Season 1 - EP #47 - The Good Blokes Society

Season 1 - EP #47 - The Good Blokes Society

Known to most members as the GBS, the Good Blokes Society provides a range of safe and secure platforms for men to create and develop their social and business relationships.

Their growing community consists of Good Blokes who share a common approach to life both personally and professionally. They host a range of events to provide members with opportunities to enjoy the company of like-minded good blokes. They also encourage regular communication between members and take pride in the supportive culture the GBS has created.

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Transcript

GBS

[00:00:00] 

[00:00:00] Ayrton: we're pushing towards 50 episodes of The Truth Hurts, and perhaps one of our most important... of the year, Duck. A good mate of yours with a really important message. 

[00:00:08] Wayne: It is, uh, one of the more important ones. I've been saying this for a while, we've got to get, uh, well, one of the founders of the Good Bloke Society, the GBS, uh, Shawnee Wallace.

[00:00:17] Wayne: Thanks for coming in, Shawnee. Thanks for inviting me in. We've been, we've been saying that we've got to get you on the Truth Hurts for a while because, um, the GBS, who I've been involved with for a little while now, uh, through your good self. Um, and, and getting to know the people that work there. But it's about the connection and the good work that this group does.

[00:00:38] Wayne: And you, and you also held your first women's event, uh, not long ago. We did. We did. Which was, uh, really solid as well. But the work that you're doing in and around, uh, mainly men's health, um, obviously, uh, suicide prevention, all of these things. And I mentioned it actually in the episode that we had, um, earlier.

[00:00:58] Wayne: That nine [00:01:00] suicides a week. Is that, is that right? That's, 

[00:01:03] Shaun: that's the... Ah, a day, sorry. A day. A day. Yeah, a week would be good if it was a week. Yeah. And that's, that's I guess part of... You know, creating awareness on the upcoming Good Bloke's Walk for Nines that we're doing. I noticed you've got the shirt on there.

[00:01:16] Wayne: Do have the shirt. Have you got a medium for me? With the raw edge. Maybe a large for Anton. 

[00:01:24] Ayrton: That might be a bit tight. A bit tight. 

[00:01:26] Shaun: We can, you know what we can do for you, Wayne? We can just write in text that we can write medium on the, 

[00:01:30] Wayne: on the. Okay, that's, that's a, that's a nice shirt. So tell us a little bit about, uh, what the Good Bloke Society's got coming up.

[00:01:37] Shaun: Yeah, well, let's, uh, you know, I think that, uh, firstly, the Good Bloke Society is a support network, right, for men. And you did mention just then about the, the women's function. We are all inclusive. But we started off a number of years ago now and, um, our great, uh, Um, friend, uh, Dipper, um, who we, who I got the pleasure of meeting, you know, [00:02:00] 15 years ago when I was running the horse racing, um, business, um, got to meet Dipper.

[00:02:05] Shaun: He loves a punt. Dipper and, and I think importantly, um, the Good Bloke Society started as a punter's club. We started as a punter's club. Gambled responsibly, obviously. Gambled responsibly, but, um, we've just come out of, uh, cup week, which is an exciting and busy period for, um, a lot of the Good Bloke Society.

[00:02:23] Shaun: Uh, we, we, we, we did, we started as a punters club, but we, we decided to catch up I think on a, um, sort of bi monthly, uh, Friday and go out for lunch and we decided that it would be just the, the good blokes, you know, that we were starting to build good relationships with and race horses and. Um, and we wanted to connect and importantly we wanted to support, you know, we wanted to create a platform and a community where there was a lot of support and whether that was, um, you know, support through business, um, whether it was, you know, support through, through men's health or wellness or financial health, you know, there's so many different [00:03:00] challenges and I think that, um, from day one we decided to create something that had a bit more purpose about it, Duck, a bit more purpose than just.

[00:03:07] Shaun: Get into the, uh, Georgia on Collins on a Friday and having a few froffies, uh. So yeah, that's where we started and wasn't until 2000 and sort of 18, 19 when one of our members, um, had a an issue, um, and, uh, announced that he had throat cancer, and it was at that time that I really saw a culture of 60 or 70 guys, um, come together and, and really, um, you know, that whole purpose of, of support really, really banded together and, uh, you know, Mark Haynes was the member's, um, name and, uh, you know, he's a life member now, he's very healthy and he's a big beacon of, uh, why we're, Now, around Australia and in Singapore as well.

[00:03:49] Shaun: So 

[00:03:50] Ayrton: much of the conversation around men's health is often that, that blokes, you know, don't wanna, don't wanna talk about this stuff. You know, they, they shy away. What was part of the [00:04:00] Good Bloke Society, you think, that's really resonated with this going from a punters club to such a huge, uh, organisation or, or group of mates that it is 

[00:04:07] Shaun: now, do you think?

[00:04:08] Shaun: Yeah, well, I, you know, what, what I hang my hat on a lot is that we... You know, we're not the perfect bloke society, you know, and I think importantly we do share that messaging in a lot of our events, you know But we've built up a great culture in a community because we're referral based, you know, and and the good bloke society We're not a charity But we're very, very bloody charitable and, um, you know, we might talk about the, the walks that are coming up and, you know, in the past few years we've done 24 hour walks which have been, 

[00:04:39] Wayne: you know.

[00:04:40] Wayne: Oh, feet have never been the same. 

[00:04:43] Shaun: We'll talk about that because Wayne and Richo, Duck and Richo walked last year and the, the, the, the, you know, I think we had, you know, probably 200. Men and women start the walk, and there was probably 20 that were committed to do the 24 hours, and there was one particular, [00:05:00] um, individual that, uh, complained at the hour mark, two hour mark, the eight hour mark, the 12 hour mark.

[00:05:06] Shaun: Is he in this room? He definitely is in this room. 

[00:05:10] Wayne: We had, uh, we had guys that are a lot older than me. We had, uh, guys, um, that, uh, and one of the great, uh, uh, members. Um, that actually needed a knee, David Cahan. Cahan, Dave Cahan, needed needed a knee replacement. Didn't hear a peep out of it. And I whinged the whole way.

[00:05:32] Wayne: I didn't have the right socks on. And I wore new runners. I made a couple of rookie errors, 

[00:05:37] Shaun: that's about it. You know the funniest thing about last year's 24 hour walk? We raised 50, 000 and it was the third year we've done the 24 hour walk. Um, but the funniest thing was, is we finished at the Levison Hotel at midday, so it was a midday Friday to Midday Saturday.

[00:05:52] Shaun: We finished midday Saturday at the Levison Hotel, which is, do you know where that is? What suburb is 

[00:05:57] Ayrton: in South Melbourne? Is it? No, north, north. North. North Melbourne. Oh, [00:06:00] north Melbourne. Oh, the Levis. No, I've been to Leviston. You know where you're talking to 

[00:06:02] Shaun: now? Wayne played a little bit of footy in his day.

[00:06:05] Shaun: Yes. And he spent a lot of time in North Melbourne. Can you believe this, that Wayne actually got lost? He got lost finding Leveson Street, North Melbourne and walked an extra 

[00:06:14] Wayne: 45 minutes. I broke, I broke away from the group and thought, I know my way 

[00:06:20] Ayrton: there. footy club, isn't it? Yeah. 

[00:06:22] Wayne: I might get there a little bit earlier.

[00:06:24] Wayne: I broke away and ended up going longer. I wasn't happy. And it was a hot, it was a hot, uh, it was a hot day, but just, just to go back one step, I want to say this. And, and that's why I, I talk a lot about the GBS in, uh, other events and other speaking engagements that I go to. And that is, I've been involved in, um, Premiership teams, been at a footy club for 15 years.

[00:06:47] Wayne: And the amount of, you know, even when you, and you, you become that close, you're training together all the time. So these, these are teams that you basically live with one another, yet you [00:07:00] still struggle. to talk about what's going on. It's real. You only have to listen to, uh, Danny, uh, Daniel Laidley and Wayne Schultz.

[00:07:07] Wayne: Great example. You know, there's, well, there's heaps of examples of, of people that, and, and they don't want to tell their teammates. Yet, you live, you more or less live with one another. When I first started doing stuff with Shawnee, I remember going to a couple of events, and you just have these, these men, that are sitting there going through something really tough in their life and they just feel comfortable to all of a sudden start having a conversation about something that's going on in their life.

[00:07:36] Wayne: And then, you know, someone over on the corner of the table saying, Hey, I've, I've, I just went through that. I can tell you that there is light at the end of the tunnel. There is a way out. This, don't, don't get overwhelmed. If you want to chat, here's my number. Ring me anytime. That's the power that I saw within this group.

[00:07:54] Wayne: Um, straight away and that's why I, I love it. And that's why, you know, things like, uh, you know, the, the [00:08:00] nine hour walk, um, which is, as Shaunie said, is going to be a little bit, um, different this year. I mean, some of the, some of the stories on that 24 hour, uh, walk. By the end of it, and you just found out, and you just got to know these guys who, some of them I'd never met before, until The Walk, um, because new members are coming in all the time, and they, they see the, the power of those conversations, and uh, and, and obviously a little bit different format this year, Shaunie, uh, four walks, um, but, we 

[00:08:34] Shaun: decided to take it into state, so we decided to.

[00:08:36] Shaun: Bring it back, you know, so and 

[00:08:38] Wayne: nine hours and nine hours for a reason and that's because of the nine hour The nine suicides a day So so it's brought back to to nine and very happy about that and I've said Mr. Fitness over here, so That's the other thing that we talk about By the way, he's doing he's [00:09:00] he's killing it at cricket at the moment 

[00:09:02] Shaun: You should come and do the Melbourne walk with us 24th 

[00:09:07] Wayne: of November.

[00:09:07] Wayne: Yeah, he'll be doing it and he He well, let's be honest. His cricket career is not going he's made five and eight in the last two weeks. So Uh, let's not, that's not going to affect your form, and in actual fact it might help your form. But, uh, yeah, tell us a little bit about the walks. Yeah, 

[00:09:22] Shaun: yeah, well so, so just taking that step back, so the, the support network and the, the GBS, we've sort of created platforms for men to, uh, you know, do business.

[00:09:32] Shaun: You know, we, we, we're very strong on, um, living your passions and, and you gotta be social and you gotta enjoy a good time because look, let's be honest, you know, we, we, we spend a lot of time working, we spend a lot of time at home with family and different pressures and I think that, uh, if it's cricket, um, if it's golf, if it's, uh, getting in the pub on, on a Friday and having lunch with your mates and, uh, having a punt, well, just, just enjoy it and embrace it.

[00:09:57] Shaun: Everything's about that. You know, doing it on a, a [00:10:00] balanced, um, platform. And, uh, we're, we're a big promo promoter of, uh, living your best life and, and having a good time. And that third pillar of ours, you know, business social are two. And the, and the third pillar is the, the wellness. Because we're very, very supportive of making sure that everyone's in a, a good space, head space, and as much as they can be, 

[00:10:20] Wayne: well, just on the, the business, um, he's, you know, we're sometimes there's, there's guys that get involved in.

[00:10:28] Wayne: You know, in the GBS, and they might be in between jobs, all of a sudden, you know, one of the boys crosses says, Oh, by the way, this is the industry I'm in, and they go, Oh, I'm in finance, and then all of a sudden, they got a job. And that's why maybe. You're 

[00:10:44] Ayrton: talking like I'm destitute at the moment. No, you're 

[00:10:48] Shaun: not.

[00:10:48] Shaun: You're not. I think the beauty has been is that we've grown organically and we haven't put any pressure on, you know, business to business relationships or building relationships. It's always, [00:11:00] you know, our messaging has always been that Good Bloke Society is about creating positive relationships for business, social and wellness.

[00:11:06] Shaun: And we have had a lot of... Businesses do business. I had someone in the office not that long ago who's sponsoring the Good Blokes Walk for Nine, and that's Jesse Sandor from Air Corp, and he sat down and was telling us that he, you know, met, met, uh, one of the members at lunch, and, uh, one of the events, and that, that member's now spent over half a million dollars within his business, right?

[00:11:26] Shaun: He's picked that up, um, and that's just one story of, of many. Um, there's a lot of friendships being created, you know, and I think that's, that's the thing that I enjoy most, that I can see a lot of friendships being created more so than the Business relationships and members catching up and whether it's playing golf or just, just, you know, just speaking now, um, that's something I'm proud of and, you know, I think you get to a certain age and your, your, your relationships change, um, and you see that in men and, you know, a lot of men probably in that sort of 45 plus category that may, may have been [00:12:00] through a divorce or may be single all their life and they, they don't have a community to belong to.

[00:12:05] Shaun: Um, We've created that. We've created a community for men to come along and be part of something that, um, provides support and a lot of authenticity, you know, like, um, and that's what Wayne was speaking, speaking about before, that you can come into that room for the very first time and come by yourself and you can walk out of there and you feel like you've got, you know, 80 new mates.

[00:12:26] Shaun: And, and, that's something that, um, yeah, I'm proud to say that we've created that. And that's not just me and Heavey, my other two founders, and our seven or eight, eleven, sorry, eleven life members, and not our ambassadors, you know, Wayne, Jimmy Cassidy, Wendell Saylor. You know, Chris Ling rang me up the other day, I only met him once, and um, Guy Leitch?

[00:12:48] Shaun: Yeah, Leitchy, um, and uh, yeah, Chris Ling, I've only met him once, and he's connected a bit through the Instagram, and uh, we said, you know, he's a golfer, he's a punter, and he's, I can tell straight [00:13:00] away, he's a good bloke, right, and he, we, we, we were on the phone the other day for 45 minutes, and he rang up to say that he wants to come to the Adelaide event on the 8th of December and, um, yeah, just catch up, just catch up and be part of our community now.

[00:13:12] Shaun: Obviously, superstar sportsman cricketer, um, you know, he's got a, a young, young family and, uh, I'm sure he's busy. He's got his, um, you know, play, playbook, I think he's got his playbook community, which is, um, Uh, professional coaching for, for, uh, I guess kids and, and any, uh, I guess, uh, anyone coming through the ranks and, and, you know, that's because of what we've created, what we have created, you know, 400 members nationally and, and a few in Singapore.

[00:13:42] Shaun: Um, yeah, but we, we love running an event and, you know, the, the, the walk that's coming up, yeah, we're doing four now, four walks. Uh, the 17th of November in Sydney, 24th in Melbourne with Ducks Hometown and Wagga Wagga with, uh, the boys up there, Dino and Tommy and [00:14:00] Tristan and Shorty, um, you know, there might only be 8 or 10 of us that are going to walk around for 9 hours, but, uh, we'll have a good time.

[00:14:07] Shaun: We'll have some laughs, we'll have some chats if there needs to be honest conversations and we'll raise a bit of money too. And whether we raise 10 grand this year or 100 grand, that's going to be great because it supports five charity partners. Um, connected with and, and one of those is actually, uh, you know, a great member of ours, Mark Eustace, Wally Eustace, who Um, played a fair bit of footy and, uh, he's had mental health battles for, you know, near on 17 years now and, um, yeah, we, uh, we, we support, you know, Mark as much as we can and you know, Greg Hall's another that we, we, we support and we, we just.

[00:14:42] Shaun: Put our, um, arms around them, give them a cuddle when they need one and if we can help them in any way, um, we're there to do that. As 

[00:14:50] Ayrton: this group has evolved, the Good Bloke Society, what have you learnt, Sean, about men's health and men's mental health that's, I guess, changed your view of things and how [00:15:00] you deal with people day in, day out?

[00:15:01] Ayrton: You know, what sort of do you think is most important to you and to these other blokes? 

[00:15:06] Shaun: Yeah, well, the one thing from, from mental health, um, we... Every single person has a bad day, right, and I think that mental health, um, can sometimes, you know, seem like a big problem and seem like a, you know, a minority of people have.

[00:15:27] Shaun: It's not true, right? Everyone has some sort of mental health battle at some point. And, and it might be just a couple of bad days, right? But I think that because men have had issues with, with being, and we're not natural about talking about how we're feeling and our emotions, you know, that's why those statistics of nine suicides every day in Australia, seven are men, right?

[00:15:52] Shaun: Two are women. And just in the last month, I've been, um, uh, there's been two suicides [00:16:00] within, the community of the GBS or one within the GBS community. There's been a lot of members that were, um, had a, had a, a mate, and I've got a lot of GBS members in the finance industry and, uh. You know, so we, we had one just recently and, and then when we had our Inaugural Ladies Lunch my sister in law was due to come along and she couldn't make it because she had a funeral which was suicide related so, um, you know, that's why, that's why we decided to walk for nine hours this year and I think that I know for a fact that the Good Blokes Walk for Nine will be something now that we'll embark on as a, as a annual event.

[00:16:36] Shaun: And ideally, you know, I like to think three, four years down the track we're, we're doing one in every state and, and city around, around Australia. And creating that awareness, you know, for, for anyone that has any type of thoughts. You know, just speak up, there's a, you know, I'm, I'm, I'm confident to say, uh, that there's a, um, solution to every problem.

[00:16:59] Shaun: [00:17:00] Right? And I think that if you put your hand up and ask for some help, you know, um, whether it's family or whether it's the GBS or, um, you know, someone's there to try and provide some sort of, you know, just listening sometimes is all that's needed. 

[00:17:13] Wayne: And I think one of the hardest things for some that are going through a really tough time is sometimes just getting up.

[00:17:20] Wayne: And going for a walk. And that's the start. And, you know, often I hear so many people say that, you know, they find it hard to get out of bed. But if they do, if they can find the strength to get out of bed and just go for a walk, how much better they feel. at the end of that walk, which is what, uh, what this signifies.

[00:17:40] Wayne: Yeah. 

[00:17:41] Shaun: And look, that's, that's, that's one piece of the puzzle, the GBS puzzle. Like what's, uh, you know, ours coming up, I mentioned the Adelaide event, so we'll have, uh, Mark Rusciuto's in, in, at the Elma. We'll have 40 or 50 members and guests at that sort of Christmas event. We've got a boat cruise, super hot, um, on the 1st of December.

[00:17:58] Shaun: Duck's definitely at that [00:18:00] one, um, with, uh... He seems to be at all 

[00:18:02] Ayrton: the good ones, 

[00:18:03] Shaun: that's for sure. With, with, with, uh... Jeff Fennec, Jeff Fennec is going to be there with Josh Reynolds and, and, uh, Glenn Schofield who's just come on board and he's got a punting community in Sydney, BTFU, that are, uh, now part of the, uh, GBS community.

[00:18:18] Shaun: We've got a, we've actually got a slot, how's this, we've actually got a slot in the, in the Phoenix on Saturday the 16th of December, so the Good Blokes Society applied for a slot, we've got it, uh, we're one of slot holders. One of eight sloth holders. The race is worth 1. 65 million dollars. It's the world's richest greyhound race.

[00:18:37] Shaun: And we've selected a dog, um, and committed to it a dog, um, two weeks ago. And the dog's name is Alpha Zulu. So he's our representative now. And as, as it works out, Jonathan Brown owns a good portion of this. And he ran favorite on Saturday night in a group one race at the Meadows and ran a great race, ran third.

[00:18:59] Shaun: [00:19:00] Um, yeah, so that's our Christmas party, Ayrton. Duck, isn't it? 16th of December at the Meadows and we're racing for a million, which we get a share of with John O'Brien and the Thompson team. 

[00:19:11] Ayrton: That's fantastic, awesome stuff. So Duck, the nine hours, you know, for you as someone who is... You know, I, we talked about having a mask and, uh, being a confident outward person.

[00:19:23] Ayrton: Do you, do you look inwards when you're, you're going through that, when you're, you're talking with these guys as 

[00:19:27] Wayne: well? Oh, you, you do. And the, the thing that, the other thing that I. I really love about the group is that, you know, just because you're an old has been footballer or, you know, you've got Guy Leach involved and other athletes and well known athletes that everyone thinks they know your story, you know, or everyone, you know, they've read it in the newspaper and it's, and it's nowhere near truth, but you've told, and you've spoken a lot, or they think they somehow know you, well, I've, what I love [00:20:00] about this group is you actually.

[00:20:02] Wayne: ask other people their story and the thing that I've discovered is everyone has got an amazing story. And, you know, you, you, you just, it's, it's, you sit in front of these guys and, and then all of a sudden someone will share about, you know, their, their childhood and where they've come from and you just get blown away and you go, wow, I thought I, I had it tough when I was a kid or like, there's just so many layers to these, to these people and you get blown away by it.

[00:20:32] Wayne: So it's, it's, it's quite. It is quite emotional, and people will tell you that anyone that's gone to speak to a professional about anything, or, or, in this case, the group, the GBS, um, you'd feel better after you do it. After you get it off your chest and you've, and you've shared it. And that's the thing that this group brings out in one another, and that's, and we've still got a long way to go, because I still think there is a stigma, um, that [00:21:00] if you show vulnerability, that you're weak.

[00:21:03] Wayne: And that stigma is still there and I think we are getting better, but we've still got a long way to go. 

[00:21:10] Shaun: Yeah, well, you know, I like to think that, uh, you know, there's a lot of great charities out there, there's a lot of great organisations out there that, uh, promote and create awareness for mental health and discussion and we need more of them.

[00:21:23] Shaun: You know, we're just happy to be a little, um, a little community that, uh, is, is in that space. And, you know, my, my focus is, is, you know, anyone that comes and joins the Good Black Society. Um, you know, you become part of our community and, and, uh, we, we put a lot of support and, um, care into, into the 

[00:21:41] Wayne: relationship.

[00:21:42] Wayne: Well, what we'll do, uh, Shawnee, thank you for joining the, uh, The Truth Hurts. So what we'll do is we'll put up, um, We'll put up on The Truth Hurt, we'll put up details about the GPS, how to um, you know come to one of these events. Uh, George [00:22:00] Samios, by the way, if you like a drop of red. 

[00:22:02] Shaun: Oh, the drink said it, we love 

[00:22:03] Wayne: Georgie.

[00:22:03] Wayne: Well, Georgie, I'm now a wine connoisseur. 

[00:22:07] Ayrton: He's very knowledgeable, isn't he? It's hard not to listen to him in a way, he's very... Oh, 

[00:22:10] Wayne: he's... 

[00:22:11] Shaun: You wouldn't believe it, we're talking about the racing side, but Melbourne Cup Day, I missed the first four, and the bloody horse I missed was Shiraz, and all I could think about was how many wine lunches I've had this year, and how many Shiraz's I've had.

[00:22:23] Shaun: That was 

[00:22:24] Wayne: the omen, wasn't it? He's brilliant. And, and, so what we'll do is we'll put up all the details of what, uh, is coming up on the GBS. And, uh, yeah, good luck, and look forward to seeing you at, uh, most of them. 

[00:22:37] Shaun: You'll be at the good ones, Duck. Don't worry about that. Beautiful. And as always, goodlokessociety.

[00:22:41] Shaun: com. au. That's the one. 

[00:22:43] Ayrton: Perfect stuff. Great stuff, Sean. Thanks, Duck. That's another episode of The Truth Hurts.