Good News York by Growth Mode Content - GNY EP.77 | Beating All Odds, Mike Catalano

Episode Date: August 11, 2025

Overcoming Addiction and Triumph in Life and Business: The Mike Catalano Story In this episode of 'Good News York,' the host interviews Mike Catalano, owner of Back Nine Barbershop, discussing his profound journey from being a notable young golfer to battling and overcoming serious opioid addiction. Catalano shares how his love for golf and haircutting, influenced by his PGA professional father and hairdresser mother, intertwined to form his passion and career. He details his struggles with drugs, his multiple DWIs, and how he hit rock bottom before finding redemption. Catalano offers inspiring insights on maintaining discipline in both golf and life, his road to sobriety, and the importance of not allowing past mistakes to define future success. This episode is a compelling story of resilience, personal growth, and the transformative power of self-belief. 00:00 Introduction and Special Guest Announcement 00:56 Mike Catalano's Journey to Back Nine Barbershop 01:54 Mike's Early Passion for Golf 03:51 Competitive Golf and Early Achievements 06:45 Challenges and Lessons in Golf 08:57 Transition to College and Professional Struggles 24:23 Personal Struggles and Turning Points 28:21 Losing My License and Starting Opioid Addiction 28:36 The Escalation to Fentanyl and Heroin 31:12 The Dangers and Realities of Fentanyl 34:28 Struggles with Addiction and Work 41:09 Hitting Rock Bottom and the Path to Recovery 52:28 Building a New Life: Back Nine Barbershop 55:25 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

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Start your new podcast for free today at RSS.com. Good morning. Welcome to Good News York. It is Monday, and I'm feeling like I got a case of the Mondays. I had a very long weekend, but I'm being uplifted as I speak because I'm here with a very special guest that I personally invited on the show in person because I was so moved by his interview on Sean Kelsey's podcast Phoenix Rising, excuse me. Is it Phoenix Rising or Rising Phoenix Rising?

I always get that mixed up. Which is one of our great clients here at Growth Mode content. I'd like to welcome to the show to Good News York, Mr. Mike Catalano. Hey, guys, thanks for having me. It's only one person, clapping. Yeah, so Mike, I'm so glad to have you. Again, it is Good News York,

sponsored by Ads on the Go, get ads on the go.com. Mike, you're the first guest. that I've just booked on the spot. You know, it was, you did this a great episode of Sean Kelsey's podcast like I just mentioned, and you really moved me with your story and, you know, your journey.

And when you got up and, like, we hugged, you know, we immediately connected. And, you know, you were like, I'd love to come on the show sometime I was like, you know what? Pulled out the calendar and we put it on the books. And it's for a good reason. Back nine barbershop.

is your barbershop, which if we can look at that hat, that is sexy, my friend. Very nice. And I'm not just saying that. Like, that is a very sexy logo. And Back Nine Barbershop is your bread and butter. It is your passion right now.

But getting there was quite a journey. So I would love for you, if you're comfortable, just talk about how this all came about. Well, you know, It started out with my passion for golf mixed with hair cutting And actually even more so before that My father is a PGA professional member of the CNY section Hell yes

My mother is a retired hairdresser slash bus driver So like the perfect hybrid of your parent I didn't see this coming I thought I'd be teeing it up with Scotty Schaffler Thursdays through Sunday Sundays, you know, trying to, you know, make a good buck out there grinding it on the golf course. However, things shifted and we adapt and we keep moving on. And, you know, I started out with, for probably about the first two-thirds of my life in the golf industry. Big pronounced name in the area.

And then, you know, as you were saying, you know, the journey, I fell down. I collapsed. I hit rock bottom. and struggled and clawed my way to get back up to where I am today. And that's, you know, providing top-notch grooming in Cicero, New York for people that, you know, need haircuts. Mike, that's, yeah, it's an amazing story because, you know, this show started, you know, Matt started the show on, you know, you open social media, you know, you turn on the news. And it's just, it's deaths and fire and fighting and just every, every, every, every, every, every, thing you can think of you can find.

So it was like, you know, let's start a show. Well, we can highlight things in New York, all over New York State that are uplifting, cool, awesome, funny, you know, businesses, people. And you embody that because of your story. And the great thing about hitting rock bottom, as you said, is that there's only one way to go when you hit rock bottom, in my opinion. You can just lay down and die there or you can push yourself. The good news is there's only or you can go up, right?

and you chose to go up. Before we get into that, let's talk about your golf career, though, because, I mean, you know, we all golf around you. Everybody here's like, I'm a golfer, you know. I want to be great, you know. I golf all the time. I have such a passion to be great.

I'm not, you know. It's a very tough sport, and a lot of it's between the years, right? It's a very mental, cerebral sport. How did you start golfing? When did you start golfing? and talk a little bit about how that career came about because you were on your way to pro status, would you say?

Yeah, I would say tour professional. So there's several different listings of a class A golf professional. I think you got people that all the way from doing news articles in the Post standard to teaching pros to touring professionals. and that was what I was trying to inspire to be. And I started out when I was one years old. As soon as I could walk, my dad threw a golf club in my hand. I think everybody can remember those plastic Fisher-Price sets of clubs.

For sure. I'd be sitting there ripping golf balls around the yard, and I had my own little holes laid out in the backyard. I would just do that for hours. Literally, give me my golf clubs, leave me alone. Mikey's going to be good. At that age, you loved it. At that age, as soon as I could walk, man, that was it.

We started out, as far as I can remember, at Roges Roost. My dad was a very pronoun golf pro in the area, sponsored by Faze. Remember Faye? Matt was here. Matt is obsessed with Faze. You know, he's from Ilihan. He's got a Faze sweatshirt. Love that.

I tell you, dude, it is fire. Not as fire as your hat, but it is fire. Love me some Faze. And, you know, we started out there. I remember one year. over the summertime of school. I was at the golf course every single day. And then this is where I really kind of noticed I was gaining traction,

but without really noticing what was going on. All I did was just sat there, got bored, hit 300 golf balls, go take a nap on my dad's golf cart, watch him teach a lesson, go hit another 300, go pick up golf balls, hit another 300. That was my life. Every single day for the course of the summer, I was probably seven years old. That was about my daily routine.

Hit about a thousand golf balls a day. Watch him teach. And, you know, learn how to hit bunker shots. That's self-taught. So there you go. Everything else, though, was old school drills, kind of like Rocky Bell Bowie and the just hitting stuff, you know, the vintage way. And that's how I...

You're doing sit-ups in a barn. Yeah, you know, we're sitting there. We don't need any big crazy equipment. You're no Ivan Drago. You're no Ivan Drago. You are Rocky, my friend. I love that. I love that.

And, you know, the first time I started to break 45, I was seven years old from the Red Tees. Are you serious? Damn you. So, and from there, I want to say the first tournament I won right in your backyard at Cornell Golf Club. Yeah? And I shot 38. It was the 10 and under, I believe, or the 11 and under. And I knew I was like nine.

so I knew I was playing against some of the older kids, and I smoked them. And or at least I thought I did. Sure. And from there, it was getting to the junior tournament level. Probably my best junior finish was called the Williamson Cup. It's where the top six players in each section, four players play two alternates from Rochester, Buffalo, Syracuse, and all around the Northeast, gather. So you got like 80, 90 golfers, and they all go after trying to win this Williamson Cup. And I was at the country club of Detroit.

I shot 73 in my first round, and I'm like three shots back. So I'm fired up, swings clicking on all cylinders. I have all the confidence in the world. And it was 36 holes one day. I sit there and I start out birdie, birdie, birdie on my second 18. Beautiful. And I'm fired up. End up, you know, obviously just like, you know, have a couple bogeys, couple pars down

a stretch, end up shooting one under 71, 7371, come in third place. They announced first place, second place. They didn't announce third. I will never forget that moment. Why didn't they do that? I don't know. I guess if you're not first or second, then nothing else matters. So I learned a valuable lesson right there.

Win or don't be noticed. That's actually a great mindset, though. So, right? And that really catapulted me to just take my already sharpened game to another level. Wow. And, you know, from there, we went on to high school, had a great high school career, won many sectionals with a great team of guys, moved on to Florida, tried to do, you know, the minor league tour.

And I'll tell you what I learned about that is, no matter how good you think you are, holy smokes, man, there's always somebody better than you. I would go out there and shoot, you know, two, three under and get a nice. I'd shoot, you know, 68, 69. And these dudes are shooting 63s, 64s. So then they call you a trunk slammer. Trunk slammer. I've never heard that one.

Didn't make the cut. You go home slamming your trunk. Keep it moving. Oh, man, that's a good one. So I did the whole Florida thing for a winter. Ended up, you know, missing home. Then I was like, you know what? I'm going to go to college.

and I went to Monroe Community College on Rochester. That's actually a fantastic community college. It's like nationally ranked. It's like a, it's a fantastic community. They no longer have golf. Really? Yeah, I don't know what they did there. They stripped their whole athletic program.

I think baseball was their big bread and butter. I could be mistaken. I think they still have baseball, but I could be wrong. They might have gotten rid of baseball too. I don't know. I know they did have baseball. I definitely remember them being on the map because I'm originally from Herkimer.

H-Triple C, Monroe, they played each other in a lot of things. But, man, I got to tell you, so there's a million things going through my head. One is, you know, that is wildly impressive because for people that don't golf, you don't understand that, yes, it does take some athletic ability. But it also takes so much mental discipline. It is such a mental game. And I'm a mental case. And I think that's why I can't get over the hump and break.

I think I shot a 45 once. but I'm in like the 47, 48 and like 55 on nine holes. And I just, but in that I also realized, you know, at some point I went, why am I getting mad that I can't golf very well? I golf a dozen times a season. You know, you were out there at how old you said you were seven years old, hitting 300 balls a day. And anybody, a thousand balls a day.

And, you know, people hear that and think it's a cliche. like, you got to hit like a thousand balls a day. But you really do. And all the grates that you look up to, you hear those stories. And you were living that. And it's wildly impressive to me that you were able to not only get as good as you have gotten, but to compete at such a high level, do you, I've always said that, like, if you want to take golf to the next level and you really want to, maybe if you don't even want to go pro, but you want to, you want to get really good.

Sure. Do you think, like for golf, Golfers that are listening and you're watching. Do you think you have to move down south where you can golf year round? Because it's tough around here, right? You get three, four months, five months. If you're a young junior golfer and you really want to further your career in golf, the easy answer, that is yes. Yeah.

Jeff Sleumann is Mike Weir. Well, Mike Weir's Canadian. But he also played at Skiddy Atlas Golf Club. But Jeff Slumman went to Monroe. Community College. No shit. Yep. Wayne Levy.

Shout out Wayne Levy. Those are like, you know, a few of the names that from this area, upstate New York, have made it. But, I mean, it's not easy for that. It's not. There's a guy from Syracuse on the tour who a couple weeks ago, one of the tournaments was in the top, he was in the running. He almost won it. Like on day three, he was climbing the ranks.

I can't remember his name off the top of my head. Yeah, I'm John. I wish I had wrote it down. But you're right. It is, it's not like it's impossible, but like you said, if you want to put it in the work year-round weather-wise, I mean, now you can do things like indoor and stuff like that. But, yeah, I think.

Kyle Roy. Kyle Roy. That's him. Shout out Kyle Roy. That's him. Kevin Roy. Kevin Roy. Kevin Roy.

The brothers. I'm so sorry, the Roy brothers, if we're getting you mixed up right now. Yeah. I play junior golf with these guys. See, I had a feeling you did. I had a feeling, you know. Jim Roy is their father? Yes.

had a great, great career, as far as I'm concerned. Yeah. He made it there. I didn't, you know, he had a great senior tour run. Kevin Roy is he, I believe he started down in the South American tour, started lighting it up there. Dude, he's playing great golf, man. I really, honestly, I'm happy for him. He is playing great golf.

I really hope I get to see him. I know, I know he's over at Timber Banks every once in a while. I am possibly interested in, you know, maybe getting over there and, uh, calling him. that at home now. Absolutely. Moving forward. It's a great course. We were there for the NFL alumni tournament with David's Refuge.

I shot an episode there. What a course. Love them. Holy hell. It's my best round there, 71 from the tips. Man, dude, the par three is there alone. Everyone's always talking about the greens, greens, greens. And then, you know, my answer is, well, you know, hit it in the right in the right quadrant.

Right. But I mean, easier said than done, right? And then we all face the times where, you know, You sit there, you over club, you underclub, you got a 40-foot pot. And they're hard. Yeah. That is a great chess match for four or five hours on that golf course. I love it.

When you're, I got to ask you this because I have such a passion for golf. I don't know why. You know, I could get out in front of 70,000 people and perform comedy or song and be fine. But when I'm on the golf course, I am, like, when I get up from my approach, I am so terrified of this little fucking ball, dude. And, you know, and then sometimes I'm fine. And then sometimes... Hey, it's Trevor from the Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show. Have you ever had an energy drink that makes you feel like your head's going to explode?

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more at liquid death.com. You're listening to a podcast right now, driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own podcast is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads just like this. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start your new podcast for free to.

Today at RSS.com. Because I'm doing, okay, keep it straight. Remember your tempo. What is your approach to when you're getting up to address the ball? How do you quiet your mind? Do you quiet your mind? Do you have a routine? You know, I'm glad you just said that I was going to say routine.

Yeah. You need to practice your routine. For that seven to ten seconds, pre-shot routine, during the shot and post-shot, That routine, it just locks you in, quiets out all the noise around you. My dad used to jingle keys, ask me questions, like, what's 2 plus 2? Something that I know the answer, but I can't answer until after I struck the shot. That was the rule.

That was the rule. He would try to get me off my game. And I loved it, honestly, people driving by honking their horns, yell, hey, four. You know what I mean? It never bothered me. See, that's my... I'm locked in. Dude, if I hear...

a mouse fart in the woods. I will shank it 50 feet. I'm so like hypersensitive to that stuff. So you're saying get in a routine. You don't have a routine to shut your mind off, but what you're saying is if you get in a routine, it will shut your mind off. Yeah, you are now bought all in on your routine.

I get behind the golf ball. I line it up. Something in the distance could be a top of a tree, cloud, whatever, whatever I'm marking to aim at, get behind it, get ready, boom, everything else goes blank. Now I'm just locked into that shot dialed in 100%. You're never thinking about, okay, tempo, any of that stuff.

You're just going to swing? You're going to swing free? It'll be like a deep breath. And yeah, you know, whatever confident mind thought you could have. Or, for instance, I was just playing in a charity event for the rescue mission at Skinny Atlas with Sean. And it's a great show there. And I was playing so tense from the stress of opening the business and, you know, trying to maintain all our clients, keep them having.

And I'm just like, ah. And I just had to just try to find my wusa out there. Yes. And you can't play golf tents. No. You can't play golf if your mind's racing. Once you're out there, it's you, the grass, the ball, the elements. Nothing else matters for those four or five hours.

And then I know as cliche as it sounds, shot by shot, one shot at a time. That's it. It is it. It has to be it, you know. And I've heard, you know, in sports psychology and in pro sports, you know, in football you hear it a lot, they preach like, whatever just happened, forget it. Put it out of your mind, it's done, it's over with.

No matter how bad it is, an interception, a fumble, whatever, missed field goal, that's over. We're not even thinking about that now. We're thinking about this play right now. And then when the game's over, you hear a lot of athletes go, yeah, we're going to enjoy this win for a few hours. and then it's on to next week. Yeah, everything is just very in the moment.

And I just think that's great practice for life, you know? 100%. On the golf course, I have a six-step rule. Okay. Good, bad, or ugly? For six steps after I struck my shot, you think about what happened. After the sixth step, you're on to your seventh,

you are now moving forward and you're worried about the next shot. Dude, I'm going to, I am going to use that. Do you give golf lessons anymore? Because I know you're busy. We'll talk about the barbershop. You know, I would love to get back into it. I totally am excited about doing it again. Sure.

Once we get back to some normalcy with the life here and get the business 100% locked in, grand opening coming later this month. Yes, Pac-9 Barbershop. We'll be talking about that in a second. And I would love to. And I think that I'm able to connect to a lot of people. I'm a little bit more of a realist. But I also am not that golf pro that wants you there for 10. or 15 sessions. I want you there for five. We're going to lock in. We're going to give you

the drills. We're going to give you whatever knowledge you need to move on. Whether you're struggling, breaking 90. We'll get you there. Breaking 80 will get you there. Now everything after 80, every two shots, it caught about 10 hours working on your game. You want to shoot 78. Better put 20 hours in 76. Another 20. It just gets harder and harder and harder. You use 20. You use as a metric? I mean, maybe five hours, maybe 10's a little excessive, but, you know, my father always used to make me go out there and, uh, if I only played nine holes in one day, it was like, oh, well, good job, waste a day. You know, it's funny because I find, you know, we, I get, you know, I'm doing these tournaments. We all play in these scrambled tournaments and things

like that. And we're getting off the couch, you know, we're drinking a cup of coffee. And we're getting out there and swinging. And everybody's like, oh, what's going on with my drive? And it's like, listen, first of all, you know, that's like a guitar player who, you know, plays guitar three times a summer and is like, why can't I play eruption by Van Halen? It's like, dude, you got to practice. And then I've always noticed, like, in a tournament, when we get to like hole 15, I start dialing it in. And it's because I'm warmed up.

Yep. Do you think, honestly, like, if you're going to compete, do you think you really need to, to get out there and practice for hours before the tournament starts? If it's a, you know, if it was a real deal tournament. my it was always at least an hour because I never know what the threshold was of like when are you going now you're going to tire yourself out like where is the line for you so I played so let me answer that question and then I'll go into a second segment of it um for me it was an hour hour and 20 minutes you stretch for 20 minutes hit some golf balls and then the last thing was 50 to 100 three foot puts take some straight some straight putts some straight puts three feet, you know, you're going to make them. Get the putter feeling good. Get that hole looking like a basket early.

Otherwise, you know, it's going to look like a pinhole on you. Right. So get the putter flowing. And the putter, honestly, I feel like that is, you know, that is the most important club in the bag. People might say, well, the driver is. Oh, drive for show, put for dough. I was taught. There you go, baby.

And your putter is almost guaranteed to be the one club that you use on every single hole. Yeah. Unless you're chipping in. So people sit there and they're like, well, Mike, how do I learn how to lag put? How do I do this? How do I do that? You got to spend some time. Sure. And it's 150 yards in.

If everybody was just to focus on that aspect, you will tremendously see a decline in your scores. Everyone's always like, oh, the driver, the driver, driver. You don't even need a driver. No. I got a buddy that puts his in the bag. He can't hit it. And he uses a whatever, four iron or five wood, three wood, whatever he's comfortable with. That's it.

Get to your number. Play high percentage goal. My father used to hate that. He wants to be ripping driver. I remember I went to Oswego Country Club. And I hit driver three times during the round. And I shot somewhere around par. But I didn't mind having 200 yards in.

I'm right in the center of the fairway. Got in my like five or six iron, four iron if it's uphill. And, you know, I'm just letting it launch right at it, throwing lawn. starts. Yeah. And you're going to, your birdies are going to come. I don't need to sit there and go after, especially if the driver feels good and driver swing feels good, let it rip every single.

100%. But if it's, if you have any doubts, high percentage golf. Yeah, I think, it's such great advice because I think, I think there's a lot of people I golf with that feel like, well, this is where I'm supposed to use my driver. There's no, you don't have to use, if your driver's not working, I'm not saying never use it again, you should try to get it fixed, because there are holes where you're going to need the most distance you can get. But there's no, you don't have to use your driver. Use your fucking six iron. Whatever is best for each hole, you know, and to put you up in the best position to win.

I mean, it's a little fun time here when I was at Northern Pines. I had one of the, one of the car kids working with me and, you know, he was feeling some type of way. I think he just just got off of, you know, playing a real good round. And he was like, yo, Mike, I'm ready for you. I'm ready for you. And I'm like, buddy, listen, I'm I'm just going to use my seven iron. Seven iron. Let's go play the backside. Seven iron only.

No putter? No putter. Is that your favorite club in the bag? It is my favorite club. Okay. And I shot 38 and I beat him. Bro, that's wild. That's fucking wild.

Well, you know, at that point in time and now, mind you, two national championships at Monroe Community College. Love them boys. Got to be part of that. And then moved on. After that, like, I really haven't worked on my, I call it cruise control. I do enough so it's not foreign to me right now. Sure.

But I am your captain and crew golfer currently. And that, and everyone's like, Mike, like, come on. Like, you're not even a golfer anymore. And, you know, some people are like, you're an 80s golfer. I'm like, oh, whatever. You know, I mean, they love, you know, poking the bear. And, you know, I would love to get out there. I haven't, Mike, I can't tell you last time I played 20, 20 rounds of 18 holes.

I'm playing football in a season. By choice. By choice. Not including Captain and Cruz. Those were always fall ball stuff. Well, let's talk about that. What, what, why? What is it just life in general, you're too busy or is there something, if you fell out of love with the game a little bit?

Well, you know, let's, let's go. Are we going to get back? Yeah. We'll get into the journey now. Let's get into the journey now. This is, this is, it's an amazing story, you know, so, I mean, we've talked up to this point, obviously about golf in general. But so here you are, your computer. at a high level at a young age,

and then some things kind of changed for you. You know, I would probably say the time that I really started to disconnect myself from just being out in the spotlight was after my parents got divorced. And obviously there's percentages that lead in every direction from there. I was lost, confused. I was 12, 13 years old. my mom and my sister moved out I don't think I fully understood what was going on

I mean old enough to understand but that's where things really started to go How old were you at this point? I was 13 13 okay And then like I said in the in the at Phoenix Rising podcast Started to you know get into smoking weed And they say you know then experiment from there Yeah the gateway drug the gateway I mean it is

It really is. For those that don't agree with that, it is. And, you know, I end up getting arrested on a high school field trip going to see the Statue of Liberty in New York at 15. And that burned any sort of D1 offer that I had. And I didn't know that at the time. My golf coach calling me a prima donna. And I'm like, man, you know, I'm the first one I practice. I'm the last one to leave.

I'm a cocky son of a bitch at that time. Really was. And it's important to be confident. but not cocky. There is a line. Gotta be humble. Yeah. And I didn't understand that.

Everybody was, you know, hooking me up, giving me free golf, free clubs, free this, free that. I'm 13 years old, signing autographs for people.

To be fair to yourself, I mean, anybody at that age experiencing what you were experiencing would also probably be cocky. I mean, we're not wired at that age to be able to handle

that kind of pressure and, you know, local fame. and of course you were cocky, you know? I mean, if you were in your 20s, you know, at that point, you should know how to kind of balance that. So go easy on yourself with that.

I think that's a lot of pressure for a 13-year-old. And you have to also factor in. Your parents are just splitting up. You know, who are you going to? You know, your mind's all over the place at that point. It really was. And then we just continued down the path, you know, by senior year in high school.

I think because of the arrest on the field trip, I was not eligible to play in states. So I lost a year of states. And then I just started to hate everybody. Sure. It's like the school that I was at. It's everybody else's fault. No accountability over here.

Again, being young. So we fast forward to Florida. And everything's going good there as well. I'm starting to meet some great contacts, playing with some great LPGA players. and the shark pool of everybody else down there. Yeah. My gosh.

And then, you know, I came back up here, went to school to, because I'm like, what else am I going to do? Yeah. Let's further our education, which is for you. Hospitality management and, you know, business management. And that's where, you know, the dewees started to happen. Yeah. Got the first one in college, year and a half later, got a second one.

Year and a half after that got the third one. And then that's where, you know, I was still, I was still floating. I was still making way and still being motivated to try to continue life. I just keep getting knocked down and I'm like, all right, whatever, whatever, you know, what else is new? Get to the golf course in Northern Pines and that's when I got the second and third one. So I lost my license. I could no longer smoke weed anymore. and then I started my opioid addiction.

Started with pills. It escalated into fat and all, heroin. Probably three years with the pills. And then, you know, once that got too expensive, we graduated on. But that fat and all, and for anybody that is struggling with opioid addiction, you know, I am standing living proof that you can beat it.

How did you get introduced to the opioids? Did you have an injury or was it just kind of you're at a party? Someone's like, hey, try this shit. I always wonder how someone goes right, like, because everyone kind of knows what can happen. So I always think what goes through someone's mind when they know how dangerous this is, this kind of drug. Hey, it's Trevor from the Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show.

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unexstream only 100 milligrams of caffeine, same as a cup of coffee. You could buy liquid death sparkly energy drink at fine retailers like 7-11 or learn more at liquid death.com. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this, even with just 10 listeners a month. If you've been thinking about starting a podcast, this is your sign.

Start free at RSS.com. How does it get introduced and how do you make that decision? if you even remember. You know, experimenting with like, with pills in high school was something that we did. But like nothing of habitual status.

I had, it was a friend of mine. Don't say his name. Who was it? Who was it? John Smith. He lives at 14. John Doe.

He introduced me to a gentleman that lived right up the road for me. And again, couldn't smoke weed anymore. stays in your system too long. I'm on probation. Sure. And I'm like, how can we, how can we still get high and hide it? Right. Pills. That's what it was. Got in out of my system. And I'm like, I remember telling him, I'm like, bro, I don't want to get addicted to these things. It's like day three or four.

And I'm like, I don't want to get addicted to these. So, you know, don't answer my call for a couple days. Well, I didn't like that he didn't answer my call after I was told them not to it. So I think I showed up at his house or something like that. And again, like once my habit grew to like $200 or $300 a day, I don't know how I didn't lose everything in the process. I got lucky, dude. Like a lot of people lose their house, their life, their family. And I somehow kept it afloat, barely but did.

That's when I was like, dude, I can't afford this habit anymore. But the withdrawals, they stink. Yeah. Like the flu on steroids. So I found somebody that I worked with once I left Northern Pines. And I was working at a box manufacturing plant. This gentleman sold fentanyl. And man, it's just like, you know, how it's everywhere.

It really is. You know, for those listening are watching, and I'm going to sound stupid here, but I think it's important that I ask this question. You know, we keep hearing about this fentanyl, fentanyl, and I'm a little confused on some of it because I know the problem is happening where a lot of drug dealers are cutting, you know, these pills or whatever, these drugs with fentanyl

because it's cheaper and that, you know, fentanyl so dangerous it can kill you. But is there a sector of a sect of people that actually seek out fentanyl? Like you do fentanyl on its own? always a part of something else. So I would say when I was doing it, it would, whatever cutting agent that they're using,

because if you're just using straight fat and all, like, and you have no medical practice with it at all, it's dangerous. Bro, I, I, one-tenth of a gram. I had, to be transparent, I went to get a colonoscopy, and I'm laying there, and they're getting ready to put me out. And I hear her go, all right,

and now we're going to start the fentanyl. And I was like, the friend. You know, because I was like, all I've heard is how bad, you know, I didn't understand that it actually is used in medical, you know, with actual doctors. Yeah. I was like, what are they doing to me? And very small doses. Yeah, yeah.

So what I was using was, you know, you get the bags. You know, they call them bundles or bricks or so. Honestly, I get it all confused now. But, you know, it's, to my knowledge, it was straight fat it was it was cut with something whatever cutting agent that these people are using at the time you don't know

no you don't know um and you know at this point in time I uh you know for anybody that uses heroin or man is that just the world's dirtiest drug I I didn't ever like that um you did try heroin

I did try heroin um and you know it's uh what from the opium plant or whatever, but like whatever they cut it with, I saw a documentary of these dudes on Netflix making it over in Columbia and I'm like, holy shit, dude, it looks like it looks like dirt. Really?

Straight dirt and they're not using it. It's like why you even put this in your body, if people saw the way that it was produced, maybe then, I don't know. But nowadays, this is what people are doing. They're getting smarter. They're adapting. You can buy pill filler online.

and a pill press. And people are taking the fentanyl and cutting it with the pill filler and making their own roxy 30s, whatever brand pill that you can get it all. And this is how people are now getting a hot pill. They're dying. It's like people getting those take-home,

like brew your own beer kits, then bottling them and putting them in the stores, you know, and you're just drinking whatever piss these people are making. You don't know how much. of anything is in it. There's, and they can sit there and say, oh, we blend real good, this, that, and the third. They don't know.

No. They don't, nobody knows. So it's. So you fast forward a little bit. So now you're dealing with this opioid addiction. Mm-hmm. And you've got some DWIs under your belt. You know, you're still, you love golf,

you're trying to find your way, you're back in school. What happens now? Where are we at? We lost the job. At the boxing plant. We're at the boxing plant. I am absolutely hating that job. For those, again, that work in the factory sector, God bless you.

Oh, my God. I've done it too. It gives you a new respect for people that work in. It's awful. It's awful. Some of the worst working conditions I've ever. It's a sweatshop. It did it.

And I'm sorry for if anybody is a general manager of a plant. And, you know, I respect your business savvy. and you have goals, we all have goals. We need them. But I mean, the working conditions, the food, if you're going to mandate overtime on people, give them some good food to eat. Healthy.

Give them some showers. Give them a place to take a nap. They're putting in the work for you. Those are the guys on the front lines. Take care of them boys and girls. But I hated it. I wanted out. And that's when I started,

I started to ask Sammy, Katanzaro, the ex-owner of Big City Barbershop. I said, hey, man, can you teach me the ways? I'd love to learn how to cut hair. You know, these guys are always at the golf course when I was at the golf course. Driving nice cars, wearing nice clothes, playing the golf course more than me. And I'm like, what am I doing wrong over here? And, you know, I did that. I worked 9 to 12 and then 10 to 2 at the factory.

I did that for about eight, ten months, and I had enough. Said, forget you. Well, I actually got into some trouble with the fentanyl at the factory. I passed out over stacking boxes, and it's called the cookie sheet that slides out. Big, big metal apparatus that just slides in and out while you're stacking boxes. It came out. I passed out, and somebody grabbed me by my best. otherwise I would have probably went head first 10, 12 feet,

landed on my neck, probably died. Wouldn't have known anything. They chalked it up as me being overworked, even though they all knew what was going on. And they put me on a two-day leave, light duty, outside patient or outpatient rehab. And it was kind of like, I didn't really learn anything. I'm like, really?

Is this how like this has dealt with? I've never been in this situation before. And the plant manager and the GM also haven't dealt with this before. So my union rep didn't. Nobody knew how to help me. Isn't that crazy? That is crazy. They have all these procedures in place.

Nobody can help a struggling drug addict. That's why it's important for interviews like this to get the word out because for some places and people, it's uncharted territory. but it's a part of life now. Opioid addiction, drugs, I mean, it's everywhere. And, you know, Narcan being a huge thing now, you know, the more we talk about it, the more people can put these kind of procedures in place for, God forbid, something like this happened. Absolutely.

And for those struggling with addiction of any kind, that doesn't make you a bad person. It doesn't. But society has a way of making you feel like a bad person. You know, like you were talking about how you got caught. You're still, you know, at your age, you still remember vividly when you got caught on that trip with weed and how it just fucked so many things up for you. And you still feel bad about it, I bet, in some ways. 100%.

And you shouldn't because it was a mistake. And I always talk about this. You know, society had a way of when we were growing up, you know, we're around the same age. If I had got caught drinking, you know, while I was in high school, I'd get in trouble by my parents, but it was boys will be boys. that's what they do. If you got caught with weed, it was like you had, like, crossed the border with heroin up your ass.

I mean, you were treated like, you need to stop hanging out with your friends. You need to go to drug counseling. You're going to be a loser. You're never going to have a career. And it's funny how it's flipped, and we've realized now, through research and just wisdom about life,

it's actually the other way around sometimes. I've never seen anyone die from weed, and I'm not promoting that people should go smoke weed. But we've found out that weed is so much, much safer, it has medicinal purposes, and alcohol's just poison. And it's led to so much trouble. And, you know, I tell people all the time, look, I ruined it for myself. I quit drinking October 1st, 2020. And it was the best decision I ever made. I do not fault people. I tell people, if you can drink and, like, control it, do it for your whole life, because it's awesome. Let's be

honest. Yep. I can't, you know. So it just amazes me how, I mean, I'm glad you learned a lesson for it, But the fact that you're still, you know, maybe mentally beating yourself up over a field trip where you got caught with weed, that sucks. You know, it sucks. It really does. I lost back to the weed on the first DWI got. I could have pled to a UPM, not a DWI. What's a UPM? Unlawful possession of marijuana.

Oh, got you. Okay. Which would have, if I pled to that, now mind you, I'm in college. I need financial aid. If you get a UPM, they cut. you off from financial aid. But not a DWI. Not a DWI. This is exactly my point. See what I'm saying? So I'm like

it's backwards. I wanted to go to Costa Carolina to finish my hospitality degree and I'm like, holy cow, I have to make a decision. You know, we're in a time now, and it's always been this way, but even more now with social media and cancel culture. I am a firm believer in holding people accountable.

You know, we have to do that. But there is a line that we've crossed with canceling people and getting people fired where it's like we're teaching society that you're not allowed to make mistakes and learn from it and I think that's really dangerous you know there's I think I think you can you can hold people accountable without without ruining their lives over some mistakes that we've all made you know I mean there's a million kids that had fucking weed weed on a field trip so through all this you you you now you're coming out of it I know you kind of relapsed one time There was a story you told on Sean's podcast that really hit me about when you kind of injured yourself.

Do you mind talking about that? And I believe that was your last straw. That was my last straw. Your rock bottom. My rock bottom. I met a girl. I got clean or I started to get clean. And it was like a two-year process of me mentally blasting myself saying,

dude, this is garbage. What are you doing? Stop doing this. Okay. You know, we're going to lower the dose of what, we take, which never happens. You can try it, but then the beast will always win. The devil always wins.

And I'm sitting there and I'm like, all right, you know, I got a girl in my life. She has some children. Things are changing. You had a purpose. Had a purpose. And something happened where it was over the summer. I am cleaned for probably 30 or 60 days now. And she went to some party and I'm like, you know what?

Man, I'm lonely right now. Screw it. Let's go get high. And that's all, by the way, that's all it takes sometimes for addicts is that in any moment, something can trigger you. Yep. Even something as simple as, oh, my girlfriend went to a party. You know, I'm going to get high. Yeah.

It's just anything that, any addict that can make any sort of circumstance of that justifiable, boom, let's go. Yeah. So I did that. I called up the man, said, hey, bro, what's up? Yo, he's like, yo, I got some lean. And I'm like, oh, why you can't get my hands on that? And I did. On the way home, I'm on my street.

And it kind of like forks out like a wishing bone. And I remember that I passed out and almost took out my neighbor's mailbox. And I see this mailbox every single time to this day. And it's like, boom, flash. Instant flashback. And I'm like, holy cow, dude. So I get to the house and I'm by myself. And, you know, all of a sudden, I'm like, all right, whatever, do two bags real quick.

That was what I used to do. And I'm like, why not? Get right back into it. Used to do is the key. Yep. Mike, next thing you know, dude, I'm naked. On the middle of my floor, I don't know how many hours have passed. I have the worst pill hangover, opioid hangover, ever, which just sounds like you have just been flashbanged in your head.

Is it worse than the worst alcohol angle you ever had? The worst. Really? Worst, yes. Yes, yes, bro. Yo. And there's nothing you can do. Everything is super sensitive anyways.

I'm sitting there and I'm like, why does my eye hurt? Hey, it's Trevor from the Jim Kerr Rock and Roll Morning Show. Have you ever had an energy drink that makes you feel like your head's going to explode? Liquid death now makes a better for you energy drink. Liquid death sparkling energy feels like a coffee, not an electric chair. It has zero sugar and just a sugar. just five calories. No sucralose, no aspartain, or artificial colors and dyes.

Plus, it has essential vitamins. You can find it in four delicious flavors that have clean taste. Scary strawberry. Strawberry with a hint of lemon. Tropical terror, which is like a pinocalada. Orange horror. Tasty orange with a hint of orange cream and murder mystery. A blend of cherry cola and spices. I love a good energy drinking. When I wake up at 2.30 in the morning to get us on the air at 5 a.m., I need something that's going to keep me going. And now I have liquid death. sparkling energy. I can't wait to keep drinking all these amazing flavors. They have an unexream only 100 milligrams of caffeine, same as a cup of coffee. You can buy Liquid Death Energy drink at fine retailers like 7-11 or learn more at LiquidDeath.com.

You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own is free and easy. Upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon music,

and hundreds more. Track your listeners, see where they're from, and start earning from ads like this. Even with just 10 listeners a month, if you've been thinking

about starting a podcast, this is your sign. Start free at rs.com. And, dude, what happened was I did those two bags and the corner of my dresser,

My drawers was sticking out, the bottom one actually. And I passed out and the full weight of my body landed on the corner of the dresser. And that's when I kind of came to. I thought that something had stabbed my eye like a pen or a pencil. I completely felt that when I was going to go up something was, something had stabbed me. Yeah. And it wasn't. And I'm like, okay, why is this though excruciating?

Went to go look in the mirror, dude. And I looked like a tiger had just swiped me across the face. right through the eye everything. And, you know, again, I've heard stories from other friends and people that are addicts that one of the, you know, people relapse. It happens all the time,

especially when you begin any sort of program. You know, I've heard it's very, very easy for people to relapse. But the real dangerous part about it is what you said earlier, which is you did what you used to do. But what people don't realize is even after 30 days, 60 days, your body doesn't have that tolerance.

So that's why a lot of people, correct me if I'm wrong, that's why a lot of people have this happen or, you know, die because they're doing what they normally used to do the same amount. They can't handle it. And as crazy as that sounds, for those that are even deeper into the fat and all doing 10 bags at a time, I could even fathom, that's insane to me. I'm doing two.

And that happened. Yeah, you know what I mean? I don't know. Just do a whole bundle real quick and call it down. I'm like, holy shit. Yep. And that's a whole different level. And I just wish that, you know, after that dude, I woke up and I grabbed like, probably,

like I probably had like 45 bags still, flushed him down the door. Good for you. Finally just. That is so hard. First and only time I've ever done that. But see, that's the moment you know it's going to work. Because this is what I tell people. When I quit drinking, I called my buddy.

he had quit drinking. I took the half a handle of vodka I had left and I dumped it. I have a video of it on my phone. And before that moment, the thought of ever doing that, but that's how I knew I'm serious. And that's why you hear people say the only true way to really, not always, but mostly the only true way that you're going to get off, whatever you're addicted to is when you're ready.

Not when the courts are ready, not when your friends are ready. You know, it is when you are like, I've had enough. And you had enough at that moment for you to flush those bags down. I had enough. I realized, you know, my mom would tell me things. And I'm like, eh, what does she know? My father would, my father and Sammy were the only two people that no matter what happened,

they knew that somehow I was going to come out of this. There's no timetable for, you know, again, probably four years of addicted to fat and all, two of which was trying to get off of it. I was going to ask you, because your dad seemed to play a big role in your life with golf as a mentor. And remember, you were talking about the pre-shot routine

that he would make you do or he asked you a question. Was he along your side through this? Or had you separated yourself from him because of the addiction? Did he help in any way? Or was he angry? What was your relationship with him through that? So I'll tell you what he wasn't.

He was not an enabler. That's huge. Many parents out there, are huge enablers. Because they love their kids and they're... I've lost... I lost one best friend because of his parents enabling. And another best friend finally,

he also beat the opioids finally now. But I think he had to do the shot. Yeah. And whichever how you have to get sober, get sober. Absolutely. Just do it. There's no right or wrong way. Everybody's got a different journey.

Like, whatever you need to do to do it, do it. And, you know, my dad would, uh, He lived with me. He saw how high I was day in and day out. He used to call me the pinball wizard because I'd be in the bathroom. I'd be in the bathroom. But then next thing you know, I'm passed out falling into the wall, falling into the shower, the toilet, this and that.

And I mean, it's funny to go back and laugh on these moments now. Sure. And, you know, after I, while I was on probation, And there was another time that I passed out. I'm redoing the floors of my house, dude. I was putting in tile. And I just got caught driving without a license. And I just did not care.

One time was on a Honda-Grom. I was test-driving it to buy it. Jesus. So literally I'm test-driving the Honda-Grom. I get pulled over. Do you can't make this stuff up? And it's just like, Mikey, you just sometimes have some horrible luck. Well, I also make some really dumb decisions, too.

Well, you know what? I have always said, because again, I had an alcohol problem. And I'm a good person. You're a good person. You hear these stories about people doing that kind of stuff. This guy was test driving a vehicle. He drove it through the window of a fucking, you know, dealership. Anything crazy and you think, man, how do people do that?

I realized when I was in the thick of my alcohol problem or I guess addiction, at any moment, like literally at any moment your life can change over one thing because you put yourself in situations that you normally wouldn't put yourself in if you were sober at the moment. You know, like, for example, even little things like, you know, you wouldn't be walking home at two in the morning

if you weren't out drinking. So you're obviously, when you're walking home at two in the morning, there's things you can get involved in. I just, I remember when I quit drinking, one of the things I was most thankful for was that, like, I'm no longer in these situations where at any moment, like something crazy can have. You know what I mean?

Like, you're always one degree away. separation away from something fucking nuts. And you know that's I think alcohol is the worst of all of them. I agree. It can it can not it can it opens you up to

really poor decision making and you're right ah fuck it let's just go do this and that you know what I mean? You're at the casino next thing you know you wake up you drove fucking to Cleveland and you know what I mean and it's like what did I just do like with no recollection with no recollection and just, and it gets scary because sometimes you sit there and you go,

I don't know if I trust my, it's not even like the drug or the people I'm with. I don't trust myself on my decision making anymore. I mean, you go, the whole drinking and driving thing is, it's serious, right? Nobody should be drinking and driving. Nobody. And, but shame on government officials, the judicial system. Shame on you for not implementing stronger penalties on somebody's first one. Really?

That's an interesting take. I like that. If they had interlocked devices automatically installed after your first one, you can get slapped on the wrist. Slap them monetarily on the wrist. Yeah. Because if you get three, everything's times three. Don't wait.

But they realize how much revenue that they make off of these DWIs. I think that it is now viewed. as a money-making system and people are getting away from helping people get back to their normal way of life. Yeah. That is somebody needs a stand. There needs to be more,

what's the word I'm looking for? Uh, da-da-da-da-da. Why am I blanking out? Basically, you've got to judge every situation differently. You, every situation, you can't blanket something. You know, everybody's got a different reason. for what they're doing, like even in a DWI situation. Well, what are they struggling?

Do they have any prior? You can't treat everybody across the board the same. So I think, I think it's important that you look at these people as humans more than just, just as someone who's breaking the law, you know? Everyone's got a story, you know. So you come out of this addiction, because I could talk to you all day. We've been going along because I'm just fascinated by this story. What happens now?

see the light a day. Back nine barbershop. How do you get here from there? So I just kept my head down and just kept moving forward trusting the process. Easy statement to say, right? Get into barbershop, start flicking. That's what Samuel, as you say, hanging and hold on. You know, it's going to be a bumpy ride.

I am now barbering for going on my sixth year. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. I've been sober for three years. Hey, hey, hey, hey. My man. And, you know, me and one of my business partners, probably earlier this year, we're like,

you know, is there really a good exit from one of these things? It's probably not. Nobody likes to see anybody leave. But, you know what? We stayed true to ourselves. And we wanted personal growth and for us to do better. so we decided that opening up back nine barbershop was that direction to take it's awesome it really is and in only three years a thousand days ago i almost lost everything you know one of my favorite sayings that i learned in

therapy was in relation to drugs or drinking is you can give up everything for one thing or you can give up one thing for everything and and it really is that way that there's no true my kids get all of me. I mean, I have it all. You know, I gave it up. And so did you. And you're amazing, man. I mean, your story is so inspiring. And I'll tell you, if anyone's listening or watching that is struggling

in any sort of way, go get a haircut with Mike because you might get some help out of it. You know, people struggling, coming to you, you know, because I've learned going to my barber, dude, it's like a therapy session. We talk, we laugh, we crack jokes, we talk football. We are

we are part therapist. You're really are. Women, I hate to label, women men, but women typically go to the spa. Yeah, no. The nail salon. Sure. Us gents, we go to our barbershop, that's our safe haven. Hell yeah. We talk about everything under the sun.

And, you know, if I can give out any motivational quotes or help anybody in the process who is struggling, you know, just let yourself be known that you can do it. You can do it.

You're living proof, dude. I am living proof. And I'm so inspired by you. And, you know, I love you for it. I, and I just love how it all, all this bullshit that happened, it all funneled down into this back nine barbershop, which combines not only the two things that you love, cut in hair, three things, helping people and golf.

And it's also the two things your parents did for a career. It's just, it's very storybook, man. And I'm so happy for you. I could have never even have thought this. Of course not. It's hard to see it. Now, when you quit, did you do cold turkey? Did you do rehab?

The last time. I did cold turkey. You did cold turkey. I did too. It's like you don't recommend it to people if you can. I know. So for anybody that's listening that is struggling with opioid addiction, that is recommendedly, medically not the way to go. But I wanted to remember how hard it was to get sober.

Like it was easy to get high. It should be hard to get sober. Sure. And the thing about it is now is they'll slide you to Suboxin or Methadone. Yeah. But what you're not doing is going through the withdrawals. Right. And, you know, they will keep you now locked into Suboxin.

Yeah. Which look at the lawsuits, people losing teeth. Or they'll keep you locked in a methadone, which you still can abuse. Sure. And they don't taper you off fast enough. So if anybody's going to go that route, make sure that you have. a written out system of, okay, we're going to start at six milligrams of Suboxin, and then, you know, month one, we're taking, we're taking a third off of it.

And slowly taper your way down because the doctors are probably not going to do it. They're just going to give you, oh, you've been good. You haven't had any dirty piss test? Okay, cool. We'll keep you on for three, four, five years. And then when you finally want to get off Suboxin, holy hell is those withdrawals are even worse. Yeah. So the withdrawals are, they're imminent.

They're going to happen. face it get yourself a good circle a good support system and you can beat it you're the man Mike Catalano Back 9 Barbershop golfer extraordinaire

give me the plugs before we go where can we find back 9 barbershop how do we contact you the whole thing So you know you can go to Back9 Barbershop.com Our link will take you right to our Booksy booking app We are opened

Tuesday through Friday 8 to 6 Saturday, 7 to 2. For right now, we are close Sunday Mondays. We are at the 31 center across some Spira's off 31. We are two doors to the left of Kenzie, 6257 Route 31. We would love to have anybody come in there. We are open to walk-ins. We are open to give you our hospitality.

Whatever. Back 9 welcomes you all in. That's amazing. And for those of you struggling with addiction, any need any sort of help. Contact the show. We can put you in touch with Mike or we have other resources to get you help.

Mike Catalano is living proof that you can go through the depths of hell and come out on top. And I'm honored to sit here with you and hear your story and I appreciate you sharing it with everybody, man. Mike, thanks for having me on and I'm glad that I'm able to slowly start

to pay it forward. The man, Mike Catalano, Back Nine Barbershop. One of my favorite interviews, I've got goosebumps, to be honest with you. We will see you tomorrow. Matt will be back from his vacation at Enchanted Forest. I'm kidding. He didn't go there. But we love it there. Yeah, Matt will be back tomorrow. Good News York, sponsored by Ads on the Go. Get Ads on the Go.com. See you tomorrow. You're listening to a podcast right now. Driving, working out, walking the dog. If you're into podcasts, chances are you have something to say too. With RSS.com, starting your own podcast is free and easy. upload an episode and we distribute it to Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, and more.

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