The Only Disability in Life is a Bad Attitude w/ Tony Trzeciak
0:00 There are few things that make people successful. Taking a step forward to change their lives is one successful trait, but it takes some time to get there. How do you move forward to greet the success that awaits you? Welcome to Next Steps Forward with host Chris Meek. Each week, Chris brings on another guest who has successfully taken the next steps forward. Now here is Chris Meek. Hello, I'm Chris Meek, and you're tuned to this week's episode of Next Steps Forward. As always, it's a pleasure to have you with us.
0:40 Our special guest today is Tony Treciak. Tony's a Philadelphia native, husband and father of four. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 2008 to 2012. Joining the 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Division Keel Company, Tony completed a combat tour in Afghanistan and a humanitarian mission in Haiti with the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit. Sadly, due to injuries and medical malpractice, Tony was paralyzed, which led to many life-saving surgeries, depression, suicide ideation, and drug abuse. Tony has triumphed over those daunting challenges and is using his life experiences to help other veterans and military members in need of help and support. Today, he channels his passion for finance into his roles as an angel investor, entrepreneur, and work on AI projects in finance and sports with Chatter.ai.
1:24 And he personifies resilience, personal empowerment, and personal well-being. Tony Treciak, welcome to Next Steps Forward. Thank you for having me, Chris. So we're going to talk about your eagles later. It's going to pain me to talk about it, but let's talk about some serious stuff first. You have not had an easy life beginning with your childhood, my friend, yet you have not only persevered, you've thrived. Would you share with us the parts of your childhood you're comfortable sharing? Yeah, of course. I was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I have a brother and sister. I had another brother who was tragically murdered, and my mom wanted to get us out of a tough spot out in Kensington and ended up remarrying and got us out of Philadelphia.
2:11 And I attended high school at Happer Horsham High School in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. And for a while, things were pretty good, and then I ended up getting in a little trouble and my mom ended up abandoning me because she didn't want to go back to where we were from. So she chose her husband over her two sons and ultimately left us homeless. And from when I was a young teenager, I was kind of living out of a trash bag, living in laundromats, abandoned apartment buildings, abandoned homes. My brother had left because he was also homeless, he left for the army. So when he left, I kind of had nothing and I still made it to school every single day.
2:56 I attribute a lot of my success to a lot of my teachers who would call me every night to find out where I would be so they could come pick me up early in the morning just so they knew I would get to school. And I'll call them out, Milnazik, Bamford, Cryer, and DeRozier, if they ever hear this, thank you. But because of those four women, I graduated and ended up joining the Marine Corps, but they made sure I had food in my stomach. Back in the day, when you had cell phones, it was prepaid minutes and free texts and calls after 7 p.m. So they would give me prepaid minute cards every week. If I attended school Monday through Friday, at the end of the week, I would get some prepaid minutes from my phone, but I would always tell people, don't contact me till after 7.
3:45 So but yet, due to those four amazing women and teachers of mine, I was able to join the military and get myself out of that predicament. I just want to talk about your teachers there for a minute, amazing, amazing people. Not only just these teachers, but teachers in general are unsung heroes. I'm a little biased. My mother was a deaf education teacher and she did something very similar when I was growing up. And so I appreciate that and thank you for sharing that. And I just want to give a shout out to all the teachers out there just because they don't get enough credit or love from us. So thank you for sharing that story. The hardships of tribulations that you endured as a child led you to join the Marines, as you mentioned.
4:26 Your grandfather was a decorated World War II Army veteran, your dad was a Vietnam War Army veteran, and your brother served in the Army in Iraq. Why did you choose the Marine Corps instead of the Army? Well, I mean, I don't think I could have ever won up to my grandfather who received a couple high honors. He was part of the 101st, but he did receive a Bronze Star. My dad was a double Purple Heart. He was an Army medic and my brother was in the infantry in the Army. So, you know, kind of looking back, I kind of said, well, I was better looking than all of them. But who looks better in uniform, Marines or Army? So I ultimately decided I had to one-up them somehow, so I joined the Marines.
5:06 So you chose the Marine Corps because of the uniform? No, not really. That's all. But because when I was homeless, there was a recruiter station in Hapro, PA, and I used to walk the streets of Hapro Horsham and some of the recruiters would, you know, call me over from here, you know, whenever I'd be around and they would just talk to me. And I really connected with a couple of the recruiters there. One specifically, his name was Sergeant Resch, and he looked out for me. When they found out that I was actually homeless, they actually started letting me sleep on the recruiter's couch in the office. They would bring me over to the base and let me crash over and things like that. So, you know, they were looking out for me and I hadn't seen my mom in a couple of years.
5:52 And I was enlisting when I was still a minor. So when I was 17, the recruiters had called my mom and said, Hey, we have your son here. He'd like to enlist in the military, but he's a minor. And she came over, signed the papers, and then walked right out, didn't even say hi. So, you know, it was a tough time. But again, like I had people in my corner that looked out for me to make sure that I succeeded. Have you seen your mother since then? Actually, yeah. So funny, during boot camp, it was Easter, and our platoon sergeant had allowed us to call home. So when my name got called up, my platoon sergeant was like, Hey, you know, you can call your mom or your dad.
6:38 I was like, I don't have any of that at home. So I kind of explained the situation and he like forced me to like call her. And then he invited her to graduation boot camp. So when I graduated, I had the two teachers DeRozier, sorry, Bamford and Nolnazic come over for my graduation. And my mom was there. And that was kind of like the beginning of where we're like, we try to mend a broken relationship. But I didn't really fix my relationship with my mom until me and my wife got married and we had our first born child. And it was really my wife who pushed that initiative to fix it because both of her parents had died from cancer. So she's like, look, it's important, maybe not you, but for our children's sake, that you mend this relationship.
7:23 You don't have to forget what she did, but you can forgive. And you know, for our children that they need family, it's important. And you didn't have a strong family growing up or a very tight family. And we want to provide that for our kids. So that's ultimately, long story short, why I started talking to her again. And I do know how tight and close that your family is. And so I appreciate you sharing that with us. What did your time in the Marine Corps do for you and what did it mean to you? Well, since I was homeless, it kind of gave me a foundation to build upon. So I talk about stuff like this all the time where it's like, you know, you need a strong foundation.
8:05 And once you have that strong foundation, you can build upon it brick by brick. So you get to the top of the pyramid. So the Marine Corps definitely gave me the foundation that I needed. It kind of gave me a new perspective on life. And when really when I started deploying and going to other countries, I saw how I had it bad. But then like when you go to third world countries, you're like, I had a pretty good, even though I was homeless, like I still had people looking out for me, I still was able to get food in my stomach. And there's people out there who walk all day just to get a thing of water for their family. So it changed my perspective on a lot of things and it opened my eyes to how no matter what in this great country that we live in in America, you know, if you put in the work and you put in the time and effort, you can accomplish anything.
8:50 And there's a lot of people in the world who don't even get that opportunity. If you were giving advice, what sort of young person would you recommend joining any branch of the military service or especially join the Marine Corps? Well, I mean, it really depends on the person and what they're trying to accomplish in the military. Me, I knew I wanted to join the infantry. You know, those were my heroes growing up watching, you know, band of brothers and the Pacific and things like that, like that, that was what I used to love to watch. And then knowing that my father and my grandfather, you know, they came from that background. I wanted to, I wanted to be just like them, but you know, for, I've talked to a lot of kids that want to join the military and I tell them all the time, what are you trying to get out of it?
9:32 Some kids are like, well, I love working with my hands. I like being an electrician. I like being with, you know, working with cars, I like working with jets or working with, you know, you know, something. So it's like, okay, then who would offer you the better opportunity? Would it be the Navy? Would it be the Air Force? Would it be the Marines? You know, the Marines aren't for everybody. It is, it's a little bit harder than everything else out there, but you know, again, it all depends on what you're looking for to get out of it. You know, I have family members who are now 16, 17, 18 years old, kind of at that crossroads in life. You know, I hear this advice all the time, it's what are you looking to get out of it? And then from there, go through the pros and cons on which branch of service will give you the best advantages in your career during your military service and after your military service.
10:17 Well, with Veteran's Day next Monday, this is the show I could get closest to Veteran's Day to have you on here. I wanted to have you specifically, so thank you and your family for your service and sacrifice. We really appreciate it. To your point, home of the brave, land of the free, thanks to people like you. So thank you. Thank you. During your service, you were wounded when you rolled over an IED, which is an improvised explosive device, in combat and you were paralyzed later during treatment. That time in your life understandably led to depression and you also struggled with suicidal thoughts. First, I'd like to thank you for your willingness to speak about such a difficult time in your life. What weighed on you most heavily during that time and was there a particular breaking point that made things seem overwhelming? Yeah. So, you know, when I woke up paralyzed, you know, I'm very blunt and transparent.
11:03 So I was, I come from a drug past, you know, like my brother and my dad were all involved in drugs. And ultimately I got involved in it when I was a young kid and that's why I wanted to join the military. So I get myself out of it. But I have very addictive personality. So I was, once I got on the pills from the VA, the Marine Corps, I was hooked and I just, it always seemed to be like a trigger, something, you know, I had an argument with the wife or I had a disagreement with somebody or, you know, I started drinking. It's just, you know, it's a very touchy subject, you know, because, you know, I get asked this question all the time.
11:46 What are some of the triggers? And I attribute a lot of, I do a lot of work with StopSoldierSuicide.org now. So like learning about a lot of things from them as well, it's like, what were my triggers? And it always seemed to be my triggers were always, it just came down to doing drugs. I just was a zombie for days and then I wouldn't have no recollection of what I was doing, what I was talking about. You know, your whole life kind of changes when you, you know, rail a big line of oxys. And again, I'm just being transparent. I was in a load of pain. What's the fastest way to, you know, get the pain eliminated, taking a pill or snorting it or injecting it? I didn't like to inject things because I watched my dad do it and my friends and things like that because they were involved in heroin.
12:32 So I was, I prefer to snort my pills. So I crushed up a couple of oxys, I snorted them and I felt a little woozy. So like, you know what, let me go take a little nap. And my wife was gone. She was watching a movie with her friends and I woke up a couple hours later, my phone was ringing. It was just on the floor right out of reach, maybe less than two feet away and I couldn't move. I felt like the whole weight of the world was just pushing me down and all I could do was move my neck. So I started frantically like shaking my neck back and forth, screaming on top of my lungs, help, help, help, and help didn't come for hours until my wife came home from the movies. And at that point I was rushed to the hospital and you know, that's where it really started like a really big problem with, you know, drugs and narcotics because I get put on a morphine drip and then I get spinal surgery and I'm in a hospital room for three years nearly on a morphine drip.
13:27 And so it's just like, you know, my body would just react, you know, it's just a little button. I wouldn't even know I'm pressing it, but I'm pressing it every minute. I'm just so addicted to it. And when I finally get out of the hospital, you know, I lose the morphine drip, but then they give me 300 oxys a month plus fentanyl patches plus sleeping pills, plus depressant pills, plus anxiety pills, plus this and that. And this, I mean, at some point I was well over 20 different medications a day. I didn't even know what day it was most of the time and to be honest, for almost four plus years of my life, I really don't have much recollection of, I don't remember a lot because I was so high all the time.
14:09 And you know, I had a lot of suicidal tendencies and because I grew up without a positive role model in my life, I didn't have a father figure and the father figure that I have didn't really like me much. So, you know, my wife would always say like, are you going to do this to your son? Because at the time he was only two years old, you know, like your son's going to grow up without a father. he's going to grow up and you're putting, you're going to cause so much trauma in his life. So, you know, I, I, I tried blowing my head off. I had a good friend, Rob Richards, who you can Google, um, he was a Marine sniper, good and bad things that you'll see about him.
14:50 But one of the best Marines that I ever served with, um, he had saved my life. My wife had to get out of a bad situation because I was waving a gun around, I was trying to blow my head off and my wife called Rob, I'm like, I think this is the day Tony actually does it. And she drove away and Rob lived right down the street. He sped down, kicked down the door, ran in the house, jumped on top of me and I pulled the trigger and luckily it just missed my head and went through the walls of the house and we just cried. I just cried on the shoulder for, I don't know how long. And then I went to the mental facility and, uh, started seeking treatment. But quite honestly, a lot of the times that I went to go seek, you know, professional help, it just made me worse because all they did was medicate me and they didn't really want to discuss or talk about what the core problem was and what I was going through mentally.
15:40 Uh, I was just going through a lot and I was just battling with myself. Um, my wife was pregnant at the time and my, when I, so I wasn't there for my son when he was born, I was actually in Afghanistan, but when my daughter was born, I was there, but I was high as a kite. Like the whole time I was going in and out of the bathroom, taking another pill, I was in pain. Um, and then when I saw my daughter born, I kind of like, it just changed me. Uh, at that point in time, I kind of just like stared and I'm like, wow, like through all this shit that I'm going through right now. Like I just, I didn't do much work that day, but you know, I, you know, the, the, you know, there's life there that I helped create and I was like, man, I really don't want my daughter seeing this.
16:23 I don't want my son seeing it. I can't keep going down this path. Um, but I had to get out of a bad environment as well because it's all about your environment as well. And I wasn't in the best environment living in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, Jacksonville, North Carolina. I just had a lot of bad things that happened to me since I became paralyzed. I'm like, if I want to get better and fix myself, I have to get myself out of this situation, out of this environment and building homes for heroes, um, was a big attribute to the next step that helped me get better. They had moved me and my family out to Florida and gave us a mortgage free home. And then I saw a doctor, his name was Dr. Schrock at the Tampa VA.
17:05 And I remember these names because there was a big turning point in my life. And the first thing I did was fill out a questionnaire that he gave me and basically it was like, how are the pain medicines helping you? I was like, well, my pain is still on a six to eight level every single day. And he's just like, so how's it really helping you? And I was like, huh, how is it really helping me? So I got home and I'm like, my wife's name is Tara. I was like, I think I need to, I need to go cold turkey. And the doctor was recommending that I kind of just lean me off. And I'm like, no, my addictive personality, they'll never stop. So I went, I dumped everything down the toilet, flushed it down and I laid in bed.
17:49 You know, if anybody's ever gone through some tough withdrawal, it ain't easy puking, you know, coming out both ends, it just wasn't good. And my wife was there, you know, patting my sweat down, helping me through my shivers and shakes. After a few days, I got through that initial step. And then from there, because once you get through the physical addiction, it's just mental from that point. And I just, you know, had to find stuff to do to keep myself occupied because that was another big problem is when I became paralyzed, I wasn't attending school anymore. I wasn't working, I wasn't doing anything. So I had a lot of time on my hands. And that's, that's, that's the real fight is when you have all this time and you're sitting there thinking to yourself, talking to yourself.
18:34 So I had to fight that internal mental battle. And once I accomplished that, I was just like, OK, what's next? You know, fast track or to backtrack a little bit, you know, through all of the stuff that I went through. I went and got a lawyer and I was suing for medical negligence and medical malpractice. And I was never really optimistic. I was like, I'm probably never going to get anything back from this. But after six years of legal battles and disputes, I ended up winning substantial amount of money for all the wrongdoing that happened to me. And then through that time, I also fought with the military, the DOD and the VA, got all my benefits and things like that. Because, you know, I wasn't receiving full compensation for everything.
19:15 And once it all, like, hit all at the same time, I got a medical malpractice lawsuit settlement. I got everything from the DOD and the VA and Marine Corps. And then I got the home from Building Home Securities and then I have all this money. And I'm like, well, from where I come from, I've never had money like this in my pocket. So I was scared. Most people my age would have called, you know, the nearest car store, bought some Lamborghini or something. Me, instead, I went and called my uncle, who was a very successful entrepreneur and he was somebody that was a positive role model in my life. So I asked him some advice and then he just opened up the door for me, which then opened up the door to, you know, it was like a domino effect.
20:01 When one door opens, everything just falls in place. But, you know, again, like I went through a lot of mental hardships, was in and out of the mental facility multiple times. I've tried to kill myself about a dozen times, one of which I was nearly dead from successfully doing. And I had taken my K-Bar and I sliced both of my arms and I had blood just coming rushing out of my arms while I was popping a bunch of pills. And, you know, then I tried blowing my head off. But, you know, I do attribute, you know, a lot of the things that I've gone through to, you know, my wife helping me, you know, fight through that. And again, we get at each other's throats all the time.
20:41 And I love that woman as, you know, more than anything. And, you know, I just was lucky that I had her because if I didn't have her, then I would have probably had no reason to live. I appreciate you sharing that story. I know it's not easy and certainly painful and very reflective. Looking back on that period of your life, what do you wish you had known or understood at that time that might have helped you? Well, this is a big thing. I like working with some of the organizations I work with now, like Stop Soldier Suicide and Honor and Courage Foundation, the Semper Fi Fund. There was a point when I was at my darkest point, there was a Sergeant Major, Bill Squires. He works for the Semper Fi Fund. He had walked in my house.
21:22 When he walked in my house, I had a box spring and a mattress on cinder blocks in my kid's crib right next to me because we lived in a townhome. And he looked at me, he's like, brother, I'll never give up and keep pushing forward. And at the time, the best way the Semper Fi Fund could help me was to help us with monetary grants to help us pay the bills. But at the time, there wasn't like a ton of mental health resources out there that I could find. Plus, I mean, this is also 12, 13 years ago, so like times have changed. With the work that I do with these other organizations, like they give you the resources or the tools to go seek help so you can get help.
22:02 And with Stop Soldier Suicide, Project Black Box, I know you're affiliated with some stuff going on. Like there's so many resources now that weren't really available years ago for service members. And it really strikes a chord with me because I'm like, man, like if only these resources were available for me when I first was through it. But now I get to use my hardships and endeavors and tribulations to, you know, pass knowledge or just have conversations with people and say, it's OK, just communicate. And there's resources now that will be able to help you and you can utilize my experiences to help you through the battles that you're going through while utilizing the resources that are available for you.
22:43 Now, that weren't currently available for me when I was going through it. Now, to your point, thankfully, the times have changed and, you know, it's OK to not be OK. And people like yourself are sharing their stories more and more. And it takes heroes like you, heroes like Michael Phelps, the Olympic swimmer who tried to commit suicide, people like that who are higher profile. But also folks like you who have gone through it multiple times for many years. And so thank you for being a champion for that cause. You know, we have the 17 veterans roughly a day commit suicide. That's 18 too many. And it's twice the national average. And so we have to talk more about it. This show has a big focus on mental health, certainly suicide prevention.
23:26 And so that's a big part of why I wanted you on here today. We're going to get to the entrepreneurship in a second. But again, really, thank you for sharing in great detail what you went through. Yeah, and just to add a little touch note to that, you know, I was just at a middle school talking to a bunch of kids and I was in Georgia doing another speech. You know, one of the most important things on the combat in the combat zone is communication. Without communication, someone's left the right of the unit to die or someone's going to be hurt. And there's no difference from civilian life, you know, communication is key in every aspect of life, whether it be in business or in personal life. And I just feel like the people's lack of willing to want to communicate is a big cause and big problem for a lot of things that people go through.
24:10 So if anybody takes anything from this conversation is communication is key. You have to be willing to open up and talk about it. How simple is that, right? Just talk. Yeah. How's your experience with paralysis changed or reinforced your sense of purpose? Well, when I became paralyzed, I felt like I lost my sense of purpose. I used to ask myself why, why, why? Now I kind of understand why is because I'm strong enough to overcome it. And I'm strong enough to then utilize my hardships to tell people it's okay. You know, sometimes in life you get a shit end, but you know, I'm here to play at the poker table, man. And, uh, you know, I'll never give up, uh, especially with all the kids and the people who look up to me for advice and leadership.
24:59 Um, I want to be that, that beacon or that shining light in people's lives when it's, when you think it's so dark that, you know, there's no way out. I want to be that beacon. I want to be that light to help people got them through that rough time. There's always a better alternative, right? That's right. So it was during your time confined to hospital beds that you first started thinking about the stock market and investing. Was it something you saw on TV? Was it something someone mentioned to you? And how did the idea of investing pop in your mind? And then what did you do to turn to nurture it? So one, through one of the surgeries that I had, when I first became paralyzed, I got an IVC filter put in. So right below your heart, you have your IVC, which is your main like blood that goes to your heart.
25:42 I had a filter put in, um, that I didn't know that ended up getting recalled shortly later. So one day I woke up, my whole body was purple blue from my chest down. It was covered in clots. So I got rushed to Tampa, to Tampa general. And Dr. Shoeb was like, man, you're going to need superhero surgery. He's like, I can't guarantee that you're even going to pull through this surgery. And I'm like, shit. Um, okay. Um, so I went home and I was like, babe, um, I might not make it next week. Um, so we need to prepare, uh, got through the surgery. Look, I'm still here. Um, and when I woke up in the recovery room, I'm just going to put it this way.
26:26 I had a very large sum of money in the stock stock market and the market had dropped five plus percent. And I'm like, man, what the hell happened? Um, so I picked up my phone. I'm like, Hey Siri, what happened in the stock market today? I can't give you stock tips and I can't give you stock information or I don't have access to that information is what it told me. I'm like, wait a minute here. You're telling me this, this artificial intelligence can't give me some type of information on the stock market. That doesn't make sense to me. So when I got out of the hospital, I started doing some due diligence. And this was five, six years ago. This is before like, you know, the whole AI boom craze that is on call today.
27:08 And a friend of mine, Chris, um, that we, we had a little trading room going on and me and Chris, we were really tight. He had a relative that is a CEO of a startup called chatted AI. And, uh, Chris is like, I can introduce you to him. So me and Kelly started talking. It kind of told, I walked him through kind of how I look and identify for trades and things like that. And again, I'm a retail day trader. You know, some people have success. I had some success, uh, but through that, you know, it was a lot of ups and downs. Um, and I'm like, there's gotta be a simpler way to do this. All we have is a lack of knowledge and a lack of data and a lack of way of getting information. How can we simplify this process to give people access to information to make, to help them make more, you know, statistically or better knowledgeable information, like just better make better financial decisions in general.
28:01 There's nothing out there. Um, Kelly's like, it can be done. We just gotta, we just gotta put the money in and we got to build it. And I'm like, well, I have some money, uh, and I come from nothing. And, you know, I kind of looked at it as like a Michael Jordan shot. Like, you know, I just wanted to take my shot, wanted to bet on myself. So obviously I called my, my financial advisors and I kind of get asked them what they thought. And they were like, it's a good idea, man, but this is a big risk. And I'm like, well, my life has been nothing but a risk, you know, and I, I keep taking this risk and, you know, I want to take this shot. So I took the shot over three years ago. Um, we built a proof of concept and through that proof of concept, um, you know, it was well received through some prudent prominent people from the industry.
28:49 I got an, um, opportunity to show, uh, Lynn Martin from the New York stock exchange. And she was, she was amazed to kind of ask me, why did I do it? How did I come up with the idea? And I told her the same thing I'm telling you and everybody else. And, you know, it's just like, I just wanted a way to make better decisions and I don't want to make a biased decision. I don't want to follow somebody that's on TV. I don't want to follow some stranger on social media, because I think the statistics, it's like 80% of all everyday people get financial advice from social media. That's not the way to go. So why cannot create a model that's actually built on live data that's coming from these exchanges and just train the model to understand what people are asking.
29:35 And at that point, you know, I ended up meeting a couple individuals, Tim Gianopolis and the coward who are, you know, industry veterans. And I kind of walked them through kind of how and why I did this, introduced them to Kelly. They all headed off. Uh, ultimately the project ended up getting taken over by Nick Howard and his company at Bantex. Um, but one thing that hit home to me was when I was talking to Kelly and he's like, look, like you have a pie here. It's just, let's call it an idea pie. You can keep the whole pie to yourself and it's just an idea and it never comes to anything in terms of rotten, or you can keep a small slice of that pie and then pass your idea to somebody else who has the experience and knowledge in the industry to actually take it to the next level.
30:25 Because at the end of the day, I was just a retail trader learning the ways of the market that I thought, you know, would have been, you know, I've thought I would have been successful, but at the end of the day, I'm like, I had no idea what I was doing. I just wanted to take a risk and that risk ended up panning out. And, you know, I got partners and mentors and now lifelong friends who have really guided me and shown me like, you know, you had a great idea, but you were just misled. You're misguided. Let us show you how to take this and actually make it beneficial for everyday people to help them make better decisions with their finances. So I do thank you, Nick. And thank you, Tim. And thank you, Kelly. And what are you doing next Monday on Veterans Day?
31:07 I actually am going to the New York Stock Exchange for Veterans Day for closing bell. And through all my endeavors, I became close with a man named Vince who works for DriveWealth, who gave me my first tour at the New York Stock Exchange a little over a year ago, who then he himself had opened up doors for me because people believed in my message and what I'm trying to do in life. And like I said, when one domino falls, more and more just falls. It's kind of weird how the universe kind of works. You know, I believe in karma and I believe in energy and, you know, I want to be a positive energy and positive impact on people's lives. And I seem to be doing that now. And on the 11th, I'll be doing a speech for DriveWealth on things that we're talking about now and I'm just trying to make an impact in the world.
31:56 So looking back, did you ever think when your teachers were giving you prepaid minutes and making sure you get to school, that you'd be ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange? Well, I'm not ringing the closing bell. I'm going to be there. But no, not at all. I honestly thought I was going to, you know, just be another bum on the street. One thing that does hit home is my mom's husband always did tell me I wasn't going to make anything in my life and I was going to be a dead people like my dad. My dad wasn't a deadbeat. My dad was just going through a lot of mental stuff and he was a Vietnam veteran. And as everybody knows, people who come back from the Vietnam War were not treated like we were treated today.
32:38 And he was just battling his own demons. And, you know, every war is the same, but every battle is different. That's one thing my dad had taught me. He's like, look, my dad fought in World War II, I fought in that, my brother fought in that, we fought in Afghanistan. It's war at the end of the day, but we all fought our own battles. Just like today, you know, the war on PTSD, the war on mental health, the war on, you know, whatever. And then through those wars, everybody's fighting their own individual battles and communicate and talk about those battles. Share your stories, because that battle that you're fighting through might resonate with somebody else who's fighting that same battle. It might help them open their eyes and change their perspective on things. It might be able to help them get out of a bad place.
33:20 And I tell people the same thing, just because the global war on terror is over, doesn't mean our veterans daily battles aren't over as well. And so thank you for highlighting that and sharing that. All right, we've been pretty heavy here so far. Before we get back to more serious topics, obviously, for those who are watching the show, they can see your jersey. I know you're a diehard Philadelphia sports fan. We're still going to be friends after this, but you know I'm a diehard Cowboys fan. You're not looking too good now. We're looking at draft picks is what we're looking at. Top five is my hope and a new head coach. So first, it took the most amazing Hail Mary touchdown pass I've seen since Doug Flutie. Did you ever think at this point of the season that the Washington Commanders would be leading the NFC East?
34:01 You know, one of my friends that I met through the New York Stock Exchange, his name's Scott Besner. He works at ICE. He's a Commanders fan. He doesn't even like to call them the Commanders because he still calls them the Redskins. You know, we were talking before the season. I'm like, one of the smartest things the Commanders could have done was hire Dan Quinn, experienced coach. Cliff Kingsbury, really dynamic offensive play caller. They just, they're just, they're putting the right system in place, right? And I think Tom Brady was saying something. He's like, a lot of these kids are coming out of high school. They're not, they're not, they're learning a playbook. They're not learning a program.
34:42 What they're doing down there in Washington, I know it hurts to say, is they're setting up that kid for success. And that's the best thing any Commanders fan, Redskins fan would hope for, is that they're laying out a strong foundation. Now, I am friends with Nick Ertz, his older brother is Zach, and Zach happens to be like my son's favorite player. He still doesn't know Zach's on the Redskins or on the Commanders. They don't have the heart to tell him. But me and Nick, we were very close and that's another connection that I made through all my hardships. But yeah, me and Scott were talking about it. It's just like, you're building a strong foundation and you're keeping the game simple.
35:23 You know, don't over-complicate it. Simple, stupid, keep it simple, stupid, you know, run the ball, you know, play action pass. Don't do anything crazy unless it needs, you need to do something drastic. And that's, that's, that's a formula to win football games. And that's clearly what Washington is doing as hard as it hurts to say that, you know, on the Eagles side of things. You know, I think a big problem with the Eagles is the immaturity that's going on sometimes with the head coach. I think, I think he's a good coach. It takes a special coach to be able to coach in Philadelphia because all the scrutiny that you go through. And I think Sirianni's got that. But, you know, the lack, I think the lack of leadership sometimes shows, I mean, especially on the game against the Jaguars.
36:08 We were up 22-0, five minutes left in the third quarter. And one, it was a bad call. It wasn't a fumble. He got his shoe, he got his shoe tripped up, a Barkley fumble, they counted the football. Even Gene Staritore was on TV. He's like, yeah, I was leading another way. That shouldn't have been a touchdown. But this is football and, you know, it is what it is. But, you know, I love the game. You know, I just wanted to shout out to a couple of my buddies, Dan, Dooney, Dave. We've been high school friends for years. During the Super Bowl in 2017, I surprised two of them with Super Bowl tickets and we got to enjoy the game and saw the Eagles win their first Super Bowl. So I'll be able to take that to my grave. That's amazing.
36:49 That's fantastic. And you had to put that knife in my heart talking about Dan Quinn, who came from my beloved Dallas Cowboys. And I was praying that we get rid of McCarthy and hire Quinn. And so it's even more painful for me. Look how much that team has changed since then. 100 percent. 100 percent. They lost their identity. Yep. He's a great coach. And one last thing to talk about, Eagles coach, if you were coaching the Eagles right now, what would you be doing differently? I would lean on my veterans a little more, Brandon Graham and specifically Brandon Graham, Lane Johnson, not so much Darius Slay. And my personal opinion is you spend too much time on social media.
37:30 When you make a mistake, then you sit there and tout about your personal accolades. It's not about I, it's about the team. And, you know, at times of, you know, when times get hard, you look at your leaders in the locker room, just like in the military. When times are hard, you look to your leaders to help guide you. And, you know, I think the Eagles are still playing on their floor. They're nowhere near playing their ceiling. And I think that's what should concern some other NFL teams is if the Eagles really dial in and get it right, we'll be playing to our potential because, in my opinion, we have one of the best rosters in the league. Again, I would lean on my veterans to help show the younger guys some leadership and what it takes to be a winner.
38:15 Former Eagles offensive lineman John Runyon is a buddy of mine. And so I'll make sure he gets your tips and your advice over to Siriano to maybe right the ship for you guys. Or maybe I'll just delete this part of the segment here. All right. Back to more serious stuff. More back to your entrepreneurship because I just can't look at your jersey anymore. I'm sorry. It's said that one good idea is all it takes to become successful and wealthy. I come from the financial sector, and I'm so impressed by your effort to create an analytics model to make sense of that data and translate into better trading and investment decisions. You talked about just getting the Siri bad information. Was there another spark of inspiration that gave you that idea? Yeah. So one day I was in a trading community and they were all convincing me on a penny stock that was going to go to the moon.
39:00 And then I lost $100,000 because they were shorting it. And they utilized me to load up and then pull the rug on me. And at that time, I'm like, if I fell into that trap with people that I've been trading with for years, I'm sure everyday people are losing that kind of money. Though it hurt, it was a stab in my kidney. I was like, I need to do something about this. And it's just like the sports, you know, to touch on sports a little bit, you know, what we're doing with Sports Alpha is the same thing that we were doing with Bantex and Chada, but this time with the sports stuff, you know, so we're taking all the live sports data, all the historical data to help you make a better analytical bet.
39:41 You know, I'm an Eagles fan. Am I going to bet on green every time? Statistically speaking, it's probably not the best bet. But if I'm able to ask questions like, hey, Jalen Hurts is playing against the Giants, so let me query, what's Jalen Hurts' average rushing yards on the road against the Giants? You know, and I'm like, OK, do I take the over or do I take the under based off historical data, just like we do in the financial industry? You know, when I query things or I set alerts and things like that, I'm like, you know, based off historical numbers, like this was successful X amount of time. So when these instances happen, alert me when it happens so I can then take a better informed decision.
40:23 As you went through this process and the road of your idea and building it, did you have any doubts about the idea along the way or that it would become a reality? One hundred percent. I had doubts all the time, because when you're forking up like ten, fifteen thousand dollars a month to build something that you truly have no idea, is it going to work? You believe in the people to the left and right of you. And, you know, I'll probably touch base off some of the companies that I've invested in. But I believed in the people that I was building this stuff with. I believed in the technology. I believed in the core technology behind Chata, which powers the financial instruments. And I believed in Chata's technology for the sports models that we're building.
41:06 I believed in the company. I believe in the people and anything that I do. I want to talk to the people who are involved in the company, because, you know, one thing that one of my mentors and friends, Tim Giannopoulos, told me before he joined Chata and things like that was there's two things that you need in this. And in business world is resilience and grit. He's like, you got both. So every time I talk to somebody, if I want to get invested into the company, I want to know their story, just like people want to know my story. I want to know your story. What made you create this and why do you believe in it so much? And if I believe in the individuals behind the company that I'm going to put my money behind the company and, you know, if win or lose, I'm in it.
41:49 You know, I like being in the trenches. I'm a grunt. You know, I fought in the trenches and I like to be in the trenches. I like to get my hands dirty, but I don't want to be the smartest person in the room. And luckily, me being a grunt, definitely not the smartest person in the room, but I like to surround myself with the smartest people. And I just like to take a sit back and just listen to them. I like to listen to how they carry themselves. I like to see how they present and just talk to people in general. And you learn a lot when you just listen. So we've talked about how your one big idea led to others. We talked about your love for any Philly sports team. You've shown that love for sports betting and fantasy sports. Tell us about another investment company you're involved with, Traderverse.
42:31 So Traderverse is a really interesting one because almost 80% of all people get investment advice off of social media platforms. That's not a safe haven. Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Discord, it's all full of bots and scams. What caught my attention with this company was that they're building an eco-verse where you can get data from credible sources from any exchange and then create. They have their own AI down there, but they're creating a it's like a LinkedIn for investing. It gives people a safe place to go to get credible data and information from numerous exchanges, numerous data houses.
43:12 It gives you an environment that you can bring your friends and family in. You can talk to advisors. You can connect your broker. So it's like an ecosystem, a social place where you can get everything that you need to make better decisions for your family or your future. And what would you tell other veterans thinking about becoming entrepreneurs? Go for it. Go for it because you're going to live your whole life thinking, why didn't I do this? Or, you know, for me, for instance, I don't like taking orders from everybody. I took orders in the military and some of those orders shooed me over. So I'll never work for somebody again. I'll work for myself or I'll work alongside you.
43:52 I will never, I'll never have a job where somebody is telling me what to do. And if I didn't take this risk or this, take this opportunity, you know, I'd probably be in a rut somewhere. And through the opportunities that was given to me, I am now given the opportunity to do speeches with you and speeches with other organizations to help, you know, share my hardships with people and the responses I get. Now, I know why this all happened to me, because I was meant to help people. And, you know, if there's any veteran military guy out there that has an idea, go for it because you'll live your whole life going, I wish I just did that.
44:39 Even if you didn't make it, if you failed, at least you tried and you can go to sleep knowing I did everything I could to make it happen. No, I failed. All the experiences and people that I've met made it all worthwhile. I appreciate those words. And I'm not very spiritual. I had a guest on a handful of months ago who is, and he's made the reference, it's not my will, but yours, meaning the higher power. And then I literally have a post-it note on my monitor, you know, when he said that it just really hit me. And so the words that you said are very similar to that in terms of go for it. It's invest in yourself, believe in yourself and, you know, things will happen for a reason. Yeah. I believe in the karma and I believe in vibrations.
45:21 I believe in being a good person. You know, and as long as you do right by others, good things will come back. And karma is a real thing. 100%. How do you evaluate risk as an entrepreneur? You know, honestly, I know everybody has their step-by-step approach to everything that they do. And like, again, I like to talk to the individuals. There's one company that I made a small investment in, they're called Sports Trade. I met David and Alex at a restaurant in Philly and what I thought they were doing was fascinating. I didn't even look at the documents. I didn't look at the papers. I don't look at the numbers. I don't look at the figures.
46:02 I wanted to meet the people. And they're Philly, proud Eagles fans. So like, check, check, check. But no, we just had a conversation and I just wanted to know what they were striving to accomplish. And just like, you know, with Trade Reverse or, you know, I'm involved in a truck shipping company and I have another one. I have a retro mobile arcade because I love kids and everything I do, kids are our next, is the next generation. And I have a mobile arcade that I launched in the next couple of weeks that I just go around, deliver to parties and just let kids have fun. You know, how I evaluate risk is just evaluating the individual.
46:44 Is that person worth my time and my money? And if it's yes and yes, then I'm in the fight with it. Because at the end of the day, most companies don't even make money. You know, you know, they just keep burning cash. I mean, open, was it open AI is burning like billions of dollars, probably never turn cash positive. But yet people keep throwing money at it because they believe, you know, AI is the future. We are the future. Our children are the future. That's the true future. And I would rather invest in the people than anything. What's the next chapter of your life going to look like and how are you going to write it? Well, I did promise one of my mentors that I would write a book one day and I probably will do that.
47:30 But the next chapter for me is to really take more of a rollback, a seat back. I'm always sitting rollback a little bit. I brought some ideas to the table that was well received and through introductions, I have the right people who are now at the wheel, taking over and kind of guiding me while I take a backseat approach and kind of learn from these industry veterans, whether it be from sports or whether it be for finance or whether it be from anything. Because, you know, a lot of these people have a lot of knowledge to share. And I'm at the point where my life where I want to be a sponge and I want to soak in as much knowledge from these individuals as possible, because, you know, down the road, they're going to be leaving and they're going to look to people like me to take over that leadership role.
48:21 Not saying I'm not ready to lead now. I think I'm always ready to lead. But the leadership trait is willing to want to learn and soak in knowledge from other people. And I'm at that point in my life where I'm just trying to soak in as much as I can, open up as many doors as I can, provide help in any way that I can and be a good person and be a good father and try to be a good husband. Yeah, nobody's perfect. I mean, I know I mean, oh, I've got an argument this morning. You know, that's that's that's marriage. That's life. Doesn't mean I don't love her any less or any more. And I know every day people go through the same thing, but, you know, to me, I just I want to be there for people, my kids specifically, my wife specifically.
49:07 And when I have time to give or energy to give others, I plan to do that. Tony, we have just a few minutes left. Take us into our conversation with advice or a story that helps our audience feel less stressed, more resilient and become more empowered. And would you share with us what gives you hope and why we should all have more hope in today's often chaotic world? I look to this, I look to kids, you know, that there's my hope. My kids give me hope and I want to inspire them to be the best versions of themselves as they can be, while giving them as much knowledge and information that I have to pass on to them, for them to pass on. I know times are tough for a lot of people.
49:48 And quite honestly, I think times are going to get harder. But in times of tribulations, you know, look to somebody that you as a leader, you know, everybody has somebody to look up to and at times of hardships, you know, reach out to that person, communicate, communicate, communicate. Communication is key. Talk to those people that you looked up to for advice, you know, especially the older generation. They've been through so much and they're coming down to their final chapters, their final days. It's good to reach out to some of those individuals. Like, how did you endure that? How did you endure that financial crisis? How did you endure that?
50:29 They have the information and it's good to be prepared. Another quote that I love is better to be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war. You know, it's better to have and not need than need not have. I believe in always being prepared and I believe in always preparing my children and giving them situations, explaining them situations like if this might happen, this could happen. So what do we do? We prepare. How do you prepare? Get food, get water, get ammunition, get a book, you know, audible book, something, you know, just be prepared for anything. You know, nobody really saw COVID happening. You know, could that happen again? I'm not sure. Could there be another, you know, January 6th type of situation down at the Capitol?
51:13 I'm not sure. But what I do know is that the world is unpredictable and to be best prepared for anything that might happen in the future. Tony Teresiak, thank you so much for being with us today and sharing your story. Thank you, Chris, for having me. No, I appreciate your time. And thank you to our audience, which now includes people in over 50 countries for joining us for another episode of Next Steps Forward. I'm Chris Meek. For more details and upcoming shows and guests, please follow me on Facebook at Facebook.com forward slash Chris Meek public figure and an X at Chris Meek underscore USA. We'll be back next Tuesday, same time, same place with another leader from the world of business, politics, public policy, sports or entertainment. Until then, stay safe and keep taking your next steps forward.
52:01 Thanks for tuning in to Next Steps Forward. Be sure to join Chris Meek for another great show next Tuesday at 10 a.m. Pacific Time and 1 p.m. Eastern Time on The Voice America Empowerment Channel. This week, make things happen in your life.