How To DeF*ck Your Marketing Message With A "Before & After Transformation"

Brian Hood (0:31)

Christopher, Jay, Graham, you already screwed up the day to day because I got the name wrong, you didn't have your purple shirt on.

Christopher Graham (0:37)

I'm sorry.

Brian Hood (0:38)

How are you doing now that you've ruined my day?

Christopher Graham (0:40)

I'm doing pretty good. I know how you're doing, but because this is a podcast, I'm gonna ask how you're doing what's new in your life, Brian.

Brian Hood (0:48)

It's like the intro of this podcast is always such bullshit, because like you and I talk for like an hour before we even record. So it's like we don't have anything to catch up on. You know everything since we last talked last week.

Christopher Graham (0:58)

This is true.

Brian Hood (0:59)

Friday, it's like Tuesday now. So last Friday, my wife got tested for COVID because her friend got it that she was with for like a week, which basically guarantees my wife has it, which basically guarantees that I have it or will have it. So I've been sitting just around waiting for the damn test results to get back in. And she called yesterday and they're like, call back Friday, we'll probably have an answer by then. It's like, great. It's good to know that in this city of Nashville, Tennessee, when you get tested, by the time you get your results back, all of the symptoms will have probably passed by you.

And I felt nothing so far. So like, if I have it, I could be just carrying it around town if I didn't have my test results back. Not that I would do that, because I know I'm at like high risk. So I'm self-quarantining the shit out of myself. But like, there are people that they don't know they have it or they get a test, and to make them wait over a week to get their results back is absurd to me. It's like so dumb. So that's how I'm feeling.

Christopher Graham (1:48)

I'm good. I have anxiety for you about all of this.

Brian Hood (1:52)

It's like an impending doom, which is an old death metal band that we toured with back in the day, Impending Doom. And so that's how I feel.

Christopher Graham (1:58)

Impending Doom. Speaking of Impending Doom, I wanted to share a little bit about what's been going on with me over the past couple months here. We'll get a lot more into this. But I mentioned before on the podcast that I was having a bunch of panic attacks.

And I ended up going to see a lot of doctors about this. And it turns out that I have unknowingly been struggling with PTSD for decades and wasn't diagnosed, didn't know it, and had been having flashbacks all the time.

Brian Hood (2:30)

So just to clarify, usually, this PTSD, I don't know much about it other than what you've told me. Is this something that lasts a short amount of time, a long amount of time for most people? You have a different form than someone that maybe went to war or something like that, right?

Christopher Graham (2:41)

Yeah, so the type of PTSD I have is called complex PTSD. We won't get into the really specifics of it, but it's something that happened when I was really young. And complex PTSD, when you have a flashback, you don't have images or memories. You have what's called an emotional flashback. So all of a sudden, all the things that you felt at a really terrifying time in your childhood just comes back to you all at once. So it's been interesting kind of going through my own mental health journey here.

And I'm on Prozac for it now. And Prozac is sort of like the go-to first line of defense for PTSD. And it's been amazing. I'm still navigating all of this, but in a lot of ways, I didn't realize this, but I felt like I was carrying a bear on my back for decades.

And now it's more like a golden retriever.

Brian Hood (3:29)

Why a bear? Why not like a yak?

Christopher Graham (3:31)

Well, because a bear might bite your head off with a flashback.

Brian Hood (3:34)

What about a mountain lion?

Christopher Graham (3:35)

A mountain lion. Yeah, well, a bear weighs more.

Brian Hood (3:38)

That's true. That's true.

Christopher Graham (3:39)

This is something like I'm completely in learning mode with this. I'm reading nonstop. I have learned more about mental health than I have about anything else in a shorter period of time. And I am going to kick the ass of this PTSD by doing the work.

And this is great banter because I bought something that you don't approve of.