Zac Clark on Sobriety, Friendship, and Marathons

00:00:00
Speaker 1: Today's episode contains a discussion surrounding substance abuse and recovery. Listener discretion is advised. Hey everyone, welcome back to Bachler Happy Hour.

00:00:12
Speaker 2: I'm Joe and I'm Serena, and we are here today with.

00:00:15
Speaker 1: A good friend of mine. Our guest today, Zach Clark. Zach, welcome to Batcher Happy Hour.

00:00:21
Speaker 3: I can thank I can finally cross it off the resentment list. We only run together once a week, and I've never been asked to come on your damn podcast. So here, I am.

00:00:30
Speaker 1: Well. I mean, I don't do the casting.

00:00:35
Speaker 2: We're gonna blame that one on producers.

00:00:38
Speaker 1: It's weird.

00:00:38
Speaker 3: I mean, I'm joking.

00:00:40
Speaker 1: I mean, to interview you is a little strange because we are we are good friends, but we also talk all the time. So I feel like I know I know a lot, but maybe our audience doesn't.

00:00:55
Speaker 2: Or maybe you'll learn more today, Maybe.

00:00:57
Speaker 1: I will learn more today.

00:01:00
Speaker 3: I'm here. You can ask about the thing. I'm grateful to be here and I'm grateful to have you guys my life as friends. So all good, Okay, Zach?

00:01:09
Speaker 1: What have you been up to lately? What's new?

00:01:11
Speaker 3: What's new? Leaving Sunday I don't know when this will air, but I'm leaving Sunday to around the London Marathon as part of the nonprofit Release Foundation, which will be fun. And then shortly after that we have our gala in New York City every year, which you guys came to last year. That's all in the name of, you know, helping people who can't afford to get behavioral health care services, so substance abuse and mental health, which is a huge passion of mine. Other than that, man, you know, there's a whole other side of that, which is which is my livelihood, the business Release Recovery, which we operate in New York City and up in Westchester County, and we've just been growing. It's been amazing to see we're helping a lot of people. Like I always whenever I'm on one of these podcasts, I always just say, you know, if you're feeling alone and you don't have anyone to talk to, you, please reach out to me. Will respond and will get you the help that that you need as it relates to substance abuse and mental health. And outside of that, man, like, I'm trying to actually just slow down a little bit. I just run too hard so well.

00:02:11
Speaker 1: You brought all the time. Actually, I okay, a few things to what you said. Serena is not going to be able to make the galup, but I will just why I.

00:02:26
Speaker 4: In spirit, I'm actually bummed I'm missing it, which for those listing, it's like a really fun party. Maybe isn't what people would expect when they hear about a charity gala.

00:02:36
Speaker 1: But I will be there.

00:02:37
Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean like that's the good thing though, Serena, that you said that means a lot to me because like when you think about charity galas, you think of you know a lot of them. I've been to her kind of boring, to a.

00:02:46
Speaker 2: Certain a white tablecloth banquet hall.

00:02:48
Speaker 3: You know, we have a party, and that's by design because I feel like when people get sober they have to stop drinking, which I did thirteen years ago. They're convinced that their life is over. And then you walk into a room like that and you're like, people are partying.

00:03:02
Speaker 1: Here, and you do have for our listeners at this gala, you do have alcohol, so if you do drink, it's an option.

00:03:11
Speaker 3: Yeah, and that's by design.

00:03:13
Speaker 1: Why they Yeah, I was just going to ask you what, Yeah, why make that choice.

00:03:19
Speaker 3: Well, I just I think there's a lot of energy that goes into when someone gets sober. Other people have to change their behaviors, and I think that's actually the opposite. For me. When I got sober, I wanted the people around me to feel like they could continue to live their life however they were living it. And actually I've been able to do all the things in sobriety that I was able to do when I was drinking. Go to games, go to events, go to concerts, all that stuff. And so we want to show people who are asking for help or who are getting sober that they can go to an event like that where other people are drinking, they can get through the night sober and they can have a good time.

00:03:57
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that. I think that's I think that's an important message because even like when you and I first like we had met, but then like when we started hanging out and I saw you running on the West Side Highway, you said to me like, yo, if you guys like go to a bar and do something like, let me know. And I think, like I think in my head I probably thought, like you would feel uncomfortable going to a bar not knowing you know, just being ignorant to the entire space. So I found it interesting.

00:04:26
Speaker 3: I mean we've talked a lot about I mean, that was awesome, the way that we ran into each other. I feel like it was meant to happen when it was meant to happen, Like I was at a point in my life when I was like looking for guy friends. I can say that honestly, And it's been, you know, nice to build a relationship with you the last couple of years. And that's true. Like I think people who don't understand this thing would assume that I don't want to go to a bar and watch a game, or I don't want to be around alcohol, and it's actually, you know, for me, my whole life is recovery, my work, my my personally. So I actually enjoy going to places where there's alcohol because I get a little bit of this secondhand smoke and that energy you know, yeah.

00:05:02
Speaker 2: Yeah, the second hand smoke.

00:05:05
Speaker 3: Yeah. No.

00:05:05
Speaker 2: I feel like I've had friends.

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Speaker 4: One of my one of my best friend's sisters, I remember, was dating someone.

00:05:10
Speaker 2: She started dating someone who.

00:05:11
Speaker 4: Was sober just by choice, just decided to remove alcohol from their life. And she was like, I don't know if I can do this, Like I don't know if I can date someone who's sober, Like I like to go out, I like to have fun, I like to party, and like her experience was really positive, and I think that that's like on a small scale, like a way that someone broke the stigma in her life around what it means to be sober. And I feel like your you know, foundation and the party that you throw is kind of on a bigger scale, a way to be like, hey, like we you know, life isn't over when you stop drinking. I feel like it actually even inspired U Joe to drink less, like you will now go out and order on mocktail when we first got together, like you would never have done that.

00:05:54
Speaker 1: Yeah, No, I drink way less, and I feel I actually feel so much better. Like I had a non alcohol bear for dinner last night, and it was I enjoy them more than I enjoyed beer with alcohol, because I don't get as full or feel as like my head doesn't get as cloudy. I have a question for you, Zach, when it comes to non alcoholic drinks, if you're somebody that struggles with substance abuse when it comes to alcohol. Do you feel like that's still somewhat of a temptation or it could trigger some people.

00:06:29
Speaker 3: I go two ways with this thing. I think there's some beauty and the healthy alternative and giving people an option and to feel like they can fit in by having a non alcoholic beer or a mocktail that maybe people think is a cocktail, right, I don't. I know of cases where that, yes, has triggered people to go out and get drunk because it's so close to that taste that they remember and something goes off in their brain. So for me, anytime someone's newly in recovery, I kind of encourage them to shy away from the mocktails early on and then kind of maybe you graduate to that. I don't drink them personally, just because I just like the taste of a club soda with some granberry juice and a line better. That's just me. But at the same time, I think there's a whole movement happening which you're seeing, which is people aren't getting sober, they're just understanding that alcohol is not the best for you, so they're looking for healthier alternatives. And I think that's fantastic.

00:07:28
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, there is, and I know there's like a big trend right now. I think it's more of a West Coast thing, but a lot of like bodybuilder gyms are now carrying like non alcoholic beer because like the cars, the carbs and the beer are actually like I guess your body's craving that after.

00:07:46
Speaker 4: Ethox have it when we went in la Or was that just when we were talking about it?

00:07:50
Speaker 1: No, I think I was talking. I think I was talking.

00:07:52
Speaker 4: About Okay, the last thing I want after a workout is to crush an ipa.

00:08:00
Speaker 2: God's insane.

00:08:01
Speaker 1: I agree, I agree, Zach. Let's talk a little bit about Grant's father. How did you? How did that relationship again between you and him?

00:08:12
Speaker 3: Yeah? Rob Man? So, I mean, these are the stories that you just can't make up. And I you know, I I'll say this, and you guys kind of know this. I have not stayed really well connected in the Bachelor universe, which is not by design. I don't. I actually have zero bad things to say about my experience and my time, and I met so many beautiful people. I just I kind of got back to my life and here I am. But the thing that I still know from that experience is I mean, I had it. This morning. A guy called me to go speak at his company's event and he just said, my daughter saw you. She's sober. She says, you have a great story and I'd love you, know so like to this day, that is still the thing that people know about me. I think from that experience or know is a big part of my life, which is why I try to be loud and proud about the work that we do. And so this world, I mean, there has been, you know, multiple cases of people that are in this bachelor world that have reached out to me confidentially and have asked me how I got sober, what I was doing to stay sober, how my journey started. And I feel like I've been able to be a resource for a lot of people that I that I haven't and won't share publicly because that's not my place. It's their story to tell. But with Rob, it was really interesting. So Rob ended up in a treatment center that we have a really good relationship with out in New Jersey called Alina Lodge. He was basically at the end of his time using and asked for help. And those folks who know me know that I'm kind of connected to the show, and so he ended up going to a little kind of sober living program in New Jersey after going to We Have And it was at that time that someone connected us and said, you need to know Zach because he's you know, affiliated with the show world. Yeah, and and and he reached out to me man, and he was in a lot of pain, Like he was in a lot of pain. He was at a point in his life where he was having to move on from his the environment he was in. He was well behind payments on his sober living, and so he filled out for a scholarship through the Release Foundation and we were able to get him the ability to access some funds to pay for his sober living and get up to date with the payments. So the money you raise Joe and you run the marathon for us and Serena when you always support Joe and come to our galley like that, those funds went towards helping him. And it didn't matter that it was Grant's dad, Like I didn't give I didn't give a crap about that, Like it was just someone that needed to help, right, Like that's that's the moral of the story. And then we got to talking and I started to talk to some of the people that were in his care and I just said, does this guy need a job, And turns out he needed a job and a place to live. And so we have at Release Recovery, which is where it gets a little confusing. We have the nonprofit and then we have the you know, the more for profit entity where we're doing treatment and we're getting people the services they need in house. And so he you know, he interviewed and he showed up in a suit and tie and he makes I mean, this guy's he's a character and everyone loves him. So, you know, we ended up giving him a job and now we're kind of on this journey together, shoulder to shoulder. It's been an amazing, amazing transformation to watch him kind of become the man that he is today.

00:11:45
Speaker 1: How many years have you been sober?

00:11:49
Speaker 3: August will be fourteen?

00:11:51
Speaker 1: Fourteen years.

00:11:52
Speaker 4: Do you celebrate, like, do you do something to commemorate it?

00:11:56
Speaker 3: It's different, It's different every year year. Sometimes I like to kind of look inward and kind of just not I mean, here's the thing. I put something out on social media, and typically people engage with that and and it becomes a bigger thing than probably you know, the reason we celebrate in sobriety is to show the next person that it's possible, right, Like, that's really the reason you celebrate. For me. I just I know that I've been given a life beyond my wildest dreams. And you know, this bizarre experience of going on this show has helped kind of enhance my ability to help people.

00:12:37
Speaker 1: I was going to ask, when did so fourteen years ago you turn sober? When do you start? When did you start release? From that point?

00:12:47
Speaker 3: So we started late like late twenty sixteen, you know, late twenty sixteen. So we've been at this thing for I guess like eight or nine years now. It's crazy. Wow. I mean it's going to five years as I went on the show, which is wild. I mean, like time is what were you guy? You guys were on? I mean, Joe you were on like six times, but.

00:13:08
Speaker 1: I was on before you, and then I've been on after you, and I don't think I'm going on again. But yeah, no time.

00:13:14
Speaker 2: But year was the first year you went on? When you went on twenty eighteen, that's wild? I was on why was the season after you?

00:13:23
Speaker 3: Zac?

00:13:23
Speaker 2: So it's been four.

00:13:25
Speaker 1: Years you know, were matched five years five is.

00:13:28
Speaker 4: I was Matt James, I was Nema Collon. So you're we had just finished filming when the season you were on was like wrapping up. Yeah, like in terms of airing, but it feels like not that long ago and also like a million years ago. I feel like my life has changed so much in that four year time. Oh yeah, from like when I first went on to now.

00:13:48
Speaker 1: Well we're in Montreal right now, Srina's going for her green card.

00:13:51
Speaker 3: So my interview for you guys, I mean, like, look, I think you guys are kind of like the gold standard. I mean I know you personally right, like I know you somewhat intimately, Like you were at my birthday dinner and you we hang out and we share meals, and it's like for everyone else, like what you see with them here is what you get in real life. I mean, you guys are just two of the best. It's a fact.

00:14:13
Speaker 2: So thank you.

00:14:17
Speaker 4: Can you for our listeners break down the difference between because you have the foundation and then you have release recovery? Yeah, can you just break down like the difference between the two and if someone's looking for help, like why they might go to one versus why they might go to the other.

00:14:37
Speaker 3: So nice that you're asking me this, I always feel bad. I don't know why I have this weird thing promoting myself. I mean, some people are so good at it and so comfortable with it, and I just, I mean, we.

00:14:49
Speaker 1: Could we could pivot and talk about your experience on The Bachelor. You want to go to Night one? Do you want to talk about your Night one?

00:14:56
Speaker 3: I will tell you about Night one. Night one. I don't know who it was, but like, they're like, what do you want to do when you get out in the limo? I was like, I'm gonna get out and say hello, that was the guys. I think I think your time is probably going to be better spent, you know, convincing someone else to jump out of a plane or some shit, because I'm just gonna.

00:15:12
Speaker 2: Say, hi, is that what you did?

00:15:15
Speaker 3: Yeah? I just it was Claire and Claire and Claire is you know she's I'm so happy that she's happy. It's amazing. I literally got out, I said, I said hello, I forget who I know? Dale was in my limo. I think Moye no, yeah, but I don't know. It's crazy though, to think about yeah, I.

00:15:35
Speaker 1: Had the same exp I did the same thing. I said like I'm just gonna I'm gonna just say hi. And I remember the producer that I was speaking to at the times like okay you sure. I'm like yeah, He's like, okay, just have something to say. Like I got it, And of course I fucked it up. But I kind of wish I because I'm like you, I'm like, I'm not doing no nothing, no gimmick out of the out of limo, but like I kinda I kind of.

00:15:58
Speaker 2: Wish I did a bit of a crutch when you have get me well you know you all right?

00:16:06
Speaker 4: I I did like a baby gimmick. I did a step stool because Matt James is like six five and I'm five to one, so I was I did like a I brought something to like get on your level so we can see eye to eye, and like made him like help me on the step stool and then I stepped down and yeah, it was it was.

00:16:28
Speaker 2: I was glad.

00:16:29
Speaker 4: I'm like not a I mean, I can chat, but like I was like, I'm not. I don't want to come out and like have a speech.

00:16:36
Speaker 2: I don't know.

00:16:37
Speaker 4: I was like I'm gonna get nervous if I'm just gabbing. So I wanted like a little prop or something to rely.

00:16:44
Speaker 2: On, and it worked out. I thought it was. It went well, yeah, but all right, let's pivot back.

00:16:49
Speaker 3: We gave yourself promotion love, right, we did our.

00:16:53
Speaker 2: We showed bachelors some love. We could always circle back later.

00:16:57
Speaker 4: Let's promote your business first and just people more incident.

00:17:01
Speaker 3: So the longest short of it isn't like I started Release Recovery, which is we started as kind of high end, highly structured transitional living for people coming out of rehabs that they go away for drug and alcohol or mental health treatment. They come back to New York City or Westchester County, which is just north of the city, and they lived with us for three to six months, and we helped them, you know, get back to living a purposeful life. And so that's obviously evolved, right. The first thing we did was in late twenty nineteen, so really like right before I went on the show, we we kind of looked at what we were doing and said, we want to help more people, right, we want to broaden our ability to help more people, and that was going to be through some nonprofit work. So we started the Release Foundation, which is today we raise a couple million dollars a year and that money goes towards scholarshiping individual from communities that otherwise could not afford treatment to call us or you know, write us, and we run like a very brief kind of financial check on them, and they do an application, but as long as they can prove to us that they require this funding, we will write the check and help them go away and get and get the help they deserve. So that's been awesome, right, Like, that's been really cool. And that's a lot of the stuff you see me doing on social media with the marathon running and the the gala and some of the other stuff that you guys have been to and participated in. And then the the other side, which is and we don't really send money from the nonprofit to the for profit. There's a pretty pretty firm line there. But the for profit, you know, the recovery services business. Today, we have about one hundred employees right until. We're operating in New York City and Westchester still and we still have our I'm sitting in my office here in Flat Iron, which is a couple of blocks from where you guys live, and you know, we really specialize in helping our clients and our patients and our families, you know, heal from mental health and substance abuse challenges, which you know today are just ravaging our country right. People are alone, people are not doing well, and so they come into our care. And in Westchester is where kind of my chief medical officer and our clinicians and a lot of the therapy has done. But we still have sixty some odd residential beds throughout New York City and Westchester. And so what I tell people like, no matter who you are and where you are in this process, if you want help, or if you have someone in your life that wants help, you can you can call us or dm ME, which I try to get back to, and I guarantee that we will. If it's not with us, find you a safe place where you can start to heal. And so it's been a wild ride. I mean, watching the growth over the last year, we've kind of hit another level. It's been It's been really cool. And so I'm the CEO and founder. I mean, I'm not working as hard as I was probably a year ago, but I'm working differently and just trying to help help this thing push forward.

00:20:19
Speaker 1: What if you struggle from not substance abuse, like let's say, like a gambling addiction, could they come to you guys as well, or is it just solely like struggling with substance abuse.

00:20:33
Speaker 3: So we see a lot of what they call co occurring disorders, right, So someone might come in with a substance use disorder, which is a kind of a nicer and softer way to say drug addiction or alcoholism, right, a substance use disorder, and they might have like a secondary which is a you know, a process addiction, which gambling falls into that category. So we see a lot of that. There's there's sex addiction, there's you know, food addiction. So a lot of times it's kind of like whack a mole, Right, someone might have the substitute disorder under control, but then all of a sudden you'll see them gambling a lot or whatever it might be. And so we do see a lot of that. My sense or my my bet or my gamble for lack of a better word, is that gambling. In five years, we're going to look back on this conversation and you're gonna say, Zach was right, because I think that's kind of the next thing that you're going to start to see really impacting our country in a negative way. I mean, I I think, like I'll hold up my cell phone, like I always laugh because parents work so hard to get their kids into the nicest schools and keep them safe and all that stuff, and then they pay for them to go like hang out in the most dangerous you know, neighborhoods in the world, which is the which is the cell phone TikTok and all that stuff. I mean, there's just so much tend you can gamble on your phone, So I think it's gonna get worse before it gets better.

00:21:56
Speaker 1: Yeah, Unfortunately, we have to answer.

00:21:59
Speaker 3: Your question directly. I mean, if like someone calls us with a gambling issue, we will we will see if we're the right fit, and if we're not, we'll get them into the right program.

00:22:08
Speaker 1: And you have those connections to you know, send them somewhere else.

00:22:13
Speaker 5: Yeah, let's pivot up a little bit too, because I was lucky enough you invited me to run the New York Marathon with you two years ago and in last year as well, and I got I got sick, motherfucker.

00:22:32
Speaker 1: I was so pissed. I'm still I was like, everyone's kind of think I'm faking it, But you have run. Now, how many marathons? Fifteen fifty.

00:22:46
Speaker 3: Is this weekend? Or sixteen is this weekend? Ten New York to London's in Nashville and Grandma's. I think this is fifteen this weekend.

00:22:57
Speaker 1: If in this weekend is doing loved Yeah, this.

00:23:00
Speaker 3: Is sixteen, This is sixteen.

00:23:02
Speaker 1: You're doing London this weekend.

00:23:04
Speaker 2: Yeah, Sunday, that's so exciting.

00:23:07
Speaker 1: What is the London marathon?

00:23:08
Speaker 3: Like the best flat, great crowd points, the point you drive like way out of the city and then you kind of just run back in. But I mean all of these marathons, if you're listening and forget all my spiel on behavioral healthcare, like running is all those community mean you felt that when you ran the New York City marathon, Mean this crowds are insane.

00:23:31
Speaker 1: Yeah.

00:23:32
Speaker 2: Yeah, the energy in the city was amazing.

00:23:34
Speaker 3: So that you're running.

00:23:38
Speaker 4: Yeah, I started running and I've been on three runs. All three were horrible. Every second was suffering. But my one of my best friends is starting a run club in Toronto and their first run is this coming Friday. It's her and her boyfriend. They're both in incredible shape. They're both like work in instructors and personal trainers. And she's actually not really a runner, but he is. He just did hydrocks actually, which I don't know if you know what that is, but it's like, yeah, anyway, I really wanted to go support her. And that doesn't mean like I'm gonna be running at the front of the pack, but I was like, I just want to be able to get through like four or five kilometers, even if it's like a walk run.

00:24:17
Speaker 1: So Joe, oh.

00:24:19
Speaker 4: Miles, and and Joe was like, I'll take you for a little bit of a run, and he's just helping me, like pace and stuff. I mean, Joe's thing was like, let's run seven miles to no. But on the first run he was like, let's keep going.

00:24:33
Speaker 2: I'm like I have to get home. I have to run back.

00:24:35
Speaker 1: No, no, no, I just you you're doing You're doing really good. But like we we ran like a mile and then I was like, Okay, let's see if you could and stopping and going and breaking up, but let's try to get two miles. Let's try to get three miles. And then yeah, you know, slowly, slowly, let's build the three mile.

00:24:52
Speaker 4: My last run, I did like a pretty good two miles up to Central Park.

00:24:56
Speaker 1: And we did Yeah, we ran uphill, you know, running up to Central Parks, running up, running up a steep somewhat of a steep hill.

00:25:03
Speaker 4: So well, yeah, I don't think I'm going to be a marathon runner, but I'm happy to be a part of the running community for a little bit, right.

00:25:10
Speaker 3: I love beginner runners because you'll look back on this conversation you will run a marathon, or you will run a distance that you never thought you could run. It's just the way that these things always go.

00:25:21
Speaker 1: I mean, that's what happened to me when you saw me running on the West Side Highway, like my my max run at the time. I don't think I ever did over five miles, and I would say I was probably running an average of like three. And You're like, are you going to run the race? I was like, what race? The marathon? I was like, I doubt it. And then you know, six months later, I ran the marathon. So but I want to ask you, so I just gotta.

00:25:45
Speaker 3: Tell me college, hold on on you, Joe. This is this guy for people that are this guy's is sick, oh, because he acts like he just ran the mess. So he tells me he's gonna run the marathon. He trains a little bit right here and there.

00:26:01
Speaker 2: Truly a little bit. Well, because it was the year of our wedding, wasn't it. Yeah wedding, Yeah, And.

00:26:06
Speaker 3: He showed you had a wedding like that Saturday or something. You flew in like late Saturday night.

00:26:11
Speaker 1: You're like, I think you had TIA's Tia Booth's wedding.

00:26:14
Speaker 2: Yeah.

00:26:14
Speaker 4: So our wedding for those listening was that September. So we had our wedding and our honeymoon. So September you like barely ran, yeah, and then October was whatever. And then I remember the weekend of the marathon was Tia Booth's wedding. We flew to Nashville, we went to her welcome party that Friday, flew back Saturday, and then you ran the marathon on Sunday. And I remember my dad calling being like I'm a little worried about him, like is he gonna be okay? Like he has not trained that much, and I was like, well, we're gonna find out.

00:26:43
Speaker 3: So this dude goes I'm gonna run a sub forest and in my head, I will be honest with you, now, I was like, there's no way, Like, there's no way, and you bit down on the mouthpiece and would you like three fifty eight like you got you got it done? Which was I just just.

00:26:58
Speaker 1: Got it by the skin of my teeth.

00:27:02
Speaker 2: Yeah. No, I was very impressed. You have great endurance, but I did.

00:27:06
Speaker 1: That's that's the point, and that's Zax's point too, Like I didn't have great endurance like all. It just it's just like just running.

00:27:13
Speaker 4: No, I know, But I mean I would say there would be people that have trained a lot more. Most people trained a lot more than you and ran it not as fast as you, not saying that there's people.

00:27:24
Speaker 1: That really go for like I mean, Zach runs it close to three hours.

00:27:28
Speaker 2: Yeah. Well, Zach's an animal. He's running all the time.

00:27:31
Speaker 1: How so question, so when you go out to somewhere like London, right and you guys are doing the marathon, how how does that relate to like how is release recover, recovery incorporated in that race? Like, are you guys part of that at all?

00:27:45
Speaker 3: Yeah? So we're really lucky. So we have twenty five bibs to the London Marathon, which means we have a team of twenty five people. I am one of them going over to London or are in London, which is a hard race to get into from a charity perspective, and each one of their runners will raise a minimum of five thousand dollars. So if we do the quick math, that's like one hundred and twenty five some odds thousand dollars that's being raised for the nonprofit through these efforts, and then a lot of those folks will go above and beyond that. So these events are key for us. And I'll say, like, you know, the donations, whether it be a dollar or five dollars, ten dollars, one hundred dollars, like they all matter and they all make a difference towards our ultimate goal, which is to help as many people as possible. Like I'm not going to go on my like insurance industry and all the issues they are rant, but there's not enough good healthcare available for people like me.

00:28:42
Speaker 2: If people want to donate, where can they go?

00:28:47
Speaker 3: So it's Release Recovery Foundation anyway, It's Joeansarena dot com and Happy Hour No, It's released for Refoundation dot org. You can also, I always say, like, d M the Instagram which is just released Recovery Foundation, you can DM me. You know, like we're pretty good at we got people watching kind of all the channels to get back the folks that want to support us. I'll actually probably be posting something this week about my efforts this weekend, and and like it's just you know, we we we broke some stones on this call, but it is really meaningful for you guys to have me on here and to talk about this stuff because you know, I don't know why people will listen. I'm sure just because they love you and and and the show, but uh, it's it's an important thing to be talking about right now.

00:29:43
Speaker 1: And you you recently well I think at least it's been about a year. You started a podcast, right.

00:29:49
Speaker 3: Yes, I did.

00:29:50
Speaker 2: Yeah, this Clark Show.

00:29:52
Speaker 3: I mean, like, let me tell you how about that name. We went to try and like find some names. So like people in the office have been pushing me to do it for a while and I finally kind of caved and we put it together. But we went to name like every there are no names left. I mean, everyone's got a podcast as we know, and so it's like we're not going to try and get creative here, let's just throw my name on it. And uh. And the purpose of that or the goal there is like, you know, we have real conversations with real people that have either you know, have been in my shoes and come through it, or have a powerful you know story or testimony and or you know, our resources to people that listen. So my my demo, I always say, is like I get a lot of mothers that listen, and then we'll write in and then we help them, you know, try to navigate whatever it is or going through with their children or husband or whatever it is. But it's been really powerful and we've had some cool, cool moments from that.

00:30:52
Speaker 4: What is one of your favorite episodes that you've done so far?

00:30:57
Speaker 3: I just recorded with my dad yesterday.

00:31:00
Speaker 2: No way, Wow, how is that?

00:31:03
Speaker 3: Joe's met my dad. Joe's had cheese steaks with my dad.

00:31:06
Speaker 2: I met your dad too. He was at the Galiles Yeah.

00:31:09
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, at our table.

00:31:12
Speaker 2: It's not cheese steaks, but you know we had sushi.

00:31:15
Speaker 5: Yeah.

00:31:16
Speaker 3: My dad's the best. I mean, he's just got so much knowledge and wisdom and you know, everyone's really scared about what's going on in the world. And I think to have someone that's been on this planet for eighty some odd years to tell us that everything's going to be okay is powerful and that. And he's just my dad and he's seen me, you know, with a needle in my arm, and he's seen me today, and so he's probably just grateful to be able to kind of talk about it.

00:31:40
Speaker 4: Does it feel weird having like that kind of intimate conversation with a family member and then like putting it out there at all? Yeah, I guess it's an ironic thing to say, considering I did like hometowns on The Bachelor. But it's a little bit.

00:31:52
Speaker 2: You know, we are we are.

00:31:54
Speaker 1: We are a husband and wife and we have but I guess we don't really have. No, we don't have intimate conversation.

00:31:58
Speaker 4: It's a one you know, it's a what thirty minutes to an hour, unfiltered kind of conversation with your dad.

00:32:06
Speaker 3: I mean, I think that's part of my place in this world for whatever reason. I mean, I'll tell Joe to go to therapy. We'll get them Sriena, you know, like we'll push one day, you know, like I but I believe that and like, look, I don't know how you guys approached it. And I think that was like to bring it back to kind of some of the stuff with the show, because like you got you guys, know, like the question you always get is like was it real? You know, like was it a real thing? I'm like pretty sure it was real. Like for me, it was real. I just showed up and it's kind of who I am.

00:32:37
Speaker 2: And that's kind of it can be as real as you want it to be, right.

00:32:40
Speaker 3: Right, you know, and that's not as well as you are.

00:32:42
Speaker 2: Really as real as you are.

00:32:44
Speaker 3: Yeah, And that's my point all these conversations, I mean, even this one here, like I feel like I'm just hanging out talking to you guys, right and so with my dad, Yeah, I mean like we got there a couple of moments of you know, some gusto. You'll have to do it.

00:32:58
Speaker 2: There I go it the tune in, Tune into the Zach Clark Show.

00:33:03
Speaker 1: Anything you want to talk about, personal life, anything else. You're busy, you're working, you're running marathons, what else? Anything golf you're a golfer.

00:33:16
Speaker 3: Two, Yeah, well we're doing that Joe and I are going. Who Who's it's wells, it's Ben Higgins, I think, Joe.

00:33:25
Speaker 1: I think so yeah, yeah, I don't know the exact uh the exact crew going, but yeah, it's Ben Higgins. We're roommates, so I know you're going.

00:33:33
Speaker 3: I don't snore.

00:33:34
Speaker 1: And Dean too, Dean, Dean he does.

00:33:37
Speaker 3: I don't know, Dean. I'm excited. It's gonna be a good, good hang what else is going on? I mean, look, man, like I said at the beginning, I'm trying to slow down a little bit and make some more time for for me. I definitely travel too much, but my life is is like I'm happy, you know, I'm a happy guy. Like all is well right now. Life is good. Life is good. We're gonna play a lot of golf this sum We're gonna get better at golf. We're gonna take three and out for some nice dinners, and we're going to enjoy life a little bit nice.

00:34:04
Speaker 1: Thank you, Thank you so much for doaking the time coming on our podcast. Wish you well in London. Are you what are you trying to do some record score? Are you just running? Are you chill?

00:34:15
Speaker 3: I mean you always go for the record, don't you it's not always, doesn't always happen.

00:34:19
Speaker 1: I mean my best because we're sick people.

00:34:22
Speaker 3: Yeah, my best is at three twelve. If I end up under that, I'll be happy far nice.

00:34:28
Speaker 1: Cool to see you and to all our listeners, Thank you so much for tuning in the Betch or Happy Hour. Make sure you download and subscribe to the podcast.

00:34:36
Speaker 4: Yeah, go listen to the Zach Clark Show, donate to his foundation, release and be sure to continue to tune in. Thanks for listening.

00:34:43
Speaker 2: Bye,