Security Halt!
Welcome to Security Halt! Podcast, the show dedicated to Veterans, Active Duty Service Members, and First Responders. Hosted by retired Green Beret Deny Caballero, this podcast dives deep into the stories of resilience, triumph, and the unique challenges faced by those who serve.
Through powerful interviews and candid discussions, Security Halt! Podcast highlights vital resources, celebrates success stories, and offers actionable tools to navigate mental health, career transitions, and personal growth.
Join us as we stand shoulder-to-shoulder, proving that even after the mission changes, the call to serve and thrive never ends.
Security Halt!
Matt Ferry on Fishing, Sobriety & Veteran Mental Health
In this episode of Security Halt!, Deny Caballero sits down with Matt Ferry from Veterans Fishing to explore the power of community, vulnerability, and alternative healing methods in veteran recovery.
- Fishing as Therapy – How spending time on the water has become a lifeline for veterans struggling with PTSD, addiction, and mental health challenges.
- Sobriety & Cannabis in Recovery – Matt shares his personal experience with addiction, recovery, and the role cannabis plays in mental health treatment for veterans.
- Overcoming Stigma in Seeking Help – Why veterans often struggle with vulnerability and how community support can break down barriers to healing.
- The Power of Social Media & Nonprofit Work – How Matt uses digital platforms to raise awareness and provide resources for veterans in need.
- Fundraising & Accountability in Veteran Support – A raw conversation on the realities of nonprofit efforts, financial transparency, and making a real impact in the veteran community.
This episode is a must-listen for veterans, first responders, mental health advocates, and anyone passionate about supporting those who served.
Tune in now and help spread awareness. Subscribe, like, and share on Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Podcasts to be part of the mission.
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Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:02 The Healing Power of Fishing
06:00 Personal Journeys and Sobriety
08:59 Cannabis as a Tool for Recovery
11:55 The Impact of Social Media on Veterans
15:05 Creating a Supportive Community
17:51 Resources for Veterans
20:58 The Importance of Accountability
24:01 Conclusion and Call to Action
25:30 The Struggle of Vulnerability
30:11 Authenticity in Content Creation
35:13 Navigating Negativity and Hate
39:54 The Reality of Nonprofit Work
42:05 Community Support and Fundraising
Instagram: @securityhalt
Tik Tok: @security.halt.pod
LinkedIn: Deny Caballero
Follow Matt on LinkedIn and check out Veterans Fishing on Instagram today!
LinkedIn: Matt Ferry
https://www.linkedin.com/in/matt-r-ferry/
Instagram: veteransfishing
https://www.instagram.com/veteransfishing/
Website: veteransfishing.com
https://www.veteransfishing.com/
Produced by Security Halt Media
Security Odd Podcast. Let's go the only podcast that's purpose-built from the ground up to support you Not just you, but the wider audience, everybody. Authentic, impactful and insightful conversations that serve a purpose to help you. And the quality has gone up. It's decent, it's hosted by me, Denny Caballero.
Speaker 2:Matt. Welcome to Security Hub Podcast man. How are you doing? Doing very well Sitting here in snowy North Carolina. Oh nice dude I miss. I always talk about Bragg, feeling more like home than where I grew up at. I just nostalgia hits the moment you get on, uh, on brag boulevard.
Speaker 2:Um, then it's quickly washed away when you see the the typical bums yeah, I can imagine oh yeah, but uh, wilmington, that all that area, it's, uh, it's still really fun, uh to remember all those shenanigans that went on there. Man, dude, um, I want to talk about your organization today, but before we dive in, dude, I want to hear about your background, like what got you into this?
Speaker 3:um, I mean certainly, you know, I wouldn't have done it had I not been in the military.
Speaker 3:So, basically, like most guys that you've probably talked to, you know we all have a story of kind of getting lost, having troubles, having pitfalls and all that, and losing things in the process to the point where you got nothing else to think about sometimes.
Speaker 3:And my experience I was going through, you know, some rough times, not only personally with drinking, but was just battling a lot of things, was in a marriage that was, you know, had its bumps, but I basically would go out fishing and I would just feel relieved not necessarily healed, but just relieved, um, and it did things for me in times of need that I can't. I can't put into words, but I just knew that there was other people out there like me, um, and originally the page started as a way to connect with other veterans around the country who find fishing therapeutic, or the outdoors, for that matter, um, having a hundred thousand plus on each, you know, facebook and Instagram, that was never anticipated, um, so it's certainly morphed into a lot more than I anticipated it being originally, but I'm trying to roll with the punches and, uh, be there in any capacity that I can.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, uh, life tends to give us a swift kick in the ass once we, like transition, get out of the military, and it's kind of not to say that while we're in we're not dealing with difficulties, but it's. It's easier to neglect it, right, like the mission's always first. Like gotta put the man to mission first, never mind your, your marriage that's falling apart, and remind the kids that need more of you at home. Like it's easy to put all that stuff in the back burner because you've got all this shit to worry about. But then they're like when you get handed that dd214 and, uh, they slap that uh, disgruntled veteran sticker on the back bumper of your car, right, everything kind of starts to trickle its way out, man, and, uh, you're right, dude, like I, I identify with that there.
Speaker 2:I can literally touch points in my past where it was either a friend of mine that was going through a rough time and we were doing some night fishing and trying to just relax. And I look at some of the guys are still in northwest florida, that I mean, it's a beautiful area, uh, you know it, but it's perfect for fishing. Like you, you have nothing else to do. You can always go out and go fish.
Speaker 3:It's tough to be anywhere in florida and not have access to good fish yeah, it really is.
Speaker 2:And even if you're, if you've never gotten into the sport in those areas, there's always somebody that will introduce you to fishing, um, but I have to imagine like that that's did that start at the, you know, as a kid in childhood.
Speaker 3:Yeah so, um, my earliest memories of fishing are with my dad. Um, he, he did pass when I was seven years old. Um, he was in Vietnam in the army and he basically was exposed to Agent Orange, like thousands of other guys, and, uh it, it got him quick. He was one of the first ones in the in the wave of people to get malignant melanoma and pass. So, um, it took me a couple more years after that before I kind of picked up a rod again and started going fishing with friends, and, up until the military, it was a huge hobby of mine. I didn't pick up a rod the entire time.
Speaker 3:I was in the military, though, which is very weird because I was really. Yeah, I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, which I grew up in Maine, and I go to San Diego to be stationed, and it's like a whole new world for me. So, like you know, girls, partying clubs, the beach like I wanted all of it. Yeah, so, um, I I definitely tried to do and see as many things as I could, uh out there, but, um, I would always go down to, like, oceanside or whatever, and I'd see fishing boats out there and I'd, you know, little things would go off in my head and I'd want to look into it, but none of the guys that I served with were really into it, so it wasn't until I got out, moved back to the East Coast. I moved to a place that I'd never lived before Hilton Head Island, south Carolina. Oh, nice.
Speaker 3:Uh, I got back into it, into it there, but it hadn't meant what it what it does to me now at that point. Because I was, I kept the party going when I got out of the military. Because I kept the party going when I got out of the military and you know, back in 2006, ptsd was not a thing that was labeled in anybody's record really appropriately. Let's just say that I had been through an alcohol rehabilitation program just prior to getting out. So it was clear that I had problems, but went to Hilton Head, partied for you know four or five more years and it wasn't really until I had my daughter, that that kind of that, those things kind of cleared up, you know, for fast forward to 2010. Um, and I didn't even quit until 10 years ago next month but oh wow, 10 years ago, next month, but basically fishing has always meant more to me.
Speaker 3:That religion means to some people and I know that's probably a comment that might trigger some folks, but it's just the best way that I can put it. It is my church, Not that I don't believe in God or anything like that. It's just I have a different way of uh getting in touch with myself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and how dare you have your own opinions and and and ways to approach life?
Speaker 3:How dare you? It's a fun ride to have your own opinions, you piece of shit, I really am.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, yeah man. We have to understand that everybody has their own approach, man. Everybody has their own way to find peace and solace. And being sober for somebody that had challenges with drinking is not easy. I've been sober.
Speaker 2:It's not because I had an addiction where I had to go in, like I had to go in for mental health, but I quickly realized that this thing is killing tons of people like me and it's killing tons of veterans. And if I don't find myself like really like craving it or enjoying it, then why? Why add it? But I've seen friends have struggled with addiction, real addiction, white knuckling it and then going through relapses and realizing like fuck, dude, like that is a beast. And if you can find anything that's healthy, whether it's, you know, I've seen guys that flock towards uh, running ultra marathons that you know, get really into gym, life and and everybody has to find their own thing that helps them maintain accountability and gives them a peace of mind and helps them combat that urge. And I have to say, like, if it works for you, keep doing it.
Speaker 3:You're not hurting anybody, it's yeah, I mean, and you know if I'm being 100 blunt here, most of us veterans have addictive personalities. You know, we, we have addictive addictions to something, whether you know it's. It's caffeine or whatever. But you know, I was in a state where legalization had already happened. Yeah, um, I had grown up around that in Maine and it changed my entire life. Once I quit alcohol and did that with the purpose of. You know, looking at it from like a medicinal standpoint.
Speaker 2:Oh, yeah, marijuana, yes, dude.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I didn't know how you know? Can I just be free will talking on here Like I didn't.
Speaker 2:Bro, absolutely yeah, we get a moment. Check out the rest of the episodes. I tried to spin up on them this morning my mom raised me right and all that.
Speaker 3:but I also have my real side. But yeah, weed saved my life. I will say that Because when I quit drinking, all the dreams and thoughts and shit that I had pushed out for so long just came rushing back in. So initially it was helping with just basic shit like sleeping and things of that nature, but I used to get, just driving in a car to the store I used to guarantee, come home mad because some idiot out in public and there's lots of them these days, you know just make you go nuclear. And so I needed to find a way to not let that happen every single day, and that that was what kept me from doing it a majority of the time. Not that I'm just running around everywhere I go, having to be, you know, blazed all the time, but there is a certain level that, yeah, I gotta be at to deal with people, you know and um, that was.
Speaker 2:There's nothing wrong with that. No, we have. We have to, and I think our current culture understands it a lot more. I think our, our rg watt veterans have done so much advocacy and normalizing and talking about healthy use of cannabis when it comes to managing, you know, data life stressors. Um, I talked about it at nauseam with a therapist at one time because it's like it's a great tool. It's a great and in my own journey, my own path as an advocate, I didn't want to continue using it once I had overcome my insomnia and, fun fact, insomnia can come and go, I'm dealing with it right now.
Speaker 2:Um, but I, I stopped using marijuana because it was like, hey, I'm, I'm, I don't take Tylenol if I'm not in pain, so if I'm not, I was like, hey, I don't take Tylenol if I'm not in pain, so if I'm not, if I don't? Because it wasn't so much as I needed it to deal with anxiety, I utilized mindfulness, meditation, daily prayer, breathing, and the medicine became a thing that I would take. My marijuana is something I would do at night to help going to sleep. And then I get over that insomnia and I'm like I'm great, I don't need this anymore. So I no longer uh updated my uh medicinal marijuana uh card in Florida and here I am, you know brand new baby trying to get accustomed to her sleep schedule and now it's like I'm not sleeping. I should have kept my card.
Speaker 3:It's definitely a good thing, uh, to. In my opinion, in any state that is legal. The thing that I joke with my drinking buddies about is, like you know that live in legal states. If I fly in to see you, you know, if you fly in to see me, I got a bottle waiting for you. Whatever, it will never happen in reverse. It will never happen in reverse, reverse so there's a tip for your drinking friends.
Speaker 2:You know we, we matter too yeah, dude, I remember vividly a while back, um out doing a veterans retreat and um, me and my one friend, we're the only ones we don't drink. We don't drink publicly, so everybody's out, we're having a dinner and everybody's enjoying their, their drinks, and that's great. You enjoy it, you have great time. Me and him, we're like, hey, we're gonna go outside get some pressure. We're out there hitting up the pen and it's just like, dude, this is way better, way better for me. Um, because alcohol is that thing, that just kind of. If you never struggle with it, at least you can identify with the fact that you feel like shit the next day If you overindulge.
Speaker 3:Um, I was almost 300 pounds. No shit, I was up in the, I was up in the two eighties. Uh, just from being a professional Boomer pound, yeah, like, oh my gosh. So, yeah, I had to go cold Turkey. I hit the gym for the next like six months. They knew me by first, middle and last name at the gym and I lived there and, uh, you know, slowly introduced weed into my life, like back into my life, I should say in a different mindset, but like it's, it's toxic and it's like I thought it would get better with time.
Speaker 3:You know, become more educated. The drinking culture has just exploded even more, like since COVID, and so I'm never going to win the war of saying this is better than this, but I can at least try to educate people as to either my experiences or you know other stuff that's been done with veterans yeah, to either my experiences or you know other stuff that's been done with veterans, things of that nature, to just help them see a different lens, because it's even with police officers, they know very little about it, yeah, and I don't feel like it's up to us to try to just shove facts in people's face.
Speaker 2:I think we just got to live a good life and I think when you have a platform, when you're, you know, open, when you have a podcast and you broadcast things on social media, I think it's just up to us to live and show what it is, the true reality of it. We're human beings that found something that's proven efficacy in helping you in so many different ways. It's not being abused. We're not using it as a crutch. It's a positive in our lives. When we use it, I think that does more for showing the truth of the situation than having to sit down and and ram facts and and constantly, uh, throw out a message. It's like just living a good life and being willing to say, oh yeah, in addition to you know, being awesome fishermen, I I use this when I need to go to sleep, when I when I need to relax and unwind, versus having to down a bottle of Jameson, because, let me tell you, that helped me go to sleep for a long time.
Speaker 3:And it got really easy. And I mean I bartended for many years too, and so just being present in that environment, you know, all the time when I wasn't working I was at the bars with my friends. So it's just like, yeah, exactly like you're saying, I mean I'm I'm pretty quiet about the whole subject until I'm in a place where somebody's blanket statement and everybody that does that as potheads, that to me that is a trigger. Um, but you're right, yeah, just live, just live. Living your life by example. And you know, finding happiness like however I can, and trying to just exude that to others is it's been a tough journey over the years, but I don't know. I've had a lot of people that I've met through here, that I've become very close with, and it's been fun.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, it's. It's enjoyable to see like like-minded people come together and and and support something that you created. That's the enjoyable part, like it makes the long nights and the long days like worthwhile. And when you first started to, you know, conceptualize this idea like how did this start? How did you go from you know your own journey of you know, going sober, getting better, into creating something that could be of relief and support for so many veterans?
Speaker 3:I think I've always just tried to stay, like, true to who I am and where I come from. Um, you know, again, being from Maine, it's a very normal, humble upbringing. Um, you're not, at least, where I'm from. You know, racism didn't really exist, like, granted, there was not a lot of minorities, but it just didn't exist. And I think I've just tried to stay away from politics, stay away from the trends, as much as possible. That gets me off course of.
Speaker 3:Yeah, do I post a lot of nonsensical videos and memes and stuff like that? Yeah, the page wouldn't have grown without it, and I firmly believe that if you run a page for therapy, that humor has got to be included in that. Oh, yeah, um, my bucket list is to do a open mic night at some point. You know, just like joke, joke, wise, stand up comedy. Um, cause, ever since I've quit drinking, I'm an observer. You know, I take guys and I drive in places, but I'll observe hard and uh, so it's basically, you know, if it's pertinent to fishing, if it's pertinent to veterans, if it can help vets in any way, if it doesn't even relate to fishing, I try to, I try to share that out if some new change is made at the v. Maybe a lot of guys haven't heard about it.
Speaker 3:So I I do put a lot of videos out about things that are not so great at the va, but why would I not do the opposite and tell both sides you know? So like I, really, I really just try to insert myself in as many places as possible, and my DMs are really, I guess, what I'm. I'm no more proud of anything else than I am the conversations that I've had over the years in my DMs. I've had messages where guys have admitted to me that had they not spoken to me X amount of hours prior, that they were going to take their own life. Yeah, I've had that happen a few times and that's just still, to this day, surreal to me.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's people kind of discount the reach and impact you have in through social media Cause, while it is something that can be so negative and toxic, I've experienced the same thing. You don't know who's going to come across your videos, your memes, and it will resonate with them to the point where they'll reach out and maybe they'll share with you how it impacted them and made them change into a complete 180 for what they were about to do, and I I think that needs to be talked about a lot more. I think we need to understand that there's not only the reality of situation. If you're creating content out there, it can be extremely, uh, draining and it can require a lot of man hours, but you can save somebody's life through something as simple as sharing a resource, and that needs to be celebrated. That needs to. And and if you're out there and you're doing the same thing, like, we need you to continue doing it. Uh, because I might not reach somebody and matt might, and that needs to be celebrated.
Speaker 2:And if you're out there and you're doing the same thing, we need you to continue doing it, because I might not reach somebody and Matt might not reach somebody, but your message might reach somebody and it might stop them from doing something that is a temporary, that is a forever solution to something that's temporary, absolutely. That's just something that's extremely impactful. You get that DM from somebody that's it's extremely impactful. You get that dm from somebody that was about to do something uh, horrendous and you're like, holy shit, that was just a meme about the 82nd about that was just a simple meme, right, or a single podcast like that has a huge impact in our community and the things I said to him, or those folks you know like, were just, they were just regular conversation.
Speaker 3:I didn't even think twice about it, yeah, yeah, so I mean it's. It's also just sharing the words of other veterans that have, you know, experiences like yours and other people that have been on podcasts. Um, I'll use, you know, there's a guy named ryan paris who, uh, runs the reason outdoors. Oh, yeah coop man.
Speaker 3:Yep, so I, I just know of him over the last six months or so and he they're in north carolina, not far from here. But he said on I think it was on urban valor tv podcasts um, a lot of veterans have already died, but they just don't know it yet. Basically, war has already killed them, but they don't know it yet. And that quote and I'm loosely quoting it here, but that's just like shockwave, you know, and that is so true that there's guys walking around that one incident is all it takes, and then that's the only incident that it takes for them to do what they were thinking about for years, or one incident on the other side to bring them back. Yep, and it's that fine wire that we try to find guys that are located on that wire and get them the fuck off of it.
Speaker 2:Quite frankly, yeah, it's absolutely. It can be that that drastic um, but at the same time we have to have hope too, like there's there's more a veteran creator. There's more veteran creators out there doing this type of of outreach and putting this type of positivity out there, and that message needs to be amplified. We need to share it more and, you know, grow a community of like-minded individuals. It's not just 22 a day, the numbers are larger and sometimes what somebody needs is just humor to get them through that day.
Speaker 2:It's literally the one thing that can connect that connective tissue to getting you to at least open up, talk about it, bridge the gap to a mental health care resource, and then you can keep, touch and reach out to the individual and see them on their journey. And you don't have to have a certification just to be a good human being. That's the thing that's missing too. We feel like, oh, I'm not certified, I'm not. I'm like, dude, you're a good person. If you're a good person, just simply check in on somebody, check in on a brother or sister that may be in need, and that's the engagement, that's the good side of social media. We might not be in the same space, but we can reach through and check on somebody, and that's something that I've been able to witness firsthand throughout this whole journey, this experience of being able to get in front of a camera and just simply talk, hold space for somebody.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I challenge any veteran out there that says there's not a resource for their need right now. I'm not sitting here saying that it's impossible, but there's more resources out there for us than there's ever been. I mean, there's over 3,000 fishing nonprofits for veterans in the country alone. Wow, some of them are just one-man shows that do stuff via word of mouth. You won't ever see them online, but there's that many people out there that are willing and ready to help.
Speaker 3:And I say this to veterans.
Speaker 3:You know, and it's probably been said before, but the first step is always theirs.
Speaker 3:It's got to be the pickup of the phone, the filling out of the form online, or whatever the nonprofit or whoever you're trying to go get you know a day with, or whatever the nonprofit or whoever you're trying to go get you know a day with, or whatever.
Speaker 3:And then the other thing that's an unpopular thing to say but it needs to be said is that the veterans as a whole, all of us, need to understand that these services take a hell of a lot of efforts by people, and last year alone, we got a just sort of disturbing amount of reports of no call, no shows, last minute cancellations just across the board and I don't want to paint the wrong picture that that's the whole community, but it's a rampant problem that needs to be addressed. You know, if you sign up for a service, for a spot, with any nonprofit that does anything for vets, you need to honor that spot or, you know, be an adult, cancel it, like you would a doctor's appointment. Um, so it's uh, there's a lot of resources, a lot of people ready to help. You know, you just gotta, just gotta be willing to look for it and reach out to people like myself or whoever else that might be able to point you in the right direction.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, I've seen that. I've actually seen that with friends trying to connect them with resources, the last minute bailout, um, they, they, I, I don't know. I can identify with my own experience like the hesitancy there and and the inability to take action and like just google a resource. I couldn't do that for myself and I I don't understand to this day why it was so hard to just be vulnerable and ask. It was literally like it was the hardest thing on earth just to fucking open up to somebody and honestly be completely vulnerable and truthful to a mental health professional, instead of just bullshitting like I had been for for quite some time. It was like that one moment of vulnerability allowed me to get so much help, but it literally took everything. I had to say the truth, speak, the absolute fucking truth that I needed help.
Speaker 2:All right, I think so many guys. Maybe they have a good friend that gets them connected to that fishing nonprofit and they, they get everything laid up Okay, all right, you're going to be here tomorrow morning. And then the morning comes and they're like, nah, fuck that. No, I can't, it's a.
Speaker 3:It's that there is a lot to be said about that. Right there, 100%. I'm the guy that runs the page. It's called Veterans Fishing. Yet I've only been on a handful of trips and when I'm on the trips, the first hour or two I'm hoodie up minding my business. You know, people think that I'm just going to be like hey, mr Veterans Fishing, it's not that, I struggle, just like everybody else. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Matt, I identify with that so fucking much and I'll tell you why. You do a lot of great content showing your face on Instagram and I commend you for that. And I'll be 100% transparent and honest. I do about four or five episodes record a week, sometimes more, trying to get as much as I can. That way I can do post-production on my own, not worry about having to constantly get you know, guess, guess, guess. I try to get as much so I can just process as I can.
Speaker 2:But when it comes time to do short form content and get myself in front of that cell phone, I fucking hate it. I absolutely fucking hate it. People think I love it. It's one thing to post a meme. It's one thing to show and be authentic in this camera, because I'm having a conversation with Matt, I'm in the moment, I'm present, but when I'm looking at that cell phone, I'm just recording into the abyss. I'm just recording and then I'll have to trim it and then I'll have to edit it and then I'll have to post it and I'm not talking or engaging with anybody.
Speaker 2:I mean you will the consumer on the other end, on the reels, you'll see and if identifies with you, maybe it'll get likes. Maybe we'll get thrown into the algorithm, but it's not as easy as sitting here talking with Matt, somebody that I can identify, sees me and understands the things what I'm going through in hesitancy of wanting to connect he has. You're experiencing the same thing. It's an authentic moment here. I don't get that from holding a phone. I don't want you to see my face in those moments. I don't want to show you my home. I don't want you to know intimate, true details of a day in the life.
Speaker 3:I don't I mean, if anyone ever had the, had the time or desire to cruise through all the, all the way back to the beginning. You know my entire mannerisms were different. You know, because I've had to become comfortable, just accepting the fact that what, what I'm doing when I post a video, is like anybody else is delivering a digital product for consumption. You know, yeah, and this is not that like, this is something different. At the end that's what it's going to be, but, like at this very moment, you know, this is different to me than just being like a reaction to some jackass video. You know what I'm saying yeah, absolutely, dude, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Everybody always get hounded like, why don't you do some more like talking videos? I'm like, well, the reality is it's, I'm a different person. Yeah, I'm not, I'm, I'm, I'm. This is a Denny in a moment. Talking with another veteran Like this is engaging, this is fun, this is vital for me in my day to day life. But this is not something that transfers over. When it's just me holding a cell phone, it's a whole different thing. And in your journey, like how I have to imagine it's just reps, but how was it for you when you were like, okay, I'm gonna be doing this, I'm gonna put my foot down, I'm gonna engage?
Speaker 3:when I got fired from the very last job that I've had, I was working for a company I won't name it, obviously, but it was residential construction, a very big nationwide company and they had very stringent things that they expected and my job was to go and inspect certain jobs and measure windows and doors and make sure everything was correctly ordered and ordered and entered and, you know, very low margin for error acceptance. So I had a bad week and and and that was that Um, and within that same week I got my disability approved and my back pay for like many years. So I was like, do I want to try doing this? Because now I have a source of income, essentially that I didn't have yesterday and it wasn't really like I'm going to do this way more than I wanted to previously. And around the same time is when I started thinking about like doing merch you know hats and T-shirts and things like that Because I wanted to help fund the whole effort of fishing trips anywhere and everywhere.
Speaker 3:Early on I started talking to another Marine who goes by DWCC. He used to go by Dixie Wrecked Clothing. He changed his name but his name is Doug. You should reach out to him. He'd be a good guy to have on, but, um, he, he's kind of the west coast version of me plus some yeah, uh, he he runs his own trips as well as does a lot of philanthropy and things like like that. But I've basically been down with him since the rip and we've been bouncing ideas off each other. We've done, you know, cohesive posts and and fundraisers together and and share each other's stuff and um, it's just like it's just a constant effort of trying to be a funding source for you know, I'm going to be honest nonprofit founders, for the most part, that are involved in phishing.
Speaker 3:We touched on this in the beginning. They're horrible with social media, they're horrible with that sort of, and they admit it. But how do you bring attention to these organizations that are here, willing and ready, have boats with gas in them, ready to take bets out? How do we get the word out? And so the more people I talked to in the messenger, the more I knew I just wanted to kind of be like an on-call dude that people go to for this reason, like Travago of fishing, like I'm Joe Schmoe in Omaha, nebraska, and I can't find anything.
Speaker 3:Can you try to help me link up with some people, and I've done that over and over and over again. I haven't always had success, because there are guys that live in the middle of nowhere. So, at the very least, what I will try to do is hook them up with another veteran that lives somewhat of close distance to them, that they can at least wake up and throw throw a few gas together. You know what I mean. Like, at the end of the day, this is about like-minded people sharing something that helps them. Yeah, and there are organizations that do massive events. Some of them cost, you know, probably tens of thousands of dollars and they're amazing events, but they only do one, two, maybe three a year.
Speaker 3:So there's a lot of messages that I get where that veteran's like man, I'm in a rough spot, I'd love to be able to go out, and you kind of want to get them on a boat, like soon, yeah, um. But then you have to have another conversation, like, is this person even ready to be out on a boat? Like, are they in that space where they're going to be able to handle that? And so if I've ever had any doubt, you know, I'll certainly say you know, I think you should maybe just try, you know, conventional therapy first for a moment before diving into this Um, but at the end of the day, I don't. I'm not a fucking doctor, I don't know shit. You know, I'm not like I. I just I have a, I have feel like I have a good moral compass and I try to just answer every message, that's.
Speaker 3:That's literally what I try to do, even if it's hate. I've got a lot of hate messages too oh fuck dude.
Speaker 2:Yeah, man, like let's, let's talk about this for a few seconds. The amount of fucking negativity for just wanting to do good for people, just just wanting to put a good use, some good content out there. There are some people that will still hate on you.
Speaker 3:I've had my life threatened uh in the comments yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, um well, what the fuck it's? And it's not like I don't consider them like any sort of like real threat, but like I've come to understand what the average troll is. Yeah, because I have certain friends that are that and they they're very open about their trollness and the reactions that they look for out of people.
Speaker 2:And it's a, it's a, it's a hobby. Now.
Speaker 3:It's literally like degeneracy is in, and you know what I mean, like. I'll give an example of that. During college football national championship they were doing college game day, notre dame, ohio, and there was a guy sitting with a sign right behind the sportscasters and it said his cash app name and it said I'm running low on beer, please help. That man was sent millions of dollars Wow, I can't sell a hundred hats in a year to to raise money to send veterans out on fishing trips.
Speaker 3:So that's where I try to like show the stark obviousness of where we're at with society, you know, and just be like, hey, guys selling these new hats, you know, just trying to help out, like yeah, but when I put memes out that go ballistic, you know, I've had videos in the 60 million view range. That that's, that's gonna hit everybody, that's a psychopath out there at some point. And so I get messages, mostly on facebook. A lot of them are on facebook, yeah, um, that are just pure, just pure hate for no reason, and the very few that I have responded to has just done with killing them with so much kindness that they have to be infuriated.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's the approach I take, which is I kind of get enjoyment out of it.
Speaker 3:Oh yeah, I troll in reverse absolutely.
Speaker 2:Great minds think alike. Yeah, it's like I don't know how to treat this. You're coming at me so kind. I always come at it from the angles. Hey man, you need support. Here are some resources that can help you if you need anything else. Like it's like, at the end of the day, it's like, hey, man, like how can advocating for mental health and resources really anger you?
Speaker 3:and and that that line right there leads into the hate of veterans that I've gotten. Like you're not doing enough. Like why aren't you here, here and here, dude, I don't have to be here at all. If we're being honest, I run an LLC that gives all the money away and you know what Every tax preparer that I've shown that to is like you shouldn't be doing this.
Speaker 2:They'd be like Matt, I don't understand your strategy, right.
Speaker 3:They're like you should be a non-profit.
Speaker 2:Well, I don't understand your strategy. Right, they're like you should be a nonprofit.
Speaker 3:Well, I have a certain feeling about how nonprofits operate from a general standpoint and I feel like there are billions of dollars that get donated every year that go in the people that run them's pockets and again, I'm not blanket statement in the nonprofit organization world, but there are a lot, of a lot. There's lots of money that never sees the cause that's being advertised that's the easiest way I can say it, and I don't want to have to put a board together to decide. You know where money's going, cause sometimes it's a fundraiser that gets put together last minute for some that may have been in a car accident or wife just died, or you don't need a meeting to figure out oh, let's raise money for this person. Yes, I pay taxes on everything that comes in and it's not a great business model and I'm working on that, but it's been operated, in my opinion, opinion with higher contribution than most non-profits that exist.
Speaker 2:So I, I feel you on that, matt, matt, I feel you on that, like I feel. I feel like I'm finally being seen because it's, it's the same thing. It's like people are always like uh, taxes are one of the things that I go through. It's like hey, like, hey, man, like it's I'm a dog shit entrepreneur just building this thing one poop and cum joke meme at a time, man, and it's the true enjoyment and the true pleasure are the messages from people who found their way to treatment, who found their way to a treatment resource that I highlighted that they had never heard of. So yes, monetarily speaking, I am not rich or wealthy by any means, but in feeling good because I'm doing good things, I'm doing well, that's the reality, man. Like, oh, hey, you know I could be bitter or I could try to sell and promote something that I'm not 100% back, but the reality is like no, the true mission is to help people.
Speaker 3:We can't buy jet skis with our emotional wealth. But we can certainly sleep at night, you know. That's right, and shout out to uh rain energy drink I was trying to hide my gainer ain't label because I'm not sponsored oh man, that'd be, that'd be hilarious.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, it's one of those things where it's like, hey, you know, promotionally and and sponsorship wise, the money may not be there, but you build something that's authentic, you build something that's true and you format it to get better and better each and every time and the right partnerships will present themselves. And I 100% believe in that. And, yeah, I hustle my ass off producing every different podcast that I can get myself onto and work on the backside doing everything I can and go to school full time. And that's just the reality. If you love something so much and you're willing to do it the best of your ability and improve on it every single day, and you're borderline unhealthy about it, it will turn into something that's worthwhile. When that happens, I don't know. Someday it's coming, there will be a payday.
Speaker 3:I firmly believe that, or else there's just something going on wrong oh, man, man, I can't thank you enough for being here today.
Speaker 2:Tell us before I let you go, man, tell us about your organization, tell us what you do and where people can get a hold of you.
Speaker 3:Uh so right now, uh, you can find us basically anywhere on social media. I do, I have a Tik TOK and I have a YouTube. It's not nearly as shiny and polished as, uh, as the Instagram and the Facebook stuff, but, um, yeah, we have a website that are in specialcom. It's currently, uh, it's being completely redone by me, um, and we'll be back up in a week or so.
Speaker 3:But, um, for anybody that's been kind of privy to my posts every day for the last like six months, like, if you know me, you know that Western North Carolina has been a big, big, big focus of mine, um, and I'm I'm kind of doing this last minute plug because I feel that those people, for the most part, have been forgotten, uh, by their government, and I don't think that's a secret anymore. Um, average citizens have continued to help them, but, uh, because there's been no fishing trips, because it's snowing everywhere, that's where the majority of any funds that have come in have been directed. Um, it's not a lot, but it's still. We want to try to continue to help them in addition to the fishing stuff.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, are you doing? Uh, do you have an open fundraising, uh, fundraising going on for them, or um? So, right now, we have.
Speaker 3:We have a tournament um going on right now. This, this tournament is going to be fundraising for a veteran fishing nonprofit that I announced the day of the tournament beginning, but they're in South Carolina. They're going to get half of the money. Ever since the hurricane has hit, is that any money that comes into our PayPal, to our Venmo, to our Cash App, 100% of that include? Like. So, when you send 50 bucks to somebody on PayPal, paypal's going to take a couple bucks of that and then you know that business is left with the remainder. I'm filling that back up to your full $50 donation and passing it on to you.
Speaker 3:Know where we've been sending it which like in the beginning we were getting a lot more donations. Ever since, like the fires in la, it's like completely stopped. But um, there's like a mountain river family campground is one in spruce pine, north car that you're talking a 60-plus site campground that was completely wiped off the map. That's just one of a thousand stories. You know what I'm saying. So whenever we get to a point with anybody that's like, oh, we're all set, I guarantee it's not going to be hard to find someone else, so we want to just continue. Anybody that wants to keep donating to that just know that we're trying to remain in contact with those people and constantly assess the needs of what's needed out there still to this day and it's snowing and it's freezing cold, so they can use all the help.
Speaker 2:Hell yeah, a link to that will be in episode description, so go ahead and pause right now. Take a look at there. I'll wait. All right, you're back. Thank you for contributing. I know you did, and if you didn't, I understand money might be tight. But 1st and 15th, if you're active duty, I know you get paid, so just maybe squirrel away a little bit of money, help out our people from North Carolina that they need, need our, our help. Um, it's, you know, it's something that is uh important for all of us to to focus on, which is charity, gratitude for, you know, being here, being alive, having another day, but also being able to, you know, offer something. Just a few bucks, whatever you got, help out our neighbors. Um, matt, thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 2:Man, it is absolute pleasure yeah it was a absolute blast to have you on, and I can't wait to bring you back on to talk about life and fishing man, because that's something that I think everybody needs to have a a little bit of an introduction to is being out in peaceful water and, um, you know, a cast a line or two, even if it's fly fishing, won't bust your balls too much. Fucking river runs through it. The geeks.
Speaker 3:I have a field day with them. I still love y'all. My dad was a fly fisherman.
Speaker 2:So I grew up in Colorado. I can fly fish, but I'd rather bait cast, even though I'm a dog, shit saltwater fisherman uh, it's still like the paddleboard. Fishing is fucking amazing.
Speaker 2:Like you can spend that so I'd love to schedule that sometime with you, man bro, let me tell you, next time we get on the show, let's uh, let's coordinate this. Let's coordinate some efforts in getting boat paddleboard to sponsor the show and a fishing tournament, because nothing's better than fishing off a paddleboard in northwest florida. I don't care, if you catch nothing, you're gonna come back. You're gonna be fucking static. See wildlife everywhere.
Speaker 2:I can imagine that's a very intimate experience dude, it is one of the best things out there for you. It's so much fun. Yeah, you don't have to catch anything. That's the key. You go super early, paddle out to Crab Island and just fish all morning, long before the crazy people get out there and come back home. And, yeah, it's like having a little mini adventure every weekend. So if you're out in Northwest Florida, get yourself a paddleboard, get out in the water and fish. And if you need some help finding resources where to fish, check out Matt's website and follow him on social media. Again, those links will be on the episode description.
Speaker 2:Thank you all for tuning in. I absolutely love knowing that you guys are checking us out and going to our Instagram and helping us grow there. But if I could ask you to do one thing before I go, before I let you go, go to Apple Podcasts, go to Spotify, leave us a review, give us five stars. That way we can continue growing and advocating for great resources for veterans and have great people like Matt on the show. Thanks again for being here. Appreciate you all for listening. See you all next time. Until then, take care.
Speaker 1:Thanks, Appreciate you all for listening. See you all next time. Until then, take care. Thanks for tuning in and don't forget to like, follow, share, subscribe and review us on your favorite podcast platform. If you want to support us, head on over to buymeacoffeecom forward slash SecHawk podcast and buy us a coffee.
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Speaker 1:You can also visit securityhallcom for exclusive content resources and updates and remember we get through this together.
Speaker 2:If you're still listening, the episode's over. Yeah, there's no more Tune in tomorrow or next week.
