Order of Man

00:00:00.000 No doubt you've heard of Movember, but I bet you don't know the story behind it and the man who

00:00:04.460 founded it, a former Australian Army Special Forces Commando. Adam Gironi joins me to talk

00:00:09.060 about the current state of men's health, how Movember has raised over $730 million towards

00:00:14.300 cancer and men's health research, and how you can help put an end to prostate cancer,

00:00:18.740 testicular cancer, and men's mental health issues. You're a man of action. You live life to the

00:00:24.140 fullest. Embrace your fears and boldly chart your own path. When life knocks you down,

00:00:28.740 you get back up one more time, every time. You are not easily deterred or defeated. Rugged,

00:00:35.260 resilient, strong. This is your life. This is who you are. This is who you will become.

00:00:41.440 At the end of the day, and after all is said and done, you can call yourself a man.

00:00:46.940 Men, what is going on today? My name is Ryan Michler, and I am the founder and host of Order

00:00:50.660 of Man. Now, if you're new to the show today, welcome. If you've been here since the beginning,

00:00:54.160 welcome. If you've joined us anywhere in between, I want to welcome you. As you probably know by now,

00:00:58.620 this is a show about all things manly, so if you, as a man, want to talk about it, we are going to

00:01:03.000 bring on the world's leading authorities to discuss it. Today, we're going to be talking about men's

00:01:07.820 health with a man who is leading the charge in terms of recruiting men to tackle the issues as

00:01:13.120 well as raise a fortune, guys, towards the fight against men's mental health issues and cancer.

00:01:18.220 Now, before we get into the show today, I want you to know that all the show notes available for

00:01:22.620 this show can be found at orderofman.com slash 083. And then also make sure you join our closed

00:01:28.800 Facebook group, which can be done at facebook.com slash groups slash order of man. We're now creeping

00:01:33.840 up on over 9,000 men from across the planet, and we're diving deeper into the conversations

00:01:38.860 that we're having today and every other topic that is important to you and me. And also guys,

00:01:43.840 since we're going to be talking about Movember today, which starts in a little less than two weeks,

00:01:47.480 I want you to know that we have started an order of man Movember team. I'm going to talk with you

00:01:51.640 about it a bit more during the break, but again, you can go to our show notes page at

00:01:54.820 orderofman.com slash 083, and you can get some of the details there. And I'll give you more of the

00:01:58.840 details later on in the show. Now I want to introduce you to our guest today. Adam Groni

00:02:02.940 is the founder of Movember and has turned it into one of the most innovative and impactful charities

00:02:08.760 created this millennium working to change the face of men's health behind the scenes under Adam's 0.63

00:02:13.100 leadership. Movember is changing the way cancer research is done by requiring and facilitating

00:02:16.940 collaboration, not just at a national level, but also at a global level,

00:02:20.740 which is something that's never been achieved in the cancer sector. In 2013, 2014, 2015,

00:02:26.860 the Movember foundation was named in the top 100 best non-governmental organizations in the world

00:02:31.660 by Global Journal out of over 1.5 million charities. Now, not only is Adam the founder of Movember,

00:02:38.300 he also spent nine years of service as an officer in the Australian army where he was selected and

00:02:42.620 served with a commando regiment with the special forces. To date, 6 million fundraisers and 18 million

00:02:48.480 donors have joined the Movember movement that together have raised over $730 million. Movember

00:02:54.560 has funded 1,000 men's health programs in 21 countries, achieving significant breakthroughs

00:02:59.580 in the way prostate and testicular cancer is diagnosed and treated. This will lead us to a time

00:03:03.920 when we have effectively cured these cancers and the side effects of treatment are minimized.

00:03:08.460 In 2016, Movember was awarded Colt Brand of the Year. In 2013, Adam was awarded GQ Australian Man of

00:03:15.240 the Year. In 2009, the Melbourne Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award. And in 2008,

00:03:19.720 he was named Ernst & Young's Australian Entrepreneur of the Year. Adam, what's going on,

00:03:25.840 man? Thanks for joining me on the show today. Thanks for having me.

00:03:28.400 Hey, this is a timely conversation. We're coming up on Movember, November, right? And so I want to talk

00:03:32.880 with you about your charity, a little bit about what you're doing in the work for men and why

00:03:36.600 you think this is so important. So if you would, really quickly, as we get into the conversation,

00:03:41.040 would you mind telling me a little bit about the premise behind Movember and why this is so

00:03:45.680 valuable, the work that you're doing? Well, Movember, the traditional campaign is getting

00:03:51.160 men to grow moustaches. And this all started as a conversation and as a bit of a joke between my

00:03:57.600 brother and a mate back in 2003 in Melbourne, having beers and talking about fashion trends and why

00:04:03.360 hadn't the moustache made a comeback. So the initial premise was to see if we could grow

00:04:08.240 moustaches. And we were shocked at the number of conversations that it actually created.

00:04:13.760 Four of us got together and thought, how do we put the power of that conversation that is created

00:04:18.020 to good? And we were inspired by the women around us and all they're doing for breast cancer and

00:04:22.660 thought, you know, there's nothing for men's health. And the state of men's health is in pretty bad

00:04:27.420 shape, which I'll live back to. So we started investigating it and found that prostate cancer

00:04:32.660 has the same social impact as breast cancer. And again, we're shocked that, you know, there was

00:04:37.680 really no campaigns for it. So Movember then evolved to be about men growing moustaches for the month of

00:04:44.620 November or Movember as we now know it, and raising awareness and funds for men's health and initially

00:04:50.640 prostate cancer. And then along the way, some of the most vocal, passionate supporters were young guys that

00:04:57.220 are ticular cancer, which is another male-only disease. So we added that as a funded cause.

00:05:04.080 And then along the journey, as we grew capacity in funding, we also added mental health with a

00:05:11.720 focus on suicide prevention for men. So the core campaign and what we're known for is men growing 0.69

00:05:18.480 moustaches. But last year, we added a new way and path to participate, which is called Move.

00:05:24.500 And it's the first four letters of Movember. So it's a physical challenge over the course of the

00:05:28.300 month. And so that could be whatever you're into. You could set a distance to achieve over the months

00:05:33.560 to ride, swim, run, walk, do something epic or work out every day. And it was great because it

00:05:39.440 was the first time women could tangibly participate. And the way we linked it back to men's health is

00:05:45.260 that they would challenge the men in their life to match their move.

00:05:48.420 What do you attribute this success of the movement to? I mean, there's obviously a lot of charities,

00:05:53.620 not just with men's health or any other cause for that matter. But what do you attribute your

00:05:58.760 success in the rise of what you guys are doing to?

00:06:01.740 I always say there's no one single element. There's no silver bullet here. I think it's part because of

00:06:09.140 the cause. And there's no such thing as a bad cause. But men's health is in really bad shape.

00:06:15.940 So and not many people know the degree to which we're in. I mean, the number one determinant around

00:06:23.560 your health is your sex. So men on average die six years younger than female. And there's no 1.00

00:06:30.460 biological reason for that. And it's basically, you know, top line, it's because generally speaking,

00:06:37.020 we're apathetic about our health. We don't talk about what's going on. And we don't take action

00:06:41.640 early enough when something is not right. You know, our whole aim is to change that and change

00:06:47.120 the face of men's health. So part of the success of Movember has been around the cause. And so many

00:06:52.940 women are passionate about it because we fundamentally believe that if we can get men living happier and

00:06:59.040 healthier and longer lives, that will improve women's rights and women's health and society as a 0.97

00:07:05.220 whole. And so so many women are passionate about men's health and getting men involved in this

00:07:10.660 cause. So you've got that, I think, also the simplicity of Movember, men growing moustaches,

00:07:16.340 creating a conversation. Now we've got the move challenge as well. Again, simple, open,

00:07:21.840 whatever you're into physically. The other key thing for us was we wanted to build a charity that

00:07:28.320 that we would love to the extent that we would get involved. And so we, none of us,

00:07:34.340 one of the four co-founders had any charitable experience and we're all in sales, marketing and

00:07:41.320 business management. So we focused very much on the brand and always have and wanted to create a brand

00:07:48.120 that firstly, we loved and could relate to. And so many elements of our brand are more

00:07:57.680 like a fashion lifestyle brand than a charity. Yeah, this makes sense. I mean, obviously it looks

00:08:04.720 good what you guys are doing. There's a great cause. I do want to ask how much money you guys

00:08:10.160 have. So when did you start the charity now? The first year we did Movember was 2003.

00:08:15.980 Okay. That was really just for fun. There were 30 of us that did it in Melbourne, Australia. And that

00:08:20.420 was the genesis behind really the start of the foundation because it was like we were just shocked at

00:08:26.020 the amount of conversations growing a moustache as a 30-year-old in 2003 created. So we formalized

00:08:35.040 things in 2004. We had 450 people participate that year and we raised $55,000. And that really set us

00:08:42.500 on this path that the fundraising mechanism behind Movember is no different to a run or a walk for

00:08:48.640 charity, right? The difference on the moustache growing side is you're making a 30-day commitment

00:08:55.140 to change your appearance. And so people get to run along that journey with you really. And so many

00:09:01.760 times I've been called the laziest charity event in the world. Do less to do good. So since then,

00:09:09.320 in US dollars, we've raised $730 million. Oh my goodness. Yeah. It's an unbelievable amount of money.

00:09:17.880 We're in 21 countries now. And that's unique about Movember as well. There's not too many other

00:09:24.580 charities out there that are truly global, particularly in the health space. And even

00:09:29.780 where you've got your Oxfams in the world, they'll operate independently from country to country. 0.99

00:09:34.600 So Movember is one entity. That's important because we're the only sort of cancer-based charity that has

00:09:42.140 a truly global footprint. And again, that's really important because we've been able to,

00:09:48.300 with the best minds in the world, bring them together to develop a global strategy to cure

00:09:55.120 prostate cancer and cure testicular cancer. And then we've got national strategies that ladder up to

00:10:01.240 that. Then we bring collaborative teams together across the world that are working together for the

00:10:07.060 first time. And we're funding them to share data, share what's not working and what is. Because the

00:10:12.820 whole cancer industry is, it's not built around collaboration. It's built around competition because

00:10:19.260 these researchers are fighting from one ground to the next for literally for their survival. So we've

00:10:27.080 changed the way cancer research is being done for the two cancers that we focus on. And that's having a

00:10:32.980 fundamental impact and accelerating outcomes. And we've been at that for about five or six years now.

00:10:39.340 Yeah. Well, so I want to talk about this a little bit more in depth because one of the qualms that I

00:10:43.060 have with charities, and this seems like more of a common thread, is it's about quote-unquote

00:10:48.440 awareness. So I'm doing 22 push-ups to make people aware. I'm doing this to make people aware. And at the

00:10:53.680 end of the day, it's great to be aware, but how does that actually translate into solving the problem

00:10:58.000 that people are trying to solve? So I'm really curious how you go from helping these guys grow

00:11:03.440 mustaches and being aware and then raising funds, and then what specifically those funds go towards

00:11:08.140 and how this is actually solving the problem rather than just bringing attention to it.

00:11:11.500 Yeah, no, it's a good point. And, you know, as I mentioned, the four of us at the start of

00:11:15.260 November had no charitable experience. And, you know, we participated in charity, but very casually

00:11:22.160 in minor ways. And we wanted to build an organization that we love, that we trusted.

00:11:28.180 We wanted to bring a new level of transparency and accountability to our organization. To answer

00:11:33.620 your question around awareness, we value the conversations that are created equally as important

00:11:39.160 as the funds that are raised. So awareness is, you know, sort of all-encompassing. It's a conversation

00:11:45.760 guys are having. It's the media. It's this podcast. Sort of everything comes into that.

00:11:50.700 Sure. Right. But what we've found, and we've done a bunch of research around this, is guys just do not

00:11:58.140 like having conversations about their health mentally and physically, particularly their mental

00:12:04.860 health. And just on that, just as a slight aside, the rate of suicide, you know, in this country,

00:12:12.420 in Australia, in Canada, the UK, per capita is about the same. This is a hidden health crisis

00:12:17.740 that we're losing and no one's talking about it. And the 21 Push Up campaign is dragging it out of

00:12:24.140 the shadows. And like anything, we need to start talking about the issue first, removing the stigmas

00:12:30.080 and then moving beyond that. So for us, getting men engaged in the campaign in a fun way with their

00:12:36.760 friends was the first step. Then we drip feed them information around, well, why are you doing this?

00:12:41.840 Why is this important? And we get so many, you know, emails from us going, hey, because of my

00:12:49.920 Movember moustache, and I didn't realize this, you know, moving to the US nine years ago now,

00:12:56.220 that your key holiday is at the end of Movember. So we'd get all these emails just before Thanksgiving

00:13:02.900 going, I'm not sure I can go home looking, looking like an 80s porn star. Sure, sure.

00:13:09.400 Our response was always, hey, go home and have a conversation about why you're doing it.

00:13:14.540 Well, that's kind of the point, right? To, like you said, change your physical appearance so you

00:13:17.740 can actually have a discussion, like, why would you grow this moustache out? And then you can have

00:13:20.900 the discussion around it. Yeah. And then after Thanksgiving, we get a flood of emails always

00:13:25.860 around, hey, for the first time ever, because of my silly moustache, 0.88

00:13:29.880 our family talked about men's health. And we learned that, you know, granddad had prostate 0.97

00:13:35.100 cancer. And then the young guy was able to go, hey, dad, you know, you need to be checked because

00:13:39.480 you're twice as likely to get it. And then so many stories around that that dad does go and get

00:13:43.900 checked and is found to have prostate cancer. And like any cancer, early diagnosis is absolutely key.

00:13:51.160 And testicular cancer, you're going to know that there's something going on. And so many guys delay,

00:13:56.340 delay, delay, because they don't want to go to the doctor.

00:13:58.940 Yeah, I don't blame him. I can see why that would be. I've certainly done that in my life where I

00:14:03.520 just think, oh, this will go away. This will get fixed.

00:14:05.420 Yeah. And then the challenge with prostate cancer, though, is there's often no noticeable symptoms

00:14:09.520 until it's spread beyond the prostate. And then oftentimes, it's really tough to treat. So for

00:14:15.980 any guy out there over 40, they should be having a conversation every time they see a doctor about

00:14:21.520 prostate cancer. And if you have a family, direct family history of it, you're twice as likely to get it.

00:14:27.500 You're more than likely to get it. So long sort of way to answer your question. But awareness,

00:14:33.160 the conversations are absolutely key to getting people engaged and heightening

00:14:37.320 the conversation. And particularly around mental health, that is a very, very tough topic. It's a

00:14:43.840 tough topic for guys that are experiencing anxiety, depression. And the moustache is a bridge in a way,

00:14:51.100 or Movember is a way to broker that conversation. And so many, each year, I have a conversation

00:14:56.720 during Movember that really changes my perspective around these issues. So we value those conversations

00:15:04.500 equally as important as the funds we raise. And then on the funds we raise, we've got a whole

00:15:09.140 programs team now that are set up that decide what are our priorities in terms of where we invest

00:15:16.760 across prostate, testicular cancer and male suicide prevention. And then we've got scientific panels,

00:15:22.740 independent volunteers that help us review submissions. You know, we're shaking things up

00:15:27.560 because we hold these people accountable, which they don't like. Sure, they're like, hey, here's a

00:15:32.820 check, you know, go and do your research. But that's not the case. You know, we, in our view,

00:15:39.580 it's like building a house, all right, we'll tell us what you're going to build,

00:15:42.580 we'll give you a down payment, okay, put the foundation down, okay, that looks good,

00:15:47.320 we'll give you another payment. And then the frame goes up, etc, etc. You know, holding people

00:15:52.180 accountable, you know, through this, and then, you know, research is a long play. And, you know,

00:15:57.140 oftentimes, it doesn't result in anything meaningful. But sharing that data, that's a

00:16:01.400 fundamental premise of getting funded by Movember is you share the outcomes, whether they did that,

00:16:07.520 it's a great outcome, or it ends in a roadblock, because that will then enable the next

00:16:12.480 person to iterate off of that. So collaboration is fundamental to, you know, our funding priorities.

00:16:20.920 Man, just a quick break to tell you about our Order of Man Movember team. Since we've been

00:16:24.600 talking about this so much, and obviously, the health issues we're discussing should be at the

00:16:28.020 forefront of every man's mind who is listening to this show today, we want to get involved.

00:16:32.440 It's three easy, simple steps to join our team. First, you need to get registered at Movember.com.

00:16:37.160 Just go to Movember.com, register there. Second, you need to visit orderofman.com

00:16:41.420 slash Movember, and you need to click join this network. And the third step is to start growing

00:16:46.700 that mustache and start sharing with the world what you're doing so you can begin to raise funds

00:16:50.700 towards the research that we've been talking about today. We want to create a huge team. So

00:16:54.520 please make sure you join us, get on board with this noble cause. And then again, make sure you

00:16:58.400 visit orderofman.com slash 083 for the show notes and instructions for joining the team if you forget how

00:17:03.580 to do that. I'm looking forward to teaming up with each and every one of you this Movember. Now let's

00:17:07.500 get back to my interview with Adam. So what type of progress, I know there's probably a lot more than

00:17:13.860 we can talk just about on this podcast, but what type of progress are you making towards prostate cancer

00:17:18.080 and testicular cancer and mental illness? Yeah, so maybe let's start with testicular cancer. So

00:17:24.400 survival rate now is 95%, but in one in 20 cases, the cancer comes back and the guys become

00:17:32.240 resistant to the treatment and they pass from the recurrence of the disease. So we've now because

00:17:39.600 of our global footprint, we've got a global collaborative team now working on why in those

00:17:44.820 cases does the cancer come back and why do they become resistant to treatment? And how can we create

00:17:51.220 other combinations of existing drugs or potentially new drugs to combat the cancer? We've also resurrected

00:17:58.680 a clinical trial in Europe that stopped because they didn't have funding and they couldn't get

00:18:04.400 enough men participating. And again, because of our global reach, we're now recruiting people from

00:18:09.400 Australia, from the US, from Canada, from UK, from Europe to participate in this. So we're confident

00:18:15.160 within like 10 years that we'll have effectively cured that disease, which means it doesn't go away. But

00:18:22.040 you know, no man should die from that. Prostate cancer is a more complex cancer. We helped fund out

00:18:30.660 of the University of Michigan that there's 28 types of prostate cancer. About eight of those are aggressive

00:18:36.300 and need radical treatment, either surgery or radiation. But the other 20 are so slow growing,

00:18:42.600 depending on your age, that you can treat that with, of course, medication and diet and exercise.

00:18:46.920 And at the moment, we're just over-treating men by cutting the prostate out or radiating. And

00:18:53.680 that, you know, some people might go, well, that's not such an issue. But it really is. There's the

00:18:59.260 financial issues. But the side effects of that treatment is devastating for many men. There's

00:19:04.920 incontinence, impotence, bowel disorder, which leads to depression. And a lot of guys saying,

00:19:09.980 I wish I'd just live with the cancer because my quality of life is so bad at the moment that,

00:19:15.800 you know, I'd rather not have had the treatment. So interesting. So with prostate cancer,

00:19:22.140 it's going to get down to very personalized, specific treatment options. And we're getting

00:19:28.160 there. We've mapped the prostate cancer genome. And there's a bunch of research going on to

00:19:35.240 identify for the different types of prostate cancers, the best treatment options. And in some

00:19:39.900 cases, not some cases, a lot of the cases, active surveillance, course of medication,

00:19:44.660 diet and exercise. And, you know, no pharmaceutical company is going to fund that because there's no,

00:19:51.000 you know, financial upside, but we are. And, you know, our view, the early indications are that

00:19:56.560 the best drug for advanced prostate cancer is exercise. So we're proving that up through clinical

00:20:04.460 trials.

00:20:05.080 And that's probably part of the move portion of this as well, correct?

00:20:09.620 Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you know, one of the best medications to say mentally healthy is exercise.

00:20:16.620 And particularly if you're doing that with friends and, you know, I often say, you know,

00:20:21.020 it's, it's, it's a great drug. It's oftentimes free and the side, side effects are amazing. So

00:20:27.780 right. Right. All those side effects are positive.

00:20:30.000 Yeah. Yeah. There's, there's, there's no real downside to it. So yeah, the move campaign directly

00:20:35.840 ties into, you know, for men and women, it's the best thing we can all do, no matter your age

00:20:40.820 to, to improve our health, both mentally and physically. So, you know, prostate cancer,

00:20:46.740 as I mentioned, a more complex disease, but we are winning that battle and it's going to take

00:20:53.280 more funding, more time. And what's been wonderful with Movember is with the amount

00:20:59.060 of financial capital that we're bought into this game, that's attracted an amazing amount

00:21:04.120 of human capital because, you know, five years ago, if you're a, um, you know, if you're doing

00:21:10.380 your PhD in cancer research, more than likely you're going to go to where the money is, you

00:21:16.460 know, breast cancer, skin cancer, lung cancer.

00:21:18.820 Sure. Right. That's where you can do the most, have the most impact.

00:21:21.640 Right. Because at the end of the day, you need to be paid for that stuff. So very, of course,

00:21:25.920 very few people were going into the prostate cancer field. The only people that sort of went

00:21:30.720 there were the most passionate of researchers, typically because they'd been personally affected

00:21:36.140 by it. Yeah. They had a personal experience, whether it's a family member or even themselves,

00:21:39.900 I imagine. Correct. And now with the, um, the financial capital coming in and then, and with that,

00:21:45.920 it has a snowball effect because other than other people then focus on prostate cancer,

00:21:49.380 more money comes into the game. So you're getting a, an amazing cohort of young researchers coming

00:21:55.940 to the field that, you know, think differently about this stuff. So, you know, we're beating

00:22:00.880 the, or winning the, uh, the prostate cancer, uh, battle. And then we come to our third issue,

00:22:07.940 which is, um, mental health and suicide prevention. And, and sadly we're, we're losing that battle.

00:22:13.660 Um, the rate of, of suicides are going up. It's about 80 men a day in the U S. Why is that? Why,

00:22:20.540 why do we see an increase in mental illness and suicide? Yeah, it's a really, um, it's a,

00:22:26.700 it's a complex topic and there's no easy, straightforward answer to that. What, what we

00:22:32.280 focus on is around, we've got to get men talking about the big stuff going on in life. And we've done

00:22:39.220 a bunch of research around men as they get into their thirties and beyond inadvertently become

00:22:44.700 socially isolated, um, because they put their family first and their work first. Sure. Sure. And

00:22:51.640 so they don't maintain good, healthy relationships with their, with their buddies to the extent where

00:22:57.920 they go, Hey, there's, there's an issue going on. And the other, the other key thing with mental

00:23:02.560 health is typically triggered by some sort of, uh, transition or trauma in, in their life. So

00:23:10.340 that could be financial issues, a relationship breakdown, and sometimes even seemingly positive

00:23:16.720 things like becoming a new dad. And so you have these moments and then these guys are going, well,

00:23:22.400 I can't call my mate because I haven't spoken to him in a month. I don't feel comfortable going,

00:23:28.260 Hey, can we catch up? Because I need to share some stuff with you. So, so guys,

00:23:32.160 avoid that. We're just wired and conditioned as boys to, to always be in control, never vulnerable,

00:23:40.880 not to show emotion. So you've got this combination of factors and the, the social isolation part is,

00:23:48.900 is a really big one. And then oftentimes men mask what's going on with, with, um, alcohol,

00:23:55.060 potentially drugs, or just, you know, becoming a workaholic and pushing everything to the side and

00:24:00.520 and bottle stuff up. I imagine too, that there's this element of embarrassment or shame, like you

00:24:06.680 said, weakness. And I think, like you said, guys want to have everything under control. We talk a

00:24:11.080 lot about this within the order of man is, is not only the order, which is the society that we're

00:24:15.440 building online and the connections across the planet, but also building a band of brothers

00:24:19.480 locally, which is a common thread that we continue to have. So I'm really interested how

00:24:24.120 we take this idea and this concept of connecting with other men and then translating that into

00:24:31.900 what you're doing. Tell me a little bit about the process of actually getting this going,

00:24:37.220 either doing it for yourself, or even going to start a team within order of man, which we'll get

00:24:41.360 all the guys, the details to that shortly. Talk to me a little bit about how this actually works

00:24:45.220 on a tactical level.

00:24:46.780 Yeah. I mean, one of the taglines we've come up with is, you know, the best thing for mankind is

00:24:51.180 man time. And that doesn't mean going to Vegas and getting hammered. It means, you know,

00:24:57.380 doing what it is that you love, whether it's fishing, golf, surfing, cycling, whatever it

00:25:02.660 is, and making sure you carve out some time for your mates and really talking about the

00:25:08.560 stuff that matters. And we've done a bunch of other research around posture and men are

00:25:16.160 best and feel most comfortable when they're shoulder to shoulder. And so physically

00:25:20.800 standing or sitting shoulder to shoulder, particularly when there's something else going

00:25:24.360 on. And that environment creates a safe place for men to have these conversations.

00:25:31.000 Almost in a way, it sounds like it's, for lack of a better term, it's an us versus them 0.97

00:25:35.720 type of thing. And I've talked at length about this with the idea of competition and building

00:25:41.000 this band of brothers to compete against a common good, or excuse me, a common enemy.

00:25:45.040 Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, you know, we've just got to have the confidence as men to go,

00:25:50.100 hey, man, I'm struggling. You know, I, you know, whatever's going on, I've lost my job.

00:25:54.920 You know, I'm struggling financially. You know, I don't know how to tell my partner. You know,

00:25:59.520 we've got to have the strength to be able to say that. And the people that are receiving that

00:26:05.280 information need to have the strength also to listen, be compassionate. And oftentimes it's just

00:26:12.040 about listening. And, you know, as, as dudes, we, we've go into solvent mode, right? All the time.

00:26:17.560 Sure. Of course.

00:26:18.360 And, and sometimes it's not an easy solution. And sometimes it's like, yeah, man, I, you know,

00:26:22.920 I went through a similar thing a few years ago and here's how I got through it. But I think just

00:26:27.780 breaking down some of the stigma around, um, the reality is we're, we're not going to always be in

00:26:33.540 control. And that, that is actually, to me, it's, it's a negative aspect of masculinity. So that

00:26:38.540 there's, you know, guys, our age, we need to change your attitude towards this stuff,

00:26:42.860 but we need to condition our boys differently. And that that's men and women. We need to,

00:26:48.660 you know, preserve the positive aspects of masculinity for sure. But, but we need to,

00:26:54.100 to bring our boys up a little bit differently. And how so, how would you suggest doing that? In what

00:26:59.080 way? Well, I think it's just how we respond to, to boys. Um, you know, when they fall over or,

00:27:04.460 you know, when they're a park and it's like, Hey man, it's all right. Like instead of

00:27:08.500 going, Hey, toughen up, you know, don't cry. Um, you know, however you respond to a little girl

00:27:13.000 falling over or making mistakes is, is oftentimes very different to a, to a boy. And as I said,

00:27:18.560 it's, it's not about making men more feminine. It's about preserving the positive aspects of

00:27:24.140 masculinity while making it okay for, for guys to show emotion, to be vulnerable, to be able to put

00:27:30.020 their hand up with confidence and go, Hey, you know, I'm struggling with this. And it does start,

00:27:34.760 you know, as, and how we, we condition boys, you know, our, our big thing with mental health is,

00:27:41.000 you know, encouraging, hopefully inspiring guys to have a conversation that matters,

00:27:45.680 um, with their mates. Cause it's amazing when, when one person sort of, you know,

00:27:51.100 shows some vulnerability and, and says that there's an element of their life that they're,

00:27:55.680 they're struggling with a little bit that cracks the door open. And sure. That gives permission for

00:28:01.100 others to do the same. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. And it needs to be in the right environment and,

00:28:05.640 you know, getting away, whether it's an afternoon playing golf or, you know, a fishing trip or

00:28:10.420 whatever you're into that is so healthy for guys to, to be able to do that.

00:28:15.600 And this is a, this is a conversation, another conversation we have a lot about. So you're

00:28:19.060 speaking my language right here. We're talking about leadership and, and at the end of the day,

00:28:22.140 leaders are going to need to go first. So if there is an issue that you're dealing with

00:28:25.120 and you have the right environment, you have the right circle of friends or band of brothers,

00:28:28.700 then at some point you're going to need to go first so that you can give other men in your 0.99

00:28:32.560 circle the permission to do the exact same thing. Yeah, absolutely. There's leadership on that.

00:28:37.280 And there's also leadership in, in taking the initiative and going to your buddies, Hey,

00:28:42.560 let's spend a day doing whatever. Let's go away for the weekend. And, you know, potentially it's going

00:28:47.340 to cause a little bit of friction at home because, you know, there's kids and whatnot involved, but

00:28:53.300 you know, it is so important to go, you know what, let's just do this once a year.

00:28:57.580 Yeah. Let's get away for a day, a weekend, do whatever it is you're into. But so there's the

00:29:03.980 initiative part of, of organizing that. But then when you're there at the right time, at the right

00:29:08.800 moment, in an authentic way, sort of leading the conversation. Right. So how do we do this then if

00:29:14.740 we wanted to create a team? Because this is Movember is done in teams. So tell me a little

00:29:18.420 bit about how we would go about doing this. And guys, just so you know, we are starting an order of

00:29:22.080 man team. Adam, I don't know if you knew that Cody Lanham hooked us up and got us connected.

00:29:26.360 He's actually going to be leading that up for us. So it's going to be pretty cool. We're excited

00:29:29.640 about that. Awesome. Yeah, it's pretty easy. Just head along to Movember.com. Sounds like you've

00:29:34.860 already done this, but one person signs up as a team captain. And then a very simple signup process.

00:29:42.440 And then you get a bunch of tools that enable you to recruit people to your team. So there's

00:29:46.580 scripted emails, there's social posts and integration. And then there's another set of tools

00:29:51.580 to help you raise some funds. And as I said, there's a couple of ways to participate. Those

00:29:56.820 that are into it, grow a mustache for the bearded brothers out there that are going,

00:30:01.060 there is no way known. I'm shaving this down. That's me. I'm not shaving my beard, but I'll

00:30:05.140 participate, but I am not shaving my beard. Yeah, that's a common bit of feedback. And I respect

00:30:12.220 that. I mean, a lot of the bearded brothers started out as Mobros. 0.98

00:30:15.860 Sure, sure. Oh, is that what you call them? Mobros? Mobros, yeah. I like that. Okay.

00:30:20.940 You know, it is about making a commitment. So I would say to you, Ryan, like make a commitment

00:30:25.920 to move over the course of the month. So whatever you're into cycling, set a distance goal.

00:30:30.460 We've got integrations with apps and tracking devices to keep you accountable. There's also

00:30:37.040 an option to host a Movember event as well. So that could be whatever you're into, but we

00:30:43.320 always, you know, one of the taglines of Movember is like having fun, doing good. So whether

00:30:47.680 it's a ping pong tournament, uh, you know, uh, a pub night or trivia night or whatever

00:30:53.980 you're into. I like that. Maybe I'll do a, uh, I don't know. I'm, I'm committing to thousands

00:30:59.000 of people here, but maybe we'll do an order of men, uh, get together sometime here in the

00:31:03.300 next 30 days or so as we kick this thing off for the team. That sounds, uh, sounds good.

00:31:07.960 So tell us a little bit about what's up, what's coming up. What's, uh, what's going to

00:31:11.460 be new? What's next for you guys is it sounds like you're continuing to evolve and doing

00:31:16.940 new things. And I appreciate that of you guys. What's next for you?

00:31:19.860 Yeah, it's, um, you know, we've, we've sort of changed our strategy. So obviously the,

00:31:23.560 the amazing month of Movember is our core focus. We just on Sunday, we, um, were the

00:31:29.660 beneficiary partner of an event called the distinguished gentlemen's ride. Uh, it's basically,

00:31:34.060 I think it was, uh, 500 cities around the world. It was a gentleman dressed in, in

00:31:39.820 Dapper gear riding cafe racer motorbikes on a, on a particular course. So we, um, we were

00:31:45.820 the beneficiary of that campaign. Now late September coming in October, that's actually

00:31:51.660 our key month or key time actually to build, build a community, get everyone signed up,

00:31:57.300 get everyone ready to grow or to move or to host an event. Then we shift gears during

00:32:03.040 the month of Movember to managing, managing the community and just making sure that we

00:32:07.380 maximize the opportunity. And most importantly, everyone participates, has an amazing time.

00:32:12.780 So, uh, any, any new plans or anything else that you're going to be doing down the road?

00:32:16.940 Well, after the campaign, we've picked a couple of other moments, what we call moments,

00:32:20.640 um, during the year. So February 4th, World Cancer Day, we'll do an activation around that.

00:32:26.060 April is testicular cancer awareness month. So, and then June is the week before men, uh, 0.82

00:32:31.560 Father's Day is men's health week. Um, and then September 10 is World Suicide Prevention

00:32:36.400 Day. So we do activations around all those things. They're not fundraising campaigns. They're

00:32:42.580 more about getting men engaged in a particular, one of our issues. Cause you know, we cover a lot

00:32:47.680 of stuff, right? So, um, suicide prevention day. Um, we did this very, very powerful video

00:32:54.160 that had four guys that starts out and I'll send you the link. It was four guys reading a suicide note

00:33:01.540 and it cuts back to each of them. You don't know whether it's their note, maybe their sons,

00:33:06.640 whatever it's in each case. It was their own note. They go, Hey, I wrote this five years ago. I wrote

00:33:11.200 this three years ago. Interesting. Um, yeah. And they chose a different way, um, which was talk

00:33:16.120 about going on, uh, what's going on. So you've, you've got those, that very, very serious moment

00:33:22.060 in April last year. Um, sorry, this year for testicular cancer awareness month to raise awareness

00:33:28.080 about that issue. The best place to check yourself is in the shower and you know, your testicles 1.00

00:33:34.280 should be smooth. So we thought, well, the best way to remind yourself to do that is to create 0.99

00:33:40.120 some soap on the rope in the shape of some testicles. Do you have something like that 0.99

00:33:45.420 available? If you don't, you should. No, we do. They're on the, they're on the shop at

00:33:49.800 Movember.com. So awesome. We'll, we'll link that up. Yeah. Yeah. So the best thing was, you know,

00:33:54.740 you, you had them sitting there, you could, uh, test what your ball should feel like. 0.99

00:33:59.840 And then afterwards you got to wash yourself, wash your face with some testicle shape. So 0.99

00:34:04.260 an interesting experience, right? Yeah. Very good. Well, I appreciate you and the work you're

00:34:10.820 doing. I do want to ask you, Adam, a couple of questions as we wind down the first one.

00:34:13.960 And I apologize ahead of time. I didn't prepare you this for, for this question, but if anybody

00:34:18.360 can answer it, you can. And the question is, what does it mean to be a man? It's about being

00:34:23.700 a gentleman, um, a modern gentleman. It's about being a leader. It's about integrity. And, you

00:34:30.320 know, I think a lot about leadership having served in the Australian military as an officer

00:34:34.940 and now having led the Movember foundation for so long, you know, leadership, you know,

00:34:39.880 the key principle is about leading by example, and that's every moment of every day. So, you

00:34:46.580 know, what it means to be a man is, is, um, integrity, honesty, and, um, consistency with,

00:34:54.200 with what you do.

00:34:55.620 Something I certainly agree with. And, uh, that's a powerful answer and something we can

00:34:58.880 all strive to be. Adam, I want to know how to connect with you. Obviously we're going

00:35:02.100 to make links in all the, the, the show notes for everything that we talked about, the order

00:35:05.740 a man team, the, uh, the video you talked about and some other links as well. The, the, uh,

00:35:10.460 testicles on a rope, whatever you call it, we're going to make links for all that fun 0.99

00:35:13.820 stuff. But, uh, tell us how we connect with you, Adam.

00:35:16.360 Yeah. So, um, Instagram and Twitter is just at Adam Garoni, A-D-A-M-G-A-R-O-N-E. And

00:35:24.600 then on LinkedIn. Um, so just search, uh, Adam Garoni, A-D-A-M-G-A-R-O-N-E. The good

00:35:31.100 thing about that name is it's unique. There's, there's only one of me, the bad downside is

00:35:35.380 that you've got to spell it every time you mentioned it.

00:35:38.880 So that's right. That's right. Well, good. Well, Adam, I want to let you know, I appreciate

00:35:42.160 you. I think there's a lot of guys that out there that, that talk about wanting to do good

00:35:45.700 in the world and, uh, very few men relative to the amount of people that talk about it are actually

00:35:50.120 doing something about it. So it's pretty cool to see somebody who's taken an idea and a thought

00:35:54.360 between you and a couple of buddies and turned it into, um, you know, millions of dollars,

00:35:58.600 hundreds of millions of dollars for, uh, for research on a, on a knowable cause. So I appreciate

00:36:02.660 you and the work you're doing. I'm excited to get a little bit more involved with you. Thanks for

00:36:05.600 joining us on the show today. Thank you for having me. There you have it, man. Mr. Adam Garoni talks

00:36:10.520 with us about leading the charge against men's health issues. So make sure you go check out 0.71

00:36:13.900 Movember if you haven't already and make sure guys, you need to make sure you join our order

00:36:18.100 of man Movember team by first registering at Movember.com. Second, you need to go visit

00:36:23.880 order of man.com slash Movember. It's M O V E M B E R. And you need to click on join this network.

00:36:30.600 And then third, start growing that mustache. And again, start sharing with the world what you're

00:36:34.100 doing. And we are going to be raising funds, a lot of funds, a lot of money towards the research

00:36:37.980 that we're talking about today. Guys, I look forward to talk with you on Friday for our Friday

00:36:41.400 field notes, but until then take action and become the man you were meant to be. Thank you for listening

00:36:46.040 to the order of man podcast. You're ready to take charge of your life and be more of the man you

00:36:51.060 were meant to be. We invite you to join the order at order of man.com.

OoM 083： Curing Men's Cancer One Mustache at a Time with Adam Garone

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