Special Guest – Dillon Weston

Count money man, money back riches.

I'm trying to, I'm trying to, I'm on the beast's butt.

What's up gang?

Welcome to the grind cast.

Stop an area here.

Get ready to do that.

New day.

What's up gang?

Welcome to another episode of the grind cast.

Get ready.

It's a new day.

And I got my man, my friend Dylan Weston in the house.

What's up Dylan?

Welcome to the grind factory.

We want to introduce Dylan to all our listeners.

And viewers today, Dylan is not only a friend of mine,

but he's overcome extreme adversity in his life.

And I think you can benefit from how he's

been able to get through some of these things.

Background in wrestling.

Been wrestling pretty much his whole life.

And did some MMA.

Absolute beast on the mats.

And so, so let's start off, Dylan,

with giving some folks your background, where were you raised?

And a little bit of background on yourself.

Yeah, so I was, I'm from Western Pennsylvania,

small town, lower Burl, Pennsylvania.

I lived there till about fifth grade.

My parents were, they weren't really ever together.

So until fifth grade, the life in lower Burl was great.

So it was a very strong wrestling background.

They're on their 14th whip you'll title.

I believe it's 14 straight.

So whip you'll, if people are listening out of town,

that is just our district.

WPIOs are district.

So, very strong wrestling background.

Very strong football background.

My dad, truck driver, most of my life,

pretty tough guy, big guy.

I don't know how I got to short.

Well, my mom was short.

So I would say life was weird because they were never together,

but I was kind of used to it.

But my dad was a bit of a drinker, truck driver,

if he wasn't on the road, he was kind of drinking.

So he kind of slept on her couch.

Okay, domestic fights.

Okay.

So when you say not together,

they were living in the same house,

but kind of not.

Dad was in and out.

Okay.

The house, you know, like that,

what are you doing?

It's Wednesdays, like Jack Daniels.

Right.

You know, and then,

live with my mom all my life up until,

I was 13, we moved to Butler, Pennsylvania.

My dad, or my mom, that a guy moved to Butler.

And then continued to wrestle.

I've been wrestling now for 22 years.

I just realized the other day,

it was like 22 years of wrestling.

So you move with your mom to Butler,

with her and the guy that she was with.

And how was that with life with Bob?

That sounds like a, you know,

tough transition right there.

Yeah.

13 years old, you know, as a boy, as a man, you know,

because I've been in the similar, yeah, such a scenario.

So not only tough on me,

it was tough on my dad, because I was his boy.

I wrestled, I played baseball and football all up until,

I was about 14 and then just wrestled the rest of the way.

He was a beast of football played semi-pro.

Okay, he played semi-pro for two or three teams,

Ohio Valley, Penhose, Python,

and a couple of these different teams.

Just a tough dude, but very stubborn dude

and didn't listen to anybody.

He's supposed to, should have went pro and football,

just didn't listen to his agent.

So he, it was tough on him as well,

because I'm moving with another guy

instead of moving in with my dad.

He loves me, he always had a pretty good relationship.

So, I moved the bother, my dad follows.

Now he's been my wrestling coach since I was a kid.

They're split up.

I guess I gotta get into it.

They had such a bad relationship,

grown up, it was kind of bringing stuff back.

Like to the point, so my dad would get me on the weekends

and I don't know why,

but he would like kind of drop me off

and he had such a bitterness towards my mom.

And he'd drop me off and like she'd walk out,

you know, come get me from the car and he'd be like,

oh, there she is, that fat pig.

And I like that stuff, that's tough.

You know, hearing that as a kid, you know.

I'm torn.

I was so torn, I love my dad,

because he was my dad, he's tough.

Love my mom, because she was mom,

she was so good, man, she was so loud in the stands

and my family would like kind of sit away

from the other moms and she was so loud.

God, I'm down, she was screaming.

So I was a mom, I was boy, I love my mom,

but good relationship with, okay, relationship with my dad,

he had some mental, I think honestly,

he had some mental, I've never seen a man snap of her stuff

that just small like the way he did.

You know, but we were close, but he had some issues.

So growing up through Butler, school for me,

I literally just didn't do it.

My dad was like, how'd you fail?

Because you still went, I failed because I didn't go.

I was like, he, there wasn't any discipline at home.

I was, I probably started drinking,

I was like 14 at my house on my dad.

Little later to me in Giovanni.

Well, that's when he knew about it, right?

He was buying the cases, you know, we were

drinking pretty early.

I mean, I thought 14 was pretty early.

Oh yeah, youngstown, you know,

we worked a couple of years ahead.

After 13, we were full blown.

Go ahead and use your imagination.

Full blown.

Literally.

Driving and everything.

Yeah, yeah, I did get my,

since I got my permit, I did just go to Pittsburgh a day.

Anyway, so growing up with dad, where are we at?

We're about 13, 14 now.

Okay, move from lower Burrell, wrestled through there.

My struggling in high school.

Not great.

I was not doing all the time.

I was so like, I would still eligible, no.

Okay.

Okay.

Exemically, no.

I wish.

Academically, no eligible once in junior high.

They didn't move me up to the varsity

because they said that I was like too much of a liability.

You know, I was good wrestler.

I was, there was a senior.

I was beating, I was beating them up at my weight.

I didn't know if I'd be able to wrestle.

Right.

I'd be in it and I'd be like,

eligible this week, not next week, right.

You know, until we got, there was wrestling coach

for a while, a butler.

And then he went to, he was athletic director.

So I had some pull.

It was nice.

Yeah, solid, not good for my grades

or my discipline in that area in school,

but solid if you want to get on the team.

Did you ever wrestle a full season?

Senior year.

Senior year.

Yeah.

I started to come around.

Nice.

So actually, we get through junior high, ninth grade.

I think it was March, it was March 10th.

You know, my dad's living a brother, live with mom

and Bob, the stepdad.

I get a call March 10th.

Well, actually it was March 11th woke up in the morning

to my stepdad big guy.

He's crying on my bed.

And I just knew, freshman year.

Yeah, this was freshman year.

High school.

Yeah, this was freshman year.

High school.

Yep.

So he is sitting on my bed.

And I had a weird feeling on night

because I didn't go to bed.

I waited until my mom came home to go to,

you know, almost every night to go to bed.

But this night I particularly stayed up a little bit later.

And she didn't come home.

It was like I had to go to bed.

It was like two, two 30 in the morning.

So I finally was just like, I gotta go to bed.

Wilk up to him crying on my bed.

I've never seen the man cry, you know.

So, and I just knew something bad was happened.

And he's just, your mom died.

Your mom, you know, rolled over in the car wreck.

I was young.

And like I said, I was a mom was a boy.

And so it shook my world.

So freshman in high school, I can't even imagine,

now I'm 36.

You know what I mean?

So just to go through that and have it delivered,

you know, by Bob.

Right.

That's a whole another level of tough.

And it was rate of...

So that was...

It was right up the street too.

It was she rolled over, truck caught on fire

and she was almost home.

Okay.

So then from there, honestly,

I wanted to kind of stay at home

and live with Bob for a bit.

I wanted to because I was scared to live with my dad.

Yeah.

We, I love him but he was drinking a lot.

He was aggressive.

I was drinking a lot.

He was aggressive.

But I didn't want to live with him.

Yeah.

I couldn't take the aggresson, like the bipolarness

consistently, you know what I mean?

What I mean, that's that alone is, you know,

explains why you were struggling.

You know, we're talking to people

near each other in high school.

Grabbed your water, I got my water.

That's weird.

I want to be like, thank you.

You're silly, dude.

I am.

I'm silly.

I'm silly.

I got voted most funniest all four years of high school.

Come on.

Then we'll get there.

We went to school with Dylan.

I want to let you know he's still going guys.

Still, still rolling.

Yeah.

Still funny.

So, so what happened from there?

How did you, so we're, you know, move forward?

On the car, right?

I, I didn't think, I didn't realize how much it affected me.

I was young.

I kept kind of, I felt like I kept it together.

But she had such a good, I listened to her, you know?

Like she had more, me on a tighter rope than probably my dad.

Even though he was dad, he was the man.

So from there, it's about a month after she passed away March 11th.

I moved in with my dad.

So I moved with my dad.

Actually, speaking of when that morning when my mom died,

my dad cried so hard.

It's insane when, you know, I was talking about their relationship and he was just kind of

crude to her.

Yeah.

Because deep down, he loved her so much.

Yeah.

No doubt.

He, he balled his eyes out and it changes his life.

It changes his relationship with me.

How he treated me.

Who he missed.

Like it was just insane.

So for all you men out there, if you're, if you're trying to fool yourself and thinking

some girl you like is me because she don't like you or whatever, just, just roll with

it.

Be okay with, with that.

But anyway, it's my dad.

I wanted to put that out there and he's just ballin'.

I never seen that.

And then for some reason, I was crying but I was, I like, I hold it back because I saw

all these people crying around me.

My grandmother, my mom's mom was just how, like if she just lost her baby girl and my

pap just lost her bit, you know, his baby girl and as a parent.

I mean, that's gotta be one of the worst things to see your child go before you.

Yeah.

You know what I mean?

And everyone's ballin'.

I'm just like, I'm just gonna not go, I'm not gonna do this.

I'm gonna stay strong so no one looks at me.

Kinda looks at me and they're like, okay, we can get through those films and through

those.

So I'll never forget that morning on the couch.

Just like you lose your parent and you're just all like, so moving with dad, wrestling,

relationships, kinda still the same with that.

But he, it's better actually because he's like, I gotta step something up.

The guys, the kids come to live with me now, you know what I mean?

So I live with dad.

It was a fun time.

I drank quite a bit.

I didn't, honestly, I didn't get in the drugs too much.

I've done a little bit here and there.

Was never my thing.

I think my dad scared that out of me.

It wasn't, you know, he didn't let me, you know, way.

I just didn't really get into it.

Live with my dad for a while.

High school into high school comes up and be honest.

So I think I'm gonna graduate and they're like, you're not gonna graduate.

You know, I'm not gonna graduate.

I'm not gonna graduate high school.

I'm not gonna, you know this?

I didn't graduate high school.

And I wouldn't usually wouldn't tell anybody but whatever.

I'm okay.

Just tell everybody now.

I'm literally telling you how to make the world.

And my current job, I should probably hide this doesn't know it.

No jobs knew it, you know, because I just tell them, I'm gonna blow.

I never graduated.

I was such a goofball in school.

I thought I was too cool to get credits.

I was like, teachers like me, they're gonna pass me.

Yeah.

I'm not gonna go to the end.

They're like, you know enough credits to graduate.

I was like, why I'm not going back?

So I had to say college was out of the question.

Yeah, and I had letters for a result.

So senior year I did good but it was too late.

So many credits.

I had this, I had a girlfriend.

What's good?

As in I got through, I was academically eligible.

So for me that was good.

Made it through.

Made it through.

Yeah, made it through.

It was tough.

So I got through and so obviously there's no need to be.

You have to go to high school.

I went straight, I went, I went, the school that I was,

I didn't graduate the next year, like that next wrestling season,

I was wrestling coach.

Remember the letter director?

Like you.

Yeah.

And I was good at coaching and good at like,

even though it was right after high school.

I saved up money from there.

And I was like, well, I was voting most,

I was like, what would I want to do as work?

And I was like, well, I don't really like anything,

but wrestling and making people laugh.

So I was like, I'm gonna be a stand-up comedian.

So I was a standup, so I started going down the Pittsburgh

and doing these open mics.

Me and my buddy would talk about it in high school.

So, if we go down, you know, I went to these open mics

and then he moved to New York City, went to college,

right after high school.

It was a cool scene, man.

I'll be here and Butler trying to figure something out.

He started doing the open mics and then around New York City,

I went and visited him, did one or two,

actually got a manager.

Someone he knew.

So you were doing stand-up comedy in New York City.

Yeah.

Okay.

Then I moved out about six months, a year after high school.

After this girl cheated on me that I liked

and I said, I'm out.

And I was really running a bunch.

So this whole time I was running from something,

I was running from a bunch of stuff at home.

Right.

Dad was like, okay, go ahead.

I don't know what you're doing.

He wanted me to obviously be on the railroad or something.

He didn't understand sales, he didn't, he just pick up a shovel.

That was, you know.

So I move out there to New York City and I'm doing stand comedy and I'm just on stage and

it was fun.

I was having fun.

But I didn't know what I was doing.

You know, I didn't really write too many jokes.

I would just get up there and freestyle.

I made people like it was good.

But then I had this urge to just come back in the town.

I just didn't like the city life like that.

I don't know if you can tell I have a mallet.

So I'm a hood belly.

Yeah, hood belly.

Yeah, that's the nickname.

Hood belly.

I came back to Butler and I just, I was like, I want to wrestle again.

So I was doing this comedy open mic on Mondays.

I started one in Pittsburgh when I moved back and then I wanted to wrestle.

So I moved back to do this comedy open mic.

Then I would start, I started sparring on Mondays right before the open mic.

I started drifting away from the con.

I was like, I don't really like this stuff.

You know, I didn't really want to do it.

I felt wrestling pulled me back in.

Always been a part of my life since I was five years old.

And then so I started fighting again or wrestling again, which led me into it.

So like after high school, it's wrestling.

It's like either you got to go to college.

It's not really a pro level.

You kind of have to just make it to Olympics.

So then there's not really much of a path.

There's not a pro path.

So continue on to wrestle.

Yeah, so MMA is kind of the path to go from there.

And then so from that, I started wrestling.

So I started doing a couple grappling tournaments.

I think I won the mall that I've been in except one.

I got decued.

That match was great.

It's 20 minutes long.

And I got decued because I slammed the guy, but I really didn't.

But anyway, so I did well because Isaac, my trainer, is really good at, you know,

he's kind of coaxing you into getting a fight.

Right?

So I did the grappling matches first.

One of them all.

Yeah, I won all my tournaments except one.

And I got decued.

It was a great match.

It was 20 minutes.

I was up against his dude from Abu Dhabi.

I don't know why he came the whole way over the year, but he did.

And then so I got my first fight and they fight and I won.

That's when I was like, I'm done with comedy.

And I just, I literally went full tilt, full tilt.

Yeah.

Like I never went into something so hard, but so kind of skipped the thing that was really

important.

So I get like so I had these two girls.

I had two relationships.

And while I was younger, but it was six years and it was during when my mom died and

the breakup was really hard for me.

I kind of felt like I lost another mom in a way.

You know what I mean?

So that 11th grade, I was, it was tough because I, she really was like a big part of my world.

And then I lost her.

She kind of broke up.

I think she realized this kid was a bum.

I needed that.

She's like, literally, it's like this kid's a bum and this guy's got a nice truck.

So I need a date ham.

And I was like, yeah, FM, I'll fight him.

That's all I had.

That's all I had.

It's like, I'm not going to get another truck.

I'm not going to get a truck.

I'm going to have a job.

I'll fight him.

That's all I thought I could do.

I'm not going to lie.

Half my school was scared of me.

I was like, I'll fight you all.

Then make you laugh.

You know.

And then we broke up.

I got through that.

And then after high school, I was in another relationship.

And then she cheated on me.

It's a lot of rough time with these relationships.

And I really affected me.

But it really started to affect my insecurity.

And it kind of, these kind of mummy issues started to develop.

That's kind of why I moved to New York City.

I was trying to run away from all these issues.

I really didn't like myself.

I felt like a piece of crap.

I mean, I didn't graduate.

I seen you a year I started to grow up.

But it was too late.

You know, I just never felt like piece of crap like that in my life.

I just needed to grow up.

And so I was trying to run away.

Now, in hindsight, I'm looking back at this stuff now.

But then I was just like, I'll just start a new life.

And it just doesn't work.

Your problems go with you.

Yeah.

Your issues go with you.

Unless you don't take care of them.

No doubt.

They all went with me.

You know, and I had such bad, I never had anxiety.

I had such bad anxiety out in New York City.

Absolutely.

Yeah.

19 years old.

Yeah.

19 years old.

Took me a long time to get used to New York City.

Yeah.

I had a lot of water, crowds, you know, just traffic, horns blowing and bright.

You know.

And I'm from Butler.

Yeah.

So it's major change.

You know.

Major change.

So it was just tough.

And so I needed to come back.

And then something was pulling me back.

And then I was, I continued to have these issues.

I had, with this, I had, like, it was a mental thing.

I didn't like this girl.

But I had such an issue that she left and she'd on me like, it was a fight.

Like I lost.

You know what I mean?

And I, over time, was like, I wanted her back.

But I didn't really, I think I didn't really like it.

I just wanted, I felt like I lost.

I went away.

And I want to write the wrong or something like that.

I would sometimes get drunk and I'd just go walking down the street.

I want time.

I walked down the street.

Sorry girl.

I'm not going to mention her name, but that I did this.

But she knows.

And we're okay now.

But this is kind of my story.

Walking down the street, South Side Pittsburgh.

That's kind of where you party.

I knew her window was right here.

Her apartment.

I just punched out her window and ran.

I couldn't believe I was in such a dark place man.

I was trying to get out.

There's one of the darkest.

Like, so I finally was like, I tried everything that I know to do to try to make myself better.

You know, I didn't have super, I didn't have guidance as a leader like my dad.

He would just kind of like get a job.

What went up in your dad?

Pass.

So we're getting it.

So my dad passed.

Not there yet.

So we're out there.

So all right, we want to go dad passed.

So how I want to first talk about my relationship with the Lord, how it started.

Is it okay?

Before.

Yeah, sure show, brother.

Yeah.

Okay.

I figured.

So I, anyway, went through some adversity.

I knew something was pulling me back to Butler.

I started meeting up with a pastor.

I was like, I finally kind of thought I was like, okay, Christians, it seems like they

got something in them that they have joy in their lives.

I didn't know.

I was in Atheist.

My mom died.

I was like, no, like if there's a God out there and he says he's good, he's obviously wrong.

My mom died in a car crash.

He's rolled over, she's died.

So that's kind of happened.

Right.

Right.

So I started meeting with this pastor.

It starts meeting with me once, twice a week.

I started like, okay.

You say the Bible's right?

Just implementing verses.

I got a verse on Jealousy.

I'm very self-aware.

So I'd be like, I realized I was jealous about something.

I'm guy because he had the girl and I couldn't, you know, whatever.

Start looking at them.

They start working.

I started implementing into my life.

You know, what these verses were saying about who God thinks you are, who God knows

you are, who he's made you to be.

And then so I actually, I get saved.

I start fighting, okay.

And then my dad, so I fight, I have four fights.

My dad's loving it.

After you get saved.

Yeah, after I get saved.

I'm loving this fighting.

I'm coaching, wrestling.

I'm doing private lessons.

Life's pretty good.

I had four fights.

I won all four.

I'm enjoying the fight.

I didn't know where I was going to take it.

But I felt like I was on a good path, you know.

And my dad, my next work was kind of my dad is like, you know, we had where we were.

And I wanted him to, I get saved, but I can't do it for him.

So I grew up an atheist.

I become, I want my dad rough time with dad.

And now though he, like he out of nowhere recently about two and a half, it's been about

two and a half.

It'll be about three years ago.

It's diagnosed with stage four brain cancer.

So my dad gets brain cancer.

I remember what, so how this happened.

So my dad is on the porch.

He's got a headache and he's just like rocking back and forth.

And I'm like, we didn't, we finally took him to the hospital.

They find a mass on his head.

Doctors says we don't know exactly what it is right now until we take a biopsy, but we

believe it's glioplastoma.

And I look and I'm like, there's no way this is glioplastoma or it's, this can't be

the bad one.

A Google glioplastoma, 5% survival rate, pretty much no one survives.

And you die within a year and a half.

And I was like, I want to fight for him no way.

Year and half later, my dad comes to glioplastoma and he dies from glioplastoma.

But in that, in all of that, in that whole thing there, one of the biggest things for

me that happened is, so my dad's realizing he's going to have to come to the end of his

life.

And you start realizing that life comes to an end.

And he started going church at first.

So what they did, they took the tumor out of his brain.

And then he was pretty good out for six months.

He was good.

And then six months he's good.

And then he starts to grow back.

But in that six months, he starts going to church with me.

Finally, I asked him for four years, once a month, I told myself, I'd been asking me

at least once a month.

I know it's a no.

Sometimes, most times, it's more than once a month.

I told myself at least once a month, I'm going to ask him.

He says, no, it's fine.

But I'm going to continue to show him how I'm growing.

And then maybe he'll see that.

He'll see the fruit.

Because I believe Jesus comes in, Holy Spirit comes into your body.

And you become a changed person.

Not on your own will and on your own account.

He changes you from the inside out.

So I knew God was doing a work inside of me.

So I just let that continue.

And I said, I'll keep inviting my dad to church.

Eventually, he gets diagnosed with stage four cancer a couple of months later, he goes.

And then he's going, he's starting to ask me, you go, we go to church?

My life is lightening up.

You know what I mean?

It's one of the biggest joys of my life.

And I remind you, my dad's got to stage four.

He's dying.

But he wants to go.

He's so happy.

He's going.

And I'll never forget this.

I'm sitting there and I'll be honest.

Sometimes you go and you're like, you maybe heard the story or whatever.

And I looked over and my dad, his eyes were glued.

Listen to the word.

I was like, that's it.

I'm so happy that he was so great.

And so my dad was focused in, I believe my dad was saved before he left his earth.

And all the crap that I've been through, everything I've been through with my dad,

if I gave him for all that.

But we've had some great times.

We really connected through this cancer.

You know what I mean?

He was coming to the end of his life.

He was going somewhere.

You know?

And I wanted to, I really, I can't save anybody.

I really wanted to see him and have him one day.

But that's when things, that's when shit matters.

You know that's what matters.

You know what I mean?

This stuff's fleeting.

It's all fleeting.

No, no.

No.

But so that's how I came to the Lord.

I came to the Lord and I brought my dad to Christ.

Christ orchestrates that.

So now where am I?

And that's kind of my story.

And I told you I can talk about it for 25 minutes.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, that's deep.

So at what point did you, you know, feel like you can't ever really get over those things?

You just find a way to move forward.

You know, and I think the strength that you've had and that you've shown to just not collapse.

I mean, at a young age, you know, you have both parents passed, went through a bunch

of this stuff, you know, as a kid, and don't collapse.

Don't break.

You know what I mean?

People, people fold for less.

You know what I mean?

And you know, people talk about going through adversity.

I've went through a ton of adversity, but I can't even imagine that type of adversity

and still be unable to consistently try to help others with their relationship with God,

you know, consistently putting a smile on other people's face.

Right.

You know, you ain't walking around, moping all the time.

What things if there's someone listening out there that lost a parent young or, you

know, is going through this type of stuff right now, would advice would you give that

kid or that person that's kind of in that zone, you know, at this point to move on?

Point blank, I couldn't do without Jesus in my life.

And I was an atheist, my mom died.

I grew up pushing away God, but point blank without realizing God's sovereignty, who he is.

Okay.

So I believe, you know, we're, the story's so amazing with Jesus.

He comes down as a human in our form and dies for us.

So when people go, you know, there's all this, there's sickness going around.

There's, there's Krona, whatever.

There's sickness going around things like that.

We weren't promised a good life and well, not a good life and easy life.

I'll hear on earth, there's sin here.

We're not promised that this is what I stick to.

I'm like, we're not promised anything easy here.

So if you walk around moping, someone, first of all, someone has a worse.

I always think of, I don't know why I hope this is a root by think of people in Africa

and help out that.

What a good perspective it reminds me of every day in my life.

When I start whining or just feel something, I, I don't know what it is.

I think of people like, like not being able to turn the lights on or still having like

dirt floors.

There's not a day.

I don't think about that.

So perspective is huge.

And then to me, that's like, we're not promised to be here and have like, oh, like, I know,

like, oh, the electric bills like do and you don't have the money.

But bro, you're not promised electric.

I think of like, this is a, I'm not like, I'm glad I was able to turn on the lights.

But God brought me to here.

I'll figure out a way to get this money.

But it's fleeting to me.

It's like, I'll get this money and I don't worry, I try not to worry about that.

I think getting through my, both my parents dying before I was 25, it makes a lot of things

like.

Not as important not as important like little especially here in

US like we were very blessed very blessed

Fortunately, it's like things that like things just don't drive me like create the whining makes me like it gets me annoyed but like

Jesus came down down died for me

I didn't die for anybody and so like he sacrifices life for me

So it wasn't easy for him either

You know what I mean like like it wasn't he wasn't raised up and you know he was killed and so like even he came here

And this one how did you even go you know I talked about you know when you lost your mom

Yeah, thinking you know you were an atheist. Yeah, so how do you how did you open the door of your heart and the door of your mind

Yeah to go from that transition of okay

Not a believer, but I'm open to

Walking down this path a little bit and then you see it it just caught fire. Yeah, you know from there

How would somebody make that transition or how did you make that transition?

Because in in the friends that I in the folks that I've come in contact with that that struggle with their faith

man more than half of them

Lost a parent early. Yeah, you know what I mean? And that becomes the the the

block of what they you know believe so how did you get?

Through that and how would you suggest somebody else moving that direction?

So you've tried you try everything I've tried a bunch. I tried so you know go into the gym a lot self-help books

This you know different types of maybe meditation or

buying some a new

Something you know getting a new hairdo trying to change my look. I tried all these things and they did it

They made me a little bit of happy for like an hour and then they seem like they'd be gone and

It just be like right back like I still had this feeling of just I have no joy. I'm so sad

My mom's gone my dad's got like you know, just like I tried all these self-help things to make you feel better

You know diet, you know, and not saying these things are bad

I'm just saying I tried them all and I thought I looked at them as my hope like maybe this is the thing

You know or maybe like comedy is the thing that still get me out of my troubles, you know

I tried it all and it just didn't it didn't happen

So that's when I sat down with a pastor and I finally reached out to somebody I said okay

I hear that God is great and all you know you see it on

Social media. I'm like what's this all about? I'm open. I'm open to a finally and for such a long time

I wasn't open to it. Yeah, I finally became open to it and then I just you don't go from open to extreme faith

No, it's kind of like I'm gonna kind of walk in a little bit slow

Yeah, and see what happens and so then that transition happens. How did how did that?

So I just go on peace go so I just go in like Sunday evenings there was just like a church group. It was just for kids

Who just goes Sunday evenings I was kind of sitting the back and I would kind of help mentor them

But not really like I could send the back because the guy I would meet with the pastor friend he was the youth pastor

So I would go to homey like his services

We'll read a little bit of the Bible start to understand it whatever but

Got into like apologetics, you know what what is the meaning life? Why were here?

Like all like really kind of heavy stuff like deep stuff, but I really want to know truth

I want to know why I'm here. What's the meaning of life?

Things like that if Christian is Christianity is real

So doubt my doubts kind of led me to keep searching like and then I'd find the answer within the Christianity and

Following Christ and then I made it stronger and then I had questions and I would ask him and then I feel like I'd get answers and then I'd more

quite you know of so many questions and they kept finding the answer and then that snowballs

Okay, and you start to get a fire starts to grow and just like with anything else because you've

First of all, it's the Holy Spirit come spirit comes into you and then you're

Now you're reading the Bible a little bit more just turn to understand the story

You're just kind of starting to like hold crap

This is why I've been like this this home like my whole life and your life starts to

kind of like

The lens starts to clear up and unfolds game changer. It's an absolute game changer man like

The you just get unfoggy start to forgive people that you've had

You know

What's the word I'm looking for issues with issues

Forget about why I didn't have couldn't find that word. Yeah, you start to forgive people

You realize there's a big weight lifted off your shoulder. No doubt you start to lose the the thing that you need to

Be a certain way it's a huge first step. Yeah, you know, I think for people is when they start to

Forgive whatever happened in their past be it a ex-girlfriend a parent or you know somebody that wrong them or you know

Whatever it is when you when you start to be able to forgive it really does lift a weight off you and starts to make you become a better version

Of yourself, which is which is not easy to do because when you're sitting around being bitter towards someone

It's only affecting you they're just ways on you. Yeah, it doesn't know, you know

So when you like being able to forget those two girls for her breaking my heart whatever that really affected me

But putting that in the past, you know, I mean, I have a lovely girlfriend now. She's great

But that was huge being able to forgive my dad for calling my mom a fat pig

You know and he knew he did that stuff he grew from it, but being able to forgive him

And realize this world we're not we're born in the sin

I believe that are born into a world that's not perfect. That's why Christ was killed no doubt

So my dad was not born into a world that was perfect and that's why he had issues with it, you know

I we always have her own issues

But I didn't know this stuff like as a young kid, right?

You know to me, right and you dive into to scripture and you die in the amount of people that you can help now

Yeah over to course of your life by

All the things that went wrong with you, right? You don't mean yeah, it's your young

You don't mean so to still be able to mentor others and help others, you know

Because it there comes a point in life where it's like people don't really connect with people that can't

Walk in their shoes right and it's very hard for them to relate to someone that has never walked in their shoes and being that you've

Went through those struggles and been able to persevere

I think you're gonna be able to connect with help so many people

In this in this life and in this world. So why don't you tell them how how we met and what our relationship is right now?

Absolutely, so how we met is I walked through the door well first

I

Walked through a new Greg you know a little bit because I was doing them a he's a boxer and a Greg

I was actually almost going into another life insurance company in New York life

I saw the mat room remember and I was like well, he's I'm not going there

And I literally almost signed like a deal with them and I just came over here

I think that that's this room. It was this room that we turned into the yeah the podcast and video movement was the

Yeah, the mad at room. Yeah, yeah, but Russ and yeah, Russ and it was here a couple times and then

So we started rolling together. I was in the deal in your business here

The business wasn't for me after I realized after a while, but I don't think any business was you know

I was you know

I was trying to still find myself in the the professional world

But what was so cool about you is

Even after I was like hey, so I'm this isn't for me. You were like well, you still training next week

It was so cool. I thought you were gonna you were gonna be better towards me and I was so ecstatic

So that was about a year and a half ago now two years

And we've been steady and we've been friends

consistently training and consistently

once a week at least

Used to be twice, but I'm working a lot more more now too. So

consistently

You know training. It's been it's been great. So that's how we met we met

One, I believe just like spiritually we connected, you know, we're both Christians

and then two obviously just wrestling grappling you did to you know MMA in general boxing you do it all and

Then I've been mentored by you big time in my life, you know

You know me speak on that yeah, I'm show, you know

Brother, I just love that mall. I mean the mallet looks so good with the headphones on right now

I mean you just got it what are they called at the professional in the front party in the back

That's right. That's right. Is it something in the front party in the back? Yeah, definitely got a party in the back

Yeah, it works for you wouldn't work for me. Yeah looks good on you

How many likes to get Simon to get a

Let's get a million

Two million two months

Perm already

Perm going

My god, you know Evan Evan or Brody I want to get him a mallet. I think we're past I think that ship is sale

Oh, yeah, he can't get one impossible. I think I'm sorry, Brody

So where we at oh mentoring you in our relationship

Biggest thing for you know, I think what I was talking about this the other day

It was about

Showing proof I was talking about I just did the thing you do show one proof you do the chicken. No, yeah

And I do that I get meering people man

You I've learned a lot by your words

But more than anything your actions have just met up with those you know, I I

When I first got here I was a little iffy because I always had this was my own issue

I always had issues for some reason I was jealous of wealthy people and you have had the same issue

Yeah, you know, no and I for some reason

I don't know if I thought it was just given to them whatever now

I realized it's their hard work and I have a completely different view on money

I think it can't be used for good

But I just thought like people were pretentious and you change that so that was huge

But everything that you talk about

adds up to your actions and so I see that and

It makes makes it want to add up for me, but then it's just like if he can continue on

Just the way you you manage your time is really neat like neat to me like I always thought that you sometimes people work so much that

They don't get times with their wives and their families, you know, I mean you don't like you make sure you're just more your morning guy

It's every night you're with your family

Evening like not even night like four or five o'clock you're back with your family you grind it all day

But that's also part of your grind you know that you fit that in and I always thought like I just you show you just the way you can

Manage things. I'm sure it's taking time. You're still learning, but like the way you have been able to manage

Has taught me a lot like I can still work hard and still be a good, you know boyfriend of my girl

um and trying and train and stay in shape and stay in shape and you can do it all and like

So you've been a great example of that and how you've been through adversity too and you can still you know

Pull on go make it. I don't never make it. That's not real thing. We know them. You guys understand what I'm saying

um, so you've been an example for that like you can come out of a place where you don't really you don't graduate and

You can you know continue to there is hope you can keep going

You can tell you man that the our company's last CEO

He just he retired two two or three years ago our company's last CEO my man Roger Smith

Who was with the company for damn near 40 years?

um

I think he's in the process of writing a book from GED to CEO. He never graduated either

You know, so there's so much that a person can do you know, I did graduate from college, but I think that

Sometimes we're fed this

This

Fictitious, you know thing that if you don't go to college after or you don't do these things

Then you'll never be successful

But what I can tell you is that in my in my world

I would say probably more than half of of the people that

financially yeah are wealthy

um

Never graduated college and barely graduated high school doesn't mean that I'm gonna

I'm gonna you know push I don't know how I can't for that. I don't have a kid. Yeah, guys

I just don't know what graduate, you know, that's not that's not the road

But what I'm saying is it's not over with you not out of game if if something didn't go well

You know for you up and even at this point as a young person in in in your life, you know, it's like man

You got so much left yeah to go and you had so much go on at a young age that kind of made you grow up fast in one area

But kind of stun it some growth in some other areas that when those things start to to pick up

I think we're gonna see the very best Dylan Weston that that this world is ever seen because you got some start

Oh, you're funny yet. Yeah, you know, you're your average looking sometimes like today

Yeah, you put it together, bro. You made about a seven or eight you know, I mean better than me

You got a couple inches on me, you know, I mean, yeah, but you know, I waste and I think the the

the

The assets that you have in yourself to build on mental to asset. Yeah tankass. That's my other cast nickname for you

Tankass, so you know, you have all these things that that you can personally build on now

And you can make it through adversity. You can make it through obstacles

You know to mean you're funny people like you you know, you can work hard. You got discipline

You know, there's all these things that we start to point these in the right direction

Which I think you're seeing right now happy yeah, which are current employment situation that I think the best is the best is yet to come

I think my favorite part of

Of us training and and I could say I've become a better

grappler

Because of you, you know, our our training, you know, when we train this heart, you know, we're going at it

Yeah, you know, it's like we're strapping we come downstairs, you know, people are like

The hell's going on there. Boom. You know to me. I mean, we've just you know, you've helped me with my rest

majorly and but I think my favorite part of the game is at the end. You know when we're done

and we and we what are we doing when we're done? So we every time we hold hands and either one of us

throw up a prayer because let's all right let's throw up a prayer and if we pray together after

every after every training session we try we pray together. Yep and we thank the Lord for

the simple things the air in our lungs and just whatever we're feeling for that day we

we thank the Lord amen. Yeah well thanks for thanks for joining us today on the groncast. I know

you're probably gonna impact some people out there that no one else would have been able to connect

to so I appreciate your story I appreciate you being open and sharing your life with us man

and I love you brother keep keep up with your work appreciate you. Yeah thanks for joining us on

another episode of the groncast get ready it's a new day.