Two Brothers, Two Paths

Matt Compton: Welcome back to Life on Record, the podcast where we laugh so we don't cry about our soul-crushing realities. I'm your host, Matt Compton, and as always, with my amazing brother.
Kenny Compton: Hi, I'm Kenny Compton, and today we're getting into our story and chemistry that makes this podcast what it is. So how it all started, we were essentially phone conversations in the beginning, which would have been about, I would say probably 2021 when Matt here retired from the Navy. And then we became a little closer while he was in the Navy, was obviously a little harder to... stay connected. He moved around a lot, ⁓ was out on deployment somewhere around the world. Yeah, just having a grand old time in the military. So we didn't really have much of a close relationship back then. And so when he retired, things changed a little.
Matt Compton: out partying on that party boat. That's what I was doing.
Kenny Compton: We started talking more, getting more involved in each other's lives, and getting to know each other a little bit more. And so one day I was like, well, why aren't we just recording some of this stuff? It would be a great podcast. In my eyes, maybe it won't be, but we'll find out together.
Matt Compton: Ha ha ha. Well, for some people, yeah, for some people it'll be fun, right?
Kenny Compton: Yeah. Yeah. Some people probably enjoy this. Some people want, but that's okay. we know that, you know, can't please everyone and we're not here to please everyone. We're here to tell our story, our struggles and you know, hopefully learn something. So also, um, I would like to talk about a little bit of inspiration as well that, that I've received. Give a shout to the honeydew podcasts ⁓ hosted by Ryan comedian Ryan sickler If you haven't heard heard of him check him out. highly recommend ⁓ The things that they've discussed or he's discussed with his guests ⁓ I should say that podcast is definitely inspired ⁓ this podcast in ⁓ So huge shout out to Ryan who will probably never hear this but that's okay You know, that's not why we're here. So ⁓ I just want to get that out of the way. Yeah, he was a ⁓ influence for me as as having motivation to actually discuss things. ⁓ So thanks to for that. And.
Matt Compton: It could be our pin ultimate goal for 2026 is to have Ron Sickler on our podcast. We'll see.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, that would be awesome. mean, obviously that's probably a long way from today, but yeah, but who knows? So, and that's okay if he doesn't either. Doesn't matter. But yeah, that would be, that would be pretty awesome.
Matt Compton: Very grandiose.
Kenny Compton: So Matt, so you wanna maybe give us a little something?
Matt Compton: Yeah. Thanks Kenny. Appreciate it. So in this podcast, we're going to delve into my backstory, my career journey, and we'll discuss it from time to time. It won't be every podcast, but I'll talk about things like leadership for my time in the military, the pressure it brought, and then obviously responsibility, not only for my shipmates and my country and my family, and get into kind of what those stories were like and We'll talk about how to balance life because it's a very hard and difficult job to do. Some of those mental health lessons, we've got a guest that we really are excited about bringing on in a future episode that'll come in and talk about mental health and how she deals with that still serving in the military. She's an active duty officer in the Navy. So it'll be exciting to have her come on and talk about mental health and how she's striving towards helping eliminate that. not only in her life, but also in the lives of others. And we'll also discuss why transparency matters so much. Not only for your loved ones, but for yourself. By just being transparent in your life and how that can make you so much better, not only as you're looking at your internal self, but just focused on how you can... provide a perspective to others that don't understand. And then also from my perspective, it'll help you understand why success means nothing if it costs you your piece.
Kenny Compton: And then I'll also get into my backstory and career path, obviously from my perspective, and we'll talk about family, values, growth, money lessons, learn the hard way. We'll also discuss how your mindset will shape your decisions and how you can deal with those or how you will deal with those on a almost daily basis. ⁓ From my perspective, you will start to understand how I've learned that avoiding hard conversations doesn't protect your peace. It only delays it.
Matt Compton: Yeah, I think that's going to be an important one, something that we've learned recently about sharing information about our lives and how that can affect our families, especially the loved ones that we want to make sure that are, you know, moving forward in their lives as they grow up. You know, my brother and I both have kids that are graduating high school this year, and we'll talk a little bit more about that later, but it's important that they, you know, move forward in their lives and how they can be successful. But you might be thinking, do we see everything the same way? Definitely not. So don't be surprised if you're gonna hear different approaches to things, different experiences and how we deal with it, but you will hear some similarities ⁓ because we are kind of on the same wavelength. We believe in a lot of the same things, but you will definitely see a lot of difference.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, obviously. And that's intentional. You know, we have different ⁓ mindsets when it comes to various different things, ⁓ but also very similar. yeah, we have different approaches. For example, money, our work-life balance, and then how we see our family dynamic, good and bad. Plus you'll hear our differences in how we view risk and stability.
Matt Compton: Kenny, a lot of people will say, well, if you're family and you disagree, what do you do? How do you handle those type of things? And my brother and I disagree a lot of times. Mostly we joke about it, but we still love and respect each other. And that's a lesson by itself.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, sometimes we'll just ignore it. Just don't talk about it. But that's why we're here today. So we can talk about it and face it. So.
Matt Compton: That's true. Yeah.
Kenny Compton: ⁓ but also here's what this podcast isn't going to be. It's not going to be guru magic or fake motivation or even perfection. You know, we all know, and if you don't know, you're learning right now that no one in this world is perfect. You know, we, we all like to, or excuse me, we don't like to, but we all make mistakes. But what I like to call mistakes is something a little different. ⁓ I like to call those learning opportunities. And, you know, I didn't just figure that out. I mean, I didn't figure it out 20, 30 years ago. This is something I've learned, I'd say within the last five years even. ⁓ So, and also we're not going to bore you with facts, quotes and theories that are difficult to understand. First of all, we're not, you know, the smartest of the smart. you know, well, our conversations have probably be a little dumb down for a lot of people. ⁓ And so.
Matt Compton: Not in not on purpose it's because that's just the way it is
Kenny Compton: Just, mean, yeah, we'll get into it where we're from and stuff and you know, lot of stuff. ⁓ you'd be like, ⁓ okay, now it's making sense. Now we know why. ⁓ But we are going to give it to you straight. So no beating around the bush, none of that.
Matt Compton: Yeah, so when they find out we're both from Alabama, they'll completely understand.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, exactly. Which I guess isn't enough.
Matt Compton: So here's what this podcast is. It's going to be just like this, a practical conversation that you can apply in real life. We'll tell you about the mistakes that we've made and the lessons that we've learned. we'll hopefully that will help you grow even though we're going to get into some health and mental wellness, some personal finance, career growth. It really just depends on what you're kind of into, but also family and relationships. All right, we're going to keep it meaningful and fun. Right? We're going to laugh. We may even cry or get a little teary-eyed about some of the stuff in the stories that we're going to tell you about our lives. But of course, we're going to continue to drive into our passions. And you'll notice that when we're talking about sports or certain aspects of culture in any kind of current events that are coming up, we'll discuss it through our lens, like how we interpret it. Like not everybody likes college football and the way that it's gone with the NIL and this name, image and likeness. Some people really hate it. If you like Bo Jackson, for example, he's a great person. He was a great athlete. ⁓ And he's actually a very motivational person. If you listen to some of the things that he's put out or some of the things that he does, but he's a very down to earth person. likes to hunt. He likes to hang out in his home state and do things with his family, but he doesn't like the NIL. And that's fine. Right. We'll talk about those things with sports, whether it's basketball or football or baseball. We'll get into all those things, you know, kind of what it's like for us and how we experience those things and compare that to other people. Like I had mentioned, Bo Jackson in this case, right? My brother, big Auburn fan. So I know he loves Bo Jackson. I think he's the greatest athlete to ever play. And Deion Sanders probably number two, but let's get into our first true segment of this podcast. We're going to talk about our Navy roots, kind of where we came from and how that diverged into our careers. Well, it started in high school, it became college, and then it became Navy. What a way to start that life. Most people would say, how did you go from high school and then college dropout to then joining the Navy and then doing 24 year career? Well, I would say that it was not easy. ⁓ I honestly didn't really know 100 % what I wanted to do when I graduated high school, with the exception I know I wanted to go to college. So both of us being from Alabama, me being a big Alabama fan, my brother being an Auburn fan, I wanted to go to Alabama and that was kind of what I had my sights set on. So once I got accepted, that's where I went. And I kind of drove that home within the first semester. I love being there, right? college in the fall. was great. It was wonderful. You know, we took all those aspects of it or I took all those aspects of it and I took advantage of it, right? You're in college. You're going to want to do things. Learning was probably lowest on my priority, but it was a significant journey that led me to join the Navy after my first year in college. Yeah, go ahead. Yeah.
Kenny Compton: Matt, if I could stop you right here, I just wanted to ask, so when you first went to Alabama, the University of Alabama, what was your plan? You said you didn't really know what you wanted to do. From my perspective, ⁓ I saw that one passion that I thought you had was cooking or possibly becoming a chef.
Matt Compton: Mm-hmm.
Kenny Compton: So I don't know if you went to college thinking, you know, I want to be a chef one day or I want to, you know, learn about culinary arts or whatever. So talk a little bit about that because I'm curious. mean, you it's been, you know, this is over 20 years ago. So, well, 30, I guess 30 years now. So.
Matt Compton: Yeah, it's been about 30 years. So, that's a great, question. Thanks for asking that. A lot of it had to do with, yeah, I liked to cook, but that was just something that was fun to do. It wasn't anything that I was interested in pursuing as a career, which will, when we talk about my Navy career later, it kind of delves into that. But it wasn't something that I was necessarily interested in as a career. Actually, when I went to Alabama, I was pre-med. ⁓
Kenny Compton: Okay.
Matt Compton: Now, what was I going to do with that? Right. I was like, ⁓ wait a minute. I'm not going to, I don't think I'm going to be a doctor. Yeah. Well, it, it was very shocking for me at the time too. It was, it was because the way that they wanted your academics to be centered toward a certain area. And I didn't realize until after the first semester that I probably should not be taking a full load of classes. That was way too hard, especially not going to class at eight o'clock in the morning.
Kenny Compton: ⁓ really? I don't remember that at all. I don't remember anything pre-med.
Matt Compton: Who wants to go to class at eight in the morning? Yeah, I had a class at eight in the morning. It was terrible. There was like 200 people, 250 people in it. And maybe half of that showed up. It was a biology class and it was the professor in the class was, he was very, welcome to biology 101. It's kind of like a fast times at Richmond High is exactly what it was like. Literally just like that. Yeah, Ben Stein's character, yeah.
Kenny Compton: No one. ⁓ God. It's even worse. Yeah, Ben Stein's character, all monotone. Yeah.
Matt Compton: Yep. Hopefully you'll learn something today. These are the notes and we're going to talk about this stuff and it's going to be on the exam. That's exactly how it was. It was crazy. Like there were days I just didn't want to get up and go to class and there were a lot of days I didn't go to class specifically for that one. But what I did enjoy is the biology lab class. That was great. And I love that part. Right. And then so I'm thinking, okay, I could do pre-med then.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, of course.
Matt Compton: You know, I'm sitting there cutting up animals and I'm looking at different parts and I'm, you know, dissecting different types of insects and all kinds of different things. So I really enjoyed that part of it. My English classes were great too, but I had a math class with basketball, Alabama, University of Alabama basketball players. So that was cool because I'd go to math and there, you know, there'd be these basketball players and then I'd go to the basketball games later in the year.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, but that was a different, different time for Alabama basketball.
Matt Compton: ⁓ yeah, they weren't good at all. They were terrible. But hey, was still cool to be there.
Kenny Compton: This is what, 1997, 96, 97?
Matt Compton: Yeah, late 96, 97 basketball season. Yeah. But they were not good at all. But it was still, it was still fun. But yeah, I didn't have any, at the time, any kind of culinary aspirations. By my second semester, I was leaning towards doing something that was more in business related because of some of my friends, had business classes. So taking those classes next. And that was what I had essentially signed up for as a sophomore, is I signed up for some of those
Kenny Compton: Yeah.
Matt Compton: ⁓ business classes, well, what would have been my sophomore year. And then something happened, ⁓ which I'll talk about here in just a little bit as a real life example of, ⁓ you know, mistakes made, right. And learned, but it, drove me to, yeah, it was definitely a learning opportunity. ⁓ and then I, I joined the Navy and then after that, was 24 years. Boom, you know, big career.
Kenny Compton: Learning opportunities.
Matt Compton: And we'll get more into that in a little bit, it was an exciting time and I continued that as you asked. What about the culinary arts that you were interested in? Well, guess what I did when I joined the Navy. At the time, 1997, I became a mess specialist, which now is a culinary specialist. And why did I choose that job? Because one, it was fun. It was easy to do. At least I thought it was going to be easy. And it was something that I knew and was interesting and I just didn't really know what else I wanted to do in the Navy. I took a chance on being a cook in the Navy, but I was smart enough to say, I'm going to go to submarines where they'll pay me more money and I'll be gone all the time. Another lesson learned that not normal deployments and being on all the time is not good on your family. ⁓ But it's tough.
Kenny Compton: Yeah. And I could be wrong. I could be wrong here, but, um, you know, from my perspective on, on this at that time, um, I think what just, you know, when we were growing up, it seemed like you did like to cook and then you would take different jobs at, uh, you know, whether it be a fast food restaurant or a family owned restaurant where you would work in the kitchen, you would do some cooking. And then you, we had a childhood friend that his dad or family owned a restaurant and he was actual cook in the Navy as well, if I'm not mistaken. And I, for, for me, it seemed like you kind of took that path because you had heard so much about it from, I guess we could say his name, Dennis and his, his dad and stuff. Am I wrong?
Matt Compton: Yeah, no, that's just about right.
Kenny Compton: Had some influence on you there.
Matt Compton: Yeah, I was, uh, I had a couple jobs. say a couple, I had three jobs when I was in high school. Uh, number one was outside of going to school, right? A lot of people don't understand this, but we tried to teach our kids this, but going to school is a job. It's your responsibility as a child to get educated and to learn. Um, and that's what we've always taught our kids, um, to take advantage of that opportunity and learn as much. as you can in the time that you have, because after high school you become an adult and now you're responsible for a lot more than just sometimes yourself. So, but first and foremost, it was school and I tried to do as well as I could in school without, you know, overburdening myself. But the second thing was, is I had a landscaping business, which actually started with our dad where he, you know, helped me get yards and I would go out and cut them. And then eventually it transitioned to when I could When I was 16, I could drive myself. I drove around and I cut all these different lawns and I made so much money cutting lawns because it was, you know, cash under the table. Who's paying taxes on, you know, 20, $30 of cutting grass, right? You're not making enough at the end of the year to really pay anything. So, uh, it was important that we got an opportunity to do that. So ⁓ the grass cutting story, ⁓ it transitioned into helping me, you know, buy a new car. Cause the one I got when I turned 16, wasn't that But then I started working at a restaurant called the Hungry Bear. That's the place that Kenny was referencing. And a friend of mine from high school, we both worked there. His parents ran that place and they reluctantly allowed me to start working there and then realized that, I was a pretty good worker at that age and it was cool to get to work there. Worked a lot of nights and weekends working at that restaurant. But I wouldn't necessarily...
Kenny Compton: Oh, yeah. Yeah, now I remember.
Matt Compton: say that I learned a lot about cooking there. I learned a lot about working and cleaning and doing all the jobs that nobody wanted to do. Yeah, but it wasn't until I joined the Navy that I really learned how to cook.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, yeah, of course. I just, just meant it. was prob, it probably helped, helped push you in a certain direction. It seems like in my eyes, ⁓ you know.
Matt Compton: Yeah, it definitely helped to push me in a direction that I could do something that I thought was ⁓ productive. It gave back and, you know, could serve my country and also, you know, have fun doing it.
Kenny Compton: So, so yes, what my brother failed to mention is that we are three years apart. So in school, we were, yeah, never in the same school until high school, ⁓ because it's a, it's ninth through 12th grade. So, you know, growing up, I was at one school, he was at a different school and the, the, hometown is small. town in Alabama. ⁓ So every three grades were in its own school. So kindergarten through second grade was one school, then third, fourth and fifth grade was a different school. And then junior high was sixth, seventh and eighth grade, and then high school night through 12th. You know, every, every place is different. Like here, for example, where I live, there's neighborhood schools and multiple high schools. for each town or each little suburb ⁓ out here in Colorado. So huge difference ⁓ when you grow up in a small town. Some people grow up in ⁓ even smaller town where it's just kindergarten through 12th grade is one big school. ⁓ yeah, so essentially my brother and I, we never went to the same school. Sometimes I think it maybe was junior high before I...
Matt Compton: Whew, that's crazy.
Kenny Compton: may have had some of the same teachers because we, you know, we just turned out we didn't have the same teachers. But that being said, so my thoughts, ⁓ graduating from graduating high school, going to college and all that, ⁓ my main focus at that time was broadcast journalism. That was ⁓ what I loved. ⁓ watching baseball, listening to sports on the radio, ⁓ and just fell in love with broadcasters in general, as a lot of people did over the years, specifically if you, if anyone remembers, ⁓ the late great Harry Carey from the Chicago Cubs, he was a big influence, ⁓ growing up. And, and so I, that's all I thought about, ⁓ was. One day I'm going to be a sports broadcaster, whether it's radio or television, didn't really matter as long as I was what being able to watch sports, talk about sports. I mean, who wouldn't want that? You know, if that's what you love and what your passion is. ⁓ however, that being said, ⁓ like I talked about earlier, ⁓ learning opportunities, I made many mistakes or learning opportunities growing up. And so one being.
Matt Compton: You
Kenny Compton: which we'll talk about ⁓ maybe a little bit more in the future is my consumption of marijuana. I actually started smoking marijuana and I say smoking because that was the only option back in the day at a very young age, which as we know now is not a great idea. ⁓ It's really bad for your brain development. And so I started about 12 years old, possibly 13, somewhere around that age. Can't remember one of the benefits of smoking marijuana is you don't always remember. Yeah, it was way too young. I'm discouraged that ⁓ 10 out 10 don't recommend that at all. ⁓ But that's life. So can't go back and change it.
Matt Compton: Don't remember when it started. I just know I was young.
Kenny Compton: I'm not friends with Doc Brown, you know, can't jump into the DeLorean and go back in time. so the reason I bring that up is because, ⁓ yeah, that probably had a lot of influences on the way I perceive things, ⁓ things that I did hung out with friends on the weekend. ⁓ you know, things to talk about later, but so, so.
Matt Compton: would be nice.
Kenny Compton: When I graduated high school, you know, I still, went to college. I was able to get into Jacksonville State University. I wasn't, didn't do as well on my, my, ⁓ guess back as SAT or was it ACT? Yeah, we took ACT. See, I can't even remember, but
Matt Compton: Mm-hmm. Yeah, either one you can I mean most kids now take both but I mean I don't think I mean I wouldn't have been able to get into Auburn if that's where you wanted to go Just so everybody knows Auburn's a much better technical school than Alabama is much harder to get into
Kenny Compton: Yeah. Yeah, so... Yeah. Yeah, I definitely would have loved to go into Auburn. That wasn't really my mindset. ⁓ I don't honestly don't recall what I was thinking, like as far as what college I wanted to go to. I do vaguely remember someone in my class, ⁓ a female student that was a friend, a friend. And, ⁓ because I did have, ⁓ you know, girlfriend throughout high school, but Uh, this girl was a friend and she was going to Jacksonville state and had talked to me briefly about possibly getting, she wanted to get an apartment. She didn't want to live in the dorms or whatever. And she'd even talked to me about, um, possibly, you know, renting a room and in a same apartment. And that wasn't, that wasn't really feasible. You know, I didn't have the money. Our parents didn't have the money to pay for that. um, but. Other than that, I don't really remember why I chose Jacksonville State. Maybe because I had a few friends that went there and eventually along with them joined a fraternity there. but that was, I started college. I, you know, studied broadcast journalism and like my brother was saying about 8 a.m. classes, my first broadcast journalism class was ⁓ intro to communications was at eight o'clock in the morning in a huge amphitheater type class with possibly a hundred students or more. And I just, as you do, you have a hard time going to that class. And again, maybe it's just me making an excuse, but I spent a lot of time when I got to college, learning more about cannabis or marijuana than I did learning about anything else. And so whether it be at house parties or just hanging out with friends on the weekend, and then that bled into the week where ⁓ you're not wanting to go to you're kind of bored with this, that, and the other, ⁓ you just rather be doing something else. ⁓ Obviously, huge mistakes. ⁓ So eventually, you your grades slip and then you decide, well, I got to do something. And I was given an ultimatum actually by our parents. I think my mom, our mom, told me that I had basically two choices. One, join the military or two, move back home and go to community college. And I was honestly just like, didn't want to learn. of, you know, didn't want to go to school. I was just so tired of school. think not that I didn't want to learn it's at, that was the wrong phrasing, but, ⁓ I just didn't want to go to school anymore. That was, that was my whole thought process at that time. So, so I was like, okay, screw it. So I'll join the, I'll join the Navy too. You know, Matt, who's three years old is already in the Navy. So I'm like, okay. ⁓ Navy it is. So turns out Dennis. brought up earlier became a recruiter. So he was in the Navy prior, he was, think what one ahead of you, Matt, in school, ⁓ remembering correctly. Okay, least
Matt Compton: that's
Kenny Compton: ⁓ So he had the Navy, ⁓ I believe right out of high school. And then, ⁓ so I it would have been two years later when you joined. ⁓ So he ⁓ in 95 and then you join in 97.
Matt Compton: Yes, he was. You did.
Kenny Compton: And then I graduated high school in 99. I went to college for two years and then that's when I chose to, to join the Navy as well. So Dennis had already become a recruiter. So he became my recruiter and, know, it was telling me all this stuff that we all know is bullshit. ⁓ but I just, I just kind of let it go in one ear and out the other. Well,
Matt Compton: Mm-hmm. Ha ha ha.
Kenny Compton: He didn't also, one thing, I'll call Dennis out. He didn't inform me that, hey, you're going to go down to, I think it was called MEPs. So it was called, I don't remember that, I don't know, but you're going to go down to MEPs, which was, I want to say it was down near Mobile or somewhere in South Alabama compared to where we live.
Matt Compton: Yeah, maps. It was in Montgomery. Yeah. That's that, that's that weed talking you can't remember.
Kenny Compton: Her Montgomery. Yeah. So I don't know why I mobile, but Yeah, I guess. So and it was 30 years ago. Or more. ⁓ I go down there and then course I have to take a drug test, ⁓ your analysis. I was like, well, shit, I'm definitely gonna fail. Cause I just smoked like two days ago or whatever. ⁓ So I and I'm ⁓ like, what hell, man? Why didn't you tell me that what all this was gonna endure? Like I had no clue. I thought I was just going down there for like, hadn't taken the as fab yet. So I took the as fab there. I thought it was, I thought it was essentially just going to be that, I guess it was what I was thinking. So when I had, you know, and then they put you through all, you know, you basically have a physical and they test different things. They test your ear, your hearing, you know, check you for a hernia, stick a finger up your butt, you know, all the fun stuff. And so.
Matt Compton: Mm-hmm. You
Kenny Compton: turns out I did really well on the hearing test and they're like, okay. And then as fab I did okay on it wasn't great. ⁓ and then I, so me wanting to go into broadcast, right. Radio men in the Navy was an option. So that's the path.
Matt Compton: Yeah, I think you forgot that I was the one that told you you needed to be a radioman. Yeah, on submarines.
Kenny Compton: Well, yeah, yeah, I don't. mean, it was so long ago. I don't again, I don't know if it's the weed or the or just time, but yeah, remembering every little detail is not it's not possible. So but yeah, so.
Matt Compton: Yeah, that's okay. But you made the right decision. You picked a great job to have.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, so, right. And then, which we're leaving out one big thing here that we'll discuss here in a few minutes. I think Matt's gonna bring it up when he talks about some more stuff. So I go into the Navy and then I'm not gonna go into too much specifics, but a bit of my college experience kind of bled over into
Matt Compton: Yeah, I'll talk about it.
Kenny Compton: the Navy and not the marijuana. Like I was, I got a, a letter basically after I failed that test at MET saying that I had to wait 45 days before, and then I had to go do it all again. And which was, you know, understandable. And I was like, shit. So right then that was it. I quit smoking. didn't touch it for years later. So I go into the Navy. ⁓ I go into submarines. I'm in Groton and then things take a turn for the worse. So ⁓ one thing that Matt didn't bring up is our parents got divorced while I was, well, split up, I would say, while I was in basic training. ⁓ I found out a very weird way. So I get a letter one day because you can write to people, you your loved ones.
Matt Compton: Mm-hmm.
Kenny Compton: that are in basic training, you can write them letters, they can write you. It's a little delay in when you get them, but you do get letters and stuff. I got a letter one day from our dad saying, and my first clue was it was the return address was our grandparents' house. I'm looking at the envelope and I'm like, what the hell? Like why is the return address?
Matt Compton: Ha ha ha ha.
Kenny Compton: Not our address. That's weird. So then I read the letter and it says, and it doesn't go into specifics. It's just like, things are different. You know, we can talk about it more later. Like it was almost like, and I'm not shitting on our dad. I love our dad. And, but it was almost like an unnecessary letter to write. And I, I don't even know if I still have it. I don't. I wouldn't even know where to look but it just seemed kind of strange but it
Matt Compton: It might've been a letter to Garner a response or something for you to ask more questions. Cause it was, you're right. It was kind of vague and explaining what happened. No.
Kenny Compton: Wait, did you get a letter, you got a letter too? ⁓ no, okay. You said that like, you got like, he wrote, y'all just talked about it or something over phone. Okay, cause at that time, I'm not really sure where you were living. Maybe in Jacksonville or, or a King's, station at Kings Bay. Kings Bay, yeah.
Matt Compton: He told me about it. Yeah. Yeah. I was still in Kings Bay. Yeah. I mean, didn't live in Jacksonville yet, but yes, while was stationed in Kings Bay, was still living in Kings Bay. Yeah.
Kenny Compton: Right, you were stationed in Kings Bay. So while I'm in basic training, our parents decided it was a great time for them to split up. so, and then to make it even weirder, ⁓ they both came to my graduation from basic training, along with our grandmother. ⁓ And they, you know, was just, they came separately. It was just, it was just all strange, obviously. ⁓ Well, strange for me anyway. And ⁓ maybe some people think that's cool and normal, but, and ⁓ so that was just a weird mindset. put me in, I believe, looking back. And so I go to, go to submarine school and then.
Matt Compton: Yeah.
Kenny Compton: E.T. school or electronics technician was the, you know, radioman is like the job, but whatever. This was so long ago. It's probably different now. ⁓ but I just, again, got into bad habits where I would, you know, you have to go to class there. I mean, you're in the Navy or in the military and you're going to school there. ⁓ you can't, you can't just not show up. You know, there was times where I was late because I was hanging out with or staying with somebody off base or, or, you know, just doing stuff that I probably shouldn't have been doing. ⁓ but then eventually I got to the point where I was like, this. And there's one specific event, ⁓ that I'm not really going to get into too much right now, but, ⁓ They kind of pushed me towards leaving the military or leaving the Navy. So ⁓ I just, you know, told them that I didn't want to do it anymore. ⁓ Gave them a bunch of excuses. And then just for lack of a better term, jump ship. ⁓ I had orders to go to a submarine, never made it. Never. you know, never got to ⁓ my destination from there. So I left.
Matt Compton: Do you remember the submarine that you had orders to?
Kenny Compton: I want to say the Nebraska, but I'm not sure USS Nebraska. Yeah. Yeah. So that I do remember. Yeah. That I remember in Kings Bay. So, ⁓ the good news is.
Matt Compton: That's correct, yeah. The USS Nebraska, yep. Good old Cornhuskers. Yep. You would have been stationed in the same place as me.
Kenny Compton: The good news is I did meet two people that are friends of mine to this day that were in the Navy. I didn't know it at the time. ⁓ We would hang out, we played sports together on base and did a lot of stuff together. ⁓ They were not a bad influence. ⁓ Maybe a little, but not ⁓ to the extent where, ⁓ because they... They just kept trudging on. had the, were in the same job as me, went to the same schooling and stuff. And, and they kept on capping on and I, where I essentially gave up. So, um, but once they're, they came out of the Navy, we still stayed in touch and still remain friends to this day. So that, that was obviously a positive from that experience. Um, then after the Navy, I moved back. Alabama. I lived with our dad for a short time. Didn't really want to stay there. Had a friend that moved to Tennessee a year or so prior to that. then, so then I moved to Tennessee. You know, got into, I started working at a restaurant, managing the restaurant. For some reason, the manager This place was hiring. Um, I went in applied for a job and after a couple of weeks, he just started telling me he wanted to train me to be a manager. And I was like, okay, pays more money. And at the time I was working two jobs. Um, so he's like, you don't need to work that other job. I'll show you how to do this and you'll make more money. And you know,
Matt Compton: You
Kenny Compton: Little did I know I was going to have to start working about 60 to 70 hours a week. And I was on salary though. But the pay was more than the two because I just started as like a, I don't know, you just, I wouldn't say cook or chef. We made sandwiches and pizzas. So excuse me. ⁓
Matt Compton: That's why you're going to make more money. Right. Yeah. ⁓ according to him, you were going to make more money.
Kenny Compton: It was, you know, basically baking bread and we, but we made, we made our stuff from scratch, the dough from scratch. you know, you're coming in early in the morning, baking or mixing the dough, baking it, proofing it, all that fun stuff. ⁓ yeah. So he, he kind of, you know, led me in a direction of management and then. So I did that for a while ⁓ and got burnt out quick. After, I can't even remember how long, it was so long ago, but ⁓ a year maybe, I was just over it. ⁓ And so I decided to do something a little easier and still make decent money at the time in that area, very touristy area. ⁓ and started delivering pizza. Took a huge step down, obviously. And then some of you hear this and be like, ⁓ yeah, that makes sense. know, cause most pizza delivery drivers are potheads and they smoke marijuana. Yeah. Yeah. You're, you'd be right. You'd be right. Cause that w that wasn't what I was thinking. I'm like, ⁓ I smoke marijuana. I need to go deliver pizza. No, that was not what I was thinking. I was just thinking, I get cash every day. I can, you know, work.
Matt Compton: You
Kenny Compton: I wanted and and make good money and that in the area at the time was not too bad. So ⁓ which goes to work-life balance and ⁓ a little you know, because to me it was a lot less stressful. I love to drive like I've always loved driving a car ⁓ and so like well I can drive a car make money. This is awesome. This is obviously long before
Matt Compton: You
Kenny Compton: Uber and, and, ⁓ Grubhub and all these different, you know, driving jobs that emerged. ⁓ but yeah, so that's, that's basically my background, ⁓ as it comes to, then eventually, you know, we moved to Colorado, but I say we, I got married. ⁓ I guess that's a big life, ⁓ life step. So yeah, met my wife. Yeah, we could get more into that later, but yeah, met my wife and when we eventually moved out here to Colorado. But yeah, that's a bit of our ⁓ background of then and how we had similar, somewhat similar experiences and how we went from high school to college and then into the Navy. And then obviously big divergence there where you stayed in the Navy.
Matt Compton: Yeah, we'll get more into that.
Kenny Compton: And I jumped ship. got, I got out of there. So, um, you want to give us a little something next, man?
Matt Compton: Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. So I really wanted to give everyone here that's listening some real life examples of what we've been talking about. So you may have heard us talk about some of our children. ⁓ We have multiple children. We won't go into too many details about our kids, but we both became parents at a young age. So my brother was 16 when his oldest child was born and I was 20. So you can imagine, right, my brother's in high school, I'm in college. And now we're both having kids. ⁓ I actually ended up at the same year. exactly. Two months apart. Now, if you think about how old they are, when we tell you how long it's been, 27 years ⁓ has gone by and these adult children that we have are growing and have their own families and doing their own thing. ⁓
Kenny Compton: The same year, two months apart.
Matt Compton: you know, what's the lesson that you get out of that real world example? It's okay to have kids at a young age sometimes if you're going to be responsible to take care of them. And that's what we did, right? Although my brother was in high school and I was in college, we made decisions at certain points of our lives to make sure that we were taking care of our children. If you can't take care of those children, then do the best thing you can, whether it's involve other family members. ⁓ you know, work through an adoption process or just making sure that those children are taken care of. ⁓ That becomes part of your life. That's right. It does take a village. Yeah. had to rely on our mom.
Kenny Compton: Takes the village, as they say. Nicely at that age.
Matt Compton: Yeah, and I know my brother had to rely on our mom and ⁓ we both relied on her and our other family members.
Kenny Compton: and maternal grandparents as well. Yeah, and I'll break in here and say something real quick and then you can continue, Matt. ⁓ I did not handle becoming a father at the age of 16 very well. ⁓ If anyone out there is listening to this and they're 16, I highly recommend don't having, don't have children at that age. ⁓
Matt Compton: Yes. It's tough.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, so yeah, I was not the best father. Again, learned the hard way. And we can talk about it later on different episodes, but I just wanted to break in and say that that I made poor decisions, as you can imagine, along with someone other other people as well. I wouldn't say it's all my fault. ⁓ and I'm not going to sit here and blame anyone either. ⁓ but, ⁓ yeah, I didn't handle it very well either. I didn't handle many things very well. ⁓ when I was younger, it took me a long time to mature and grow up. And I'm still wondering today if I'm mature at all. ⁓ so it's an ongoing process for sure. ⁓ so, so yeah, get back to it, man.
Matt Compton: You Yeah, I think it's just men in particular take a little bit longer to mature than it does women, but you know, those are our life experiences. Maybe you're experiencing something else, but it definitely was tough having ⁓ children at a young age. Although I appreciate it now because I can spend more time with my kids. I can relate to them a little bit more than I would if I was in my sixties, which I'm not by the way, if you can't tell. ⁓ So having kids at a young age, you
Kenny Compton: You look a little gray there.
Matt Compton: Just a little, yeah. It puts you in a unique position to, you know, really discover life and what's important. And, you know, for me, it was to take care of my family. And at the time I was like, okay, well, I can't be a father and go to school at the same time, college. So what am I going to do? I mean, I know there are a lot of people out there that have kids and go to college and they... still continue that education and I applaud you to be able to do that and keep working. But for me, I was like, I want to provide something better for my child. and that I don't think I could do if I was still in school, cause I, I didn't just didn't think I could focus all that well on it. So I joined the Navy. ⁓ obviously that gave me the opportunity to provide, you know, shelter, food, clothing, everything that I would need. for my child and I thought, okay, well, I'm going to get married to this woman that I've had this child with and it didn't work out. And it actually worked out for the best, right? We shouldn't have stayed married. We probably should not have gotten married. So I led to an early divorce and that real life example is, if relationships aren't working, it's okay to do something else. Divorce is scary and it's hard, but in reality,
Kenny Compton: Thank
Matt Compton: It's something that is good sometimes. know, like we talked about our parents got divorced and you know, they just weren't happy together. And if that's the case, then you have to move on with life and go do something else. I'm not saying don't work on it and you should work hard, especially if you're in a committed relationship and you love each other and you want to make it work, then you do those things to make it work. But when you're in a position where you don't love each other and you don't care about the other person and You just need to go your separate ways. Sometimes that's what you got to do. and, know, for me and my brother, it worked out. So that real life example of, know, we made a mistake, had children early, you know, and then we find the loves of our life that we're married to today, right? Being married for over 20 years is something that we cherish and something that as a real life example, that you, there is somebody out there for you and you can find that one person. So if you're still looking for them. Don't give up. They're probably just around the corner. They're out there. Just keep trying. Just put yourself out there. Be yourself and hopefully it'll work out.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, and usually, well, at least for me, I wasn't looking for a relationship at the time. Like I was talking about earlier, how I got that job, ⁓ managing a restaurant. ⁓ I was in training to manage a restaurant, essentially is in training. then ⁓ that's, that's when I met my wife. She was just a customer that came in one day and ⁓ You just never know. know, I told friends that, you know, I'm just going to on, you I have no money. Like I need to make money. Like my mindset then was to work as much as I could. ⁓ Like I said, I had two jobs, you know, prior to that. So was just trying to make as much money as possibly could. ⁓ And then bam, in walks ⁓ the woman that I'm, ⁓ you know, married to today that changed my life ⁓ for the better and totally unexpected. So go ahead, man.
Matt Compton: It's great when it works out. And that's why we learn these lessons.
Kenny Compton: 21 years later, so.
Matt Compton: Yeah, you don't want to look too far back on life because it's about the experiences that you have going forward. And I believe that if you take advantage of those experiences, the time that you have now with your family or your friends, if that's the case, or with just people that you're newly introduced to, maybe it's just a new acquaintance, you know, take advantage of the present. Don't really focus too much on the past because again,
Kenny Compton: You don't dwell on the past.
Matt Compton: Yeah, we make a lot of mistakes and it's just about how we learn from them and how we move forward. And I would say that one of the best decisions I ever made as a real life example of kind of then versus now and where we are is I made the decision to join the Navy and that was probably the best decision of my entire life. It was hard. I was going a lot. I wasn't home. I wasn't there for my family, but joining as an enlisted sailor in the Navy. being on submarines, I learned a lot. I was able to learn quickly. And then I took everything that I knew and I leveraged that into a career and I got commissioned as a naval officer. I got my degrees, my bachelor and my master's degree while I was in the Navy. And I was able to retire after 24 years as a naval officer. And it's given me a pension. It's given me healthcare, dental, vision. things that I can do to take care of my family and that I know that they'll be taken care of even after, you know, whatever it happens. I pass away one day, they'll still be taken care of. So it was a sacrifice I was willing to make and it was a real life example of if you commit yourself to doing something and you want to do it for yourself, for your family, for your friends, whatever it is, you know, there's no one's going to stop you. You're going to be able to get whatever you want to out of whatever you're committing to. So Just take that as some advice, right? ⁓ If there's something you really want to do, commit to it.
Kenny Compton: Yeah. Kudos to you to realizing, at the time that, ⁓ cause my mindset was mostly short-term. ⁓ I did, I never thought about the future too much. I just thought about what do I want today? What I want right now kind of mindset. And it seems like you had this mindset that if I do this, this, and this X, Y, and Z, ⁓ that will set me and my family up for the future. You had that mindset early on, it seems like, which I did not. ⁓ I was just kind of like living life by the seat of my pants. What's gonna happen today or maybe next week or something like that. I didn't really think too much about the future. ⁓ somehow maybe it's because you're...
Matt Compton: Live in La Vida Loca. Mm-hmm.
Kenny Compton: And something we can also discuss, but your first born versus second born child, ⁓ that dynamic as far as ⁓ expectations maybe put on you as a first born. So maybe you just had a more, I don't know, maybe you can speak to that a little about your mindset as far as long-term.
Matt Compton: Yeah, I did have a, I have a pretty, yeah, I had a pretty strong drive to be successful, but I also had a lot of really good mentors. I would not have been able to be successful in the military and be where am today without standing on the shoulders of giants. If you don't know that reference, look it up, but it essentially means that there are people that came before us that were leading the way in their career, in their life. and whatever endeavors and we've been able to stand on their shoulders to lift ourselves up even higher than they did. But it's only because I stood on those shoulders of those giants. I can tell you that. Some of the best people that I've ever served or worked with, even post-military now, it's been five years since I've retired. Some of the best mentors, leaders of, I won't just say men, but people, right? Because... before I transitioned out of the military, we had women joining submarines. We had women in more combat roles. We had women in more leadership roles. And some of the best people that I've ever worked with ⁓ were those giants. And a lot of those were women in the military. And I would not be where I am today if it wasn't for them. And I do appreciate that. Every single day, my career would not have been the way it was if it weren't for those men and women that I served with. And a lot of it too had ⁓ to do with, I didn't want to be that statistic of, ⁓ you have a kid and they joined the military and you can't do anything. I'm like, no, I'm going to get my education. I'm going to finish my degree. And then the Navy's like, ⁓ you want to get your master's degree? We'll pay for that. Okay. ⁓ challenge accepted. I'll take that. You want to pay for it? All of it? A hundred percent. I'll take it. So, you know, it wasn't easy, obviously. Yeah, exactly. It was like, Hey, cost is free, but you got to do all the work. So, ⁓ you know, spending on
Kenny Compton: Yeah. hard to say no to, I guess.
Matt Compton: time away from your family doing that as well. But it also afforded me for my wife to go back to school and pay for her to finish and get her degree. And also some of that money went to my oldest child, my daughter. She was able to use that to go to school and for our oldest son as well. Our youngest son, too bad, so sad, you're not getting any post 9-11 GI bill money. But luckily here in this great state of Florida,
Kenny Compton: Yeah.
Matt Compton: ⁓ They have this thing called Bright Future Scholarship. If you do certain things in high school, then you get a scholarship that pays for the tuition for your school. So kudos to him for getting that and he'll be starting college here in the fall. which Kenny has a daughter that's starting college too. So, yeah.
Kenny Compton: ⁓ and that's something I'd. Right. And that's something that you just reminded me of something that I didn't think of earlier, um, about when I went into the Navy. Um, if you allow me, Matt, I'll, I'll just, I'll jump in about, about that. So, so yeah, I went to college right out of high school, graduated in 99, went two years, um, at Jacksonville state and then 2001.
Matt Compton: Yeah, go ahead.
Kenny Compton: At the end of 2001 semester is when I realized that I was essentially getting kicked out of college because my grades were too low. So that's when I joined the Navy. then, in the summer, went down to MEPs and was scheduled to go my first day to basic training on September 25th, 2001. So for those who don't know, that's exactly two weeks, two weeks to the day after 9-11. At the time when I was given that date, obviously 9-11 hadn't happened yet. But I do remember that like it was yesterday, unlike a lot of other things, I don't remember, but I do remember that happening. If you were alive,
Matt Compton: of month.
Kenny Compton: Back then, everyone ⁓ has a ⁓ story when they found out. ⁓ I woken up from to ⁓ my at the time, her roommate yelling screaming that we're being attacked. And I know what the hell she was talking about. I didn't know she was talking about ⁓ we were personally getting attacked in the apartment or... or what was going on. was wild. I mean, I was in deep sleep and next thing I know I just hear screaming coming from another room. And so, And then, so for that next two weeks was very weird. I was like, shit, I'm going to basic training and then going to war, I guess. It was a little scary time. And also what happened is A lot of people, ⁓ join them, the Navy specifically. can only speak that to the Navy because I was there, ⁓ the numbers, recruitment numbers went through the roof. ⁓ when that happened to every, every Dick, John and Harry or whoever wanted to join the military and, you know, and help stop terrorism and all that jazz. Me. I'd already signed up and wasn't even thinking about stuff like that. mean, I'm not very, you know, like, go military. That really wasn't my mindset. It was more of a, you know, I need something, stability, need to become something in life and do something. So that was all I was thinking. But yeah, it was a crazy time to join the...
Matt Compton: You
Kenny Compton: join the military was right after 9-11. ⁓ But yeah, so that's all I wanted to say about that, I guess. That's all I want say about that.
Matt Compton: I think it's good. It transitions into, know, so what are we doing now? Obviously we're starting this podcast, right? I've told you a little bit about our background and where we came from and a little bit about our experiences and a little storytelling. And we'll tell a lot more stories. And I actually have a very good story when it comes to 9-11 and the things that have happened since 2001 that I'll tell probably when we talk about mental health and some of the other topics that we brought up. very interesting stories I can tell you about the military. But, you know, what are we doing now? We're starting this podcast. I've been retired from the Navy for five years. I've been working for the same company. ⁓ You probably know them. They sell what we call hats and t-shirts to everybody in the world. They make all the uniforms for our athletes. yeah. if you haven't sports apparel, that's right. If you haven't heard of Fanatics.
Kenny Compton: Sports apparel. Sports apparel. And memorabilia... Fanatics, yeah, fanatics.
Matt Compton: Yeah, that's where I work. By no way is this an advertisement for the company, but it's great company to work for.
Kenny Compton: Are you pre- are you pre-med there, man?
Matt Compton: No, not in this economy.
Kenny Compton: Wait, that's right. They don't do metacross.
Matt Compton: No, we're selling products to people. So e-commerce, it's great to be at a place where they appreciate you.
Kenny Compton: Wait, let me ask you. So you went, you're 24 years in the Navy, mostly did cooking and yes, you got a master's degree in what? What did you get your master's degree in?
Matt Compton: I got my master's in management, acquisition and supply chain management.
Kenny Compton: Okay.
Matt Compton: I think you forget that I was the supply officer. I was the food service supply officer.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, supply officer at food service, supply officer. So basically all food related stuff, but yeah.
Matt Compton: Mostly, yes, yes. I was also an instructor in the Navy. I was an instructor, you forgot about that part, and an inspector and an auditor.
Kenny Compton: Right? Yeah. So I guess what I'm saying is it, to me, it seemed like you would come out of the Navy and then you would, which I think you made honestly a better decision. ⁓ I, ⁓ and you've spoke about over the years about doing different things. ⁓ one possibly opening your own restaurant or buying a franchise or, or something like to that. to that, which you didn't do, which, you know, as we all know, specifically restaurants in general, ⁓ new businesses are very hard to maintain, to make ⁓ actual profit and to thrive. So ⁓ in my mind, I think you made the better decision, which, you know, didn't see coming. But, you know, it's obviously working out. Yeah, kudos to you again. You're making, you know, great decisions here.
Matt Compton: Yeah, it's... Thanks. I appreciate it. Yeah, it's worked out so far I went I went into operations when I first joined fanatics and I've moved into more project program management part of my job now, so It's good again great place to work can't can't knock the corporate life ⁓ if you want to even consider it corporate life, but Bold ⁓ yeah, the money's not too bad. I can tell you that it's not too bad at all
Kenny Compton: And the money's not too bad, I'd say.
Matt Compton: Especially with having a pension, it's definitely great to be alive and doing what I'm doing every day. But I don't do it for myself. I do it for my family. do it to make sure my kids are taken care of. I do it to make sure that they're happy and they can live comfortably. Of course, I'm taking care of myself too in retirement. And that's one thing that I hope that we're going to get into in future podcasts is talking about not only our
Kenny Compton: Of course, yeah.
Matt Compton: you know, physical, mental health awareness of what people go through, but taking care of yourself just, you know, it's not about putting yourself out there and being real. It's also about taking care of yourself because every day we're out doing different things and you want to protect yourself, right? Put yourself in a safe place where you can be happy and you can grow as well because at the end of the day, ⁓ There's nobody out there looking out for you. Maybe your family is at some point, but really truly who's looking out for you? ⁓ It's got to be yourself and you got to take care of yourself. So, know when you're thinking about ⁓ you know, I need to take this weekend to do something that will help me recharge then go do it. Right? Don't waste or spend all your time doing things that aren't going to be helpful for you. And do things that make you happy and they're fun. If you like to go volunteer, Go volunteer, go do those things. If you like to make people smile and you just want to do things for other people, then go do those things. you're, what you enjoy is sitting at home and watching football on TV, like my brother and I, then watch some football or baseball or whatever it is. Or if you like going to those types of events, if you like, love going to football events and basketball events. So if you like doing those things, go do those too. Those are always fun. You know, get those experiences because you'll never gain those back. You know, if you have an opportunity to go do that, go see those things, go visit those things, go visit people.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, spend, spend your money on experiences on travel if you can, because, you know, we, we all fall in a trap of, of purchasing things, ⁓ and, know, items, consumerism, ⁓ for your mental health, at least in my experience for my mental health is spending money on traveling, on doing things outside of the house and not purchasing things. you'll find yourself needing to purchase things for those outside experiences, but they're oftentimes the most rewarding, at least for me anyway. yes, try to do that. That's what saying.
Matt Compton: Yeah. And we both travel. ⁓ We love to go do them. My brother's a little bit more adventurous than I am. Not that I wouldn't do those things. My family is not as adventurous. Like he goes hiking and camping. My family's idea of going hiking is, you know, walking at Disney World ⁓ or camping. Their idea would be staying at a hotel or at a lodge. Like, do we have to go outside and do that stuff? It's like, no, you don't have to.
Kenny Compton: Hahaha
Matt Compton: But there's a lot of things you still can do that's still kind of cool and fun. And my daughter's like that. She's like me. She'll go do experiences up. Yeah.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, going to Disney World or to the beach or whatever, that's, know, again, what makes you happy? know, do the things that make you happy as much as you can. And when you're married, those things don't always line up with each other. ⁓ But in my experience, you can learn a lot from each other. You can share each other's passions and loves, whether you like it. You may find that you actually enjoy doing something that, that, you know, it was your wife's idea or your husband's idea, ⁓ where you didn't think it was, you know, something worth doing or something that you would enjoy. ⁓ sometimes the joy comes from seeing their joy. Like I would love, I love, would say I would know I do love, ⁓ doing something that my wife loves to do. just to see the joy on her face. I just spend the day watching her and not really care about what we're really doing. That a lot of times is the best part.
Matt Compton: Yeah, those are all always really good experiences. I'll tell you what, one of the things that I love now to do, and if you have the money to do it, do it because it's fun, is to go to Epcot at Disney and just go around and eat and drink the food that they have there. You don't have to get on any rides. You don't have to do anything else. Just go there and experience the people, right? The food, the different cultures, because I don't know, it's hard to go anywhere. especially in the United States where you can experience so many different cultures in one setting and see people that travel there from all over the world. We've met people and families that have traveled from Europe, from Asia, from Africa, from South America, from Latin America, that they're there just visiting and that's their one family vacation and we're there all the time as pass holders. So it's good to kind of meet those new people, talk to them, experience the food and the drinks, because they have a a constantly changing menu at different times of the season. So it's kind of cool to see that. And it's cool that there's a place in the U S that you can go do that. Now, obviously in every city, there's all kinds of different cultures, different places that you can go to experience food and experience the different little intricacies of the culture. ⁓ If you don't have the money, you don't have the funds to travel outside the country. ⁓ Maybe if you do, yes, do go and travel, go and do that. And maybe one day You'll find that that's something that you and your partner or your husband, your wife, that you both could enjoy. Find something to do in these different places that you both will enjoy. And like my brother said, sometimes what they're doing that's enjoyable is also enjoyable for you. So take that ⁓ with whatever you want and learn from those lessons. And hopefully you'll go out there and experience something new for the first time.
Kenny Compton: it and life becomes a little better because you know especially the recent news the past months few months you know if you pay attention to the news at all it can get you down and make you wonder like what in the hell is going on I'm not gonna talk about that I'd honestly hate talking about I guess
Matt Compton: Yeah.
Kenny Compton: what I'm referencing is not necessarily politics, ⁓ but ⁓ it can be a little bit of a Debbie Downer when you dive into recent events and things that are coming out. So ⁓ get your mind off of that stuff. Get away. Just ⁓ two days ago, ⁓ luckily we live close to a hot spring. It's about 30 minute drive. My wife and I went went there after work on Thursday. So we're recording this on a Saturday, just two days ago. Drove up there, there's these caves. a natural hot spring that runs through a cave and they've kind of built it to be, I say built it, it's at an actual resort. But you can go down there, you can experience tranquility and And without, you know, there's no phones allowed, no cameras allowed. You just go down there, kind of recharge or reset. It's nice, you know, to get away from screens. all, you know, a lot of us work with computers. We have a phone, a smartphone, and we watch TV. We watch movies. And sometimes it's, you know, cut that noise off and just go and, and, know, and it's separate caves. Like my wife and I, weren't together. There's a women's cave and a men's cave and You know, is optional only during the week at this, particular place. So, you know, you go in there and you can go in there and a lot of people, I, I personally just, I still have shorts on because I'm just, you know, I can't be completely naked around a of strangers, bunch of strange men. Um, you know, I don't know. Um, but, but.
Matt Compton: There might be some men there that are looking forward to that, but...
Kenny Compton: And there's no craziness going on. They have signs posted, anything like that. They're gonna call the police. There's no craziness going on. Nobody's trying to do anything weird or anything. You're just going there to essentially relax, get your mind off everyday things, the hustle and the bustle, the screams and all that noise ⁓ and just kinda... get back to, I don't know, try to relax and, you know, don't spend a very long time there, but it does help. It was very relaxing. I still feel relaxed from it and, you know, get rid of some day-to-day stress. So we're gonna, it's not something we've done on a regular basis, but we're gonna start doing it on a more... you know, maybe not every month or, ⁓ but, but pretty often a lot more often than, we have in the past, just, just so we can have that, that moment of, ⁓ you know, nothing, no worries in the world right now, you know, for this, however long, you know, we were stay there for two hours, but, ⁓ so yeah, it is kind of nice to just sit back and relax and maybe get some negative energy out. of your body so.
Matt Compton: Sounds like a great experience Kenny. It's pretty cool.
Kenny Compton: Yeah, it was. It's great. mean, luckily, luckily, I have advantages here in Colorado, as you alluded to, hiking. Now, in all honesty, I haven't hiked in a while. It's been a minute, many minutes. But when we first moved here, which was, what, 12 years ago, I used to hike all the time. have a brother-in-law that loves hiking. And so he would come to visit and we would, you know, with other friends and we would hike and, you know, they have, uh, 14 years here, which are 14,000 foot mountains. Um, it's a lot more, a lot different hiking than in Tennessee or Alabama, where you have trees and forest and it's not very foresty here, you know, so Rocky mountains for a reason, you know, but still. you still get away. ⁓ It's hard. It's not easy. It's very challenging hiking those mountains. But also a great experience to get up on top of a mountain and be able to see for miles and just and breathe that thin mountain air or barely be able to breathe it. But just the taxing that puts on your body physically is rewarding. ⁓ You know, we've all probably heard the saying, no pain, no gain. And that's a prime example of, of how, you know, climbing up a 14,000 foot mountain, you're going to feel a lot of pain. But at the end, you know, maybe not the next day, but because you're sore and you're sore for a few days. But, um, It just puts you in a different mindset. You you accomplish something you think that you would think you would never be able to accomplish, especially while you're out there and how hard it is to breathe. And maybe you get dizzy or, or whatever, but, once you're, once it's done and over with, it's a huge sense of accomplishment. And like, you feel like you could take on anything and do anything and really, ⁓ motivates you to, to just, you know, be better in a sense. ⁓ So yeah, I mean, very lucky to be able to do that. But again, I haven't done that in a while, but that's because as you get older, you start going through some aches and pains and you have injuries and people don't come as much as they used to. over time, life changes. So ⁓ you find yourself doing other things. I got into fishing. more last few years. That's very like saying, which I usually, sometimes I would go with a friend or coworker or a lot of times just by myself or, or just getting out the house and going on a, you know, small hike or walk somewhere, whether by yourself or with friends and family, obviously around here, since they reintroduced wolves into our life in Colorado. Luckily, we live on the other side of the mountains. So we live on the East side. The wolves are on the West side. So, ⁓ don't really have to deal with them that much over here, I guess. But, but there are definitely on my mind when I go out there. ⁓ it's not something you really think about until you're out there looking around and like, Hmm, I wonder who's watching me right now. And you can say the same, you can say the same for mountain lions.
Matt Compton: Dinner. Yeah, same for mountain lions. We grew up with those.
Kenny Compton: as well but I feel like I'm rambling on about something but...
Matt Compton: It's all good. It's just about helping everybody understand some of the experiences that we're going through now and how we live our day-to-day life. But folks, I have to say, this is all for today's episode of Life on Record. Hope you'll like, share, and subscribe. And if you're new to this podcast, tell a friend, a family member, or work colleague about us. We just might make their day. Thanks for listening.