're watching the
video feed, you saw me just make thatpromise as she was talking about it.
It's that it was thateasy to make the promise.
It's that easy to do that.
But now you've got to follow through.
(12:46):
And I think that's where we're
now you see this share withothers option over there.
Share it on
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, because whenyou share things, you become a safe space
and that safe space helps stop stigma.
And it starts conversations.
And that's what we'rereally, really trying to do.
We got to let people know that it's okay.
Mental health, addiction, trauma, allof this, it's okay to talk about it.
(13:07):
We're humans and it doesn't, it's brave.
So we want people to help us stop thestigma by making the promise to live.
And there's actual studies out therethat shows, you know, if somebody
makes a promise ahead of time, notdirectly related to mental health
or suicide, and this isn't a suicidepact, this is a promise to reach out.
If you find yourself struggling,friend, family member, resource.
(13:27):
Um, so we just, we want everybody to do itand share it and become that safe space.
Cause like you were talking about, I getpeople reaching out to me all the time.
I mean, I get a textor an email every day.
I had somebody on LinkedIn theother day, just message me and
say, Hey, I met you one time.
At an event for Dan Can, my tech company,where we were doing a panel, but I had
(13:48):
mentioned some mental health duringthat because, you know, manipulated
media and sex torsion and, and all thesethings can lead to suicide as well.
But he goes, I'm reallystruggling right now and I don't
know who I can reach out to.
Can I, can I talk to you?
And he just, a person I met one timeon a, you know, at an event I attended.
And so it's happening all the time.
(14:09):
And that's kind of why we've done these.
Pocket hugs.
I think this is the cutest, coolest thing.
So this is a promise to live pocket hug.
It has our website on the front andon the back it says, when times are
tough and you don't know what todo, here's a hug from me to you.
And we're on a mission to do ahundred thousand of these this year.
(14:30):
We've already done about 40, 000of these that we've given out.
Kevin Bacon's group got 5, 000.
The YSA, the young single adultsdid it as a service project.
So they put out, um, about 16, 500 andthen just all these various groups.
So people can go online andget these if, if you want.
(14:51):
And we're doing letters, handwritten,heartfelt letters of love that go out.
But these pocket hugs are so nice.
So we ask people make the promiseto live, and then you get a coin to
keep, and you get a coin to give.
We want you to connect.
The Surgeon General says there'san epidemic of loneliness.
We, this is a, this is a calling card.
This is a tool to reach out and giveto somebody in the drive thru or at the
(15:13):
market or wherever you go at your church.
Love that.
Love that.
And again, to find thosepromise to live dot com dot org.
for correcting
me on
that.
Absolutely.
You keep it in your pocket
and you know, the way thesecame about real quick.
(15:35):
Sometimes the stuff we do is heavy.
You know, and, and I had, um,I had a friend who sent me a
letter with a generic pocket hug.
I'd never seen one.
And I just thought, wow, that was nice.
She goes, I just want you to know you'reloved cause you're sometimes doing the
hard things and maybe you're struggling.
And I put it in my pocket.
I had it there for a month and everytime I reached in there, it was winter.
I would rub it, feel itkind of gave me courage.
(15:55):
It was that tactile, you know,something I could fidget with.
My friend's 35 year old sondied by overdose and they asked
me to speak at his funeral.
Um, Yeah.
And I'd already spoke at theirdaughter's funeral nine years earlier.
And I was sitting there getting ready tospeak and was talking to the mom and I was
feeling this in my pocket for comfort andI just felt inspired to give it to her.
(16:17):
So I reached in and I said, youknow what, I want you to have this.
And she took it and sheread it and she cried.
And the next week she wroteme back after the funeral.
And she said, that coin, that pockethug got me through the whole week.
I felt like you were with me.
It gave me the comfort and the courage.
And And right there, the idea wasborn that we have to give people
hope and resources in their pocket.
Let them know they're loved,but also a way to connect.
(16:39):
And find resources.
So I absolutely love that.
Incredible stuff.
You're doing like, it's, it's a lot.
Like you said, it's heavy.
How do you, how do you cope?
Like, you know what I mean?
Like it's, it's a lot for you totake in and who checks on you?
Who is the watcher?
You know?
(17:01):
Yeah.
Dr.
Pepper.
Here.
I was my best friend.
Yeah.
Right.
I, uh, you know, I havea great support team.
We have amazing advocates and ambassadorson my advisory team and in the community.
I, I just, I wake up every day with asense of urgency and DaVinci said it best.
He said, I've been impressedwith, with the sense of urgency.
(17:22):
Knowing is not enough.
We must apply.
Being willing is not enough.
We must do.
So I've been gathering doersbecause literally, I know People are
struggling now and need the help.
That kind of gets me through whenI have people message me and say,
I'm here because I made the promise.
I know what I'm doingmatters and it's hard.
It's hard because we're a small nonprofit.
We have a global reach of, we had117 countries come to our site.
(17:45):
We're doing all of this with avolunteer army because we don't
have budget to hire people yet.
We're getting there, but, um, it,it's just, you know, the love and the
comfort that comes from knowing you'remaking a difference and hearing it.
It's the ROI.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And I know, as I mentioned,you know, with your intro, that
National Suicide Prevention Monthis just right around the corner.
(18:06):
So we really wanted to get you onthe pod to, you know, talk about your
messaging and you do an event, right?
You've got an event coming up on the10th, which is I am so excited about it.
So excited.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
Yes.
There you go.
It's our third annual Promise to LiveGlobal Livestream and Gala at the iconic
(18:27):
Avalon Theater in Hollywood, like wherethe stars are, Hollywood Boulevard.
All right.
I love Avalon.
So fun.
I love Avalon.
Have you been there?
Blane is from Hollywood.
I used to play at Avalon.
Oh yeah.
Then you should come.
You see this invite?
Grab a ticket.
Let's go.
Let's get you over there.
It's going to be fantastic.
I mean, we're putting together an
(18:51):
incredible
lineup.
Come broadcast.
I come broadcast that.
Perfect.
Well, we're going to be doing, um,we're going to be celebrating heroes
in the mental health community.
So if people have somebody that theywant to nominate, like a leader, an
advocate, an individual, a business,Let me know, reach out to me because
we're looking for heroes to honor.
This'll be an annual eventwe do every September 10th.
(19:12):
Our current reach, like we mentioned is250 million globally, because what we do
differently is we're live streaming tomultiple, multiple platforms, people with
a hundred thousand, a million followers.
And so we'll be just live streaming on,on TV and broadcast and radio networks.
We've teamed up with Dashradio, which is now lit live.
(19:32):
They're going to be, um, streaming ourshow, just a lot of cool things, but we
want people to tune in to learn about988 AFSP, all these different groups.
Our partners are listed there, butthat's our mission is to, to bring
some healing through music and media.
Let people know they're not alone,encourage them, and then let
them know about the resources.
(19:54):
Yeah, just, so yeah, you can gettickets online for Promise to Live.
It's gonna be, we have a red carpet.
Like, I did the red carpet.
I was there a couple of weeksago for the Hollywood Independent
Music Awards, the HEMAs.
I'm on their board now.
Look at me.
Anyway, it was fun.
It was my first time walking a red carpet.
I didn't know what to do.
I walked out there and I like,smiled at all the cameras.
They're like, no.
(20:14):
Smile at this one.
Stop here.
It was fun.
So we're going to havethat red carpet event.
It's going to be a great, greatnight full of incredible people.
And guess what?
Every single one of our performersor speakers, they're donating or
volunteering their time becausethis means something to them.
We couldn't afford to put this show on.
I mean, we pay for productionand everything, but we couldn't
(20:34):
pay the amount of talent.
I mean, last year, if we hadpaid our talent, For everything,
we'd be in the millions ofdollars, and this year even more.
Easily, I'm sure.
Yeah.
Alright Blane, mark your calendar.
I want to put this up too, becauseit's a way to donate for you.
Oh yeah.
Well, Thank you.
(20:54):
Yeah,
it's hard to ask for money, butI don't think this, this is, this
is like money to, uh, to humanity.
It's, it's, you know what I mean?
Like that to me, that'swhat it feels like.
So not soliciting people formoney, but if you want to give
some money, like do it right here.
It is.
Well,
I think, I think it's one of thosesituations where it's like, if you
(21:16):
haven't been impacted by suicidein your life or a loved one, it's,
you're one of the very lucky few.
Right?
I mean, it is so prevalent to yourpoint earlier, Brandy, with every 40
seconds, another person takes their life.
That's massive.
That's massive.
So if you feel compelled,here's the ways to donate.
Blane, thank you so very much forthrowing that up because it, I
(21:38):
personally have been impacted by this.
So it's means a lot, you know,it's a, it's a hard topic.
It means a lot.
And thank you for gettingthe awareness out, Brandy.
Yeah,
for sharing that.
And I hope what people know too is themoney donated, we're, we're getting these
pocket hugs and we're getting them intoschools and colleges and universities and
(21:59):
we're giving them out wherever we are.
So, you know, that'swhere some of it goes.
Some of it goes foreducation and training.
Some of it goes for counseling.
Some of it, yeah, there you go.
Production.
Um, so we sure, we sure appreciate that.
We're working to create.
content so people can find peer to peer.
You know, my, my daughter tried to endher life five days before her appointment.
(22:20):
We waited three months for, and sothere's just a lack of providers and,
you know, no faults of their own,but the system's a little bit broke.
So we believe in peer to peerAI, self guided online, all these
different things that we can kindof implement beforehand and AFSP
these guys, they have great programs.
We want to.
(22:40):
Put a fence at the top of themountain instead of bringing an
ambulance to the bottom of it.
Yeah, so that's kind of our goalWe've teamed up with Resilient
you they go to schools and theywork with the K through 6 and it's
amazing teaching them resilience and
watch on that Yeah, your work that you'redoing in the school We hadn't talked a
whole lot about that, which is absolutelygreat that you're getting in early, right?
(23:01):
You're getting in early K through6, which is wonderful because
we're finding younger and younger
individuals,
right, are, you know,more attempting suicide.
So sad.
We had a day last year where I was, Iwork with the fraternal order of police to
like, we're forming a partnership there.
(23:21):
They're great to do wonderful work,but on that same day, they had lost an
eight year old to suicide and we lostan 80 year old same day, uh, an older
grandmother who was just done and alittle eight year old boy, and I have a
seven year old and I think about that.
Like, how do they even know?
And people will often say not my kid.
My kid's fine.
My husband's fine.
My mom's fine.
(23:42):
They're not.
So here's what you need to do.
You need to stop what you'redoing and ask people point blank
if they're feeling suicidal.
Honest questions, honest answers.
You're not going to plant an idea.
Studies prove that.
So I would challenge anyone andeveryone within the sound of this voice,
check on the people you love todayand ask them that honest question.
We teamed up with MTV this year.
(24:03):
Um, on some activations and MTV,they have a campaign called ask ASK.
So people are often afraid becausewhat if they are, what do I say?
What do I do?
You acknowledge that's the a, you supportthat's the S and you keep in touch.
That's okay.
Just ask knowledge,support, keep in touch.
(24:23):
And you know, and then nine,eight, eight, and just reaching
out and things like that.
And when you talk about people not knowingor being involved, one of the guys I
reached out to who's now heavily involvedin our show, September 10th, When I first
reached out to him two years ago, I said,we're doing this really great thing.
He's a musician and a producer director.
(24:43):
Do you want to participate?
Yeah.
I care about that.
Teen mental health is important.
Yeah.
That's a good cause.
A year later, Brandy, mydaughter tried to end her life.
I want in.
I want to help.
I want to do whatever I can do.
How do I do this?
How do I navigate?
You've been through it.
Wow.
To
you Becks.
If you haven't been through it yet.
Yeah.
Stand by.
Fortunately, but we're trying to preventthat we're trying to prevent that.
(25:07):
So have these conversations now, you'llnever regret a conversation you have now.
And I love that you said stepone, honest conversation.
Are you feeling suicidal?
Sometimes that is a veryhard question to ask.
Right?
I mean, even with my nursingbackground in the ER, often we
got those crisis situations asthey're coming in the door, right?
(25:27):
And, or after the attempthas already been made.
So I love what you say about preventionand everything that you're doing.
Um, Blane, you have a question.
Yeah.
No,
I just, before we get out, I got tothrow some respect towards Becks, because
I have seen you ask that question.
Yeah,
I have seen you do that tosomeone and it's not easy.
(25:48):
Good job.
I've seen that in person.
I've seen you do that andthat takes so much courage.
There was other people around.
I'm sure other people were thinking it.
Want to ask it, but she did it.
So gotta give her respect for that.
Um, Brandy, Whatever, whenever youwant us, you want to come on, whatever
(26:10):
you got, come on, let us know.
Shoot us a text, shoot us an email.
We'd love to get the word out even more.
Um, Well,
I want to switch gears a littlebit, just if that's okay.
And I, I want to congratulateBrandy, because I know that you
just received a 40 under 40 awards.
So congratulations on that.
(26:32):
And I want you to touch a little biton, because we talked about you do wear
multiple hats and multiple businesses.
So, um, please share a little bit of thatwith us and let us celebrate with you.
Congrats.
Well, thank you.
I actually got the 40.
Over 40 award, which is, there'sa funny story there because
I won 40 under 42 years ago.
And they're like, congratulations,you're 40 under 40.
(26:55):
And I was like, I amso excited, but I'm 44.
Do I still win?
And they're like, just kidding.
Move.
So this year I got the 40 over40 and I'll be pushing 47.
So I was, I was thankful for that,but yeah, I run Vega Media Studios.
I've been doing production, as Imentioned early on for almost 30 years.
30 years.
I can't believe I'm that old.
(27:15):
I started at 17 military professionally.
Um, but I love it.
So I have a video production company.
We do training, education,product commercials.
You can see some of ourcommercials at Megaplex.
You can see them on the billboards.
I mean, we, we do everything.
It's fun.
Which is part of the reason I'mable to do the show is because
I
understand productionand how it all works.
(27:37):
And I'm connected pretty well into various industries and people.
And then I have a new companythat I'm super excited about,
and I hope people will check out.
It's called Dancan, D A N C A N dot AI.
And that stands for Digital AuthenticationNetwork, Certified and Non Negotiable.
Essentially, I'm sure you guys haveseen it, but you, you can't believe
anything you see, hear or read anymore.
(27:59):
You just can't.
Not with the advancements of AI,deepfake, synthetic, manipulative media.
So what my company does,is we authenticate content.
So, you know, a hundred percenttruth, trust, and transparency
with the stuff you're seeing.
So if anybody edits your footage at all,a pixel, a frame, manipulated media,
anything like that, you're going toknow that it's, that it's been edited.
(28:23):
And so this is our way ofauthenticating content, letting
people know where the truth lies.
Because it's dangerous and destructive.
I mean, people release deep fakes withZelensky and people died, you know,
and elections have been lost becausehe releases a deep fake video or audio.
And literally with one minute and 1.
(28:44):
We could take anybody in theworld and, and have them say
anything we wanted them to say.
We did it with thegovernor just as a joke.
Right.
And, and so we have to fight that.
And that's part of my mission in, inmedia and production is we want to
know what, where the truth lies andit's going to come to a point where.
You're going to have to say you can'tbelieve anything you see unless you
(29:07):
see it on my side as authenticated.
And it's a drag and drop.
We have, is it real?
Is it fake?
Um, those aren't, uh, totally operationalbecause it's going to take a minute
to get it out to the community.
We're working more B2B rightnow, but it'll be B2C as we grow.
Yeah.
That's, that's how we're going to haveto know to look at it and say this,
Oh, that video actually came fromBrandy or somebody, you know, overseas
manipulated it and uploaded it as her.
(29:29):
And with organizations that careabout reputation and, you know,
there's a company in China, they lost25 million over a deep fake video.
Oh, 25 million bucks.
We fake the entire conference andconference call and all this stuff.
And then why are the money out?
That's wild.
I saw that.
Oh my gosh.
It's only going to get crazier.
That's all it is.
It's going to get crazier.
I'm on top of this.
(29:50):
I love what you're saying, Brandy.
Brandy, man, you need tolink up after this because We
need to link up.
We got
Well, we also fight piracy with that.
Just so you know, like,we can fight piracy.
We can record content and thenif anybody's something that's
stealing it, we can fight that.
So, yes, please.
Yeah, yeah, I'm, I'm all about Gettingrid of misinformation out there.
(30:13):
I got a journalist background.
I graduated from University of Memphisin journalism and broadcasting.
Been doing this for 20 plus years.
Awesome.
Produced, went to Hollywood,did the whole thing.
And it's, yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'mlooking at this and I'm like, whoa.
So needed.
Yeah.
So absolutely needed.
But I'm not against AI.
(30:35):
I'm not against AI.
No, I love AI.
It's a, it's a great tool to use.
Not for this.
Not for, not for the deepfakes and getting people killed
and getting people bankrupt.
Like that's not what it's here for.
Um, I think it's here to helphumans basically do stuff that
is monotonous or whatever.
(30:56):
Whatever you want to do.
Or, to me, I think put something init and get a creative idea sparked.
There's a lot of stuff you can do with it.
Not that.
I use AI all the time in my company.
It's amazing.
But the problem is you justhave to have some regulations.
There's no oversight.
It's like the wild, wild West.
Anyone can do anything,anywhere right now.
And we, we don't know truth, especiallyfor some of our older population.
(31:17):
They just, you used to livein a world where you could,
if you saw it, you'd believe
it,
you're going to see it.
with my own
parents.
Yep.
It's crazy the stuff that they thinkbecause they find it on the internet,
you know, and, and some of the thingsnot to jump into politics or anything
like that, but they believe this,this or the other because they've
seen it online or they've seen video.
(31:40):
Oh my gosh.
It is wild.
I got to go earlier this yearto Iowa for the warrior rising.
So I got top 10 in the country for newstartup, new tech, new tech company.
So we're on a mission there.
Because it's just, we have to, andwe're on the cutting edge of it.
So we need to get it out there now.
Yeah.
This, this, this is anamazing, this is amazing.
(32:01):
This is going to, this will be,make your, make your, your billion
dollars right here, Brandy.
This will be your billion dollar.
This is her uniform.
Yes.
Really, really.
I'm not,
this is the forefront of, thisis, this is the, the wall.
This is the security, the checksand balances for the AI to keep
(32:23):
it from Becoming, what, sentient?
And becoming, uh, what was, uh, Skynet?
Becoming Skynet from the Terminator?
Like this, yeah, but, but in allrealness, this is, this is cutting edge,
like you said, full front for sure.
I'm gonna, I can't wait.
I'm gonna be, I'll be on thewatch for this over the next year.
(32:45):
Uh, because it, it will be.
We're gonna be
like, yeah,
totally.
I see that.
Let's do it.
I didn't see this happening.
You said Terminator.
Guess who's going to beat our global live stream?
Is Arnold going to be there?
Is Arnold going to be there?
I don't know yet.
We've got a lot of people who mayor may not be there, but we have
(33:08):
some really great people on ourlist right now, and uh, the producer
director From some of these moviesyou just mentioned might be there too.
Awesome.
Awesome.
So it's gonna be a good time.
You guys need to come and, and deck outand join me on the red carpet and enjoy
a, a great show or at least live stream.
And, and we're gettingtickets right after we
end this pod.
We're getting tickets.
. I'm good.
(33:29):
Alright.
Thank you.
I love it.
I
almost see, I'm glad I threw it backto Becks because I almost cut outta
here before I even get to that.
And that's right here.
I'm telling you what, this is the
hard part about my life.
I want to bring you back on
and do a whole show on Dan Can.
I think that's
(33:49):
and Vega Media Studios.
Yeah.
Need to jump.
And you know what?
We didn't even get, we didn't even geta talk about when I was a surrogate
mom six years ago and when I adoptedmy little boy from foster care,
like I love talking about fostercare, surrogacy, all the things
like, let's just, Continue sometime.
There's the teaser.
(34:10):
Part two is on the way.
Part two is coming.
Thank you, Brandy.
We really will.
We'll be in touch.
We'll see you around.
Come to some events.
We'll do whatever we can to getthe word out about PromiseToLive.
org and Dan Camp, because I'm just asinterested in that, on another level.
(34:30):
You know, like that's tome is That's touching.
That's touching my heart on another level.
So
yes, I love all
that you're doing.
Um, come back and see us.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thanks again, Brandon.
Anytime.
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