June 8, 2023 • 41 mins
Def Leppard Drummer Rick Allen & wife Lauren Monroe join in a lovely discussion about the charity so close to their hearts, as the founders of "Raven Drum Foundation"
Both Glenn and Rick have been recognized for their charitable work with Veterans and Wounded Warrior. Rick Allen openly shares his accident that resulted in the loss of his arm. They shared stories of adversity and surviving trauma, having grit, then inding spirituality and clarity. How being of service to others, mindfulness, and mindset helped pull him out of depression and find purpose.
Both Glenn and Rick have been recognized for their charitable work with Veterans and Wounded Warrior. Rick Allen openly shares his accident that resulted in the loss of his arm. They shared stories of adversity and surviving trauma, having grit, then inding spirituality and clarity. How being of service to others, mindfulness, and mindset helped pull him out of depression and find purpose.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Hi. I'm Mindy Sterns and I'mGlenn Sterns, and this is Great Happens.
Join us as we engage in candidconversations with some of the most successful
people in every field and from everywalk of life, all with a common
thread of grit and a goal ofnot just surviving, but thriving. And
we hope that the show will helpyou feel informed, energized, and especially
(00:27):
inspired. So let's get started.This is Great Happens. We're bad,
that's right. How you doing here? I'm good. I know. I'm
excited because we've been talking to somereally exciting power couples. And what I
love about this one is, youknow, I've known this power couple for
many, many years, not personally, but the husband I've known since you
(00:48):
know, high school, which iskind a bit exciting. Right. Well,
you know, I think today we'regonna have a nice conversation. Do
you want to say anything before webring the line? Well, you know,
I don't know if they know this, but we have a lot in
comment. Oh do we do?Well, let's tell them when they get
in. You want to bring upin will But I'll just say a little
bit first. At fourteen fifteen.We both had a very interesting kind of
(01:15):
event happening in our lives. Okay, we both had our second marriage to
two beautiful women that I mean,you're last marriage are our last and our
first in our last and they wereboth on the Saint we met October.
This is not what I want totalk about this when we get them on
here, because I think they don'tthink they know this. Okay, oh
well, I keep it, keepit. And then we both had very
(01:37):
interesting events that kind of changed ourlives, kind of physical events, life
altering physics. Right, I thinkthat's interesting to talk. Okay, well,
let's just bring it on because I'mgonna we're gonna pour a little sugar
on you today. Please welcome toour guests husband wife of almost twenty years,
Lauren Monroe and Rick Allen. Hey, how are you guys doing there?
You are, Thank you, thanksfor being here. Now, you
(02:01):
probably didn't know we had so muchin common. I didn't realize either until
Glenn started listening some of the friends. Would you like to elaborate a little
bit on that, Well, youknow, first, um, obviously you
know, um we'd met back gosh, I think originally back at the carry
Forward Awards way back with um thatwhen we were both I think recognized for
(02:24):
working with veteran veterans. Yeah,so it's been that's been probably over ten
years. I don't remember how longago. That was a long time ago,
probably at least almost fourteen. Andthen we had Lauren and Rick.
You guys were so amazing in atour home. Was that just last week?
Time's going so bad for their forthe Raven Drum Foundation. That was
(02:46):
such amazing work. Oh my goodnesswas that. I want to talk a
little bit more about that now.As you may know, um Rick is
the drummer for Deaf Leopard. Hehas been very famous there, and I
think that's what the original life storyyou were talking about. At fifteen you
started the band. Is that rightwhen you first joined the band? Yeah,
nineteen seventy November nineteen seventy eight,I joined def Lept round about my
(03:10):
fifteenth birthday, well right around Glenn'sfifteenth birthday. He had a child,
So in some way, December nineteenseventy eight is when my daughter was born.
So yeah, I was still fourteen. You're you're two months older than
I am. I was born December. I was still fourteen, so and
then Lauren. Of course I likedthe story. You two met through a
(03:35):
friend and you both felt like you'dfound your best friend, is what I
understand. Someone you've known forever andyou met in October of two thousand and
two. We met, our firstdate was October of two thousand and two,
and we were married a year laterOctober eleventh, So we on a
full moon. So we both Youwere married October tenth, right, So
you're coming up on nineteen years three, Yeah, two thousand and three,
(04:00):
so we uh, we share alove for that time of year and a
one year planning and finding someone whoreally felt like that was in step as
a soulmate. Is that? Isthat how you felt when tell us that
just that first moment when you firstmet each other. I love I love
these stories. It was we're actuallyin Colorado right now. We actually met
in Colorado Springs UM. A mutualfriend introduced us, and I was going
(04:28):
through quite a bit of pain atthe time, and Lauren was she was
in usage. I was teaching.I was teaching at the Bolder College of
Massage and had my practice here andmy friend knew the kind of work that
I did. And recommended you knowthat I worked with Rex. So we
met, he met. We metas a patient and a client and a
(04:51):
therapist really uh, and then hada long distance relationship just around his healing
and he would call me before showI was and I'd help them with some
guided visualizations to help him believe pain. And it was just a gradual progression
into more than friendship. And thenI had to say, you know,
I don't think you could be myclient anymore. Yeah, I didn't.
(05:13):
I didn't get massages that I'm notpaying you anymore exactly. That's kind of
happened here too. The massage isstopped, like what happened? Well,
I guess you do pay for it. But then, Lauren, you were
kind of you also into like theenergy healing and and that kind of stuff.
(05:36):
Right ever, I remember part ofyour story when we were doing the
drum Circle, which was then,and you lad that it was awesome.
I mean, it got me inthe zone, you know, I was
in there. I could feel it. It was wonderful. I think everybody
did. I mean, you know, the team of of musicians dramas that
(05:57):
we we had around as, Idon't don't think anybody really knew what to
expect, but you could tell,you could tell that everybody was really affected
by by the way that Lauren ledthe thing, and just how that ritual
just sort of affected everybody in sucha profound way. So expanding on that
(06:20):
a little bit, I think it'sreally becoming much more mainstream than it ever
has. Lauren, And maybe twentyyears ago and you first met, there
was more of a niche group thatwas working on the healing energy. Do
you feel now that has become somuch more mainstream acceptable as a real tool
of healing and adjunct with adjunct withWestern and Eastern medicine, that's well,
(06:43):
that's the Western you know, hasn'treally been as much energy focus. But
don't expand on that a little more. When I first got involved in mindfulness,
it was the early nineties, andnobody really knew what that was,
you know, and energy medicine wascoined by my teacher and Carolyn Mace and
that was still a new term aswell. And now we know it is
(07:05):
complementary medicine, which encompasses all thingslike acupuncture, acupressure, raiky healing,
touch, ecoine, therapy, homeopathy. Like now we have a lot of
range and energy. Medicine isn't ayou know, a rogue term, but
yeah, it's grown quite a bit, and there's a lot of studies and
(07:27):
science and research, and now withthe exploding field of neuroscience, it really
brings all of these more esoteric,very ancient ways of healing into alignment with
current science and medicine, which isvery exciting for me. Yeah. Well,
you know, when I was goingthrough my cancer, I was,
look, you know, I said, give me all the Western medicine you
(07:48):
can. I mean, I'll takethe immunotherapy and the chemotherapy and the radiation
and and then I said, butthen give me all the Eastern medicine you
can too, right like I'll I'llyou had a raiky healer, healer,
I'll do the acupuncture, I said, I'll stand on my head, I'll
pray to Mecca, I'll do whateverit takes to get my mind right,
(08:11):
right, because it's about your mindis such a powerful, powerful muscle,
and you know, and you know, I don't know which one is working,
and I don't know that I care. I just know that this more
you believe, I think, themore you can, you know, really
heal yourself right. And so yeah, so your accident, Rick, you've
(08:31):
expanded and you told us the storyat the house the other day about the
car accident and how the seatbelt asyou were going through the sun riff really
was that was took your arm andyou were laying um quite conscious, which
actually saved your life, is whatyou But let's go back for a second,
because this is a big part ofwhat you know, our our podcast.
(08:52):
It's really all about, right isum, grit and adversity and getting
back up right. And so hereyou are, this drummer with this famous
band, and your arms are youryou knows there are your tools right sure,
(09:13):
and and right at the height ofall of that, can you take
us back to kind of what happensin your mind and what happened physically to
you? Um? Yeah, Imean as you as you suggest, you
know, I really was at thetop of my field, um. And
then the last day of nineteen eightyfour, I went out for a for
(09:35):
a drive um in you know,in this in this lifet hand drive car
driving in in England. So Iwas on the wrong side of the road
and I was, yeah, thisthis this other car they kept they kept
instead of taunting me, and everytime I tried to pass them, they
(09:58):
would speak up. So eventually Iput my foot down. When I put
my foot down, I realized thatthere was a corner that I hadn't seen
because I was on the opposite sideof the car. And then I lost
control of the car. And then, you know, like I told you
the story, you know, theseat belt took my arm as I was
(10:22):
rolling the car, and then Ilanded in the field. You know,
my first thought laying in the fieldwas I'm a drummer and I've lost my
arm. And that was that wasright before I blacked out. I think
there's like an incremental shutdown, andI think I was. I was kind
(10:43):
of down to the reptilian the reptilianbrain where it was really just keeping me
alive. And as I told you, you know, I think that was
really the thing that kept me alivewas the fact that I didn't you know,
I remain conscious and my body tensed, and because of that, I
(11:05):
didn't bleed out. And it wasn'tIt wasn't until I got to the hospital
when they gave me the anesthetic.That was when I started to bleed out.
But I had an incredible team ofnurses and doctors, and they were
able to. They were able toto save me. So what's your mindset,
(11:31):
say a couple days later, rightwhen you really start to realize,
yeah, you've got an issue,because I know, didn't they they sewed
it back on, didn't they dothat at first? But it just didn't
rejected it? Yeah, or youhad some infection, that's right. I
think you know. They kept me, They kept me in a in a
coma for probably it took me backa week or two. Yeah, I
(11:56):
think I was in a coma fora week or two. And during that
time they went through a really longprocedure trying to you know, they reattached
the arm, but I think becauseof the location, you know, laying
in a fields, then the otherit actually got infected. So they went
(12:20):
back and forth and they said,you know what, we we have to
we have to remove the arm otherwise, you know, it could take his
life if the infection gets really bad. So obviously I didn't know anything about
this, not until a few daysafter I came around. When I came
(12:41):
around, I was trying to figureout what had happened to me. Fortunately,
my brother was there, so hekind of clued me in as to
some of the details, and hekind of disclosed that to me in a
way that didn't there wasn't too muchof a show up to my system.
(13:01):
And then when I finally realized whathad happened to me that I had actually
lost my arm, it was justthe most incredible sinking feeling. And then
I really had this feeling of notwanting to be here anymore and just wanting
to shrink into a corner. Andyeah, I just felt really quite defeated.
(13:31):
But something happened. You know,my parents they were they were very
supportive, but I think what itwas was all of the outpouring of encouragement
from all over the world. Ithink that was the thing that really sort
(13:54):
of brought me back to a placewhere I was like, you know what,
maybe I can do this um.And then I asked my brother to
bringing my stereo system into the hospitaland bring all the music that inspired me
when I first started playing. Andthen because of that, I uh,
(14:15):
I discovered you know, the powerof the human spirit as it were,
and U and that was the beginningof of realizing that I could actually play
drums again. And that was thebeginning of a new chapter in my life.
Well, you know when I um, when you hear so many stories
(14:37):
of people that have gone through somethingmajor in their life, and it will
either break them and I know weall know a lot of those people,
or it'll just allow them to digdeeper than they've ever dug and recharge them,
right, I think exactly. Andand I you know, I think
(14:58):
people are still trying to figure outwhat that is, right, like why
that happens. But you know,to the ones that can figure that out,
you become a leader and you become, you know, somebody that people
look up to because obviously in yourcase especially, you know, you've got
this amazing gift and you're at thetop of your game and now you've fallen
(15:22):
down. And you know, youcan either be the victim or the victor
as we say, right, youknow, and you can cry poor me,
and of course to your point inthe beginning, you didn't want to
be around, and you know you'vegot to go through a little that what
was me is? I mean,you know, we're human. But then
it's about digging yourself back up offthe ground. I've had a little of
(15:43):
that myself with what's going on inmy life, but very similar as far
as um Well, he went throughI don't know how much you know about
his journey, but he went throughtongue cancer base of tongue cancer twice and
the first time was a chemo andradiation, and at the time he had
said, look, I want tolive. If you have to take my
(16:03):
tongue, if you have to takeeverything, do it, because you at
that point, you just you justwant to live, like that's the first
instinct. And then as we lookback, he's like, wow, he's
a storyteller. It would be areal devastating thing. But he took a
very methodical medical approach, did that, and then four years later the cancer
returned, and at this time itwas a much more severe physical altercation because
(16:27):
they couldn't do radiation anymore, sothey took out his epiglottis. And you
know anything about eating or swallowing orbreathing, your epiglottis is your primary target
defense against choking, and when youswallow, it closes your windpipe so you
can push the food down your esophagus. And without it, you literally are
very vulnerable to aspiating, choking,pneumonia, and many other things. And
(16:52):
that's a long way of saying,I can't eat anymore, so yeah,
and never will again, no soor even drink at all. So it's
all through a feeding tube now andand kind of the same thing. I
woke up and all of a suddenyou realize, man, my life has
changed forever, right, And soI can I can feel um feel you
(17:17):
a little bit, you know,because you know you sit and in my
case it's different. I mean Isit around dinner parties every day and everybody
they're all eating. I feel badfor people that feel bad for me,
because because I'm not feeling bad,I'm I'm grateful to be alive. Or
I's sure you are, you knowyou feel that way, and and I
(17:37):
think, and that's where I wantto dig into this a little bit more
with you, because again, justreal quickly, you know, when I
you know, I don't want peopleto feel bad for me. I don't
feel bad for me, right,So you know, let's look at the
positive things and and then and whenyou go through something like what you did
or what I did, I thinkhopefully you come out with it where you
(18:00):
say, you know, life isshort and precious, and man, you
know we're lucky to be alive becauseyou can either focus on that or you
can focus on the negativity. Youknow, that's true. I don't always
feel that way. I don't alwaysfeel at the top of my game.
But the event that we did theother day at your place, um,
(18:22):
you know, the drumming circle.UM. I think when we can be
of service like that, I thinkthat's when we can start to feel on
top of our game again. AndI think every time I start to feel
woe is me, um, asas soon as we you know, we
(18:44):
go through an event or we dosomething where we feel like we're being of
service and relieving suffering of others,I think, I think that's that's when
I can really feel good about myselfand I can feel really good about my
life. When I started to countblessings, no making of blessings, you
(19:06):
have a really strong partner with you. And I think when you have someone
like that that helps, like it'sthe other half of you if you will
you know, mentally, physically,emotionally, and can inspire you to be
your best self. I think that'sone of life's most beautiful finds. If
you're fortunate enough to attract someone likethat in your life. From Lauren,
(19:27):
I'd be curious to know what attractedyou when you first met What was it
about the energies that you guys sharedthat was so it was It's so interesting
because I, you know, II didn't expect to feel the things that
I felt. And it was likethis magical connection, like I've known him
(19:48):
for a really long time, thesole connection that I couldn't pinpoint. I
remember really vividly while I was workingon him and I did massage at various
energy healing and I'm looking at thisman, going is he my brother?
Is he my son? Is hemy father? Is he? Is he
(20:11):
a king? Like? Whose isthis energy like? And how do I
fit in? And I just said, well, I'm here for him with
in this moment, and this isour destiny in this moment to connect in
this way, and I am feelblessed to be part of this person's healing
today. And then you know,you let it go, and the way
the universe would have it is theyyou know, we want we were together,
(20:34):
we were supposed to be together,and we were able to do that.
And so I I that it wasa magical connection. I don't even
know how to define it. Ithink I think one thing I can say
is that I'm not sure. I'mnot sure I would be here if it
wasn't for Lauren, because it wasreally it was really very challenging, and
(21:00):
I think to go through that kindof experience without a really strong partner would
have been just even more challenging,um to the point where you know,
I'm not sure which direction I wouldhave gone. So it was great to
have somebody to keep nudging me backon track and somebody that obviously you know,
(21:26):
really cared about me and love me. So I think I think it
does. It does take a partnershipin that way to to enable, you
know, somebody like myself that's gonethrough such a terrible thing to to really
find my way again. Yeah,when I when I um, yeah,
(21:48):
I mean you've been recognized by somany people. I know, you teamed
up with John robertson the Wounded WarriorProject and then Maria Schreiber um before given
that. Yeah, the awards andlots awards for for really being able to
work with veterans and being able towork with other UM people with um PTSD.
(22:14):
Now again, it's hard to notfeel sorry for oneself. Right,
you're getting a rut and you startto feel down and and yet then you
look around and you say, man, there's so many people that are inspired
by me being strong, and soit's almost like an obligation to keep being
(22:37):
strong for other people, you know, because they look up to you,
right, and they want to makesure that you know you're the rock because
the world is and the world ishard and um, and so they need
people that they can look to thathave had uh severe adversity in their life
(23:00):
and remains strong. Right, Sowhat do you what do you do mentally?
What do you do to keep pushingyourself in the right direction because at
times it's freaking hard, you knowit is. I think I think having
other people to look up to,but also having the ability to lift other
(23:22):
people up. I think being ableto look in both directions, you know,
be able to look up to somebodylike I look up to Lauren,
um, but also keeping in touchwith with with people as you suggest,
you know that look up to me. And I think it's good to be
able to look in both directions.I think you want to add something to
(23:42):
that, Yeah, no, Iwould, And I would like to just
bring up the power of vulnerability herebecause you can go through something and be
a role model, but to connectwith other people the way Rick does and
we both bring to the work wedo is that we have to be completely
vulnerable with our own frailties. Andit's really it's a wonderful thing to discover
(24:07):
that you don't have to be thisrock to inspire other people. What actually
inspires people is that you're also vulnerableand you're still in progress, and you
don't have to be perfect to besuccessful. You just have to be real
and in touch with your heart.And when we do that, I think
that's the most inspiring thing for otherpeople is to realize that you can be
(24:30):
okay and growing and not be perfectand and heal like that. So for
us, that's a healing. Itheals us to be able to go okay.
We haven't reached the top yet,maybe we never will, but we're
in process sharing our process with otherpeople. Yeah, And I think the
perception is is that, you know, people people see me as a rock,
they see as as a rock,but in reality, you know,
(24:52):
we're still we're still trying to workthings out. We we you know,
we haven't had more experienced than mostpeople on the road to hear it.
That's true. Expanding on that alittle bit, it was extremely as we
sat in a drum circle with sixtyor more people in the yard and had
(25:14):
sixty drums or more and you andsome very notable drummers were leading this circle,
and Lauren, you're setting the intentionwas such a beautiful, uh walk
through a person's day to really focusyou really focus the group. And then
Rick, you you were very vulnerablein your own story and the impact and
the emotions you felt, and itjust what it did, I think for
(25:36):
everyone, or even these these bigyou know, tough guys that are drummers.
You guys are tough guys. It'syeah, I don't know their names
personally, because there was I wasso overwhelmed. But you've got Lenny Kravitz,
you've got Paul McCartney wings, you'vegot guns and Roses and def Leppard
(25:56):
and widespread panic and I mean thetalent Sticks. Then I'm talking to a
guy and just I thought he wasjust a guy visiting and I get onto
something about Phil Collins and oh thefirst time I met but it was the
drummer for Sticks, the nicest guy. Yeah, they all are, I
(26:18):
mean what a dream. Really.Yeah, I think everybody had such a
powerful reaction to that, and Iknow we're able to see it someday and
the veterans hospitals are filming and creatinga film for it. But your strength
in vulnerability was powerful and the entiregroup fell into that. And and I
think if young men and women rightnow, I can know one thing in
(26:41):
life is that vulnerability is not weakness. It's strength. It really is a
strength, and it also ingratiates youto others. I was going to comment
on that because what I found inbusiness right is there's a lot of people
that when you either are six sucessfulor becoming successful, even want to be
(27:03):
successful, you have to come upwith this feeling like you know it all
and you know you don't have anykinks in your armor. And I think
it's absolutely wrong, right, Imean, And so what's been able to
attract a lot of people to ourcompanies have been very similar thought process,
(27:25):
which is, hey, we don'tknow it all, and you know we're
not perfect, and you know wetry to lead sometimes with our faults,
you know. People, then itbreaks down some of that the walls that
people have because people can intimidate it, and sometimes they think, oh,
they have all this, and noone really under the unless you've walked the
(27:45):
mile in someone's shoes, right,you don't know. And so I think
it's a great lesson that we allshould take from that, which is that
you know, nobody's perfect, andwe all have our own insecurities and vulnerabilities,
and that we do need each otherright to lean on so that we
(28:06):
can continue to be strong and continueto be a voice for those when they're
in the dumps. You know,you're absolutely right, And uh, something
that Laurence said a couple of weeksback, and I'm sure I've heard a
say it before, but using thatvulnerability as a superpower, and also surrounding
ourselves with a really strong team ofpeople and you know that they're all in
(28:32):
the same boat, you know,but you know, just to be able
to have that team of people andsort of find our way sometimes we're not
quite sure, you know, we'veset sail and we're not quite sure what
the destination's going to be. Butthe other element of being open is to
go where should I be in thismoment and what where am I most needed,
(28:55):
you know, and not be onthe agenda of well, this is
the path to see says more thanthis is how I'm going to be used
the most to serve. And Ithink that's where our head has been at.
And obviously we could probably take alot of a lot of guidance from
you on you know, successful business, but I feel like where our heart
is is where the we're the mostpowerful and what we do, and that's
(29:19):
how we connect the on that youreally you focus a lot, Lauren on
the power of the heart, andI think that's what you brought together in
the circle too, was connecting thehearts. And I had mentioned even there.
I said, there's one drum thatbeats when it beats in unison for
others, it's the most powerful,you know, healing, and that is
the heart. That is the one. When we can get our hearts all
(29:40):
in synchronicity together, it incredates incrediblehealing and connection and exchange and growth.
And you know, talk a littlebit about your book or your album that
you recorded the messages from Aphrodite.It's Aphrodite, is it Tomato Tomatoes?
(30:00):
It's a It's an album that wejust released September ninth, and they're all
songs of love and various forms,how to be in a state of love
when you're grieving, how to bein a state of love when you're feeling
compassioned, how to connect with aloved one that's crossed over, how to
be in your heart, how tostay vulnerable, how to stay empowered in
(30:21):
that place, And all the songsgenerate some kind of backstory around that,
which is a setup for me toshare in my live performances. But that
that was a gift that I gotduring the pandemic, when it really was
the insight was given to me thatthe voice of the feminine, the higher
(30:41):
feminine, the divine feminine needed tospeak in this world where we're very focused
on the patriarchal narrative. And Iknow in my heart that the strength,
the vulnerability, the power that women'swomen voices have and learning how to navigate
(31:03):
dark times and keeping people together isessential and what we need right now in
the world. So that was myoffering. That was a beautiful gift,
I mean, And just to toptouch on a topic of current events right
now, when you look at what'shappening in Iran and the women of Iran
who are right, who are raisingup right now and using their hearts and
(31:23):
speaking about you know, they've beenin a patriarchal system for so long and
are now just exercising with I mean, they were there before and it's been
it's a real transition in the world. And it's painful sometimes when your heart
you're driven to what's right because itupsets the status quo in many situations.
(31:44):
But in the end of it,when you can get through that, I
find incredible change. And that's whatI have. I share things with others
to have hope, because you knowit it's easily to go down the rabbit
hole and get into that dark placethe ground. But in the world of
healing, even physical healing, whenyou have a wound and it starts to
(32:05):
heal, it's not pretty to lookat it. Yes, it's ugly,
it's bruised, it could get pussy, it needs to like you know,
it's not pretty, right, Andso we're looking at that in the world
right now because we're seeing the disease, We're seeing the wound. Everybody's seeing
it. We can't really look awayfrom it anymore. And that's the power
(32:28):
of where we are now. Andand it's a it's a stage of healing.
It's not we're not being destroyed.We actually are healing. But we
have to look at this, thedark stuff that's always been there, that's
been underneath the surface. It isan amazing grace. You know. Is
once I was blind and now Isee you think of the world is we
(32:49):
can no longer be blind. AndI want to change gears say, okay,
we usually go about thirty minutes.I know were close to that,
but I want to actually something.Twenty nineteen, you're inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame with yourgroup, Now take us back. Would
(33:10):
you change a thing? Was itreally that wold to be a fricking rock
and roll star doing all those crazythings? And would you change anything?
I don't think I'd change anything nowbecause that music was awesome, fantastic,
And then to be to be honoredI mean Jeff Flag but always felt we
(33:32):
always felt a little bit like wedidn't get enough love from the industry.
UM. But to stand on thatstage and to see pretty much you know,
everybody out there in the audience,UM, really paying homage to this
band was fantastic. But I thinkthe most important thing for me was it
(33:54):
was the largest fan boat in thehistory of you know, of the Accademy,
the whole of fame. That thatto me spoke volumes. It was
almost like fans got it. Theywere they were loyal, and and then
and then everybody else got it becauseof Yes, it's no interesting you say
(34:20):
that, because I've noticed over theyears as the bands and and and you
weren't as acknowledged in the music industries. But I knew among my peers,
I knew among my that you wereprobably the you were the top most requested,
most listened to album of any thatwas in circulation. And I remember
that feeling like they're the greatest banof all time, Like that's what my
(34:44):
peer group saw. And still lookat you're still performing it. Look at
Miley Cyrus as the other singing portNo, I know, I know.
I mean to to be where Iam, um at this point in my
career is such a gift. Imean, I would never have thought I
would be doing what I'm doing,but I am, and I still being
(35:07):
successful, which is is you know, that's the blessing that's perfect. Lauren
does Lauren, do you have afavorite song of all the greatest hits?
Is there one that you love themost, or can you pick or can
you say hid? Probably Rocket,oh Rocket, Yeah, very tribal um
(35:31):
you know, yes, isn't thatwhere you do your solo on Stude?
Yeah, of course that solo.It's my favorite, so understandably, so
perfect. So what's next? Then? What what's coming down? You've got
this beautiful album out? Where canpeople listen to it? Is it?
Is it on Apple Music or wherewe find your everywhere Apple? It's on
(35:54):
Pandora, sofy um. All ofmy albums are there, and find step
on YouTube. Also a lot ofthings that she telling YouTube videos and videos
are on YouTube. And we're gonnabe continue touring. We're gonna tomorrow we'll
be in Tucson and then we havea whole East coast tour in November,
(36:15):
so you can see us in NewYork, in Boston and New Hampshire and
we'll be you know, just kindof perfect. Stops telling the stories,
still rocking, still rolling, youguys, never stop. It's just it's
amazing. And reg is definitely beenwriting any new songs right now or a
guess there's always there's always new ideason the go. But the next thing
on the on you know, onthe agenda for US really is uh.
(36:39):
I think we've got a private showin January, and then in February of
next year we're gonna be uh.I think we start out in South America.
So and then that continues probably throughoh no, August, September,
no, oh July, and thenthen I'll and then I take a break
(37:02):
and then you know, wait andsee what happens for the year after.
So it's it's always busy. It'swe're always doing something now and then obviously
your Raven Drum Foundation keeps pounding away, so that's great. Yeah, well,
we gotta thank Lorie Baker. LorieBaker our friend who introduced us to
the foundation, and we've been soblessed to have gotten to know the causes
(37:28):
and the work you do with veterans. You've always been a patriot in that
way and supported our veterans and youknow, God bless you, and hats
off to our veterans, and youknow they are the unsung heroes really the
last and so you too, Imean the way that you guys have supported
us UM and uh, you knowall the foundations, yes, and charities
(37:50):
you support where we look up toyou, and we admire your whole sense
of philanthropic service. It's just we'veso blessed to be part of this community
to continue the outreach and and helpother people, and wonderful I anything else
specifically like to touch upon, becauseI'm just you know, I again,
(38:13):
I'm I'm I I you know.I think a lot of the people that
watch are people that are looking forinspiration, right, And that's what I
think got them when they originally reachedout and said, hey, we want
to see more, and it camea lot of it came from UM doing
that undercover Billionaire show and so havingpeople like yourselves come on and be able
(38:36):
to really talk about UM again,adversity really right, and setbacks and then
thriving and and UM setting great examples. That's what it's all about. So
really really appreciate it. Yeah,sometimes the biggest setbacks can consider the blessing.
(38:59):
Yeah, And that's what I'm startingto see more and more in in
my life, in our lives.So there's an old fabled glen Loves a
Little. I won't tell the wholethe whole story, but it was about
a farmer who had a horse whoran away and the moral was it could
be good, it could be bad. It could be good, it could
be bad. I think life isabout that. You. It could be
(39:20):
good, it could be bad.You just don't know. So just keep
your heart open and allow the miraclesto happen. Really so, so,
I'm oh, Rick, what wasyour favorite Leopard song? Did you have
one? Um? I do?Actually, I really loved the song Hysteria.
Yeah. That that always gave me, gave me a sense of well
being, and I always related thatto a higher power. Um. So
(39:45):
it always just lifted me up atthe right time, and well, it
lifted me up at the right timein my life. And it's a reminder
of that every time I year itall play it well, I love I
love so many of them. Ican't pick a favorite. I really it's
been so fun having you both on. Did you want to say anything else?
No, I just again, Iappreciate your guys being here, Thank
(40:07):
you for being a part of thiswonderful and we can follow you where where
follow you guys, follow you guys. Where can people find all your good
works and what you're doing well?Rickallen dot com, Lauren Monroe dot com
or on Instagram or on Rickallen Live, Lauren Monroe Live, or on Twitter
or on Facebook. So we're everywhere. You're everywhere. You love to meet
(40:30):
people, We're very responsive on socialARCA. We love people, um and
we like to meet new new folksas we travel. So you're very special
couple. We are. We arehonored to know you. Happy anniversary coming
up. Maybe we'll have to havea dual anniversary full moon celebration one day.
Oh I would, right, andI just want to get in on
(40:52):
film. Maybe one day we'll geta backstage pass to definitely very performanceist thing.
I think. I think at thispoint is a gift. There we
go, all right, all right, well Rick and Lauren Monroe, Rick
Allen, thank you both for takingtime out of your day. Good luck
on your next ventures. We willbe looking for your music and your encouragement,
your inspiration and your heart because itis spread everywhere. We appreciate the
(41:15):
big hug you're given the world.We really do, um and that we
just this. You've been listening toanother episode of Grit Happens. Join us.
You can see episodes on YouTube oranywhere you catch your podcast follows at
Glenn Stearns dot com or Glen Stearnson Instagram and this has been another episode
I've sat with me bird. Thankyou Boake Care
Hi. I'm Mindy Sterns and I'mGlenn Sterns, and this is Great Happens.
Join us as we engage in candidconversations with some of the most successful
people in every field and from everywalk of life, all with a common
thread of grit and a goal ofnot just surviving, but thriving. And
we hope that the show will helpyou feel informed, energized, and especially
(00:27):
inspired. So let's get started.This is Great Happens. We're bad,
that's right. How you doing here? I'm good. I know. I'm
excited because we've been talking to somereally exciting power couples. And what I
love about this one is, youknow, I've known this power couple for
many, many years, not personally, but the husband I've known since you
(00:48):
know, high school, which iskind a bit exciting. Right. Well,
you know, I think today we'regonna have a nice conversation. Do
you want to say anything before webring the line? Well, you know,
I don't know if they know this, but we have a lot in
comment. Oh do we do?Well, let's tell them when they get
in. You want to bring upin will But I'll just say a little
bit first. At fourteen fifteen.We both had a very interesting kind of
(01:15):
event happening in our lives. Okay, we both had our second marriage to
two beautiful women that I mean,you're last marriage are our last and our
first in our last and they wereboth on the Saint we met October.
This is not what I want totalk about this when we get them on
here, because I think they don'tthink they know this. Okay, oh
well, I keep it, keepit. And then we both had very
(01:37):
interesting events that kind of changed ourlives, kind of physical events, life
altering physics. Right, I thinkthat's interesting to talk. Okay, well,
let's just bring it on because I'mgonna we're gonna pour a little sugar
on you today. Please welcome toour guests husband wife of almost twenty years,
Lauren Monroe and Rick Allen. Hey, how are you guys doing there?
You are, Thank you, thanksfor being here. Now, you
(02:01):
probably didn't know we had so muchin common. I didn't realize either until
Glenn started listening some of the friends. Would you like to elaborate a little
bit on that, Well, youknow, first, um, obviously you
know, um we'd met back gosh, I think originally back at the carry
Forward Awards way back with um thatwhen we were both I think recognized for
(02:24):
working with veteran veterans. Yeah,so it's been that's been probably over ten
years. I don't remember how longago. That was a long time ago,
probably at least almost fourteen. Andthen we had Lauren and Rick.
You guys were so amazing in atour home. Was that just last week?
Time's going so bad for their forthe Raven Drum Foundation. That was
(02:46):
such amazing work. Oh my goodnesswas that. I want to talk a
little bit more about that now.As you may know, um Rick is
the drummer for Deaf Leopard. Hehas been very famous there, and I
think that's what the original life storyyou were talking about. At fifteen you
started the band. Is that rightwhen you first joined the band? Yeah,
nineteen seventy November nineteen seventy eight,I joined def Lept round about my
(03:10):
fifteenth birthday, well right around Glenn'sfifteenth birthday. He had a child,
So in some way, December nineteenseventy eight is when my daughter was born.
So yeah, I was still fourteen. You're you're two months older than
I am. I was born December. I was still fourteen, so and
then Lauren. Of course I likedthe story. You two met through a
(03:35):
friend and you both felt like you'dfound your best friend, is what I
understand. Someone you've known forever andyou met in October of two thousand and
two. We met, our firstdate was October of two thousand and two,
and we were married a year laterOctober eleventh, So we on a
full moon. So we both Youwere married October tenth, right, So
you're coming up on nineteen years three, Yeah, two thousand and three,
(04:00):
so we uh, we share alove for that time of year and a
one year planning and finding someone whoreally felt like that was in step as
a soulmate. Is that? Isthat how you felt when tell us that
just that first moment when you firstmet each other. I love I love
these stories. It was we're actuallyin Colorado right now. We actually met
in Colorado Springs UM. A mutualfriend introduced us, and I was going
(04:28):
through quite a bit of pain atthe time, and Lauren was she was
in usage. I was teaching.I was teaching at the Bolder College of
Massage and had my practice here andmy friend knew the kind of work that
I did. And recommended you knowthat I worked with Rex. So we
met, he met. We metas a patient and a client and a
(04:51):
therapist really uh, and then hada long distance relationship just around his healing
and he would call me before showI was and I'd help them with some
guided visualizations to help him believe pain. And it was just a gradual progression
into more than friendship. And thenI had to say, you know,
I don't think you could be myclient anymore. Yeah, I didn't.
(05:13):
I didn't get massages that I'm notpaying you anymore exactly. That's kind of
happened here too. The massage isstopped, like what happened? Well,
I guess you do pay for it. But then, Lauren, you were
kind of you also into like theenergy healing and and that kind of stuff.
(05:36):
Right ever, I remember part ofyour story when we were doing the
drum Circle, which was then,and you lad that it was awesome.
I mean, it got me inthe zone, you know, I was
in there. I could feel it. It was wonderful. I think everybody
did. I mean, you know, the team of of musicians dramas that
(05:57):
we we had around as, Idon't don't think anybody really knew what to
expect, but you could tell,you could tell that everybody was really affected
by by the way that Lauren ledthe thing, and just how that ritual
just sort of affected everybody in sucha profound way. So expanding on that
(06:20):
a little bit, I think it'sreally becoming much more mainstream than it ever
has. Lauren, And maybe twentyyears ago and you first met, there
was more of a niche group thatwas working on the healing energy. Do
you feel now that has become somuch more mainstream acceptable as a real tool
of healing and adjunct with adjunct withWestern and Eastern medicine, that's well,
(06:43):
that's the Western you know, hasn'treally been as much energy focus. But
don't expand on that a little more. When I first got involved in mindfulness,
it was the early nineties, andnobody really knew what that was,
you know, and energy medicine wascoined by my teacher and Carolyn Mace and
that was still a new term aswell. And now we know it is
(07:05):
complementary medicine, which encompasses all thingslike acupuncture, acupressure, raiky healing,
touch, ecoine, therapy, homeopathy. Like now we have a lot of
range and energy. Medicine isn't ayou know, a rogue term, but
yeah, it's grown quite a bit, and there's a lot of studies and
(07:27):
science and research, and now withthe exploding field of neuroscience, it really
brings all of these more esoteric,very ancient ways of healing into alignment with
current science and medicine, which isvery exciting for me. Yeah. Well,
you know, when I was goingthrough my cancer, I was,
look, you know, I said, give me all the Western medicine you
(07:48):
can. I mean, I'll takethe immunotherapy and the chemotherapy and the radiation
and and then I said, butthen give me all the Eastern medicine you
can too, right like I'll I'llyou had a raiky healer, healer,
I'll do the acupuncture, I said, I'll stand on my head, I'll
pray to Mecca, I'll do whateverit takes to get my mind right,
(08:11):
right, because it's about your mindis such a powerful, powerful muscle,
and you know, and you know, I don't know which one is working,
and I don't know that I care. I just know that this more
you believe, I think, themore you can, you know, really
heal yourself right. And so yeah, so your accident, Rick, you've
(08:31):
expanded and you told us the storyat the house the other day about the
car accident and how the seatbelt asyou were going through the sun riff really
was that was took your arm andyou were laying um quite conscious, which
actually saved your life, is whatyou But let's go back for a second,
because this is a big part ofwhat you know, our our podcast.
(08:52):
It's really all about, right isum, grit and adversity and getting
back up right. And so hereyou are, this drummer with this famous
band, and your arms are youryou knows there are your tools right sure,
(09:13):
and and right at the height ofall of that, can you take
us back to kind of what happensin your mind and what happened physically to
you? Um? Yeah, Imean as you as you suggest, you
know, I really was at thetop of my field, um. And
then the last day of nineteen eightyfour, I went out for a for
(09:35):
a drive um in you know,in this in this lifet hand drive car
driving in in England. So Iwas on the wrong side of the road
and I was, yeah, thisthis this other car they kept they kept
instead of taunting me, and everytime I tried to pass them, they
(09:58):
would speak up. So eventually Iput my foot down. When I put
my foot down, I realized thatthere was a corner that I hadn't seen
because I was on the opposite sideof the car. And then I lost
control of the car. And then, you know, like I told you
the story, you know, theseat belt took my arm as I was
(10:22):
rolling the car, and then Ilanded in the field. You know,
my first thought laying in the fieldwas I'm a drummer and I've lost my
arm. And that was that wasright before I blacked out. I think
there's like an incremental shutdown, andI think I was. I was kind
(10:43):
of down to the reptilian the reptilianbrain where it was really just keeping me
alive. And as I told you, you know, I think that was
really the thing that kept me alivewas the fact that I didn't you know,
I remain conscious and my body tensed, and because of that, I
(11:05):
didn't bleed out. And it wasn'tIt wasn't until I got to the hospital
when they gave me the anesthetic.That was when I started to bleed out.
But I had an incredible team ofnurses and doctors, and they were
able to. They were able toto save me. So what's your mindset,
(11:31):
say a couple days later, rightwhen you really start to realize,
yeah, you've got an issue,because I know, didn't they they sewed
it back on, didn't they dothat at first? But it just didn't
rejected it? Yeah, or youhad some infection, that's right. I
think you know. They kept me, They kept me in a in a
coma for probably it took me backa week or two. Yeah, I
(11:56):
think I was in a coma fora week or two. And during that
time they went through a really longprocedure trying to you know, they reattached
the arm, but I think becauseof the location, you know, laying
in a fields, then the otherit actually got infected. So they went
(12:20):
back and forth and they said,you know what, we we have to
we have to remove the arm otherwise, you know, it could take his
life if the infection gets really bad. So obviously I didn't know anything about
this, not until a few daysafter I came around. When I came
(12:41):
around, I was trying to figureout what had happened to me. Fortunately,
my brother was there, so hekind of clued me in as to
some of the details, and hekind of disclosed that to me in a
way that didn't there wasn't too muchof a show up to my system.
(13:01):
And then when I finally realized whathad happened to me that I had actually
lost my arm, it was justthe most incredible sinking feeling. And then
I really had this feeling of notwanting to be here anymore and just wanting
to shrink into a corner. Andyeah, I just felt really quite defeated.
(13:31):
But something happened. You know,my parents they were they were very
supportive, but I think what itwas was all of the outpouring of encouragement
from all over the world. Ithink that was the thing that really sort
(13:54):
of brought me back to a placewhere I was like, you know what,
maybe I can do this um.And then I asked my brother to
bringing my stereo system into the hospitaland bring all the music that inspired me
when I first started playing. Andthen because of that, I uh,
(14:15):
I discovered you know, the powerof the human spirit as it were,
and U and that was the beginningof of realizing that I could actually play
drums again. And that was thebeginning of a new chapter in my life.
Well, you know when I um, when you hear so many stories
(14:37):
of people that have gone through somethingmajor in their life, and it will
either break them and I know weall know a lot of those people,
or it'll just allow them to digdeeper than they've ever dug and recharge them,
right, I think exactly. Andand I you know, I think
(14:58):
people are still trying to figure outwhat that is, right, like why
that happens. But you know,to the ones that can figure that out,
you become a leader and you become, you know, somebody that people
look up to because obviously in yourcase especially, you know, you've got
this amazing gift and you're at thetop of your game and now you've fallen
(15:22):
down. And you know, youcan either be the victim or the victor
as we say, right, youknow, and you can cry poor me,
and of course to your point inthe beginning, you didn't want to
be around, and you know you'vegot to go through a little that what
was me is? I mean,you know, we're human. But then
it's about digging yourself back up offthe ground. I've had a little of
(15:43):
that myself with what's going on inmy life, but very similar as far
as um Well, he went throughI don't know how much you know about
his journey, but he went throughtongue cancer base of tongue cancer twice and
the first time was a chemo andradiation, and at the time he had
said, look, I want tolive. If you have to take my
(16:03):
tongue, if you have to takeeverything, do it, because you at
that point, you just you justwant to live, like that's the first
instinct. And then as we lookback, he's like, wow, he's
a storyteller. It would be areal devastating thing. But he took a
very methodical medical approach, did that, and then four years later the cancer
returned, and at this time itwas a much more severe physical altercation because
(16:27):
they couldn't do radiation anymore, sothey took out his epiglottis. And you
know anything about eating or swallowing orbreathing, your epiglottis is your primary target
defense against choking, and when youswallow, it closes your windpipe so you
can push the food down your esophagus. And without it, you literally are
very vulnerable to aspiating, choking,pneumonia, and many other things. And
(16:52):
that's a long way of saying,I can't eat anymore, so yeah,
and never will again, no soor even drink at all. So it's
all through a feeding tube now andand kind of the same thing. I
woke up and all of a suddenyou realize, man, my life has
changed forever, right, And soI can I can feel um feel you
(17:17):
a little bit, you know,because you know you sit and in my
case it's different. I mean Isit around dinner parties every day and everybody
they're all eating. I feel badfor people that feel bad for me,
because because I'm not feeling bad,I'm I'm grateful to be alive. Or
I's sure you are, you knowyou feel that way, and and I
(17:37):
think, and that's where I wantto dig into this a little bit more
with you, because again, justreal quickly, you know, when I
you know, I don't want peopleto feel bad for me. I don't
feel bad for me, right,So you know, let's look at the
positive things and and then and whenyou go through something like what you did
or what I did, I thinkhopefully you come out with it where you
(18:00):
say, you know, life isshort and precious, and man, you
know we're lucky to be alive becauseyou can either focus on that or you
can focus on the negativity. Youknow, that's true. I don't always
feel that way. I don't alwaysfeel at the top of my game.
But the event that we did theother day at your place, um,
(18:22):
you know, the drumming circle.UM. I think when we can be
of service like that, I thinkthat's when we can start to feel on
top of our game again. AndI think every time I start to feel
woe is me, um, asas soon as we you know, we
(18:44):
go through an event or we dosomething where we feel like we're being of
service and relieving suffering of others,I think, I think that's that's when
I can really feel good about myselfand I can feel really good about my
life. When I started to countblessings, no making of blessings, you
(19:06):
have a really strong partner with you. And I think when you have someone
like that that helps, like it'sthe other half of you if you will
you know, mentally, physically,emotionally, and can inspire you to be
your best self. I think that'sone of life's most beautiful finds. If
you're fortunate enough to attract someone likethat in your life. From Lauren,
(19:27):
I'd be curious to know what attractedyou when you first met What was it
about the energies that you guys sharedthat was so it was It's so interesting
because I, you know, II didn't expect to feel the things that
I felt. And it was likethis magical connection, like I've known him
(19:48):
for a really long time, thesole connection that I couldn't pinpoint. I
remember really vividly while I was workingon him and I did massage at various
energy healing and I'm looking at thisman, going is he my brother?
Is he my son? Is hemy father? Is he? Is he
(20:11):
a king? Like? Whose isthis energy like? And how do I
fit in? And I just said, well, I'm here for him with
in this moment, and this isour destiny in this moment to connect in
this way, and I am feelblessed to be part of this person's healing
today. And then you know,you let it go, and the way
the universe would have it is theyyou know, we want we were together,
(20:34):
we were supposed to be together,and we were able to do that.
And so I I that it wasa magical connection. I don't even
know how to define it. Ithink I think one thing I can say
is that I'm not sure. I'mnot sure I would be here if it
wasn't for Lauren, because it wasreally it was really very challenging, and
(21:00):
I think to go through that kindof experience without a really strong partner would
have been just even more challenging,um to the point where you know,
I'm not sure which direction I wouldhave gone. So it was great to
have somebody to keep nudging me backon track and somebody that obviously you know,
(21:26):
really cared about me and love me. So I think I think it
does. It does take a partnershipin that way to to enable, you
know, somebody like myself that's gonethrough such a terrible thing to to really
find my way again. Yeah,when I when I um, yeah,
(21:48):
I mean you've been recognized by somany people. I know, you teamed
up with John robertson the Wounded WarriorProject and then Maria Schreiber um before given
that. Yeah, the awards andlots awards for for really being able to
work with veterans and being able towork with other UM people with um PTSD.
(22:14):
Now again, it's hard to notfeel sorry for oneself. Right,
you're getting a rut and you startto feel down and and yet then you
look around and you say, man, there's so many people that are inspired
by me being strong, and soit's almost like an obligation to keep being
(22:37):
strong for other people, you know, because they look up to you,
right, and they want to makesure that you know you're the rock because
the world is and the world ishard and um, and so they need
people that they can look to thathave had uh severe adversity in their life
(23:00):
and remains strong. Right, Sowhat do you what do you do mentally?
What do you do to keep pushingyourself in the right direction because at
times it's freaking hard, you knowit is. I think I think having
other people to look up to,but also having the ability to lift other
(23:22):
people up. I think being ableto look in both directions, you know,
be able to look up to somebodylike I look up to Lauren,
um, but also keeping in touchwith with with people as you suggest,
you know that look up to me. And I think it's good to be
able to look in both directions.I think you want to add something to
(23:42):
that, Yeah, no, Iwould, And I would like to just
bring up the power of vulnerability herebecause you can go through something and be
a role model, but to connectwith other people the way Rick does and
we both bring to the work wedo is that we have to be completely
vulnerable with our own frailties. Andit's really it's a wonderful thing to discover
(24:07):
that you don't have to be thisrock to inspire other people. What actually
inspires people is that you're also vulnerableand you're still in progress, and you
don't have to be perfect to besuccessful. You just have to be real
and in touch with your heart.And when we do that, I think
that's the most inspiring thing for otherpeople is to realize that you can be
(24:30):
okay and growing and not be perfectand and heal like that. So for
us, that's a healing. Itheals us to be able to go okay.
We haven't reached the top yet,maybe we never will, but we're
in process sharing our process with otherpeople. Yeah, And I think the
perception is is that, you know, people people see me as a rock,
they see as as a rock,but in reality, you know,
(24:52):
we're still we're still trying to workthings out. We we you know,
we haven't had more experienced than mostpeople on the road to hear it.
That's true. Expanding on that alittle bit, it was extremely as we
sat in a drum circle with sixtyor more people in the yard and had
(25:14):
sixty drums or more and you andsome very notable drummers were leading this circle,
and Lauren, you're setting the intentionwas such a beautiful, uh walk
through a person's day to really focusyou really focus the group. And then
Rick, you you were very vulnerablein your own story and the impact and
the emotions you felt, and itjust what it did, I think for
(25:36):
everyone, or even these these bigyou know, tough guys that are drummers.
You guys are tough guys. It'syeah, I don't know their names
personally, because there was I wasso overwhelmed. But you've got Lenny Kravitz,
you've got Paul McCartney wings, you'vegot guns and Roses and def Leppard
(25:56):
and widespread panic and I mean thetalent Sticks. Then I'm talking to a
guy and just I thought he wasjust a guy visiting and I get onto
something about Phil Collins and oh thefirst time I met but it was the
drummer for Sticks, the nicest guy. Yeah, they all are, I
(26:18):
mean what a dream. Really.Yeah, I think everybody had such a
powerful reaction to that, and Iknow we're able to see it someday and
the veterans hospitals are filming and creatinga film for it. But your strength
in vulnerability was powerful and the entiregroup fell into that. And and I
think if young men and women rightnow, I can know one thing in
(26:41):
life is that vulnerability is not weakness. It's strength. It really is a
strength, and it also ingratiates youto others. I was going to comment
on that because what I found inbusiness right is there's a lot of people
that when you either are six sucessfulor becoming successful, even want to be
(27:03):
successful, you have to come upwith this feeling like you know it all
and you know you don't have anykinks in your armor. And I think
it's absolutely wrong, right, Imean, And so what's been able to
attract a lot of people to ourcompanies have been very similar thought process,
(27:25):
which is, hey, we don'tknow it all, and you know we're
not perfect, and you know wetry to lead sometimes with our faults,
you know. People, then itbreaks down some of that the walls that
people have because people can intimidate it, and sometimes they think, oh,
they have all this, and noone really under the unless you've walked the
(27:45):
mile in someone's shoes, right,you don't know. And so I think
it's a great lesson that we allshould take from that, which is that
you know, nobody's perfect, andwe all have our own insecurities and vulnerabilities,
and that we do need each otherright to lean on so that we
(28:06):
can continue to be strong and continueto be a voice for those when they're
in the dumps. You know,you're absolutely right, And uh, something
that Laurence said a couple of weeksback, and I'm sure I've heard a
say it before, but using thatvulnerability as a superpower, and also surrounding
ourselves with a really strong team ofpeople and you know that they're all in
(28:32):
the same boat, you know,but you know, just to be able
to have that team of people andsort of find our way sometimes we're not
quite sure, you know, we'veset sail and we're not quite sure what
the destination's going to be. Butthe other element of being open is to
go where should I be in thismoment and what where am I most needed,
(28:55):
you know, and not be onthe agenda of well, this is
the path to see says more thanthis is how I'm going to be used
the most to serve. And Ithink that's where our head has been at.
And obviously we could probably take alot of a lot of guidance from
you on you know, successful business, but I feel like where our heart
is is where the we're the mostpowerful and what we do, and that's
(29:19):
how we connect the on that youreally you focus a lot, Lauren on
the power of the heart, andI think that's what you brought together in
the circle too, was connecting thehearts. And I had mentioned even there.
I said, there's one drum thatbeats when it beats in unison for
others, it's the most powerful,you know, healing, and that is
the heart. That is the one. When we can get our hearts all
(29:40):
in synchronicity together, it incredates incrediblehealing and connection and exchange and growth.
And you know, talk a littlebit about your book or your album that
you recorded the messages from Aphrodite.It's Aphrodite, is it Tomato Tomatoes?
(30:00):
It's a It's an album that wejust released September ninth, and they're all
songs of love and various forms,how to be in a state of love
when you're grieving, how to bein a state of love when you're feeling
compassioned, how to connect with aloved one that's crossed over, how to
be in your heart, how tostay vulnerable, how to stay empowered in
(30:21):
that place, And all the songsgenerate some kind of backstory around that,
which is a setup for me toshare in my live performances. But that
that was a gift that I gotduring the pandemic, when it really was
the insight was given to me thatthe voice of the feminine, the higher
(30:41):
feminine, the divine feminine needed tospeak in this world where we're very focused
on the patriarchal narrative. And Iknow in my heart that the strength,
the vulnerability, the power that women'swomen voices have and learning how to navigate
(31:03):
dark times and keeping people together isessential and what we need right now in
the world. So that was myoffering. That was a beautiful gift,
I mean, And just to toptouch on a topic of current events right
now, when you look at what'shappening in Iran and the women of Iran
who are right, who are raisingup right now and using their hearts and
(31:23):
speaking about you know, they've beenin a patriarchal system for so long and
are now just exercising with I mean, they were there before and it's been
it's a real transition in the world. And it's painful sometimes when your heart
you're driven to what's right because itupsets the status quo in many situations.
(31:44):
But in the end of it,when you can get through that, I
find incredible change. And that's whatI have. I share things with others
to have hope, because you knowit it's easily to go down the rabbit
hole and get into that dark placethe ground. But in the world of
healing, even physical healing, whenyou have a wound and it starts to
(32:05):
heal, it's not pretty to lookat it. Yes, it's ugly,
it's bruised, it could get pussy, it needs to like you know,
it's not pretty, right, Andso we're looking at that in the world
right now because we're seeing the disease, We're seeing the wound. Everybody's seeing
it. We can't really look awayfrom it anymore. And that's the power
(32:28):
of where we are now. Andand it's a it's a stage of healing.
It's not we're not being destroyed.We actually are healing. But we
have to look at this, thedark stuff that's always been there, that's
been underneath the surface. It isan amazing grace. You know. Is
once I was blind and now Isee you think of the world is we
(32:49):
can no longer be blind. AndI want to change gears say, okay,
we usually go about thirty minutes.I know were close to that,
but I want to actually something.Twenty nineteen, you're inducted into the Rock
and Roll Hall of Fame with yourgroup, Now take us back. Would
(33:10):
you change a thing? Was itreally that wold to be a fricking rock
and roll star doing all those crazythings? And would you change anything?
I don't think I'd change anything nowbecause that music was awesome, fantastic,
And then to be to be honoredI mean Jeff Flag but always felt we
(33:32):
always felt a little bit like wedidn't get enough love from the industry.
UM. But to stand on thatstage and to see pretty much you know,
everybody out there in the audience,UM, really paying homage to this
band was fantastic. But I thinkthe most important thing for me was it
(33:54):
was the largest fan boat in thehistory of you know, of the Accademy,
the whole of fame. That thatto me spoke volumes. It was
almost like fans got it. Theywere they were loyal, and and then
and then everybody else got it becauseof Yes, it's no interesting you say
(34:20):
that, because I've noticed over theyears as the bands and and and you
weren't as acknowledged in the music industries. But I knew among my peers,
I knew among my that you wereprobably the you were the top most requested,
most listened to album of any thatwas in circulation. And I remember
that feeling like they're the greatest banof all time, Like that's what my
(34:44):
peer group saw. And still lookat you're still performing it. Look at
Miley Cyrus as the other singing portNo, I know, I know.
I mean to to be where Iam, um at this point in my
career is such a gift. Imean, I would never have thought I
would be doing what I'm doing,but I am, and I still being
(35:07):
successful, which is is you know, that's the blessing that's perfect. Lauren
does Lauren, do you have afavorite song of all the greatest hits?
Is there one that you love themost, or can you pick or can
you say hid? Probably Rocket,oh Rocket, Yeah, very tribal um
(35:31):
you know, yes, isn't thatwhere you do your solo on Stude?
Yeah, of course that solo.It's my favorite, so understandably, so
perfect. So what's next? Then? What what's coming down? You've got
this beautiful album out? Where canpeople listen to it? Is it?
Is it on Apple Music or wherewe find your everywhere Apple? It's on
(35:54):
Pandora, sofy um. All ofmy albums are there, and find step
on YouTube. Also a lot ofthings that she telling YouTube videos and videos
are on YouTube. And we're gonnabe continue touring. We're gonna tomorrow we'll
be in Tucson and then we havea whole East coast tour in November,
(36:15):
so you can see us in NewYork, in Boston and New Hampshire and
we'll be you know, just kindof perfect. Stops telling the stories,
still rocking, still rolling, youguys, never stop. It's just it's
amazing. And reg is definitely beenwriting any new songs right now or a
guess there's always there's always new ideason the go. But the next thing
on the on you know, onthe agenda for US really is uh.
(36:39):
I think we've got a private showin January, and then in February of
next year we're gonna be uh.I think we start out in South America.
So and then that continues probably throughoh no, August, September,
no, oh July, and thenthen I'll and then I take a break
(37:02):
and then you know, wait andsee what happens for the year after.
So it's it's always busy. It'swe're always doing something now and then obviously
your Raven Drum Foundation keeps pounding away, so that's great. Yeah, well,
we gotta thank Lorie Baker. LorieBaker our friend who introduced us to
the foundation, and we've been soblessed to have gotten to know the causes
(37:28):
and the work you do with veterans. You've always been a patriot in that
way and supported our veterans and youknow, God bless you, and hats
off to our veterans, and youknow they are the unsung heroes really the
last and so you too, Imean the way that you guys have supported
us UM and uh, you knowall the foundations, yes, and charities
(37:50):
you support where we look up toyou, and we admire your whole sense
of philanthropic service. It's just we'veso blessed to be part of this community
to continue the outreach and and helpother people, and wonderful I anything else
specifically like to touch upon, becauseI'm just you know, I again,
(38:13):
I'm I'm I I you know.I think a lot of the people that
watch are people that are looking forinspiration, right, And that's what I
think got them when they originally reachedout and said, hey, we want
to see more, and it camea lot of it came from UM doing
that undercover Billionaire show and so havingpeople like yourselves come on and be able
(38:36):
to really talk about UM again,adversity really right, and setbacks and then
thriving and and UM setting great examples. That's what it's all about. So
really really appreciate it. Yeah,sometimes the biggest setbacks can consider the blessing.
(38:59):
Yeah, And that's what I'm startingto see more and more in in
my life, in our lives.So there's an old fabled glen Loves a
Little. I won't tell the wholethe whole story, but it was about
a farmer who had a horse whoran away and the moral was it could
be good, it could be bad. It could be good, it could
be bad. I think life isabout that. You. It could be
(39:20):
good, it could be bad.You just don't know. So just keep
your heart open and allow the miraclesto happen. Really so, so,
I'm oh, Rick, what wasyour favorite Leopard song? Did you have
one? Um? I do?Actually, I really loved the song Hysteria.
Yeah. That that always gave me, gave me a sense of well
being, and I always related thatto a higher power. Um. So
(39:45):
it always just lifted me up atthe right time, and well, it
lifted me up at the right timein my life. And it's a reminder
of that every time I year itall play it well, I love I
love so many of them. Ican't pick a favorite. I really it's
been so fun having you both on. Did you want to say anything else?
No, I just again, Iappreciate your guys being here, Thank
(40:07):
you for being a part of thiswonderful and we can follow you where where
follow you guys, follow you guys. Where can people find all your good
works and what you're doing well?Rickallen dot com, Lauren Monroe dot com
or on Instagram or on Rickallen Live, Lauren Monroe Live, or on Twitter
or on Facebook. So we're everywhere. You're everywhere. You love to meet
(40:30):
people, We're very responsive on socialARCA. We love people, um and
we like to meet new new folksas we travel. So you're very special
couple. We are. We arehonored to know you. Happy anniversary coming
up. Maybe we'll have to havea dual anniversary full moon celebration one day.
Oh I would, right, andI just want to get in on
(40:52):
film. Maybe one day we'll geta backstage pass to definitely very performanceist thing.
I think. I think at thispoint is a gift. There we
go, all right, all right, well Rick and Lauren Monroe, Rick
Allen, thank you both for takingtime out of your day. Good luck
on your next ventures. We willbe looking for your music and your encouragement,
your inspiration and your heart because itis spread everywhere. We appreciate the
(41:15):
big hug you're given the world.We really do, um and that we
just this. You've been listening toanother episode of Grit Happens. Join us.
You can see episodes on YouTube oranywhere you catch your podcast follows at
Glenn Stearns dot com or Glen Stearnson Instagram and this has been another episode
I've sat with me bird. Thankyou Boake Care
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!