In this inspiring episode of The Joseph Bonner Show, we explore the remarkable stories of three influential leaders whose resilience, humility, and purpose are shaping a better world.
Keanu Reeves, whose legacy extends beyond Hollywood, exemplifies kindness, perseverance, and staying true to his values. We discuss his journey of overcoming personal adversity and how his compassion and philanthropy continue to inspire millions globally. Keanu’s story highlights that true greatness stems from humility, resilience, and using one’s influence for good.
Conrad Stough, a former Army veteran and founder of Warrior’s Mindset Academy, shares his powerful journey from the battlefield to becoming a beacon of hope for veterans battling PTSD and reintegration challenges. His unwavering dedication to service and helping others find purpose demonstrates genuine leadership rooted in sacrifice, faith, and resilience.
Tim Weintraut is the visionary founder of Alpha Wolf Impact, a company dedicated to shining a light on small businesses and startups making a societal difference. His mission to democratize access to vital information empowers investors and communities to support innovative companies that are creating real-world impact. Tim’s leadership fosters a more inclusive economy, emphasizing authentic engagement and responsible investing.
Alpha Wolf Impact:
Website: https://www.alphawolftrading.com/blog/
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuYdBzpuB3aFM9hfzMk-t_Q
Alpha Wolf Impact is shining a spotlight on seven such innovative companies—each addressing critical challenges with solutions that promise to redefine industries and improve everyday life. Here’s a closer look:
1. ProStar Holdings – PointMan
Website: https://pointman.com/
Market Size:Over $2 trillion annually in the U.S. infrastructure and construction sector; utility strikes cost $61 billion per year.
The Problem: Utility line strikes during excavation cause explosions, injuries, fatalities, project delays, and costly repairs.
The Solution: PointMan’s advanced detection technology can nearly eliminate utility strikes, delivering up to 10x cost savings. If adopted nationwide, it could save the U.S. between $27 and $61 billion annually and prevent dozens to hundreds of fatalities each year.
2. SkyX Platforms
Website: https://www.skyxplatforms.com/ces-award
Market Size: The global smart home market is projected to reach over $200 billion by 2030; the U.S. residential and commercial construction markets are worth hundreds of billions.
The Problem: Outdated, unsafe, and labor-intensive electrical fixture installations—like lighting and ceiling fans—pose fire, fall, and injury risks.
The Solution: SkyX’s innovative smart fixtures and installation systems enable safer, faster, and more standardized electrical installations. This technology could save the industry over $5 billion annually in insurance, labor, and property damage costs, while preventing hundreds to thousands of injuries and fires each year.
3. Daxor Corporation
Website: https://daxor.com/investors/
Market Size: Over 6 million patients in the U.S. with heart failure and critical care needs; the total market exceeds $12 billion.
The Problem: Inaccurate fluid management in hospitals leads to high mortality, frequent readmissions, and soaring costs.
The Solution: Daxor’s blood volume analysis technology enables precise fluid management, potentially saving $22.5 billion annually through shorter hospital stays and fewer readmissions. It could also save tens of thousands of lives—reducing heart failure mortality by over 80%.
4. Research Frontiers
Website: https://www.smartglass.com/
Market Size: The smart glass market is projected at $15–$20 billion globally by 2030; U.S. commercial building energy costs exceed $400 billion annually.
The Problem: High energy costs, excessive carbon emissions, and poor occupant comfort due to inefficient building envelopes.
The Solution: SPD-SmartGlass offers dynamic glass that adjusts opacity to optimize energy use and occupant comfort. This innovation could save $2.5–$7.1 billion each year in energy costs and indirectly improve health by reducing heat stress and UV exposure.
5. Liberty Defense
Website: .css-j9qmi7{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-flex-direction:row;-ms-flex-direction:row;flex-direction:row;font-weight:700;margin-bottom:1rem;margin-top:2.8rem;width:100%;-webkit-box-pack:start;-ms-flex-pack:start;-webkit-justify-content:start;justify-content:start;padding-left:5rem;}@media only screen and (max-width: 599px){.css-j9qmi7{padding-left:0;-webkit-box-pack:center;-ms-flex-pack:center;-webkit-justify-content:center;justify-content:center;}}.css-j9qmi7 svg{fill:#27292D;}.css-j9qmi7 .eagfbvw0{-webkit-align-items:center;-webkit-box-align:center;-ms-flex-align:center;align-items:center;color:#27292D;}
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The Joseph Bonner Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Where is this?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The Joseph Bonner Show is a unique show designed to
provide comfort and support to the international community.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
It's gonna make you feel bad.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Joseph Bonner is an experience mentor, live coach and certified
mental health first aid responder.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Oh an amazing guy.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So get ready to feel inspired, get ready to feel
like you can make a difference.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
And get ready to feel The.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Joseph Bonner Show starts now.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Welcome to the deep Dive. Today, we're focusing on a
figure who's quietly earned this huge amount of admiration over
what four decades. Now we are talking about Keanu Reeves,
and our mission really in this deep dive is to
try and unpack what actually makes him one of the
most consistently respected figures and entertainment going beyond you know,
the famous movie roles. To understand the man himself. We've
(00:51):
pulled together some really fascinating insights, stuff from articles, crew accounts,
even fan stories, trying to get a handle on that
quiet power where he seems to have that persistence in grace.
You probably know him as Neo or maybe John Wick.
But what we want to explore is how he navigates
his career, his life actually with this unique mix of well,
humility and real impact. By the end of this you
(01:13):
might just find your whole perspective on Hollywood success, maybe
even integrity has shifted a bit. Okay, So to really
understand Kanu Reeves, I think we have to start, you know,
at the beginning his roots. He wasn't exactly born into
Hollywood glamour, was he.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
No, not at all. His early life was well marked
by a fair bit of instability for inn and bey
route then moving around quite a lot Sydney, New York, Toronto,
all as a kid.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Right.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
What kind of impact do you think those early years,
that kind of foundation had on shaping the person he became.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, pretty compelling when you look at how those experiences
seem to have forged this quiet resolve in him. I mean,
his father left when he was only three wow three Yeah,
and he struggled with dyslexia. He eventually dropped out of
high school and never even went to drip a school.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
No formal training at all.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Nope. But despite all those early challenges, you can see
this clear thread, this sort of quiet determination that seems
to have just guided him forward.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
It really is remarkable how consistent that resolve seems, especially
when you look at his career path. People describe it
less like a straight line, more like an elegant statterplot,
which I love the great description when you think about
the Roles, Bill and Ted right that gave him that
cult following Yeah, the goofy start almost then point break
showed this different side, more grit, and my own private
(02:32):
Idaho revealed you know, some real dramatic depth.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Definitely a big shift, followed.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
By speed, which just cemented him as this like bankable
leading man. It really paints a picture, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It absolutely does. You see the versatility building. Yeah, and
then of course you get the massive impact of the matrix.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Oh yeah, can't forget the matrix that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Was undeniably a career defining moment. I mean, over one
point six billion dollars grossed. It completely reshaped action movies totally.
But here's what's really insightful. I think, in an industry
where franchise usually means you know, financial.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Security, right safe bet exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Keanu's choice, even after that huge success, to prioritize projects
based on personal meaning, on resonance, that tells you something
profound He wasn't just chasing more matrix sequels or similar franchises.
He was, like you said, chasing meaning in the work itself.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
That's such a powerful distinction. It really challenges the standard
Hollywood playbook.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
It does.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
And what's genuinely striking is what happened next when Hollywood,
maybe for a little while, cooled on him after that
massive peak. You often see stars kind of retreat, maybe
complain in those.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Moments or try to force something right.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
But with Keanu, what we heard was he just he
took smaller roles, He trained relentlessly, He actively supported the
stunt teams. He just kept working. Yeah, what does that
signal about his maybe his internal drive? Does that set
him apart?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I think it really does. It challenges that whole conventional
narrative of celebrity, doesn't it. What it's just is this
deep seated commitment to the craft itself, almost like a
quiet devotion to the work, rather than chasing fame or fortune, like.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
The work is the reward exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
There's this fantastic quote from an anonymous crew member on
the Constantine set. It speaks volumes. Really. They said, he
doesn't cast a shadow, he reflects one.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, it highlights this presence that doesn't overshadow people, doesn't
demand the spotlight, but actually mirrors the light and effort
of everyone around him.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
That makes so much sense. Given this quiet resilience and
focus on purpose, It probably doesn't surprise anyone that another
huge part of his story, the thing people talk about
constantly is his kindness, right, this profound, consistent kindness. And
it doesn't feel manufactured, you know, not like a pr campaign.
It seems built on countless actual encounters exactly. We've all
(04:52):
seen those viral moments like after John Wick Chapter four
finished shooting.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Oh yeah, the watches.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
He gifted custom Roullucks watches personal engraved to every single
stunt performer.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Which is just incredible. And it wasn't a one off
thing either. Remember it, during the Matrix reloaded he bought
Harley Davidson's for the entire stunt team.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
That's right, Harley david It's an amazing display of gratitude. Sure,
but it's more than that, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It really is. It shows this remarkable awareness of everyone's
contribution to a film, not just the actors you see
on screen.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Or think about that famous story the ice cream receipt story.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I love that one.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
This young fan was apparently too shy to ask for
an autograph, So Keanu goes and buys an ice cream
cone just to get the.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Receipt, just so he could sign something for The kid signs.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
The receipt and gives it to the fan. It's not
just generosity, it's the sheer thoughtfulness, that extra step recognizing
the fans shyness and making it easy for them, turning
a simple moment into something really special, absolutely real connection.
And remember that time his flight got diverted to Bakersfield,
he was stranded with everyone else.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I remember seeing videos of that.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
He apparently just jumped in, helped organize shared transports, playing
trivia with people, making them.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Laugh, just instinct, no entourage, hanging around, no posturing, just
being a decent human in a weird situation.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
It's those small things, the subtle gestures that often reveal
the most.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I find totally agree. Like in photos, people have pointed
out his h what they call his respectful presence, reading
how he often politely keeps his hands off fans in
group photos. You know, of her hands almost but not awkwardly.
It's this subtle but significant thing. People praise it for
(06:33):
respecting personal boundaries.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Huh. I hadn't specifically noticed that, but it fits the pattern.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Right, And that viral subway video just classic, seeing him
instinctively offer his seat to a woman carrying a heavy bag.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
No cameras obviously intended that exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
It just perfectly captures that everyday instinctual kindness that isn't
put on for show.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Beyond these specific acts, though, it's also worth pointing out
how he channels the spirit into like sustained philanthropy, but
it's remarkably understated.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, very low key.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
He funds a foundation for cancer research and children's hospitals.
But and this is the key part, he never.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Puts his name on it, never brands it.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
What does that specific choice tell us about his whole
approach to giving back.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, it's particularly striking, isn't it. Choosing to stay anonymous
with that kind of work. It really underscores that his
generosity isn't about boosting his public image or getting awards.
It's purely about making a genuine impact.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Right the cause, not the credit exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, and this quiet generosity it connects directly back to
his personal life too. His sister Kim battled leukemia for years.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Oh okay, I knew about his sister.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
So a lot of his philanthropy undoubtedly comes from that
really profound personal experience. It makes it an act born
out of deep empathy, not just obligation.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
And speaking of profound personal experiences, we do have to
touch upon the immense heartbreak he's been through. It's part
of his story.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It is, unfortunately a significant part.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
In nineteen ninety nine, his daughter with his partner, Jennifer Syme,
was still.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Born, just devastating, and then less.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Than two years later, sim herself died in a tragic.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Car crash, unimaginable loss, back to back like that.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
How has he navigated that kind of overwhelming grief, especially
being such a public figure.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
His approach, from everything we can see, is really a
lesson in grace. He seems to have chosen compassion, maybe
towards himself and others, rather than say public self pity.
And he's just quietly continued.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
He famously said something of grief, didn't he Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
The quote grief changes shape, but it never ends. That's
powerful it is. And what's remarkable I think is his
very deliberate decision not to turn his tragedy into a
public spectacle.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Right, No tell a memoir, no dramatized movie about it exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He chose this path of reverence and resilience Instead. It's
just a deeply private and dignified way of processing just
unimaginable loss.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Which really sets him apart in an industry that often
seems to thrive on public displays of personal pain.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Absolutely so, when we look.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
At the authentic admiration he gets, it's clearly not just
based on those viral stories, however compelling they are.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
No, it seems much deeper.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
It feels grounded in how people who've actually worked with
him or encountered him talk about him.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
And when you connect that to the bigger picture, the
consistency is just it's compelling. There was a production assistant
from forty seven Ronan who shared a story Oh yeah,
said something like we were shooting late, cold night and
he waited in line just like one of us, to
get into his own rap party.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Wow, didn't pull rank, not at all.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And a lighting teck from John Wick recounted he didn't
just treat the crew kindly. He learned our names.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
A huge on a big film set, actually learning name.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
It signifies genuine respect. And then there's that fan account
from Reddit, a story that really shifts your perspective. This
person said, I wasn't a big fan until he sat
with my dad who was homeless and shared his lunch
like it was nothing that changed things for me.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Goodness, that's profound.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
These aren't just random anecdotes, you know. They feel like
affirmations of a character that's just consistent across different situations,
different relationships.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
It is genuinely striking how consistent it all sounds. It
feels like he didn't set out to be admired.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Did He doesn't seem like it was the goal, But.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Through deliberate action and maybe even a deliberate silence around
his private life, he sort of created this space for
people to just see him for who he is, earning
respect rather than demanding it.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah. Well put, And it makes you think too about
how his real life emotional journey seems to almost mirror
the kinds of roles he's chosen over time. How so
well you can kind of see echoes of that displaced
innocence from his early life, maybe reflected in characters like
ted Logan.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Okay, I can see that.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Then there's the journey through conflict and perseverance. You see
that in action roles like speed, but it also resonates
with his personal losses and even his general distance.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
The media spotlight right the quiet fighter almost.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Exactly, and then there's this sense of resolution through a quiet,
almost zen like presence, which we definitely see in characters
like John Wick, oh for sure, and also reflected in
his philanthropic choices. It all sort of aligns, you know,
it really does.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
It's genuinely captivating to track his kindness. It really doesn't
feel like a performance for the camera. It just seems
to be how.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
He moves through the world, simply how he is.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
So as we wrap up this deep dive thinking about
everything we've discussed, what might you listening take away from
exploring this pretty extraordinary life.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Well, I think we've seen pretty clearly that kindness doesn't
actually need a spotlight to be effective, that grief doesn't
have to harden us, even immense grief, that humility can
genuinely coexist with incredible success, and maybe most powerfully, that
the strongest influence often comes from those who don't ask
for it, those who just are.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Keanu Reeves really reminds us that grace, true grit. It's
a long game, isn't it. It's not something you win
overnight or you know, demand through big, flashy gestures. It
feels like something you earn every single day through patients,
through just being consistently present, and through refusing to posture
for external validation.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And this sort of prompts a question for you listening,
how could you maybe apply this quiet power, this persistence
and grace in your own life. What small consistent actions
could you take that maybe over time, earn that deep
respect and make a profound, maybe unheralded impact, something worth
reflecting on.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
I think, Hey, what's going on you guys? Welcome back
to the show. This is Joseph Bonner, and you guys know,
I'm so glad that you say it with us for
this part of the show. These are my favorite parts
of the show where we get a chance to interview
someone inspiring making the difference in the world. Really in
(12:54):
the spirit of Keanu Reeves, who just continues to inspire
and shine with this legacy. You're so honored to have
Conrad Stout. He is one of the co founders of Fire,
which stands for Families in Reform and Equality Conrad. Welcome
to the show Man. Thanks so much for me.
Speaker 6 (13:15):
Hey, Joseph, thank you for having me. I'm super excited
to be here, especially alongside of yourself and Yellan just
they are two people that I know just really empower
the power of the the quite resilience, the spirit of
quiet resilience.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Well, we're pretty awesome to to be able to speak
to you, because you know, you're doing something at fire
that not a lot of people know about.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
And I think a lot of fathers find themselves in
these situations. Now I want to kind of bring people
up to speed a little bit because you know there,
you know, when it comes to custody, custody battles and
custody fire, a lot of fathers who find themselves in
(14:04):
these situations end up losing rights to the mother, even
if they are fit from even if they dotted all
the i's, crossed all the t's, and in some situations
are more safer to be with for their children than
the mother. And yet many fathers are still losing custody
(14:25):
at astronomical rates. And I know at your organization's fire
you not only speak about that, but you guys are
doing something about it. Can you tell us a little
bit about that?
Speaker 6 (14:35):
Absolutely, So to add some clarity here, So the the
organization is WMA, so it's the Warrior's Mindset Academy. I
started the Warrior's Mindset Academy in twenty twenty three to
help reach out to other veterans and just help kind
of provide purpose after service because we really struggle coming
back into civilization, and shortly after I started at WMA,
(15:00):
I had my own personal battles that we had started
with custody. I was going through divorce like most veteran
fathers ended up doing after service, and I ended up
creating FIRE to help kind of outreach and provide a
network was the original goal for Fire. So Fire is
really just designed to help push for integrity, for reform
(15:22):
and equality throughout our court systems and just demand justice
and accountability for those public servants that have taken that
oh that don't follow their promises to the people's justice
is meant to be blind, not biased, and that's really
what our goal is here, to help provide those those
(15:43):
fair platforms so that the children aren't suffering and being
punished by losing one parent over the other. For no
good reason.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Now I have a question for you. Now, Yeah, So
when these situations are brought to the courts and a
father and a mother kind of go head to head,
who's going to get child customer? Why is it that
in most cases the mother is considered and the father,
(16:14):
you know, is on the short end of the stick.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
You know, that's a phenomenal question. I've spent hundreds of
hours doing research on these things, and there's not really
one concrete answer. I mean, really, it comes down to preference.
So you've got to remember, in custody, a judge is
a human being, and a lot of times the person
that tells the better narrative is the one that ends
up with the advantage. And a lot of times people
(16:38):
see in these cases you will find that the judges
tend to lean towards the mother because the mother carries
the child for nine months possibly or because mother is
able to get more emotiately vested and telling her story
as where a lot of times fathers, specifically especially veteran bothered.
We're trained, we're reprogrammed to leave psychologically, so we're called
(17:02):
we're cool, we're collected. And I mean, in my own
personal case, I had submitted two hundred pages of evidence
to the courts, and when it came down to the
final ruling and the judge to make a decision, the
judge ruled against my request for cumpany of my children
because I was too well composed as what she'd put
(17:23):
in the paperwork. So things like that make it really
difficult to assess why people tend to lean towards the
mother as opposed to the fathers in these things. But
a lot of times what people don't realize is that
children need their father just as much as their mother.
I mean a lot of times in most families, the
father is the provider, the bread winner. A lot of times,
(17:45):
more traditional marriages, you'll find the father tucking the kids
in things like that. The mother tends to do things
from the background. A lot of times. Now that's not
always the case. But as far as why one party
ends up with cufany over the other, I think it
really just comes down to empathy. And unfortunately it's the
children and the fathers that are suffering the most because
(18:07):
kids ended up not understanding what's going on, especially younger children, Joseph.
They hear these things, they don't understand why mommy and
Daddy aren't together anymore. But even more so, they don't
understand why when they're being alienated from their fathers, why
they don't get to see daddy anymore. Is it because
I got out of bed late? Is it because I
snucked out to get a popsicle when it was bedtime?
(18:28):
Things like that. The children don't understand, and the courts
failed to realize that. And I mean, in all honesty,
the legislation and the laws are there, they just don't
actually implement.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
Some Yeah, and hearing the fact that the judge denied
your request for custody because you were too composed as
absolutely ludicrous. It's like you went to law school and
this is how you're making your your ruling based on
a man being composed in a situation that involves as children,
(19:02):
as opposed to the evidence that any evidence that you
may have submitted to the court, which is preposterous. But unfortunately,
you have individuals who are in these positions who are
not staying true to their commitment to the people and
to the laws that they have sworned themselves to uphold,
and not just in cases in one case, as perhaps
(19:24):
in your case, but also in hundreds of cases across
the board, and it's the children, unfortunately that that suffer
the most when when judges make decisions based off of
emotion versus the law. It's absolutely ridiculous. So tell me
exactly what is your organization doing to help combat this
(19:48):
to give fathers a fighting chen.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
So that's that's that's a great question, Joseph. So we're
doing a lot of different things. First and foremost, we're
working on building now natural and international networks and connections. Because,
I mean, you said something just a few minutes ago
that it was in my scenario it was ludicrous. But
as much as I would like to say that it
was a it was a ludicrous event, it's really more
(20:15):
the norm than anything else.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (20:17):
So what we're doing is reaching out to attorney networks,
were reaching out to other fathers rights, civil rights groups,
things like that, so that we can really kind of
find a way to create a network and expand our
voice far up to where we can make a difference.
We're accepting donations from individuals that can relate to the
stories of these betteran these betteran bothers that are fighting
(20:40):
the biggest fight of their lives. I mean, in all honesty,
I mean, we accept donations to help them with their
legal fees and to help provide a legal counsel. We're
working with attorneys. We do a lot of betting and
help make sure that the attorneys that are volunteering and
that are providing services to our member base are decent attorneys.
(21:02):
They don't have any disciplinary actions things like that against them.
They're individuals that know what they're doing right. It's a
court is a lot of times it's what we call
in the army, a dog and pony show, and it's
important to know that your legal counsel is going to
be there and that they really have a vested interest
in your success and helping make sure that you get
your children. So we're really kind of compounding those things
(21:25):
together to find as many ways to help as possible.
But the biggest thing that we're asking for right now
is just financial support from our donors for members, monthly donations,
things like that really help us be able to provide
resources financial support for our veterans when they're coming to
us and they're saying, Hey, I'm a father or i'm
(21:46):
a veteran father and I need help, And that's really
what we're focusing on here.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
And that makes a lot of sense. And it's so important,
I think, to be able to have somewhere to go
as a network of port, to be able to kind
of to fight and it's it's and I think one
thing that we don't always talk about is just the
emotional and mental toll this takes on fathers who are
even going through this process. I mean, you're it's emotionally
(22:14):
and mentally draining to even have your children ripped away
from them. And then at this, on top of all that,
you now have to fight in court to prove something
that you shouldn't even have to prove in most cases,
because in some cases are being taken away just because
you're the father and they're the mother kind of me.
And then so you have a lot of men who
are in this situation who have absolutely nowhere to go
(22:36):
and actually have no clue on how to even fight this.
And so it's nice to have an organization like yours
that allows men to come together, come to a place
where they can get some support, can get some networking,
and even be pointed in the right directions that they
can have the courage to keep fighting in the system
that should be fighting for them. And for their children.
(22:58):
But unfortunately, and in some of these in many of
these cases, unfortunately law is thrown outside the window and
emotions rain and bias rains, and that's just unaccepted in
a corner lot.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
Absolutely, I agree wholeheartedly, and I mean that having that network,
I mean, I think you really said something. I want
to drive home. Having those networks, when you're facing these things,
you fill alone, you're losing your family, you're losing your
inner circle. Your kids are calling you cry and saying
they want to come home. And being able to have
a network of individuals that are either going through it
(23:33):
currently or that have been through it and survived that
battle is really important because, I mean, it's painful, it's
a long process, it's painstaking. It's not supposed to be
this way, but unfortunately, what should be a few months
in the process is ends up becoming something that takes years.
And a lot of times the mothers they get frustrated.
They want money, they want this, they want that. So
(23:56):
what they start doing is they start penalizing the children
and weaponizing the children to make it a putitive process.
I mean, they want to cause damage, emotional and psychological
damage to the father and I mean that alienation is
something that's that's I mean, it causes permanent damage. I
mean that should be a child abuse in every world.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
Yeah, you're absolutely right, and I thank you so much
for speaking so passionately about this. And it's these battles
I think that are so important though, to keep fighting,
because one voice can can overnight become a hundred, and
a hundred can become a house. And I do believe
that there are power in numbers and that there is
(24:42):
a power in sticking together through these difficulties, especially when
indivisions have gone through similar situations. So I'm really proud,
proud of you and everything that you're doing at for
your Mindset Academy. And it's so important that we continue
need to push for accountability. Accountability is crucial. Now. There
(25:06):
are many ways in which I want to I want
to throw out the statistic and I want you to
correct me if I'm wrong. Now, you and you had
you had mentioned to us earlier that studies by the
National Parents Organization shows that over six of family courts
still exhibits substantial bias, frequently disregarding evidence of domestic violence
against men, are minimizing the atharity of parental kidnapping and alienation.
(25:31):
Can you tell me about that.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
Yeah, So the national statistic was sixty percent, and there's
some other places that claim that the statistics a little
bit higher, closer to eighty percent, but I found that
that was probably the most the most balid. It's it's
supported by the most research. So, I mean, as far
as the domestic violence thing goes, I mean, there's there's
(25:54):
a lot of cases where there is no domestic violence
and the mother will come in and they'll say, hey,
he regrets he abuses me and the children, and the
courts take it for face value. They don't do an investigation,
they don't look through criminal reports or anything like that,
and all the mother has to do is say, hey,
I mean I was afraid to report it, and well, unfortunately,
(26:15):
that's just kind of the nature of the beast. I mean,
there are families, there are sometimes that men will be
abusive towards women, but it's actually more common for women
to be abusive towards men. And when you have individuals
that are prior law enforcement, prior military, a lot of
blue collar individuals, they don't fight back. We just do
(26:36):
as little as possible to defend ourselves and let the
moment calm down, and the children are witnessing this. And
the statistic that I found is actually more than ninety
percent of families have children that have said that they
grew up in domestic violence where the mother was violent
towards the father. And there's definitely not that many reviews
or ratings out there that would confirm they're not that
(26:57):
many statistics Joseph to say that the courts are actually
holding these people, these women accountable for beating on their husbands.
I mean, this is something that going back to that oath,
you have women and men. We come together, we get married,
we make promises to protect each other, serve each other,
to be loyal and faithful to each other. And then
(27:18):
you have, going back to the statistic, more than ninety
percent of women that get frustrated and they don't have
any other way to vent to their anger other than
just start hitting, slapping, punching, pinching, pulling hair. All of
those things are domestic violence. And then you have the
emotional abuse on top of that. That emotional abuse takes tolls.
I mean, if a man is struggling to provide for
(27:39):
his family, his expectation is that he wants to provide
for his family. He wants to give his wife and
his children the world. We want to go on cruise
it everywhere. We want to buy houses all over the place.
We want to live a luxurious life. I just don't
know how to get there. And then in the corner,
when you have the woman that promised to be by
your side through all sickness and health, and all she
wants to do is to grade you, Hey, we can't
(28:00):
pay our we can't pay our water bill this month,
your piece and jump for that. This is your fault.
And those things take a large emotional toll on relationships too.
So I mean domestic violence. A lot of times people
they look at it and they say, well, she hit
I'm sure, but it didn't cause any damage. But that's
irrelevant right now. If a man hits a woman, even
(28:21):
if it doesn't cause any damage, the world looks at
us very differently. But if a man gets hit by
a woman, it just gets shot, it gets ah, it's
not a big deal. And unfortunately that plays into the
court system too. Again, Joseph, our system is very broken,
my friend. It really leans heavily against the men and
the fathers in this world, the ones that want to
(28:42):
be there. Now, obviously there's going to be those scenarios
where some people just aren't fit to be fathers, but
the majority of us are. We want to be fathers.
And I mean, where are the heroes to our children?
When they get scared, they cry for daddy, They want
Daddy to check the closet for monsters under the bed.
And that's our in our children's lives. And then that's
just ripped from us sober a course of a few months,
(29:04):
and sometimes most of the time without cause.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
Absolutely, and I want to and I appreciate you you're
bringing this up now. You mentioned also too. It was
research published by Science Direct and Springer. Do you have
that research on Hanck? He tell us about that.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
So I don't have the actual statistic in front of me.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
But well let me go ahead. Well I'll go ahead,
let me go ahead and say it, and then and
then I want you to comment. So this it brought
out that three point nine million children in the US
are moderately to severely alien from a parent, with long
term psychological consequences including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and also
(29:47):
diminished self work. Just highlighting just the impact it is
on children when they are separated from a parent, any parent.
And so the reason why I wanted to bring that
up because I think gets so important to talk about.
You know, you know, just one child being separated from
a good father, it is one too many with those
(30:07):
kinds of consequences that research dictates. And now to know
that three point nine million children have to face this,
it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 6 (30:17):
Yeah, I mean again, it really just kind of highlights
the fact that our country's justice system is broken. I mean,
alienation is something that is attract right now. If a
father owes child support, there's child support enforcement agencies, there's
places and things that they'll do. They'll take pathports, they'll
take driver's life, and they'll they'll put the fathers in
(30:38):
jail if they owe too much money. But in most cases,
more than sixty five percent of fathers that approach the
courts and requests that the courts told the mothers in
contempt for alienation. When they're pitolizing the children because they're
mad at the fathers, they don't have any consequences. The
judge will tell them, hey, you have to do it.
They'll say okay, they'll smile and nod they'll do it.
They'll apply for a couple of weeks and go right
(30:59):
back to what they were doing before and there's no
real consequences. But let a father owe child support to
a mother, and I say the father oweing child support
because more than seventy percent of fathers end up owing
child support for these cases, right, So I mean, you
let a father owe child support to mother and this
(31:20):
state don't come after them with vigor the tenacity, and
when it's the other way around, the children are suffering.
But it has nothing to do with finances. There's not
really many things that can happen. I mean, there's laws
that are in place that are supposed to happen. But again,
it goes back to that empathy and that enforcement and
everything seems to be taken for face value when it's
(31:41):
against the father of the children. And I mean that's
just that's not just my experience, that's the experience of
millions of people across the country.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
And and things like that are genuinely a reflection of
what's with the world today. So it's so important to
have organizations like you, like yours, that are there in
it for the fight. And it's a it's a hard fight,
it's an emotional battle. But I know that there are
(32:14):
a lot of good fathers out there who appreciate what
you do and who value what you bring to the table,
and a lot of good mothers out there who can
empathize with what you know. So many fathers are going
through in the court systems that that's completely unfair and advised.
(32:34):
And I don't want to I want to over infan,
I do want to overemphasize the fact that these these
children here are the real victims. You know, they're the
ones who suffer the most. And I think when we
bring that to the table, it should force those positions
(32:55):
of legal responsibility to do more if they can, to
make sure that those children are with the right parents.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
Yeah, and that's really why we started fire, because I mean,
like you said, that the children are suffering, and I mean,
I don't want this to sound like an attack on
mothers in general, because there are a lot of good
mothers in this world that push for the children to
have a solid relationship, a meaningful relationship with their fathers.
But there are also, unfortunately a lot of them that
(33:26):
do the exact opposite. So at the same time, there's villains.
There's also heroes. But I mean, honestly, like we said earlier,
I mean, more than three million children out there wondering
why their dad left. Is it something they did, something
they said? Is it because I got a d and
science class?
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Like?
Speaker 6 (33:41):
Kids don't profit these things. And when the parents aren't
able to work together to really articulate to them, like, hey,
this really isn't your fault, then I mean, they spend
the rest of their lives thinking that they've done something wrong.
They become they start to develop different syndromes, They start
to develop different adaptation features where they just they feel
(34:04):
like the world's against them. Well, if I do this wrong,
then this person's going to leave. They develop attachment issues.
I mean, in my own custody battle, I had my
eight year old daughter tell me over the phone, because
that's the only way I've gotten to see them for
the last year and a half now. She told me
over a video call, Joseph, she said, I want to
come home, Daddy, and I had a really bad dream
(34:25):
and she started crying and she tells me, she says,
I dreamed that you left my life forever. Please don't
ever leave me. An eight year old little girl like
this is. My little girl is a social butterfly. She
can light up the room no matter how dark it is,
soon as shoe walks in. And she's already starting to
develop attachment issues, thinking that I'm going to leave her.
(34:46):
I mean, the last time I dropped her off at school,
she had a full blown anxiety attack because I walked
out of the room and she didn't in her mind,
she doesn't know, Hey, I'm just going to class. He's
gonna come get me at the end of the day,
right And again, I mean, as much as I like
to say that my story is superior, it really is.
I mean, it's it's become more of the norm. It's
more of the standard. And little girls out there all
(35:08):
over the world need their daddies and they don't have
access to them because there's women that just they want
to weaponize the children. You want to see your kids,
pay more in child support, you want to see your kids,
it has to be around my schedule. They don't comply
with court orders and things like that. And it's really
the driving fuel. I mean, when we started coming together,
(35:28):
we started fathers started talking about what we're going through.
We started coming up with these scenarios where we started
to realize that this is way too common. So we
started fire to help kind of create that network and
that resource for those fathers that want custody of their kids,
that are willing to fight so that they have that faith,
because hope without faith is really nothing but a wish.
(35:51):
So we're here to provide that faith to those fathers
and that's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
And this is a question I want to ask. That's
my final question, and then I'm gonna let you go
because you did mention. And first of all, first of
I want to say a couple of days. I want
to say a number one, for those of you guys
listening on the radio, I'm so glad I do not
have my camera on right now because you because we're
gonna take some of these clubs and we're gonna put
that we're gonna put this on social media. My camera's
(36:19):
off you guys, and I'm so glad because I'm over
here crying. I'm like, I do not want to cry
on camera. That's just not acceptable. So Number one, I'm
so glad for that. Number two, now, I know you
mentioned before that they're you know, there's good guys, there's
bad guys. There's heroes and there's villains. Now with war
or mindset academy. I mean, as fathers come out to
(36:40):
you and reach out to you for help, do you
have a vetting process? Because you know there may be
some some I was gonna say that there may be
some bad guys who come to you for assistance. How
do you vet that out?
Speaker 6 (36:54):
So that's a that's a great question. So we don't
ever turn our backs on anyone. So it's I don't
know how your I don't know what your religious stance is.
But as I grew up, I became a Christian. I
started adapting Christian values. And the way that I see
it is if Jesus can be stabbed and stabbed and
stabbed until he's dead and still forgive them. I mean,
(37:16):
there's no reason that I can stand above anybody and
say that I'm here to judge you. I mean, I'm
here to help. The judges that we talked about earlier,
I mean the reason that they're there is so that
they can provide that judgment. Now, I mean, naturally, if
somebody comes to us and they say, hey, if it
sounds like they're just trying to find a way to
hurt the other parents and their focus isn't on the children.
(37:38):
We have counseling processes and stuff like that help them
revision what this is really about and if they can
adjust to that and they find out a lot of
times they'll find out, hey, you know what, I I
don't know that I want to be a full time father.
Sometimes they just they just don't want to feel like
they lost. So if those are the scenarios, then we
encourage them to go through mediation, arbitration things like that
(38:01):
with the other parents so that they can find ways
to provide for their children, spend time for their children,
and grow into that role. Because the father is a
hard role. It's not it's not something there's no looks
on it. So, yeah, people come to us and they
they have these these personas and they fund like they're
just not quite ready for that full time role. I mean,
(38:21):
we we kind of we work with them to help
get them ready for it, but we don't ever turn
anybody away.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
I mean, so.
Speaker 5 (38:26):
Here's my question ahead, And I want to bring this
up because I think it's important, and I think it's
very important for men and women and just the world
to understand to really understand. So I'm gonna I'm gonna
I'm gonna I'm gonna be I'm gonna be a little
controversial here because I want to pull this out. I
(38:47):
want to pull this out. So let's say, for example,
a father comes to you and says, hey, I want
help getting custody of my children. And you're like, okay, great,
this is what we do at you know, Warri's Mindset Academy. Yah, yeah, yeah, right.
So he goes and say, he starts telling you his
story and the course of this story, and you learn
some things about this man. And again, not to judge,
we're do I hear to judge. I don't judge either.
(39:09):
But let's say you learned some things about this man
that has shown at least your organization that he's not
a six father like you know you mentioned earlier during
the podcast, there are some people who are not fit
to be fathers, that it would not be of the
best interest for his children to be around him, just
based off of what you've yeah, just based off of
what you've learned from his stories. What would you do
(39:34):
in that situation where you discover a father is is
not doing what he's supposed to do. Maybe he's been
violent to the children, maybe he's been violent to the mother,
and yet he comes to your organization for help. How
would what would you do in that case?
Speaker 6 (39:49):
So, and in that case, we would, I mean we would.
We would direct them to sources, resources, networks that we
might have within our circle. And if not, we would
help him find serves sources that help him manage the
anger and stuff like that. I mean, we would try to.
We would do what we could to help reshape him,
to get him ready for that role as a father,
(40:10):
so that he learns better ways to handle his anger
and stuff like that. And then when he goes to court,
he would have that paperwork saying, hey, listen, I'm not violent,
I've gone under I've undergone two years of therapy of counseling.
Here's paperwork for my counselor stuff like that. So a
lot of times these things aren't necessarily quick, and when
(40:30):
there's room for growth, it needs to be capitalized on.
So we would find ways to help that individual become
a better parent and a better person. But I just
I want to point out something here to both you
and your listeners. Here, the purpose of fire isn't to
take custody away from the mothers. That just turns the
script the other way, right, fifty to fifty is really
the only way that the children are ever going to
(40:52):
find any sort of balance in a relationship. But a
lot of times courts won't rule for that, they'll rule
majority for the mother, especially like there's a lot of
times the mother will leave the state and they'll take
the children with them, and despite state laws being in
place to stop them from doing that, the courts don't
enact those state laws because I mean, there's even bederal
(41:14):
laws under UCTJEA that stop a parent from taking the
children and leaving a state. So in those scenarios, our
main goal is to help find a balance, right, not
take the kids away from the mother unless the mother
is absolutely doing things they shouldn't be doing, like weaponizing
the children, alienating right. That falls back into that sent
category that you were discussed with earlier. Joseph learned one
(41:37):
parent comes to us and the father he's just his abusive,
he's drug user, maybe he's alcoholic, and he's not ready to.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
Be a father.
Speaker 6 (41:44):
That goes both ways. But our goal isn't to stop
the mother from being able to see their children as
much as they have to really give the fathers the
opportunity to be in their children's lives.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Have often thought.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
I like that. I think their answer was very was
well stated. I love the fact that if you do
have some individuals who come to your organization and you
can kind of see they're clearly not fit, that you
would try to find the resources that you would find
resources for them to help them get prepared for that role.
I think that's phenomenal. I don't I don't think I've
(42:18):
met an organization that I've come across recently that's ever stated,
and I think that is such a powerful thing to do.
Not only does it show compassion, but it also you know,
I think something like that could help an individual, you know,
make straight pass for their feat, you know what I mean.
And again, you just you never know, you know, because
(42:40):
you know people will actually stick to it and take
to it. But I think what your organization is doing
by even just giving them a chance to get prepared
for this role, I think it's phenomenal. And thank you
so much for mentioning too about the fifty to fifty
because I think it's so important, you know, going back
to the statistics that we covered earlier, the statistics that
we talked about ear I love the idea of fifty
(43:02):
to fifty's that's also phenomenal. You guys are doing a
lot of great things. I'm so proud of you man,
and I'm so excited to see what's in store for
your organization in twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six. Thank
you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (43:16):
Absolutely, And I mean, if I may just throw a
quick ask out there to your audience, I mean, thank
you guys for being so supportive. And if you guys
want to read more in depth about what we're doing,
what the movement for Fire is, you can go to
our website Warriors Mindset Academy dot org and then if
you put the forward slash in there and then right
of fire fire, that'll take you straight to our blogs.
(43:38):
We have a lot of powerful information in there. If
you're a veteran, if you're a father, if you're just
an individual that feels lost and the loan come to us.
That's what we're here for. That's what we started for,
and that's what we're going off on. You are our cause,
and together we'll fight on.
Speaker 5 (43:54):
And that's very well said and For those of you
guys I'm watching this on social media or listening to
this at home, just go ahead and go to the
description of the show wherever you happen to be watching
or listening, and you are going to see links to
Warrior Mindset Academy dot org. Also the links of the
fire page. Also, if you'd like to, I want you
guys to reach out to them. If you have resources,
(44:15):
if you're a lawyer, if you're a law former, if
you're an organization that can kind of help fathers, you know,
navigate through some of these things, definitely reach out to
them to partner with them. For those of you guys
who are in position to financially don't it, I want
you guys to, you know, dig in those pockets support
a great cost because it's about the children and making
sure that our kids have the parents that they need
in their lives. And Warrior Mindset Academy is not only
(44:38):
doing that, but they're doing it in such a phenomenal
way and making sure that we're holding those who have
the legal responsibility to judge to judge justly, that we're
holding them accountable. Response Comrad thank you again for being
on today's show. Those of you guys who are listening,
Thank you always for being great supporters of our show. S.
(45:00):
The show is not over quite yet. I don't want
you guys to go anywhere just yet. We got some
bills to pay, listen to some commercials. We're going to
come back with another great guest. All right, you guys,
And this is the part of the show that you
guys know, I love the most. It's when we get
a chance to shine a light on a professional who
(45:20):
is doing some big things, making a big impact. And
we're so honored to have join us the CEO and
founder of Alpha Wolf Impact, Tim Wintrout. Tim, I want
to welcome you to the show and thank you so
much for being Joseph.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 5 (45:38):
Well, you know, Tim, you're very passionate about highlighting small
businesses and innovators who really quietly shape our future, especially
when they're faced with challenges from Wall Street and regulatoria hurdles.
You actually believe that these companies are vital to society
because they solve real problems and improve lives. Can you
tell us a little bit about, you know, just your
(45:59):
passion for helping companies who don't really have that influence
make that global work.
Speaker 3 (46:07):
Sure. I can tell you that I started investing probably
about forty years ago, and honestly, I started investing because
all I cared about was making extra money. As I
have progressed through life and as I have really gotten
to know companies and the things that they are trying
(46:31):
to accomplish, what became very evident to me was I
actually went through a phase where I was trying to
teach retail investors how to be smarter investors. And retail
investors really didn't want to speak take the time. They
just want somebody to tell them when to buy and
when to sell. And that's not what I do. What
(46:53):
I tried to teach people was how to research companies,
how to look at companies. After forty years, there are
a few things that are extremely important. One is you
need to know who leadership is. You can have a
great product or service, but if you don't have great leadership,
the odds are stacked against you, especially on Wall Street.
(47:16):
The other thing is to identify a product or service
that solves a need, not a want, but a need.
What do I mean by need? I mean if their
product or service saves lives? If their product or service
is keeps us safer, if it keeps us healthier, or
(47:37):
it's good for the planet. Right, There's so many things
that can be important and fill a need. Right, So
that is those are the things that I really want
to emphasize. The other thing is capital structure. What hurts companies.
(47:58):
I'll just give you a quick statistic. Eighty three percent
of small cap companies that list on a public exchange
are gone in three years. Now. Why is that now?
A big part of it is nobody knows about it, right.
They're little, tiny companies that have found their way to
(48:21):
the public markets and they were told that they're going
to get institutional investors and all this stuff, but the
reality is they're going to wind up with retail investors.
The average joe that there doesn't really know what he
owns and doesn't do the research to have the conviction
to stay in it when things go south. So it's
(48:47):
the institutions have gotten so big, the funds are so big.
If you've got one hundred billion dollar fund, how are
you going to invest in the way they've invested And
they allocate a percentage of their portfolio into a stock
if it's a fifty million dollar market cap stock and
(49:08):
you're one hundred and fourteen billion dollar fund. How do
you do that? You can't, it's impossible. That is actually
the advantage that retail investors have. They can't touch these companies.
But if you can identify a company that has a
product or service that fills a need, that's that's your edge.
(49:34):
We need a bunch of people to be able to
do that, because what Reddit proved not long ago with
game Stop and AMC is that there is strength in
numbers when you have a collective group of people that
see and they joined together, and they weren't all big
(49:55):
time investors, but they actually put a one point five
billion dollar fund of business. Right. They did that because
they focused on two companies that, unfortunately weren't exactly great companies.
They have bad business models. But imagine if that group
(50:18):
of people focused on companies that are small and struggling
but have a product that can change the world. Right Right,
that's the stock market enables people to own a piece
of a company literally part owner. Right, you're buying shares
(50:40):
of the stock and you are part owner of that company.
As part owner of the company, why wouldn't you do
everything in your power to help that company survive, not
just survive, but succeed, right, especially if they're doing something
that benefits humanity. That's the message that I would like
(51:03):
everyone to understand. And some of these companies that I
have literally trade at nine cents a share. You could
scrape your couch in your car and probably come up
with enough change to buy one hundred chairs. Right, it
(51:24):
doesn't take an immense amount of money to get involved
in the stock market. It doesn't take And even if
you didn't invest in the company, the investing portion is
the kicker. That's the bonus for you. Right. If the
company succeeds, you can feel good about the fact that
(51:45):
not only did you invest in the company at a
very early stage, but where that company hits scale and
is saving lots of lives and making us more efficient,
that's something you could be proud of. Let's say you
participated in that, you're part owner, right, So that's how
(52:08):
you know. I like, I got addicted to the stock
market when I was twenty years old. And if you
look at the stock market the right way, then you
realize that there are so many companies out there that
are doing so many amazing things. And no one knows
(52:28):
about them, no one. So you can be a brand ambassador,
you can be an educator, you can be an influencer,
an investor. These are things that I think if people
spent their time on. There's an old saying that if
you want to get the most out of life, you
(52:51):
try to improve yourself a little bit every day. Imagine
if we did that on a global scale, where we
literally and our time looking at ways to improve humanity
just a little bit every day. I have five companies here,
or no, seven companies, I'm sorry. Life saved annually and
(53:14):
this is a conservative estimate, would be anywhere between fifty
two and sixty two thousand lives a year. Money saved annually,
and this is just in the United States, would be
anywhere from sixty seven to one hundred and forty four
billion a year. Now, what could we do with sixty
(53:36):
seven to one hundred and forty four billion dollars? Where
could we apply that money if we if it were saved? Right? Conservative?
Seven companies? How many more companies are out there? There
are thousands companies, thousands. I guarantee you if there's something,
(53:57):
some problem that you know of, that there is probably
a company out there that is trying to solve that
problem or or has already solved it, but nobody knows.
So's that's really you know, Look, this isn't about me.
This is about people. See as I get older, I
(54:22):
realize I came into this world with nothing. I'm ninety
nine point I'm ninety nine percent sure I'm leaving with nothing.
So ultimately, what matters, what matters is what you do
while you're here. That's what matters. And I would like
to impact as many lives in a positive way as
(54:45):
humanly possible. And one of the ways to do that
is to help a little company become a big, profitable corporation.
How many lives do you impact positively just from that
one act?
Speaker 5 (55:00):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (55:00):
Right? How many communities get strengthened because well, they've got
to hire more people? Right? Yeah? Then throw on top
of that the fact that they have a product or
service that saves lives. The ripple effects of that, I
don't even think you can really comprehend it, all right, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (55:24):
You know, and I love this fact because I think
what you're challenging us to do is your challenge. You're
challenging us to to be better. You know, what I mean,
and to do better and I and I appreciate that,
and I think it's a good reminder because you know,
we live in a world that is full of distraction.
(55:45):
You and I were talk about that before the show started.
We live in you know everything, like you know, we're
social media, but it's really anti social media, you know
what I mean. So it's sometimes we can we can
lose focus on what matters the most, and it's not
just about you know, our profit, but it's about you know,
being able to give something back for future generations and
(56:06):
like something like this, like the companies that you mentioned.
For those of you guys who are wondering what these
companies are, you guys can look at the description of
this show and you will see a list of the
companies that he's specifically referring to. But I think what
we forget, though, is we forget that impact and legacy
has to do with, like what you said, Tim, is
(56:27):
what we do right now with the time that we're
given and the people that we help in vun because
when we're long gone, right, you know, those the things
that we did and people that we helped, that that's
going to count, you know.
Speaker 3 (56:40):
Right, exactly exactly. When you get older like I am,
that's when you start to realize, you know, what's it
all about? Right? It's not about the cars, it's not
about the it's not about any of that. What it's
really about is do I want to leave here and
know that I did everything I could to try and
(57:03):
have a positive impact on this planet. And that doesn't
mean I have to be the guy that comes up
with the idea. Right, I can recognize the idea, I
can recognize the impact that it could have, and then
I could support them, and I could support them in
many ways. It doesn't have to be just money, right,
(57:24):
But Wall Street is very transactional. It's run by the rich,
and there are things like a credited investor. Right, in
order for you to be able to participate in a
private offering, and you have to have I think it
was a million dollars in assets minus your home you have,
(57:51):
or you have to make two hundred and fifty grand
per year for two consecutive years in order for you
to be able to participate in a offering. And the
reasoning behind that, supposedly is that it's to protect the
little guy who maybe isn't as a stute and well
(58:14):
versed in investing the reality of that is such bs
Because here's the deal. If I have a stock that
I like very much, and I think, huh, I'm going
to put my entire net worth in one stock, I
could sell everything I own and I could go try
(58:36):
to buy that stock in the open market, and it
would probably be a very bad choice. But I would
do that, and I would have to deal with a
market maker who every time I put a bid in,
they raise the price and I have to chase it.
As opposed to participating in a private offering where I
could buy as many series as I want at a
(58:57):
set price with other investors who are also astute. How
is blocking someone out of that because they don't have
a million dollars in assets? How is that a good
or a positive thing? It's not. The system is geared
(59:22):
towards keeping the elite the elite, and keeping the poor poor.
And I'll give you another example. There are companies that
gave employees all the way down to the janitor shares
of their company before they went public. Then when they
went public, they changed those people's lives. The way to
(59:45):
bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots.
It's not as complicated as everyone likes to make it seem. Right.
If you bought shares of a company that can literally
do things to change the world, you're going to reap
the rewards of that benefit. Where you won't reap those
rewards is if Wall Street continues to ignore that company
(01:00:09):
or provides that company toxic financing. What happens is small
companies always underestimate how long it's going to take for
them to get to cast flow, break even or profitability,
or I guess overestimate. They always think because if they
build it, they will come, this solves a huge problem.
(01:00:32):
That's not the case. That's feel the dreams. Reality is
you build it and then you have to get adoption.
An adoption is extremely challenging to get because people are
set in their ways. They don't like change, even if
it's changed for the better. They don't like change. So
(01:00:57):
when you think you're going to have this huge crowd
that come rushing in and buy your product, it's a
harsh reality when you realize, man, if this thing isn't
it's not going the way I thought it was going
to go. You don't have a huge salesforce, you don't
have a big marketing budget. So what typically winds up
happening is the person or company that came up with
(01:01:21):
the idea originally winds up going BK. They go under,
and then some other company buys their assets for pennies
on the dollar, and then they turn it into a
big success, which I think is horrible, right because the
people that the people that have bootstrapped, the first guy,
(01:01:44):
the guy that invented it, they all lost money, right,
they all lost I guess you could call that capitalism.
I think it's uh, I think it's I think it's.
Speaker 5 (01:02:00):
Really yeah, yeah, you know, I think, you know, it's
so funny, like so many these stories are coming up
in my head as I'm hearing me speak. But yeah,
there is even I think the lady that invented the
Monopoly game, you know, the original the original creator of
the Monopoly game, where she was only paid five hundred
dollars for her patent and that and the company made
(01:02:22):
you know, billions, but you know, she didn't see a
diamond because someone took her idea and then sold it.
And then you know, it's it's the world that we're
living in the world. But people like you, though, who
dare to speak up and speak out. And you may think, well,
it doesn't make a difference. It does. And this is
(01:02:44):
just me thinking because I would have no clue at this,
so Tim, I would obviously, you know, see to your expertise. Here.
We see that there are issues with Wall Street, and
we see that it's kind of like a a rigged game,
you know what I mean, It's like it's it's it
feels very rig is there is there an alternative? And
(01:03:08):
if there is not, could there be an alternative for
companies like this to get the capital that they need
to grow in? I mean, what do you think?
Speaker 3 (01:03:17):
You know? I think here's the thing. Private equity is
just as bad venture capital. I mean, you know, it's
it's sad. I mean, I'm going to give you another
example real quick. This is just a company that just
literally went public and they provide they provide a very
(01:03:40):
transparent way for small companies to get health insurance for
their employees, where literally they use AI and deep machine
learning to provide quotes and not where you'd go to
their website. You actually fill this thing out and you've
got some plans in front of you that you can show, right,
(01:04:00):
not that you fill this thing out. The moment you
hit enter, you have somebody calling you on the phone
trying to sell you insurance. There it's an amazing little company.
The guy took out a second more mortgage to start
this company, and the CFO left her job at City Bank,
of a very good job of ten years, to be
(01:04:22):
a co founder in this thing. They went public on
December twenty third, which is a really strange day to do,
not a good day, but they had to do it
for I don't remember what the reason was, but they
had to do that day. The stock listed at about
four bucks a year, and then this company came out
(01:04:42):
and wrote a really positive article on and the stock
went from four to over five and change. And then
a couple of weeks later they wrote another even more
positive article on and it went to seven fifty. At
that dollar amount, they had a four hundred million dollar
(01:05:04):
market cap, way over value, and all of a sudden,
on no news, the stock started plunging. It went from
seven to fifty. It's now it's like sixty cents. Okay.
What that was was the company that wrote that really
positive article was actually building their short position. This is
(01:05:28):
a company that nobody knows just listed on the IPO.
And the brilliance of that move is you're positive on
the company, so you're not you're not saying anything bad
about them, but you drove the valuation so high that, yeah,
it was primed for a short not a lot of
(01:05:51):
shares outstanding. So they literally drive this thing below a buck.
Now what happens when that When you're on the Nasdaq,
what happens when you get low a buck? You get
a letter saying that if you don't get your stock
price back above a buck, you're going to be delisted
from the NASDAK, which you just paid two million dollars
to get listed on. I see stuff like this and this.
(01:06:17):
The saving grace for this particular company is they're profitable.
They're actually profitable. Most small companies that go public are
not profitable. That's why that's why they're going public. Right,
They need to need to raise capital because growth consumes cash.
So you see this and it makes me so sick
to my stomach because they don't care what this company provides.
(01:06:42):
They don't care what they do. What they see is
an opportunity to make short term money. And with algorithmic
trading naked short selling, there are so many hurdles for
small companies to overcome on Wall Streets, not even funny.
And then throw on top of that that the retail
(01:07:04):
investor who is not a student, who that same guy
is now getting, you know, shareholders that are calling him
a crook and a scam artist because it went from
seven to fifty down to sixty cents. He had nothing
to do with it. He's trying to run his company.
(01:07:25):
But people think that it must be a scam. No,
this guy has no idea why his stock did what
it did. None right, and welcome to Wall Street. He's
been on the listed on the exchange for five months
and he's already got a letter that he's going to
(01:07:46):
be delisted if he doesn't get it back above a buck.
That's brutal and that's reality, right, So Wall Street is
a rig gie. To answer your question, though, this is
how This is how you you understand the game. You
(01:08:09):
learn the dynamics of the game. Right, when you know
what the dynamics of the game are, then you outplay them.
That's that's really the deal. That's why I say retail
investors could be the biggest hedge fund in the world. Okay,
(01:08:31):
because there's more numbers. There's just sheer numbers of people. Right.
Imagine if they're focusing on good companies that are doing
good things that solve needs, right, and you help them,
You help them by investing, you helpvice. I open my
(01:08:51):
entire networks when I get involved with the company and
I see two companies that may be able to benefit
one another. I answered you this ceo to this CEO
and say, hey, you guys might want to check this out.
There could be some synergistic opportunities here, Right. Why do
I do that? People tell me I could make money
(01:09:12):
doing that? Yeah, I probably could. I know a lot
of people charge a lot of money to do that.
I do it because it's the right thing to do.
Why would I not want to help both companies if
I find both companies to be good investments.
Speaker 5 (01:09:28):
Right, that's a good point man.
Speaker 3 (01:09:31):
There there are a lot of things that we can do.
You know, you know somebody that's in the construction industry
and say, hey, how come you're not using this? Right?
It may not these things may not impact you directly.
Maybe you're not involved in construction. It's not the point.
The point is, if we can solve these problems, then
(01:09:54):
we can move on to other problems, and we have
the money because we just saved a whole both load
there to address these other problems. Does that make sense?
Speaker 5 (01:10:05):
Yeah, it does makes a lot of sense. You know,
I feel like, you know, you're you're way ahead of
your time. And what I mean. What I mean by that,
it's like, you know, like how you can I don't
know how how to say this in the way that
makes the most sense. But you know, I believe that
(01:10:29):
society will not always be this, you know what I mean,
you know how it is today is pretty bad. I
do believe that there will be a time in the
future where we won't have And when I say that
you're ahead of your time, was like, you're you're thinking
aligned with where mankind should be right now, you know
what I mean, And they're not there.
Speaker 3 (01:10:51):
Here's I mean, Joseph, Right, we have an artificial intelligence
that is learning every day, every single night, twenty four
to seven. And my fear is that humanity has a
lot of problems. Human beings have a lot of problems
(01:11:14):
and greed, and there's just a lot of things that
we could do better, right, we could do better, and
there is you know that that those theories that that
AI may at some point, there's no question about it,
(01:11:35):
They're going to be smarter than us, a million times smarter. Right.
If something is as I'm praying that, if something becomes
a million times smarter than us, it recognizes our faults,
That recognizes, you know, manipulation and greed and envy and
(01:11:58):
all of those things, and recognizes that those are our weaknesses,
but we still have value. That's that is what I'm
really hoping, because I think a lot of people are
self entitled feel the world owes you something. Life is hard, Yeah,
(01:12:22):
very hard. The world doesn't owe you anything. I don't.
I don't care who you are. I grew up in
a bad neighborhood, I had divorced parents. Life is hard.
You choose to either make a difference or you choose
(01:12:43):
to make excuses. That's your choice.
Speaker 5 (01:12:48):
Mhm wow. Well said, Well well said. And you know
it's it's companies like yours that are challenging the status quo,
being that lifeline for companies who don't have anyone else
to advocate, And it's your insights and your your passion
(01:13:16):
as well as just your your humanity that will continue
to pave the way for other companies to have a
fighting chance. So what you're doing right now with Alphabol's impact.
You may not necessarily think that you are having the
impact that you want, but your words have produced results
(01:13:39):
already just by you being here today and just by
you speaking on these things, and it has, it has,
And I mean you have me thinking about things that
I typically don't even consider. And I appreciate that, and
I know that my listeners too out there appreciate this
as well. We are so curious though, to find out
(01:14:02):
who these seven companies are that are genuinely not being
given the attention that they properly need. So again, for
those of you guys listening at home, I want you
guys to go to the description and the link of
this show wherever you happen to be listening to. You're
going to get a list of those company names if
you can, you know, looting those pockets support.
Speaker 3 (01:14:21):
What I want to do is that I want to
make sure everybody understands this. I am not telling anybody
to go buy the stocks of these companies. I'm not
telling you that. I'm saying do your own due diligence.
Everybody should do their own due diligence. No matter where
you hear a stock from somebody at a party, go
do your own due diligence, okay number one. But if
(01:14:43):
you do your due diligence and what you find out
makes sense and you, you know, resonate with the CEO
or then then this is something, man, that you can
really get behind, right you could? And I literally work
seven days a week, seven days a week looking for
(01:15:03):
companies that can make a difference. That's what I do.
And there is nothing more gratifying than finding a company
that makes a difference in being part of it. It
wasn't my idea, that's okay, Just recognizing it and helping
(01:15:24):
them in any way that you can makes you feel good.
I mean, how could you now feel good? Right?
Speaker 5 (01:15:32):
Right?
Speaker 3 (01:15:33):
And then if you did invest the added bonuses, you
do pretty well financially too. So that's the beauty of
the stock market. Are there a lot of downsides to
the stock market? Yes, But what I'm saying to you
is learn what those are. Understand how the markets function. Right. Understand,
(01:15:55):
many of the companies that go public don't understand how
the markets function. That's why they get this. They trust
these bankers who think they care about their business. The
reality is they do not care about that business. They
are not your partners, they are not your friends most
of them. Most of them care about the sale or
the fees. That's what they care about. Their client is
(01:16:20):
not you. The client to the financial institutions are the
investors that they go to to get the money for
the company that's looking to raise capital, and those investors
set the terms of what that company is going to
have to pay. The bankers. Their customers are all those
(01:16:46):
investors that they want to make more money. Does that
make sense, Yeah, So that's who their client is. Many
companies don't understand that until it's too late. They do
a financing and they get hurt and they seems that
The quickest way to know if you have someone who
(01:17:06):
is a true partner or if you have a vulture
is look at the terms of the deal. If it
has a roafer, if it has warrants, if it has
a ratchet, those are things that are not good. They
are not designed to help you. They are designed to
dilute the shareholders and harm you. They put you into
(01:17:28):
a death spiral right so quick, just a quick education
bottom line is yes, it can be a rig game.
But if you learn about the game, then you can outplay.
Does that make sense? It does?
Speaker 5 (01:17:50):
It does, And I think in order for us to
really be able to even have an opportunity to outplay
the game is we have to keep people like you
in our corner to educate us. And how is that
to do that? So for those of you guys out
there who like to connect with Tim Winshaw, you guys
again can also connect with him on social media his
LinkedIn page, YouTube, Twitter, All of that will be in
(01:18:12):
the description in the link of the show as well.
So I want you guys to connect with him, keep
him in your corner, utilize him for advice insights, because again,
if we're good, if we're good, if we're gonna play
the game right, we're gonna need you in our corner.
Ten So.
Speaker 3 (01:18:32):
Listen, I am. I will just tell everybody I am
a person that is a negative free zone. So in
other words, retail investors a lot of times have a
tendency to bash CEOs and talk trash about companies and
none of that stuff is helpful, Right, I am a
(01:18:56):
person I keep it negative free zone. If you want
a bitch to somebody, if you want to complain, Go
get a therapist. If you want to try and make
a difference, then you know, I'm happy to talk to you.
So I just want to I just want to let
everybody know that's good.
Speaker 5 (01:19:16):
No, that and that's good because we don't got time.
I mean, who has time?
Speaker 3 (01:19:21):
Right right? I don't want to listen somebody whining about, well,
why did they do this? Why did that drug fail?
Why did this? Who cares? I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I mean it's past. There's nothing we can we can't
go back in time and change it. So let's focus
on what we can do moving forward. Right there, you go.
Speaker 5 (01:19:42):
That's it. That is it, and that is that is
great advice and and and great advice to live by
as well. And Tim, thank you so much for being
on today's show.
Speaker 3 (01:19:50):
We appreciate it. I really appreciate everything you're doing. Leanna
Reeves is the best. I love him. I mean, he's
the a humble guy that it's just a good human being.
So that's what got my attention. And yeah, I'm glad
(01:20:11):
you celebrate with somebody like him.
Speaker 5 (01:20:13):
You know, thank you. I appreciate that because you know,
he is one of the few people and I'll say
this in Hollywood that we do celebrate. You know, there
are so many stories that we cover, and every time
we can stop on Keanu Reeves, it's always a positive thing.
Like I've never had to cover anything negative about him,
and it's it's it's so uplifting to be able to
(01:20:37):
to speak positive things about someone who's who's so inspirational.
And I know that his team feels the same way.
So we appreciate having you on the on the second
as well, anything that you need obviously, you know, feel
through reach out here.
Speaker 3 (01:20:51):
All right, I appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (01:20:53):
And before we let you guys go at home, don't
go anywhere just yet, listen to a word from our partners,
and then we'll be back with another guest.
The Joseph Bonner Show.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Where is this?
Speaker 1 (00:03):
The Joseph Bonner Show is a unique show designed to
provide comfort and support to the international community.
Speaker 3 (00:08):
It's gonna make you feel bad.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Joseph Bonner is an experience mentor, live coach and certified
mental health first aid responder.
Speaker 4 (00:14):
Oh an amazing guy.
Speaker 1 (00:16):
So get ready to feel inspired, get ready to feel
like you can make a difference.
Speaker 3 (00:21):
And get ready to feel The.
Speaker 1 (00:24):
Joseph Bonner Show starts now.
Speaker 4 (00:30):
Welcome to the deep Dive. Today, we're focusing on a
figure who's quietly earned this huge amount of admiration over
what four decades. Now we are talking about Keanu Reeves,
and our mission really in this deep dive is to
try and unpack what actually makes him one of the
most consistently respected figures and entertainment going beyond you know,
the famous movie roles. To understand the man himself. We've
(00:51):
pulled together some really fascinating insights, stuff from articles, crew accounts,
even fan stories, trying to get a handle on that
quiet power where he seems to have that persistence in grace.
You probably know him as Neo or maybe John Wick.
But what we want to explore is how he navigates
his career, his life actually with this unique mix of well,
humility and real impact. By the end of this you
(01:13):
might just find your whole perspective on Hollywood success, maybe
even integrity has shifted a bit. Okay, So to really
understand Kanu Reeves, I think we have to start, you know,
at the beginning his roots. He wasn't exactly born into
Hollywood glamour, was he.
Speaker 2 (01:25):
No, not at all. His early life was well marked
by a fair bit of instability for inn and bey
route then moving around quite a lot Sydney, New York, Toronto,
all as a kid.
Speaker 3 (01:35):
Right.
Speaker 4 (01:36):
What kind of impact do you think those early years,
that kind of foundation had on shaping the person he became.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Well, pretty compelling when you look at how those experiences
seem to have forged this quiet resolve in him. I mean,
his father left when he was only three wow three Yeah,
and he struggled with dyslexia. He eventually dropped out of
high school and never even went to drip a school.
Speaker 4 (02:00):
No formal training at all.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Nope. But despite all those early challenges, you can see
this clear thread, this sort of quiet determination that seems
to have just guided him forward.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
It really is remarkable how consistent that resolve seems, especially
when you look at his career path. People describe it
less like a straight line, more like an elegant statterplot,
which I love the great description when you think about
the Roles, Bill and Ted right that gave him that
cult following Yeah, the goofy start almost then point break
showed this different side, more grit, and my own private
(02:32):
Idaho revealed you know, some real dramatic depth.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Definitely a big shift, followed.
Speaker 4 (02:38):
By speed, which just cemented him as this like bankable
leading man. It really paints a picture, doesn't it.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
It absolutely does. You see the versatility building. Yeah, and
then of course you get the massive impact of the matrix.
Speaker 4 (02:50):
Oh yeah, can't forget the matrix that.
Speaker 2 (02:52):
Was undeniably a career defining moment. I mean, over one
point six billion dollars grossed. It completely reshaped action movies totally.
But here's what's really insightful. I think, in an industry
where franchise usually means you know, financial.
Speaker 4 (03:06):
Security, right safe bet exactly.
Speaker 2 (03:09):
Keanu's choice, even after that huge success, to prioritize projects
based on personal meaning, on resonance, that tells you something
profound He wasn't just chasing more matrix sequels or similar franchises.
He was, like you said, chasing meaning in the work itself.
Speaker 4 (03:23):
That's such a powerful distinction. It really challenges the standard
Hollywood playbook.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
It does.
Speaker 4 (03:28):
And what's genuinely striking is what happened next when Hollywood,
maybe for a little while, cooled on him after that
massive peak. You often see stars kind of retreat, maybe
complain in those.
Speaker 2 (03:40):
Moments or try to force something right.
Speaker 4 (03:44):
But with Keanu, what we heard was he just he
took smaller roles, He trained relentlessly, He actively supported the
stunt teams. He just kept working. Yeah, what does that
signal about his maybe his internal drive? Does that set
him apart?
Speaker 2 (03:59):
I think it really does. It challenges that whole conventional
narrative of celebrity, doesn't it. What it's just is this
deep seated commitment to the craft itself, almost like a
quiet devotion to the work, rather than chasing fame or fortune, like.
Speaker 4 (04:12):
The work is the reward exactly.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
There's this fantastic quote from an anonymous crew member on
the Constantine set. It speaks volumes. Really. They said, he
doesn't cast a shadow, he reflects one.
Speaker 4 (04:22):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
Yeah, it highlights this presence that doesn't overshadow people, doesn't
demand the spotlight, but actually mirrors the light and effort
of everyone around him.
Speaker 4 (04:30):
That makes so much sense. Given this quiet resilience and
focus on purpose, It probably doesn't surprise anyone that another
huge part of his story, the thing people talk about
constantly is his kindness, right, this profound, consistent kindness. And
it doesn't feel manufactured, you know, not like a pr campaign.
It seems built on countless actual encounters exactly. We've all
(04:52):
seen those viral moments like after John Wick Chapter four
finished shooting.
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Oh yeah, the watches.
Speaker 4 (04:57):
He gifted custom Roullucks watches personal engraved to every single
stunt performer.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Which is just incredible. And it wasn't a one off
thing either. Remember it, during the Matrix reloaded he bought
Harley Davidson's for the entire stunt team.
Speaker 4 (05:11):
That's right, Harley david It's an amazing display of gratitude. Sure,
but it's more than that, isn't it.
Speaker 2 (05:17):
It really is. It shows this remarkable awareness of everyone's
contribution to a film, not just the actors you see
on screen.
Speaker 4 (05:23):
Or think about that famous story the ice cream receipt story.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
I love that one.
Speaker 4 (05:26):
This young fan was apparently too shy to ask for
an autograph, So Keanu goes and buys an ice cream
cone just to get the.
Speaker 2 (05:33):
Receipt, just so he could sign something for The kid signs.
Speaker 4 (05:36):
The receipt and gives it to the fan. It's not
just generosity, it's the sheer thoughtfulness, that extra step recognizing
the fans shyness and making it easy for them, turning
a simple moment into something really special, absolutely real connection.
And remember that time his flight got diverted to Bakersfield,
he was stranded with everyone else.
Speaker 2 (05:54):
Yeah, I remember seeing videos of that.
Speaker 4 (05:56):
He apparently just jumped in, helped organize shared transports, playing
trivia with people, making them.
Speaker 2 (06:02):
Laugh, just instinct, no entourage, hanging around, no posturing, just
being a decent human in a weird situation.
Speaker 4 (06:09):
It's those small things, the subtle gestures that often reveal
the most.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
I find totally agree. Like in photos, people have pointed
out his h what they call his respectful presence, reading
how he often politely keeps his hands off fans in
group photos. You know, of her hands almost but not awkwardly.
It's this subtle but significant thing. People praise it for
(06:33):
respecting personal boundaries.
Speaker 4 (06:34):
Huh. I hadn't specifically noticed that, but it fits the pattern.
Speaker 2 (06:38):
Right, And that viral subway video just classic, seeing him
instinctively offer his seat to a woman carrying a heavy bag.
Speaker 4 (06:46):
No cameras obviously intended that exactly.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
It just perfectly captures that everyday instinctual kindness that isn't
put on for show.
Speaker 4 (06:53):
Beyond these specific acts, though, it's also worth pointing out
how he channels the spirit into like sustained philanthropy, but
it's remarkably understated.
Speaker 2 (07:04):
Yeah, very low key.
Speaker 4 (07:05):
He funds a foundation for cancer research and children's hospitals.
But and this is the key part, he never.
Speaker 2 (07:11):
Puts his name on it, never brands it.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
What does that specific choice tell us about his whole
approach to giving back.
Speaker 2 (07:17):
Well, it's particularly striking, isn't it. Choosing to stay anonymous
with that kind of work. It really underscores that his
generosity isn't about boosting his public image or getting awards.
It's purely about making a genuine impact.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Right the cause, not the credit exactly.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
Yeah, and this quiet generosity it connects directly back to
his personal life too. His sister Kim battled leukemia for years.
Speaker 4 (07:39):
Oh okay, I knew about his sister.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
So a lot of his philanthropy undoubtedly comes from that
really profound personal experience. It makes it an act born
out of deep empathy, not just obligation.
Speaker 4 (07:51):
And speaking of profound personal experiences, we do have to
touch upon the immense heartbreak he's been through. It's part
of his story.
Speaker 2 (08:00):
It is, unfortunately a significant part.
Speaker 4 (08:02):
In nineteen ninety nine, his daughter with his partner, Jennifer Syme,
was still.
Speaker 2 (08:06):
Born, just devastating, and then less.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Than two years later, sim herself died in a tragic.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Car crash, unimaginable loss, back to back like that.
Speaker 4 (08:15):
How has he navigated that kind of overwhelming grief, especially
being such a public figure.
Speaker 2 (08:20):
His approach, from everything we can see, is really a
lesson in grace. He seems to have chosen compassion, maybe
towards himself and others, rather than say public self pity.
And he's just quietly continued.
Speaker 4 (08:32):
He famously said something of grief, didn't he Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:34):
The quote grief changes shape, but it never ends. That's
powerful it is. And what's remarkable I think is his
very deliberate decision not to turn his tragedy into a
public spectacle.
Speaker 4 (08:45):
Right, No tell a memoir, no dramatized movie about it exactly.
Speaker 2 (08:49):
He chose this path of reverence and resilience Instead. It's
just a deeply private and dignified way of processing just
unimaginable loss.
Speaker 4 (09:00):
Which really sets him apart in an industry that often
seems to thrive on public displays of personal pain.
Speaker 2 (09:06):
Absolutely so, when we look.
Speaker 4 (09:07):
At the authentic admiration he gets, it's clearly not just
based on those viral stories, however compelling they are.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
No, it seems much deeper.
Speaker 4 (09:15):
It feels grounded in how people who've actually worked with
him or encountered him talk about him.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
And when you connect that to the bigger picture, the
consistency is just it's compelling. There was a production assistant
from forty seven Ronan who shared a story Oh yeah,
said something like we were shooting late, cold night and
he waited in line just like one of us, to
get into his own rap party.
Speaker 4 (09:36):
Wow, didn't pull rank, not at all.
Speaker 2 (09:39):
And a lighting teck from John Wick recounted he didn't
just treat the crew kindly. He learned our names.
Speaker 4 (09:44):
A huge on a big film set, actually learning name.
Speaker 2 (09:47):
It signifies genuine respect. And then there's that fan account
from Reddit, a story that really shifts your perspective. This
person said, I wasn't a big fan until he sat
with my dad who was homeless and shared his lunch
like it was nothing that changed things for me.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
Goodness, that's profound.
Speaker 2 (10:05):
These aren't just random anecdotes, you know. They feel like
affirmations of a character that's just consistent across different situations,
different relationships.
Speaker 4 (10:13):
It is genuinely striking how consistent it all sounds. It
feels like he didn't set out to be admired.
Speaker 2 (10:19):
Did He doesn't seem like it was the goal, But.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
Through deliberate action and maybe even a deliberate silence around
his private life, he sort of created this space for
people to just see him for who he is, earning
respect rather than demanding it.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Yeah. Well put, And it makes you think too about
how his real life emotional journey seems to almost mirror
the kinds of roles he's chosen over time. How so
well you can kind of see echoes of that displaced
innocence from his early life, maybe reflected in characters like
ted Logan.
Speaker 4 (10:48):
Okay, I can see that.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Then there's the journey through conflict and perseverance. You see
that in action roles like speed, but it also resonates
with his personal losses and even his general distance.
Speaker 4 (11:00):
The media spotlight right the quiet fighter almost.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
Exactly, and then there's this sense of resolution through a quiet,
almost zen like presence, which we definitely see in characters
like John Wick, oh for sure, and also reflected in
his philanthropic choices. It all sort of aligns, you know,
it really does.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
It's genuinely captivating to track his kindness. It really doesn't
feel like a performance for the camera. It just seems
to be how.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
He moves through the world, simply how he is.
Speaker 4 (11:27):
So as we wrap up this deep dive thinking about
everything we've discussed, what might you listening take away from
exploring this pretty extraordinary life.
Speaker 2 (11:38):
Well, I think we've seen pretty clearly that kindness doesn't
actually need a spotlight to be effective, that grief doesn't
have to harden us, even immense grief, that humility can
genuinely coexist with incredible success, and maybe most powerfully, that
the strongest influence often comes from those who don't ask
for it, those who just are.
Speaker 4 (11:57):
Keanu Reeves really reminds us that grace, true grit. It's
a long game, isn't it. It's not something you win
overnight or you know, demand through big, flashy gestures. It
feels like something you earn every single day through patients,
through just being consistently present, and through refusing to posture
for external validation.
Speaker 2 (12:18):
And this sort of prompts a question for you listening,
how could you maybe apply this quiet power, this persistence
and grace in your own life. What small consistent actions
could you take that maybe over time, earn that deep
respect and make a profound, maybe unheralded impact, something worth
reflecting on.
Speaker 5 (12:34):
I think, Hey, what's going on you guys? Welcome back
to the show. This is Joseph Bonner, and you guys know,
I'm so glad that you say it with us for
this part of the show. These are my favorite parts
of the show where we get a chance to interview
someone inspiring making the difference in the world. Really in
(12:54):
the spirit of Keanu Reeves, who just continues to inspire
and shine with this legacy. You're so honored to have
Conrad Stout. He is one of the co founders of Fire,
which stands for Families in Reform and Equality Conrad. Welcome
to the show Man. Thanks so much for me.
Speaker 6 (13:15):
Hey, Joseph, thank you for having me. I'm super excited
to be here, especially alongside of yourself and Yellan just
they are two people that I know just really empower
the power of the the quite resilience, the spirit of
quiet resilience.
Speaker 3 (13:29):
Thank you for having me.
Speaker 7 (13:31):
Well, we're pretty awesome to to be able to speak
to you, because you know, you're doing something at fire
that not a lot of people know about.
Speaker 5 (13:44):
And I think a lot of fathers find themselves in
these situations. Now I want to kind of bring people
up to speed a little bit because you know there,
you know, when it comes to custody, custody battles and
custody fire, a lot of fathers who find themselves in
(14:04):
these situations end up losing rights to the mother, even
if they are fit from even if they dotted all
the i's, crossed all the t's, and in some situations
are more safer to be with for their children than
the mother. And yet many fathers are still losing custody
(14:25):
at astronomical rates. And I know at your organization's fire
you not only speak about that, but you guys are
doing something about it. Can you tell us a little
bit about that?
Speaker 6 (14:35):
Absolutely, So to add some clarity here, So the the
organization is WMA, so it's the Warrior's Mindset Academy. I
started the Warrior's Mindset Academy in twenty twenty three to
help reach out to other veterans and just help kind
of provide purpose after service because we really struggle coming
back into civilization, and shortly after I started at WMA,
(15:00):
I had my own personal battles that we had started
with custody. I was going through divorce like most veteran
fathers ended up doing after service, and I ended up
creating FIRE to help kind of outreach and provide a
network was the original goal for Fire. So Fire is
really just designed to help push for integrity, for reform
(15:22):
and equality throughout our court systems and just demand justice
and accountability for those public servants that have taken that
oh that don't follow their promises to the people's justice
is meant to be blind, not biased, and that's really
what our goal is here, to help provide those those
(15:43):
fair platforms so that the children aren't suffering and being
punished by losing one parent over the other. For no
good reason.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Now I have a question for you. Now, Yeah, So
when these situations are brought to the courts and a
father and a mother kind of go head to head,
who's going to get child customer? Why is it that
in most cases the mother is considered and the father,
(16:14):
you know, is on the short end of the stick.
Speaker 6 (16:18):
You know, that's a phenomenal question. I've spent hundreds of
hours doing research on these things, and there's not really
one concrete answer. I mean, really, it comes down to preference.
So you've got to remember, in custody, a judge is
a human being, and a lot of times the person
that tells the better narrative is the one that ends
up with the advantage. And a lot of times people
(16:38):
see in these cases you will find that the judges
tend to lean towards the mother because the mother carries
the child for nine months possibly or because mother is
able to get more emotiately vested and telling her story
as where a lot of times fathers, specifically especially veteran bothered.
We're trained, we're reprogrammed to leave psychologically, so we're called
(17:02):
we're cool, we're collected. And I mean, in my own
personal case, I had submitted two hundred pages of evidence
to the courts, and when it came down to the
final ruling and the judge to make a decision, the
judge ruled against my request for cumpany of my children
because I was too well composed as what she'd put
(17:23):
in the paperwork. So things like that make it really
difficult to assess why people tend to lean towards the
mother as opposed to the fathers in these things. But
a lot of times what people don't realize is that
children need their father just as much as their mother.
I mean a lot of times in most families, the
father is the provider, the bread winner. A lot of times,
(17:45):
more traditional marriages, you'll find the father tucking the kids
in things like that. The mother tends to do things
from the background. A lot of times. Now that's not
always the case. But as far as why one party
ends up with cufany over the other, I think it
really just comes down to empathy. And unfortunately it's the
children and the fathers that are suffering the most because
(18:07):
kids ended up not understanding what's going on, especially younger children, Joseph.
They hear these things, they don't understand why mommy and
Daddy aren't together anymore. But even more so, they don't
understand why when they're being alienated from their fathers, why
they don't get to see daddy anymore. Is it because
I got out of bed late? Is it because I
snucked out to get a popsicle when it was bedtime?
(18:28):
Things like that. The children don't understand, and the courts
failed to realize that. And I mean, in all honesty,
the legislation and the laws are there, they just don't
actually implement.
Speaker 5 (18:40):
Some Yeah, and hearing the fact that the judge denied
your request for custody because you were too composed as
absolutely ludicrous. It's like you went to law school and
this is how you're making your your ruling based on
a man being composed in a situation that involves as children,
(19:02):
as opposed to the evidence that any evidence that you
may have submitted to the court, which is preposterous. But unfortunately,
you have individuals who are in these positions who are
not staying true to their commitment to the people and
to the laws that they have sworned themselves to uphold,
and not just in cases in one case, as perhaps
(19:24):
in your case, but also in hundreds of cases across
the board, and it's the children, unfortunately that that suffer
the most when when judges make decisions based off of
emotion versus the law. It's absolutely ridiculous. So tell me
exactly what is your organization doing to help combat this
(19:48):
to give fathers a fighting chen.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
So that's that's that's a great question, Joseph. So we're
doing a lot of different things. First and foremost, we're
working on building now natural and international networks and connections. Because,
I mean, you said something just a few minutes ago
that it was in my scenario it was ludicrous. But
as much as I would like to say that it
was a it was a ludicrous event, it's really more
(20:15):
the norm than anything else.
Speaker 3 (20:16):
I mean.
Speaker 6 (20:17):
So what we're doing is reaching out to attorney networks,
were reaching out to other fathers rights, civil rights groups,
things like that, so that we can really kind of
find a way to create a network and expand our
voice far up to where we can make a difference.
We're accepting donations from individuals that can relate to the
stories of these betteran these betteran bothers that are fighting
(20:40):
the biggest fight of their lives. I mean, in all honesty,
I mean, we accept donations to help them with their
legal fees and to help provide a legal counsel. We're
working with attorneys. We do a lot of betting and
help make sure that the attorneys that are volunteering and
that are providing services to our member base are decent attorneys.
(21:02):
They don't have any disciplinary actions things like that against them.
They're individuals that know what they're doing right. It's a
court is a lot of times it's what we call
in the army, a dog and pony show, and it's
important to know that your legal counsel is going to
be there and that they really have a vested interest
in your success and helping make sure that you get
your children. So we're really kind of compounding those things
(21:25):
together to find as many ways to help as possible.
But the biggest thing that we're asking for right now
is just financial support from our donors for members, monthly donations,
things like that really help us be able to provide
resources financial support for our veterans when they're coming to
us and they're saying, Hey, I'm a father or i'm
(21:46):
a veteran father and I need help, And that's really
what we're focusing on here.
Speaker 5 (21:51):
And that makes a lot of sense. And it's so important,
I think, to be able to have somewhere to go
as a network of port, to be able to kind
of to fight and it's it's and I think one
thing that we don't always talk about is just the
emotional and mental toll this takes on fathers who are
even going through this process. I mean, you're it's emotionally
(22:14):
and mentally draining to even have your children ripped away
from them. And then at this, on top of all that,
you now have to fight in court to prove something
that you shouldn't even have to prove in most cases,
because in some cases are being taken away just because
you're the father and they're the mother kind of me.
And then so you have a lot of men who
are in this situation who have absolutely nowhere to go
(22:36):
and actually have no clue on how to even fight this.
And so it's nice to have an organization like yours
that allows men to come together, come to a place
where they can get some support, can get some networking,
and even be pointed in the right directions that they
can have the courage to keep fighting in the system
that should be fighting for them. And for their children.
(22:58):
But unfortunately, and in some of these in many of
these cases, unfortunately law is thrown outside the window and
emotions rain and bias rains, and that's just unaccepted in
a corner lot.
Speaker 6 (23:12):
Absolutely, I agree wholeheartedly, and I mean that having that network,
I mean, I think you really said something. I want
to drive home. Having those networks, when you're facing these things,
you fill alone, you're losing your family, you're losing your
inner circle. Your kids are calling you cry and saying
they want to come home. And being able to have
a network of individuals that are either going through it
(23:33):
currently or that have been through it and survived that
battle is really important because, I mean, it's painful, it's
a long process, it's painstaking. It's not supposed to be
this way, but unfortunately, what should be a few months
in the process is ends up becoming something that takes years.
And a lot of times the mothers they get frustrated.
They want money, they want this, they want that. So
(23:56):
what they start doing is they start penalizing the children
and weaponizing the children to make it a putitive process.
I mean, they want to cause damage, emotional and psychological
damage to the father and I mean that alienation is
something that's that's I mean, it causes permanent damage. I
mean that should be a child abuse in every world.
Speaker 5 (24:19):
Yeah, you're absolutely right, and I thank you so much
for speaking so passionately about this. And it's these battles
I think that are so important though, to keep fighting,
because one voice can can overnight become a hundred, and
a hundred can become a house. And I do believe
that there are power in numbers and that there is
(24:42):
a power in sticking together through these difficulties, especially when
indivisions have gone through similar situations. So I'm really proud,
proud of you and everything that you're doing at for
your Mindset Academy. And it's so important that we continue
need to push for accountability. Accountability is crucial. Now. There
(25:06):
are many ways in which I want to I want
to throw out the statistic and I want you to
correct me if I'm wrong. Now, you and you had
you had mentioned to us earlier that studies by the
National Parents Organization shows that over six of family courts
still exhibits substantial bias, frequently disregarding evidence of domestic violence
against men, are minimizing the atharity of parental kidnapping and alienation.
(25:31):
Can you tell me about that.
Speaker 6 (25:34):
Yeah, So the national statistic was sixty percent, and there's
some other places that claim that the statistics a little
bit higher, closer to eighty percent, but I found that
that was probably the most the most balid. It's it's
supported by the most research. So, I mean, as far
as the domestic violence thing goes, I mean, there's there's
(25:54):
a lot of cases where there is no domestic violence
and the mother will come in and they'll say, hey,
he regrets he abuses me and the children, and the
courts take it for face value. They don't do an investigation,
they don't look through criminal reports or anything like that,
and all the mother has to do is say, hey,
I mean I was afraid to report it, and well, unfortunately,
(26:15):
that's just kind of the nature of the beast. I mean,
there are families, there are sometimes that men will be
abusive towards women, but it's actually more common for women
to be abusive towards men. And when you have individuals
that are prior law enforcement, prior military, a lot of
blue collar individuals, they don't fight back. We just do
(26:36):
as little as possible to defend ourselves and let the
moment calm down, and the children are witnessing this. And
the statistic that I found is actually more than ninety
percent of families have children that have said that they
grew up in domestic violence where the mother was violent
towards the father. And there's definitely not that many reviews
or ratings out there that would confirm they're not that
(26:57):
many statistics Joseph to say that the courts are actually
holding these people, these women accountable for beating on their husbands.
I mean, this is something that going back to that oath,
you have women and men. We come together, we get married,
we make promises to protect each other, serve each other,
to be loyal and faithful to each other. And then
(27:18):
you have, going back to the statistic, more than ninety
percent of women that get frustrated and they don't have
any other way to vent to their anger other than
just start hitting, slapping, punching, pinching, pulling hair. All of
those things are domestic violence. And then you have the
emotional abuse on top of that. That emotional abuse takes tolls.
I mean, if a man is struggling to provide for
(27:39):
his family, his expectation is that he wants to provide
for his family. He wants to give his wife and
his children the world. We want to go on cruise
it everywhere. We want to buy houses all over the place.
We want to live a luxurious life. I just don't
know how to get there. And then in the corner,
when you have the woman that promised to be by
your side through all sickness and health, and all she
wants to do is to grade you, Hey, we can't
(28:00):
pay our we can't pay our water bill this month,
your piece and jump for that. This is your fault.
And those things take a large emotional toll on relationships too.
So I mean domestic violence. A lot of times people
they look at it and they say, well, she hit
I'm sure, but it didn't cause any damage. But that's
irrelevant right now. If a man hits a woman, even
(28:21):
if it doesn't cause any damage, the world looks at
us very differently. But if a man gets hit by
a woman, it just gets shot, it gets ah, it's
not a big deal. And unfortunately that plays into the
court system too. Again, Joseph, our system is very broken,
my friend. It really leans heavily against the men and
the fathers in this world, the ones that want to
(28:42):
be there. Now, obviously there's going to be those scenarios
where some people just aren't fit to be fathers, but
the majority of us are. We want to be fathers.
And I mean, where are the heroes to our children?
When they get scared, they cry for daddy, They want
Daddy to check the closet for monsters under the bed.
And that's our in our children's lives. And then that's
just ripped from us sober a course of a few months,
(29:04):
and sometimes most of the time without cause.
Speaker 5 (29:08):
Absolutely, and I want to and I appreciate you you're
bringing this up now. You mentioned also too. It was
research published by Science Direct and Springer. Do you have
that research on Hanck? He tell us about that.
Speaker 6 (29:23):
So I don't have the actual statistic in front of me.
Speaker 5 (29:27):
But well let me go ahead. Well I'll go ahead,
let me go ahead and say it, and then and
then I want you to comment. So this it brought
out that three point nine million children in the US
are moderately to severely alien from a parent, with long
term psychological consequences including depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and also
(29:47):
diminished self work. Just highlighting just the impact it is
on children when they are separated from a parent, any parent.
And so the reason why I wanted to bring that
up because I think gets so important to talk about.
You know, you know, just one child being separated from
a good father, it is one too many with those
(30:07):
kinds of consequences that research dictates. And now to know
that three point nine million children have to face this,
it's heartbreaking.
Speaker 6 (30:17):
Yeah, I mean again, it really just kind of highlights
the fact that our country's justice system is broken. I mean,
alienation is something that is attract right now. If a
father owes child support, there's child support enforcement agencies, there's
places and things that they'll do. They'll take pathports, they'll
take driver's life, and they'll they'll put the fathers in
(30:38):
jail if they owe too much money. But in most cases,
more than sixty five percent of fathers that approach the
courts and requests that the courts told the mothers in
contempt for alienation. When they're pitolizing the children because they're
mad at the fathers, they don't have any consequences. The
judge will tell them, hey, you have to do it.
They'll say okay, they'll smile and nod they'll do it.
They'll apply for a couple of weeks and go right
(30:59):
back to what they were doing before and there's no
real consequences. But let a father owe child support to
a mother, and I say the father oweing child support
because more than seventy percent of fathers end up owing
child support for these cases, right, So I mean, you
let a father owe child support to mother and this
(31:20):
state don't come after them with vigor the tenacity, and
when it's the other way around, the children are suffering.
But it has nothing to do with finances. There's not
really many things that can happen. I mean, there's laws
that are in place that are supposed to happen. But again,
it goes back to that empathy and that enforcement and
everything seems to be taken for face value when it's
(31:41):
against the father of the children. And I mean that's
just that's not just my experience, that's the experience of
millions of people across the country.
Speaker 3 (31:52):
Wow.
Speaker 5 (31:53):
And and things like that are genuinely a reflection of
what's with the world today. So it's so important to
have organizations like you, like yours, that are there in
it for the fight. And it's a it's a hard fight,
it's an emotional battle. But I know that there are
(32:14):
a lot of good fathers out there who appreciate what
you do and who value what you bring to the table,
and a lot of good mothers out there who can
empathize with what you know. So many fathers are going
through in the court systems that that's completely unfair and advised.
(32:34):
And I don't want to I want to over infan,
I do want to overemphasize the fact that these these
children here are the real victims. You know, they're the
ones who suffer the most. And I think when we
bring that to the table, it should force those positions
(32:55):
of legal responsibility to do more if they can, to
make sure that those children are with the right parents.
Speaker 6 (33:05):
Yeah, and that's really why we started fire, because I mean,
like you said, that the children are suffering, and I mean,
I don't want this to sound like an attack on
mothers in general, because there are a lot of good
mothers in this world that push for the children to
have a solid relationship, a meaningful relationship with their fathers.
But there are also, unfortunately a lot of them that
(33:26):
do the exact opposite. So at the same time, there's villains.
There's also heroes. But I mean, honestly, like we said earlier,
I mean, more than three million children out there wondering
why their dad left. Is it something they did, something
they said? Is it because I got a d and
science class?
Speaker 5 (33:41):
Like?
Speaker 6 (33:41):
Kids don't profit these things. And when the parents aren't
able to work together to really articulate to them, like, hey,
this really isn't your fault, then I mean, they spend
the rest of their lives thinking that they've done something wrong.
They become they start to develop different syndromes, They start
to develop different adaptation features where they just they feel
(34:04):
like the world's against them. Well, if I do this wrong,
then this person's going to leave. They develop attachment issues.
I mean, in my own custody battle, I had my
eight year old daughter tell me over the phone, because
that's the only way I've gotten to see them for
the last year and a half now. She told me
over a video call, Joseph, she said, I want to
come home, Daddy, and I had a really bad dream
(34:25):
and she started crying and she tells me, she says,
I dreamed that you left my life forever. Please don't
ever leave me. An eight year old little girl like
this is. My little girl is a social butterfly. She
can light up the room no matter how dark it is,
soon as shoe walks in. And she's already starting to
develop attachment issues, thinking that I'm going to leave her.
(34:46):
I mean, the last time I dropped her off at school,
she had a full blown anxiety attack because I walked
out of the room and she didn't in her mind,
she doesn't know, Hey, I'm just going to class. He's
gonna come get me at the end of the day,
right And again, I mean, as much as I like
to say that my story is superior, it really is.
I mean, it's it's become more of the norm. It's
more of the standard. And little girls out there all
(35:08):
over the world need their daddies and they don't have
access to them because there's women that just they want
to weaponize the children. You want to see your kids,
pay more in child support, you want to see your kids,
it has to be around my schedule. They don't comply
with court orders and things like that. And it's really
the driving fuel. I mean, when we started coming together,
(35:28):
we started fathers started talking about what we're going through.
We started coming up with these scenarios where we started
to realize that this is way too common. So we
started fire to help kind of create that network and
that resource for those fathers that want custody of their kids,
that are willing to fight so that they have that faith,
because hope without faith is really nothing but a wish.
(35:51):
So we're here to provide that faith to those fathers
and that's absolutely amazing.
Speaker 5 (35:57):
And this is a question I want to ask. That's
my final question, and then I'm gonna let you go
because you did mention. And first of all, first of
I want to say a couple of days. I want
to say a number one, for those of you guys
listening on the radio, I'm so glad I do not
have my camera on right now because you because we're
gonna take some of these clubs and we're gonna put
that we're gonna put this on social media. My camera's
(36:19):
off you guys, and I'm so glad because I'm over
here crying. I'm like, I do not want to cry
on camera. That's just not acceptable. So Number one, I'm
so glad for that. Number two, now, I know you
mentioned before that they're you know, there's good guys, there's
bad guys. There's heroes and there's villains. Now with war
or mindset academy. I mean, as fathers come out to
(36:40):
you and reach out to you for help, do you
have a vetting process? Because you know there may be
some some I was gonna say that there may be
some bad guys who come to you for assistance. How
do you vet that out?
Speaker 6 (36:54):
So that's a that's a great question. So we don't
ever turn our backs on anyone. So it's I don't
know how your I don't know what your religious stance is.
But as I grew up, I became a Christian. I
started adapting Christian values. And the way that I see
it is if Jesus can be stabbed and stabbed and
stabbed until he's dead and still forgive them. I mean,
(37:16):
there's no reason that I can stand above anybody and
say that I'm here to judge you. I mean, I'm
here to help. The judges that we talked about earlier,
I mean the reason that they're there is so that
they can provide that judgment. Now, I mean, naturally, if
somebody comes to us and they say, hey, if it
sounds like they're just trying to find a way to
hurt the other parents and their focus isn't on the children.
(37:38):
We have counseling processes and stuff like that help them
revision what this is really about and if they can
adjust to that and they find out a lot of
times they'll find out, hey, you know what, I I
don't know that I want to be a full time father.
Sometimes they just they just don't want to feel like
they lost. So if those are the scenarios, then we
encourage them to go through mediation, arbitration things like that
(38:01):
with the other parents so that they can find ways
to provide for their children, spend time for their children,
and grow into that role. Because the father is a
hard role. It's not it's not something there's no looks
on it. So, yeah, people come to us and they
they have these these personas and they fund like they're
just not quite ready for that full time role. I mean,
(38:21):
we we kind of we work with them to help
get them ready for it, but we don't ever turn
anybody away.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
I mean, so.
Speaker 5 (38:26):
Here's my question ahead, And I want to bring this
up because I think it's important, and I think it's
very important for men and women and just the world
to understand to really understand. So I'm gonna I'm gonna
I'm gonna I'm gonna be I'm gonna be a little
controversial here because I want to pull this out. I
(38:47):
want to pull this out. So let's say, for example,
a father comes to you and says, hey, I want
help getting custody of my children. And you're like, okay, great,
this is what we do at you know, Warri's Mindset Academy. Yah, yeah, yeah, right.
So he goes and say, he starts telling you his
story and the course of this story, and you learn
some things about this man. And again, not to judge,
we're do I hear to judge. I don't judge either.
(39:09):
But let's say you learned some things about this man
that has shown at least your organization that he's not
a six father like you know you mentioned earlier during
the podcast, there are some people who are not fit
to be fathers, that it would not be of the
best interest for his children to be around him, just
based off of what you've yeah, just based off of
what you've learned from his stories. What would you do
(39:34):
in that situation where you discover a father is is
not doing what he's supposed to do. Maybe he's been
violent to the children, maybe he's been violent to the mother,
and yet he comes to your organization for help. How
would what would you do in that case?
Speaker 6 (39:49):
So, and in that case, we would, I mean we would.
We would direct them to sources, resources, networks that we
might have within our circle. And if not, we would
help him find serves sources that help him manage the
anger and stuff like that. I mean, we would try to.
We would do what we could to help reshape him,
to get him ready for that role as a father,
(40:10):
so that he learns better ways to handle his anger
and stuff like that. And then when he goes to court,
he would have that paperwork saying, hey, listen, I'm not violent,
I've gone under I've undergone two years of therapy of counseling.
Here's paperwork for my counselor stuff like that. So a
lot of times these things aren't necessarily quick, and when
(40:30):
there's room for growth, it needs to be capitalized on.
So we would find ways to help that individual become
a better parent and a better person. But I just
I want to point out something here to both you
and your listeners. Here, the purpose of fire isn't to
take custody away from the mothers. That just turns the
script the other way, right, fifty to fifty is really
the only way that the children are ever going to
(40:52):
find any sort of balance in a relationship. But a
lot of times courts won't rule for that, they'll rule
majority for the mother, especially like there's a lot of
times the mother will leave the state and they'll take
the children with them, and despite state laws being in
place to stop them from doing that, the courts don't
enact those state laws because I mean, there's even bederal
(41:14):
laws under UCTJEA that stop a parent from taking the
children and leaving a state. So in those scenarios, our
main goal is to help find a balance, right, not
take the kids away from the mother unless the mother
is absolutely doing things they shouldn't be doing, like weaponizing
the children, alienating right. That falls back into that sent
category that you were discussed with earlier. Joseph learned one
(41:37):
parent comes to us and the father he's just his abusive,
he's drug user, maybe he's alcoholic, and he's not ready to.
Speaker 3 (41:43):
Be a father.
Speaker 6 (41:44):
That goes both ways. But our goal isn't to stop
the mother from being able to see their children as
much as they have to really give the fathers the
opportunity to be in their children's lives.
Speaker 3 (41:54):
Have often thought.
Speaker 5 (41:56):
I like that. I think their answer was very was
well stated. I love the fact that if you do
have some individuals who come to your organization and you
can kind of see they're clearly not fit, that you
would try to find the resources that you would find
resources for them to help them get prepared for that role.
I think that's phenomenal. I don't I don't think I've
(42:18):
met an organization that I've come across recently that's ever stated,
and I think that is such a powerful thing to do.
Not only does it show compassion, but it also you know,
I think something like that could help an individual, you know,
make straight pass for their feat, you know what I mean.
And again, you just you never know, you know, because
(42:40):
you know people will actually stick to it and take
to it. But I think what your organization is doing
by even just giving them a chance to get prepared
for this role, I think it's phenomenal. And thank you
so much for mentioning too about the fifty to fifty
because I think it's so important, you know, going back
to the statistics that we covered earlier, the statistics that
we talked about ear I love the idea of fifty
(43:02):
to fifty's that's also phenomenal. You guys are doing a
lot of great things. I'm so proud of you man,
and I'm so excited to see what's in store for
your organization in twenty twenty five, twenty twenty six. Thank
you so much for joining us today.
Speaker 3 (43:16):
Yeah.
Speaker 6 (43:16):
Absolutely, And I mean, if I may just throw a
quick ask out there to your audience, I mean, thank
you guys for being so supportive. And if you guys
want to read more in depth about what we're doing,
what the movement for Fire is, you can go to
our website Warriors Mindset Academy dot org and then if
you put the forward slash in there and then right
of fire fire, that'll take you straight to our blogs.
(43:38):
We have a lot of powerful information in there. If
you're a veteran, if you're a father, if you're just
an individual that feels lost and the loan come to us.
That's what we're here for. That's what we started for,
and that's what we're going off on. You are our cause,
and together we'll fight on.
Speaker 5 (43:54):
And that's very well said and For those of you
guys I'm watching this on social media or listening to
this at home, just go ahead and go to the
description of the show wherever you happen to be watching
or listening, and you are going to see links to
Warrior Mindset Academy dot org. Also the links of the
fire page. Also, if you'd like to, I want you
guys to reach out to them. If you have resources,
(44:15):
if you're a lawyer, if you're a law former, if
you're an organization that can kind of help fathers, you know,
navigate through some of these things, definitely reach out to
them to partner with them. For those of you guys
who are in position to financially don't it, I want
you guys to, you know, dig in those pockets support
a great cost because it's about the children and making
sure that our kids have the parents that they need
in their lives. And Warrior Mindset Academy is not only
(44:38):
doing that, but they're doing it in such a phenomenal
way and making sure that we're holding those who have
the legal responsibility to judge to judge justly, that we're
holding them accountable. Response Comrad thank you again for being
on today's show. Those of you guys who are listening,
Thank you always for being great supporters of our show. S.
(45:00):
The show is not over quite yet. I don't want
you guys to go anywhere just yet. We got some
bills to pay, listen to some commercials. We're going to
come back with another great guest. All right, you guys,
And this is the part of the show that you
guys know, I love the most. It's when we get
a chance to shine a light on a professional who
(45:20):
is doing some big things, making a big impact. And
we're so honored to have join us the CEO and
founder of Alpha Wolf Impact, Tim Wintrout. Tim, I want
to welcome you to the show and thank you so
much for being Joseph.
Speaker 3 (45:35):
Thank you very much for having me.
Speaker 5 (45:38):
Well, you know, Tim, you're very passionate about highlighting small
businesses and innovators who really quietly shape our future, especially
when they're faced with challenges from Wall Street and regulatoria hurdles.
You actually believe that these companies are vital to society
because they solve real problems and improve lives. Can you
tell us a little bit about, you know, just your
(45:59):
passion for helping companies who don't really have that influence
make that global work.
Speaker 3 (46:07):
Sure. I can tell you that I started investing probably
about forty years ago, and honestly, I started investing because
all I cared about was making extra money. As I
have progressed through life and as I have really gotten
to know companies and the things that they are trying
(46:31):
to accomplish, what became very evident to me was I
actually went through a phase where I was trying to
teach retail investors how to be smarter investors. And retail
investors really didn't want to speak take the time. They
just want somebody to tell them when to buy and
when to sell. And that's not what I do. What
(46:53):
I tried to teach people was how to research companies,
how to look at companies. After forty years, there are
a few things that are extremely important. One is you
need to know who leadership is. You can have a
great product or service, but if you don't have great leadership,
the odds are stacked against you, especially on Wall Street.
(47:16):
The other thing is to identify a product or service
that solves a need, not a want, but a need.
What do I mean by need? I mean if their
product or service saves lives? If their product or service
is keeps us safer, if it keeps us healthier, or
(47:37):
it's good for the planet. Right, There's so many things
that can be important and fill a need. Right, So
that is those are the things that I really want
to emphasize. The other thing is capital structure. What hurts companies.
(47:58):
I'll just give you a quick statistic. Eighty three percent
of small cap companies that list on a public exchange
are gone in three years. Now. Why is that now?
A big part of it is nobody knows about it, right.
They're little, tiny companies that have found their way to
(48:21):
the public markets and they were told that they're going
to get institutional investors and all this stuff, but the
reality is they're going to wind up with retail investors.
The average joe that there doesn't really know what he
owns and doesn't do the research to have the conviction
to stay in it when things go south. So it's
(48:47):
the institutions have gotten so big, the funds are so big.
If you've got one hundred billion dollar fund, how are
you going to invest in the way they've invested And
they allocate a percentage of their portfolio into a stock
if it's a fifty million dollar market cap stock and
(49:08):
you're one hundred and fourteen billion dollar fund. How do
you do that? You can't, it's impossible. That is actually
the advantage that retail investors have. They can't touch these companies.
But if you can identify a company that has a
product or service that fills a need, that's that's your edge.
(49:34):
We need a bunch of people to be able to
do that, because what Reddit proved not long ago with
game Stop and AMC is that there is strength in
numbers when you have a collective group of people that
see and they joined together, and they weren't all big
(49:55):
time investors, but they actually put a one point five
billion dollar fund of business. Right. They did that because
they focused on two companies that, unfortunately weren't exactly great companies.
They have bad business models. But imagine if that group
(50:18):
of people focused on companies that are small and struggling
but have a product that can change the world. Right Right,
that's the stock market enables people to own a piece
of a company literally part owner. Right, you're buying shares
(50:40):
of the stock and you are part owner of that company.
As part owner of the company, why wouldn't you do
everything in your power to help that company survive, not
just survive, but succeed, right, especially if they're doing something
that benefits humanity. That's the message that I would like
(51:03):
everyone to understand. And some of these companies that I
have literally trade at nine cents a share. You could
scrape your couch in your car and probably come up
with enough change to buy one hundred chairs. Right, it
(51:24):
doesn't take an immense amount of money to get involved
in the stock market. It doesn't take And even if
you didn't invest in the company, the investing portion is
the kicker. That's the bonus for you. Right. If the
company succeeds, you can feel good about the fact that
(51:45):
not only did you invest in the company at a
very early stage, but where that company hits scale and
is saving lots of lives and making us more efficient,
that's something you could be proud of. Let's say you
participated in that, you're part owner, right, So that's how
(52:08):
you know. I like, I got addicted to the stock
market when I was twenty years old. And if you
look at the stock market the right way, then you
realize that there are so many companies out there that
are doing so many amazing things. And no one knows
(52:28):
about them, no one. So you can be a brand ambassador,
you can be an educator, you can be an influencer,
an investor. These are things that I think if people
spent their time on. There's an old saying that if
you want to get the most out of life, you
(52:51):
try to improve yourself a little bit every day. Imagine
if we did that on a global scale, where we
literally and our time looking at ways to improve humanity
just a little bit every day. I have five companies here,
or no, seven companies, I'm sorry. Life saved annually and
(53:14):
this is a conservative estimate, would be anywhere between fifty
two and sixty two thousand lives a year. Money saved annually,
and this is just in the United States, would be
anywhere from sixty seven to one hundred and forty four
billion a year. Now, what could we do with sixty
(53:36):
seven to one hundred and forty four billion dollars? Where
could we apply that money if we if it were saved? Right? Conservative?
Seven companies? How many more companies are out there? There
are thousands companies, thousands. I guarantee you if there's something,
(53:57):
some problem that you know of, that there is probably
a company out there that is trying to solve that
problem or or has already solved it, but nobody knows.
So's that's really you know, Look, this isn't about me.
This is about people. See as I get older, I
(54:22):
realize I came into this world with nothing. I'm ninety
nine point I'm ninety nine percent sure I'm leaving with nothing.
So ultimately, what matters, what matters is what you do
while you're here. That's what matters. And I would like
to impact as many lives in a positive way as
(54:45):
humanly possible. And one of the ways to do that
is to help a little company become a big, profitable corporation.
How many lives do you impact positively just from that
one act?
Speaker 5 (55:00):
Wow?
Speaker 3 (55:00):
Right? How many communities get strengthened because well, they've got
to hire more people? Right? Yeah? Then throw on top
of that the fact that they have a product or
service that saves lives. The ripple effects of that, I
don't even think you can really comprehend it, all right, Yeah.
Speaker 5 (55:24):
You know, and I love this fact because I think
what you're challenging us to do is your challenge. You're
challenging us to to be better. You know, what I mean,
and to do better and I and I appreciate that,
and I think it's a good reminder because you know,
we live in a world that is full of distraction.
(55:45):
You and I were talk about that before the show started.
We live in you know everything, like you know, we're
social media, but it's really anti social media, you know
what I mean. So it's sometimes we can we can
lose focus on what matters the most, and it's not
just about you know, our profit, but it's about you know,
being able to give something back for future generations and
(56:06):
like something like this, like the companies that you mentioned.
For those of you guys who are wondering what these
companies are, you guys can look at the description of
this show and you will see a list of the
companies that he's specifically referring to. But I think what
we forget, though, is we forget that impact and legacy
has to do with, like what you said, Tim, is
(56:27):
what we do right now with the time that we're
given and the people that we help in vun because
when we're long gone, right, you know, those the things
that we did and people that we helped, that that's
going to count, you know.
Speaker 3 (56:40):
Right, exactly exactly. When you get older like I am,
that's when you start to realize, you know, what's it
all about? Right? It's not about the cars, it's not
about the it's not about any of that. What it's
really about is do I want to leave here and
know that I did everything I could to try and
(57:03):
have a positive impact on this planet. And that doesn't
mean I have to be the guy that comes up
with the idea. Right, I can recognize the idea, I
can recognize the impact that it could have, and then
I could support them, and I could support them in
many ways. It doesn't have to be just money, right,
(57:24):
But Wall Street is very transactional. It's run by the rich,
and there are things like a credited investor. Right, in
order for you to be able to participate in a
private offering, and you have to have I think it
was a million dollars in assets minus your home you have,
(57:51):
or you have to make two hundred and fifty grand
per year for two consecutive years in order for you
to be able to participate in a offering. And the
reasoning behind that, supposedly is that it's to protect the
little guy who maybe isn't as a stute and well
(58:14):
versed in investing the reality of that is such bs
Because here's the deal. If I have a stock that
I like very much, and I think, huh, I'm going
to put my entire net worth in one stock, I
could sell everything I own and I could go try
(58:36):
to buy that stock in the open market, and it
would probably be a very bad choice. But I would
do that, and I would have to deal with a
market maker who every time I put a bid in,
they raise the price and I have to chase it.
As opposed to participating in a private offering where I
could buy as many series as I want at a
(58:57):
set price with other investors who are also astute. How
is blocking someone out of that because they don't have
a million dollars in assets? How is that a good
or a positive thing? It's not. The system is geared
(59:22):
towards keeping the elite the elite, and keeping the poor poor.
And I'll give you another example. There are companies that
gave employees all the way down to the janitor shares
of their company before they went public. Then when they
went public, they changed those people's lives. The way to
(59:45):
bridge the gap between the haves and the have nots.
It's not as complicated as everyone likes to make it seem. Right.
If you bought shares of a company that can literally
do things to change the world, you're going to reap
the rewards of that benefit. Where you won't reap those
rewards is if Wall Street continues to ignore that company
(01:00:09):
or provides that company toxic financing. What happens is small
companies always underestimate how long it's going to take for
them to get to cast flow, break even or profitability,
or I guess overestimate. They always think because if they
build it, they will come, this solves a huge problem.
(01:00:32):
That's not the case. That's feel the dreams. Reality is
you build it and then you have to get adoption.
An adoption is extremely challenging to get because people are
set in their ways. They don't like change, even if
it's changed for the better. They don't like change. So
(01:00:57):
when you think you're going to have this huge crowd
that come rushing in and buy your product, it's a
harsh reality when you realize, man, if this thing isn't
it's not going the way I thought it was going
to go. You don't have a huge salesforce, you don't
have a big marketing budget. So what typically winds up
happening is the person or company that came up with
(01:01:21):
the idea originally winds up going BK. They go under,
and then some other company buys their assets for pennies
on the dollar, and then they turn it into a
big success, which I think is horrible, right because the
people that the people that have bootstrapped, the first guy,
(01:01:44):
the guy that invented it, they all lost money, right,
they all lost I guess you could call that capitalism.
I think it's uh, I think it's I think it's.
Speaker 5 (01:02:00):
Really yeah, yeah, you know, I think, you know, it's
so funny, like so many these stories are coming up
in my head as I'm hearing me speak. But yeah,
there is even I think the lady that invented the
Monopoly game, you know, the original the original creator of
the Monopoly game, where she was only paid five hundred
dollars for her patent and that and the company made
(01:02:22):
you know, billions, but you know, she didn't see a
diamond because someone took her idea and then sold it.
And then you know, it's it's the world that we're
living in the world. But people like you, though, who
dare to speak up and speak out. And you may think, well,
it doesn't make a difference. It does. And this is
(01:02:44):
just me thinking because I would have no clue at this,
so Tim, I would obviously, you know, see to your expertise. Here.
We see that there are issues with Wall Street, and
we see that it's kind of like a a rigged game,
you know what I mean, It's like it's it's it
feels very rig is there is there an alternative? And
(01:03:08):
if there is not, could there be an alternative for
companies like this to get the capital that they need
to grow in? I mean, what do you think?
Speaker 3 (01:03:17):
You know? I think here's the thing. Private equity is
just as bad venture capital. I mean, you know, it's
it's sad. I mean, I'm going to give you another
example real quick. This is just a company that just
literally went public and they provide they provide a very
(01:03:40):
transparent way for small companies to get health insurance for
their employees, where literally they use AI and deep machine
learning to provide quotes and not where you'd go to
their website. You actually fill this thing out and you've
got some plans in front of you that you can show, right,
(01:04:00):
not that you fill this thing out. The moment you
hit enter, you have somebody calling you on the phone
trying to sell you insurance. There it's an amazing little company.
The guy took out a second more mortgage to start
this company, and the CFO left her job at City Bank,
of a very good job of ten years, to be
(01:04:22):
a co founder in this thing. They went public on
December twenty third, which is a really strange day to do,
not a good day, but they had to do it
for I don't remember what the reason was, but they
had to do that day. The stock listed at about
four bucks a year, and then this company came out
(01:04:42):
and wrote a really positive article on and the stock
went from four to over five and change. And then
a couple of weeks later they wrote another even more
positive article on and it went to seven fifty. At
that dollar amount, they had a four hundred million dollar
(01:05:04):
market cap, way over value, and all of a sudden,
on no news, the stock started plunging. It went from
seven to fifty. It's now it's like sixty cents. Okay.
What that was was the company that wrote that really
positive article was actually building their short position. This is
(01:05:28):
a company that nobody knows just listed on the IPO.
And the brilliance of that move is you're positive on
the company, so you're not you're not saying anything bad
about them, but you drove the valuation so high that, yeah,
it was primed for a short not a lot of
(01:05:51):
shares outstanding. So they literally drive this thing below a buck.
Now what happens when that When you're on the Nasdaq,
what happens when you get low a buck? You get
a letter saying that if you don't get your stock
price back above a buck, you're going to be delisted
from the NASDAK, which you just paid two million dollars
to get listed on. I see stuff like this and this.
(01:06:17):
The saving grace for this particular company is they're profitable.
They're actually profitable. Most small companies that go public are
not profitable. That's why that's why they're going public. Right,
They need to need to raise capital because growth consumes cash.
So you see this and it makes me so sick
to my stomach because they don't care what this company provides.
(01:06:42):
They don't care what they do. What they see is
an opportunity to make short term money. And with algorithmic
trading naked short selling, there are so many hurdles for
small companies to overcome on Wall Streets, not even funny.
And then throw on top of that that the retail
(01:07:04):
investor who is not a student, who that same guy
is now getting, you know, shareholders that are calling him
a crook and a scam artist because it went from
seven to fifty down to sixty cents. He had nothing
to do with it. He's trying to run his company.
(01:07:25):
But people think that it must be a scam. No,
this guy has no idea why his stock did what
it did. None right, and welcome to Wall Street. He's
been on the listed on the exchange for five months
and he's already got a letter that he's going to
(01:07:46):
be delisted if he doesn't get it back above a buck.
That's brutal and that's reality, right, So Wall Street is
a rig gie. To answer your question, though, this is
how This is how you you understand the game. You
(01:08:09):
learn the dynamics of the game. Right, when you know
what the dynamics of the game are, then you outplay them.
That's that's really the deal. That's why I say retail
investors could be the biggest hedge fund in the world. Okay,
(01:08:31):
because there's more numbers. There's just sheer numbers of people. Right.
Imagine if they're focusing on good companies that are doing
good things that solve needs, right, and you help them,
You help them by investing, you helpvice. I open my
(01:08:51):
entire networks when I get involved with the company and
I see two companies that may be able to benefit
one another. I answered you this ceo to this CEO
and say, hey, you guys might want to check this out.
There could be some synergistic opportunities here, Right. Why do
I do that? People tell me I could make money
(01:09:12):
doing that? Yeah, I probably could. I know a lot
of people charge a lot of money to do that.
I do it because it's the right thing to do.
Why would I not want to help both companies if
I find both companies to be good investments.
Speaker 5 (01:09:28):
Right, that's a good point man.
Speaker 3 (01:09:31):
There there are a lot of things that we can do.
You know, you know somebody that's in the construction industry
and say, hey, how come you're not using this? Right?
It may not these things may not impact you directly.
Maybe you're not involved in construction. It's not the point.
The point is, if we can solve these problems, then
(01:09:54):
we can move on to other problems, and we have
the money because we just saved a whole both load
there to address these other problems. Does that make sense?
Speaker 5 (01:10:05):
Yeah, it does makes a lot of sense. You know,
I feel like, you know, you're you're way ahead of
your time. And what I mean. What I mean by that,
it's like, you know, like how you can I don't
know how how to say this in the way that
makes the most sense. But you know, I believe that
(01:10:29):
society will not always be this, you know what I mean,
you know how it is today is pretty bad. I
do believe that there will be a time in the
future where we won't have And when I say that
you're ahead of your time, was like, you're you're thinking
aligned with where mankind should be right now, you know
what I mean, And they're not there.
Speaker 3 (01:10:51):
Here's I mean, Joseph, Right, we have an artificial intelligence
that is learning every day, every single night, twenty four
to seven. And my fear is that humanity has a
lot of problems. Human beings have a lot of problems
(01:11:14):
and greed, and there's just a lot of things that
we could do better, right, we could do better, and
there is you know that that those theories that that
AI may at some point, there's no question about it,
(01:11:35):
They're going to be smarter than us, a million times smarter. Right.
If something is as I'm praying that, if something becomes
a million times smarter than us, it recognizes our faults,
That recognizes, you know, manipulation and greed and envy and
(01:11:58):
all of those things, and recognizes that those are our weaknesses,
but we still have value. That's that is what I'm
really hoping, because I think a lot of people are
self entitled feel the world owes you something. Life is hard, Yeah,
(01:12:22):
very hard. The world doesn't owe you anything. I don't.
I don't care who you are. I grew up in
a bad neighborhood, I had divorced parents. Life is hard.
You choose to either make a difference or you choose
(01:12:43):
to make excuses. That's your choice.
Speaker 5 (01:12:48):
Mhm wow. Well said, Well well said. And you know
it's it's companies like yours that are challenging the status quo,
being that lifeline for companies who don't have anyone else
to advocate, And it's your insights and your your passion
(01:13:16):
as well as just your your humanity that will continue
to pave the way for other companies to have a
fighting chance. So what you're doing right now with Alphabol's impact.
You may not necessarily think that you are having the
impact that you want, but your words have produced results
(01:13:39):
already just by you being here today and just by
you speaking on these things, and it has, it has,
And I mean you have me thinking about things that
I typically don't even consider. And I appreciate that, and
I know that my listeners too out there appreciate this
as well. We are so curious though, to find out
(01:14:02):
who these seven companies are that are genuinely not being
given the attention that they properly need. So again, for
those of you guys listening at home, I want you
guys to go to the description and the link of
this show wherever you happen to be listening to. You're
going to get a list of those company names if
you can, you know, looting those pockets support.
Speaker 3 (01:14:21):
What I want to do is that I want to
make sure everybody understands this. I am not telling anybody
to go buy the stocks of these companies. I'm not
telling you that. I'm saying do your own due diligence.
Everybody should do their own due diligence. No matter where
you hear a stock from somebody at a party, go
do your own due diligence, okay number one. But if
(01:14:43):
you do your due diligence and what you find out
makes sense and you, you know, resonate with the CEO
or then then this is something, man, that you can
really get behind, right you could? And I literally work
seven days a week, seven days a week looking for
(01:15:03):
companies that can make a difference. That's what I do.
And there is nothing more gratifying than finding a company
that makes a difference in being part of it. It
wasn't my idea, that's okay, Just recognizing it and helping
(01:15:24):
them in any way that you can makes you feel good.
I mean, how could you now feel good? Right?
Speaker 5 (01:15:32):
Right?
Speaker 3 (01:15:33):
And then if you did invest the added bonuses, you
do pretty well financially too. So that's the beauty of
the stock market. Are there a lot of downsides to
the stock market? Yes, But what I'm saying to you
is learn what those are. Understand how the markets function. Right. Understand,
(01:15:55):
many of the companies that go public don't understand how
the markets function. That's why they get this. They trust
these bankers who think they care about their business. The
reality is they do not care about that business. They
are not your partners, they are not your friends most
of them. Most of them care about the sale or
the fees. That's what they care about. Their client is
(01:16:20):
not you. The client to the financial institutions are the
investors that they go to to get the money for
the company that's looking to raise capital, and those investors
set the terms of what that company is going to
have to pay. The bankers. Their customers are all those
(01:16:46):
investors that they want to make more money. Does that
make sense, Yeah, So that's who their client is. Many
companies don't understand that until it's too late. They do
a financing and they get hurt and they seems that
The quickest way to know if you have someone who
(01:17:06):
is a true partner or if you have a vulture
is look at the terms of the deal. If it
has a roafer, if it has warrants, if it has
a ratchet, those are things that are not good. They
are not designed to help you. They are designed to
dilute the shareholders and harm you. They put you into
(01:17:28):
a death spiral right so quick, just a quick education
bottom line is yes, it can be a rig game.
But if you learn about the game, then you can outplay.
Does that make sense? It does?
Speaker 5 (01:17:50):
It does, And I think in order for us to
really be able to even have an opportunity to outplay
the game is we have to keep people like you
in our corner to educate us. And how is that
to do that? So for those of you guys out
there who like to connect with Tim Winshaw, you guys
again can also connect with him on social media his
LinkedIn page, YouTube, Twitter, All of that will be in
(01:18:12):
the description in the link of the show as well.
So I want you guys to connect with him, keep
him in your corner, utilize him for advice insights, because again,
if we're good, if we're good, if we're gonna play
the game right, we're gonna need you in our corner.
Ten So.
Speaker 3 (01:18:32):
Listen, I am. I will just tell everybody I am
a person that is a negative free zone. So in
other words, retail investors a lot of times have a
tendency to bash CEOs and talk trash about companies and
none of that stuff is helpful, Right, I am a
(01:18:56):
person I keep it negative free zone. If you want
a bitch to somebody, if you want to complain, Go
get a therapist. If you want to try and make
a difference, then you know, I'm happy to talk to you.
So I just want to I just want to let
everybody know that's good.
Speaker 5 (01:19:16):
No, that and that's good because we don't got time.
I mean, who has time?
Speaker 3 (01:19:21):
Right right? I don't want to listen somebody whining about, well,
why did they do this? Why did that drug fail?
Why did this? Who cares? I mean, yeah, yeah, yeah,
I mean it's past. There's nothing we can we can't
go back in time and change it. So let's focus
on what we can do moving forward. Right there, you go.
Speaker 5 (01:19:42):
That's it. That is it, and that is that is
great advice and and and great advice to live by
as well. And Tim, thank you so much for being
on today's show.
Speaker 3 (01:19:50):
We appreciate it. I really appreciate everything you're doing. Leanna
Reeves is the best. I love him. I mean, he's
the a humble guy that it's just a good human being.
So that's what got my attention. And yeah, I'm glad
(01:20:11):
you celebrate with somebody like him.
Speaker 5 (01:20:13):
You know, thank you. I appreciate that because you know,
he is one of the few people and I'll say
this in Hollywood that we do celebrate. You know, there
are so many stories that we cover, and every time
we can stop on Keanu Reeves, it's always a positive thing.
Like I've never had to cover anything negative about him,
and it's it's it's so uplifting to be able to
(01:20:37):
to speak positive things about someone who's who's so inspirational.
And I know that his team feels the same way.
So we appreciate having you on the on the second
as well, anything that you need obviously, you know, feel
through reach out here.
Speaker 3 (01:20:51):
All right, I appreciate it.
Speaker 5 (01:20:53):
And before we let you guys go at home, don't
go anywhere just yet, listen to a word from our partners,
and then we'll be back with another guest.
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