The Journey To Win

Defying Death: The Story of Heart Survivor turned Ironman, Jeremy Woodward

December 19, 2023 Brandon Thornhill
Defying Death: The Story of Heart Survivor turned Ironman, Jeremy Woodward
The Journey To Win
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The Journey To Win
Defying Death: The Story of Heart Survivor turned Ironman, Jeremy Woodward
Dec 19, 2023
Brandon Thornhill

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We're thrilled to bring you an electrifying conversation with our guest, Jeremy Woodward - a man whose spirit and determination have seen him defy death and embrace life with vigor. Born with a congenic heart defect, Jeremy underwent two critical heart surgeries at 22 and 29. It was this second surgery that sparked a promise to himself - to complete the legendary Ironman triathlon, a feat he has accomplished not once, but twice. In our chat, he reveals his journey, including his six times conquest of the Boston Marathon, and offers insights on his decision to opt for a mechanical heart valve, and how it has fueled his active life.

Today, we're exploring the mettle of the human spirit as we dive into Jeremy's inspiring transformation from a heart failure survivor to a beacon of hope for many. With just a 5% survival chance, Jeremy battled his way back to health, driven by his love for his family. Discover how he found purpose in inspiring others through his forthcoming book and documentary, and learn his unique definition of "winning" in life - positively impacting others, beginning with his family and extending to the wider community.

Join us as we unpack the power of self-belief and sheer determination in this episode. Hear firsthand about Jeremy's experience of participating in a grueling race, despite health setbacks. His refusal to quit and the motivation he drew from his family stand as powerful reminders of the resilience of the human spirit. In this conversation, we underscore the importance of embracing challenges, and how believing in oneself can fuel us to take risks and achieve our goals. This episode, filled with valuable life lessons, is a beautiful testament to the strength of perseverance and the power of believing in oneself. Get ready for an inspiring episode that is sure to motivate you to challenge your limits.

Follow Jeremy: @ironheartjeremy

To Follow the Host on Instagram: @thebrandonthornhill

To See The Full Video go to "Journey To Win" on Youtube

Show Notes Transcript Chapter Markers

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Subscribe to JTW YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thebrandonthornhill

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Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brandonthornhill

My Website: www.brandonthornhill.com




We're thrilled to bring you an electrifying conversation with our guest, Jeremy Woodward - a man whose spirit and determination have seen him defy death and embrace life with vigor. Born with a congenic heart defect, Jeremy underwent two critical heart surgeries at 22 and 29. It was this second surgery that sparked a promise to himself - to complete the legendary Ironman triathlon, a feat he has accomplished not once, but twice. In our chat, he reveals his journey, including his six times conquest of the Boston Marathon, and offers insights on his decision to opt for a mechanical heart valve, and how it has fueled his active life.

Today, we're exploring the mettle of the human spirit as we dive into Jeremy's inspiring transformation from a heart failure survivor to a beacon of hope for many. With just a 5% survival chance, Jeremy battled his way back to health, driven by his love for his family. Discover how he found purpose in inspiring others through his forthcoming book and documentary, and learn his unique definition of "winning" in life - positively impacting others, beginning with his family and extending to the wider community.

Join us as we unpack the power of self-belief and sheer determination in this episode. Hear firsthand about Jeremy's experience of participating in a grueling race, despite health setbacks. His refusal to quit and the motivation he drew from his family stand as powerful reminders of the resilience of the human spirit. In this conversation, we underscore the importance of embracing challenges, and how believing in oneself can fuel us to take risks and achieve our goals. This episode, filled with valuable life lessons, is a beautiful testament to the strength of perseverance and the power of believing in oneself. Get ready for an inspiring episode that is sure to motivate you to challenge your limits.

Follow Jeremy: @ironheartjeremy

To Follow the Host on Instagram: @thebrandonthornhill

To See The Full Video go to "Journey To Win" on Youtube

Speaker 1:

All right, welcome everybody to the journey to win. I am your host, brandon Thornhill, super excited for our guest today. He's got a pretty incredible story that I can't wait for you guys to hear. But before we do, I have to go into a little sponsor note for you guys, and today's episode is sponsored by Trustify.

Speaker 1:

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Speaker 1:

As you guys know, the journey to win. We talk about faith, family, fitness, finance, become the best future version of you, and we talk about how to have fun. And today I have Jeremy Woodward on here, who I connected with on social media, by the way, he reached out to me and said that he was just a fan of the podcast and he told me his story. Man, I was like, dude, we gotta get you on the podcast. And so, jeremy, you know he's a. Woodward is a heart failure survivor, two times Iron man finisher which that's a hell of a race Six time Boston Marathon finisher, author and creator of Live Life to the Fittest. Jeremy survived the worst stage of heart failure and subsequent heart surgeries the night before a second heart surgery with less than 5% chance of survival. He made a promise to finish the Iron man triathlon and make a big impact. The journey started with a single lap in the ICU and has been told through thousands of miles of training and racing. Jeremy, my brother, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, brandon. I appreciate being on here. And first off, man, a huge thank you for your service to our country. Yeah, it has been a wild, wild ride, man.

Speaker 2:

I was born with a congenital heart defect. I had a. I was born with a bicuspid aortic heart valve and I was told at a pretty young age that I would likely be able to get through my life without any issues. But if any issues did arise, that I would know. And sure enough, I was just about ready to turn 22 years old and the valve that I had had that was diseased. I became symptomatic. I ended up developing bacterial endocarditis on the valve, which was like a little abscess, was like the size of a pea, and that valve was so diseased it was basically like completely deteriorated at that point Ended up requiring emergency heart surgery.

Speaker 2:

For my first time they gave me an option. They said you can either have a tissue valve or you can get a mechanical valve, and if you go on a mechanical valve then you're going to be on blood thinners for the rest of your life, and I didn't want that. So I was like I'm going to take my chances. I'm 22 years old, I feel invincible. This isn't going to happen to me again. But they gave me a lifespan of that valve. They said it's going to be about seven to 10 years maximum.

Speaker 2:

And sure enough, man, seven years later I found myself back in that same predicament. This time I was in the worst stage of heart failure and nearly died. It was crazy. I was actually being prepped to go in and have because my organs at that point I'm in heart failure, so all my organs were shutting down and I was being prepped to have gallbladder surgery because they were like, yeah, your gallbladder's shut down. We got to take it out and this angel of a nurse stepped in when she was like, no way, she's like you put him on the table, you won't put him up, he's going to die on the table. And they aborted that at the last second and I got rushed down to Boston and had my second open heart surgery. So it's been a wild, wild ride.

Speaker 1:

Brandon. So how old were you at that point when you had your second surgery?

Speaker 2:

Second, when I was 29 years old. I just got married about a year and a half prior and, looking back on it, the big reason I chose to go with the tissue valve initially was because I was very active in sports and competitive sports. I was competing and fighting and martial arts and all that stuff. And I just said I don't want to be, because when you go on Coumadin your contact is pretty limited and you have to be very, very careful or else you can either get blood clots or you bleed out. And so I was like I want to take those chances. But second time around I didn't have an option. The docs were like you're getting out. If we can save your life, you're going to get a valve replacement and it'll be a mechanical valve. So yeah, thank goodness man, it was just crazy. It's crazy to think about 15 years later.

Speaker 1:

So you had your second heart surgery. Were you doing Ironman's already, or when did that journey start? Did that start after your surgery?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah. So the second time I so my wife, you know, we got rushed down to Hospital down in Boston and on the way down we called the hospital and we said hey, look, we're coming down here. This is here. Here's the symptoms, here's my past cardiac history. They said get to the ER, we're gonna get you right in, we're gonna take a look at you.

Speaker 2:

So the docs I walk in there, the doc, one of the cardiologists, he's like the head of the cardiothoracic unit. He comes in, he looks at me and he comes up, he puts his you know, finger up on my carotid artery and he leaves. He leaves the room very abruptly and so my wife and I like, hmm, what's up with this, right? So he goes, comes back With the whole team, his entire team and his entire team like seven, eight, nine other cardiologists, and he looks at me and he's like, if you get out of here, you're gonna be one of the lucky ones. He's like you are in the worst age of heart failure right now. You know, normally I'm like a hundred and seventy five pounds. Now I'm like 230 pounds. It's all fluid. I mean, I can't even, you know, stand on. My stomach was out so far. I could even see my feet. My legs were huge. I mean, if I put on a pair of sweatpants, I look like I had cycling tights on. And so he was like if you get out of here, you're gonna be lucky. And they're like you are not leaving this hospital. This is not a you know, an outpatient type of therapy. They're like if you leave this hospital right now, you won't come in, you will not come back. So it was pretty, pretty wild.

Speaker 2:

They also warned me that, because I was in the worst age, that I was at a very high risk of going into immediate cardiac arrest and they told us so like there's no way we can save your life if you go into cardiac arrest. So you know, get, get all your, you know, get everything situated right now because you know 5% chance. And and so they got me to a point where they could operate. And I made a point, and the night before my heart surgery my second one I said if I get through this, then I am going to do the hardest thing that I can Possibly take on.

Speaker 2:

And for me at that point it was the Ironman. You know, get out there and Swim two and a half miles by 112, run 26.2. I was like what challenge is Is part of that. I couldn't think of anything. So I said get me through this, I get through it and it's game on. And literally the second day after my heart surgery, when I was able to get up to move around, my training started lap around. I see you two laps the next day, three laps and so on.

Speaker 1:

That's awesome man, that's powerful. So so, before we dive into that side of your story, what, um, like what goes through your head? I'm very curious when someone tells you, hey, 5% chances, survival, by the way, and you have your wife with you, like, what's going through your head?

Speaker 2:

So I'm a very optimistic person, so I'm always looking for, you know, the happier side of, the brighter side of things. One would think that you go into immediate fear and shock, and why? Me I didn't. I went into a, a survival mode, but I also went into the mode of my wife is here. I'm not gonna show her any emotions Because she's already freaking out. She's completely lost it. She's been told basically that Good chance, you're gonna lose your husband, he's not gonna walk out of here. I had to be strong for her. I had to think about that before I were to Act. You know, in any type of emotion. It was just survival. I was like bring it on. I looked at it as like training for like a fight or you know, or a race or anything. I was like what do I need to do to prep and train to get myself out of here and stay strong? That was my biggest thing, like I've got to stay strong, I think. Stay strong for her and for everybody around me.

Speaker 1:

I love it because you're you're on the podcast called the journey to win right, and so I think, when you dissect a winners mentality versus a losers mentality, losers are gonna find a way to lose. Winners are always gonna find a way to win.

Speaker 1:

It doesn't matter what sport, what it is, health, anything, of course, we all end up losing the life game eventually. But you know, here you are on a potentially a death sentence and you're sitting here still trying to find a way to win. And what do you think man Like? What do you think separates? You know, during that time, during the times of the Iron man challenges, what, what is the separator and the mindset that people can take away from just your belief of what it takes to really to win and live and thrive?

Speaker 2:

It's all mindset. It's a 100% mindset driven. It's also your willingness and your reason why so like at that point in my life, my reason was my wife. We didn't have children at the time we did. A year and a half later we had our first daughter, but that was I envisioned those times in my life. I envisioned us having children, I envisioned a home, I envisioned what I would be doing and that was the driving force for me. That is what kept me positive. Every reason in the world to be negative and you get told, hey, you're a good chance, you're going to die or you get a cancer diagnosis or whatever it might be, you just never know. But for me it was like I got a reason here now and if I was told tomorrow that I got to go on and have this done again, like next Monday?

Speaker 2:

I got to go back in for another cardiac appointment. It's a regular one. He could tell me dude, you got to have another surgery. My mindset is going to carry me into that operating room and across that finish line, because I got three girls Now. I got three girls Now. I got a lot on the line. Man, I got a lot to live for and I don't want them having to remember me.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love it. As a saying goes, when the why is strong enough, the how becomes easy. Right, yeah, for you. You hear that you have 5% chance of living and then I'm sure that that had some sort of a little bit of an awakening Maybe not, but I'm assuming it had a little bit of an awakening moment for you to say, all right, I'm going to go do the hardest thing from what you're telling me. I'm going to go out and live life, not just sit here and just go through the motions.

Speaker 1:

So I think we're creatures of habit. My question to you is it's easy to have an awakening for one day and then have the awakening last for a week, have the awakening last for a month or for 90 day period, but I've seen most people they fall back into their habitual thinking processes of maybe not living in a state of gratitude. So what have you done? I guess, because how old are you now? I mean that was 29 years old. How are you now? I'm 45. So 45 years old, I mean that's a long period of time. Are you waking up still thinking about that moment and being grateful every single day, or like, what has it done for you?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I am grateful. Every single day I am grateful and especially like and it sounds kind of corny to say, but I often will forget and I'm reminded when I take my shirt off and I see the scar down the center of my chest. That's a reminder to me that I survived an incredibly difficult and challenging time. Now, heart surgeries they've come a long way over the years and it's so routine to a lot of these cardiac surgeons to do so many of these procedures. But to us it's not routine. To us it's a death sentence, right.

Speaker 2:

Like you hear that and you're like, oh my gosh, I'm gonna die. But to them they're gonna get you through it in most situations. But for me it was like every time I take my shirt off or I read about somebody who may have had something similar, like I get messages from people, especially triathletes, that are going to undergo what I've gone through before and they'll message me and they'll say I've been competing at a high level for years and I saw your store, I found you online and you've given me a reason to believe and that I can do this. So you've got a responsibility too. There are people who are looking up to you and there's a reason to live.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, you're gonna have. I mean, you got a powerful story, dude. I mean your story is gonna help a lot of people. That's definitely one of the reasons why I wanted to have you on. I mean, I know you're coming out with, I believe, a book and a movie. Is that right?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so we released a book a year and a half, two years ago. It's crazy some of the hands that it's gotten into because it's connected with people who I never normally would have ever connected with, and many times just the algorithms and stuff put it in front of athletes and most of the messages I get are from an athlete that is about to undergo, like I said before, heart surgery or something and they want to know can I do this? But we also have a documentary coming out in 2024, in the summer of 2024, and it's gonna talk about my entire journey and stuff and we've got some pretty big plans with it. So it's never in a million years what I've ever thought like me I'd have a documentary about my entire story and where it would lead and stuff. And every day is a new chapter too, a new piece of the story.

Speaker 1:

Awesome man, well, congratulations. Can they get it on Amazon or is there a website?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, yeah, so you can definitely purchase it on Amazon. It's heart failure to victory, so you can purchase it there. You can also purchase it on my website, livelife2thefiniscom.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so I'll make sure I put both of those. You can send that to me after this and then I'll put it in the description on the podcast for all of you guys just to be able to click it and purchase the book. So let's see and then join. You know, go check out his website. I like to ask this question, man, you know it's because I think that winning is defined differently by everybody, especially and I think even individually. As you go through life, there's going to be different definitions of what winning looks like to you at 29, at 22 versus 45. But what is winning to you now in life? What is that? What's the definition of like? What's it mean for you to win in life now?

Speaker 2:

To me, winning right now is the impact I can make every single day on somebody's life. You know starts here with my wife and my girls. I mean, they're everything to me, so that is numero uno. But also, you know, the impact that you can make in the community. You know I always make it a point that when somebody does message me and they're in distress because they found out a diagnosis, then I make sure that I reach right back to them and have those conversations and I am there for them and whatever they might need. To me that is winning and living to my true self, like I got to be true to myself, man, I got to. You know, make sure that I'm living and, you know, leading by example.

Speaker 1:

That's great man. You know life's about growing and giving. From what Tony Robbins says and I agree with that, I think you got to continue to grow. You got to continue to give back at a higher level, whether that's both you know, through to help developing other people or giving back financially as well and helping the less fortunate people. But what are you doing now? I mean it says you know you're coaching professional athletes, you're personal trained, you have over 9500 plus book appointments with people. What is you know, jeremy Woodward, doing now professionally?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, so I have my own training studio. So I've been fortunate enough to work with amazing clients over the years, everybody from you know state health moms to professional level athletes, nba players, triathletes. I'm, you know, currently working right now with Miss New Hampshire. She's about ready to take off and go to Miss America in two weeks. So that's been a lot of fun. I mean, everybody comes in with a different story and a reason and a journey. So it's been.

Speaker 2:

I've been really really fortunate and, ironically enough, man when I started this business. I started this business in 2007, 2000,. You know, three months into the business I got sick and I had to give up my entire clientele and when I came back I was like I don't know if I want to do this anymore, because I knew how hard it was to build up a book of clients quickly and I almost didn't do it. But I also was like you know what? I just kind of second actually at that point, like a third time, third chance at life. I was like I got to do this. I got to. I want to be with these clients, I want to serve them in the capacity that I can and grow from there and it's just, it's been a pretty, pretty, pretty awesome ride with what I've been able to do and stuff. So I'm very, very lucky and very fortunate.

Speaker 1:

What are you doing for them? Fitness nutrition, I mean, what exactly?

Speaker 2:

Yeah. So I'll work with the current athletes and I'm working, or the current clientele that I'm working with right now. Most of them are there for just general fitness. Now I've got a couple of young athletes that have some pretty high athletic aspirations that I'm working with. I love working with those athletes. They're driven, they don't mess around, they know what they want, they're going to be, they're incredible young adults and they're going to be absolutely just savages when they get older in their life. And it's just, it's really, it's really cool to work with them. I've also had the opportunity to work with, you know, to coach in multi-sport. So I've worked with some athletes that have, you know, never gone. They've gone from never doing a race in their life to crossing the finish line of an Ironman, you know, a year and a half later. That's pretty wild too.

Speaker 1:

Wow, that is fast, yeah. So what are you? What are you? Just curious, like, what are you teaching the? Let's just say somebody comes in for the person listening to this right now. They're like, hey, I want to become, just want to do an Ironman within the next couple of years. Like, what would be your recommendation to them on how to, how to be able to accomplish that?

Speaker 2:

Set the goals, set them incrementally, so you know people will cut like. I do get messages hey, I saw your story. I want to be an Ironman, Okay, Well, like this isn't going to happen in three months, it's going to be a year long process at the very. You know, at the earliest, Get them in the pool, get them swimming, build the, build a level of foundation of fitness, depending on where they are. I've had both levels. I've had people that are pretty high level and people that are not at high level been able to go and achieve that. So it's really it's listening to the client and being a solution, finding the appropriate solution for them and what they you know, the appropriate guide and path for them.

Speaker 1:

So basically find a good coach, find someone like you actually guide them, because if not, you know it's going to. I mean, listen, I did. I was in the SEAL teams. We did a lot of running and you know, the thing about the SEAL teams is that when you're going through training it's really just you just put out right and you work hard and you know that your efforts will get you across the finish line. But what I really noticed as I started to progress through my career was, you know how important you know, micronutrition was, like making sure you're hitting the right sodium magnesium, you know, making sure that you're eating at the right timing. You know of a race like all that stuff mattered so much I didn't realize how much it did matter. And these newer athletes, man, or these newer people who were trying to do an Ironman or a marathon or something like. I think that you could cut off a lot of pain for these individuals to help them through that process. I mean, what do you think?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, no, I completely agree and I'll give you, for example, right. So I just did Ironman Arizona two weeks ago, three weeks ago, and I am my training. I worked with an incredible coach. She was awesome. We, to the T, got everything done training, nutrition, everything.

Speaker 2:

So my goal was 350 calories per hour, both solid and liquid calories, but most of it would come from from solid, just because, just for me, like just how my body handles liquid calories in terms of like just taking in water. But my, I had a horrible swim and I got out of the swim and I was sick as a dog. Like the first 35 miles on the bike is a three loop bike. The first 35 miles I was so sick I'm like, oh my gosh, how am I going to get through another? You know, 85 miles, 90 miles of this being like the way I was.

Speaker 2:

Finally my stomach turned, it got better, I was able to put some food in me, but I had lost two hours worth of calories, 700 calories like I was in a deficit. And the rest of the, the remainder of the 80, 90 miles, like I was feeling it. I felt terrible. It didn't feel like my training rides. You know, I went from what I had planned to be about a six hour, 112 miles to seven hours and 19 minutes or something, and I was just feeling because I didn't take enough nutrition. Nutrition is the secret weapon. It is key to everything.

Speaker 1:

So when things go so you train this is a great lesson for everybody. When you have trained one way and you and you, you, you plan, you mean you're working hard every single day, making sure you know exactly nutrition you're going to have, and then you show up to an event and you know the weather is different or your stomach is having major issues or whatever have you like. You're just feeling like garbage. How, what was it that got you through that moment of wow, okay, this is not how I freaking train this sucks. I got another 87 miles, just like you said, just on the bike. What was going through your head and how did you work through it?

Speaker 2:

So the biggest thing was I was like All right, my family's here, I don't want them to see me fail. That's not an option. So I was like I got to figure this out.

Speaker 2:

I stopped at an aid station and I was like you guys got me like nausea pills and they're like no, they're like we don't, but the next one does. So I made it halfway to the next one and then I just said screw it. Man. Like you know, if you don't mind if I can swear on the podcast I said fuck it and I just made myself throw up. I got it all out of my system and I felt like a rock star after that. That's all I needed to do. That was like mile 38. And then, as soon as I got out of my system, like got to the next aid station, was like yeah, I'm good. I just kept going and that was it.

Speaker 2:

But I wasn't quitting because I was like I got family. My girls are here, they're going to see me cross this finish line. I don't care how long it takes me. I'm not out here to break a record time wise. I'm just out here across the finish line Because I want them to see me finish and I want them to take away some lessons in this. Like my dad trained, he did something really hard, did that, he did Iron man and you know, someday when their life gets hard, they're going to remember that 100%, yeah, and in a funny how your body works through stuff like an, eventually ends up feeling better.

Speaker 1:

I mean, yeah, you're not going to feel like crap, most likely the whole race, eventually it's going to work through it. But you know you're right. I mean, the thing I loved about what you're what, what you're doing is you're anchoring back into what you said in the beginning. It's your wife right, like your family's there, and that was one thing that helped me.

Speaker 1:

When I was going through seal training way back in the day, I remember I used to tell myself what would they think back home? What would they think back home if I was one of the many guys who quit the training? I mean, what excuse are you gonna give? That's your acquitter. There's no excuse. I mean, you're now labeled a acquitter for the rest of your life, and so I was like that is not gonna be me. I'd rather die than allow that to ever happen. But here you are. You're still utilizing that for your kids, for your diagnosis, for your surgery, for all of these different things, and so I just think, if you guys are listening to this, there's much more of a conversation going on here than just talking about a race. I mean, this is the race of life and Jeremy has won the race of life. So good job, jeremy, it's awesome man, thanks.

Speaker 2:

You know, like I think, yeah, you can have all the physical strengths and attributes and this and that and everything, but it's all up here, Like I'm sure, as you're going through hell week, like when you went through hell week it was probably I'm gonna take a guess like I just gotta get to the next evolution, like next one, get to that one, check that off the list, move to the next one, and like same thing with racing, get to the next mile, the next 10 mile block, whatever, get through it. Like that's the like. I didn't wanna be a acquitter, I wasn't gonna quit. I have every reason to stop. You know I've got a mechanical ticker, probably not the best thing to be doing all the time, but I was like I'm not quitting, I can't, I'm not gonna do it in front of them.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, I love that man and that's powerful. You're a great father, I can tell so well. Is there any final words that you wanna give to everybody, man, before we take off here?

Speaker 2:

Yeah, man, I would say, you know, for anybody who might be, you know, wondering like can I do this, or should I take that risk with you know, the job or relationship, or signing up for a race or whatever it might be, believe in yourself Like there's no power. There's no more powerful belief than being able to believe in yourself. And I'll tell you, there was a period of time where I didn't believe in myself. But believe in yourself it is. It will get you to places that you could never, ever imagine, and it's an awesome, it's an awesome destiny, man.

Speaker 1:

Well, you're a champion brother with a powerful story, and I can't wait for your movie to come out. For your movie to come out. Guys, go get his book. Support first off, support him. I mean, the guy's got an incredible story. But support yourself by taking the book and, just you know, immersing yourself into the lessons that you can learn from it. So, jeremy man, thank you. We'll get all your information down on the link below. Make sure you guys subscribe. Send this podcast out to people so we can share this message with some of your close friends and family. And, jeremy, thanks for being on, brother, appreciate you.

Speaker 2:

Thank you so much, man. I appreciate being on here. Brandon, I'm in.

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