Episode · Jul 10, 2026 · 1 hr 47 min
From Army Airborne to Addiction Recovery
with Evan Slaughter
Evan Slaughter is an Army veteran and recovery advocate who creates comedy videos as Fit2Serve.
“Fit now for me in that context doesn't mean physical fitness. It means equipped.”
Summary
Evan Slaughter describes a youth marked by his father's cocaine addiction, his own early OxyContin use, and a first stay in rehab. He then joined the Army, earned an Airborne contract, and served in Afghanistan, where an IED injury led to pain medication and a return to addiction. After coming home, PTSD, arrests, and repeated treatment kept interrupting his efforts to rebuild his life. A Veterans Court program and a three-month stay at Turning Point in 2021 gave him a new start. He explains how Fit2Serve began as a fitness group and grew into comedy videos that reach people who are struggling.
Slaughter and Ken discuss the fear, shame, and isolation that can accompany addiction, along with the community and daily purpose that helped him stay sober. They talk about psychedelic experiences, integration, and why money alone does not resolve pain. Slaughter also shares how he chose the name Fit2Serve, moved to Nashville, and built work around helping others through humor. The conversation closes with his view of service: finding a way to use what you have learned for other people.
Show notes
Evan Slaughter grew up in Birmingham, Alabama in a conservative household before addiction changed the course of his life. After battling an early OxyContin addiction and completing rehab, he joined the U.S. Army, earned an Airborne contract, deployed to Afghanistan, and was injured in an IED blast.
The pain medication prescribed after that injury pulled him back into addiction.
What followed were years of PTSD, arrests, multiple rehabs, and trying to rebuild a life that kept slipping away.
Everything changed in 2021.
Today, Evan is better known as Fit2Serve, creating comedy videos seen by millions while using humor, honesty, and his own story to help others find hope. His viral skits may make people laugh, but the road that led there was anything but funny.
In this conversation, Evan shares his father's addiction, his own battle with OxyContin, Army Airborne school, Afghanistan, PTSD, Veterans Court, recovery, psychedelics, purpose, and why "Fit to Serve" no longer means physical fitness, it means being equipped to serve others.
Transcript
Made from YouTube's automatic captions and lightly corrected, so a few words and names may be off. Click a time to play the video from there.
Ken Rideout
All right, it's the 3rd of July and in honor of the uh 250th anniversary, we've got Evan Slaughter in quotes Slaughter. Evan Slaughter, fit to serve on Instagram. I think one of the funniest follows on Instagram, Army uh veteran, thanks for doing this, brother.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah, man. I'm glad to be here, dude. This is an awesome setup you got going. I'm stoked.
Ken Rideout
Thanks, man. I absolutely love all your content. The first few times I saw her when you were doing the u neighborhood mom things when you're like the neighborhood mom and show you uh mowing the grass and imagining the the neighbor the neighborhood mills looking out the window single mom. Yeah.
Where did you grow up?
Evan Slaughter
I grew up uh in Birmingham, Alabama.
Sometimes so I was born in Montgomery which isn't far from Birmingham. It's a little further south. moved to Birmingham uh after me and my brother were born and then spent most of the time there before joining the army.
Ken Rideout
And what was your childhood like?
Evan Slaughter
Uh it was pretty I always say this cuz it's like it was pretty, you know, standard, you know, middle class childhood upbringing, you know, played sports, did this and that, you know, but when I was in high school, my my [clears throat] dad, so I grew up like in a very uh Church of Christ home. I don't know if you're familiar with Church of Christ, but it's almost like Southern Baptist, but even more conservative than Southern. So, there's like no musical instruments, you know? We went to church three times a week.
It was fun. It was fine. It was great. It was just very conservative Southern, you know, church upbringing.
Ken Rideout
As a kid, you were good with going to church three times a week.
Evan Slaughter
Dude, I didn't have a choice. It wasn't my choice.
Ken Rideout
But, but did you figure out a way to enjoy it? It wasn't like miserable to you.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. You know, they had youth stuff. You know, you meet girls. you. I think the first time I kissed a girl was on a church bus going to a a youth group trip. So, I was cool with it. But about like high school age, I was around 15. My dad like we came home from this trip and my dad had left. He was gone and had basically moved to Central America for a period of time and and found out he was had a bad coke problem.
Bad cocaine problem. We didn't know this. I didn't know anything about drugs really. I mean, I was in high school. I was, you know, learning about partying and drinking and smoking weed or whatever. But being in that church environment, we're always taught like we didn't have alcohol in the home. Weren't supposed to be cussing. You know, went to church three times, all that stuff. And u but we come home and he's dipped. He's gone. And
Ken Rideout
What' your mom say to you?
Evan Slaughter
She was just saying, you know, she was trying to keep the peace. She's a big she wants everything to be okay. You know, she's she's that way. And so she was just lying about it, saying that he was on another work trip. My brother was in the at the time on his way to college. So he was two grades above me. So I was like sophomore year he was graduating. I was going into junior year. So he was getting ready to go to college. And then it was just me and my mom.
So he had just dipped out, you know, and left. And I found out he had a cocaine problem over the phone. Like I'd listen to one of the voicemails. I knew the password to the home phone. I listen to the voicemail, you know, back when we listen to voicemails. And uh I listen to the voicemail. Find out he's got this coke problem.
Ken Rideout
What was he he said was he was telling your mom about
Evan Slaughter
He the reason he said he went to Central America was to take his aunt who had a coke problem to a rehab there. There's a rehab there actually that Eric Clapton created.
Ken Rideout
Okay.
Evan Slaughter
Uh it's in Antigua, South America cuz Eric Clapton had a bad coke problem too. So he sovers up and builds this rehab.
My dad takes his aunt to this rehab in uh Central America, Eric Clapton's place. And he actually did that. He actually did take his aunt who had a coke problem to that rehab. But while he's down there, you know, he admits on the phone that he too has a coke problem.
Ken Rideout
Okay,
Evan Slaughter
So that's kind of how we find that out. So his aunt gets help, whatever. He ends up, you know, he's down there like three months. He ends up coming back, divorces my mom. Then he goes back to Central America. Then he comes back again. And I was the only one that would see him or talk to him or, you know, interact with him, which my mom liked because it kind of kept him off her back and my brother would just not answer the phone. He was just kind of writing him off.
Yeah.
And uh but I would still see him. I would go see him and hang out with him and you know he was giving me a lot of things. You know, motorcycles, a Rolex watch, all these things that a high school student, you know,
Ken Rideout
What's he doing to get at this stuff?
Evan Slaughter
He sold his business uh sold a lot of his stock in his business um that was building wireless internet for school systems. Basically, they would get government grants from the education system and they would go install wireless internet. But so I end up, you know, telling my mom like, "I'm done with this. You know, y'all aren't, no one's doing anything. He's talking about going to the Bahamas next where he plans to die." I was like, "We need to get him some help. Why hasn't anybody helped him?" You know, that was my thing.
I was mad. I was tired of hanging out with him.
He still was active in his addiction and I'm hanging out with him and seeing him and stuff and and he's cuz, you know, we were really close and so I didn't want to just ride him off. Yeah.
And so I come home, get mad at my mom, tell her like, "Someone needs to do something." And so we end up having an like an intervention for him. And uh he goes to rehab and gets sober and has been sober since and remarried my mom and all that stuff.
Ken Rideout
What?
Evan Slaughter
So yeah,
Ken Rideout
[ __ ] plot twist. I didn't see that.
Evan Slaughter
I never seen that coming. But that's how it went down. And so when people ask me how I grew up, it's like, well, I grew up in a very mediocre, you know, middle class family, but that happened.
Ken Rideout
That's a wild story, dude. How long from the time he went to the first trip to South America until he gets sober and remarries your mom? How long is that interlude?
Evan Slaughter
Uh it's a couple years.
Ken Rideout
Okay. But so relatively quick all things considered. A lot of [ __ ] went down in a couple years. And how are they now?
Evan Slaughter
Good. Good. I mean they've been married, you know, they're typical married couple. I mean how they how they were and how they are now is much different. I mean things are obviously much better and not on drugs, but you know they're still an old married couple.
[clears throat]
Ken Rideout
When you were in high school and going through early life, did you always know you were funny? Because you strike me as someone who's just funny by default.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. I mean, I get asked that a lot and I would say yes now. I mean, I I've always known that I'm I'm able to make people laugh and I I think I use that to meet people. I use that for as social skills. You know, I'm not a big dude. I'm not super tall. I was athletic, but you know, with my frame, you're not going pro in anything really. You know what I'm saying? you can be really really good but only a very small percentage go you know there's only one Muggsy Bogues there's only one you know
So I uh you know I always leaned on comedy man it was just how I interacted with people [clears throat]
Ken Rideout
And now like you've got the thing but you've got the the online presence which is awesome but do you also do standup comedy
Evan Slaughter
I've done it a couple times and it's a part of my life that I'm trying to explore more of you know um I I have friends that will hear this and be like we trying to get you to do it all the time, you know, and I do and I have done some open mics. With all the content and stuff I'm making, that consumes a lot of my time uh and energy and creative energy. I have to put a lot of thought and effort into the skits I do and this and that.
So, a lot of my funny, you know, energy goes towards that right now. But, I'm that's my if I could tell you like my dreams 10 years from now, it's me with a Netflix special doing comedy.
Ken Rideout
Well, can I just as an observer tell you that have you ever considered that maybe you're pouring so much time and effort into the skits and stuff as a way to distract from the fact that you know the real calling is standup and you're like justifying avoiding the inevitable by
I'm going to [ __ ] around with these skits when the real
The real path for you to get to where you want to do and do the skits that are being now seen on TV is to probably get that attention and just jump in and because if you can master the art of standup, you can do anything.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. I agree totally. And I I think it is a little bit of an excuse. My my manager's always said cuz she's always pushing me in this direction, too, cuz she sees that in me and really tries to encourage me to do, you know, chase what I my dreams and do, you know, but she uh has said like there's a fear of it. I'm not afraid of getting up on stage and and doing standup or whatever. It's almost like a fear of failure of it.
And she said that's how you know that this is what you're meant to do. you should have that little bit of fear and uncomfortableness about it, you know, and so I I agree with that 100%. And so it's just something that I've got to prioritize and start doing.
Ken Rideout
Well, I can just tell you from experience and we I just talked to uh Matt Cassel, a former NFL quarterback, and he was talking about the first time he got into an NFL game when Brady got hurt and he was now the starter. And I this applies to anyone who's ever done anything great is like, "Yeah, of course you're scared cuz you care." Like
The best way that I've found to deal with fear is to just keep confronting it. To do all the to sign up for all the things that you're afraid of because what you realize is
What's the worst things I can do? Get embarrassed. Like you the kind of content you make is almost all self-deprecating. What are they going to be do? Like Evan, you suck. You're not funny. You'd be like, "Well, I know I'm funny. I know I'm funny. I've like basically say I suck in my videos." So there's a way that's like also a defense mechanism like you can't say I suck. I already said I suck. But the truth is you don't suck at this. You're awesome. And I think that if you just
Force yourself to do like one two nights a week in an open mic and just keep refining. I think what it's going to do is open up a whole new spectrum of creativity for you to be like, "Oh, I can do like once you realize you can do anything, that's a superpower." And the fear of failing is like, "Yeah, well guess what? If you're afraid to fail, you never get to win at anything." Like I did a race in Mongolia. I was scared shitless like the whole thing.
If I didn't put myself out there to say I'm going to win this race and then like tell every sponsor that I'm going to kill everyone and I'm going to win and then they're like, "Okay, here's the money." And I'm like, "Oh [ __ ]
I have to do this now. I was scared death." But the point is, if I don't do it, I don't get to win. And that's kind [clears throat] of how
All entertainment is. If you you know how it is. If you put if you have a 100 followers on your social media, 10 of them want you dead. They're they're just it's just life. So, you're you're going to get hate no matter what you do if you're successful enough. If six people congratulate you and are your fan fans, then no one cares about you if you don't have people that hate you.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
You know, cuz you can be a reminder of what other people aren't doing. Like, I want to be a comedian. Why is that [ __ ] idiot a comedian? I'm funnier than him. Cuz they're afraid to try.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. That's totally true. Well, that's the thing. is just from going to the open mic nights and the ones that I've done um and you see people get up there and do it after you've done it, you're like, man, I respect that person even though they bombed and they're not good and they're learning that, but they tried. They got up there and they tried. And I'm telling you, getting up there, even if it's in front of 10 people and bombing
Sucks. It's so embarrassing. And the times I've done it,
I it was fine because I was I was comfortable up there. I can get up there, dude. I'm like psyching myself out in my head before I go, you know? I'm what if this happens? What if this happens? But I still get up there and do it anyways. And the times I've done it, as soon as I get up there, I'm comfortable.
Ken Rideout
Yeah,
Evan Slaughter
I'm comfortable with it.
Ken Rideout
The other thing you have to recognize is like the things that we can imagine that would happen, the spectrum things is [ __ ] astronomical. And the chances of any of those things are slim to none.
And listen, I'm telling you, we don't really know each other well. I'm telling you, you're [ __ ] funny. And I'm I want to hate everyone by default. When I see people on my social media feed, I'm like, "What's this [ __ ] idiot doing?" I'm like, it's a terrible trait to have. I sense that in you,
Evan Slaughter
But it's true.
Ken Rideout
But as soon as someone breaks through and I'm like, "Oh, I like this guy." I'm like, "I don't mind then putting myself out there and being like, "Dude, you're really funny." And being like the super fan, you know what I mean?
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. No, I get that totally. And honestly, that's what I'm good at doing is breaking down barriers with people. One of the And that's why I've always liked comedy because I can use that. It's a tool, you know, to meet people and be friends with all kinds of different people. I was the guy in high school that could mix in with any social circle. Yeah. And it's all because I can get to them with humor. Yeah. You know,
Ken Rideout
No, it's a superpower. And um
I think there's something about all comedians though that have that same kind of self-deprecation like defensive mechanism that you're working with. It's like I'm going to basically say all the bad things I think about myself before you can. So go [ __ ] yourself. when the truth is like, nah, [ __ ] all that. You should be leading with like, listen, I'm really funny. I'm good at this. This is where my value is. And if you don't like it, okay, get [ __ ] I'll move on to the next one.
Cuz I know you have a enough body of work now to say, "Oh, this is working." Like,
Evan Slaughter
I've proven the concept.
Ken Rideout
The stuff that you do with uh Miles Burris is priceless. If anyone if if if to the people listening if you haven't seen it please check out fit to serve fit the number two serve s e urus the the skits you guys do about the alpha dad miles played for the Raiders for those who don't know he's been on the show [ __ ] jacked unbelievably handsome
The guys I interviewed him I'm like
Evan Slaughter
That's his superpower
Ken Rideout
I interviewed him and I was like dude I just like I hate guys like you tall athletic handsome
Evan Slaughter
Superman Yeah, he does.
He looks like Superman.
Ken Rideout
He really does. And then he walks in with his [ __ ] short shorts and a fanny pack and I'm like, "You are a nut."
Like it's But he does a skit called the Alpha Dad where he's got a garage gym and he has people like you and other friends walk by the garage and he's like harassing them like the neighborhood crazy horse dad. And by the way, there are dads like that in every neighborhood in Nashville.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah, they all have garage gyms, too. You have a garage gym, Ken?
Ken Rideout
It's coming in. actually the company that put in his garage, Southern Closet. Shout out to Southern Closets. They're awesome guys. And I saw Miles gym and I was like, "Yo, would you guys be interested in doing something?" Cuz I like filming like exercise content. I wish I could be as funny as you and Miles.
But uh there So they're in the process of designing it out. But I will be have we should have a garage gym off.
Oh, dude. We should.
Evan Slaughter
You would do great in some alpha dad skills. I'm telling you, you could be like you could be like the the alpha dad that comes in and over alphas miles,
Ken Rideout
Dude. I told him I said to him, I want to record some content with the two of you guys. I said, I just don't want to be the butt of all the jokes. I said, you guys can talk [ __ ] about me after I leave.
Evan Slaughter
That's right.
Ken Rideout
So, coming out of high school, were you a good student?
Evan Slaughter
No, I was a C student. But I always tell people this, too. It's like I didn't try in school. I wasn't one to study or do any of that. And I still graduated. And I like to tell people to me that's more impressive than someone who goes in and has to grind and spend all their time studying doing this and that just to make straight A's and it's like great you got into a good college you've got a degree now blah blah blah good for you.
I didn't try any of that and still was able to pass. So
Ken Rideout
You know what's funny? I did the same thing. I mean I'm kind of embarrassed because I wish I had applied myself because like you I can tell just talking to you for two seconds that you're intelligent. It's not about but it's like people like you maybe myself I I don't know but like the point is
If I applied myself to studying the books I could have probably been very
Intelligent for a school but I'm not interested I don't give a [ __ ] about geometry
Me neither. That being said, you can tell when people have emotional intelligence. And to your point, if you can figure out how to get through this beg, borrow, steal, cheat, like, cool. Because if you're working for me and we're southern closets and I'm like, "All right, go and design that closet, get it all sorted out." And you come back and you're like, "Here's how we're going to do it." And I use ChatGPT to do the whole thing. And I'm like, "Looks awesome. Get it done." And the work gets done.
I don't care how it gets done. Yeah, that's the thing with formal schooling is if you can figure out a way to get through this, whether it's using AI, whatever tools are at your discretion, that's life. You need to solve a problem in life. No one's giving a [ __ ] about are you look using the internet to solve this problem like what do you care? I'm solving life.
So, what sports did you play?
Evan Slaughter
I played baseball and then I wrestled some. My dad was a big wrestler. Okay.
In school and I wrestled a little bit in middle school and played baseball. Yeah. Yeah. And I was good at it, too, man. I I could have really I was just naturally able to wrestle.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
Um and if I would have really stuck with that, I think I could have done done something with
Ken Rideout
You got that good center of gravity.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. Perfect frame for it, you know? Everybody's trying to always get me to wrestle too, even in high school. But I just didn't I didn't have the drive, dude. I was just consumed. Yeah. You got to have the drive. You got to really be into it. And I had all that other [ __ ] going on at home, so it was like hard to do anything else, you know?
Ken Rideout
baseball you can kind of slip through the cracks if you have some athleticism in wrestling you are not hiding
You even if you go and get your ass wrestling practice every day which is harder than the matches
And it's like but that's I have mad respect my youngest is a wrestler and it's it nothing in my life has been harder as a dad than to watch him go out there in the early days get pinned and he comes off they all cry when they lose when they're like 8 to 10 years old and it's heartbreaking
He's like I don't want to go I'm like I know you don't I don't want to go to the next match I'm like I you know.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
But but we're going.
Evan Slaughter
We're going. Yeah.
Ken Rideout
So, let's like figure out how we're going to do this. And it hasn't been easy.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
But um so where'd you go to college?
Evan Slaughter
I went to Libcom for a couple years, which is here in Nashville.
And then I ended up moving back home and and going to UAB [clears throat] um for like a year and a half and then I dropped out because I was studying exercise science. I was big at the gym. I was a big weightlifter. I was into competitive bench press and everything. My best bench was like 365 and I weighed 165 lbs.
Ken Rideout
Holy [ __ ]
Evan Slaughter
And it was like paws on the chest real beep and press it off kind of.
Ken Rideout
What is your So what way do you know?
Evan Slaughter
Uh like 210.
Ken Rideout
Okay. So at 165 you were benching 365.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
That's [ __ ] crazy.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah.
Ken Rideout
Most I've ever benched in a strength test. A matter of fact, again, I was just talking about with the quarterback, Matt Cassel, when they called when they when you show up at college uh football training camp, which I played for one year at at a division 3 school, the strength test was 225 for reps.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah,
Ken Rideout
Buddy. From the beginning of my senior year of high school, I was in full panic mode. I'm like, I can bench 135 like two or four or five times.
I got though in one year, I got to the point and I weighed 155. I benched 225 like four or five times and was like on top of the
On top of the world. Which, by the way, that was at 18 years old. Now I'm 55. I weighed well for in high school I weighed 155. And when I turned up to college, I weighed 165. Today I weigh between 165 and 170. 40 40 years later and can now bench press roughly the same amount. I never really do strength work, but the point is, as you know from all your uh content, like you have to exercise like your life depends on it.
Evan Slaughter
I got 225 27 times is the most times I did it. And that's that was actually like two years ago. So
So the bench has always been strong for me, dude. I love it. I can write a book about bench press.
Ken Rideout
You should.
I love it. I had a dude on here uh Jason Smith who was a um ampute uh from I think he was in the Marines got blown up in Iraq you know badass dude and he's like a national like weightlifting champion and had a bunch of bench press records but with but with
Was it one with two legs I'm embarrassed that I don't remember but Jason Smith is a [ __ ] awesome guy he's worth a follow
Evan Slaughter
Yeah I can check him out I usually know a lot of the combat wounded guys around
Ken Rideout
Here especially on the internet
He he lives I want to say maybe in Chattanooga really good guy. He has a farm like a like a real farm. He works for an organization called Catch a Lift. I should actually connect you with them. They do a lot of charity stuff where they basically enable combat wounded veterans access to gyms. Oh, no. They might build you a gym at your house. So, they'll come into your house, the the gym equipment connect companies connect with them and they'll like hook it up. So, like catch a lift.
They're basically helping guys lift weights. And Jason is the man. super reserved, shy, like somewhat shy guy, but just polite to the nth degree.
Evan Slaughter
And I
Ken Rideout
I was connected to him to a bunch of finance bros in New York that I worked with back in my finance days, and they just said, "Hey, we we sponsor this guy. He works for our organization. We raise money for Wounded Vets. You should connect with them." One conversation, I was like, "Dude, get in here. Let's talk about So hearing him talk about the actual injury which was obviously [ __ ] catastrophic at the time and how he was brought back to life and now pinch bench and [ __ ] So I know that the technicalities of bench and down to the chest paws flat flat back on the back.
Evan Slaughter
You know a lot of times they make you wear a singlet or some kind of tight shirt to make you you know see your back against the bench. You always see all these people like these power lifters with their hips
Ken Rideout
All up in the air and everything. Terrible form. It's terrible. Yeah. It's not and then they're coming down like this far and yeah. No, dude. You got to have your feet flat on the ground, your back on the bench, you know, come all the way down, pause until the buzzer, beep, and then press it off and lock out. So, it's different. It's different than just slamming course. You know what I mean? Don't you think that and and maybe you don't um when you're in the mix com preparing and training for an event like a bench press contest or I know we'll get into it.
You're really into pickle ball. If you have something important coming up for you, meaning like a a race, some kind of event.
I always feel like that's when my life is at its best. Yes, I'm so stressed. I've got this thing. Everyone's watching, but I'm I I because I force myself into a routine. I'm not like
Making bad decisions. I'm not staying up late. I'm like focused. And I always preach this to people, the reality of a situation never matters. The only thing that matters is your version of the reality. Meaning if I have a race coming up, I know I'm going to be like the tallest little person if I win. I'm not beating African pro Olympic runners, but I can beat the other like dads and weekend warriors.
That's the reality. But in my mind, I'm like, [ __ ] this. This is my version of the Olympics. You don't have to believe that, but I do.
So my question to you is when you're competing in those bench press things or pickle ball, don't you feel like everything else in your life is flowing when you're in that routine?
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think so because it gives you something that you're like training for and preparing for, but also I'm I'm big on not letting people down, you know? And so if I have any bit of an audience, whether it's social media, whatever, or just people in my life that know I'm about to go do something, that know I'm about to go do this bench press contest or whatever it is,
And they're expecting me, you know, to be preparing for it and do well,
Whether they're actually thinking about it or not, I just in my mind don't want to let them down. So it just gives me something really to push for.
Ken Rideout
Yeah. No, and I can It's funny. I I don't know why, but I could tell that that was the case for you. And I would say as it pertains to not to beat a dead horse and keep putting you on the spot about the stand up, but
I think when you like people, holding them accountable is like the best thing you could do for them. So, I hope you don't mind that I'm just going to continue to not not just today, but for the next several months and years, harass you until you're a fixture on the standup routine cuz I think that that is your calling.
Evan Slaughter
But no, I appreciate Well, our mutual friends Todd and Katie, it's funny about that. They they operate the same way. They're the reason I did the last open mic, man.
Because they were down there and they're like, "Hey, isn't aren't you supposed to be doing open mic soon or blah blah blah when is it? Take out your phone. Show me when it is. Show me where." And then they make me they lock me in and then they're there. They're there in the front row supporting me. Of course they are.
So it's like, you know, I love that, you know. I love when people and friends and stuff do that. And I try to do that for others, too.
Ken Rideout
Well, there's a famous study out of Harvard about a longevity study that measured basically like quality of life for a hundred people. It's been like a hundred years. And they measure people from all socioeconomic backgrounds like a janitor, a investment banker. And the number one overriding theme for what determined someone's happiness, it wasn't their health and wellness, it wasn't money, it wasn't professional success, it was community. the people that consistently had the best quality of life as measured by however they did it really in depth um had to do with a feeling of being connected to the community having a good group which is why things like AA and narcotics anal [ __ ] works but it's the same thing in the comedy scene and the group of people that your friends like you have a very distinct friend group
Todd Katie Miles like there's a Nashville crew
Being a dad with four kids like I don't have time to like take a deep breath other train but like when I get the opportunity to be around your crew which is very distinct like I appreciate it because I recognize that these people love each other. Oh yeah.
This is like a family and it's like I have such mad respect for that which is why I was telling Todd I wanted to talk to you cuz I'm like I don't know him well but I know that he loves his friends and that to me
Is a superpower. Yeah,
You can't beat a group of people that want to die for each other if push comes to shove.
Evan Slaughter
Oh, that's 100% correct. And that's something that, you know, I tell people all the time when they ask me, "Oh, how do you like Nashville? How you like living?" The friend group is the number one thing, dude. I mean, it's, you know, I never would have planned that. I never could have prepared for that. Todd is the one that encouraged me to move back to Nashville. And I just met him at this event in Austin for [snorts] this Blo, you know, event, men's comprehensive health thing.
And we're down there in Austin doing this thing. I meet him for the first time and he's telling me, "You should move back to Nashville. You're in Birmingham. We got a guest house out back. I just met the guy. You can come stay with us, blah, blah, blah. If you need to go look and find an apartment and I literally went up there like a week later and found a place and moved in, you know,
Ken Rideout
You know what's funny about that is I met Todd and Katie a couple years before you when I was living here and they were living somewhere else, maybe Chicago or something and I was like, "You guys should come." They came and stayed. They stayed with matter of fact, they were coming to look at an apartment. I wasn't even here and they were coming and I was like, my wife loves them and and I was like, dude, just go stay with my family. You're good to go.
And they did. And uh like, yeah, we we're we we love them. I mean, they're literally like our family. I wish I could see them more than I do, but you know, when with all the [ __ ] that I have going on, it's very difficult. But so I was following you before Todd was friends with you cuz I saw that he reposted a phone. I go, "Dude, you know that guy?" And he's like, "Yeah, he's my boy." He's [ __ ] hilarious. I've got a few people like that that I follow.
Um there's a guy called um Walk Walk Sauce from New York. Um Walker um I forget his last name. Bearded guy. He does a lot of finance bro stuff. He's like, "Dad, I told you I just took the PJL to the Hamptons. We're out at Shinock." And he's like, "I'm about to take a, you know, a bottle of Woodford behind the woodshed." and he has all these funny oneliners, but he's kind of like with you, the wittiness and the off-the-cuff commentary. And
What I love about comedians like you is that the micro um recognition of little words and like just an ability to observe a scene and find all the little nuances and to be regurgitate that in like real time is what I find so impressive about guys like the you and Miles.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Well, it's just one of those things. I think, you know, it's you're born with it. You know, it's not everybody has that. Not everybody can do that. Everybody's got their own ways that they give back and are talented and have purpose in and that.
And comedy, I think, has just been it for me.
Ken Rideout
The best comedians though, have you can tell they have a very high level of intellect and emotional intelligence. They're reading every situation. They'll they'll they'll basically recreate as a oneman show a conversation between two people and just tweak a few things. Like it's amazing that they picked up all those little nuances. Like Tony Hinchcliffe is really good,
But I can see you on uh Kill Tony up on the open mic.
Yeah, I think so too, man.
Evan Slaughter
I can see myself on the open mic thing or or just the standup in general. And I think I could have a fast path to it. This is how I know that, you know, it's it's meant for me to do is literally the first show I ever did, the first standup opportunity I ever did was given to me by by I was doing this thing for Chubby's Clothing. I' I've done a lot with Chubbies clothing over the years, sponsored by them, you know, make content for them, done photo shoots for them, just really grown a relationship.
Ken Rideout
I'm going to hit you up cuz my kids love the Chubbies bathing suits and everything. So, I'm going to be like, "Hey, I need four of everything."
Evan Slaughter
I got you, dude. I've got Chubbies boxes of clothes stacked in my apartment. Now,
Evan Slaughter
I am.
Ken Rideout
Do you have a deal with help?
Oh, all right. Well,
Evan Slaughter
They're uh
Um and I think and a lot of their crews here too in Nashville. They sponsor the bare knuckle fighting thing.
Oh, yeah.
Evan Slaughter
Nice. Nice. No, it's all good.
Ken Rideout
Because then you transfer it to UAB. You don't get your degree. So, what were you studying?
Evan Slaughter
Um, I was studying exercise science. I wanted to I'm sorry you said that. let's do something in fitness, you know. And then when I went to UAB, a friend of mine opens a gym there in Birmingham and he's like, "Dude, you want to come personal train here? You can manage the gym, blah blah blah." And so I start doing it. I start managing and personal training and u and I just I got to that point where I was like, man, I'm working like a dog personal trainer.
I got a bunch of clients. Things are going good. I was making good money for my age at that time. And I told my parents, I was like, I'm just going to drop out of college. I mean, this is what I'm going to school to do. Yeah. You know, and my parents are all, you know, they're from the college degree or your homeless mindset. You know what I mean? Like,
Ken Rideout
What was your mom's background? What was she doing for work?
Evan Slaughter
She's a stay-at-home mom. I love it. No, she does.
Ken Rideout
Let me tell you something.
Evan Slaughter
She's speech pathologist.
Ken Rideout
We [clears throat] can joke about it, but I'll tell you right now, my wife raises four kids. Like, she's the [ __ ] she's the tutor. She's the chef. She's the housekeeper. She's the Uber driver.
Evan Slaughter
Like, it's it's a serious job. And when co started, I would not want to do that job. I would rather go to a 9 to5 than do that job.
Ken Rideout
100%. When COVID hit, dude, she homeschooled four of our children all in different grades
Evan Slaughter
For two years.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
And and really had like she had a big sign MIT. Mom is teaching.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Well, it's a job, dude. My brother's got four kids. I see his, you know, his wife do do all that. And he's, of course, my brother's all over the place. He does a lot of different stuff, but he's a great dad, too. He's got his hand in all of it, but he ain't got time for nothing else like you were saying. I mean, it's crazy. [clears throat]
Ken Rideout
At what point do you make the decision that you're going to sidetrack everything and do a side quest to the US Army?
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. So, you know what? See, what happened was so I started working as a personal trainer thing and I develop an oxycottton addiction at the same time. Okay. So, OC's were big, you know. Yeah, that's another thing we have in connection is the opiate. Yeah. all too well.
Ken Rideout
And the worst thing about those is like when I was just talking to the Boston Bruins rookies and I said, "Listen guys,
No one's going to be able to tell you don't do this, don't do that." That's not what I'm here to do. But I'm telling you, the reason that people get addicted to some of these drugs, and I'm sorry to interrupt. I'm not going to do it again after this.
Evan Slaughter
Okay?
Ken Rideout
Is don't try these things because there is no one in the world that's had an addiction problem or even flirted with one that won't tell you the first time you try these drugs. Typically, it's [ __ ] awesome.
Evan Slaughter
You're gonna love it.
Ken Rideout
You're gonna love it. But all it is is a lie. It's like taking all the money out of your bank account and splurging on a boondoggle to like Caribbean island, renting a private yacht, and when it's over, you have nothing left. You quit your job. You spent all your money, and everyone's angry at you. That's drugs.
You're going to you're going to like waste all your money. run from your emotions and your feelings because the people that it resonates with really have found a way to dull their emotions. It's not about the physical pain. It's like, oh, I don't have to think about my parents' divorce or my, you know, the way my career is going. So, anyway, so you you discover oxycottton.
Evan Slaughter
Discover OxyContin and you know that that ends up me going to rehab for the first time. All right. So, I started dabbling with OxyContin. And then
Ken Rideout
How long were you whacked out before you went to the rehab?
Evan Slaughter
I mean it was I I did it for like maybe a a year and a half or so
Ken Rideout
Long enough to know you were physically.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Like I told I came to my parents. This is the one time that I actually went to my parents cuz my dad was back in the picture now. He's remarried. He'd gone through his thing, you know. And I tell them I actually called my dad and said, "Hey, I need to go to rehab. I've got a problem. I can't stop using this stuff. I can't get, you know, I need to go to rehab." So, they send me to rehab and I do this 30-day program.
And while I'm there, I just it happened to because I was my insurance would cover 30 days. They put me in the 30-day program is how it works.
And it happens to also be the house where any active duty military that were sent to drug rehab while they're in the service came to this rehab and were in this house. So, I was in the house and did
Ken Rideout
It's it was Bradford and Warrior, Alabama.
Evan Slaughter
Okay. So, I actually, you know, found out about the military in rehab. In rehab, I found out about the military. I get out and I'm like, "Dude, I want to join the army." You know, I was like 22, maybe 23
And I go and join the army. You know, I just quit my job. I was like, something to do.
Ken Rideout
You just walked into the recruiting center. You're like, "Hey guys, you need a man?"
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. Actually, funny story is Yes, that is how because I didn't know how it worked. I went to the Marine recruiters office first because I thought I thought, you know, here I am. Yeah, I went to rehab, but I've got some college. I'm like, they should want me, you know, I'm a big deal, right? Strong. I'm in shape. I'm not some piece of [ __ ] Y'all should want me, you know,
And they're actually like, well, you know, actually, you know, you've got some things. I had been arrested for underage consumption at one point, you know, and all this stuff. So, they're like, we need to get some referrals from some people for you. You got to get three references. You got to do this, this, and this. and then you'll leave for basic training in maybe six to eight months. And I was like, six to eight months? I thought we were going tomorrow. I thought I was going to go home and tell my mom, "Hey guys, guess what?
Join the Marine Corps. I'm leaving tomorrow." And that's not how it works. I said, "I don't even know if I want to be in the military in 6 days." I'm saying, "Yeah, we need to do this now. I need to go today, son." You know? So, I leave there and go to the Army recruiting office. Actually, I went to Air Force first. Talked to them. I didn't even go into the Navy office cuz I wanted to do something combat related. Yeah. I wanted to I wanted to join and then go to Iraq or Afghanistan.
Yeah, that's what my mindset was. So I go to the army and uh talked to them and knew, you know, I took the ASVAB little test and everything. Did fine on that. Could have chosen a probably a lot of jobs, but I was like, I want to be in the infantry. That's exactly what I want to do.
So I go infantry man and and did really well. Like was in great shape. I was the top three PT score of the whole battalion. my basic training battalion and because of that I got offered the chance to go to special forces selection.
So I went to airborne school right after infantry school got jumpqualified and then I got on a bus and I went to what's called sopsy special operations preparation and
Ken Rideout
Before you get to that let's talk airborne for a minute. Did you always know you wanted to be like or I guess you didn't always know you wanted to be a soldier but when you
Evan Slaughter
What appealed to the special forces what was the appeal and what was jump school like? So in my mind, I was a badass, you know, like I was that m I was that mindset. I was a short guy, but man, you didn't want to mess with me, you know, and people knew that. I mean, that's how I was. That's who I was.
And so I was just I was going to go after all of it, you know. That was how I came into the military is whatever. And I had a friend that had just gotten out of serving that told me when I was going in, he said, "Look, here's my only advice is if they offer you something, say yes to it. Don't say no to anything. just if they offer you something say yes cuz you won't get that opportunity again most likely. So if someone offered me the special forces, you know, it was called 18 x-ray contract.
So they basic doing an infantry school and there was a way you could join the military at the time called 18 X-ray. And 18 X-ray was it's you're going in as an infantryman, but you have a you're going to go to special operations preparation and conditioning course next, and then you're going to go to selection. So 18 is basically a guaranteed shot at going to selection as long as you passed everything else.
Well, three guys that were in the basic training company that I was didn't want to do 18 that had 18 x-ray didn't want to do it anymore after they had been there so long for infantry school. They were getting their ass kicked in infantry school and they were like screw this. I don't want to [ __ ] go do more training now after this. So I'm dropping it. I'm giving it up. And they had three contracts. So since and so the the drill sergeants were like, "Well, we're going to offer it to the top three PT scores and I was number three."
So they offer it to me and I took it because I was, you know, was going to say yes to whatever is offered to me, but also cuz I knew it came with airborne school and I wanted airborne school. And honestly, I I was one of those guys that was kind of deceived by the, you know, recruiter signing up cuz I thought I already had Airborne School. That's how we were we were talking like I was going to airborne school,
But that was not the case. He got me, you know.
Ken Rideout
Does everyone that goes airborne, like 82nd Airborne, is that considered special forces or if that's just airborne?
Evan Slaughter
Just a paratrooper. Yeah, it's just airborne qualified. So, you can be you can have pretty much any MOS, any job in the military and if you get the chance to go to airborne school, you can go to airborne. You can jump out of the plane and be a cook if you want. You know,
It's not always easy to get, but you know, you can go. So they offered it to me. I wanted to be air, you know, airborne infantryman. And I go to jump school. So I graduate infantry and I say hey to my parents for about an hour and then I go to the other side of Fort Benning where they had airborne school.
And it was easy, man. It was 3 weeks long. It was a typical exactly how you would think the government handles something especially like jumping out of a plane, right? And because one of the days you do you do ground week first, tower week, and then you jump out of the plane. It's three weeks long. It's not hard.
Yeah. You know, all you have I mean, you have to run a lot. They make you run and you have to do a lot of pull-ups because you have to pull these risers on the parachutes. So, as long as you can What gets most people is failing the runs in airborne school. It's like 5 miles 40 minutes. Not everybody can do that, you know. [clears throat]
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
So, the runs knock a lot of people out. And that's kind of how they weed it down. But, uh, I got I was in great shape. So, I got there, did did my thing.
It rains the one day we're supposed to do the tower, right? Right. And the tower is it it pulls you up and the parachute's already out. It pulls you up to like 250 ft and then it drops you
Ken Rideout
250 ft.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. 250 ft and then it drops you. Yeah. With the parachute. And it's the point is to learn how to land.
All right. But the tower's in the damn next to a a parking lot. All right. I mean, this is no [ __ ] this. You get to look out of your barracks window and see the tower at Fort Benning and it's a field around it and then a bunch of parking lot and buildings and construction [ __ ]
So, one good windtorm, you know, and your ass is going in the parking lot and that would happen to people all the time.
Ken Rideout
So, when they drop you from the tower, you're free falling with the parachute
Evan Slaughter
With the parachute open
Just to give you the basically just to replicate the land. Yeah. Because it's called a parf parachute landing fall. Yep. And it's actually you don't when you jump out of a you know combat situation you're not coming in like you're skydiving and landing on two feet. You're taught to buckle your knees and lean a certain way whichever the way and you roll or otherwise you break your [ __ ] You know it's like it's intense. So it's raining the one day we're supposed to do the tower and so they're like ah screw it.
You guys don't need to do the tower.
They're going to skip one of the three steps to week. So, we went from ground week to jumping out of an airplane, man. And that's just how it's going.
Ken Rideout
Like, you would think that the government would be like, "No, no, no, no. We can't do anything this evening."
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Or let's wait another day or
Ken Rideout
First first time jumping out of the airplane. Walking me through it.
Evan Slaughter
So, you know, it's funny cuz they always make a joke like cuz you do three day jumps and two night jumps.
Ken Rideout
By the way, is it a tandem jump? The first one you
Evan Slaughter
No, no, no. It's,00 ft. You're jumping on a static line,
Ken Rideout
So it pulls your parachute as you exit the aircraft. Right. Okay. So, you're getting the full bunch and you're ready to go.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. I'm jumping in between a bunch of Marines because they you could, you know, any branch would use the Army's airborne school. And so, if you were doing like Marine Recon or something like that, you would go to Army Airborne School before you go to Marine Recon.
And I'm jumping with a bunch of seasoned Marines. I'm a private, you know, fresh out of basic. And these guys were hilarious. They were great, but they were typical, you know, Marines. All of them are sergeants, too. I think one any slack. They're probably giving you the business.
They were like messing with me the whole time.
But I would, you know, the thing about it is you're in a line of people when it's your turn to get to the door, your ass is going out the door
Ken Rideout
Whether you like it or not.
Evan Slaughter
Or if you don't and you if you're a jump refusal,
They tell you to go, they give you the command like twice cuz you're an aircraft moving across. So if someone jump refuses the whole thing, they're going to have to turn around and do that pass again. This happens in seconds. So they get up there, they tell you, "We're going to tell you twice. If you don't go on the second one, they're going to grab you and sit your ass down, and you have to sit on your hands and not touch your equipment because when we get back, we're going to inspect your equipment, and if there's nothing wrong with it, you're getting an article 15."
It's a punishment in the military, which can be, you know, they can take your pay, they can you can lose rank, you can get your ass kicked out of the military with an article.
Ken Rideout
So when you're sitting there and they're about to call you, how nervous are you?
Evan Slaughter
You're screwed.
How nervous are you? I was nervous, but I was also I feed off adrenaline and stuff. I like it. I get excited by stuff like that. So, I knew I was jumping. I knew that wasn't a question.
Ken Rideout
And when you actually got there though to the minute, like how much more or less intimidating and nerve-wracking was it?
Evan Slaughter
You know, I just in my mind, I remember telling myself, "The parachute's going to open or it's not going to open." So, you're going to either live or die after this jump. And I just remember jumping out, my eyes closed tight, you know, and then you feel that parachute come open and then you can like, thank God, you know.
Ken Rideout
How fun was it when you're actually floating down for the first time? Did you have a moment where you're like, I'm [ __ ] jumping out of an airplane?
Evan Slaughter
Oh, yeah. And and you get a few you get a little bit of time to do that. It's a quick, you know, you're down to the ground in less than 60 seconds. Probably
60 to 90 seconds. You know, it's enough time to Yeah. to look around and do your thing. Yeah. But yeah, you have that moment, but then you think, "Oh [ __ ] I got to land this puppy now." Like, this is the hard part. And this is where people get jacked up
Because the landing, if you don't have the landing right, you're going to hurt yourself.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
And but, you know, fortunate for me, I've jumped 16 times now. Never injured one time. You know, the first time I hit the ground and I for I was so thankful just to be on the ground, you know, I was like, "God, yes." You know, I forgot to deflate my canopy. So, I land in like a nice little area that's dry. It's not a, you know, bad area to be. And I'm sitting there laying on the ground thanking the Lord above and the wind catches and lifts my shoot again.
And then it drags me into this nasty [ __ ] So, it's like swamp mud. I come out soaking wet in mud. They're like, "What happened to you, slaughter? You couldn't picked a better spot to land." I'm like, "I picked a good spot to land. I just forgot to do the rest of the [ __ ] and got drugged into the, you know, but it was wild. The the Marine Corps major that was there jumping cuz for them airborne school is this is your one shot.
You're not going to get to go again. If you don't pass it now and you're trying to do Marine recon or whatever and something happens, sorry, there goes your Marine reconnaissance career, you know.
And uh this major man, he broke his ankle first jump.
Big dude, too. breaks his ankle, refuses medical service the whole time, wouldn't go over to the medic cuz if he Yeah, they Oh, your ankle's broken. You can't jump anymore. You know,
Uh so he had to jump four more times on a broken ankle and he did every single one of them. He just kept tell they would watch like, "Sir, you need to." He's like, "I'm fine. I'm good." And he's just limping his ass around and jumped one more time.
Ken Rideout
Boys, the feeling you describe when you hit the ground, you're like, "Thank God." It reminds you of the feeling of coming out of a a DMT experience and being like, I'm alive. Thank God. And we'll get into our uh psychedelic journeys. But one thing I forgot to ask,
When you went through the rehab, were you like one and done on rehab? You went through rehab once and you were like, "Yeah, I'm good."
Evan Slaughter
Oh, no, man.
Ken Rideout
Okay. So, what happened?
Evan Slaughter
I've been six times.
Ken Rideout
Oh, jeez. So, okay. So, you get out of the first rehab. How quickly do you go to the army after that rehab and do you relapse before you join the army?
Evan Slaughter
So, no, I did that one time. One time Bradford, you know, 30-day deal. Join the military. Everything's fine. I'm good. I'm I'm in, you know, good shape. I'm I'm joining the military. Military career is going great. We deployed to Afghanistan when I finally get through all this training and go to my unit and stuff. deployed to Afghanistan and then I'm injured by an IED blast.
One month in to Afghanistan.
Ken Rideout
What happened there?
Evan Slaughter
So, we were going it was, you know, we're just there a month and we were in the process still of replacing the unit that was we were coming in to swap out with our sister company essentially
And we go in there. So, there's a period of time where they're taking you around, showing you the robes. You're, you know, this is this checkpoint and this is how you get here and this is these people, you know. and one of our our crews was going out to this checkpoint and they hit an IED and it blows the doors open on the truck simultaneously rolls it over and and the combo guy sitting in one of the back seats on the gun.
He was he was on a crow gun which you operate from inside the vehicle like a joystick.
It blows the doors open it he falls out the truck rolls over and and kills him. Right. This happens a month in and I was on um [clears throat] I was on a I'm trying to remember what they call it, but essentially it was my turn. Like we have a crew that's 24 hours you rotate and if something happens, you get called out and you're the one that has to go. So it was my turn to be on that little shift rotation. So this happens. So we get called out to go help.
So I jump in and I'm gunning the lead truck. I was the gunner of the lead truck starting out in deployment. machine gun standing out of the Humve.
Standing up. Yeah. And we were on Oshkosh M-ATVs cuz the Humvey was outlawed at this point cuz they were too lightweight. So we're in a big up armored, you know, Oshkosh truck.
Ken Rideout
And is that what they were in that got bombed?
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
Even with the upper armor, [clears throat] it's still like demolished the truck.
Evan Slaughter
Well, yeah. I mean, it it blew the the energy from it, forced the doors open,
Ken Rideout
Which is no small feat, right?
Evan Slaughter
Everybody else's door was locked. Combat locked. His wasn't. So, he had two things wrong there. his door wasn't combat locked and he wasn't wearing a seat belt. So, it's unfortunate, but you know, a lot of times you forget doing that stuff, especially when it's your first time on a deployment. You're just there, you know.
Uh but so, yeah, that's a you know, the trucks weighed 25,000 lbs.
Ken Rideout
Holy [ __ ]
Evan Slaughter
They were big, heavy trucks, you know. So, we get called out to go help and we're coming up behind and we hit an IED. And fortunately for us, so sometimes trucks would take what's called a um a mine roller and it attaches to the front of the truck and it digs through the sand. So the lead truck would hook up to a mine roller on a convoy. The other trucks would follow behind and they've got this thing that's turnurning through the sand in front of you looking for IEDs, trying to set them off in front of you.
So, we had a mine roller on on our truck, but it caught this pressure plate and it's like spinning like this and it brings the pressure plate back towards the front of the truck and sets it off as we drive over the front of the IE. So, it blows the mine roller up into the air. The thing weighed 7,500 lb. It blew it up into the air should be throwing it out the other way. Yeah. I mean, it's literally turnurning and digging through.
So, cuz you wouldn't It has to go the direction of the vehicle moving forward, you know. Gotcha.
So, uh Yeah. blows the front end of the truck up and messes up the driver of our truck and the sergeant in the passenger seat. And then I mess my ankle up because I'm standing up in this gun turret and I'm standing on ammo cans cuz I'm short. So I would often times put ammo cans down there and stand on the ammo can so I can see. And when that happened, you know, I fall off the ammo cans and basically twist my ankle, but I dislocated a tendon in my ankle.
So, I wasn't like bad banged up, but I [ __ ] my ankle up to where my leg's swollen all the way up to my knee. It's jacked up.
And uh so, yeah, I get injured and they want to you they're like, "Hey, here's two options. You can go to Germany and you can have surgery on your ankle or you can let it heal like it is." They're like, "If you go to Germany, have surgery on your ankle, you're going home from there. So, you're not coming back here, just so you know."
Ken Rideout
And at that point, is your mindset like, "No, I'm here for a soldier. I'm here and I wanted to be here. crowd, you know, and in my mind I'm already spending the money that I've made, you know, was going to stack up at this PL, you know what I mean? Like $30,000, but still to me that was a lot.
Evan Slaughter
So, I stayed. I turned the surgery down. I was like, I'm good. I'm just going to let it heal like this. And so, they let me drive for a little while and then by the end of the deployment, I was back operating, running fine. You know, I was good. I'm I'm good to this day to the most part. I mean, I'm at risk for injury easier. I can if I twist my ankle coming out of here, I could be really [ __ ]
Yeah. But I was okay, you know. So I stayed. I finished the full year in the deployment. So, but when that happened, well, guess what the solution is? Pain pills. You know,
Ken Rideout
I'm shocked that they would give you those while you're over there because,
Evan Slaughter
Dude, I was getting them over there. And then when I come home, they put me on pain management.
And so I'm going and getting 120 Roxy's, 30 milligram Roxy's a month. Four a day.
Ken Rideout
No way.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Prescribed four a day.
Ken Rideout
Doctor in there, right? [ __ ]
Evan Slaughter
Before the pain management. This was before people caught on.
Ken Rideout
What? here.
Evan Slaughter
This was 2011.
Ken Rideout
Oh no, dude.
Evan Slaughter
2012. 2012.
Ken Rideout
We're We're in the mix in getting bad.
When I started it was in like 99, 2000, 2001. Like when I was living in London, I think I was the first person there to ever receive a prescription for OxyContin. Dude, I'd go to the pharmacy and the pharmacist would be like, I never even heard of this. I got to order it.
Evan Slaughter
Oh my god.
Ken Rideout
And they start ordering. I would go in so frequently. I had this doctor who was had a drinking problem and he prescribed me like hundreds of of oxycottton a he didn't really know what it was.
So I was like it was like a blessing and a curse. The junkie in me was like yes.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
The the normal person inside of me was like oh we're [ __ ]
Evan Slaughter
You're like your life is over.
Ken Rideout
We're [ __ ] And I was getting they came in a blister pack. You know you pop them out pink. I think they were pink 30 milligrams and and literally the pharmacist was like you're the person you're the only person that ever gets this. So we order like several you know big boxes of it. So we're ready whenever you come in. Let me just have all the boxes. I'm a [ __ ] loser.
Evan Slaughter
Where do you keep those boxes out of here?
Ken Rideout
So So they So
Evan Slaughter
That got me back on the open.
Ken Rideout
So they they get you back on it. And were you like with your experience, were you thinking like, "Oh, I I really shouldn't do this."
Evan Slaughter
Oh, yeah. Yeah. I knew I knew in my mind that's was not a good idea. But at the same time, I was also like, "But it's justified. I'm at least it's being prescribed to me this time and I'm not buying them off the street and at least I have a legitimate reason to take the you know. Yeah.
So I'm I'm you know in my mind I'm justifying it
But I know it's only going to lead to to more problems. So by the time I go to get out of the military I'm you know hooked on opiates again
And I know at that point dude I would I would get that 120 script of these 30 milligram Roxies and they would be gone in the weekend. I would pick them up
Ken Rideout
Friday. Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
And by Monday I'm running running out.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
You know, cuz I could take them all day every day.
Ken Rideout
Yeah. Same.
Evan Slaughter
In a day.
Ken Rideout
When I tell people they're like I can tell a lot of people that don't understand that that [clears throat] problem look at me like I'm lying. And I'm like I wish I wish I was lying.
Evan Slaughter
I could take 2010 lure tabs at one time. I used to take 2010 Percocet or Lortabs at one time.
Ken Rideout
Yeah. I much prefer Percocet to Lortab. Oxycodone versus hydrocodone.
Um, but you become an expert in all the codones.
Evan Slaughter
Oh, dude. I could be a pharmacist. As long as it's class one narcotics, [clears throat] I can tell you all about it.
Ken Rideout
So, you come home from that deployment fully whacked out and now probably
Evan Slaughter
I'm struggling, man. I'm struggling. You know, I'm got issues from PTSD that, you know, cuz I had gone to a PTSD thing. I had done some PTSD treatment when I got back.
I was injured in combat. So they sent me to this little two-eek thing and then I had to go to another impatient facility for a little bit, you know, and I was trying to manage the opiates and this and you know, all of it. So I was PTSD manifesting itself. How did you realize like I got to deal with this? What was your behavior or what what what what was the um symptom? What were the symptoms?
So, you know, it's a good question because I didn't even know like if you asked me if I had PTSD at the time, I would say no, I'm fine. I have no idea what's going on. But it was little things like because I did a lot of driving over there, right? And when you're driving over there, you know, you're in a combat situation. You're driving lead of the convoy. You're trying not to get shot at or blown up or this or that or watch this on the road or turn, you know, there's a lot going on.
So, you're just like speeding, flying, driving in crazy situations. So, when I got back, I was I had a driving problem. I was flying. I would get on the interstate and just naturally start hauling ass. and I got so many speeding tickets that they suspended my license and it happened in like a short amount of time, you know. So, that's going on.
Uh, you know, didn't want to be in crowds, isolating a lot. Not my sociable self take, you know, numbing everything by taking these opiates, just all of the above. [clears throat]
So, you know, I get out, I'm back, I'm back in Birmingham living with my parents, trying to figure out what I'm going to do. and I see a civilian doctor who's given me um [clears throat] volume and at this point I was trying to get off the opiates so I was taking suboxin so I was on suboxin and volume all right
Ken Rideout
So worse
Evan Slaughter
So you know I'm out of my mind um and I was abusing the volume
Obviously um and so I decide one day to prescribe myself some volume so I find a pill bottle of my dad's that has a DEA a you know doctor's number on it and all this stuff and I start calling around the pharmacies cuz I've seen them phone in class one narcotics before. I know this can be done over the phone.
Ken Rideout
Believe me when I tell you I know
Evan Slaughter
I was I know this can be done over the phone.
Ken Rideout
I tell people all the time I went in I was such a loser. I went into a pharmacy in LA in like 2003 and I convinced in Beverly Hills the pharmacist to give me 20 10 milligram Percocets. No prescription, no doctor, no nothing.
And the guy was like, I gave him those, you know, a junkie will tell you anything. They will do anything to get those drugs. It's like people don't understand. It's like the strongest love affair you've ever had. You'll do anything for these.
Evan Slaughter
Oh, yeah.
Ken Rideout
From there, I was on a uh I went to Hawaii cuz on the surface, I was making millions of dollars working in finance. I went to Hawaii to the Four Seasons. I called a doctor for a house call,
Put the money out on the table, and I was like, "Hey, I I I've got a broken back, some bullshit." And I was like, "I just need some Percocet. I don't have my prescription with me." The guy's hesitant. And I'm like, "Oh, all right." And then I take the money. I'm like, "I'm not going to pay him if he's not going to give me the prescription is what I'm insinuating." And he's like, "Yeah, okay. Yeah. What did you want?"
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah.
Ken Rideout
And and cuz he took the cash and it was not even going to go through his company. Right. So,
So all that to say when you're describing your situation, like to put it in perspective for the true junkies out there, know that like none of this is surprising, but the normal people are going to be like, "You did what?"
So, go ahead. You take the DA number, you call in theies,
Evan Slaughter
Phone call in the Yeah. So, I start trying to call in and was just going to prescribe myself some medication, you know,
And uh and the first pharmacy I call, you know, obviously that sends off an alert to the police that this is happening. And I didn't know that. So I call, you know, get a no from this pharmacy, no from this pharmacy, no from this pharmacy. Then I call this pharmacy and they're like, "We'll call you right back."
Ken Rideout
Of course. Of course.
Evan Slaughter
And they call me back. And uh they're like, "We got your prescription up here, Mr. Slaughter. You can come."
Uh cuz I was using a Wi-Fi calling app and acting like a doctor and prescribing it to myself. So it was like two different people scenario, you know? So they call me the patient back. Hey, your doctor called. We've got your prescription up here. I [snorts] go up to the pharmacy and I'm thinking, is this too good to be true? You know,
But I really wanted the pills. So, I like, you know, I was in a reconnaissance unit, too. So, I like try to do some reconnaissance, you know, and I'm looking around, don't see any cops anywhere, you know. So, I go up to pay for the medication and as soon as I do, a cop comes out from behind me somewhere.
Ken Rideout
By the way, they're not exactly out there with the [ __ ] lights on, ready to like
Evan Slaughter
Oh, yeah.
Ken Rideout
Clue you clue you into the fact that you're about to get pinched.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. They Yeah, that's right. They did their job well, you know. They pop out. They This is in Alabama. Yeah. But they couldn't get me on the forging the prescription because I used a Wi-Fi calling app. I didn't say my name. I did, you know, I acted as a different person. I was like, I don't know. I just got a phone call from the pharmacy saying my prescription was ready.
You know, such a charge me unlawful possession of a controlled substance and take me to county jail. And so I I but that was the first time like real arrest, you know, you're in trouble situation uh from this that had happened. And so I start going through there. They put me in the veterans court program. My family knew the DA really well. He went to church with me growing up and you know, you know, he's known me since I was a little kid at church and all this.
So they knew what was going on. They were trying to help me. You know, they knew that I had problems, was injured in combat, all these things. So they put me in the little veterans court program and I start doing, you know, doing the deal. I had to go back to treatment during that. You know, I come out, I'm doing doing good. I graduate the veterans court program and I would stay sober for a while and then something would happen and I would go right back to, you know, so I did that dance for several years and then the last time I went to rehab
Um was 2021 and I did three months at this place and it changed my life. You know, place was it's called Turning Point in Alabama, Thorsby, Alabama. It's just like a little farm on some land, you know. It's a it's a faith-based facility. It's it's nonprofit, you know. I knew the director, you know, who was running it and everything. And and I go there, man. And like that's where I learned pickle ball. So, I start playing pickle ball at this facility. And like I'm there and I'm like, so really like everything I've done in life, I've learned at figured out at rehab.
You know, I joined the military from rehab. Now I'm learning pickle ball at rehab. So when I'd come out of this rehab 3 months later, you know, I'm starting life over
And I was in a different place, you know, it's just a lot had happened and I was ready for change at this point. I was more mature now. I was getting older. I was like ready to do something about it. And I come out, man, and and graduate feeling good. I'm moved back in with my parents for a little bit of time. I sell the house I own. So I get rid of any debt I have and I start, you know, making funny videos and playing pickle ball.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
And then the rest is history. Before we get into that, what after you got injured in Afghanistan and you come back, he's still whacked out on the pills. Do you Was it just one deployment?
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
And you were in for a total of four and a half years. Yeah.
So, where would you be station most of the time in that case?
Evan Slaughter
Fort Hood.
Ken Rideout
Fort Hood is
Evan Slaughter
I was in Fort Hood, Texas. Texas.
Yeah. They changed the name of it now. Um there was a girl actually that went missing there that was killed murder and they changed the name last few years, right?
Ken Rideout
Yeah. Not long ago.
So sad.
It was crazy. How did you like the actual like day-to-day life of being in the army?
Evan Slaughter
I liked it. You know, I liked the structure. I liked um [clears throat] I didn't have to think about things, you know, you knew what you were supposed to wear and when you were supposed to wear it and where you were supposed to be and you know, everything was told to you to do and it just made it easy, you know.
Um it was easier then to do that. Um, now I would hate it obviously, but uh once you get some freedom back and you get to choose your own clothes and stuff like that, you know,
I would hate it now probably, but I I liked it.
Ken Rideout
All right, so then you're making the funny videos. How quickly before you think like, oh [ __ ] I'm actually really funny and people are validating it.
Evan Slaughter
So really just, you know, I was doing the funny videos because um, you know, I like I like humor. I like making people laugh. I like creating and I was having fun with it. Uh, you know, it wasn't none of it was ever planned like, you know, I know some people start an account like I'm going to make this a business. I'm going to do the you know, I'm going to be deliberate about this and that's one approach, but for me it just wasn't like that.
I was just starting an account
Having fun making videos about things that I was doing in life and then they started to take off. So, like once one video went viral,
That's all I needed to know in my mind to know that I people like this. I remember the first viral video was one of the single mom videos I had. I'm just like in my parents' backyard. People don't know that, but I'm like living at my parents in my 30s, you know, starting over making Tik Toks in my parents' backyard. And I'm like leaned up against the side of the house and uh got these like short jean shorts on, you know, I've got the dad bod going.
I've got this shovel and I just had like slow zoom in on the camera with like some boys to men song playing in the background and it says, you know, trying to get a single mom next door to notice me and it took off. You know, it did close to a million. It was like 700 something thousand views on TikTok. And at the time, that was the first time that's ever happened for me. And I was like, whoa, this is, you know, people like this.
And it was something I had come up with on my own. It wasn't something I had seen or this and that. I just like I came up with this, you know, and it and I tested it and it worked. People liked it. So, I started just hammering that, you know, and it kind of became a trend on TikTok for a little while. Other people were doing that, you know, trying to make it funny and trying to do their thing.
And so, yeah, dude, I just had success with that and in my, you know, I needed the confidence to know like this is
People find you funny, you know, once you get that reassuring because you don't know. I mean, you put something out there. If you were to go create a sketch comedy video right now and put it out there and and you keep doing that and no one it doesn't ever take off, it's a good sign that you're like, "Ah, I don't know how I feel about this guy." But once it does one time,
Ken Rideout
Y
Evan Slaughter
It says, "Hey, at least people liked it enough one time to get millions of views, so let me just keep pursuing this." I think really the key the key takeaway for me listening to that and I hope that the audience gets this is like no one is ever going to come and tell you this is how you do it. We're all figuring out like people will ask me for running advice. I'm like buddy you know that I'm making this up right?
Ken Rideout
Like honestly they're like what about these shoes and what about these supplements? I said everything that I have learned. I mean, I eventually had a coach, Mario Freyoli. Shout out to Mario who's awesome and he structured workouts, but he'll be the first to tell you like I got myself eventually down to 233 and then Mario professionalized everything and got me to run a 228 in one training block with him. But more importantly, when people like, "Oh, you must know this. You know that." It's like, "What do you know about comedy skits on on social media?" I know what I did trial and error.
I know that I just had to take shots on net and eventually some of the shots went in,
But no one wants to talk about the bloopers. No one wants to talk about the shots you threw into the neighbor's yard, the [ __ ] basketball landed on top of the picket fence. You know what I mean? Like,
Evan Slaughter
Yeah,
Ken Rideout
If you're afraid to have any kind of failure or ever be embarrassed, congrats. You'll never have to be a winner cuz you'll never take any chances. But that's what I love about your story is that you just put this [ __ ] out there and I get you. I can feel as you're describing it like at times the insecurity might be a strong word but we all have those reservations like is this [ __ ] hit with people like I have a guy that helps me let's post this video I'm like dude I sound like an idiot or a narcissist it's all a bit narcissistic if you
Evan Slaughter
Just got to see what works you're never going to know until you put it out there you're going to have the failures I mean hell 90% of your videos are not going to be viral videos you know like
Yeah I mean very small percentage are going to be viral. Even when you have a big audience, you know, even when you build this big audience, you still have to put work into reaching new people and make, you know, and making something viral. And so
Most of the time that's not going to happen.
Y [clears throat] so it's [snorts] just but but it comes back to I enjoyed it.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
I was, you know, sober and enjoying life and finally found something that I enjoyed doing other than pills and, you know, and I was like, I really like this. This is fun. this is good. I'm not thinking about wanting to do something to destroy my life and someone told me one time and really important. Um I heard it in rehab, you know, cuz cuz there's a lot of different, you know, you mentioned [clears throat] AA and stuff and I've done that, man. I've done the 12 steps 12 times, right?
You know, I've I've worked with a sponsor. I've done those things and there's value in that and I love that and I love the people there and I I understand it and I I get it. you know, I don't I don't currently actively attend a group here. You know, I've worked the 12 steps. I've done that. I know the importance of it. I see the value in it. I would go to some groups, but I still drink socially. You know, I've we talked psychedelics and stuff.
I'm still into that. I understand the importance in that. So, I've taken a little bit of everything. But the main thing was build a life that's not worth throwing away.
Yeah. you know, and whenever I started to do that, that really really resonated with me because what I have now and what I built now, I don't want to go ruin that from, you know, sticking a needle in my arm or taking pills or doing this or that. Like, I don't want to jeopardize that, you know,
Ken Rideout
And that's the biggest difference I think for me. Well, that's the other thing is when you have that kind of social media presence or any kind of social status, once you start doing brand deals, you also have a responsibility to these brands. Like you can't be out there getting pinched for callingarmacies when you're repping uh ALP or whatever other brands you're working with, right? So, if someone were to the to to to to like young guys or or or girls that are out there considering getting into this space like what would you suggest to them as like a first step and like what advice do you give to people who are just starting the social journey cuz it seems like all kids want to be influencers now?
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. You know, and people I talk to people all the time like, "Oh, I you're you do social media stuff. I I've been wanting to do that. I got a little page that I started, you know, and I'm like, great, show it to and I love talking to them,
But then I start telling and I always do this with certain people, you know, I'll offer my time and my help to people cuz I like talking about it and I like helping people that are truly passionate. Miles will tell you himself when he started getting into this, he came to me for help. He still comes to me for questions about how do I navigate this or this and this is what I've learned from the influence, but we share a manager. I got him hooked up with my manager, you know.
So, I'm I like helping and I like talking about it with people, but I always tell them like, "Look,
You're gonna get one shot at this with my time because if you don't start doing the things that I tell you to do and I notice you're not posting and you're not doing exactly what I told you, I'm not going to continue to pour time into helping you.
I can't care more about you to do." Yeah. If you're really passionate about this, that will show by doing the work cuz people don't want to do the work.
They don't understand the work that goes into it. I tell people all the time like, "Hey, like, yeah, this is fun. This is great. You can make good money and you can travel all over the country to go do this, this, and this." But let me tell you something. There's a lot of work that goes into it, dude. It's not just, oh, making a funny video today. No. When you're working 15 brand deals a month and you're doing this and some of them have more than one post a month and this and you're trying to make every video a a good viral quality video, it takes a lot of work and energy.
100%. when you first started doing it after you get out of the army and you get out of the rehab and you're doing kind of what were you doing for work? Have you like what were your some of your real jobs prior to going full-time social? Yeah, so I did uh I got into the multif family business space for a little bit managing apartment complexes in Birmingham. A friend of mine actually that I met in an AA group got me into that and I was good at that, you know.
I mean I I was enjoying it at the time. It was the first real job I had after being in the military. Um, and yeah, so I would I managed like 11 apartment complexes and I handled the renovations and stuff, you know.
Ken Rideout
Did you have those kind of real world skills of carpentry, plumbing, electrical or did you know enough to be dangerous?
Evan Slaughter
I know enough to be dangerous. I've learned enough. I've even taken some jobs that I probably shouldn't have taken myself doing some contra, you know, contracted type rena work on the side. um because you think, "Oh, all it is is, you know, telling other people what needs to be done in the kitchen or, you know, they're the ones that really do the work. I just have to kind of explain it." But,
Uh, yeah, so I had a little bit of that. You know, I'm handy. I knew more than the average dude probably. But I don't need to be Don't hire me to tear your kitchen up and install a new kitchen sink or counter top.
Ken Rideout
Interesting. I have none of those skills. When I say none, I mean none. But it's also something that I don't even like,
You know? So if something needs to be done, I'll just tell my wife like, "How much to make this go away?" Like, and not to be a dick. I'm just like, "Listen,
This is going to take so much of my time that I don't like doing it. It's worth me to spend the money because I value my time as like I'm [ __ ] old. Like when you get to a certain age, they say like a man has two lives. The first one they feel like they're going to live forever and the second one starts the minute they realize they only have one." And that is true. So now I'm like, "No, I value my time. I hate sitting in traffic.
I hate flight delays." obviously like everyone, but I don't know why I get extra anxiety of like do not waste my effing time, which is why again I'm sorry that I was running behind today.
Evan Slaughter
Oh no,
Usually I'm the one running behind.
Ken Rideout
So you so you were the last real job that you had outside of social media was managing
Evan Slaughter
Well, managing those and then that turned into me getting uh kind of recruited [clears throat] by this plumbing company to be their operations manager. So, like I was using this plumbing company for the apartments there and he kept coming trying to get me to work for him, trying to get me to work for him. And then he finally did. Um, and I took a job as operations manager of this plumbing company. So, I was kind of running this plumbing plumbing company. Uh, and that was the last time I had to go to rehab.
So, that all went away whenever I was doing the other stuff and then go to, you know, end up going to rehab,
Which I'm glad I did now.
Ken Rideout
Yeah. [clears throat] That was what you were doing before you started doing the full-time social media. Now that's what you do full-time service
And full-time um social media. I was thinking of the fit fit to serve. So during your journey, we had touched on briefly already a couple times about psychedelics like like any like good junkie or recovering junkie. I think we're always looking for anything to make our lives more
Tolerable and like kind of ease some of whatever pain we're all dealing with. So psychedelics the research behind especially for things like iberane and DMT is like and psilocyb and MDMA there's like real evidence real evidence suggesting that this stuff works
I gain's next up on my list um of things I'm going to do in the next couple months
Evan Slaughter
Same we can go do it together in Mexico I actually have a facility that was going to give me the service for free all I have to do is fly out there
Ken Rideout
Yes let's talk about cuz they they did the same one the CEO wants to come and do the podcast and I Let me do this first. Maybe like let's seriously talk about that cuz that's something we could do.
I don't want I would never think to make content for the ex for the
Evan Slaughter
With the intent of like feeling exploitative like I'm exploit but I also feel like
Ken Rideout
Share my experience.
There is people that are going through our situations that don't have a microphone. They're like, you know, working as an accountant or a truck driver. So to be able to share the experience and that's what I told the CEO of this place that I I'll tell you about is let's be able to talk about the experience because I'm into it. I had Johnny Wilson, former Navy Seal on who now runs uh a company called Envy Health Invi. And basically it's like ties all your Whoop data and all your wearable data to an app that's monitored in real time by a team of people.
So when they see
Some fluctuations in things that shouldn't fluctuate in resting heart rate, sleep, they'll check in with you. Hey, how's everything going? Not good. [ __ ] You haven't slept in three nights. What's going on? Just like and it's like a mental health mental health monitoring system for for vets.
Anyway, he he he's been on the podcast and he's really tight with Sean Ryan over here and they just came back from a uh from a trip down there like last week.
Oh, I was just talking about So, we'll definitely catch up.
Yeah, seriously. I want to do that. But which which ones have you tried?
Evan Slaughter
I've only used mushrooms right now. Um but I I've been wanting to do ayahuasca and then I gain. So both of those kind of came up. Um and I and I was going to do the DMT thing with this counselor lady and that's still probably going to happen.
Ken Rideout
What's her first name?
Evan Slaughter
I can't think of it. She like California. It's always something weird with these. It's always something different with
Ken Rideout
In Malibu. I think it's the same person. [sighs]
Evan Slaughter
I'll have to look in my phone and find it. I I'll I'll look and see. It is It's something like that cuz someone put me on them. Um some friends of mine that have this supplement company that live in Austin, Texas have used them or her and she'll she just got back from Vietnam actually doing more training.
Ken Rideout
She's Yeah, she it's got to be the same exact person. That's where I did it in in I did DMT in Malibu and I did it twice and u it's uh
Evan Slaughter
It's like one of the most profound things I've ever experienced. It was the mushrooms have been great for me too and I've I've like gone back and forth from where I've done like a lot to really have an experience and then some where I've like just micro doed but I always tell people it's like man you got to
Some people that don't get it. There's people that don't get it. They don't understand what are. They don't understand what psychedelics are. And I always tell them, then there's no need for us to have the conversation because you see it as a drug and you see it as something that people, you know, you see it no different as heroin or this and that. That's not what it is. That's not when used properly in the right space and setting with the right intentions. That's that's what that's where the benefit comes from.
It's all about the intentions and what you're doing with it. Like I want to go into these experiences
Understanding like all right, what's the goal here? What do I want to accomplish? you know, and go through it that way. And whenever I've done that, man, it's been amazing. I mean, mushrooms have helped me even even micro doing them in small amounts in certain times has helped me be more creative.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
100% more creative. But it's also something that's not for everybody. And it's something that I had to go through. I had to get to a place where what was the purpose of me doing this? Because if I was approaching mushrooms or something or DMT or some kind of psychedelic like I was with opiates, it was, "Oh, I want to get high. I want to, you know, forget about this or I want to chase this or I want to do No, that's not what it is. It took me years separated from an opiate problem
To get to where I could do something like psychedelics." Yeah.
Is the intention was different.
Ken Rideout
No, that's exactly right. And I've had this conversation with a lot of people is like people who aren't necessarily open to the idea of this, you know, they just there's you're always going to get people that are like, "Oh, it's all [ __ ] I get it."
I say, "Look at this a shitload of evidence." And what I say is like if it if you try it and it works, great. None of these things, by the way, that I I've never done psilocybin, like not not in a therapeutic setting, but with DMT, for instance, like trust me when I tell you, you would never do this recreationally. You would never want to like live basic experience your own death emotionally cuz it is terrifying. But when it's over, you're like, "Oh my god, I'm still alive.
I didn't I didn't really just die. I can like fix the things that need to be fixed." It basically put my entire life into perspective that I was no longer agonizing or even stressing work related issues. I still knew I had to get those things done. It wasn't like you're oblivious or you just don't care about anything. But it really brought my focus into my family and it was like the only thing that matters to me is like the well-being of my wife and children. And when you go through that experience, it it was so profound.
It was like oh my god. Unfortunately, if you don't integrate all this stuff in and do the afterare, it just becomes an experience. And again, not something you would ever want to do. Like it was
To get to the point that I've just described, you have to experience I describe it like being thrown off a building in real time when you're trying to grab on like no what have you done and then when you when I finally accepted like well I'm dead this is happening
Yes it's a dream but in your brain when you come to like that really just happened
And trying to explain it to people that don't want to hear it is like you sound like a crazy person but the ibogaine is supposed to like it has something like a 90% success rate for people that are addicted to hardcore heroin crack and after two time two experiences spaced out over like 6 months or a year the success rate is like 98% something crazy that people stay sober it rewires the brain to stop the cravings which is probably like me what you want I don't want to think about this I don't want to have another dream about getting highly
Evan Slaughter
Yeah yeah and that's why what's that's what's you know intrigued me about ibogaine specific specifically um is they say specifically it's really helpful for opiate addicts specifically especially combat wounded opiate addicts. That's why you see a lot of um guys military related doing the ibogaine stuff. Um the dude Robert whatever is I can't think of his last name. The guy that you know the one that shot Osama Rob O'Neal was big Ibane guy.
I think he's done it a couple times. Um, what's crazy too, man, is like not just ibogaine specifically, but
With the whole, you know, psychedelic experience and and the DMT and this and that,
Ken Rideout
You hear a lot of billionaires
Evan Slaughter
That have had these experiences. The guy that started GoDaddy, he's a billionaire. I've heard him speak at a veteran, it was a veteran organization I've done some stuff with that Chubbies helped sponsor that's big. We would go to New York for this big thing, you know, thing every year, their gala or whatever. and he spoke at one of them the the guy and he's he's a trip. I have to find his name. He started GoDaddy. He's a trip. He was up there for like two and a half hours.
Ken Rideout
Oh my god.
Evan Slaughter
They had to get him off the
I was going to say was he on Bender at the time,
But he started talking about mushrooms at a place in a room where it wasn't the time to talk about mushroom. You know what I mean? Like this is, you know, people suffering with mental health around PTSD and stuff.
Not a great time to let's Yeah. Don't be pushing people on having a mushroom trip, you know. Bob was his name. Bob some he was a trip man. But he starts sharing his psychedelic journey up there with everybody, you know, and uh it was just it made me realize like, dude, there's a lot of successful, very wealthy individuals that have had these experiences.
Ken Rideout
So, there's something to it. Well, let me tell you something. And I preach this all the time with regards to my own story is like if you think that money is going to make you happy if you're in a bad place.
I can promise you. I promise you.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
Being a junkie with money just makes getting drugs so much easier and it's not going to help your problem. And guess what? I was poor and then I became rich relatively speaking and I developed a drug addiction as a wealthy person.
Evan Slaughter
And
Ken Rideout
What you realize is you're coming wherever you go. You're going with you. So like you can move away that drug problem. You went to Afghanistan. Guess what? Found me in Afghanistan. Never leave. You have to deal with this. And if these psychedelics can help rewire some of that those thought patterns and like get me out of the cycle of, you know, you probably know certain things happen. I feel triggered. It leads to this. Then I justify calling this guy. The next thing you know I got and the whole time you're miserable.
You're like, I know I'm about to get these pills and I should be happy.
Yeah.
But I'm like miserable cuz I know what's coming.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. I'm screwed. That's the whole that was the whole feeling is I'm screwed and I can't stop from doing, you know. [snorts] But I agree. That's the thing is a lot of these these billionaires, you know, the ones that I've been referring to that have done the psychedelic thing, they had this psychedelic experience as a billionaire. So it wasn't like
They did this and then they went and found their pathway to get rich. It was like, "No, they found that pathway, but for some reason, they were still miserable."
Ken Rideout
That's exactly [clears throat] right. It's the money that
Evan Slaughter
That's what speaks to me more about it than, you know, it's not about getting rich and doing this and then finding the key to making all this money. No, it's it's they found the money and all that, but they still were looking for something more.
Ken Rideout
That's right.
Evan Slaughter
So, that's the value in it.
Ken Rideout
The peace of mind having community, building the kind of life that you're building right now of living in Nashville. You got a good core of friends. It reflects in the um in the work that you publish on social media. I think like you're doing it. Would it be nice to have like to be able to buy a [ __ ] Ferrari and a like fancy truck? Yeah, that all those things you could create. But what you realize is when you have those things cuz I've been lucky.
Like I've bought some nice cars.
The nicer the car is, it's almost like the more my anxiety goes up cuz now I've got to like worry about where am I parking this car? Oh, someone banged into my car. How dare you?
Same thing with buying a fancy watch. It's like you get this watch like, "Yes, I have this." Then you realize all I've done is taken on this massive responsibility. Where'd I leave my watch? Did it bang into something? And it's like, "Yeah, I like nice stuff." But when you think about the actual act of getting it, it can really put things into perspective. You're like, "Yeah, you know what? I don't really need that.
I love them. Don't get me wrong. I still do. But
It would be nice to have a Ferrari to tool around town in, but it wouldn't be very practical."
Evan Slaughter
I just bought a used motorcycle.
Let's go. What kind? Actually, this is a Ducati. And but but here's the thing. I grew up on motorcycles. I love motorcycles. Been riding motorcycles since I was 9 years old. My dad was actually certified to race superbikes.
And so we had some. And so I told myself, I was like, when the time's right, I'm going to get a motorcycle again, you know, and looking online the other day, I just got the itch again. And I, you know, it was the first purchase I can say now that was like feels somewhat responsible. It's like, you know, I waited for the right time. I had, you know, I'm able to pay cash for it. you know, all those indicators. And but I found a sweet deal at this place, Nashville Motos.
They do Ducati and BMW. It was used 2010. They wanted $4,800 for it. It's Ducati. And I was like, I'm just going to go look. I've haven't seen a Ducati even though it's a 2010 for this price at a dealership.
Ken Rideout
You know, we go down there.
Evan Slaughter
It's the 796 Motard. So, it's like a It's called a Hypermotard. It's like sporty but like upright bike a little bit. 796. cuz I wanted something I could just ride around Nashville. And I I they get down there and they're like, "How many miles does it have on?" He turns it on. 1,800 miles on this Ducati that was like $4,800.
And I told him, I was like, "I'll give you $4,000 cash for it right now." And they were like, "Let's do it."
Ken Rideout
They're never going to sell that.
Evan Slaughter
I turn around and sell that bike today for probably $5,500 or $6,000. So, I was thinking, "This is a good purchase." Like, I I made some money.
Ken Rideout
Even if it wasn't even if you're looking for a Ducati, but I got one. Even if it wasn't a good purchase, do you like the bike? Like you're a motorcycle,
Evan Slaughter
Pay cash for it. Yeah.
Ken Rideout
Same thing with buying a house. Like we've, my wife and I have purchased a few houses over the year that we've lived in and you know, we'll go in, we bought an apartment in New York when we first got married. We walked into the first apartment we saw. I was like, we're looking. It's nice. Brand new penthouse on the top floor. It ended up being a debacle cuz it was right before the financial crisis. But nevertheless, as I'm buying it, floor to ceiling windows, fireplace built into the windows.
So, you're looking at the fireplace and the Huds and the um Hudson River Pat. Dude, it was insane.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
And uh I go in one of the bedrooms and say to my wife, "Dude, I love it. I'm going to pull the trigger." She's like, "What? What are you crazy? We haven't even looked at the other places. We got 10 places." See, I'm like, "I know, but I like this." And she's like, "I mean, I like it, too. What are you going to offer them?" I'm like, "I'm going to offer them this this, but at the end of the day, I want the house. If they say they're not going to do this, I'm just going to be like, "Give it to me.
Could I save a hundred grand?" Yeah, maybe. But I want to live here. Yeah. Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
And that's the thing is people get hung up on like if you want to live there like at your house or not investment, buy it. Same thing with the motorcycle. I want it.
Yeah. I'm getting it.
Deal with it. That's right. That's right.
Ken Rideout
So, how often do you ride it?
Evan Slaughter
Uh, I try to ride it a Yeah, I haven't had it but a couple weeks. But
What's great about it cuz I also had like I I bought this truck whenever I was like, you know, had gotten out of that last rehab. I sold that house I was telling you about. I was, you know, living at my parents getting my [ __ ] together again for the last time. Hopefully, I had cash in the bank from that selling the house and getting I paid off all the debt I owed. I owed like 40 grand going into rehab.
And so that felt good, you know. And so I was like, I still have some money left to get a vehicle. So I found this 2003 Toyota Tacoma that was great. 185,000 miles, garage kept. Yeah, it was sick. It was a 2003. I bought it in 2022 for aund, you know, for 15 grand with 185,000 mi. Still drive it to this day. It's insane that a car these days can have 100 if a car had 100,000 miles when I was like first started driving. It was like a [ __ ] Model T,
Ken Rideout
Right?
Evan Slaughter
It was like there's no way you can buy that car. Yeah. And that's young for a Toyota Tacoma like that. So anyways, I that's was one of the reasons around getting the motorcycle is I can have I can put this Tacoma up. I can park it cuz I live in an apartment downtown. We have gated parking and all that, but it's in a parking garage.
Yeah. So I can I can stop driving the Tacoma so much, keep the miles off of it, and now I can ride around with the motorcycle. So I go to Todd Cotton Todd and Katie's on it or ride around, you know, but I ride it, you know, a little bit every day. I try to for a just an hour or something.
Ken Rideout
And how much um part of the theme of your if anyone hasn't seen your social media, they should absolutely check it out. But one of the big themes is pickle ball.
Evan Slaughter
Ah, yeah.
Ken Rideout
How's your pickle ball game? Like can you really play?
Evan Slaughter
I can play. A lot of people always ask me that. I can play. Uh I'm not the guy that's like going to get into it and go enter all these tournaments and take it so seriously because for me pickle ball is exactly what it is for me now. You know, it's changed a little bit with the content because it's kind of a job in that aspect. But the reason I liked pickle ball and the reason I started playing pickle ball was for the socialization.
Yeah. Um, it was the first thing I had done at this rehab where I could laugh again with a group of guys that wasn't, you know, I was sober, I was feeling good, we were having fun, we were, you know, I fell in love with the game for those reasons and I try to kind of keep it that way
And I and I still try to use it. So yeah, like I'm involved in some things where I go and I'm, you know, at this tournament where they're playing professional pickle ball and I'm learning that world and I'm involved in that world to a certain degree, but when it comes to me playing pickle ball, um it's it's because I enjoy the socialization and introducing people to the game and it's a form of exercise and it's a form of this and it's you know, it's just all those good things.
Ken Rideout
Yeah. And I asked you about this, but you've played against uh with and against Eric Decker.
Evan Slaughter
I have a couple times. We've played in the same scenario. And actually, me and my buddy Brock beat him and his wife in a doubles match at uh this little tournament a couple years ago, but he's he's good. He's good. And I don't know if he's trying, you know, if he's getting good that good on purpose, if there's something to it.
Ken Rideout
I think he wanted to make a run at like maybe playing competitive. Dude, he's like the best athlete I know. He's another one that I can't stand.
Tall, handsome, super athletic. I'm like this [ __ ] guy. I was just telling Matt Cassel this. I'm like I meet like with Miles. I meet these guys. I'm like come on man.
Evan Slaughter
Can I get like one thing?
Ken Rideout
They got to be like handsome, tall, athletic.
You know, at least you're not losing your hair. That's something I always point out as I've got my hair. So, but Decker is an insane athlete and when he gets going on the pickle
Evan Slaughter
Court,
Ken Rideout
He's ruthless. [clears throat]
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah. They're really, really good. I was trying to think who won the thing that I was at that we played at for the CMA Fest. We did this little local celebrity thing for Dinkville. Kid Rock played in it. Kid Rock's actually good. He's got a court at his house. He's I think him and his partner Golden Tate is another football player who's really good at pickle ball.
Ken Rideout
I think they ended up winning it. I could be wrong. It could have been I just got connected to Golden Tate recently. I
Evan Slaughter
He's a great dude. Really cool guy.
Ken Rideout
Really nice guy.
Evan Slaughter
Plays in the He played in the little celebrity softball thing they do for CMA week. Yeah.
That's a lot of fun. I was there. Yeah. Yeah. I got to go out and do some sideline interview stuff for them.
Ken Rideout
Uh
I'm hoping one of these days they invite me. My celebrity status is high enough for them.
Evan Slaughter
You know, they have a mix. It's like it's getting more, but they'll have some where you're like, "Oh, how did that person play? Where the [ __ ] is that person?" And then they have some that you're like, "Oh, you know, Zack Top and all these big country, you know,
Ken Rideout
music do is get in there and have everyone be like, "Who the [ __ ] is that guy? Why is he here?
Who's he? He's the tallest.
I'm playing in the damn tournament. That's right. That's all you need. Worry about yourself.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Big enough to play in this tournament apparently.
Ken Rideout
How did the um how did the name fit to serve come about?
Evan Slaughter
So fit to serve actually when I got out of the military. [clears throat] Um I started cuz I was in the fitness thing. I was trying to do that again when I got out of the army. You know, I was struggling with the pills still, but I would find periods of time where I was doing really good. And I was trying to start this workout group that was just free workout. You know, I was still doing some personal training on the side, but I wanted this to be a free thing people could come to to exercise.
And the point behind it was we need to be fit and able to serve others. So, you know, there's a particular Bible verse that talks about, you know, go and serve. Well, how do you go if you're not physically able to go? You know, you got to be physically fit and able to serve. And my mindset changed about that one day when this lady came who was permanently bound to a wheelchair. She was disabled. She could, you know, use her upper body. I forgot what condition she had, but I knew her and, you know, some people, her sister, their family that goes to this the church that I grew up in, a lot of them were coming to the workout thing.
Um, and it m it made me realize like, dude, you know, and she came and she did some upper body stuff and just wanted to be out there, you know, and so I kind of stopped doing that, you know, I'd gone through some more struggles and then came back to it. And then whenever I came back to my Instagram account years later after getting out of this last rehab and going and do the pickle ball thing, I just kept the name Fit to Serve.
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
Um, I'd already established that as my account and that was just going to be my name. But the purpose of it had changed because I realized that
Fit now for me in that context doesn't mean physical fitness. It means equipped.
We're all equipped of being of service in some kind of way. And for me, that's what it comes down to. What's the purpose of anything?
You know, it's finding our purpose and then being able to help others with that purpose. You know, that's what it's all about for me. And I learned that for me, you know, because it's funny because after I got sober off opiates, you know, I gained a bunch of weight because I found comfort in food. I wasn't doing the opiates. I now was finding more comfort in food. And that's that's something I'm realizing was part of my journey, too, because now I'm having to work my ass off to get back in the shape I was in.
And I've gained an appreciation for people that are out of shape, and I can approach them differently, and I can approach that scenario differently. A lot of my content was fitness content and I was doing fitness content, taking my shirt off this out of shape guy doing his thing because I didn't care. I didn't care what others thought about me or what they were going to say. And I started getting messages from people that were like, "Hey, I know this is funny and you're just doing your thing, whatever, but this is really helping me.
This is helping me find the confidence to get back to the gym. This is helping me do this, this, and this." So, I realized there was a purpose to it. So for me it was like fit to serve is like hey we're all equipped in some way to be of service to others. Figure out what that is and you'll find the key to this thing, you know. So you don't have to be, you know, in the great greatest shape. You don't have to be this this.
You can be a school teacher and maybe your purpose is to work with kids and maybe that's what brings you joy and you're of service through that, you know, when you do that job. Um you found your purpose, you know. So that's that's all it was for me. It's like we're all fit. We're all equipped in some way to be of service of others. Find out what that is, you know, figure out what that is. And for me, it's comedy.
Ken Rideout
I love it. [clears throat] No, there's a saying in in recovery that um being of service like there or there's a theme in recovery of being of service to others. It's like a big part of the process. Yeah. And like you know, they say something like you only get to keep what you're willing to give away.
Yeah. And it's like, you know, if time is important to you, then you should be willing to give some away because that's where like that's where you know you're really making an effort when you're giving up things that aren't easy to give up, which is time for me.
Evan Slaughter
But um%
Ken Rideout
So where were you living before right before you moved to Nashville?
Evan Slaughter
Uh Birmingham, Hoover, Alabama.
Ken Rideout
And you met um you met Todd and Katie at what what event?
You probably heard of Bloss.
Evan Slaughter
Oh, Bloss with with them in Austin.
Ken Rideout
Okay. Yeah. And then you told him that you were thinking about coming and Todd was like, "Let's go."
Evan Slaughter
I was actually thinking about moving to Austin and he just was like, "You should come to Nashville."
Ken Rideout
Yeah.
Evan Slaughter
I was like, "All right,
Done."
Ken Rideout
It's really worked because like I would have thought you were friends with all the people in his little crew of Nashville guys like Miles and them. I would have thought you've known these guys for years. It's refreshing to think that you just came here quickly, found this friend group, and have like they've all like kind of adopted each other.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. No, I think it was the end of 2022 or the beginning of 2023 that I moved up here. So, it hadn't been that long. Three years. A little over three years.
Ken Rideout
Yeah. So, daytoday your job essentially is putting out content. Who are the um who are some of your brand partners? Let's give them shout outs.
Evan Slaughter
Oh, man. Let's look.
Ken Rideout
I don't want to put you on the spot, but when you think
Evan Slaughter
Pickle Ball Paddle Company, um it's crazy, man. I've been fortunate to work with a lot of different brands deals. You know, Chubbies clothing. Um, RX Smarker is a big one. U jump rope. They make jump ropes cuz I was doing the CrossFit thing for a for a long time.
Ken Rideout
How many muscle-ups can you do?
Evan Slaughter
Uh, just about 10 in a row right now. But, dude, I've gotten close. I used to bang out pull-ups. That's what I'm trying to get back to now. I think I could do like 29 pull like dead hang good pull-ups. And I was, you know, I was always so strong for being lightweight. But Alp Pouch is another great one. Um, [clears throat] Crossover Symmetry is another partner I work with that makes the bands and stuff. Those would be good for your home. They're really well known for for that.
Um, and obviously we shout out Todd, Dream Recovery. Dreamovery. That's how it really started with Todd was I
He wanted me to make content for them. I still make content for them now.
Ken Rideout
[snorts]
Evan Slaughter
Um, that's how we met originally. Well, no, we met, then he called me about making content, you know, invited me to move to Nashville, then he calls me and start, you know, making content for him.
Ken Rideout
Yeah,
You make really good your your content for Dream Recovery is great. And I love those guys. Shout out Todd Anderson and the Dream Recovery Crew. But,
You know, the reason I asked about the sponsors and the brand partners is because look, and it's important, right? you're obligated to promote these brands and work them, but it's a [ __ ] science. It's a balancing act. If you promote the brand too much,
The audience gets resentful of you and the brand. And I tell brands that all the time, like, hey, let's do a deal. We want um three reels a month. I'm like, I'll give you three reels a week. But I am telling you, if we post three reels a month from my account, they are going to revolt. No one wants that. You have to be strategic. make one good one a month and then if you want to run it and put marketing dollars behind it, that's cool.
So, because now we're managing these brand deals for so many people, I've become like a quasi expert in like strategizing about how and when to post. I still have zero creativity, but I do love the act of strategizing and coming out like how can we get the most bang for buck? Cuz what I would tell a brand if they're working with you is like listen, he's a comedian. He's not a salesperson.
He's going to understand the basics and we take pride in the partnership. We want to deliver a value, but it's really on the brand to understand where and when to spend dollars behind a particular post. Oh, that post is really good. Let's put some money behind it. Whitel listing and do that. And um it's a whole business that unless people are in it, obviously there's not much to know because it's all so new. But it's very exciting,
But you got to be in it these days.
Evan Slaughter
You have to got to be in it if you're a business out there. And like there's so many different ways to approach it. Yep. And for me, my thing is, I've always said, "Look, don't hire me if you're so fixated on," all right, we're going to hire Evan. He's going to make this video and then we're going to sell a 100,000. How many followers do you have? 360,000. So, we should sell 360,000 of these, you know, whatever. It's like, yeah, it's like, dude, that's not realistic in a lot of sense.
Hire me because you're trying to brand your business better. You got to have an online presence. You've got to make videos. We're going to we're going to have some ROI. We're going to create some customers, you know, but what I want to do is make a viral video that you and I collab on that organically puts the product in the video and then, you know, let it sell and then let people come and start following your account. You need to grow an audience and then you have your own customer base to sell to.
You know,
Ken Rideout
It's a slow burn. You're not going to like hit them over the head with one ad. And it's like it takes months. And that's the thing about doing these brand deals is I always say don't make any assessments in until two or 3 months in because it takes people to like sometimes they need to see the ad two or three times.
I mean I still I've been doing ads for a company called Curex that makes insoles that I've been genuinely using for almost 10 years.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah. Yeah.
Ken Rideout
I started working with them and it was like not immediate success. But since we've been working together like I've sold more insoles for them I think than everyone else combined because people know that I actually use them. I'm like that, you know, they they and I don't I don't need anything. I don't need to [ __ ] tell you I use a product that I don't really use. And I think that my audience knows that. So when I say like, hey, I really use these. They're in every pair.
They're in my shoes right now.
And people love that. But the point is it wasn't instantaneous. But now that it's there, like every single week I'll get anytime I post anything that people be like, "Oh, dude, took your advice. I use these things." So those are the best partnerships. Like you really use nicotine, then ALP is a good fit for you. I like the athletic nicotine guys because it's like lower dose and it has some of the some different benefits. But um
Yeah, that's why I always give people I like to give people a chance to like mention there, you know, cuz that's a big part of thing is like we're working in organically wherever you can.
Evan Slaughter
I can do what I do because of those brands.
Ken Rideout
That's exactly right. And um so now you've like where are you living in Nashville?
Evan Slaughter
I live in the Gulch area downtown. Beautiful. Just like an apartment complex down there. It's great. I love it. I figured you do for a four seasons thing. Well, you know, I'm trying to get I'm trying to get there, but I like it. You know, I can leave my apartment and walk to Broadway if I want to and I can, you know, I'm right down there in the mix. So, it's fun. Enjoy it while I can, I guess. You know,
Ken Rideout
I love it, dude. Well, listen, I want to be sensitive to your time. Fourth of July tomorrow. I really appreciate you doing this. To find, guys, to find Evan, it's Evan Slaughter at fittoserve. F I T2 S E R V E DM you if they brands want to do a partnership with you. Get in touch. If anyone if you can't find him, DM me. I'll connect you with Evan. But um
Purple Heart recipient I forgot to mention. Obviously comes with getting injured in combat.
Evan Slaughter
Yeah.
Ken Rideout
Are you a proud member of the VFW yet?
Evan Slaughter
Uh I do some stuff for the VFW. Yeah, I have. I have in the past. So love the VFW.
Ken Rideout
Hell yeah, dude. It's funny to think of us guys like my slash your age in the VFW cuz when I was a kid, you know, all the World War II and Vietnam veterans, it was like where old guys go and drink and now we're like, "Wait a minute, you're in the VFW? Like, I'm a veteran of a foreign war." Of course I am. This is so freaking awesome. Well, Evan, I appreciate you doing this. I appreciate you doing it. So close to the holiday. I absolutely love your work.
I'm definitely going to do some content with you and Miles around here. have to
But I have to come out the ultimate alpha at the end. Otherwise, I don't think it will be. That's what we got to do.
I don't think it would be believable.
Evan Slaughter
When you get your garage gym sent up, we'll go down. That's what one of the things we'll shoot for Southern Closet.
Ken Rideout
Hell yeah. And I love those guys. Shout out Southern Closets. But listen,
Sincerely, thank you so much. I love everything you're doing. As they say in recovery, keep going. You're killing it. You're an inspiration to a lot of people. And I do think that um getting people to laugh and and find the humor in these shitty situations is um for me it's been the only way to deal with it. So
Thank you for everything. I appreciate you.
Evan Slaughter
I appreciate it, man.
Ken Rideout
And to the audience, happy 4th of July. Belated at this point, but um thanks for being with us. Please subscribe to the channel. It would be massively helpful. And leave a review if you feel so inclined. Love you guys. Happy 4th. Like I said, boom. All right, guys. I hope you enjoyed that conversation as much as I did. Please take a quick minute to subscribe to the podcast wherever you're listening. This is a new show, so subscribing makes a huge difference. Please also take a minute to give it a review and leave a comment on Apple Podcast and on Spotify.
You can also subscribe and leave a comment on YouTube. Again, this is really important for us, especially now since we're just getting started.
Thanks a lot for being with us and we'll see you next
Key takeaways
- A prescription for pain can pull someone back into addiction after a period of recovery.
- Slaughter says service and a sense of purpose helped him rebuild after repeated treatment and legal trouble.
- Comedy gave Slaughter a way to connect with people who recognize parts of their own struggle in his videos.
- He explains that money does not resolve the pain or habits a person carries into a new situation.
- Being fit to serve means being equipped to help others, not meeting a physical standard.
- Recovery can include building community, finding meaningful work, and protecting the life you have made.
Nowhere to Hide
A weekly letter from Ken Rideout about doing the uncomfortable part, and the reasons we use to avoid it.
It starts with 3 Days, 3 Hard Things: one short story from Ken and one hard thing to do, every day for three days. Then one letter a week.
One letter a week. Unsubscribe any time. We never share your email.
