It's enough to make a grown man cry.
It's Thursday morning. 7AM. A hotel room somewhere in Toronto. Clothing strewn all over the room. Half eaten boxes of Smokes Poutine and plastic forks. On the coffee table in the centre of the room lay Microphone's and an empty bottle of champagne with pink lipstick coating the mouth of the bottle. Trust us, It's not what you think... Brian, Taylor and I are gently stirring as each of us slowly start to make our way back to the real world. Neither of us want to be dragged out of our semi-comatose state because we know. An epic hang over is imminent. Brian, the bravest of the three, is the first to commit to opening his eyes. He rolls over, grabs his phone and opens twitter. The first tweet on his feed is from one of our favourite podcasts Hello From The Magic Tavern. They exclaim how excited they are to be listed as one of iTunes top podcasts of 2015. "Curious" Brian thinks to himself as he clicks over to the podcast app on his phone. He scrolls down the list and under Recent Debut's he sees the black and white logo of a stick man coughing into another stick man's face. With a guttural, gravelly voice he screams "OH MY GOD!!! YES! GUYS!!!!" Taylor and I don't react. Seriously. So hung over. "Guys! Guys! Guys!" Finally I roll over and reply "Dude... please shut up." He runs over and leaps onto my bed, shoves his phone in my face and boom I am awake. Hung over erased. "How in the fuck?!" We legitimately made the iTunes Best Of 2015 podcast list.
We have no time to really sit down and process the whole situation though! I have to be at the Cystic Fibrosis Canada headquarters in an hour to present a talk to the board of CF Canada. After all, they flew me up for this very reason. I quickly hop in the shower, wash off the smell of late night Dundas & Ossington party vibes, brush my teeth and we are out the door! I'm nervous as shit. I prepped a fifteen minute speech but didn't feel totally connected to it. On top of that we're running ten minutes late... We finally roll up to CF Canada and the board meeting went ahead and started with out me. I'm told that it'll be about twenty minutes before they will need me. So I use that time to lock down what it is I have flown to Toronto to say.
The nerves haven't settled down. If anything I'm feeling even less confident then I did when I arrived. The extra time I was given didn't help. Finally the door to the conference room opens up. I step in and I am being stared down by a round table of about twenty or so seasoned professionals from around the country. Norma Beauchamp, CEO of CF Canada welcomes me and one by one the board members introduce themselves. They are all kind of a big deal. Doctors, Lawyers, CA's... and I thought I was nervous 15 minutes ago! Finally Norma throws it to me. She mentions I give the board a little run down on what Sickboy Podcast is all about. "OMG YES!" I think to myself. It wasn't originally what I planned on starting with, but it sure as hell was the best way in! I know the podcast well. I'm comfortable talking about it. This might calm the nerves... I explain to them what the show is, how it all started, why we do it and how fast it's been catching on. I talk about how elated I am to be doing this project with two of my best friends and then I suddenly remember, "Oh yeah! an hour ago we found out that we've been included in iTunes Best Of 2015 list" and thats when it hits me. I become overwhelmed. Tears start to fill my eyes. I get that weird swelling/choked up feeling in my throat. "I'm just so fucking proud of those two boys. I am so proud that we've been able to create this platform where I can share what it's like to live with Cystic Fibrosis and for others to share their stories and for all of us to relate to each other. Not as sick people, but as humans." In this moment it dawns on me how lucky I am and I begin to cry. Not all weird and weepy like. I just take a moment and let it out. Then I pulled my shit together and deliver what I think was a pretty solid speech.
Brian Taylor, and I do not know where to begin in thanking everyone who listens to the show. Everyone who leaves a rating and a review. Everyone who emails us and tells us how much they enjoy tuning in. Everyone who reaches out with questions. Everyone who provides feedback. Everyone who offers up their support and skills in making this project what it is. The musicians. The photographers. The videographers. The media outlets. The guests. Every single person who has been involved in some way that made it possible for us to grow at the incredibly fast rate in which we've grown. This has become our life's new passion and we aren't going to slow down. So thank you so much for contributing to our success. Happy Holidays, and here is to an even bigger and brighter 2016!
Love,
Jer, Bri, and Tay