WEBVTT
00:00:07.557 --> 00:00:10.166
Welcome to No Magic Bullet podcast series.
00:00:11.686 --> 00:00:12.826
What's In Your Toolbox?
00:00:12.826 --> 00:00:14.707
is a monthly podcast on mental health.
00:00:15.807 --> 00:00:17.216
I am your host Bobby Kay.
00:00:17.626 --> 00:00:24.246
Comedian, mental health advocate, and executive producer of the documentary No Magic Bullet: What's In Your Toolbox?
00:00:24.937 --> 00:00:26.657
An honest discussion on mental health.
00:00:27.426 --> 00:00:36.466
I am 70 years young, suffer from Tourette Syndrome, and love doing these podcasts that always reminds me to practice what I preach.
00:00:38.503 --> 00:00:40.253
Hello, everybody.
00:00:40.264 --> 00:00:46.603
Welcome to episode seven, season five of What's In Your Toolbox?
00:00:47.654 --> 00:01:02.103
This episode titled Walk for Courage, and you're gonna find out why, because our guest is involved with an organization, like really involved, and he'll talk a little bit about that.
00:01:02.643 --> 00:01:09.334
And I'm gonna tell you a little bit about my guest,'cause I asked him to send me a bio, and he did.
00:01:10.563 --> 00:01:23.293
So Sean McMurray is a high-performance sales executive, board leader, and business owner who operates at the intersection of elite enterprise technology and deeply rooted community advocacy.
00:01:23.703 --> 00:01:38.602
With a 35-year career that spans winning six President Club awards at TELUS, managing multi-million dollar sales and building successful hospitality franchises, Sean is a master of navigating complex operational landscapes.
00:01:38.893 --> 00:01:42.332
But Sean's professional success is only half the story.
00:01:42.802 --> 00:01:47.843
Behind his strategic acumen is a profound 24, did you hear it?
00:01:47.843 --> 00:01:58.233
Twenty-four year journey of sobriety and recovery, a personal milestone that fuels his unwavering dedication to mental health and addiction advocacy.
00:01:58.643 --> 00:02:07.128
Sean has fu-funneled his life experience and executive leadership into governances that create realistic, systematic impact.
00:02:07.128 --> 00:02:23.252
For over seven years, he has served as the board chair for the Canadian Mental Health Association CMHA where he has spearheaded critical agency amalgamations, overseen CEO successions, and navigated complex provincial advocacy.
00:02:23.823 --> 00:02:34.682
Prior to his transformation work with the CMHA, Sean spent seven years dedicated to grassroots recovery as director of G and B Houses, a vital support recovery home for men.
00:02:35.173 --> 00:02:43.902
Now, as past chair with the CMHA, he is mentoring new board members to feel connected and grounded for the work and strategic direction ahead.
00:02:44.323 --> 00:03:15.019
Whether he is brokering elite technology contracts through his firm, Blue Mountains Communications, or pioneering governance of models for regional health services, Sean brings a unique blend of hospitality DNA, sharp business strategy, and authentic empathy to everything he touches On today's episode, Sean joins us to talk about leadership, the power of long-term recovery, and what it truly takes to build resilient communities from the boardroom to the front lines.
00:03:15.368 --> 00:03:20.368
Oh my God, you should write my next intro.
00:03:20.938 --> 00:03:27.588
So without ado, I wanna introduce you to my guest, Sean McMurray.
00:03:27.588 --> 00:03:28.199
Hey, Sean.
00:03:29.486 --> 00:03:32.037
Bobby, what a pleasure, and thank you for that warm welcome.
00:03:32.287 --> 00:03:33.217
I really appreciate that
00:03:33.423 --> 00:03:39.473
listen, I only wrote what you read, but there was a couple of points in it that were key.
00:03:40.323 --> 00:03:41.233
I threw it away.
00:03:42.252 --> 00:03:48.342
Let me just get them because you and I were both in the telecommunications business.
00:03:49.643 --> 00:03:53.073
Twenty-four years of sobriety is incredible.
00:03:53.073 --> 00:04:01.612
CMHA, I want you to know that I traveled all the way out to Calgary and Kelowna to do some fundraising for the CMHA.
00:04:01.682 --> 00:04:03.573
I actually have a button,
00:04:04.233 --> 00:04:04.492
Oh, you can.
00:04:04.712 --> 00:04:04.962
Oh, nice
00:04:05.022 --> 00:04:11.652
a CMHA button, and the only reason I was out there is I had a connection through one of my partners in Calgary and Red Deer.
00:04:12.413 --> 00:04:21.283
But now I'm glad that I'm- got a connection in Simcoe or Bruce, Grey Bruce, because that's where we are.
00:04:21.552 --> 00:04:28.372
I'm at my home office headquarters, world headquarters in Eugenia, and your world headquarters is where?
00:04:29.512 --> 00:04:29.952
Thornbury.
00:04:30.052 --> 00:04:30.663
There you go.
00:04:30.963 --> 00:04:31.062
Thornbury
00:04:31.452 --> 00:04:32.142
There you go.
00:04:32.153 --> 00:04:34.882
So I think that is fantastic.
00:04:34.882 --> 00:04:40.903
So listen, even though we just met each other, I feel like you're a brother from another mother.
00:04:40.903 --> 00:04:43.713
So tell me a little bit about how we know each other
00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:54.581
I guess it was that random post I saw from the library back in Mental Health Awareness Week.
00:04:56.130 --> 00:05:08.221
There was an opportunity to come and talk about mental health in in a safe space, and so I grabbed my wife, Jen, and we walked the two blocks down to the library and and got connected with you there.
00:05:08.221 --> 00:05:09.721
And that's really where the...
00:05:09.870 --> 00:05:12.661
It's been two months maybe.
00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:14.360
I think it was back in May.
00:05:14.418 --> 00:05:17.598
Isn't that wonderful that you could walk?
00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:19.341
Just walk.
00:05:19.571 --> 00:05:19.810
Yeah
00:05:19.928 --> 00:05:26.718
sometimes you have to get on an airplane and go to a c-convention center in San Francisco, but you just had to w-walk down the street.
00:05:27.009 --> 00:05:27.329
Listen,
00:05:27.485 --> 00:05:27.915
Yeah, exactly
00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:34.629
I saw you come in, and you had a badge on that said CMHA, and,
00:05:34.807 --> 00:05:34.976
Yep
00:05:35.119 --> 00:05:49.499
sat down and you listened attentively, and then afterwards you asked me a couple of questions, and then you said,"Look, i'm gonna send some information out to some of my past board members," which was great.
00:05:49.978 --> 00:05:51.918
And here we are.
00:05:51.918 --> 00:05:54.608
But I can tell you that you were very positive.
00:05:54.949 --> 00:06:03.858
Your demeanor, I could get rid of my clonazepam and my Valiums because you got this incredibly soft, easy demeanor.
00:06:03.858 --> 00:06:07.298
I don't know what you're like at home, but you clearly have that.
00:06:07.488 --> 00:06:11.649
And you also sent me a nice note saying how much you liked my newsletter
00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:13.379
Love that.
00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:22.338
I love getting into work Monday morning and and your, email lands in my inbox, and I take that few moments and just reflect.
00:06:23.629 --> 00:06:26.829
And whether it's a recipe or a tidbit it's awesome.
00:06:27.011 --> 00:06:27.271
I've been d-
00:06:27.329 --> 00:06:27.918
thanks for...
00:06:28.709 --> 00:06:32.009
a lot of work doing the newsletter, so I recognize that
00:06:32.038 --> 00:06:34.129
For me it isn't because it's like journaling.
00:06:34.209 --> 00:06:41.439
I collect stuff as I go through the week and that's one of the skills that we have is journaling, right?
00:06:42.380 --> 00:06:42.591
Yep.
00:06:42.858 --> 00:06:43.559
absolutely
00:06:43.666 --> 00:06:50.776
But you told me that you were the past chair of CMHA, so I know what it stands for.
00:06:50.776 --> 00:06:53.646
Maybe you can talk tell us a little bit about CMHA
00:06:54.706 --> 00:06:58.526
So the agency is in rooted in Grey Bruce.
00:06:58.547 --> 00:07:11.476
We have offices from Markdale to Owen Sound, of course Wiarton, Southampton, Kincardine, Hanover, Walkerton, and we deliver community-based mental health programs.
00:07:11.476 --> 00:07:12.576
We deliver housing.
00:07:13.297 --> 00:07:15.557
We deliver court support services.
00:07:16.096 --> 00:07:23.307
We are the feet on the streets connected with really happening in our communities.
00:07:23.976 --> 00:07:35.377
And whether it's suicide awareness training, which is where we're at today with the Walk for Courage then just trying to make the world a better place, kind of one conversation at a time.
00:07:35.776 --> 00:07:40.567
And to be clear on that, the agency exists because of the staff.
00:07:40.726 --> 00:07:47.937
That's first and foremost, the social workers, the assistants, the housing managers, the maintenance managers.
00:07:47.966 --> 00:07:59.487
The staff are really truly beautiful humans I can't say enough about them when they deliver these services to those people.
00:07:59.877 --> 00:08:01.117
Tough conversations.
00:08:02.047 --> 00:08:14.297
are at their weakest and most vulnerable and whether it's the homelessness addicted or just somebody just struggling to, put a couple of nickels together for groceries, it's it's truly remarkable.
00:08:14.370 --> 00:08:27.550
Listen, before we get to talk about the Walk why we're doing this podcast, when I read your intro, it talked about your journey and why you ended up volunteering at the CMHA and becoming the chair.
00:08:27.550 --> 00:08:29.610
So you think it's appropriate?
00:08:29.610 --> 00:08:32.120
Can we talk a little bit about your journey?
00:08:32.346 --> 00:08:32.586
Yeah.
00:08:33.576 --> 00:08:53.216
I had been a regular AA attended AA in Owen Sound for, every Friday night or other s- the big b- anyways I was at an AA meeting week, and my job actually took me away from Owen Sound and different parts of Ontario, and I was just on the road a lot.
00:08:54.167 --> 00:09:01.777
And I felt like I needed to give back and be connected to the the in AA, and and I was really just looking for another outlet.
00:09:01.996 --> 00:09:05.456
I wanted to serve and be in service, which is why, why you volunteer.
00:09:06.096 --> 00:09:21.736
And I saw an opportunity to be involved with G&B House, which is a 90-day treatment facility for men based in Owen Sound, and the board of directors at that point, to try to just give back in a different way.
00:09:21.736 --> 00:09:22.616
I had some...
00:09:22.667 --> 00:09:25.317
I felt like I had some leadership experience.
00:09:25.797 --> 00:09:37.976
I understood, funding from the province and how things get managed from our funders, and that was the ability to c- be connected again with that recovery community.
00:09:38.817 --> 00:09:54.767
that was at the journey, that was back in 2016, that's, it's hard to believe that was 10 years, where decided as a community that there was three organizations that needed to be one because we were all talking to the same person.
00:09:55.716 --> 00:10:01.187
So we had an organization, three different organizations that were doing basically the same thing.
00:10:01.567 --> 00:10:11.105
O- one was maybe more focused on housing, one was maybe more focused on recovery And so we amalgamated those three, and we worked really well together.
00:10:11.245 --> 00:10:20.695
I can't say enough again about When people have a vision, and you can articulate that vision from a governance standpoint, anything's possible.
00:10:21.394 --> 00:10:31.995
And we became an agency under one umbrella back in twenty eighteen, that's when I took the role as board chair until just this past...
00:10:32.144 --> 00:10:33.804
We have an AGM every September.
00:10:34.534 --> 00:10:54.024
we-- Back in September of twenty twenty-five, I, I s-was able to step down s-steering the direction, the strategic plan in the right way, and the CEO succession and I felt that was the time to somebody else take over and manage the organization from a governance perspective.
00:10:54.024 --> 00:11:01.455
So that's at the heart of it was just I felt that I needed to be connected to my community, but I couldn't go to the meetings every...
00:11:01.914 --> 00:11:06.715
whether it was a Friday night or a Monday night or a Tuesday night because my job just took me everywhere.
00:11:07.205 --> 00:11:14.465
And this allowed me to be connected, and I felt that I was able to give back in a way that helped, everybody.
00:11:15.004 --> 00:11:17.144
Governors govern, the staff do the work.
00:11:17.445 --> 00:11:20.184
We-- They make us look good at the end of the day.
00:11:21.024 --> 00:11:21.695
that's what's most
00:11:21.822 --> 00:11:43.263
So what qualified you to be giving back, when I talk about journey, was my previous guest, Intrepid Living, she was 20 years sober in September, and she told me she can go anywhere in the world and her support group is the her AA or her 12-step program.
00:11:43.712 --> 00:11:52.342
So how did you get yourself into your situation and how did you use it to get to the, to this point?
00:11:54.160 --> 00:12:04.760
Yeah, I recognized a pattern in my life back in my twenties and early thirties that I wasn't I wasn't fun to be around after a couple of I didn't enjoy who I was.
00:12:05.530 --> 00:12:12.061
So it was a moment in time where I felt that I needed to take hold of my life before it truly became unmanageable.
00:12:12.730 --> 00:12:17.921
addiction is one thing, but once you stop drinking, then it becomes like the onion, right?
00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:22.321
I had a sponsor that once told me it's just the-- it's like peeling an onion.
00:12:23.140 --> 00:12:27.110
So then you deal with the trauma of, where, why you were at that place.
00:12:27.160 --> 00:12:31.721
And I really just wanted to just be better for my kids.
00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:34.880
At the end of the day, that was always my higher power, was my family.
00:12:35.451 --> 00:12:47.490
So recognizing that I didn't want to create a legacy of drinking and a drinking culture, which just permeates through our whole society that one person can make a difference.
00:12:48.061 --> 00:12:52.041
And that, that's, that was the reasoning, was my own struggles.
00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:57.091
And I just didn't want my kids kinda grow up the way I grew up.
00:12:58.221 --> 00:13:05.350
And that led me into the rooms of AA and where I felt like there was a community to your previous guest, right?
00:13:05.350 --> 00:13:09.211
Anywhere you are can be anyone that's on the that's working this through with you.
00:13:09.211 --> 00:13:25.041
But I felt that I could only go so far in AA and that's why I decided to get involved and just be an advocate for recovery and mental health in the boardrooms as opposed to the AA rooms and basement churches
00:13:25.044 --> 00:13:25.784
Listen, you know what?
00:13:25.784 --> 00:13:39.085
You might as well be addicted to something that's good rather than something that's bad, and it sounds to me like you are addicted to advocacy, and I guess that's where we are right now.
00:13:39.085 --> 00:13:44.254
So there you are at CMHA, past chair, blah, blah, blah.
00:13:44.445 --> 00:13:54.725
You, I'm not blah, blah, blahing it, but why I wanted to have you on was that you told me that you have a fundraiser coming up called Walk for Courage.
00:13:55.455 --> 00:13:55.975
So tell me
00:13:56.024 --> 00:13:56.205
yeah,
00:13:56.225 --> 00:13:57.264
a little bit about that
00:13:58.876 --> 00:14:02.697
So the Walk for Courage is actually one of our main fundraisers.
00:14:02.756 --> 00:14:06.746
It happens on July 25th in Owen Sound and Hanover.
00:14:07.256 --> 00:14:09.277
It's just walkforcourage.ca.
00:14:09.277 --> 00:14:15.756
I know you'll post links on the and we'll be able to share that in the literature.
00:14:16.746 --> 00:14:21.527
but really what the Walk for Courage started as a journey by the Courage family.
00:14:21.527 --> 00:14:23.177
It's a local Owen Sound family.
00:14:24.096 --> 00:14:29.496
and of course, they encountered every parent's worst nightmare in November of 2019.
00:14:29.506 --> 00:14:37.486
Their son, Jeff the old- their oldest son of Greg and Tanya Courage, he died by suicide at a very young age of 21.
00:14:38.157 --> 00:14:47.517
He was a third-year political science student at the University of Western Ontario and he had dreams of becoming a lawyer and eventually running for public office.
00:14:47.966 --> 00:14:53.346
He was a person like this, and this kid had everything going for him, like everything on the outside.
00:14:54.417 --> 00:15:04.177
He was also a personal trainer at Owen Sound Fitness and Training and a proud member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, and for someone known for his kindness, humor, and ability to make others feel welcome.
00:15:05.006 --> 00:15:11.216
always say to people, there's a very fine line from where we are today to where somebody is in this state.
00:15:11.687 --> 00:15:22.476
And like many families experience to the loss to suicide, the Courage family wanted to find a way to create something more positive, and they also wanted to prevent it from happening to other families.
00:15:22.476 --> 00:15:33.966
If you can-- much like my own work in AA is like being open and honest and sharing your stories so that you can, one person, if you just help one person that's what's most important.
00:15:34.657 --> 00:15:39.746
So members of Jeff's fraternity and friends at Western, they launched a campaign called The Courage Project.
00:15:40.147 --> 00:15:48.236
They sold T-shirts that s- that said,"United Together," and they raised$17,000 in Jeff's memory.
00:15:48.876 --> 00:15:51.817
And that project just showed how many lives Jeff's touched.
00:15:52.006 --> 00:16:01.136
And the family then, along with Josh Burnett, the owner of Owen Sound Fitness and Training and CMHA, we created the first Walk for Courage.
00:16:01.866 --> 00:16:03.297
the goal was very simple.
00:16:03.307 --> 00:16:14.407
The Courage family wanted to just honor Jeff's memory and create a legacy also raise awareness and have what better way to do that than having conversations like this with community members?
00:16:14.996 --> 00:16:20.596
Just one of our taglines is,"It's okay to not be okay." So that was the simple goal.
00:16:21.027 --> 00:16:26.956
It was a memorial walk and it's now grown into one of our largest mental health fundraising initiatives.
00:16:27.136 --> 00:16:32.667
And we raised over$48,000 last year, and that supports mental health programs and services.
00:16:33.397 --> 00:16:37.475
So again, participants, you can walk it starts at Owen Sound Fitness and Training.
00:16:38.144 --> 00:16:42.904
in Hanover, it's at the Sulfur Spring Conservation area, or you can just walk out your front door.
00:16:43.595 --> 00:16:45.894
It's open to anyone, regardless of age or ability.
00:16:45.985 --> 00:16:49.884
We keep the walk very simple very flat along the trail in Owen Sound.
00:16:49.884 --> 00:16:53.955
It's beautiful along the waterfront there, down to Bay Shore Community Center and back again.
00:16:54.715 --> 00:17:01.205
And the people support, they walk in memory of someone or simply because they believe that mental health matters.
00:17:02.625 --> 00:17:06.634
so of the things we say is you don't have to be an athlete to show up.
00:17:07.424 --> 00:17:10.305
And why it matters is because mental health touches everybody.
00:17:10.934 --> 00:17:15.144
And a lot of times many people have experienced their own mental health challenges.
00:17:16.674 --> 00:17:26.335
They wanna be to-- there to support a family or a friend, or sadly, they've lost somebody to suicide, they've just struggled with isolation, anxiety, depression, grief, or addiction.
00:17:27.025 --> 00:17:29.755
It affects us all either directly or indirectly.
00:17:31.075 --> 00:17:33.704
and that's the Walk for Courage, in a nutshell.
00:17:33.855 --> 00:17:46.365
So we're really grateful for this opportunity to share the story and the awareness to just create conversation and you don't have to be alone and just reach out.
00:17:46.778 --> 00:17:47.189
Listen,
00:17:47.335 --> 00:17:47.595
Yeah.
00:17:47.669 --> 00:17:54.358
are gonna have in show notes, there will be a link to it, and anybody that wants to find out about it can definitely find out about it.
00:17:54.358 --> 00:18:01.479
But it's interesting because I'm 70, so I was in high school when there was grade 13.
00:18:01.868 --> 00:18:01.878
A-
00:18:02.964 --> 00:18:03.555
Me too
00:18:04.179 --> 00:18:15.695
then they got rid of grade 13, and people that went in grade 12 went to university, and I don't know, this is just a conversation.
00:18:15.855 --> 00:18:27.445
Jack.org started, and it was a story about his son being at Queen's University and isolation and coming up with these challenges.
00:18:27.455 --> 00:18:40.986
And I know that I've had a number of friends whose kids are just too young, too inexperienced to move away and have to deal with the stresses of university.
00:18:40.986 --> 00:18:43.855
So do you know what, is that correct, do you think?
00:18:43.855 --> 00:18:47.566
Do you think it was the grade 12 to grade 13 that, that caused a lot of this stuff?
00:18:48.852 --> 00:18:53.801
I honestly think it's the stupid cell phones, the social media.
00:18:54.791 --> 00:18:56.291
are inward, they're not outward.
00:18:56.301 --> 00:18:57.932
Nobody's connecting anymore.
00:18:58.751 --> 00:19:00.521
people aren't getting together with their neighbors.
00:19:00.551 --> 00:19:02.271
People don't even know who their neighbors are.
00:19:03.402 --> 00:19:06.321
you've-- you're, you're suppo-supposed to be social media.
00:19:06.741 --> 00:19:08.781
I don't believe kids are resilient.
00:19:08.922 --> 00:19:20.602
I think that being connected all the time to family and friends, you don't learn to be resilient, and there's no learning going on with the...
00:19:20.882 --> 00:19:25.461
you f-face a little adversity in your day, you just pick up your phone and call your parents or...
00:19:26.261 --> 00:19:29.102
I think back to when was young and I moved away.
00:19:29.112 --> 00:19:33.551
At 14, I spent a summer training in the Alps.
00:19:33.551 --> 00:19:36.211
I had no way of getting in touch with my parents for skiing.
00:19:37.162 --> 00:19:42.362
I moved to west again for the summer when I was, I think 16 or 17 for two months.
00:19:42.412 --> 00:19:43.672
Long distance was a thing.
00:19:43.682 --> 00:19:45.582
You couldn't just pick up the phone and call your parents.
00:19:45.582 --> 00:19:48.281
You had to actually write a letter or wait for the letter to be written.
00:19:48.922 --> 00:20:01.811
And when you were raised in a time where you just had to deal with that adversity and you had to talk to your friends in order to solve your problems, now we become more internal.
00:20:02.811 --> 00:20:06.362
and I've made it a part of my is to be reaching out.
00:20:07.162 --> 00:20:11.932
I blow my neighbor's snow, I cut her grass, I help my neighbors to the other side.
00:20:11.932 --> 00:20:14.511
I help my nei-- like, I know who my neighbors are.
00:20:14.511 --> 00:20:16.451
We have a neighborhood party every winter.
00:20:18.112 --> 00:20:26.291
and I believe that community, whi-which is my tagline of my business, is connecting communities is so vital.
00:20:26.701 --> 00:20:29.511
And to not feel alone and to feel isolated, I...
00:20:30.102 --> 00:20:33.301
maybe the youth maybe going away so young is part of it.
00:20:33.352 --> 00:20:34.912
I-- That could be true.
00:20:34.912 --> 00:20:41.122
But, my, my kids took a year off and they stayed home.
00:20:41.211 --> 00:20:42.491
They worked full-time.
00:20:42.491 --> 00:20:52.892
They got a taste of what the real world looks like and how little money you make when you do work full-time at minimum wage jobs, so that encouraged, of course, higher learning.
00:20:53.642 --> 00:21:02.041
I think kids that stay back for that year create that resiliency and they're they're not dependent as much.
00:21:02.092 --> 00:21:04.541
But yeah I think it's the phone.
00:21:04.541 --> 00:21:05.761
I think it's social media
00:21:06.246 --> 00:21:08.296
you and I are both in the phone business
00:21:08.355 --> 00:21:08.526
yeah
00:21:09.364 --> 00:21:12.294
little did we know that it, it was gonna evolve to this.
00:21:12.604 --> 00:21:14.534
So I don't know you very well.
00:21:14.693 --> 00:21:17.413
So you were training in the Alps for skiing?
00:21:18.471 --> 00:21:28.602
Yeah I was a ski racer when I was growing up and I a summer and went to the, to Saas-Fee and yeah, tried to become a better
00:21:28.895 --> 00:21:29.986
Where'd you ski out of?
00:21:31.228 --> 00:21:32.607
Sauce Faye is there,
00:21:32.746 --> 00:21:33.605
in Ontario
00:21:33.665 --> 00:21:33.806
Men's Ski.
00:21:33.806 --> 00:21:34.855
I was out of London.
00:21:34.925 --> 00:21:35.726
I grew up in St.
00:21:35.736 --> 00:21:37.425
Thomas, so it was part of the London's
00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:39.710
Did you know that I taught skiing at Boulder?
00:21:41.412 --> 00:21:41.922
Oh, did you
00:21:42.077 --> 00:21:46.048
Oh yeah, when I went to university, I was 10th in Canada for freestyle skiing.
00:21:46.417 --> 00:21:52.038
I was working for Fisher, and I was part of the Western Ski Club.
00:21:52.548 --> 00:21:53.728
I graduated in 1977.
00:21:55.038 --> 00:21:55.917
When did you go to Western?
00:21:57.099 --> 00:21:58.329
No, I went to Fanshawe
00:21:58.483 --> 00:21:59.354
you went to Fanshawe.
00:21:59.523 --> 00:22:01.503
I also taught skiing at Ski High,
00:22:02.701 --> 00:22:03.392
Wow
00:22:03.644 --> 00:22:05.104
Fanshawe College, right?
00:22:05.809 --> 00:22:06.240
It is.
00:22:06.380 --> 00:22:06.859
Yeah.
00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:10.420
So listen, we're, we're using this time t-to get to know each other.
00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:12.960
So London Ski Club, I'm at Beaver Valley.
00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:18.970
We still have Newt Domberg here, and there was a couple of level fours that came out of Boulder.
00:22:19.490 --> 00:22:19.900
Yeah
00:22:20.175 --> 00:22:21.425
And there you go.
00:22:21.435 --> 00:22:23.215
We're both skiers, so we're gonna have to ski.
00:22:23.215 --> 00:22:26.205
I'll have to come to Beaver Valley'cause I still teach skiing here.
00:22:26.536 --> 00:22:30.096
I still teach kids and a-and there you go.
00:22:30.465 --> 00:22:39.776
But what I wanted to talk to you about was,'Cause you're a very, organized, structured guy, I think, from what I'm...
00:22:39.905 --> 00:22:40.036
Do
00:22:40.266 --> 00:22:40.766
to be.
00:22:41.006 --> 00:22:46.986
you think the,'Cause I wanna get back to the whole thing of of the 12-step program and AAA.
00:22:47.115 --> 00:22:50.556
What's tools--'Cause this is called What's in Your Toolbox?
00:22:51.256 --> 00:22:58.885
What tools did it give you, or what tools have you developed to help you deal with your mental health?
00:23:01.663 --> 00:23:10.334
I think that for me the AA journey created a path early days to recognize, that you needed to do-- get-- It was work.
00:23:10.413 --> 00:23:15.973
You had to work it, and you had to work the steps in order to get to what others wanted.
00:23:15.973 --> 00:23:17.483
That's one of the taglines.
00:23:18.693 --> 00:23:23.183
the community that comes with AA, like community is so important, the importance of connection.
00:23:24.034 --> 00:23:30.304
To your point about your guest before, anywhere in the world, anywhere you are, you can go to an AA meeting.
00:23:32.213 --> 00:23:40.144
I think that's what's really important is that there are people there that genuinely wanna help, and they wanna help you, and they wanna...
00:23:40.273 --> 00:23:42.304
and/or, or others that wanna be helped.
00:23:42.304 --> 00:23:46.364
And the openness of the vulnerability of the AA community is what's great.
00:23:46.433 --> 00:23:52.834
You get to share stories you're meeting others who understand and you feel part of something bigger, right?
00:23:52.963 --> 00:24:04.153
I think that's so important is that community, and that's where the to my point earlier about being siloed and just alone and on these stupid phones that I think are just toxic.
00:24:04.923 --> 00:24:11.624
So the AA journey taught me that you needed others in your life be sober.
00:24:12.314 --> 00:24:17.084
It taught me that the higher power doesn't necessarily have to be a religious one.
00:24:17.473 --> 00:24:29.529
One of the many conversations I have with people that are just coming into AA the need to feel like a higher power in terms of spirituality and religion It, it's what you wanna make it to be.
00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:31.059
Mine is my family.
00:24:31.490 --> 00:24:36.509
My family is the driving force behind everything I, I do when it comes to my sobriety.
00:24:37.470 --> 00:24:45.170
my, my daughters and what my dad up until he passed away about a year and a bit ago and Jen, who you met as well.
00:24:46.569 --> 00:24:54.769
yeah, like that's, that to me is the tool is that I can walk down to that Tuesday night group at the church when I point go that way, just down Bruce Street.
00:24:55.549 --> 00:24:58.079
don't get there as often as I, I used to.
00:24:59.269 --> 00:25:00.890
but that's the importance of it.
00:25:03.069 --> 00:25:17.710
the tools, I think the sharing, like just being open to share and to say,"I'm really not doing 100%."'Cause if we hold it in you're gonna...
00:25:17.769 --> 00:25:18.660
it's just not good.
00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:23.029
But I think the community piece I stress upon that so much.
00:25:23.750 --> 00:25:25.049
Get to know your neighbors.
00:25:25.099 --> 00:25:26.700
Don't wait for them to knock on your door.
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:28.079
Go knock on their door.
00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:31.130
Take them some cookies, some muffins.
00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:32.900
them if you can help.
00:25:33.829 --> 00:25:42.960
And if you can change just one person's day you've created that community that people so crave.
00:25:43.096 --> 00:25:53.066
Listen, one of the things that I like about talking to you is that I always practice what I preach, but I forget to do it.
00:25:53.135 --> 00:25:53.955
I have a triad.
00:25:54.195 --> 00:26:02.276
I have anxiety, OCD, ADD'cause I have Tourette's, and sometimes I get depressed and I can't get out of bed.
00:26:02.316 --> 00:26:16.096
And my girlfriend would say to me why don't you just practice what you preach and tell all these people what they're supposed to do?" So you practice what you preach because I think you're all about community and family.
00:26:16.135 --> 00:26:19.846
I call my stuff BAST, Bob's Amazing Support Team.
00:26:19.846 --> 00:26:23.246
You gotta have one of those things, and you gotta keep growing it.
00:26:23.776 --> 00:26:25.346
And you have a SAST,
00:26:26.307 --> 00:26:26.397
you.
00:26:26.605 --> 00:26:28.266
John's Amazing Support Team.
00:26:28.266 --> 00:26:30.625
So I think you've really covered that off.
00:26:31.375 --> 00:26:34.605
You wanna add anything, you wanna add anything to that support team?
00:26:35.653 --> 00:26:36.394
I sure do.
00:26:36.423 --> 00:26:40.594
I have a couple of guy friends that we get together monthly.
00:26:41.344 --> 00:26:48.644
We go out for dinner and we watch a movie and just sit around the table and shoot the breeze just to keep it PG.
00:26:48.723 --> 00:26:57.723
But I think that's important is to have guys need to have connection'cause that's an area that creates that loneliness.
00:26:58.163 --> 00:27:00.473
I I really believe that's important too.
00:27:00.473 --> 00:27:03.423
So we go out for dinner, like I said, once a month.
00:27:03.423 --> 00:27:16.263
We're actually camping together in a couple of weeks just here in Medford and just sitting around a campfire stories and having a laugh and that's another support team are my friends.
00:27:16.314 --> 00:27:18.733
My guy friends are very important to me
00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:30.440
it's interesting'cause this whole men's group, Dan Fortopoulos or whatever, however pronounce his name, is one of the advisors to our charity, and he has a men's group in Collingwood.
00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:40.029
I'm not sure what the name of it is, but, I'm a comedian and I do something stand-up with a guy named Joey, and he's part of this men's circle or this men's group.
00:27:40.029 --> 00:27:40.809
Do you know anything about this?
00:27:41.142 --> 00:27:41.152
Oh,
00:27:41.450 --> 00:27:41.799
Yeah.
00:27:42.082 --> 00:27:42.521
I don't.
00:27:43.241 --> 00:27:43.332
I
00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:45.430
'Cause I think men need...
00:27:45.869 --> 00:27:49.130
they wanna be rough and tough and they don't wanna be vulnerable, right?
00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:51.180
That's right.
00:27:51.369 --> 00:27:52.130
Very true.
00:27:52.243 --> 00:27:52.784
And so the
00:27:52.970 --> 00:27:58.930
I think I think it's being, again, just being connected for sure.
00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:00.009
Something to look forward to.
00:28:00.417 --> 00:28:07.518
unfortunately, we're connected, but we're finished being connected on this podcast'cause we've run out of time.
00:28:07.788 --> 00:28:16.307
But I want to know, you to know that there will be show notes and hopefully we'll let lots of people know about the Walk for Courage.
00:28:16.708 --> 00:28:19.887
And I wanna be part of your men's group.
00:28:20.498 --> 00:28:25.268
I don't drink I can, I, I can come wherever you are.
00:28:25.461 --> 00:28:26.102
drink either.
00:28:26.478 --> 00:28:29.557
I bet I, I g- I, I kinda figured that
00:28:30.821 --> 00:28:32.882
I don't drink, but my friends sometimes
00:28:32.990 --> 00:28:36.670
Okay, I wanna be part of this men's group and I don't wanna lose contact with you.
00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:39.500
So as I said, w- we've run out of time.
00:28:39.700 --> 00:28:41.750
So this is Bobby Colvin and
00:28:43.968 --> 00:28:44.698
Sean McMurray
00:28:45.632 --> 00:28:52.362
Saying thank you so much for listening to this episode of What's in Your Toolbox?
00:28:53.382 --> 00:29:22.471
So everybody, as I finish these podcasts with something that I've read in the newspaper, and I didn't know that this was gonna be so relevant, but I picked out that on the 29th of April, 2026, there was an article,"Always clutch when it counted four-time Stanley Cup champion ranks 134th in regular seasons, ninth in the playoff goals." That was about Claude Lemieux.
00:29:23.301 --> 00:29:33.051
And there, one day I saw him carrying the torch in the forum, and then the next week, I heard that he had taken his life.
00:29:33.801 --> 00:29:40.172
So what I'm telling you about is only the lid knows what goes on in the pot.
00:29:40.791 --> 00:29:59.531
Just because you can carry a torch through the forum for the playoffs doesn't mean that you have all these demons and these struggles, and that's exactly what Walk For Courage is and what this podcast is about, and talking an honest discussion on mental health.
00:30:00.172 --> 00:30:19.882
So in conclusion, I wanna thank Sean so much because we just met, and he offered to come on and do this episode, and it will be out in time for you to visit the CMHA website and to find out a little bit about where you can participate in the Walk For Courage.
00:30:20.451 --> 00:30:30.561
So our next episode, we're gonna go to Quebec, and we're going to be talking to a, an ultra-marathon athlete.
00:30:30.751 --> 00:30:33.112
It's called Hunger for More in Life.
00:30:33.442 --> 00:30:42.432
So everybody, please subscribe, please share, and please continue on listening to What's In Your Toolbox?
00:30:53.087 --> 00:30:56.867
Thank you for listening to No Magic Bullet, What's in Your Toolbox?
00:30:57.117 --> 00:31:03.288
I am not a doctor, but I have lived experience in dealing with the many challenges of mental health.
00:31:04.127 --> 00:31:13.798
If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and share with others who will benefit from learning about tools they can use to deal with their own mental health challenges.
00:31:14.488 --> 00:31:20.488
If we can help just one person, all this effort to bring this podcast to you is worth it.
00:00:07.557 --> 00:00:10.166
Welcome to No Magic Bullet podcast series.
00:00:11.686 --> 00:00:12.826
What's In Your Toolbox?
00:00:12.826 --> 00:00:14.707
is a monthly podcast on mental health.
00:00:15.807 --> 00:00:17.216
I am your host Bobby Kay.
00:00:17.626 --> 00:00:24.246
Comedian, mental health advocate, and executive producer of the documentary No Magic Bullet: What's In Your Toolbox?
00:00:24.937 --> 00:00:26.657
An honest discussion on mental health.
00:00:27.426 --> 00:00:36.466
I am 70 years young, suffer from Tourette Syndrome, and love doing these podcasts that always reminds me to practice what I preach.
00:00:38.503 --> 00:00:40.253
Hello, everybody.
00:00:40.264 --> 00:00:46.603
Welcome to episode seven, season five of What's In Your Toolbox?
00:00:47.654 --> 00:01:02.103
This episode titled Walk for Courage, and you're gonna find out why, because our guest is involved with an organization, like really involved, and he'll talk a little bit about that.
00:01:02.643 --> 00:01:09.334
And I'm gonna tell you a little bit about my guest,'cause I asked him to send me a bio, and he did.
00:01:10.563 --> 00:01:23.293
So Sean McMurray is a high-performance sales executive, board leader, and business owner who operates at the intersection of elite enterprise technology and deeply rooted community advocacy.
00:01:23.703 --> 00:01:38.602
With a 35-year career that spans winning six President Club awards at TELUS, managing multi-million dollar sales and building successful hospitality franchises, Sean is a master of navigating complex operational landscapes.
00:01:38.893 --> 00:01:42.332
But Sean's professional success is only half the story.
00:01:42.802 --> 00:01:47.843
Behind his strategic acumen is a profound 24, did you hear it?
00:01:47.843 --> 00:01:58.233
Twenty-four year journey of sobriety and recovery, a personal milestone that fuels his unwavering dedication to mental health and addiction advocacy.
00:01:58.643 --> 00:02:07.128
Sean has fu-funneled his life experience and executive leadership into governances that create realistic, systematic impact.
00:02:07.128 --> 00:02:23.252
For over seven years, he has served as the board chair for the Canadian Mental Health Association CMHA where he has spearheaded critical agency amalgamations, overseen CEO successions, and navigated complex provincial advocacy.
00:02:23.823 --> 00:02:34.682
Prior to his transformation work with the CMHA, Sean spent seven years dedicated to grassroots recovery as director of G and B Houses, a vital support recovery home for men.
00:02:35.173 --> 00:02:43.902
Now, as past chair with the CMHA, he is mentoring new board members to feel connected and grounded for the work and strategic direction ahead.
00:02:44.323 --> 00:03:15.019
Whether he is brokering elite technology contracts through his firm, Blue Mountains Communications, or pioneering governance of models for regional health services, Sean brings a unique blend of hospitality DNA, sharp business strategy, and authentic empathy to everything he touches On today's episode, Sean joins us to talk about leadership, the power of long-term recovery, and what it truly takes to build resilient communities from the boardroom to the front lines.
00:03:15.368 --> 00:03:20.368
Oh my God, you should write my next intro.
00:03:20.938 --> 00:03:27.588
So without ado, I wanna introduce you to my guest, Sean McMurray.
00:03:27.588 --> 00:03:28.199
Hey, Sean.
00:03:29.486 --> 00:03:32.037
Bobby, what a pleasure, and thank you for that warm welcome.
00:03:32.287 --> 00:03:33.217
I really appreciate that
00:03:33.423 --> 00:03:39.473
listen, I only wrote what you read, but there was a couple of points in it that were key.
00:03:40.323 --> 00:03:41.233
I threw it away.
00:03:42.252 --> 00:03:48.342
Let me just get them because you and I were both in the telecommunications business.
00:03:49.643 --> 00:03:53.073
Twenty-four years of sobriety is incredible.
00:03:53.073 --> 00:04:01.612
CMHA, I want you to know that I traveled all the way out to Calgary and Kelowna to do some fundraising for the CMHA.
00:04:01.682 --> 00:04:03.573
I actually have a button,
00:04:04.233 --> 00:04:04.492
Oh, you can.
00:04:04.712 --> 00:04:04.962
Oh, nice
00:04:05.022 --> 00:04:11.652
a CMHA button, and the only reason I was out there is I had a connection through one of my partners in Calgary and Red Deer.
00:04:12.413 --> 00:04:21.283
But now I'm glad that I'm- got a connection in Simcoe or Bruce, Grey Bruce, because that's where we are.
00:04:21.552 --> 00:04:28.372
I'm at my home office headquarters, world headquarters in Eugenia, and your world headquarters is where?
00:04:29.512 --> 00:04:29.952
Thornbury.
00:04:30.052 --> 00:04:30.663
There you go.
00:04:30.963 --> 00:04:31.062
Thornbury
00:04:31.452 --> 00:04:32.142
There you go.
00:04:32.153 --> 00:04:34.882
So I think that is fantastic.
00:04:34.882 --> 00:04:40.903
So listen, even though we just met each other, I feel like you're a brother from another mother.
00:04:40.903 --> 00:04:43.713
So tell me a little bit about how we know each other
00:04:45.540 --> 00:04:54.581
I guess it was that random post I saw from the library back in Mental Health Awareness Week.
00:04:56.130 --> 00:05:08.221
There was an opportunity to come and talk about mental health in in a safe space, and so I grabbed my wife, Jen, and we walked the two blocks down to the library and and got connected with you there.
00:05:08.221 --> 00:05:09.721
And that's really where the...
00:05:09.870 --> 00:05:12.661
It's been two months maybe.
00:05:12.860 --> 00:05:14.360
I think it was back in May.
00:05:14.418 --> 00:05:17.598
Isn't that wonderful that you could walk?
00:05:18.490 --> 00:05:19.341
Just walk.
00:05:19.571 --> 00:05:19.810
Yeah
00:05:19.928 --> 00:05:26.718
sometimes you have to get on an airplane and go to a c-convention center in San Francisco, but you just had to w-walk down the street.
00:05:27.009 --> 00:05:27.329
Listen,
00:05:27.485 --> 00:05:27.915
Yeah, exactly
00:05:28.079 --> 00:05:34.629
I saw you come in, and you had a badge on that said CMHA, and,
00:05:34.807 --> 00:05:34.976
Yep
00:05:35.119 --> 00:05:49.499
sat down and you listened attentively, and then afterwards you asked me a couple of questions, and then you said,"Look, i'm gonna send some information out to some of my past board members," which was great.
00:05:49.978 --> 00:05:51.918
And here we are.
00:05:51.918 --> 00:05:54.608
But I can tell you that you were very positive.
00:05:54.949 --> 00:06:03.858
Your demeanor, I could get rid of my clonazepam and my Valiums because you got this incredibly soft, easy demeanor.
00:06:03.858 --> 00:06:07.298
I don't know what you're like at home, but you clearly have that.
00:06:07.488 --> 00:06:11.649
And you also sent me a nice note saying how much you liked my newsletter
00:06:12.819 --> 00:06:13.379
Love that.
00:06:13.639 --> 00:06:22.338
I love getting into work Monday morning and and your, email lands in my inbox, and I take that few moments and just reflect.
00:06:23.629 --> 00:06:26.829
And whether it's a recipe or a tidbit it's awesome.
00:06:27.011 --> 00:06:27.271
I've been d-
00:06:27.329 --> 00:06:27.918
thanks for...
00:06:28.709 --> 00:06:32.009
a lot of work doing the newsletter, so I recognize that
00:06:32.038 --> 00:06:34.129
For me it isn't because it's like journaling.
00:06:34.209 --> 00:06:41.439
I collect stuff as I go through the week and that's one of the skills that we have is journaling, right?
00:06:42.380 --> 00:06:42.591
Yep.
00:06:42.858 --> 00:06:43.559
absolutely
00:06:43.666 --> 00:06:50.776
But you told me that you were the past chair of CMHA, so I know what it stands for.
00:06:50.776 --> 00:06:53.646
Maybe you can talk tell us a little bit about CMHA
00:06:54.706 --> 00:06:58.526
So the agency is in rooted in Grey Bruce.
00:06:58.547 --> 00:07:11.476
We have offices from Markdale to Owen Sound, of course Wiarton, Southampton, Kincardine, Hanover, Walkerton, and we deliver community-based mental health programs.
00:07:11.476 --> 00:07:12.576
We deliver housing.
00:07:13.297 --> 00:07:15.557
We deliver court support services.
00:07:16.096 --> 00:07:23.307
We are the feet on the streets connected with really happening in our communities.
00:07:23.976 --> 00:07:35.377
And whether it's suicide awareness training, which is where we're at today with the Walk for Courage then just trying to make the world a better place, kind of one conversation at a time.
00:07:35.776 --> 00:07:40.567
And to be clear on that, the agency exists because of the staff.
00:07:40.726 --> 00:07:47.937
That's first and foremost, the social workers, the assistants, the housing managers, the maintenance managers.
00:07:47.966 --> 00:07:59.487
The staff are really truly beautiful humans I can't say enough about them when they deliver these services to those people.
00:07:59.877 --> 00:08:01.117
Tough conversations.
00:08:02.047 --> 00:08:14.297
are at their weakest and most vulnerable and whether it's the homelessness addicted or just somebody just struggling to, put a couple of nickels together for groceries, it's it's truly remarkable.
00:08:14.370 --> 00:08:27.550
Listen, before we get to talk about the Walk why we're doing this podcast, when I read your intro, it talked about your journey and why you ended up volunteering at the CMHA and becoming the chair.
00:08:27.550 --> 00:08:29.610
So you think it's appropriate?
00:08:29.610 --> 00:08:32.120
Can we talk a little bit about your journey?
00:08:32.346 --> 00:08:32.586
Yeah.
00:08:33.576 --> 00:08:53.216
I had been a regular AA attended AA in Owen Sound for, every Friday night or other s- the big b- anyways I was at an AA meeting week, and my job actually took me away from Owen Sound and different parts of Ontario, and I was just on the road a lot.
00:08:54.167 --> 00:09:01.777
And I felt like I needed to give back and be connected to the the in AA, and and I was really just looking for another outlet.
00:09:01.996 --> 00:09:05.456
I wanted to serve and be in service, which is why, why you volunteer.
00:09:06.096 --> 00:09:21.736
And I saw an opportunity to be involved with G&B House, which is a 90-day treatment facility for men based in Owen Sound, and the board of directors at that point, to try to just give back in a different way.
00:09:21.736 --> 00:09:22.616
I had some...
00:09:22.667 --> 00:09:25.317
I felt like I had some leadership experience.
00:09:25.797 --> 00:09:37.976
I understood, funding from the province and how things get managed from our funders, and that was the ability to c- be connected again with that recovery community.
00:09:38.817 --> 00:09:54.767
that was at the journey, that was back in 2016, that's, it's hard to believe that was 10 years, where decided as a community that there was three organizations that needed to be one because we were all talking to the same person.
00:09:55.716 --> 00:10:01.187
So we had an organization, three different organizations that were doing basically the same thing.
00:10:01.567 --> 00:10:11.105
O- one was maybe more focused on housing, one was maybe more focused on recovery And so we amalgamated those three, and we worked really well together.
00:10:11.245 --> 00:10:20.695
I can't say enough again about When people have a vision, and you can articulate that vision from a governance standpoint, anything's possible.
00:10:21.394 --> 00:10:31.995
And we became an agency under one umbrella back in twenty eighteen, that's when I took the role as board chair until just this past...
00:10:32.144 --> 00:10:33.804
We have an AGM every September.
00:10:34.534 --> 00:10:54.024
we-- Back in September of twenty twenty-five, I, I s-was able to step down s-steering the direction, the strategic plan in the right way, and the CEO succession and I felt that was the time to somebody else take over and manage the organization from a governance perspective.
00:10:54.024 --> 00:11:01.455
So that's at the heart of it was just I felt that I needed to be connected to my community, but I couldn't go to the meetings every...
00:11:01.914 --> 00:11:06.715
whether it was a Friday night or a Monday night or a Tuesday night because my job just took me everywhere.
00:11:07.205 --> 00:11:14.465
And this allowed me to be connected, and I felt that I was able to give back in a way that helped, everybody.
00:11:15.004 --> 00:11:17.144
Governors govern, the staff do the work.
00:11:17.445 --> 00:11:20.184
We-- They make us look good at the end of the day.
00:11:21.024 --> 00:11:21.695
that's what's most
00:11:21.822 --> 00:11:43.263
So what qualified you to be giving back, when I talk about journey, was my previous guest, Intrepid Living, she was 20 years sober in September, and she told me she can go anywhere in the world and her support group is the her AA or her 12-step program.
00:11:43.712 --> 00:11:52.342
So how did you get yourself into your situation and how did you use it to get to the, to this point?
00:11:54.160 --> 00:12:04.760
Yeah, I recognized a pattern in my life back in my twenties and early thirties that I wasn't I wasn't fun to be around after a couple of I didn't enjoy who I was.
00:12:05.530 --> 00:12:12.061
So it was a moment in time where I felt that I needed to take hold of my life before it truly became unmanageable.
00:12:12.730 --> 00:12:17.921
addiction is one thing, but once you stop drinking, then it becomes like the onion, right?
00:12:17.980 --> 00:12:22.321
I had a sponsor that once told me it's just the-- it's like peeling an onion.
00:12:23.140 --> 00:12:27.110
So then you deal with the trauma of, where, why you were at that place.
00:12:27.160 --> 00:12:31.721
And I really just wanted to just be better for my kids.
00:12:31.850 --> 00:12:34.880
At the end of the day, that was always my higher power, was my family.
00:12:35.451 --> 00:12:47.490
So recognizing that I didn't want to create a legacy of drinking and a drinking culture, which just permeates through our whole society that one person can make a difference.
00:12:48.061 --> 00:12:52.041
And that, that's, that was the reasoning, was my own struggles.
00:12:52.360 --> 00:12:57.091
And I just didn't want my kids kinda grow up the way I grew up.
00:12:58.221 --> 00:13:05.350
And that led me into the rooms of AA and where I felt like there was a community to your previous guest, right?
00:13:05.350 --> 00:13:09.211
Anywhere you are can be anyone that's on the that's working this through with you.
00:13:09.211 --> 00:13:25.041
But I felt that I could only go so far in AA and that's why I decided to get involved and just be an advocate for recovery and mental health in the boardrooms as opposed to the AA rooms and basement churches
00:13:25.044 --> 00:13:25.784
Listen, you know what?
00:13:25.784 --> 00:13:39.085
You might as well be addicted to something that's good rather than something that's bad, and it sounds to me like you are addicted to advocacy, and I guess that's where we are right now.
00:13:39.085 --> 00:13:44.254
So there you are at CMHA, past chair, blah, blah, blah.
00:13:44.445 --> 00:13:54.725
You, I'm not blah, blah, blahing it, but why I wanted to have you on was that you told me that you have a fundraiser coming up called Walk for Courage.
00:13:55.455 --> 00:13:55.975
So tell me
00:13:56.024 --> 00:13:56.205
yeah,
00:13:56.225 --> 00:13:57.264
a little bit about that
00:13:58.876 --> 00:14:02.697
So the Walk for Courage is actually one of our main fundraisers.
00:14:02.756 --> 00:14:06.746
It happens on July 25th in Owen Sound and Hanover.
00:14:07.256 --> 00:14:09.277
It's just walkforcourage.ca.
00:14:09.277 --> 00:14:15.756
I know you'll post links on the and we'll be able to share that in the literature.
00:14:16.746 --> 00:14:21.527
but really what the Walk for Courage started as a journey by the Courage family.
00:14:21.527 --> 00:14:23.177
It's a local Owen Sound family.
00:14:24.096 --> 00:14:29.496
and of course, they encountered every parent's worst nightmare in November of 2019.
00:14:29.506 --> 00:14:37.486
Their son, Jeff the old- their oldest son of Greg and Tanya Courage, he died by suicide at a very young age of 21.
00:14:38.157 --> 00:14:47.517
He was a third-year political science student at the University of Western Ontario and he had dreams of becoming a lawyer and eventually running for public office.
00:14:47.966 --> 00:14:53.346
He was a person like this, and this kid had everything going for him, like everything on the outside.
00:14:54.417 --> 00:15:04.177
He was also a personal trainer at Owen Sound Fitness and Training and a proud member of Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity, and for someone known for his kindness, humor, and ability to make others feel welcome.
00:15:05.006 --> 00:15:11.216
always say to people, there's a very fine line from where we are today to where somebody is in this state.
00:15:11.687 --> 00:15:22.476
And like many families experience to the loss to suicide, the Courage family wanted to find a way to create something more positive, and they also wanted to prevent it from happening to other families.
00:15:22.476 --> 00:15:33.966
If you can-- much like my own work in AA is like being open and honest and sharing your stories so that you can, one person, if you just help one person that's what's most important.
00:15:34.657 --> 00:15:39.746
So members of Jeff's fraternity and friends at Western, they launched a campaign called The Courage Project.
00:15:40.147 --> 00:15:48.236
They sold T-shirts that s- that said,"United Together," and they raised$17,000 in Jeff's memory.
00:15:48.876 --> 00:15:51.817
And that project just showed how many lives Jeff's touched.
00:15:52.006 --> 00:16:01.136
And the family then, along with Josh Burnett, the owner of Owen Sound Fitness and Training and CMHA, we created the first Walk for Courage.
00:16:01.866 --> 00:16:03.297
the goal was very simple.
00:16:03.307 --> 00:16:14.407
The Courage family wanted to just honor Jeff's memory and create a legacy also raise awareness and have what better way to do that than having conversations like this with community members?
00:16:14.996 --> 00:16:20.596
Just one of our taglines is,"It's okay to not be okay." So that was the simple goal.
00:16:21.027 --> 00:16:26.956
It was a memorial walk and it's now grown into one of our largest mental health fundraising initiatives.
00:16:27.136 --> 00:16:32.667
And we raised over$48,000 last year, and that supports mental health programs and services.
00:16:33.397 --> 00:16:37.475
So again, participants, you can walk it starts at Owen Sound Fitness and Training.
00:16:38.144 --> 00:16:42.904
in Hanover, it's at the Sulfur Spring Conservation area, or you can just walk out your front door.
00:16:43.595 --> 00:16:45.894
It's open to anyone, regardless of age or ability.
00:16:45.985 --> 00:16:49.884
We keep the walk very simple very flat along the trail in Owen Sound.
00:16:49.884 --> 00:16:53.955
It's beautiful along the waterfront there, down to Bay Shore Community Center and back again.
00:16:54.715 --> 00:17:01.205
And the people support, they walk in memory of someone or simply because they believe that mental health matters.
00:17:02.625 --> 00:17:06.634
so of the things we say is you don't have to be an athlete to show up.
00:17:07.424 --> 00:17:10.305
And why it matters is because mental health touches everybody.
00:17:10.934 --> 00:17:15.144
And a lot of times many people have experienced their own mental health challenges.
00:17:16.674 --> 00:17:26.335
They wanna be to-- there to support a family or a friend, or sadly, they've lost somebody to suicide, they've just struggled with isolation, anxiety, depression, grief, or addiction.
00:17:27.025 --> 00:17:29.755
It affects us all either directly or indirectly.
00:17:31.075 --> 00:17:33.704
and that's the Walk for Courage, in a nutshell.
00:17:33.855 --> 00:17:46.365
So we're really grateful for this opportunity to share the story and the awareness to just create conversation and you don't have to be alone and just reach out.
00:17:46.778 --> 00:17:47.189
Listen,
00:17:47.335 --> 00:17:47.595
Yeah.
00:17:47.669 --> 00:17:54.358
are gonna have in show notes, there will be a link to it, and anybody that wants to find out about it can definitely find out about it.
00:17:54.358 --> 00:18:01.479
But it's interesting because I'm 70, so I was in high school when there was grade 13.
00:18:01.868 --> 00:18:01.878
A-
00:18:02.964 --> 00:18:03.555
Me too
00:18:04.179 --> 00:18:15.695
then they got rid of grade 13, and people that went in grade 12 went to university, and I don't know, this is just a conversation.
00:18:15.855 --> 00:18:27.445
Jack.org started, and it was a story about his son being at Queen's University and isolation and coming up with these challenges.
00:18:27.455 --> 00:18:40.986
And I know that I've had a number of friends whose kids are just too young, too inexperienced to move away and have to deal with the stresses of university.
00:18:40.986 --> 00:18:43.855
So do you know what, is that correct, do you think?
00:18:43.855 --> 00:18:47.566
Do you think it was the grade 12 to grade 13 that, that caused a lot of this stuff?
00:18:48.852 --> 00:18:53.801
I honestly think it's the stupid cell phones, the social media.
00:18:54.791 --> 00:18:56.291
are inward, they're not outward.
00:18:56.301 --> 00:18:57.932
Nobody's connecting anymore.
00:18:58.751 --> 00:19:00.521
people aren't getting together with their neighbors.
00:19:00.551 --> 00:19:02.271
People don't even know who their neighbors are.
00:19:03.402 --> 00:19:06.321
you've-- you're, you're suppo-supposed to be social media.
00:19:06.741 --> 00:19:08.781
I don't believe kids are resilient.
00:19:08.922 --> 00:19:20.602
I think that being connected all the time to family and friends, you don't learn to be resilient, and there's no learning going on with the...
00:19:20.882 --> 00:19:25.461
you f-face a little adversity in your day, you just pick up your phone and call your parents or...
00:19:26.261 --> 00:19:29.102
I think back to when was young and I moved away.
00:19:29.112 --> 00:19:33.551
At 14, I spent a summer training in the Alps.
00:19:33.551 --> 00:19:36.211
I had no way of getting in touch with my parents for skiing.
00:19:37.162 --> 00:19:42.362
I moved to west again for the summer when I was, I think 16 or 17 for two months.
00:19:42.412 --> 00:19:43.672
Long distance was a thing.
00:19:43.682 --> 00:19:45.582
You couldn't just pick up the phone and call your parents.
00:19:45.582 --> 00:19:48.281
You had to actually write a letter or wait for the letter to be written.
00:19:48.922 --> 00:20:01.811
And when you were raised in a time where you just had to deal with that adversity and you had to talk to your friends in order to solve your problems, now we become more internal.
00:20:02.811 --> 00:20:06.362
and I've made it a part of my is to be reaching out.
00:20:07.162 --> 00:20:11.932
I blow my neighbor's snow, I cut her grass, I help my neighbors to the other side.
00:20:11.932 --> 00:20:14.511
I help my nei-- like, I know who my neighbors are.
00:20:14.511 --> 00:20:16.451
We have a neighborhood party every winter.
00:20:18.112 --> 00:20:26.291
and I believe that community, whi-which is my tagline of my business, is connecting communities is so vital.
00:20:26.701 --> 00:20:29.511
And to not feel alone and to feel isolated, I...
00:20:30.102 --> 00:20:33.301
maybe the youth maybe going away so young is part of it.
00:20:33.352 --> 00:20:34.912
I-- That could be true.
00:20:34.912 --> 00:20:41.122
But, my, my kids took a year off and they stayed home.
00:20:41.211 --> 00:20:42.491
They worked full-time.
00:20:42.491 --> 00:20:52.892
They got a taste of what the real world looks like and how little money you make when you do work full-time at minimum wage jobs, so that encouraged, of course, higher learning.
00:20:53.642 --> 00:21:02.041
I think kids that stay back for that year create that resiliency and they're they're not dependent as much.
00:21:02.092 --> 00:21:04.541
But yeah I think it's the phone.
00:21:04.541 --> 00:21:05.761
I think it's social media
00:21:06.246 --> 00:21:08.296
you and I are both in the phone business
00:21:08.355 --> 00:21:08.526
yeah
00:21:09.364 --> 00:21:12.294
little did we know that it, it was gonna evolve to this.
00:21:12.604 --> 00:21:14.534
So I don't know you very well.
00:21:14.693 --> 00:21:17.413
So you were training in the Alps for skiing?
00:21:18.471 --> 00:21:28.602
Yeah I was a ski racer when I was growing up and I a summer and went to the, to Saas-Fee and yeah, tried to become a better
00:21:28.895 --> 00:21:29.986
Where'd you ski out of?
00:21:31.228 --> 00:21:32.607
Sauce Faye is there,
00:21:32.746 --> 00:21:33.605
in Ontario
00:21:33.665 --> 00:21:33.806
Men's Ski.
00:21:33.806 --> 00:21:34.855
I was out of London.
00:21:34.925 --> 00:21:35.726
I grew up in St.
00:21:35.736 --> 00:21:37.425
Thomas, so it was part of the London's
00:21:37.890 --> 00:21:39.710
Did you know that I taught skiing at Boulder?
00:21:41.412 --> 00:21:41.922
Oh, did you
00:21:42.077 --> 00:21:46.048
Oh yeah, when I went to university, I was 10th in Canada for freestyle skiing.
00:21:46.417 --> 00:21:52.038
I was working for Fisher, and I was part of the Western Ski Club.
00:21:52.548 --> 00:21:53.728
I graduated in 1977.
00:21:55.038 --> 00:21:55.917
When did you go to Western?
00:21:57.099 --> 00:21:58.329
No, I went to Fanshawe
00:21:58.483 --> 00:21:59.354
you went to Fanshawe.
00:21:59.523 --> 00:22:01.503
I also taught skiing at Ski High,
00:22:02.701 --> 00:22:03.392
Wow
00:22:03.644 --> 00:22:05.104
Fanshawe College, right?
00:22:05.809 --> 00:22:06.240
It is.
00:22:06.380 --> 00:22:06.859
Yeah.
00:22:06.980 --> 00:22:10.420
So listen, we're, we're using this time t-to get to know each other.
00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:12.960
So London Ski Club, I'm at Beaver Valley.
00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:18.970
We still have Newt Domberg here, and there was a couple of level fours that came out of Boulder.
00:22:19.490 --> 00:22:19.900
Yeah
00:22:20.175 --> 00:22:21.425
And there you go.
00:22:21.435 --> 00:22:23.215
We're both skiers, so we're gonna have to ski.
00:22:23.215 --> 00:22:26.205
I'll have to come to Beaver Valley'cause I still teach skiing here.
00:22:26.536 --> 00:22:30.096
I still teach kids and a-and there you go.
00:22:30.465 --> 00:22:39.776
But what I wanted to talk to you about was,'Cause you're a very, organized, structured guy, I think, from what I'm...
00:22:39.905 --> 00:22:40.036
Do
00:22:40.266 --> 00:22:40.766
to be.
00:22:41.006 --> 00:22:46.986
you think the,'Cause I wanna get back to the whole thing of of the 12-step program and AAA.
00:22:47.115 --> 00:22:50.556
What's tools--'Cause this is called What's in Your Toolbox?
00:22:51.256 --> 00:22:58.885
What tools did it give you, or what tools have you developed to help you deal with your mental health?
00:23:01.663 --> 00:23:10.334
I think that for me the AA journey created a path early days to recognize, that you needed to do-- get-- It was work.
00:23:10.413 --> 00:23:15.973
You had to work it, and you had to work the steps in order to get to what others wanted.
00:23:15.973 --> 00:23:17.483
That's one of the taglines.
00:23:18.693 --> 00:23:23.183
the community that comes with AA, like community is so important, the importance of connection.
00:23:24.034 --> 00:23:30.304
To your point about your guest before, anywhere in the world, anywhere you are, you can go to an AA meeting.
00:23:32.213 --> 00:23:40.144
I think that's what's really important is that there are people there that genuinely wanna help, and they wanna help you, and they wanna...
00:23:40.273 --> 00:23:42.304
and/or, or others that wanna be helped.
00:23:42.304 --> 00:23:46.364
And the openness of the vulnerability of the AA community is what's great.
00:23:46.433 --> 00:23:52.834
You get to share stories you're meeting others who understand and you feel part of something bigger, right?
00:23:52.963 --> 00:24:04.153
I think that's so important is that community, and that's where the to my point earlier about being siloed and just alone and on these stupid phones that I think are just toxic.
00:24:04.923 --> 00:24:11.624
So the AA journey taught me that you needed others in your life be sober.
00:24:12.314 --> 00:24:17.084
It taught me that the higher power doesn't necessarily have to be a religious one.
00:24:17.473 --> 00:24:29.529
One of the many conversations I have with people that are just coming into AA the need to feel like a higher power in terms of spirituality and religion It, it's what you wanna make it to be.
00:24:29.559 --> 00:24:31.059
Mine is my family.
00:24:31.490 --> 00:24:36.509
My family is the driving force behind everything I, I do when it comes to my sobriety.
00:24:37.470 --> 00:24:45.170
my, my daughters and what my dad up until he passed away about a year and a bit ago and Jen, who you met as well.
00:24:46.569 --> 00:24:54.769
yeah, like that's, that to me is the tool is that I can walk down to that Tuesday night group at the church when I point go that way, just down Bruce Street.
00:24:55.549 --> 00:24:58.079
don't get there as often as I, I used to.
00:24:59.269 --> 00:25:00.890
but that's the importance of it.
00:25:03.069 --> 00:25:17.710
the tools, I think the sharing, like just being open to share and to say,"I'm really not doing 100%."'Cause if we hold it in you're gonna...
00:25:17.769 --> 00:25:18.660
it's just not good.
00:25:19.460 --> 00:25:23.029
But I think the community piece I stress upon that so much.
00:25:23.750 --> 00:25:25.049
Get to know your neighbors.
00:25:25.099 --> 00:25:26.700
Don't wait for them to knock on your door.
00:25:26.720 --> 00:25:28.079
Go knock on their door.
00:25:28.819 --> 00:25:31.130
Take them some cookies, some muffins.
00:25:31.980 --> 00:25:32.900
them if you can help.
00:25:33.829 --> 00:25:42.960
And if you can change just one person's day you've created that community that people so crave.
00:25:43.096 --> 00:25:53.066
Listen, one of the things that I like about talking to you is that I always practice what I preach, but I forget to do it.
00:25:53.135 --> 00:25:53.955
I have a triad.
00:25:54.195 --> 00:26:02.276
I have anxiety, OCD, ADD'cause I have Tourette's, and sometimes I get depressed and I can't get out of bed.
00:26:02.316 --> 00:26:16.096
And my girlfriend would say to me why don't you just practice what you preach and tell all these people what they're supposed to do?" So you practice what you preach because I think you're all about community and family.
00:26:16.135 --> 00:26:19.846
I call my stuff BAST, Bob's Amazing Support Team.
00:26:19.846 --> 00:26:23.246
You gotta have one of those things, and you gotta keep growing it.
00:26:23.776 --> 00:26:25.346
And you have a SAST,
00:26:26.307 --> 00:26:26.397
you.
00:26:26.605 --> 00:26:28.266
John's Amazing Support Team.
00:26:28.266 --> 00:26:30.625
So I think you've really covered that off.
00:26:31.375 --> 00:26:34.605
You wanna add anything, you wanna add anything to that support team?
00:26:35.653 --> 00:26:36.394
I sure do.
00:26:36.423 --> 00:26:40.594
I have a couple of guy friends that we get together monthly.
00:26:41.344 --> 00:26:48.644
We go out for dinner and we watch a movie and just sit around the table and shoot the breeze just to keep it PG.
00:26:48.723 --> 00:26:57.723
But I think that's important is to have guys need to have connection'cause that's an area that creates that loneliness.
00:26:58.163 --> 00:27:00.473
I I really believe that's important too.
00:27:00.473 --> 00:27:03.423
So we go out for dinner, like I said, once a month.
00:27:03.423 --> 00:27:16.263
We're actually camping together in a couple of weeks just here in Medford and just sitting around a campfire stories and having a laugh and that's another support team are my friends.
00:27:16.314 --> 00:27:18.733
My guy friends are very important to me
00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:30.440
it's interesting'cause this whole men's group, Dan Fortopoulos or whatever, however pronounce his name, is one of the advisors to our charity, and he has a men's group in Collingwood.
00:27:30.819 --> 00:27:40.029
I'm not sure what the name of it is, but, I'm a comedian and I do something stand-up with a guy named Joey, and he's part of this men's circle or this men's group.
00:27:40.029 --> 00:27:40.809
Do you know anything about this?
00:27:41.142 --> 00:27:41.152
Oh,
00:27:41.450 --> 00:27:41.799
Yeah.
00:27:42.082 --> 00:27:42.521
I don't.
00:27:43.241 --> 00:27:43.332
I
00:27:43.420 --> 00:27:45.430
'Cause I think men need...
00:27:45.869 --> 00:27:49.130
they wanna be rough and tough and they don't wanna be vulnerable, right?
00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:51.180
That's right.
00:27:51.369 --> 00:27:52.130
Very true.
00:27:52.243 --> 00:27:52.784
And so the
00:27:52.970 --> 00:27:58.930
I think I think it's being, again, just being connected for sure.
00:27:58.940 --> 00:28:00.009
Something to look forward to.
00:28:00.417 --> 00:28:07.518
unfortunately, we're connected, but we're finished being connected on this podcast'cause we've run out of time.
00:28:07.788 --> 00:28:16.307
But I want to know, you to know that there will be show notes and hopefully we'll let lots of people know about the Walk for Courage.
00:28:16.708 --> 00:28:19.887
And I wanna be part of your men's group.
00:28:20.498 --> 00:28:25.268
I don't drink I can, I, I can come wherever you are.
00:28:25.461 --> 00:28:26.102
drink either.
00:28:26.478 --> 00:28:29.557
I bet I, I g- I, I kinda figured that
00:28:30.821 --> 00:28:32.882
I don't drink, but my friends sometimes
00:28:32.990 --> 00:28:36.670
Okay, I wanna be part of this men's group and I don't wanna lose contact with you.
00:28:37.019 --> 00:28:39.500
So as I said, w- we've run out of time.
00:28:39.700 --> 00:28:41.750
So this is Bobby Colvin and
00:28:43.968 --> 00:28:44.698
Sean McMurray
00:28:45.632 --> 00:28:52.362
Saying thank you so much for listening to this episode of What's in Your Toolbox?
00:28:53.382 --> 00:29:22.471
So everybody, as I finish these podcasts with something that I've read in the newspaper, and I didn't know that this was gonna be so relevant, but I picked out that on the 29th of April, 2026, there was an article,"Always clutch when it counted four-time Stanley Cup champion ranks 134th in regular seasons, ninth in the playoff goals." That was about Claude Lemieux.
00:29:23.301 --> 00:29:33.051
And there, one day I saw him carrying the torch in the forum, and then the next week, I heard that he had taken his life.
00:29:33.801 --> 00:29:40.172
So what I'm telling you about is only the lid knows what goes on in the pot.
00:29:40.791 --> 00:29:59.531
Just because you can carry a torch through the forum for the playoffs doesn't mean that you have all these demons and these struggles, and that's exactly what Walk For Courage is and what this podcast is about, and talking an honest discussion on mental health.
00:30:00.172 --> 00:30:19.882
So in conclusion, I wanna thank Sean so much because we just met, and he offered to come on and do this episode, and it will be out in time for you to visit the CMHA website and to find out a little bit about where you can participate in the Walk For Courage.
00:30:20.451 --> 00:30:30.561
So our next episode, we're gonna go to Quebec, and we're going to be talking to a, an ultra-marathon athlete.
00:30:30.751 --> 00:30:33.112
It's called Hunger for More in Life.
00:30:33.442 --> 00:30:42.432
So everybody, please subscribe, please share, and please continue on listening to What's In Your Toolbox?
00:30:53.087 --> 00:30:56.867
Thank you for listening to No Magic Bullet, What's in Your Toolbox?
00:30:57.117 --> 00:31:03.288
I am not a doctor, but I have lived experience in dealing with the many challenges of mental health.
00:31:04.127 --> 00:31:13.798
If you enjoyed this podcast, please subscribe and share with others who will benefit from learning about tools they can use to deal with their own mental health challenges.
00:31:14.488 --> 00:31:20.488
If we can help just one person, all this effort to bring this podcast to you is worth it.
