OoM 083： Curing Men's Cancer One Mustache at a Time with Adam Garone
Episode Stats
Summary
Adam Gironi, founder of Movember and former Australian Army Special Forces Commando, joins me to talk about the current state of men s health, how Movember has raised over $730 million towards cancer and men's health research, and how you can help put an end to prostate cancer and testicular cancer.
Transcript
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
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
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
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
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.
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,
00:13:29.880
our family talked about men's health. And we learned that, you know, granddad had prostate
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
00:20:05.080
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
00:21:18.820
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
00:24:46.780
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
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.
00:26:18.360
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
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.
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,
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
00:33:34.280
should be smooth. So we thought, well, the best way to remind yourself to do that is to create
00:33:40.120
some soap on the rope in the shape of some testicles. Do you have something like that
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.
00:33:59.840
And then afterwards you got to wash yourself, wash your face with some testicle shape. So
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,
00:34:55.620
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
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
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.