Determined Society with Shawn French | Adversity & Mindset - Turning Grief Into Purpose with Susan Malzoni

Episode Date: August 17, 2026

Susan Malzoni joins The Determined Society for a deeply meaningful conversation on family, energy, wellness, grief, purpose, relationships, and the strength it takes to keep moving forward after loss. Susan opens up about protecting her peace, preserving her family’s energy, creating a home rooted in connection, and building a life aligned with health, wellness, and purpose. She also reflects on the loss of her son, the passing of her husband Victor, and how she continues to honor his legacy through Big Dog Ranch Rescue. This conversation explores what it means to speak kindly to yourself, move through fear, protect your energy, and choose purpose even in life’s hardest seasons. In this episode, we dive into: • Protecting your energy and keeping your circle aligned • Why connection at home matters • Women, insecurity, confidence, and support • Men’s mental health and emotional expression • Health, wellness, supplements, and biohacking culture • Speaking kindly to your body and practicing gratitude • The difference between motivation and determination • Taking fear out of decision-making • Grief, resilience, and moving forward after loss • Honoring Victor’s legacy through dogs and rescue work • Relationships, shared passions, and creating a meaningful life This episode is a powerful reminder that healing does not always mean hiding from pain. Sometimes it means choosing purpose, protecting your peace, loving what still remains, and finding the positive even in life’s hardest moments. Connect with Susan Malzoni  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/susanmalzoni/  Connect with Shawn  https://link.me/shawnmf32  Subscribe to our newsletter for all updates and heavy doses of DETERMINATION:  https://thedeterminedsociety.com  Subscribe on Apple/Spotify:  Apple- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/determined-society-with-shawn-french-adversity-mindset/id1555922064  Spotify- https://open.spotify.com/show/5kS9tkLGQLcVyRgB3mDznw?si=184c18d1b9d44f53 The Determined Society is hosted by Shawn French — a show for people who refuse to quit. Every episode goes beyond the highlight reel to explore the real stories behind resilience, reinvention, and the relentless pursuit of a life built on your own terms. Subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and all others.. If this episode moved you, share it with someone who needs to hear it — and leave a review. It helps more than you know. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

I think everyone who has determination wants to do something bigger. And I think as much as I was helping other brands succeed, I felt like none of them were really hitting the mark that I was passionate about. I just felt like I needed to do more than just help other people. I wanted to create something different. She's the founder of the wellness brand, Vita Mina, and is deeply involved in the Make America Healthy Again movement. Welcome, Susan.

I have to introduce you to my friend, Susan Malsami, who is developing a company called Vitamina. Unfortunately, got a little interrupted with unfortunate passing on my husband. Fear really does lower your vibration. It really makes you act. Six months after Victor passed away. Yeah. You didn't hide. No.

You went through your process, and then you showed up there in front of 1,400 people and raised over $4.3 million. You're strong. So I have with me today, Susan Malzoni, welcome to the Determined Society. Thank you so much. Absolutely. It's so good to have you and to finally meet you. It's, you've been connected for about a year now. And, you know, I knew what happened eventually.

And I'm so glad it did. Yeah. And what a, is there a better place to do it other than your ranch? My house, yeah. It's beautiful. Thank you. It's just like my little place. I call it the retreat.

It's a place we just come. The family is always together. And we're just a place to disconnect and fly. and I can feel that, you know, because I see the family here and it's really awesome, but also I'm usually more hyped up. My energy level is like this right now, so I'm calm. So I don't know if you guys got anything pumping through the vents. It's just an energy we have.

It's really cool. We vibrate on a different level. I like that. And this house. Feels healthy. It's very healthy. Yeah. Aligned with what I stand for is health and wellness.

So we try to keep that throughout everything. You know, we just keep everything. everything quiet and we have time just to sit and connect and create things. I love that. Yeah. The connection part is lost a lot of times. And, you know, even in our home, we, we try to meet for every meal at the dinner table, like every single one.

The dinner is like a non-negotiable. Right. In our house too, yeah. TV off. Devices are thrown somewhere and my kids don't have devices. Just my wife and I. But, you know, it's important to do that. It really is.

It truly is. people, I grew up in a family of five, you know, very traditional conservative household in Wisconsin and six o'clock, that was it. Like, we had to be at the table. Otherwise, you know, there was problems. If you didn't show up at six o'clock for dinner, it was a problem. The values were different then. Yeah, totally. Right. What did you learn from your family that helped you in all your success and everything that you built since then? Wow, I've learned so much from my family. I mean, I was the youngest of five kids. So I got to see all the mistakes my older brothers made, which were a lot. And so I was able to avoid those without

having to deal with a lot of wrath from my parents. But, you know, I actually learned to be really independent because, you know, the youngest of five, my parents were in their 40s and 50s when I was born. So I was not really a planned child. So I kind of grew up on my own, kind of watching what my brothers and sister did. And I said, you know, took in the good things and tried to avoid the bad. They really laid the groundwork more than even my parents actually. Really? Yeah, yeah. I spent a lot of time with them.

My parents were, you know, older and doing their own thing. And although I did spend a lot of time with them, a lot with my grandparents as well. I just got to take in all the great things from, you know, all my older people around me. So that's amazing. Yeah. That's amazing.

You know, the one thing I've noticed about you, you keep your private life, your life very private. Yeah, I do. Why is that? Um, well, several reasons. Um, you know, I believe that energy is really important. Um, and sometimes when people are envious of certain things you do, you know, energy can shift towards you. And so I just preserve, I just like to preserve my energy and my family's energy privately. Um, you know, I've noticed a few times in my life when I haven't done that or I've been a little

careless and let people in my life that I shouldn't have. It's backfired. So, you know, lesson learned. And I just try to keep my circle tight now. I can relate to all of that. I ask the question and I also do the same. I don't put anything out about my kids usually at the beginning I did. Right. But then I realized that can't happen.

I need to allow the people who are in my circle, they can know things. Yeah. But I have to be careful who I give my energy to. Exactly. Because it can rob you of your peace. 100%. we're all trying to do some amazing things. And I think that's important because the world needs people making moves and starting new

movements and really giving back to community because it's missing. And when you are attempting to do something like that, you can't let other energy in because it's going to stop you. Sure. You know? Yeah, definitely. Well, I think a lot of times, there's a lot of people with bad intentions, unfortunately, in the world or their own insecurities.

And a lot of times, especially women, they, you know, it's unfortunate because I'm a woman. They just sometimes don't want to see other people succeed. Other women succeed. Many times they say they do, but it's an energy that they put out that sometimes isn't always authentic. That's men. It happens with men, too, I'm sure. So I just try to keep the people around me as energetically aligned with me as possible.

and, you know, just so I can focus on doing what I need to do. And I know I have a bigger purpose in life than just hanging out in Palm Beach and going to, you know, frivolous parties, which I do to support certain, you know, things that I'm passionate about. But it really comes down to preserving your energy and taking that energy to do what's good, you know, for the world. Absolutely. You made a good point, though, about women, supporting women. or lack thereof. Right.

You see it all over the internet. Yeah. You know, where do you think that comes from? I think it comes from the same thing that when men have that issue, it's kind of ego, you know, it's like, or and insecurity. So when a woman, which unfortunately society has made women feel insecure about themselves with social media, you know, and you got to get Botox or fillers and all these things to keep up with the other people

because she has less wrinkled. She looks younger. You know, it's a lot of pressure put on women. And when they feel insecure, sometimes that insecurity can roll over into maybe not wanting the best for other people because they don't feel good about themselves. So I make it a really, you know,

a point of being conscientious of. I hope, you know, my intentions are pure with people. I do really think they are, especially women, because I want them to, feel good about themselves because when women feel good and positive, they do great things, just like men. Sure. That's the same thing.

And men, you know, sometimes it's the same thing. It's whose muscles are bigger, who's got a bigger car, better job, more money. It's kind of this, you know, unspoken competition. And I try to avoid that. I think both genders really struggle with that and how they're going to operate out in society because I also think is I don't know anything about being a woman. Right. Right.

All I can do is lean on the women that I'm connected with and listen to my wife and whatever she says. I'm like, that's her truth and that's what I have to understand. Right. Men, we have a lot of silent battles. Yeah, you do. We really do. It's more surrounding, you know, protecting the family, but also the pressures that we feel.

Yeah. Because women will, they do so much. Right. My wife does, I don't even know how she keeps track of everything she does for the kids. Right. the things that she needs for their school events, et cetera. Now, granted, I do the grocery shopping. I do all the cooking.

There's a lot of things that we share, and we're both pulling our weight. And a lot of times I don't speak up on what I'm going through because I want to be there for her only. And I don't want to go, oh, yeah, me too. You know what I mean? So sometimes I think men, emotionally intelligent men, can kind of keep that and bury it down a little bit.

Right. And then it's also important. when that happens to have another man that you can go to and be open with and get mentorship, even if it's just a buddy. Yeah. No, it's hard for men because they were taught, you know, to be a masculine man. They don't share emotion. Now, you know, recently that pendulum has kind of swung to the other direction.

There's a very fine line in that, I feel. I can only speak from my own experience with the men in my life. But like, I feel like my two boys are extremely. extremely balanced. They have that emotional side, but they're also like the male figure, but they're also able to really share their emotions. And I think that's important for all men to be able to do that. You know, suicide rate in men is like extraordinary. And especially military or people who men who have been in roles of protection and being assertive and aggressive suffer from, you know, that bottling in their emotions. So there is a,

a fine line we still have to work through in society to really define the roles a little bit more and give men an outlet to express themselves to help with that. Great point. Yeah. I have come in contact with so many former Navy SEALs that reach out to me. And, hey, I just want to check on you. Are you good? I was like, I'm great, man.

What's going on with you? Ah, man, like, I just, I'm struggling today. I was like, okay, well, let's hop on the phone. Right. And they just think, but they're open now. So that pendulum you're talking about, to me, that's the most masculine thing you can do. Totally. To recognize you have a problem that you need to share or get help from. You know, we, not to change a subject, but there's so many different, it's not a subject change. It's just modalities that are helping veterans right now. I can talk about two different things that I'm involved in. One is alternative medicine. As you know, I'm passionate

of medicine. There's so many things that help men who have PTSD and women, alternative treatments like ketamine treatment and other kinds of things that were, you know, once not looked at. But now that is kind of mainstream. The other thing is dogs. You know, I'm very passionate about that topic as well. And at our rescue, big dog branch rescue, it's, you know, it's a largest no-kill cage-free shelter in the United States. We have a whole. whole veteran training program. So we train dogs to help with vets who have PTSD. And it's so incredible because the people we place them with, you know, they're like suicidal men. And their lives changed completely when they have a dog. Completely. It's incredible. It's beautiful. You know, I did,

I did a show there. I did. I did a whole. And Big Dog Rand? Oh, absolutely did. I had a dog in my lap the whole time. Oh my God. With Lori Simmons? I did. It was about a year ago. Yeah. I love that place. Yeah, it's pretty incredible, isn't it? It's all puppy town. Oh, I saw everything. Beautiful place, right? It is absolutely incredible. Yeah.

You know, I do want to back up a little bit, though, because you did something that not a lot of people do. Mm-hmm. You know, you were helping brands and other people build their portfolios and build their presence. Right. Not a lot of people shift out of that into which you've done, which is start Vitamina and and go into the health space, that change or that shift terrifies most people. Yeah, truly. I can relate.

Yeah. I left something and I started this. Wow. But what did you learn in that process of you taking that big leap from focusing on other people to building you? Yeah. Well, I kind of, I think everyone who has determination wants to do something bigger. And I think as much as I was helping other brands succeed, I felt like none of them were really hitting the mark that I was passionate about, which was, you know, creating really clean

products. You know, I started the supplement. And then other things, unfortunately got a little interrupted with unfortunate passing of my husband. But I just felt like I needed to do more than just help other people. I wanted to create something different. So I felt like I did that. that were, you know, that opened the door to a lot of other things, that company, starting my own

company. This is not the first time I started my own company, by the way. I had my own advertising agency, but creating my own brand did open the door for a lot of different things. And, you know, one of them is, you know, it combined my talent in events and health and wellness. And I did this national conference on women's health recently in D.C. I don't know if you're familiar that I did that. But so then that led to being named ambassador for women's health. That's wild. Another big thing. So yeah, I just feel really honored and blessed that I was able to take that leap. And it's not necessarily because I did the company that that happened. It's just I feel like it was a mindset and people feel that. They feel when you have a bigger purpose. You know,

other people feel that and they want to be a part of it somehow. It's a good point. Because there was a shift in me at the end of 2024. And I'm the same person. Yeah. Mostly. Right. But the moment I made that shift and started really working on me, my health and everything, there were so much more things that started going on.

Yeah. The numbers got better. The revenue got better. More people, I think, really looked at the whole situation, including just me physically and go, okay, now I believe you. Yeah. Now you're operating differently. Right.

It's not always about what you look like. And I think that's what people get mixed up. There's a lot of that going on in the internet. They're not going to respect you if you're overweight. Right. It's not that that people don't latch onto or respect. They feel a different energy in you because you're not completely confident in who you are because you're not doing the work when no one's looking.

Exactly. There's a big difference in that. Totally. But they don't know how to explain it. Right. Because that makes too much sense. Let's scare people and trigger people and get them to move a little bit. And the hard thing about that is it doesn't last very long.

Yeah. Right? When you're doing things out of shame. Right. Because people try to make changes all the time. I know I did. Right. But when I was shaming myself, it didn't feel good. And so it never stuck.

You know, so it's a really good point. Yeah. It's a really good point. I think when you feel like you're in your energy and in your purpose, your energy changes and the people around you, they feel that and they want to be, really want to be a part of that. Yeah. And that is not a conscious thing.

It just happens. I've noticed every time I'm like in the flow, you know, I call it like being in the flow where everything seems to be lining up or matching or you meet someone that you needed to meet or this opportunity came about. It seems like the universe is working to help you. And all the people around you want to be a part of that. Yeah. Yeah.

It's a funny thing about energy though, right? What you put out is what you attract. 100%. And what you look for is what you get. Yep. And so it was wild to me that, you can change yourself. And then all of a sudden you have all these great people just like it's a magnet.

Exactly. You know? Yeah. And before I'm like, what was all this before? I know. But then you don't realize like you have to be the woman or the man that's going to attract that type of energy.

Exactly. Right? And that takes work. It does. Because you mentioned determination. And obviously that's my favorite word. I know. I love it because it's it sounds gritty.

Right. And it sounds sexy, but it's so quiet. Yeah. It is. I was just going to say that. So quiet. What does determination look like you when no one's looking? I think people often confuse motivation with determination. You're going to see me light up like a tree right now.

I love this. Yeah. Motivation is like it's a temporary thing. You know, you feel motivated. You have a new idea and you're all motivated about it. But determination is what really sticks, meaning it is what gets you to the end point. So I've had many times in my life. I've been motivated to do this or, you know, I've done a lot of things.

Like I've moved across the world, you know, a couple times, different countries. I've done a lot. I've changed businesses. I've changed industries completely. And I was motivated at the time. But motivation wanes. The thing that stays is really determination. That is when no one's looking, you know, it's like I have to keep going.

It's not conscious. It's just I have to. don't really understand why, but you know you have to keep going. It's the hard decisions, right? Yeah, yeah. You know, we all have families. Right. Right.

I mean, scary decisions, too. Very. I mean, let's just call a spade of spade. You know, I've been gone for two days, have three kids. No, why? Yeah. It's hard. Yeah.

It's hard. But those are those little micro movements that are actually big things. Yeah. Right. When you look at them. But sometimes you have to do what you got to do in order so you can grow. Right. And the family,

understands, you know, daddy's got to work, mom's got to work. But not a lot of people will take that leap. They'll sit there and they will settle for what they feel is just, well, this is all I can do. And what bothers me about that is not that they're doing it, it's that they're choosing to do it because they don't think that they're able to do anything else. And when you look at determination or discipline, there's so many different buzzwords, process, standard. You have to look yourself in the mirror every single day. And you have to go, did I give everything I got? Right.

Well, I think it comes down to one word, which I think became very evident during COVID, is the word fear. People are afraid. And if you can get into someone to make them feel afraid of something or afraid of themselves, they just won't do it. They won't act. They stand still. They follow instructions from other people who are not necessarily real

experts but pretend to be. You know, that was really evident during COVID. Yeah. You know, how very intelligent people followed a set of rules that made absolutely no sense. And on mass scale, throughout the whole United States. It was scary. Around the world. Yeah.

It was. And it all came down to fear. And the one thing I told my kids and my family, I said, fear lowers your vibration. It makes you act in ways that you shouldn't act. So if you can take the fear out of your decision making and just keep it really focused on what is the end goal here, you will succeed. That's really, that's really it. I like that.

Yeah. I want to do something silly, though. But can you address the audience with that and break it down for them because someone is listening right now? Yeah. That understands on a conceptual level what you mean. Right. But they don't know how to do it.

Well, I think it has a lot to do with your. personality, I must say. I mean, I can give instructions all day long and how to be fearless. But I think you just have to be more confident in yourself. Know that no matter what you do, if you succeed or you fail, you will always still be a good person. Fear really does lower your vibration. It really makes you act in a way that is, I don't know, It says a less confidence.

You just need to be confident. So I'll just give you the example. And during COVID, we didn't follow the rules. We were living in California, and we just chose not to follow the rules to kind of show people around us. Maybe you should think, you know, for yourself, not just follow what everyone else is doing. And we had a lot of pushback from that. I can only imagine. A lot.

We were in L.A. County. Oh, gosh. Got a lot of pushback. But it did teach me and taught my kids that. think for yourself and take the fear out of your decision making. So what I could say to people listening is that no matter what happens, if you succeed or fail, you will still be you tomorrow five years from now. It's not going to change everything.

So just don't even think of the fear. Don't think of the negative outcome. Just think of what could be. And focus your energy on the outcome of what you want. And if you get exactly that or you get something similar, it doesn't matter. Just keep looking. It's just like when they say,

if you're afraid of heights, don't look down. Always keep looking up. Never look backwards. Keep going forward. Fear. Yeah. Fear. It all comes down to fear.

You know, I also think it's very healthy to accept and understand fear. Sure. But still act in spite of it. And I think that is courage. Right. Because we have lines in the background.

Okay. Segway. And that's fine. Courage. I mean, I heard there's like 25 over there. There's probably more now. Oh my gosh. That is insanity.

It is. That is so cool to hear. Yeah, I know. Like, I'm ADHD. Like, I'm all, I'm like looking for lying now. I know. It gets into your soul. No, it's amazing.

When they're all roaring at the same time, it like gets inside. It's amazing. That's crazy. Yeah. That is crazy. That's very cool. You know, we're talking about a lot of things that are about mental health right now, right? Courage, discipline, determination. Resilience is a big one. Yeah. Resilience is a massive one because you've got to be able to bend but not break. Right. You know, but let's shift into the body, the physical wellness, right? There's a lot of big promises in the supplement industry. Very thin evidence. Very thin evidence. Very little, you know, it's really not a regulated industry per se. Mine were regulated, mine were really quality products.

I'm not producing them right now. But there's a lot of smoke and mirrors in the supplement industry in the whole biohacking industry. I mean, you've got people doing the most bizarre things that are so counterintuitive, like urine therapy. You know, I... You're... Explain that to me, Chris. Because I got one for you, too. Oh, okay.

I can tell you some really... You know, because I work with a lot of people who are, you know, think out of the box, which is great. But then some things, it's just like, wow, that's way too far. And I don't want to, like, you know, I don't want to say names, but there's, you know, things that push things in the wrong direction, in my opinion, you know? Like, that's one of them. Yeah, there's quite a few. But so the industry is a whole. the supplement industry and this whole biohacking longevity industry, you really have to be cautious.

You know, I tell everyone really do your research, only buy things that have been really tested, that have all the certifications. You know, supplement brands pop up every day. They're constantly. And you have no idea what you're taking. You really don't. I mean, the ingredients are on there, but most people don't even know what the ingredients are. Like all the fillers and things, there's so much junk and supplements.

I'm doing now mostly liquids and they're all really clean. But I can tell you, it was one of the things that actually discouraged me from the whole industry. And these false promises, as you said, the whole biohacking movement, I feel like, well, you see what's happened to Brian Johnson. Do you know Brian? Oh, I've interviewed him before. Okay. What's currently going on with? Oh, he just got diagnosed with an autoimmune disease.

No. A really bad one. No. unfortunately. So it makes you wonder like, you know, the man who has taken the most care of his body, you know, measured every single biomarker that he, every grain of food he puts into his mouth. And now he's diagnosed with this. So I think from all of this, it comes down again to the word fear. This man was so afraid to get old. And maybe he's not a fear. Maybe it's not fear. But I think you need to enjoy what you're doing. You need to eat your food and really enjoy it and tell yourself,

this is doing my body good, whether you're eating a Big Mac or you're eating a health bowl. You know, like, you need to say, this is nourishing my body. This is giving me strength. This is making me feel better, making me feel younger. And I think if you're overly focused on every little thing you do and every little thing, I got to wake up, I mean, I have the aura ring and I'm always monitoring. And it gets to a point where I'm like, I'm taking the ring off. And I'm, I'm just going to enjoy today. Listen to your body. I think that's the best way to really live a healthy life.

It's not to be so focused on everything you're doing wrong or what you need to avoid. I don't want to go out to dinner anymore with my friends who were like, was it wild cod? Is it organic? Did it come from? It's like, let's give ourselves a break. Let's just for a restaurant. Just, come on. We can take a little seed oil tonight.

Let's just take a little break. Yeah. It's called moderation. Exactly. And it's so funny because you said something that I heard for the very first time, like in 2006, it was always appreciate what you're putting in your body, no matter if you're having pizza that night. Right. This is nourishing my body.

Exactly. Thank you. Thank you for this. Right. Because what happens then is you don't get caught in that trap of, I can't believe I did that. I know. And then you're talking about, I just did a poster book. this on my on my feed about really being grateful and talking kindly to your body women have a

real problem with that these days they're you know shaming themselves i got a little i even do it myself i have a little fat here i have this or i need these wrinkles are terrible you're constantly speaking negatively to your body and how's your body going to react okay bad and how am i going to react i'm going to react in an unhealthy way so instead of talking negatively about yourself or what you're doing, just always say positive. Like the nights I don't sleep, I'm like, oh, well, I get to take a nap today. Thank you. You know, just turn it into a positive. Be gratis. It's about gratitude. No, that's healthy because anything else creates dis-ease and that is a disease. Exactly. I was messing with Will earlier today and he kind of gave me this and I told you to know,

I enjoyed it. It was my turn. I enjoyed my ice cream. Good. And I wanted some Back story. At the hotel on Wednesday night, I sent the boys a video. And it says, this is the ice cream freezer. Beware, do not open. Oh, you did. This has ice cream in it. And I opened it.

No ice cream, just uncrustables. I was so mad. Wow. I wanted ice cream. Uncrustables? Don't understand it. Don't understand it. I mean, uncrustables are good, right?

Are they? I mean, yeah, I wouldn't imagine you have. But they're good. Yeah. And so last night, I ordered ice cream and I ate the whole pint. Okay. Didn't care. Good.

Just tell yourself it was what you needed. It's like, this is so good. I was like, and I said to myself because the thought crept in. Yeah. Like, dude, are you really going to finish this whole pint? You've done so well with your transfer. I'm like, no, like you're probably in this massive calorie deficit. This is actually going to do you some good.

Exactly. You're going to recover more. Right. You're going to be stronger in the gym the day after tomorrow. Right. because today's a rest day. Yeah. So always have perspective.

Yeah, frame it. So it's always doing you good. I love that. Yeah. There's a lot of people that needed to hear that. Yeah. They're listening right. I'm telling you right now.

Yeah. Because they're caught up in the biohacking thing. I know. They're caught up in this continuous calorie deficit. Right. And then they wonder why they're not putting on muscle, man and female. Yeah. They're worried about it.

Well, if you're constantly in a deficit, like that big. And you're taking a lot of, of, you know, peptides to lose weight, which, you know, I know a lot of people need it, honestly, but, and it's saving a lot of lives. Sure. There's a lot of overuse. I've never taken it. And I can't say how it would make me feel because I have never taken it.

But, yeah, I think it's causing a little bit of an issue right now with confidence, you know, like if I gain that extra five pounds back again, oh my gosh, you know. And it's really harming people's health, losing muscle. mass, you know. I just think we need to be grateful every day that we wake up and we're breathing and we're happy, you know, we're able to be on this planet in a state of, you know, being well-being versus disease. Yep. Yeah. Is your take on the peptides on a global level or is it the GLP ones? I think people have to be used more caution using peptides. I've been a huge advocate of peptides for eight years more before peptides, even a common thing.

to talk about since early eight days in California when it was prescribed to me, actually. But I think the overuse of peptides and the lack of regulation on where they're coming from needs to be really looked at. I'm very grateful that this administration, Bobby Kennedy, has made it a little easier to access them. You know, they were prohibited. But I think the basis for them being prohibited is because they really had no regulations. Yeah.

I think people have to be very cautious where they get their peptides from, only from really legitimate doctors. See, this is the thing that nobody's understanding, right? I'm a big advocate in peptides. Yeah. I love peptides. I have a lot of them. Right.

I know where I'm getting them. Open my refrigerator. You'll be like, oh, my God. No, I can't. Can I really? After, I want to see what you got in there. And I'll tell you what I have, too. Yeah.

But my buddy owns the clinic. in Naples, Jeff Delaney. Yeah. He owns T-Clinics. That's where I get my test from, my TRT. And then across the way, that's where I go for all my dietary needs and all my peptides, et cetera, et cetera. Yeah.

But guess where the peptides come from? Fort Lauderdale. Okay. Well, Lisa coming from Fort Lauderdale. Alndale pharmacy. And not China. Well, see, I'm getting there. I promise you.

Okay. And all these people that are taking these peptides, all these influencers, talking about red atrut tide, semi-glutide, terseptide, and everything that it's done to them, there's people claiming that their feet went numb and they almost died and their throat swelled up. I'm like, blindness.

Yeah, like, bro, you got it from China. Like, you don't even know what's in it. It's not... Yeah, you don't know what... They could be poisoning us, to be honest, slowly. I mean, I... When I started to... taking it, I knew where it was coming from, it was from my doctor, it was highly regulated by

him. But this whole explosion of peptides really makes me pause. I'm super, I asked my doctor, who's a great doctor here, where are they sourced? Oh, this pharmacy, well, where do they source it from? Oh, I don't know. Well, maybe you need to find out. If you don't, if any of that, if any of the chain is an I don't know, I'm not put it in my body. It's not for me. Exactly. Absolutely not. And I think that's to your point, you need to have people that you trust. Right. My friend Jeff, I go, would you do this? He goes, I've been doing it for like seven months. Like, absolutely, I would do this. You're good. What about this? Nope, don't touch that. Yeah. I'm like, thank you. But you have, you have to have people that you can consult with. Right. So I have a whole team. Yeah.

You know, I call them part of my team. Because every week I go in there. Sure. We do my way in, we do everything. They ask me how I'm feeling. It's part of my team. That's great. know, and because for me to move at the pace that I move at, I have to be really healthy. Of course. Because before I wasn't. What made you shift? I would say November of 2024. I was literally, I have a sectional couch like this, and I was laying under the blanket watching Netflix.

And it was like 11 o'clock in the morning. I just kind of thought to myself, I go, but I'm depressed. And I started thinking about everything going on in my life. My family life is great, my wife and my children, but something was hurting. And what I realized was I wasn't taking care of me. And the only time I could really get out of the house and do anything was when I was recording a show. So I ran into my friend Jeff at an event, John Huffman's event in Naples, a little breakfast thing. We all get together.

And it's like hard to look at them and talk to them. And then I realized it was hard for me to talk to anybody. I'm the, I'm the biggest extrovert slash introvert you'll ever meet. So at that time, I was saying, no, I'm just, I'm just, I'm just scoping it out. I was terrified. And here I am, this show host, about a determined society and determination and resilience, and it's top 15 show, and I can't even talk to somebody in public. Wow.

It was very telling for me. And I knew then I had to make the change. And I spoke to him and he's like, come see me after Thanksgiving. We'll get this goal. We'll get back on your hormone replacement. I was like, no, no, no. I was like, dude, I need fat camp. straight up. I was 235 pounds.

Okay. I'm 185. 185. Between 183 and 185 on it day to day. So where that range? Yeah. 235 pounds. Yeah.

I just, I needed to make a change, but I had to wait. He made me sit on it for three weeks. And I'm glad he did. Because at that moment, I was operating in shame. Right. And it wouldn't have worked. Yeah. As the days and the weeks went on before I had my first appointment, I learned to do out of love.

I want to do this because I want to feel good about myself. And I also want my three kids to look at me and understand that their dad is a badass. I want my son to be like, that's my dad. And I want my two daughters to be going like, if you're not like my dad, you're not a You're not worthy of me. Exactly. And I wasn't displaying that. So that's where, that's how it happened.

That's great that you're able to realize that and actually take the steps to get out of that space. A lot of people just can't. It's like, you know, they feel bad about themselves, shameful. They don't go out. They end up eating more. Then all of their hormones are dysregulated. They, you know, I could go on this topic for a long time. There's so much mental illness.

I use that term very broadly. And I don't mean that there's mental. disease, dis-ease with yourself, your mind, the whole body connection is off. And it can be fixed in so many different ways than how we are traditionally fixing it in the US right now, which is pharmaceuticals. Pharmaceuticals are so over-prescribed in this country for mental health. It's really shocking. You know, meditation. There's so many things that you can do that don't require swalling a pill. Meditation, being outdoors, walking, refa reflecting, just sitting quiet for a minute, eating, you know, eating the right things,

you know, taking one step at a, you know, one step at a time. You don't have to do these things dramatically. The problem is our society is used to really fast results, quick fixes. And a lot of times things like this take time. You know, people just don't want to commit to it because it means changing what's comfortable to them. It's fear, you know. I'm used to being this way, I'm used to watching this show, used to eating this food. And, you know, if I make a change, it's scary. Yeah. So I'm glad you were able to do that.

No, it feels, it feels good, you know. Well, you look great. Well, thank you. Your energy is really amazing. Thank you. Well, it's calm right now. I mean, I wasn't joking about, like, is there something in the vents? No, it is.

It's a very calming household. Very calm. Yeah. Everybody who comes here, I had Joe Dispenza. Oh, he's great. He did in this very room, he did a whole, session and whole day event here. Well, that might be why.

Possibly. He set the tone. No, it was pretty calm before he came, but yeah, it's kind of a, it's, this house is a unique place. Yeah. It is. It's why, yeah. It's a well house, right?

It is a well house. But that's the point, right? That's the thing that for me, I was able to make the change because of fear. Right. And quite respectfully, you know, I just, I don't want to. not be there for my wife and my kids. Like, it's just, it happens all the time. Tragedy happens. It happened to you in 2024.

Well, it happened to me before that, the loss of my son. I have a son, my oldest son who's not here. His wife is here. That's Polina. He had a twin brother, and he was killed in her car accident. I did not know that. Yeah, that was, he was 18. He's 35 now. So that was, yeah, you have to. to have a lot of resilience to overcome that.

When you can go through something like that, not once, but twice. And they're both massive events, right? Because one's your son and one's your husband. Right. How do you, do you even remember how you operated the days thereafter? You know, I don't really remember all the details. I think it was just like in shock.

You just go into survival mode, I think. And you're lucky as you pulled yourself out of your own, you know, mini crisis, I pull myself out because I had other kids. So you can't just give up on life and crawl up in a ball and not live. You need to go on for them. So I think that's really where the motivation comes from. You know, you see you have a beautiful wife, you have kids, I have my beautiful kids. It's like you had to keep going. So there's no option. You just have to keep moving forward. That's a fact. Yeah. And some people still choose to not do that. well, a lot of people don't have anything else or anyone else in their life to live for.

And that's a, you know, it's a sad reality. That's why I'm the biggest proponent of adopting a dog. Like, you need a dog. Anytime I see someone who's alone or I can sense their energy is kind of depressed, I'm like, do you have a dog at home? Take a ride with me. Come on, come over to my house. I might have one here for you.

Yeah, I heard you guys got like four or five now. Yeah, we only have four right now. We did have 11 at one point. That's what Nick was saying. Yeah, we have only four right now. But, you know, we have a thousand at the rescue. Oh, yeah. All, yeah, you saw all different types.

I know they were trying to give me to take home a dog. You don't have a dog? No, I have two. Oh, okay, good. That's the problem, right? That's the problem, right? So I had this one on me. Just throughout the, I was like, let's put dogs everywhere.

And I had one on my lap. Yeah. And there was a couple just laying in and they didn't move. But this one was like biting on my chain and just loving on me. Like, she chose you. I'm like, I don't know. I think my wife would divorce me if I brought him a third dog. But then, but then I tried it.

Yeah. Because I'm like, she's not going to say no. She loves dogs. But actually, it was an emphatic no. She was no, not right now. I don't have time to train a dog. But that's a very special place. It is.

And so my next question, that may be your answer. It's probably going to be a little deeper. But I mentioned in the introduction six months after Victor passed away. Yeah. You didn't hide. No. You went through your process and then you showed up there in front of 1,400 people and raised over $4.3 million. Yeah.

What made you do that? My love for dogs. My desire to, you know, live on his legacy of dogs. Oh. It's beautiful, though. You're strong. Yeah. I admire it.

Yeah, he love dogs. I'm just sitting in it. Yeah. You know, because I still have my wife. And I hope to. For a long time. I hope to God. Yeah.

I don't have to see any one of them, got my wife, my children. No. I hope to God. I could only hope if that ever did happen to me that my wife could see that I'm doing something to honor her. Yeah. And continue a legacy. Yeah. Right.

I mean, you guys had two champion dogs. Yeah. We won Westminster Dogs for twice. Best. show. That's the biggest, that's the biggest thing. It was him. I mean, he was the, he was into dog, you know, showing way before we met actually since he was a child. He has a picture of himself with this dog and then I think at 10, he like showed his first dog. So he's been in that industry and that sport for decades. I was in the rescue industry. I mean, rescue world for,

I mean, when we met. And so I said, oh, do you have any dogs? And he said, oh, I have like a lot of dogs. Let me tell you. And I was like, oh, I have four. Here I'm like bragging. I had four dogs. And he's like, well, I have like 50 dogs.

I was like, wow, you beat me. I said, are you in the rescue? He goes, no, I show dogs. And I was like, I don't know if I like that. Why not? Why not? Well, you know what you see on television? Yeah.

That show, best in show is really like the, oh, it's exactly. exactly like it is. Wow. Yeah, the whole, you know, cutthroat bizarre behavior. That's insane. The characters. It's like they literally did take people I know and put them on the show, even though it wasn't, you know, technically, it was like a documentary, but it wasn't. Yeah. What would you say to people that think dog shows are just dogs trotting around in the circle? Well, you know, I tell people, because a lot of like in the rescue group, they're like, how could you've done that? Like that's so, you know, dogs don't want to do that. honestly the dogs that do it that we choose for that they want to do it that they love it they love to go in

the ring you can see they just like perk up they're super excited to get the attention and these dogs the majority of them are really really well treated like they go home they're sleeping with their handler or their owner sometimes the owner is the handler they're given so many treats and so much love and attention and like everything so they're not poorly treated yeah that was the the perception, though, I had when I first got into it. But, you know, and I saw my husband wasn't just about show dogs. He was about all dogs. He loved all dogs. Didn't matter if you were purebred or you were some mud, you know, some dog on the street. In Brazil, you know, we lived in Brazil. You'd see all sorts of random dogs. And we took in all dogs. You know, in our farm,

we had stray dogs from the street. We, you know, the dogs I have here are mostly our rescues. That's so cool. Yeah. That's amazing. You know, because I was going to ask you, you went from showing dogs to rescue. Yeah. And I was wondering if there was some type of perception change about how you view these animals. No, I've always been involved with rescue. Okay. Always.

In fact, in the dog world, there's a lot of dogs that need homes. You know, after they're retired, I always would help place dogs in families. But I've always been involved with rescue always since I was really young. I'd volunteer it rather. you know, at shelters. So it was kind of a, you know, it was a natural partnership, him and I. He had the fancier dogs, but I could never take him to Big Dog Ranch. When we came here, he said, I can't go.

He said, you have to go. He goes, no, I can't see that. I can't see dogs. He would have, well, he would, yeah, kept, no, he would want all the dogs here. And he kept saying, can't we make a place here for some of those dogs? Can't we bring those dogs here? And I'm like, what an amazing human. No, he was really, he loved dogs so much.

Wow. Yeah. What does, you know, chasing those types of awards or the Westminster together for so long due to a marriage? Oh, I think it really unites us. We had that common passion. It's amazing. And he supported me with the rescues, obviously, really always wanted to, you know, go to the events. He just didn't want to go to the rescue because it made him too sad.

Yeah, I bet. You know, unites, when you have a couple that have this shared common passion, that's like the best, you know, it really does, you know, keep you very close. And we did all the dog shows together. It was like our, we never took vacations. We took dog show trips. That's really cool, though. And they were all over the world. Like, you know, the world dog show was in Russia, so we'd go to Russia. And it was all the same group of our friends. So it was, it was fun, you know. So it's kind of a vacation. It was totally a vacation. But, you know, we incorporated the dogs in it. So it was, it was a cool. We had a great, great marriage. That's amazing.

And again, I just wanted the audience to get a peek behind the curtain with that question, to answer that question, because, you know, what did it do to a marriage could be very positive, right? And when you have something that you can share with your spouse or if you're not married, you just have a significant other, it's very important. I don't care if it's the gym. I don't care if it's a restaurant you go to every week. But it's something to connect you on a deeper level than just being in a relationship is super important. Common interests are super important, I think, in a relationship. Or if you have the ability to respect each other's interests and let them do it and not be needy, you know, like, I have friends whose their husbands are golfers and they want to golf all weekend long.

And they're like, complaining. And I'm like, well, you knew that when you got married, first of all. And secondly, take that time to do something really cool for yourself. Like, I feel like, wow, when Victor was doing something else, so I wasn't involved in. I'm like, oh, good, I have time to go with my girlfriends or I have time to do this or do something else. We'll go work at the ranch or, you know, the rescue. I think people just love to have an excuse to, you know, I'm miserable. Like, you know, he's playing golf all day. I'm like, that sounds great. Isn't that cool? That's great. Go do some fun things with your girlfriends. Like, why are you complaining?

You know, I think that right there is just that part's unhealthy. Yeah. How you and Vic handled it. And, you know, my wife and I are similar is go to you. Yeah. So I want, I want my wife to have a separate, not a separate life. Life, no. I mean, you know what I'm talking about. Yeah, separate interests. So just clarify from the YouTube trolls is, you know, I want her to have her separate interests.

So that way we have something to talk about other than what's going on with the kids. What's for dinner? What are we doing this weekend? No, no, no. Go have fun and come back and tell me about your experience. Yeah, exactly. Because I want to see you light up. Yeah.

Right? I think that's, I think that's super important. Totally. You know, I also, Victor really supported me with my interest in horses. I don't know if you know, but I used to ride horses. I didn't know that. Yeah. I used to drive dressage.

I have my horses here, actually. You have three, right? I have three here. Okay. Two of them are retired, dressage horses. And then one is their little, their emotional support mini. So he's there, too. So we've got the three there.

But he encouraged me to do that. He was the one who kept pushing me. You need to do that. So you have your own thing, not just follow along on my dog stuff, even though I'm super passionate about the dogs. He was always supportive of me doing my own thing. Yeah, he would come. And sometimes when he was, you know, later when he couldn't walk that well, he'd pull a car

up so he could watch from the car while I was riding. He was just, yeah, super. Yeah, he always encouraged me to do my own thing. It's great. Yeah. Yeah, it's rare to find someone that encourages you do to your own thing. And then you have shared interests together as well. Absolutely.

That's the winning recipe right there. So it's a lot of memories. Yeah. And a lot of life built and life experience between the two of you. Right. Right. What do you think he'd say to you right now? I think he'd be, well, I'm sure he's very proud of me.

He was always very proud of me. And he loved it when I did things. And, you know, his death actually motivated me to do more. So I think he would be really proud. Absolutely. Yeah. This has been a beautiful conversation. Oh, thank you.

It has been. I'm so happy it happened now. Yeah. Instead of, you know, in the past, I just think it, this is what needed to be talked about. And this was absolutely perfect. Yeah. You know, I know the audience is going to get a lot out of listening to this and hopefully over and over again to think about how they look at their relationship and how they value their significant other. How they value their bodies.

how they value their mind and how they source their peptides first and foremost. Exactly. But I think, you know, our conversation about speaking kindly to yourself when you're eating, you know, food and your lifestyle is similar to your relationship. You just have to speak goodness into it. Like even if things aren't going well, like say, okay, he wants to be a golf all day. This is great for me. Just turn it to a positive.

Same like if you're eating something that maybe not as healthy, turn it into a positive. tell yourself it's good. And it will eventually be good. Paradigmund shifts. Yeah. They're super important. They are. So that's like a simple instruction. Just tell yourself good things about what you're doing. I love it. Thank you so much. Thank you. It's been a pleasure and I know we'll stay in contact. We will for sure. I'm rooting for you and everything you do. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And for the audience, please share this episode with someone you know, love and trust that needs to hear any part of this message. We all have people that are struggling. You might be

yourself. This is a very important episode to listen to, to find perspective and to shift and understand that everything in your life that is going on is absolutely beautiful and an opportunity for you to find the positive. And until next time, stay determined.