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Introduction 0:02
Welcome to the #PirateBroadcast™, where we interview #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Where you can expand your connections, your community, #kindnessiscool and #smilesarefree. Let’s get this party started.

Russ Johns 0:19
It's another beautiful day for the #PirateBroadcast™. We're here interviewing #interestingpeople doing #interestingthings. Today, I have someone in the room that I'm really passionate about talking to because we're both live streaming, creating content, helping people and reaching out and engaging with our community. So LT, what's going on today?

LT Weaver 0:44
I just woke up early to come hang out with you.

Russ Johns 0:48
Well, I appreciate the fact that you're here today and you're hanging out with us. I just really thought it was fascinating because we met through StreamYard and we're StreamYard producers, we produce shows for other people and just put that out there. Marisa connected us and we got involved in this community. I really think that this is something that's going to take off and I just kind of wanted to check in with you to see what are your experiences and see what you're going through and see what you're looking toward building in the next step, so walk us through how you got into live streaming and what your journey has been so far.

LT Weaver 1:32
Okay, so a hobby of mine has always been photography, videography. I've just dabbled with it, kind of documenting family trips and ordinary life and trying to up my game as far as production goes; lighting, equipment and things like that. Then I decided to niche down in January when I was like, okay, I think I'm ready to go for it. You got to find a niche, right? Now that niche kind of found me in a weird way. So I decided to niche down with recovery and help people who are struggling with drugs and alcohol and are in need of support for drugs and alcohol and then COVID hit in March, April, May and all the AA meetings, NA meetings got shut down. So I decided, hey, I'm gonna go live. I went live at the end of March or April, I think it was and people started tuning in just because they needed support. The worst thing for a drug addict or an alcoholic is to be isolated. We went 130 streams in a row every single night at eight o'clock for 130. streams. That's what got me into live streaming and I haven't looked back since.

Russ Johns 2:46
Wow and you found you enjoyed it?

LT Weaver 2:48
Love it. Yeah, I love the interaction. To know that I have friends now in Australia, or the UK that I could literally say, hey, I'm on my way, and they would pick me up from the airport, and I would have a place to stay, it's phenomenal.

Russ Johns 3:02
That's about the coolest thing I've ever thought about. For years, I've been teaching technology and involving people in the idea that you are the media, you have the ability and the opportunity to actually pick up your phone or live stream, or create a podcast or create content in some way, shape or form. And it's always fascinating to me to think how liberating it is to create friendships. In fact, I just had an email from somebody in Australia this morning. Hey, who can I introduce you to? As you know, it's amazing. It's a fascinating opportunity. I love the fact that you're streaming for recovery. Also a fun fact, everyone, is that LT and I, we grew up in the same neighborhood.

LT Weaver 4:06
Yeah, that's wild.

Russ Johns 4:07
Yeah and we found out through conversation that it was like, okay, we know the same places. So the other side is live streaming. The other side of being connected online is discovering those common threads that allow us to be connected in some way. So, is that something that you gravitate toward? Or you have experienced over and over again?

LT Weaver 4:40
Yeah, I noticed that people even though they may be located in different parts of the country, we're all very similar. We have a lot in common, especially in the recovery community, which is really cool, because once you know somebody is in recovery, it's just an instant bond. The small talk, cliches of life, how's the weather talk is just kind of out the door. It's right to the nitty gritty of just deep, honest, open conversation. One thing I've loved about it is right now as being streamers, we have a connection on a level that most people that meet each other don't. We just kind of understand things, you know?

Russ Johns 5:17
Yeah, like, when bandwidth goes away. I want to cry when bandwidth goes away, like, okay. I just really appreciate you in the fact that we're connected in this way. I'm streaming and producing shows for other people already. I did a really big event. It was an organization that has been established in the 30s in the oil and gas industry in Houston. Old money, all industry, everything else. All of a sudden, they're streaming to the world. Up in the comments, they're popping. People from Australia, Africa, literally, country after country after country after country. I'm just looking at this going, Wow, this is very cool. This is how conversations start with individuals around the world and around the country. So it's really it's really one of those things you have to appreciate and understand that we have the power to make those connections. It's just super simple technology. Mark Lacour. Here's the man himself. It was so cool. It was very cool, Mark. LT and I are here doing the same kind of thing and making sure that people have an opportunity to get involved in the conversation. It's one of those things that we really have to think about and say, okay, how much further can we take it? So what do you see on the horizon for you and producing and the production side of your show?

LT Weaver 7:25
I haven't had the opportunity to actually produce other than...so I work at two different IOP's and the one I'm located in my office, the studio is upstairs at an IOP. For those that don't know, IOP is intense outpatient programs for suffering attics or people who are trying to get clean. They have a podcast every Saturday morning and I produce that. I'm in house right behind the scenes, just sitting over here at my desk, producing it for them, but I haven't had the opportunity yet to really do what you've done. So I'm still waiting for that.

Russ Johns 8:03
It'll happen. It'll happen. Mark Lacour says, what's up LT?

LT Weaver 8:08
What's going on, Mark? How you doing, brother?

Russ Johns 8:11
You know, Mark is an amazing individual in Houston that's doing a lot of great work. He has the largest podcast in the oil and gas industry. His network reaches out to millions of people. They have, I don't know, a million and a half downloads or they're coming up on a million and a half downloads.

LT Weaver 8:31
Wow, that's very good.

Russ Johns 8:33
That's the joy and the beauty of being able to reach out and make a difference in people's lives and with you in the recovery sector, I have to believe that right now, especially, it's needed and necessary. So how frequent is your schedule, you still going every night?

LT Weaver 8:52
I had to scale it back because I want to impact locally as well as globally. So as soon as I got hired here at this IOP that I'm working at, we went to four days a week. So I live stream Sunday night, Tuesday nights, Thursday nights and then Saturday mornings, which is still four. Then I have other platforms that we join. You can see him on my little sign back there, YouTube, Facebook and Discord. I call it recovery in your pocket because I have moderators set up in each timezone. That if you're in America, and it's two in the morning and you're struggling, you think you might need relapse or something, you get on there and just say, hey, I need support in this app setup. So genius. I didn't develop the app or nothing but just utilizing it. Somebody in Australia, g'day, Mate, what's going on? How can I help you? And vice versa. We're up for them and it's just a constant support. Right now, with the times the way they are, just the election, the riots, the COVID, everything's just unknown. Just to know that you got a friend because a lot of times maybe you can't reach somebody locally, but there's always somebody available here. That's kind of what I'm trying to establish is just on the spot support for anybody in need, anywhere in the world. On top of what I'm doing here in Ogden,

Russ Johns 10:11
Yeah, that's a beautiful way of making connections and helping others in a real impactful way.

LT Weaver 10:21
Yeah, everybody's affected some way or another, knows somebody that has been affected by drugs and alcohol. So I'm here to help. I'm here for that.

Russ Johns 10:30
Yeah. Mark says, actually, we have 11 different oil and gas podcasts.

LT Weaver 10:35
Whoa.

Russ Johns 10:37
11, count them. 11.

LT Weaver 10:38
Is there really that much to talk about with oil and gas?

Russ Johns 10:41
Yes, there is.

LT Weaver 10:41
That's crazy.

Russ Johns 10:44
It's a powerhouse. Love you, man. So Hiett Ives is here. Another one from Houston. I used to live in Houston. So interesting. Better late than never, great to park on the pirate network. Good morning. Hiett, how you doing? I owe you an email because I saw you sent me an email where you lost my number, so I'll reach out to you and send you a message and let you know what my number is. There's Nick Gemmell. Hey, Nick, I owe you a shout out. Give a shout out to Nick because he sent me some sweatshirts. He has a show, a podcast. He has a network of individuals. I should grab that. I should grab it real quick. Let me grab that. Hold on. I got to do this.

LT Weaver 11:45
#PirateBroadcast™. This is a cool podcast.

Russ Johns 11:54
So Nick, thank you so much for this. I got this. I'll put this up here. Pipe Solution. Pipe Dream Solution. So he sent me this. He hasn't been drinking for a while. So interesting. Nick, you and LT should connect and swap stories.

LT Weaver 12:27
I'd love to. I'd definitely love to have you on the show, too. You can come be a guest on my podcast.

Russ Johns 12:33
Be a guest on LT's show, get the pipe dream solution out there.

LT Weaver 12:39
Heck yeah. I'm down. I always love, I guess collaborating in a sense, but just to get to know new people and new areas of life.

Russ Johns 12:48
It's really, really great. He says, hell yeah, brother.

LT Weaver 12:57
One of my dreams for retirement, I guess you could say, if that's a thing,

Russ Johns 13:02
Nick says, year and a half.

LT Weaver 13:05
Oh, nice. I just got a year. I'm about a year and a half, as well.

Russ Johns 13:08
Good job.

LT Weaver 13:09
It's not easy living life on life's terms.

Russ Johns 13:14
Yeah. So what's your dream for retirement?

LT Weaver 13:17
So I guess maybe retirement, but kind of one of my dreams with this digital thing is once the kids are out of the house, I got a couple kids, that my wife and I could sell the house. All we have to do is take the studio anywhere in the world we want to setup. If we've got Wi Fi, we're good. We can still do our live streams and you know, live six months in Scotland, go to India for six months and stay there. That's kind of one of the dreams. It's funny, because it's not unrealistic, it's possible. That's literally a possibility.

Russ Johns 13:51
Totally possible. Absolutely possible.

LT Weaver 13:55
So amazing about the internet.

Russ Johns 13:57
And the tools. You know, Dan and Geige, the founders of StreamYard, which we both produce for, are amazing individuals that have produced this software. For people that aren't familiar with live streaming and the software and some of the requirements that are involved with it, this software is one of the easiest software's to access for guests and people that are not as technical because it's a browser based tool. So it allows more people access to the technology without a lot of hassle, a lot of overhead in terms of what has to be done from the technology perspective. I see this as building smaller communities, more niche communities around different subjects all over. I love the idea of taking, say for instance, a real estate broker, building neighborhood communities around a platform like this and encouraging them to go out and talk to different companies and business owners around the community. I'll pitch in and produce a show and it can be very cost effective. So if you need a show, or want a show or you want to talk about a show, book some time with LT or I, and make sure that you have an opportunity to share your voice and share your message. That's the way I look at it. It's like, okay, anybody, anywhere in the world can actually put a show together. If you don't want to deal with the technology, there are people out there like us, that we love this technology and we can put it together for you.

LT Weaver 15:43
100%.

Russ Johns 15:44
Yeah. So if you wanted to go to Scotland and put a show together for somebody, you can do it.

LT Weaver 15:50
Exactly.

Russ Johns 15:51
I was live for a three minute show from Houston, yesterday.

LT Weaver 15:55
Oh, really?

Russ Johns 15:55
Yeah.

LT Weaver 15:56
You have to send me a link next time you do one of your shows. I'd like to watch, just to be a fly on the wall and see how it goes.

Russ Johns 16:02
Yeah, absolutely. In fact, if you go to OGGN.com/events, you can watch the replay from yesterday.

LT Weaver 16:10
Okay. OGGN.com?

Russ Johns 16:13
Yeah, I hope you saw that, Mark? I set up a link to the replay, but it's on #LinkedInLive because I was streaming from LinkedIn.

LT Weaver 16:24
yeah, so back in April, when I decided to go live, I was looking at all the live software. You've got OBS and all the others. I tried with OBS and it's so complicated. Then you look at the gamers, compared to what a podcaster like you and I do. We don't care about the oh, yay, somebody liked the stream. Oh, somebody sent stars and all this just craziness you've got to have going on. StreamYard is so simple, boom, you get what you get. It's clean, simple to use. I love it. I mean, for a guest, because a lot of times people aren't as technologically savvy, as guys like you and I, to fumble around and try to enter the stream is difficult. StreamYard has made is so simple. So you can really just have a nice show with somebody with great content. So simple.

Russ Johns 17:14
Yeah, it's ease of use is really important, especially if you're having guests on, because not every guest knows how to navigate the technology. So I've had some people that are very non technical just open up a browser and click on a link and open it up. It's like, okay, I'm there. Give me access to my camera and my microphone. All of a sudden you're in the room. It sounds like that's magic. So what do you see? What do you see happening for the future of streaming from your side?

LT Weaver 17:21
Man, I don't know I have my, what do you want to call it, sticks in the fire whatever that term is.

Russ Johns 18:01
Irons in the fire.

LT Weaver 18:02
Yeah, irons in the fire that I could go like right now because I could become a counselor and work at IOP's The IOP that I'm currently in here, this could blow up, through video, and live streams, we're building a huge online lesson to become life coaches and to be able to actually, once this course is finished, you purchased it, you would be able to open up your business of your own and do what we're doing here. Then my live streams and recovering addict videos just on my end. The viewership, you know how YouTube can blow up and things like that. Then the videography and production side of things is another way that I've been handling photography and videos for a lot of other people, more than just live streams. So I'm not sure at this point, I'm kind of at a triple crossroad of it could go any direction. I don't know if I just need to nail it down to become a businessman and teach people to do these things and then handle it there or just tackle one of them and do it. You know what I'm saying? So I'm kind of at a crossroad and I'm loving the process. I don't think I'll ever arrive at anything and if I do arrive, then I'll probably just jump to something else. So I'm not quite sure yet.

Russ Johns 19:22
That's a great topic to talk about and expand on because what else he is really thinking is exactly what I'm thinking, cuz I have so many interests. So you have to decide, and you have to decide, okay, well, I enjoy doing this. If I turn it into a job, will I learn to hate it? Will it start to feel like work? Because right now, I just love it. For me, I'm coming up on 300 episodes. I'm only doing five days a week, I'm not doing seven days a week, like you're doing. However, it's one of those things that I wake up in the morning, same time, every day. I wake up with gratitude, make sure that everything works and I could breathe and walk and everything like that. All of a sudden, I get to live stream and talk to somebody interesting and have a great conversation. My day's set. My attitude is adjusted, my mind is in alignment. The conversations that I can have as a result of this is very important to me. It's critical to my future. I love helping other people and I love the opportunity to assist in the growth of other people and expanding the message.

LT Weaver 20:55
Me, too, a little backstory on me. I was at Hill Air Force Base, right?

Russ Johns 21:00
Yep. Yep.

LT Weaver 21:01
I was working there. I was there for 10 years, federal civilian servant. I worked on F-22s as a sheetmetal mechanic, promoted, climbed the ladder. I was in the F-35 program, production controller there, making good money.

Russ Johns 21:15
Yeah.

LT Weaver 21:17
At this point, videography and film, and all this stuff was a hobby, like you said. About three and a half months ago, I got my 10 years, my 10 year federal service pin. You get a little plaque and all that kind of stuff. Good job. Thank you for your service for 10 years. That exact same day, I got my resignation papers. I put in my resignation and jumped from a great paying government job. Great paying job to do what I'm doing right now. Just because I love what I'm doing right now. Yeah, so it was my hobby and has now turned into my livelihood. But it's not my livelihood anymore. Have you heard that song, Ay, ay, ay, I'm on vacation, every single day, cuz I love me occupation...? That is like my theme song now.

Russ Johns 22:05
I have heard that song. You're spot on, you know. If you are doing what you enjoy, which I do, it doesn't really feel like work. It feels like something meaningful, impactful, and everything that goes along with that. I mean, that is to me, the idea of success. If you can do what you enjoy...people think they want to make a lot of money and making a lot of money solves a lot of problems. However, it brings along a lot of other challenges as well.

LT Weaver 22:08
Agreed. I'm on the same page with you right there.

Russ Johns 22:33
Knowing that I can get up and kind of move my own schedule around and do some things I love and enjoy and help other people, brings me a lot more joy than some other activities that I could do.

LT Weaver 23:09
I took a $75,000 a year pay cut. Money's nothing. Happiness is way more valuable.

Russ Johns 23:19
The people around you recognize that, too. Not everybody understands it, though. Because when you're...and I think you could do both, I know that you can evolve. I've seen people learn how to navigate those waters. I think you can have both. I'm not excluding that. You don't have to be poor to be happy. You don't have to be rich to be unhappy. Just putting that out there.

LT Weaver 23:53
I agree.

Russ Johns 23:54
I plan on continuing to grow my network and my business and be successful.

LT Weaver 24:00
For sure, me too. It's not our main focus anymore.

Russ Johns 24:04
Guess who is in the house today?

LT Weaver 24:07
Hey, Marisa. Good morning!

Russ Johns 24:09
You have to decide if you like being on camera or behind the camera. Both are needed and both have different paths.

LT Weaver 24:17
So true.

Russ Johns 24:18
That is absolutely true. Absolutely true.

LT Weaver 24:24
I always tell people that I look better behind the camera.

Russ Johns 24:32
I have a face for radio. Question from Mark Lacour. Have you thought about the combination of live streaming and wearables like https://www.realwear.com? Absolutely, absolutely. Mark. I believe I'm slowly building my kit together to where I could pick up at a moment's notice. Pick up my kit, as I call it, and go anywhere in the world and shoot at least a two or three camera event and make it very happy and professional. So that's my goal. That's my mission. Mark, you saw what is possible yesterday. So, you know. Trey did an excellent job. He had three cameras at the event, multiple mics, panelists slide show, everything was in place. So I thought it was a very successful example of what is possible. Gabriel's in the house. He live streams. He has the Made from Scratch Broadcast. He does every night as well. Gabriel is an awesome individual you need to connect to with, LT.

LT Weaver 25:53
Yeah, if you guys want to connect with me, you can see my website above here, recoveringaddict.org. On the bottom there's a little way you can email me, my phone numbers on there, shoot me a text. However, Gabriel, you want to connect. You can just shoot me a message. I always tell everybody, we're on multiple platforms. But when you send it to me, it all comes to this device. So choose one and we'll connect, for sure.

Russ Johns 26:19
Hiett says, LT, I'm where you are regarding which roads to travel. I need to focus DOWN. It's now a question of which is the most rewarding and consequential. Yeah, I mean, you have to put some thought into it.Nick's on the same road. He's on a pathway where he's building his network. He's building his community. We live in a world right now where we're so connected, that there's a lot of noise involved. I think a lot of people that if they can find people and like minded individuals, connecting together, like a mastermind, it's really one of those ideas that can expand and you can actually help each other out along the way, support each other just like you're doing. So, it's amazing to me, what is possible.

LT Weaver 27:23
Oh, yeah. I think in the field that we're in, we're constantly in our creative side of our mind, right? Do you do anything to balance it out to get to that left side of your brain?

Russ Johns 27:36
All the time. I have client work that I get involved in and I do marketing for companies. I do project management, I manage different things. I am an investor in some startups that are working. So I create for them. I do some work for them as well. My life is kind of all over the map. I moved to Arizona, to be with mom and dad. We lost dad on Father's Day this year.

LT Weaver 28:13
Wow, I'm sorry.

Russ Johns 28:14
In fact, I was up in Utah, where the towers are up on the mountain right there.

LT Weaver 28:21
Right there in Layton. Yeah,

Russ Johns 28:22
Right there in Layton. I was up there on a photography shoot with my son. We were up there 4-wheeling and doing some...he'd never been there. He drove up from Texas. I ran down a hill, he had his four wheel up a little mound and I ran down it and broke my hip. It was right after my dad service and I ran down this little hill, broke my hip, and it's like, load me up in the truck. We're 20 miles up on the mountain and it's a Friday night, seven o'clock or so and I'm just going, gee, so I went down and he took me to the hospital, said yeah, I think it's broke. They x-rayed it. Yeah, it's broke. Well, we can't operate on it right now, have to wait till tomorrow. So Saturday, we did surgery, and they operated on me. Helped bolt me together. Sent me on my way. So Sunday, he and I took off and he drove me back to Arizona because I was there with other family and and mom and my sister. So they also drove back, they had another reason, but it's like, okay, road to recovery, you know. We're all recovering from something at some point in time.

How does it feel right now?

Well, it's still not 100%. It doesn't hurt right now, however, getting up and down, I'm back riding a bike. I'm walking in and moving around, but it's a slow process. I mean, yeah. It's not like it's my body. I've busted it so many times.

LT Weaver 30:40
I tore my bicep about a month ago.

Russ Johns 30:44
That's painful. It's painful. Well, this has been a great conversation. I love the idea and the opportunity to connect with other people doing great work. I love what you're doing. So keep doing it. I look forward to another opportunity to connect and catch up and enjoy each other's conversations around live streaming and what it brings to the table.

LT Weaver 31:13
Yeah, and if anybody that was watching does want to connect with me, I'm totally up for it. You know, collaborations, whatever. Whatever you might have in mind.

Russ Johns 31:23
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. So remind us again, recovering addict.org?

LT Weaver 31:30
Yep, just recovering addict. It's pretty simple term. It's well used around the world. And then put an ORG at the end of it and you'll see our website. There's a form you can email me but my phone numbers right there, first page above the scroll. Shoot me a text.

Russ Johns 31:47
Fantastic. I saw a post the other day you'll find this funny. If you can text me, don't call me.

LT Weaver 31:57
I'm kind of one of those people.

Russ Johns 32:00
Yeah, I'm in that camp as well. So everyone, thank you so much for being here. I love the opportunity to connect and collaborate and help people out on their podcasts or broadcast or their live stream. Also, all of these episodes and the replays of these episodes are on RussJohns.com. You can actually like and subscribe to the podcast, you can go over on YouTube and like and subscribe to the podcast and the show. Also if you ever want to connect with me and have a conversation, just go to bookruss.com and you can reach out and make that connection as well. So super simple, super easy. And as everyone knows, LT, #kindnessiscool, #smilesarefree.

LT Weaver 32:58
Definitely.

Russ Johns 32:59
And you #enjoytheday.

LT Weaver 33:02
Thanks for letting me be here.

Russ Johns 33:03
Take care. See you soon, everyone.

Exit 33:12
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