Why Fighting Mental Health Stigma is My Life's Mission | Shauniee Stylez DSH #664

What made you feel so strongly about suicide awareness?

Because I see you post that all the time.

A while back, I've been pretty popular in the MySpace days.

You know, I've had a cool career.

I did radio for 15 years.

A lot of people would confide in me, and I didn't understand why.

Maybe it's because I am, you know, genuine and I'm charismatic.

Well, I don't know what it was, but people were just telling me their problems, and it kind of like took over my life.

I guess I found my purpose.

All right, guys, we got Shawnee Styles breaking the podcast Virginity today.

Thanks for coming on.

Yes, my first one, man.

Thank you for having me.

Absolutely, dude.

And I love the hair.

I love the fit.

Appreciate that.

20 years strong.

Yeah.

It's hard to match that hair with an outfit, but you pulled it off.

Yeah, my whole closet looks like this.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And that's the man boy mafia?

Manboy mafia, yeah.

What's the concept of that?

Man boy mafia is like something I created about 15 years ago.

I never wanted to grow up and I always was was like childish, but I still was a man, you know, like I still handled my responsibility, but I never wanted to lose the sight of being a kid.

It was very important to like, you know, do things with your friends and like, I try to like deteriorate from doing all this and that.

So Man Boy Mafia was created by users one by one, one person at a time.

And we have a couple million of us now and we all preach mental health, suicide awareness.

And it's basically just a group of people all throughout the world who help each other.

You know, like people help pay each other's other's phone bills.

So many different things.

I can name things forever that they've done for each other, but I created it and it's kind of like on autopilot now.

You know, people are doing meetups on their own.

In Florida, you know, they're doing an MBM meetup.

50 people come out.

They all become friends.

10 years later, you know, they're in each other's weddings and stuff.

We have Manboy Mafia babies that people have met.

You know, we've had.

MBM in the bio of Tinder.

Girls would be like, oh my God, you're MBM, me too.

You know, before you know it, they're, ah, ah, you know, now they have an MBM kid and they're thanking me.

Like, but it was just something that I always wanted to do and bring people together and remind people that they matter and give something to stand for for people.

A lot of people in this world, they don't have anything

to like stand for.

You know, like they're lost, you know, and they don't have friends like we do, like where we're just used to having friends and stuff.

Some people don't have anyone.

to talk to at all.

And when I realized that, I was like, what?

Like, you don't have not one person to talk to?

Like, it didn't make sense to me.

And then when I really did a little research, I was like, wow, like, that's scary.

Like, there's people out there that don't have a friend to talk to, you know?

So I was like, I'm going to create a community.

You know, I grew up in the mafia.

My dad was a big mafia boss.

And I seen a lot of shit that, you know, I probably shouldn't have seen, you know, being a daddy's boy.

And I always thought like, damn, like, I want to do this, but.

I want to do it in a positive way

instead of like taking, you know, because we would get like funding from people for for protection and stuff and i was like man imagine being able to go into a business and help them and and you know buy their stuff and support them instead of taking you know so at a young age i was mafia born you know and i the loyalty respect family all that i kept those morals but i wanted to change it up a little bit and give back instead of taking and provide love and provide power and provide being there for people, you know, as a mafia, you know, and it just kind of went together and ever since we started it's just been growing one person at a time and you know i feel like i can never stop now you know i'm pot committed as they would say yeah in the poker game you know there's no there's no turning back now you know i'm the leader i i signed up for this you know so we've just been trucking along bringing people together and trying to change the world one person at a time that's major man and a lot of movements start off with great intentions but they kind of go crazy right you saw that with me too you saw that with feminism but it sounds like you're 15 years in and you're yeah we don't uh we don't do anything uh like that related.

We don't do politics, we don't speak religion.

You know, whatever everybody loves, that's their choice.

You know, we uh we talk about we get away from life, you know, all those things on the internet.

Like, man boy mafia is an escape from that, it's an escape from the bullshit reality.

And it brings people back to their reality, you know, the real reality, not what you see on the internet, not what they're preaching to you and stuff.

So, whatever everyone likes, that's fine.

But 15 years, we've never done politics, religion, or nothing that could be confrontational to others.

You know, yeah, I don't go those paths.

Yeah.

And what made you so strongly, what made you feel so strongly about suicide awareness?

Cause I see you post that all the time.

So a while back, I've been pretty popular in the MySpace days.

You know, I've had a cool career.

I did radio for 15 years in Philadelphia, had a major radio market.

I met a lot of people and a lot of people would confide in me.

And I didn't understand why.

Maybe it's because I am, you know, genuine and I'm charismatic.

ha.

As a B2B marketer, you know how noisy the ad space can be.

If your message isn't targeted to the right audience, it just disappears into the noise.

With LinkedIn Ads, you could precisely reach the professionals who are more likely to find your ad relevant with LinkedIn targeting capabilities.

You can reach them by job title, industry, company, and more.

Stand out with LinkedIn ads and start converting your B2B audience into high-quality leads today.

LinkedIn Ads allows you to build the right relationships, drive results, and reach your customers in a respectful environment.

You'll have direct access to and build relationships with decision makers.

A billion members are on their platform, 180 million senior level executives and 10 million C-level executives.

You'll be able to drive results with targeting and measurement tools built specifically for B2B in technology.

LinkedIn generated two to 5x higher return on ad spend than any other social media platform, and you'll work with a partner who respects the B2B world you operate in.

79% of B2B content marketers said LinkedIn produces the best results for paid media.

LinkedIn has been a great platform for me to also find interesting podcast guests.

If you're interested, start converting your B2B audience into high-quality leads today.

We'll give you $100 credit on your next campaign.

Go to linkedin.com slash social to claim your credit.

That's linkedin.com slash social.

Terms and conditions apply.

LinkedIn, the place to be.

Hi he, and I look, you know, talkable.

I don't know what it was, but people were just telling me their problems.

And like, I was listening and I was just like, damn, like.

Damn.

Like, it was just like damn after damn.

Like, no way.

Like,

and eventually I was like, I must do something and it kind of like took over my life i guess i found my purpose because i did radio i did a bunch of stuff i was kind of just like living the life partying you know going out every night in different nightclubs emceeing them you know women all that good stuff

but that kind of like took me off that path and i was like damn like i want to help these people you know these people they don't have nobody so i start being there and then i thought there's nobody who does anything for suicide awareness and once i realized that people want to die, I was like,

I have to do something, you know?

So I kind of started like preaching, like, hey, like, you know, keep your head up.

It started like slow, like with just natural motivation.

And years later, it's become my purpose.

Like, I think that's why I'm on this earth is to make people smile, to make people not want to kill themselves.

You know, I've helped thousands and thousands of people, you know, not do terrible things just by good energy and creating a place for them to feel like they matter.

I preach a campaign called You Matter.

I have my vehicles wrapped with you matter.

I bought a billboard here before that says you matter.

Wow.

Just no branding, just you matter.

No logos,

nothing, just you matter in their face, you know, and my vehicles are wrapped.

Like I said, I was at the gas station getting water.

You know, I fill up my water jugs there.

Yeah.

And this guy walked up and just lost it.

And he had his family in the car.

And I was like, are you okay?

Like, what's going on?

And he was like, you you have no idea what's going on.

I was like, I know.

Like,

I was kind of bugged out at first because I didn't understand.

And he was like, that message on the car, today was his last day.

And he was taking his last ride with his family.

Holy crap.

Yeah.

It's, it's eerie.

You know, it's still, I don't understand it, but I was just like, what?

Like, no way.

And we talked at the gas station for like 20 minutes.

And he was just hugging me.

And he was like, that is the sign I needed.

Just seeing that.

I didn't even talk to him.

I was just in my car getting water.

And he pulled into the gas station and he saw that and he was like, you, he was like, I do matter.

And that was what he needed to see.

He was, I guess, looking for just any sign of hope to not do something terrible, you know?

And he said, this wasn't a coincidence.

You know, we've been friends ever since.

But that is what inspires me to keep going, being able to change people's lives with minimal effort.

Yeah.

You know, just by putting a message on my vehicle was able to help that man's life and his wife, kid, they didn't even know what was going on, you know?

And a lot of times you never know what's going on you really don't you never ever and they don't tell you because they don't feel like they can and i've learned that too and i've learned that if i'm the approachable one then i got to stand up and and do that part you know like i i must do this you know this is my purpose and that's pretty much what i've been doing is just it just kind of spiraled into this and now my whole life is just mental health suicide awareness of course i do other stuff i have fun i got my hands and everything but my main focus is you matter And, you know, now I do the don't give up because I almost wanted to give up.

This was the first year of my life in, I'm almost 40.

I'll be 40 next year.

Yeah.

That I had a bad time and I finally struggled with mental health.

I've been doing this for 15 years without ever struggling with mental health.

That's why I figured it was my purpose because I was so natural with it.

Yeah.

And I was well versed without knowing anything.

I'm not a therapist, but I just know what to say.

The universe like makes me a messenger.

I just say this stuff and I'm just like, ooh, ooh, like, yeah, he's cooking, you know, like, damn, let the boy cook, you know, and, and I hear myself as I'm saying it because I don't know what, like, now I don't know what I'm saying.

I'm just talking to you, you know, but that's how it pretty much went.

And now, you know, I'm like, wow, I understand now.

Like, I did all of this without ever feeling it.

Now this year, you know, my house burned down in New Jersey.

I lost my father this year.

A lot of things at one time.

And it basically compromised my mental health.

You know, it put me into a dark place where I was fighting every day, all while still being the leader, the strong one.

So it was like, it was a little harder than your average because I couldn't like I could show it, but like I still had a job to do.

I still had people that were relying on me to be happy.

They rely on me for happiness.

Oh, good morning every day.

You know, let's get up.

Let's fuck this day up, you know, like, but it wasn't feeling genuine because I knew that.

I wasn't doing good, you know, but I still had to be the strong one.

And I've had some people there for me, but I understand that like you don't really care what people are saying sometimes, you know, like it's, they're like, oh, like

you're going to be okay, Shawnee.

Like, look at your house.

Look at your cars.

Like, that doesn't mean shit.

You know, like people think that like, cause I have a cool life and I'm doing fun things, like, that I'm not allowed to have a bad day.

Like, you're the leader.

You're the strong one, you know?

And these aren't my fans.

These are like normal people.

that are looking at what I have and thinking that that is what makes a person happy.

It's more like a, hey, I got it because I can, it's cool to have, you know, but if it all lit on fire and disintegrated, like I wouldn't care.

Yeah.

But they go back to that stuff and they think that having a nice house or cars or friends or anything can fix your mental health, but it can't.

It relies on you.

You know, I had to put myself in check.

I had to look myself in the eyes and say like, you got this.

Like, let's go.

Like, and that's pretty much where it is.

And it's been a good, about a year and a half of struggle and fighting through my mental health.

But I finally like got out of it, you know, like, yeah, I finally was like,

whoa, like, I don't have that thing in my chest today.

Like, holy cow.

Like, you know, I think I'm doing all right, you know, and it was just one thing after the next.

And it happens.

It's life, you know, but you have to dust yourself off.

It's not about the bad stuff that happens.

It's the stuff that makes you better.

This stuff makes you ready for evolution.

And I think that I was evolving to the next level.

And this was the universe's way to show show me like, hey, like, this is what it feels like.

Cause now I have a different and stronger understanding.

Like, I was doing this all for 15 years without like.

Relating.

Yeah.

Imagine talking about how great food is,

but you never tried it.

Yeah.

Like, that was me.

You know what I mean?

Like, and it's not that it's fake because it's still all real.

I just haven't been down that path yet.

And now that I did, it's like, I'm ready.

to like go go.

You're going to be a different animal.

Yeah.

Like I am different now.

I'm I'm ready to like, I must do something.

Like now that I've experienced it, it's like we must do something.

So I've been gathering up my troops.

I manage a lot of people, their mental health, a lot of influencers and celebrities.

And all I ask, I don't take payment.

I don't allow them to pay me.

I get them a lot of amazing things.

All I ask out of them is to remind their fans that they matter.

That's what I work for.

I work.

to be able to get my message out there to their people because I can't talk to their people, you know, and I try to explain to them, you never know.

I know because I have experience and I have results.

I've done this for years.

They don't.

Once they start getting results, you know, I have UFC fighters, all kinds of people.

Once they do the you matter and they check in on their fans and they do this and they get results, it becomes addicting.

And that's fascinating to hear even UFC fighters have mental health issues because people just assume these are the toughest guys in the world.

No, they're actually the UFC fighters, man.

They are the strongest on the outside, but on the inside, it's really tough.

You know, they train their whole year of their life.

They dedicate everything to fighting for us, for our enjoyment, just so fans can go to the comments and be like, you fucking suck.

Like, it's a terrible thing, but it's life, you know, and they struggle heavy with mental health, you know, because they're always training.

They're always in camp.

They always have stuff.

And then when they get their money, they have to give their money 12 different ways.

You know, everyone's like this.

Hey.

Hey, hey, hey.

You know, but I like to help them a lot.

A lot of my friends are UFC fighters and they need that little rainbow unicorn in their life to tell them, yo, keep going, man.

Like, you got this shit.

But the strongest ones are the ones who need it the most.

I could see that.

You just saw Rhonda go on a little press tour talking about her journey.

No, I didn't see it.

Rhonda Rousey.

Rhonda Rousey.

She went from the top and then had that loss and then the internet just started hating her.

The internet is a very, very dangerous thing.

There's a lot of people out there who...

That's all they do.

And I try to explain to people, you realize that there's people out there who have nothing better to do with their life.

Like that's all they do is just talk shit on the internet.

Like that's how they get their fix.

You just have to accept that, you know, like, and I've seen a lot of influencers that don't know how to get over that.

You know, one comment out of 236 comments can ruin their whole day.

And it's like, why?

Is it some 14-year-old loser kid in his mom's basement on a fake account with six followers?

Like, you can't see that that's not even like, you know what I mean?

Like, but it'll it'll affect their whole day.

And we'll be shooting content and someone will say like, anything, your legs are small, you know, like, and then they have a complex, like, my legs are small, you know, it doesn't matter what they say, but that's an important thing.

The internet is very bad.

It's a new form of bullying.

Yeah.

I missed the old school days where it was face-to-face.

Yeah, because you wouldn't do that.

You know what I mean?

Face to face, you would get punched in the mouth for that.

You know, people get hit for less, but on the internet, you can be anybody you want to be.

You can say anything you want to say within the guidelines, you know, so it's something we'll never be able to escape.

You just have to embrace it and you have to prepare yourself.

If you're going on a trip and you know you're going through shitty towns with big snow, then bring your snow boots.

Like be prepared for what you're about to do.

Don't go there and then cry about it.

Like, oh, it's snowing here.

Like, what did you think was going to happen in Colorado?

You know, like it snows.

But you just have to have the mindset of like, hey, people are going to talk shit.

You know, people have talked shit to me, not in real life, but on the internet, you know, they'll be like, oh, you rainbow.

It's like, who cares?

Like, I've looked like this for 20 years.

Like, before people are like, oh, you look like 6'9.

Like, 6'9 was like eight years old when I had rainbow hair.

It wasn't even existing, you know.

Like, I've heard it all, you know, but I didn't never let it affect me.

I always just was like, ha ha, he, he, you know, that's a good mindset to have because you could get down that rabbit hole of letting online comments influence your decisions.

And that's a dangerous

travel.

It'll ruin the whole week, the whole day, everything.

Yeah.

And there's different mental health problems at different stages of your life.

People assume celebrities don't have problems because they have so much money and fame, but they have their own problems.

I've learned that money and fame, it just increases the chances of it, you know?

People that have nothing, if you ever notice, you ever see like a bunch of homeless people, you know, they're always so happy with nothing.

And I look at that like, why do people not notice that?

Like these people have absolutely nothing and they can still find a way to have a good day.

They can still find a way to laugh and joke around with themselves.

They still have the energy to try to be a good person, you know, so it doesn't make sense as to like why people don't use that and be like, hey, if that person with nothing can have a good day, then maybe I could too, you know, like people, I think they're so quick to give up and think like, it's over, this is the end, you know, it's, it's never over until you quit.

And once you quit, you lose everything.

Like once you give up, all your work and progress that you've ever done, it was for nothing.

You know, once you give up, that's, that's the end.

And that's what we try to make make people not do is just keep going.

No matter where you're going, even if you don't know where you're going, just go.

Just fucking go somewhere.

Just keep pushing, you know, try different things, you know?

And a lot of people,

they can't get over the fact that this is the end, you know?

And it takes a very, very, very strong person to take their life.

People tend to think that it's weak, but you don't know the preparation that it takes to be able to be okay with leaving earth.

It is way harder than you think.

The people that are talking, I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that.

They're most likely not going to do it.

Because the people that are doing it aren't talking about it.

Yeah.

They're pretty set and they don't want to hear nothing.

You can't talk them out.

Like, you know, there's a difference between that.

So it's hard to decipher, you know, who's this and who's that, but I'm pretty good at knowing like, I think this guy will be all right, you know, like, but the ones who are the quietest, that are fighting the most silent battles are the ones that that are the strongest inside because it is not easy to take your life yeah it's at all a lot of prep and thought goes into it it's not like an overnight decision for most of them i feel like no it's definitely something that like you have to really be done and it's happened i've lost a couple of my fans you know longtime supporters that you know their mother will contact me like hey you know blah blah blah has lost his battle you know thank you if it wasn't for you you know he wouldn't have been alive these last six years thank you for giving me that extra time with my son and that shit just kills me damn Like it breaks me down.

I cry probably like three times a week hearing stories.

Yeah.

Like it's, I can't help it.

You know, it's like, damn, like, no way, you know, and like, they'll be wearing their t-shirts.

You know, somebody's husband may pass or take his life.

And, you know, they're like, oh, he wore your, your merchandise every day.

You know, I do a lot of positive merch, like spread love, you matter, don't give up.

I have one that says, do whatever the fuck makes you happy.

You know, all my merch has went, like, this is my personal stuff.

I don't really sell this.

This is my outfits, but a lot of my stuff is like positive messages like big positive messages so that people can share that but sometimes when people are at their end of their journey like that's it that's what it is you know i've accepted that i can only do so much and some people like they have their mindset and they they can only last so long yeah and i understand it more now you know at first i used to be like how how could you do that why why

well this year it hits a little different because I've had some thoughts.

I know I would never do that, but you cannot control your first thought, but you damn sure could control your second or third.

Your first thought, you can't control.

You may think some crazy shit.

You may look at somebody and be like, oh, you know, fine, understandable.

We're human.

But your second, third, or fourth thought, you better get your shit together, you know, because you can control those ones.

And I've thought some crazy thoughts and I was like, damn, like, you know, I don't want to do this anymore.

Like, you know, and I can understand.

I'm like, wow, did I just say that?

Like, don't say that you know shut the hell up you know I checked myself but it gave me a better understanding of how yeah you know because I'm like wow you know like makes sense how these people are feeling this way because now I understand it you know it's you can't shake that feeling sometimes you just wake up you go to bed sweating you have nightmares you're just like you know and you don't even know why you're just like what is happening to me you know so it just gives you a different understanding absolutely you recently took in a homeless guy how do you know that i did my research oh my god

What's the story with that?

So I went out with one of my artists, Alyx, to LA.

We're shooting a music video.

I was like, hey, I have a sprinter van that I bought like seven years ago.

I was like, let's use my sprinter van.

You know, you don't got to pay for flights for everyone.

The tire falls off on the highway, you know, and we're broke down

on the side of the road.

We get the tire fixed.

So we're like, we need to get to the rest stop because we can't be stuck on the highway.

So I go to this rest stop in the middle of nowhere, traveling from California to Vegas.

we're coming back from from cali and we're at this random in the middle of nowhere there's two gas stations and a a mcdonald's you know and that's it no civilization just the little baby rest stop and um broke down there and we're sitting there for like four hours i'm waiting for triple-a and some help anybody to i'm in a sprinter van you know i can't really do much and there's this guy there and he walks up and he's all happy and dancing like i said earlier you know sometimes homeless people out they're so happy you know with nothing yeah and i was like wow like like this guy's genuinely I can see his smile like he's living his life and he asked me like you got three dollars and like 50 cents He's like I'm just this close to my little six pack and I was like yeah I was like I got you, you know, so I gave him ten dollars and he came back with

like Pacificans or something Pacificos is that a beer?

Yeah, it was like a high-end beer.

He was like, I upgraded to the Pacificos because of you.

He's like, I haven't drank these in years.

Long story short, we just were stuck there in the parking lot.

And I started, we started hanging out, you know?

We started singing songs and like all this stuff.

Three hours later, I'm thinking, my brain's like, man, what a cool guy.

And I was like, what is he doing?

I start asking because I didn't want to be rude.

Like, what's your story, buddy?

Like, why are you here sleeping behind a coffee shop, you know?

But eventually it came out and I talked to him and it just hit me.

I was like, you want to go to Vegas with me?

He's like, what?

He's like, yeah, man.

No way.

I was like, well, go get your stuff behind the building.

He's like, nah, he's like, screw that stuff.

Somebody probably peed on it.

You know, I was like, okay, I was like, we'll get you new stuff, you know?

So we hop into the car and I'm like, let's go, you know, because now it's time to go.

We got our car fixed and we're heading back.

And I was just planning on giving him a ride like to Vegas to get him maybe a better life here, you know, being in the middle of nowhere.

We have two and a half, three hours to go.

And I'm like, you know, I have eight people with me too in the sprinter, but I'm the leader.

So it's like, you can think whatever you want, but if I make a decision, you know, it's in the best interest of every, I'll take take the blame for it.

So obviously I didn't think everyone would be like, oh, this is cool.

We're driving with a homeless guy for three hours that we don't know.

Like, what if he kills us?

Like, I have friends like that that always think the worst.

You know, they check the bottle caps on their bottle every time they buy one.

I eat pizza off the floor.

I don't care, you know, like I could care less about that.

So

as we start driving more and we got him to the house and I was like, let me get you a haircut.

Let me get you a shower.

Let me get you some new clothes.

Gave him the whole thing.

We got him a haircut, called the barber over, did all that.

And then I kind of got like a little bit attached.

So I was like, you know what?

I said, let me put a tracker, a little tile on his book bag.

So I can at least, like, if something, if something happens, I know where he's okay.

Cause now I got a little attachment to him.

I'm like, wow, what a cool dude.

So I didn't take him to the strip.

I let him stay at my house.

I was like, you just sleep here for the night.

We'll go to the strip tomorrow, set you up, get you a tent, whatever you want to do.

And just, every day I just pushed it back.

Now he's like a part of

my group.

It's like, damn, we got him a little bit of work.

We got him a haircut, new gear.

We're testing out what he's good at.

And he's just a happy guy.

He sings songs all day.

Another day in paradise.

He wakes up every day.

Another day in paradise.

And yeah,

I don't think that was going to happen in my life.

But this thing's happened a lot with me.

There's a lot of...

decisions that are made on the fly, you know, and that was one of them.

I've never done that before, but like,

my boy Tyrone was like, you would do some shit like that.

I was like, yeah, because like my friends, they're not, they're cool and happy and nice, but they're not really into doing that stuff.

No, I'd say most people wouldn't do that.

Most people are not, would not do that or pick up a hitchhiker.

Like, yeah, I'll pull over and be like, yo, you need a ride.

Like, hitchhikers are risky these days.

I know, but that's the problem is like my brain doesn't like tell me that.

Yeah.

You know, like, I'm naive.

I'm like, oh, yeah, he needs, bro, we're going that way anyway.

Like, why can we not give this guy a ride?

They're like, bro, what if he kills us?

I'm like, no, never, you know, but I'm, I'm a possibility.

You put out so much good energy.

I'd be shocked if something

happened to you.

I try to tell them, but I think I'm protecting.

I think I've done enough in this world with my karma.

I've helped countless amounts of people that like, I don't think that would be my way to go.

I don't think I would be taken out by the hitchhiker, you know, when I have a lot of people that I haven't helped yet.

You know, that's my thought process of like risking it.

Yeah.

But yeah, we brought him back.

We got him hired.

We got him little side jobs and put some money in his pocket, get him some cigarettes.

He hasn't drank since he's been with me.

Nice.

I gave him like one beer like at first just to, you know, because my fans were like, oh, be careful.

You know, you don't want him to go into alcoholic shock or something.

Like when I guess when you drink and you stop drinking.

So I was like, okay.

I was like, well, here's a beer.

I don't know.

I've never drank before.

I've never drank.

I never did a drug, never took a pill.

I smoke weed, never in my life.

Wow.

Yeah.

I've had like a sip of this, sip of that, but like, I don't drink.

I don't get drunk.

I don't do that.

That's impressive.

Anytime I've drank was like, you know, somebody was like, come on for me.

It's my birthday.

I'm like,

you know

one little shot i'm gagging i'm like my eyes are watering i'm like you see you see why i don't do this you know but i don't understand all that stuff you know so i listen to what they tell me if they say hey you know give him a beer i gave him a beer he's like no i'm good i'm like you're good i'm like do you feel like like shaky or weird because i don't know you know he's like no i feel like a million bucks He just cold turkeyed alcohol.

Wow.

Like mindset right there.

And he told me that he only drank like that because what else does he have to do?

He's like, why would I want to spend a full day just out in the hot sun and sober?

I feel that.

I fucking feel that, man.

Like, damn, it makes sense.

Like, he's like, I drink all day to go to the next day.

So when he came out with us, he didn't want to drink or do any of that.

He wanted to wake up and work.

Like, he was wanting to work.

So I was like, you know what?

This guy still probably has a little bit of a chance.

So here we are now.

You know, he's just out there.

I take him to the strip.

I'm like, you want to go for like a day or two?

And like, it's like, how do i express it's like a like ah this is my this is i don't mean it this but it's like a house cat yeah you know how like you have a cat you love but like you can't keep it in the house like it goes outside yeah like and it comes home but it has to go outside like you know you open the door and the cat runs right out similar to that you know so it's like hey you go to have your little fun do what you got to do but like just know if you need a place to sleep my door is always open to you and that's where we're at right now you know integrating back we got him to the bus for a dollar to go to the strip He figured out how to get the bus to the strip.

And now he can kind of get in where he fits in.

He said he made 10 bucks on the strip dancing for ladies.

Nice.

It's like, beautiful, you know?

Well done.

He's like, oh, I want to give you five of it.

I was like, no, like, the thought was nice, though.

He's like, I want to give you half for helping me.

I'm like, it's okay.

You know, you can keep it.

So, yeah, that happened this week.

Have you been to the tunnels, the homeless tunnels out here?

No, I haven't.

I don't really, I don't know.

Like, I try to do my stuff in like private.

Like, everything I've ever done, I've never posted on social media.

Do you think it would enhance it if you did?

Not for me.

Okay.

I don't like, I feel like it's, it's not as genuine like when people try to film my stuff.

I don't like that.

You know, like, I don't know if I was homeless.

I don't know if I would want someone like putting a camera in my face in exchange for a burger.

You know, like, I don't know if that would be considered a fair trade.

Because sometimes I don't want to be filmed, you know, and I don't, it has nothing to do with that, you know?

So all the things I've ever done, usually usually I don't post it you know ever my social media has been more like motivational stuff and like hee hee ha ha yeah but like the things that I do I don't really share obviously I may have videos people may document it you know for one day if we ever need it but there's no videos of me on the internet I don't have a YouTube I've never made content I've never done anything like that

I literally just work behind the scenes and I go every day but I don't post or make the videos about it wow and I'll vouch for that because I know we just met, but I know some crazy stuff about you.

I know Drake's been in your whip.

You never posted that.

So you were definitely authentic in that way.

We made like a cool, like, looks like me, you know?

And we had these cars in Miami.

And what the hell's the guy's name that plugged that in?

Artlana.

No, Artlana's fire, though.

I watched that guy.

I see him online.

He paints.

One of the owners of the nightclub.

I forget his name.

Oh, Grutman?

Yes, David Grutman or whatever his name is.

That guy, he plugged Drake in with the car.

And he was using like, cause it had a microphone.

We put like TVs and lasers and fog machines and it was like a VIP ride, you know, and he was like, I want that.

So we drove him around with that.

That's awesome, dude.

I'm like, wow, that's pretty cool.

Forgot about that.

You just reminded me.

I know, man, but that's you putting out good energy for real.

Yeah.

I believe everything is energy and everything is connected through energy, you know, like it's the strongest thing.

Like I said, everyone believes in whatever they believe in.

I support that.

But me, I believe in karma and I believe in energy manifesting.

You know, I read the secret when I was like 17 and I felt like that shit works.

I start manifesting.

Like if you saw my house, like you would be like, damn, like, this is the perfect definition of manifestation.

You know, as soon as you walk in, I have a huge ultimate warrior on my wall.

Like when I was like 16, I was like, one day I want to have a big mansion with ultimate warrior on my wall.

You know, like everything that I've done has been something that I've manifested.

And now that I've done it, it's like, I have to believe that.

You know, it's like, damn, like, why else would this be happening if I didn't manifest it?

Absolutely.

sean it's been fun getting to know your old man anything you want to promote or leave the audience with no i just want to tell everybody you know to keep on going keep fighting remember that you matter that's very important because even me sometimes you know doing all the great things i do sometimes i feel like i don't matter you know that's a real feeling like man like they just riding my coattails.

They're just, you know, here for the ride.

You know, everyone wants to come ride the roller coaster, but no one wants to help build it.

You know, and I'm been single-handedly building and doing all this by myself with no help.

When I do mental health, there's not many people that want to hop on on that.

You know, now it's getting a little better for me, but year, I've been doing this forever, it feels like my whole life, it feels like, but there has never been like traction.

Now it's like I'm breaking through a little bit, I'm getting through to people.

People are like, you know what?

Let me give that a try.

You know, even the UFC fighters, they're getting their mouthpieces in teal and purple.

Teal and purple, these are the colors of suicide awareness.

Wow.

Teal and purple.

So all my girlfriends all have tilin purple hair.

My whole squad, teal and purple hair.

Everything is talent purple.

That's how we represent, you know, which are my favorite colors.

Back when I was a kid, everything in my life was tilin purple.

I had no idea.

I just thought I liked the Charlotte Hornets.

I didn't.

I didn't really like the Charlotte Hornets, but the colors is what drew me to the team.

I'm a Sixers fan.

I'm from Philly.

So it's like, it makes sense.

Now that I realize what tielan purple represents, it takes me back to when my walls were teal and purple, my bed sheets were tilin purple.

Teal and purple are the colors of suicide awareness.

And today is Semicolon Day.

Actually, today, on this day, it's crazy that this is the day I'm doing my first ever podcast, but today is your story isn't over day, you know, and it's basically a reminder where I have people all around, you know, posting like, hey, your story isn't over.

I know it sounds a little cheesy.

That's not mine, but it's true.

Your story isn't over until you make it over.

So today happens to be a mental health day.

We'll see the small percentage of people who actually, you know, post for it.

It's not many.

It's more like tits and ass and like buy my product and like, you know, that type of shit.

But there's a couple out there.

Like I said, they do their mouthpiece, teal and purple, put the you matter in there.

You know, they're trying because they're getting results and people are reaching out to them like, hey, that message after your fight when you won, that changed my life.

You know, they're seeing the results and it makes them want to do it more.

So we're gaining a little traction this year.

And hopefully this is the year for mental health where people are not scared to talk about it, where people can feel like, hey, I could tell you, hey, Sean, man, like I'm not doing too good today, man.

Like, I'm fucked up.

And you'd be like, oh, you're all right, brother.

You got this.

Like, that's not the answer, you know?

And what makes people feel even worse is when you say to them, you got it all.

You got this.

You got this.

Like, it makes them feel more like a piece of shit.

Like, I have all this stuff.

And I'm still unhappy.

So just keep that in mind when someone reaches out to you.

Don't ever throw or say what they have or what they've done.

Just be there for them.

because saying like, oh, but yeah, you know, I never see no one crying a Bentley.

You know, I drive a Bentley.

I cried in that motherfucker.

So yes, people do cry in Bentleys.

Like people have bad days.

I almost wanted to swerve that Bentley off the road and never see anybody again.

So just don't ever be like, oh, you got it all, you know, because that's probably the worst thing you can do to someone struggling mental health is remind them of all the things they have because it makes them feel ungrateful.

Like, I have all this stuff and I'm still not happy.

Like it can really trigger them deeper, you know, just be there for them.

That's my advice.

Give a hug.

Just listen.

Some people, they just want somebody to listen.

That's what I do.

I'm a professional listener.

I just listen to people.

I write back whatever I feel is genuine.

You know, I try to watch my words so I don't say like, you know, oh, you know, do it for your kids.

Like they know that already.

They already know they have two kids that they have to live for.

They know this stuff.

So you just try to be there for people and try to just, you know, give them a hug and just, you know, listen.

That's the most important thing is just listening to your friends.

Love it.

And checking in on them is important, too.

Yep, absolutely.

Guys, we'll link his Instagram below.

If you have some mental health issues or you know someone dealing, please reach out to Shawnee.

Yes, please reach out.

We have a whole team of people all around the world that are just happy-go-lucky, you know, like man boy mafia.

We do a lot of stuff, but it's a mafia, we don't talk about it, we be about it, you know.

But you, you seem to know a little bit of what we do.

You know, you found your

way, which is cool, absolutely, man.

Well, check it out, guys.

Otherwise, see you tomorrow.