Child actor loses father, becomes paralyzed, and writes "The Power to Speak Naked"

All right. I'm super excited to have Tyler on the show today, not just because he is Canadian, but he's Albertan and lives just up the road from me as in like an hour and a half up the highway. So it's nice to interview someone that's so close to me. How you doing, man?

I'm doing well. I, I thought the same thing I'm like, man, we should just do this, do this in studio. 

Let's just let's make that happen. Yeah. Yeah. Well, my, my studio happens to be a room in my basement that isn't entirely soundproof. So I have this like sound damping backdrop behind me to, to kind of make it work. But uh likewise, yeah, it, it almost, I can touch mine. 

It's like literally behind me. So for those listening, you can't see, but I was just tickling my backdrop a little bit there. Uh backdrop liked it. Um uh All right, man. 

Well, we're gonna tell you a story today which I'm excited about because you have a, you have a, just a kind of a crazy story. There's a lot of like highlights and lowlights in this story. And so, um I think it's really cool but before we dive into that, uh what, where are you at nowadays? What are you doing? And if you wanted to connect with you, where would they find you? Uh Best place is my website, Sean Tyler Foley dot com. Sean is spelled the proper Irish way, S E A N T Y L er F O L E Y dot com. 

Tell them Tyler sent, we got a whole bunch of free goodies for anybody who comes from uh before and actor. So if they click on that, we'll be happy to give it away to them John. But uh right now for most of what I'm doing is public speaking. Uh and super meta too, speaking on speaking, most of it is promoting the book The Power To Speak Naked. Number one is that you on the cover, wouldn't it be if that was? 

I was like, no. So for those, for those listening, he's holding up a copy of his book and I'm like, man, that, that should be on the cover and there should be like a little tease like where there's just a little bit of glute showing. Yeah. Yeah. And so I, I'm actually banned from promoting the book on Jeff Bezos's site because it breaches their nudity clause. So I'm sure if I got even more cheeky with it, there would be some issues so you, you can't actually sell it on, on that site. So you have to promote it in other ways. 

Yeah, I, so I can sell it on their site. I'm not allowed to advertise it on their site which makes selling it on their site ridiculously hard. And, but the good news is, is it brought me to a, a wonderful uh website. Unfortunately, us as Canadians, we don't get to use it, but it's called bookshop dot org. And what a phenomenal organization that is, it connects um book buyers with their local book retailers. So their mom and pop independent bookstore in the United States. And, um, through that they, the, the local bookstore gets the sale, they still ship it the same way that you would through Jeff's site. Like, it still comes to your door, like it's online shopping, but the book titles on it are just a fraction, uh, cheaper through it. So, like my book regularly retails for 17 95 US and through bookshop dot org, you get it for 16 50 and bookshop dot org takes a percentage of the proceeds and pulls it into a fund that local book retailers can apply to for aid and funding. So I think they've raised $20 million so far. 

So, yeah, I had never heard about that. That was amazing. No, neither had I until I was like, screw you Mr Bezos and uh had to come up with alternatives and Barnes and Noble and, and up here in Canada and anyone who has plum rewards and goes to cha uh chapters or in to go can pick up my book just in store. But um for, for the, for our online shoppers, you can get it anywhere that you want. Yeah. Yeah. So um without diving into too much detail, you read about like the power to speak naked. Um Have you ever spoken naked? 

Yes, I mean, I think all of us have spoken naked, but I mean, have you ever spoken in front of an audience while naked. Yes. Yeah. Yes, I have. I did it once for charity and uh would do it again for any charity who asks. Um It was uh I, I am, if you ask my wife, I am a pure exhibitionist. 

I am um a proud nudist and uh as culturally shunned as it is, I will, I will do anything naked when asked. Um But I only do it for good, for good causes. I'm not just gonna go around and start doing my talk naked as a gimmick. But uh I did do it one time for charity and uh was, was really happy with it and would do it again if asked to, to support any local charity that needed it. That, that's fantastic. Uh And so I guess like it's, it is like a ballsy move. Um Literally, yeah, like I wanna as many puns in there as I can. Um The first time that you gave a talk naked, what was that like? Like did you have some nerves doing it or were you like this is amazing because a whole bunch of people are staring at my naked body. Uh Not amazing. A whole bunch of people are staring at my naked body but it was definitely exhilarating. Uh I don't get uh nervous before talks but I there was a definite different energy. It was cold too. 

Oh Man, not as an excuse but it was, it was cold and um, it is Canada and, and, and almost, it doesn't matter where you are in the world because of all the lighting, they tend to make theaters very uh air conditioned. So it was, yeah, I remember, um, when I get off stage, um my body kind of does reverse nervous energy. So like I'm so pumped to be on stage that when I get off, I get my body instead of flushing hot, gets really cold and I start to shake. So afterwards, like, uh first of all, I didn't do a meet and greet until I could get close back on. Like I was just like, uh it outwardly, I probably looked like a ball of nerves, but the reality was I was having an auto response uh inside of my body that just, I was just shaking cold uh because that goes back to your internal organs in away from the Yeah. Yeah. And, but beyond that, it was uh I mean, it was a really fun thing. 

The audience was more um awkward and nervous about it than I was. Um it was a 45 minute talk. Uh It was done. I had given the talk basically the week before and I'd been heckled in the crowd. A guy was like, do you go off your clothes naked boy? And I'm like, ha ha ha, nobody wants to see that. 

He's like, oh, I want to see that. I'm like, sir, what you do in your own time is right? Like I was like, I was trying to address it and he wouldn't stop. And I was like, listen, you're so bent on seeing me naked, I'll do it, but I'm not doing it for free or for the price of the ticket that you've paid. You know, I'm, I need this to do something. So I always book venues um for two dates as an insurance just in case something cancels. And so I had booked the venue out by uh uh for another week as insurance. And so I had the booking still. So I was like, listen, I have the booking at this venue a week from tonight. So if everybody, everybody has to agree to this, if everybody is willing to pay an obnoxious amount of money that I will then donate the proceeds to charity, um I will come and I will give this talk again naked. And I was like, so who's on board? And everybody raised their hands? 

I didn't think they would for one. I thought that was gonna be my quick way and everybody would be like, no, everybody's like charity naked do it. And so we had, I think it was like two or 300 people in the auditorium. And I, so we went and we sold tickets at the back and I don't think everybody purchased, but the majority of people purchased like we raised, what was it? Almost almost $25,000 to donate to the charity. And that was fantastic. 

And, um, you know, I had to deduct this uh expenses from that. So we've probably had 280 to 300 people purchase the ticket. So it must have been almost everyone anyway, the I went and did it and the audience you could tell where they were like, the gimmick got old quick. So I actually ended up standing behind the podium for the last 40 of the 45 minutes and not for my own pride or shame because I would have walked that stage. 

I'm glad, yeah, I would have done it. But uh to, to make everybody else feel comfortable because I was like, hey, you're getting what you asked for and I don't think you were prepared for what you were getting. Yeah. Yeah, that, that's, that's quite something man to, to do that. Do you remember like, what was the talk about? It was on the power to speak naked. So I was talking. So my, my keynote presentation is about, first of all vulnerability, one of the things that I talk about a lot is that the thing you're afraid to say is very likely what your audience needs to hear. And the talk is structured around um exposing the raw naked truth being uh authentic, which I don't like the word authentic. 

I think it's an overused word now. Yeah. So I think that authenticity is synonymous with self-awareness. And so you really need to know who you are at your core at so that things don't shake you and so you can't. And I, I tell people it's not that I want you to take off your clothes and speak on stage. 

What I want is for your message to be so powerful, so captivating and so compelling that your audience isn't paying attention to what you're wearing or what you are, that they are transported to another place and they, you the all the rest melts away. So a naked and raw presentation where you don't need a power point. You don't need laser lights. You don't need a V, you don't need, you know, a big, you don't need a DJ spinning in the corner and keeping the crowd pumped up. All those things can enhance an experience, but they're not necessary, right? 

And, and so that's the essence of, of the talk. So, you know, to be giving that messaging about, you know, there was a, a little bit of um support with it. And actually, if I could redo it again, I would actually restructure the talk differently and I would actually come out on cloth, clothed and then start to peel back the layers to expose the raw naked truth. It was a missed opportunity. 

I didn't do it. I wish I, I had uh but I, you know, people paid to see Tyler naked. So I wanted to be Tyler naked. And so I just came out naked. 

Hey, and everybody was like, oh, he really did it. So I think, uh, uh, if I could do it again, I would restructure it. But that, you know, the, the of the talk is, is we can do it again. 

I can do it again. Any, anybody, any charity who's listening out there if you need to raise money quick. So, we have this guy who's willing to do this crazy thing to support money for us. And I will come and I will, I will do that talk. 

Yeah, that, that's, that's awesome, man. And I think so and, and the book is, is maybe an expansion on your keynote uh presentation. Would that be accurate? Yeah. Yeah. So the two kind of developed hand in hand, they really came from um a series of training videos that I had put together that came from a series of coaching conversations that I had with uh my private clients. So I found that I was saying the same thing over and over and over again. And when you're saying the same thing over and over and again, there's probably a course there. So I developed the course. Um the course then became a keynote presentation and the keynote became popular enough that a couple of large um event organizers had asked if I would come onto their stage and present it there. 

The problem was in order to do it they, they had asked that I have a book I had the course to sell, but I didn't have the book. And so they were like, well, how quickly can you get together a book? And I'm like, I don't know how quickly can I transcribe the video from, from these training sessions? Uh So we got that, we stripped the audio from the training videos, transcribed those recoiled it a little bit and then that became the first edition of the book. Awesome. That, that's super cool man. And it's, it's crazy to think that this is like what you're doing. 

So, um if we, if we go back into, into your story because there, there's some bumps in the road here. Um You, you're uh are you born and raised in Alberta? I am as a matter of fact, a proud Albertan. Uh I can't say that I'm, I'm born and raised in Calgary, but I was born and raised just outside. OK. Yeah. And, and it wasn't, it wasn't very long in your young life before you had your first dose of real adversity, uh a adversity and triumph at the same time. So when I was six years old, um I got to be on stage for the first time, but that came uh right on the heels of my father passing away. Um And you know, that became a very formative part of who I am as a human being because uh two of my most distinct and vivid memories of my childhood are auditory. 

The one is being on stage the first time getting a standing ovation and the sound of the crowd. And then when you hear the sound, the feeling that you get internally of just pure pride and self accomplishment. That and, and there's an energy too, like it's, it's weird because a standing ovation is not just for you, it's a release of energy for everybody. And so it's this real cathartic and, um, shared experience for everyone. 

There's just this energy that is, is you can't be, can't be duplicated. And, uh, the first time I experienced that was actually at a Christmas play, uh, like a elementary school pageant. I got to play Joseph in like a pageant in the little activity that got set up and, uh, and the crowd would just went wild. I ended up being doing this weird thing. Like the three men. Wise Men are all dressed up. Right. And they come and, you know, when you're in elementary school, the three Wise men dressed up are in bathrobes. Right. And they, they're bringing their, the, the gold Frankincense and Moore M me, I can never pronounce mer correctly. 

Um, and they're, they're bringing these gifts, but again, it's an elementary school play. So the gifts are like boxes wrapped in, in paper. Right. Right. That's what would have happened 2200 years ago or 2000 years ago. And so I'm I, I got these, these presence and we've got this manger in front of us, which is just a cradle, right? Not a manger. And the funny thing is that I was confused because I grew up on a farm. So I know what a manger is. 

I'm like, this is a cradle. This isn't a manger. What are you talking about? This is, this is a, this is a doll cradle, right? So we have this cradle in this little like a, it's a doll like it's just plastic and it's sitting there anyway, the wise men give me the gifts and I place the gifts very gently, very lovingly on top of baby Jesus's head. And so exactly, that was the reaction. 

Everybody's laughing because little six year old Tyler is, is obviously not understanding the gig here. And, uh, you know, if, if it was reality poor baby Jesus would have unfortunately had SIDS. And so we're not, we're not helping with that. And so everybody is, it's, it's, and they're laughing and I'm laughing. And so, you know, we're all having a good time and then at the end of it, me and my best friend who was playing Mary Lisa, um, you know, give the bow and they all stand up at you. 

Oh, good job, good job. And you know, it was like, it was just, it was, it was rewarding and that would have been, uh, you know, early December, mid December of uh, 1985. And you fast forward to February, 1986 and, uh, February 10th, my, uh, dad passed away in a single vehicle, um, um, motor vehicle incident and, you know, the, I found out about it, I was actually, um, reading comic books, uh, on the toilet in the bathroom and I could hear, uh, the bathroom was beside the stairwell to the, to the side entrance and there's a knock at the door and mom came down and I could hear these, this muffled conversation. And then my mom made this sound that he was just a, uh, a wailing guttural injured animal in the wilderness sound that just reverberated through the house. Like I remember sitting there with the comic book and, and like just this chill running down my spine. Like it just, it, it, it, it felt like the walls wanted to, to crumble from the sound that my mom made. 

And, uh, so for the rest of my life within a very short period of time too, like less than three months. Like, we're not even talking a quarter of a year. I heard a sound that I have chased for my entire life and I heard a sound that I have tried to avoid for my entire life. And when I look at all of the decisions that I have made that have led from six year old Tyler to 43 year old Tyler, almost all of them on either a conscious or subconscious level or as a direct result of chasing one sound and avoiding another. Hm. I, I think that's, that's quite a fascinating thing. And, and what kind of relationship up till now? And, like, what sort of memories do you have? Uh, of your dad? 

Well, really good ones. All of my memories of my dad, you know, and I have memories of my dad going back to, like, 11 months old. Most people don't really remember things until they're apparently two or three. My, it drives my wife crazy. 

She's like, you can't possibly remember that. I'm like, no mom remember this thing and then we'll pull up the picture and they're like memories, they're not memories that are triggered by pictures. There are memories that I have and then mom will be like, oh, I think we have a picture of that and then we go and she's like, is this what you're talking about? And I'll be like 11 or months, 13 months old. 

Um, but like I remember, um, playing in the backyard with my dad, him building. Uh, we didn't have a tree, a tree that would be appropriate for a tree house. So we built like this kind of, um, fort on stilts so that I could have like a, a tree house. Uh, I remember the first time doing an emergency evacuation, um, uh, er, p test with him because he was an educator and a teacher. And so they used to do fire drills all the time at school. And I think at some point somebody had come and said to him, you know, what's your thing at, at home? And it kind of rattled him, uh, because he had a young family. 

Um, I have a younger sister and so I remember him taking me out and we had uh old storm windows because our house was built in the 18 eighties. So we had these storm windows and one of them had, wasn't fitting anymore. So he took me out and we had to, like he told, showed me how to smash in glass pla uh pans and then put a blanket in to pull out all the shards and make it safe so that I could crawl out. So if I ever needed to get out of my window, I knew how to do it safely. 

And, um, I remember, uh, just before he passed away, um, my sixth birthday, uh would have been uh the 31st of July and he took me, uh hiking. And, um, I've actually taken my daughter on the same hike. I remember being fascinated because we could, uh go up this Morain and there was a, a kind of a valley that sheltered uh a, a big pile of snow. So for me to be able to go and like play in snow on the 31st of July was fascinating. 

I remember we, we hiked up it. And, uh, we had a lunch, like some trail mix or something up there and then came back down, stopped off at, uh, Chief Kicks on highway one on the way in by the Morley Reserve and had a buffalo burger for, for, uh, supper. And, you know, like, and I have tons of memories but him reading the hobbit to me on road trips across Canada, most of his family is back east in Nova Scotia. And so we'd go for, like, you know, to visit family. 

He was, again, he was a teacher. He had the summer off. So we would go for these, these long, long, uh, road trips and they, yeah, I have tons of memories of him, which is amazing. Yeah. And so we're, we're gonna, I wanna fast forward a little bit here. But I'm, I'm thinking like, how, what in the aftermath of that, you know, how did 678 or nine year old Tyler? How do you, how do you cope with that? 

And, you know, I imagine, you know, friends and, and schoolmates and things like that. Like, how did they react to that? Well, I think they were too young to really fully understand it. 

You know, I remember one, uh, like bully school, bully, um, picking on me because I didn't have a dad and I was self aware enough to know that he came from a family of divorce and I'm like, my dad was taken from me. Your dad left and, oh, man, looking back, I feel really, like 43 year old me, feels bad about it. But at the time, like, I've always been, um, very observant in the world and I don't know if that's because I grew up in theater and I, like, I've, I've always been like an old soul. Um, and I, I, you could just see, like the inner workings and this was, I would have been about 10 years old at the time. And uh, I, that kid, yeah, I, I, I cut him down real quick. 

The funny thing is me and him ended up becoming friends. Like we like through uh junior high and high school, we, we really kind of bonded like he kind of, he ended up kind of becoming a protector of me. Not that I needed one. Like I was always, the funny thing is I was always the, the really small kid. I was the runt of the litter. 

But, um, uh I was always very popular so I didn't, I didn't really get bullied and I think when I stood up to him, he realized that he didn't need to bully me and, and I don't know, it was, yeah, but the, I think the kids didn't know how to act and being that young. I didn't really know how to process it. I didn't actually, uh really grieved my father's passing until uh June of the sixth grade. And it was triggered by winning the top student award in uh in elementary. Um I, you know, there was a, a few of us and we were all sons of teachers. And so we were all very scholastically inclined. And I think me, myself, I think I was, again, didn't realize it at the time, but I was trying to make my father proud of me, um postmortem kind of thing, you know, and I, and I, and I, I, I've always felt that he's always been around like I, I, I, I still feel his presence uh with me. So I was, I think I had something to prove a little bit more. So because the other guys could hide from their dad. 

I've never felt like I've always felt like my dad can see everything that I do, you know. And so I think that's helped with my moral compass too, like your dad's watching you. So if you're gonna be doing this thing, make sure you're doing it like you own, you got to own this thing, Tyler because you're not the only one in the room. And uh and so I think, you know, it really, really pushed me scholastically and I ended up winning this award and it, you know, end of year um assembly there, all the parents got invited and there was just this, you know, the, the gymnasium was packed and they seat you, you know, the younger kids are in the front and when you're in grade six, you're the big kids. So you get to sit at the back, sitting with my friends, you know, it was Liam and Dave and, and, and uh you know, we were all sitting around and I remember Jay leans into me. 

He's like you won the award and I'm like, how do you know he's like, I can read your name backwards on the certificate and I'm like, if you could read my name backwards, you're smarter than me. You won the award, you know, kind of thing. And then sure enough, they, they call my name. And as I stood up to walk around the edge of the gymnasium, all the parents were lined up along the side and my mom was sitting there and she was like, all happy and she was crying and as she walked down and I, as I walked past her, the seat beside her was empty, I don't know why the seat was empty. I, you know, it, it just didn't matter, but I, I, I saw it and I remember thinking to myself, you know, seeing my mom, first of all, being so overwhelmed with pride and, you know, she had the really happy tear and she's, she's clapping for me and then seeing this empty chair and being like, huh, there's nobody sitting there. 

My dad should be sitting there. My dad isn't here to see this. My dad won't see me get this award. 

He's not gonna see me commence from grade six. He's not gonna see me. And I just went on this thought train that left the station like it was a Japanese commuter and it just, and that bullet train did not slow down. And so, you know, my father's not gonna see me graduate high school, he's not gonna see me graduate university. He's never gonna see me get married, he'll never meet his grandchildren. My father is gone. And like, and that just the weight of it just hit me. And so I, I started crying on my way up. 

Everybody thinks I'm crying because I'm happy I'm crying because I'm having an existential crisis. I can't even, I, to this day I still have the certificate and you can see the, the tear stains on the, on the lettering, uh, because they, I cried onto the certificate anyway, on my walk back. I realized that the chair actually wasn't empty that, that it was occupied and you just couldn't see the person sitting in it and that I think was kind of my first thoughts on this but your father's always gonna be with you paths. Yeah. Yeah. That, that's quite something. So moving into, to your teen years, you had an incident that left you medically paralyzed at the age of 17. 

Yeah, New Year's Eve, 1996 I was the designated driver for all my friends going to the different parties and, um, I was in a band, so we played a New Year's Eve gig. Uh, got everybody home and then I went to a couple of after parties and made sure everybody kind of got to where they needed to be came home, fell asleep, probably about four AM. Woke up as you know, most teenagers do to the smell of bacon. Upstairs mom cooking New Year's Day and it was probably like 10 or 11, um, tried to get out of bed and, you know, have you ever, have you fallen asleep on your arm? And, you know, you get the numb and then you have to, like, shake it in and then all the nerves fire and it's like you're like, oh, but just before the pins and needles, that rubber arm feeling where you have, like, you can move it but you can't feel it and the movement is exaggerated because it's rubbery. Right. Yeah, I got out of bed thinking that I just slept weird, which by the way it ends up. 

I did do, I did sleep weird on my neck and, um, I couldn't feel my arm. I couldn't feel my leg and I figured I'd just like rubber arm, shake it out. Yeah. Yeah. Shake it out and get back. Never came back. So I, I had this weird pre ambulation going up the stairs and mom could hear me kind of doing this weird thump, walking up the stairs and I started brushing my teeth and she's looking at me, she's like, what is wrong with you? And I'm like, what are you talking about? And when I move my head, I drooled a little bit over onto my chest and I looked down and I had toothpaste pouring out of my face and all down my chest and I couldn't feel it and it wasn't until it got over here that I'm like, what is wrong? And then I'm looking in the mirror, I'm like, what is going on here? And I couldn't, uh, close the left side of my, all the whole left side of my face just drooped and it was like, just it hung. And, uh, and mom's like, are you drunk? Like, no, mom, I didn't drink us the D D. She's like, no, but really thought, are you high? What's wrong? What did you have last night? 

I'm like, I just, I didn't do anything. I drove, I, I drove and, you know, we played the gig. I moved the drum set and then came back and that's it. 

Um, and that's when she realized like, hey, my eye was doing this weird thing too, like my eye wouldn't shut. So I'm blinking out of the one side, but the other eye is like hanging like this and she's looking, she's like, Tyler, we got to get you to the hospital. And so we went and they run a whole bunch of tests to this day. 

They don't know what happened. Like, they don't know if it was a stroke, mini stroke, palsy. Um What was the other thing? Somebody said, I can't remember some kind of nerve something. 

The best hypothesis is that I slept weird and was exhausted. So then I just, you know, I, I pinched a nerve and a blood vessel on my neck and it built up pressure in my head and because I was pinching the nerve, there wasn't an auto response to like, hey, move and it, and I had the paralysis. It took over a year to, um, to get the rehabilitation for it and to rehab to the point where I could functionally look normal ish. 

Again, I still, I had, you know, actor, I have pictures. I used to be really, really symmetrical, like really symmetrical and I, I lost that 17. Not anything horrible, but it's the kind of thing that I noticed. Like I noticed, I smile bigger to the one side. My eye drove still a little bit. 

Just things are just, they didn't get back 100% but 98 was good enough. Yeah. Yeah. So your leg doesn't really work but you can still somehow put some weight on it and stand or, or Yeah. So I could same with when, when you've done that numb thing with your arm, you can shake it but you can't feel that it's happening. Right. Right. Yeah. So I had like no sensory input. 

No sensory input whatsoever. It was really creepy too because when I was doing the rehab, the doctors would take this little pin wheel thing and roll it over my forehead and roll it over different parts of my body. And it was very hemispherical and you knew when it would happen. So. Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow. 

As they're running across the right side of my forehead and literally as it crested the bridge of my nose, it, it would disappear. Like you couldn't, I could see the movement of their hand over it and I could see the pinwheel and the little instrument going over. Um But the other thing is too, like I literally, I could have put my hand on a, on a hot burner and not felt it. Yeah. Yeah. Which is really, really um disconcerting. 

So, man, how does that spoil like your, your teen years like going into going to graduation and whatnot, senior in high school and a lead in the, in the, in a musical and I had to withdraw from it. Um uh I, I was lucky I had a really good social circle. Um But even that like that those first two weeks were really literally and metaphorically dark. I, I growing up in the theater took a lot of comfort in a black box because that's how your stage starts, right? 

Starts with a black box. So I actually painted my room which was on the exterior of the house. It was in addition to the house. So it was four concrete walls that were outside of the original structure of the house outside of the foundation. And I painted the whole room black because I was a teen and that was cool. Right. So, so for two weeks, I kept waking up in this cold dark room and it was Christmas vacation. So none of my friends and I went to a fine arts high school that was outside of my hometown. So I only came home, I, I billeted for school, so I only was home for Christmas. All my friends were in a different town. And so I didn't, you know, nobody could come visit me and I couldn't drive. 

I drove a 1984 Honda Accord. That was a standard five speed standard. So I, and I, so I could kind of make the clutch work, but I didn't know if I was actually hitting the pedal. So I ended up like it was, it was so weird. So weird, just trying to learn how to do things. 

I had to eat liquefied foods because solids would like fall out of my mouth. So I had to drink liquids, but then I had to like hold my mouth shut to be able to swallow. I had to sleep with an eye patch because, um, I, I shut my eye like all of those things became really bizarre and yeah, I had to withdraw from the plate. But I, and I didn't like going to school. 

I was really self conscious of how I looked. I hated laughing because I'd make this sound out the, the corner of my mouth and, and what's worse is my friends. They were, they were the greatest humans on the planet and they were assholes at the same time because they would, they would make me laugh purposely just to hear me and then they would laugh at my, and then I would laugh, it was just as vicious. But I, I like it that they, they still, like, loved you and cared for you kind of thing. Exactly. Exactly. No. And, and I, and I, to this day I'm still friends with almost all of the people that I went to high school with. 

Um, and we are still in contact and I don't know a lot of people, I, I just have my 25 year, um, graduation reunion thing and I don't know many people who still know a ton of people and, and, and our regular communication too like it. Uh, we did the reunion and it wasn't like, hey, I haven't seen you in forever. I was like, hey, I wasn't it cool. We did that thing last week, you know. 

So, um, that's, that's unusual, especially because we're all very geographically diverse. A lot of people went on to do some really cool things. So, we have people who live in Thailand Australia um Dubai, you know, various places in the States all over Canada. So I, you know, I had a good social group that got me through, but I did stop going to um class in person. 

The nice thing was in 1997 we had the internet and they were really starting to explore it as an option for distance learning. So I was one of the first people to take distance learning over the internet and complete my high school. The downside is I didn't actually end up graduating from the Alberta High School of Fine Arts. As per my plan, I ended up getting a, a G E D which sucked. Yeah, I still say I graduated from the Alberta High School of Fine Arts. Um but if somebody wanted to really, really look, I didn't because I didn't have all the performing arts credits because I had to withdraw from the final show. Right. Right. So, yeah, but you, you, you gradually um got, got this sort of ability back. Did you have to go through some kind of rehab or how did, how did this ability or did it start to gradually come back? Like what? Because our brains are really amazing? 

Yeah, it, it was gradual. Um And that was actually one of the beautiful life lessons that came from. It was uh incremental change and um you know, being able to have milestones for progress and um having goal setting for what you want to, to do. Like all of those things came really young to me. 

At 17, I had a uh an amazing medical team that was helping me out, led by uh doctors, Bob and Joanne Corbett. And they, oh man, they took care of me physically, but they took care of me mentally. And at a time when that like 1997 nobody was talking about mental health, Bob was on top of my mental game. 

You know, I was so frustrated in those first couple of weeks and months because they couldn't diagnose what I, what had happened. And I remember having a conversation with him in his office where he said, well, think of the blessing. That is I'm like, what blessing you don't know what I have and I, my face doesn't work. You know, you're 17 with a broken face and he goes, yeah, but Tyler, if, if I told you right now you had a stroke that, that's what it was the diagnosis for that is limiting for you because that means your face will never work again. And I went, oh, ok. Right. Right. And he said, but we don't have a diagnosis for you. 

You don't know what happened, which means you have infinite possibilities of how to make something better happen. I am not limiting your recovery. All we're doing is limiting your understanding of what happened. Do you need to know exactly what happened? No. Do you need to know that you can get better. 

Yeah, that's your gift. And it was the way that he reframed things like that for me, including like he would take progress pictures for me because I didn't feel like I was making it appropriate. He would run a pinwheel over my head and I would feel it and then I would, but he started like drawing a little line. So he'd go up real, real slow. Where do you feel it? And then he would like, you know, little felt marker on my forehead. And then he took pictures and gradually over time that wine did start to move and, you know, um pressure grip things, you know, how, how many kill Pascal could I squeeze a thing? 

Grew over time, my ability to open and close my eyes and my mouth, like within about a month and a half, I was able to close my eye again, which was super cool because then I didn't have to look like a pirate going to bed. Although that, that itself has, is kind of cool. It, it had, it had its novelty for about the first week and I would go ya mother. It's just time for me to take my restitution, you know, and it was fun and then it stopped being fun. And then I, because the other thing is too, like, I have a really small head. 

I, I wear a youth flex fit hat. You, that is designed for 12 year olds. I put that as an adult human, I wear that to this day. So even trying to find an eye patch that actually fit proper was actually difficult. I had to get a custom fit eye patch at 17. That sucked. Yeah, I mean, although it makes for a good story now. 

So, yeah, I still have it. It's great for my Halloween costume. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. So, you, you took all of this adversity and were somehow still able to move forward and got to the place where you're delivering keynote um speeches. And you're, in fact, you've talked, have you only talked on the stage naked once I say only like as though like what's wrong with you, Tyler? Why don't you do this like every week? Why is this not Wednesday for you? Um Well, uh yeah, I just did it the once I will do it regularly, I probably am speaking in some format 202 120 days a year. Um on big stages, probably 3 to 4 times a year, doing smaller presentations and uh keynotes for corporations, probably another 10 to 15 times a year and then doing things like this. Uh You know, a lot, a lot. Yeah. Yeah, I did, I did 100 and 50 podcast appearances last year and I think you've probably dwarfed that or, or Yeah. 

Yeah, but not by much. Only by about another 200 appearances. Ok. Yeah. So only, yeah. So basically one, at least one a day. So I, yeah, I actually, and not one a day, I usually do three a day, five days a week. I'm ok. I'm, I'm on either a podcast or radio or doing some kind of TV interview. Yeah. Yeah. And I think, I think that's, um, there's a lesson in that, you know, people would look at, you know, for example, your book and you have a number one best seller and some people are like, what does that even mean these days? 

And, but it's like, well, not much. Yeah, I got a number one best seller. Cool. I was on the charts for a week on this obscure book chart somewhere, you know, but we still get to say it. So um yeah, but it, it's the, the point is like you put in the work to, to make this happen, you know, I think maybe that's even like kind of a, a thread that just runs through your story and, and all the averse that you faced and work to overcome. Like you, you put in the work to, to make this happen to get to where you are today. And there wasn't really an easy shortcut, but I like to say I've never met a remarkable person who had an easy life. Yeah. No, but, and the, the thing is, is I the, the great news for anybody who's listening is nobody's had an easy life. 

Which means we're all remarkable human beings. You know, and I think that's, you know, that's one of the things that I try to teach with the book and with my courses and seminars and live training. Everybody has a story and everybody can learn from everyone else's stories. 

You know, it just depends on what lesson you need to hear at the time. Which is why I say the thing you're afraid to say is likely what your ideal audience needs to hear because you don't know what seems insignificant to you. Even if it's insignificant at the time could have profound impact on somebody else because they need to hear, hey, that, you know, I look back on, you know, 17 year old me, I don't, I don't even, it's, it's a thing. 

It's a blip in my past. It's not until I have to discuss it and highlight it that I go, you know, what good on you, Tyler, like you could have given in, you could have given up, you know. So, and I think that's a really fascinating point because I think just in, in, in my own, like the nutrition coaching part of what I do. Um I remember a few years back, I just felt so like, compelled to tell my story, but I was also so terrified to do it because there was this assumption that once people hear this, like all my friends are gonna ditch me, they're gonna find out that I'm a fake. 

They're gonna find out all these things about me. All my clients are gonna leave me and, you know, just my world is gonna come. Maybe my wife will leave me because she'll be so ashamed that I'd like told my actual story of struggle and overcoming and the irony is like the exact opposite happened. Um It, it just, the, the response was almost overwhelming. Like I didn't, I didn't, almost, didn't really know what to do. But it just, you know, to this day, like my, my clients say to me like you're real, you're human, you get it. And it's like, that's so, so, so important and, and, and because like social media filters our perspective on reality to think that like, we're all living these sort of perfect flawless lives and, and, and, and so on. 

I don't even want to live a perfect flawless life. Like I like having challenges and obstacles and things. Like, it's what makes life interesting, but just telling that story, I remember just like sweating and shaking when I clicked post. Like I probably sat for 10 minutes with my finger, like hovering over the most being like, uh you know, and, and you know, and then I was like, fine, I just, I don't want this to be a secret anymore. I don't want people to find out. Uh Not on my terms. 

I want people to understand my path. So that's the real key too because the informa particularly right now the information is out there when you tell your story, your way, you control the narrative. And I think that is, that's, that's taking the power back too. Like, and I'm not asking, I'm not telling people to expose their deepest darkest secrets. You know what I'm saying? 

What I'm saying is say what's real and raw. Like how did you get here and don't sugarcoat it and don't, don't try to put the Instagram filter on it. And that's one of the reasons that I absolutely love the before and after with you. You know, because you, it it's real easy to look at those two photos and go. This is how this came to be. 

I remember doing 75 hard um over COVID actually. Um and uh because, you know, everything shut down February and I, like most people got very sedentary because I couldn't go anywhere. And between February and May I put on £15 which for me is unheard of when I was working on the miracle. The movie the miracle, I was doing um special skills as a goaltender. OK? And so I got to go and do all the training camp stuff. 

Part of my contract was they wanted me to put on £15. So at the time I was about 100 and 30 I float between like or no, it was more than that because I was like 1 31 35 they wanted me to get up to 1 55. So they wanted me to put on £20 and I it was in the contract like it was a target weight and uh after, because we were doing Dryland training for like six hours a day plus two hours on ice and then doing like script work too. And uh yeah, I was, I was, I, I dropped down to like 1 22 which is uh unhealthy. I was lean, oh, man, I was a lean 1 20. 

I, you could, I felt like marble like you touched me. I was like, just like no fat left in your body. Yeah. And they're like, well, I guess you're gonna need to do steroids. 

I'm like, I guess you're gonna need to figure out a different solution. I'm not gonna do this dry lab stuff. I'll do all the on ice activity. But like, uh, like once we got everything balanced and, and then I was eating like a ton of calories too. 

Like, I was like 600 or 12,500 calories a day of eating. At that point. I was so tired of it. I hated food. I hated food in a, not in a, I don't want to eat but in a can I slow this pace. Like there's only so much chicken, uh, the human body. Right. Right. Right. And it was a movie. It was, you know, the movie so they were feeding me really well and I had a very varied diet so I appreciate it. But just, just trying to consume that amount was just a lot. But anyway, they tried to make me gain this weight and the most I got up to was like 1 41 42. So to, to see the scale actually hit 1 55. I remember laughing. I was like, I made it all I had to do was do nothing for three months. But Netflix and eat chips and here you are. So I, I was like, no Foley. You how to reverse this? You can't do this. So I did 75 hard. And I remember taking the biggest challenge for me was 75 hard was actually taking the selfie, remembering to take a selfie. 

I had to actually put a reminder in my phone, take a selfie. So I'd get out of the shower in the morning, take my selfie, call it a day. And um I remember looking at the, as you pointed out that those before and after photos, it was a little bit of a change, you know, physical difference. I also grew up massive beard. I don't normally have a beard. This is for a role. Um I, I'd grown this big huge, you know, duck Dynasty beard over COVID two because I just stopped shaving and uh because it was my chance to experiment because he was going to see me and, uh, I can't grow a beard very well. 

That, that proof is right here on my face right now. And, uh, so I, you know, the before and after I have this, the, before I have this big beard and I've got a little bit of a gut and then the after I'm clean shaven and, you know, a little bit more of a six pack, which is my typical me and, but what they don't see is the, the, the dedication it took for those 75 days, two exercises a day. One of them being outside doing the reading, drinking the, with, oh God, drinking the water. I know what Andy FCI was thinking when he put that challenge together, but four liters of water a day is obnoxious. Well, it, it's also potentially, you know, potentially harm. Yeah. Yeah. Most people don't require that unless they're, you know. Yeah. You know, you, at that point you're like, you know, keep your salt in. 

Take up because, yeah, hyponatremia is no joke. Yeah. No, no. And, and the funny thing is, is that I've actually suffered from it twice where I've been exercising so much, eating so little and, uh, trying to stay hydrated by just drinking water. That, um, I actually ended up in the hospital twice with them thinking that I had meningitis because all the symptoms, all the symptoms of, uh, the hypoxia are the same as, as, um, men meningitis. So. Right. You, you have a tingling skin, everything compresses, your muscles don't work. 

Um, your body starts to shut down the second time that I had it. I actually couldn't form words. They, they were really worried about me and I remember being, that's one of the most terrifying moments of my life is like, please don't let me be trapped in my body and have my mind functioning. This is horrible. That's a nightmare scenario. Yeah. No kidding. Well, man, there's so many more interesting things to, to discuss. 

You clearly have a lot to share. So I think uh I'm glad that you're speaking so many times a year because uh the, the world, the world gives a little more of you. Uh, maybe a little less of you when you do your next naked, talk less clothing anyways, you know. Um I, I'm looking forward to, to hearing about that and if, if you're doing it somewhere in Alberta, let me know because I, I'd love to attend, that'd be, that'd be fun and I will be, I'll be cheering and whistling and, and whatever else because I think it'll be fantastic. Cat calls are appreciated. Yeah. Um, just one more time. Uh, where do people locate you if they want to learn more about you? 

Um, best place to find me is on my website. But before they go there, John, I would ask if they're listening to the before and after um uh that they give you a five star review. Like, you know, they're, they're on the platform right now. They're, they're listening to you, they're watching you. Um You are obviously bringing them here for a reason. 

There's content that they're enjoying. And a lot of people don't realize just how important it is for them to leave you a review. It's not for you, it's actually for them because if they leave you a review, then you know what content is resonating with them, what guests they really like, like who do you bring on next? Um And so it's, it's incumbent on them. 

If they want to have better programming from you, they want, they do themselves a favor and give you a five star review. So if they're willing to give you a five star review, then they can come over to because they're on it right now. So hit pause like I'm not, I'm not saying later. I mean, right now, hit pause, come back after you've left the review and now that you've done that uh come on over to Sean Tyler Foley dot com. Remember Sean is the proper Irish way? S E A N T Y L er F O L E Y dot com. 

If you hop over to that website, uh click on the main landing page, it's the first thing you're gonna see. Join endless stages and if you come to endless stages that way, um Endless stages is my free Facebook group where I go live every Tuesday at noon, Pacific three Eastern time. And I do a 20 minute live presentation every Tuesday on whatever happens to be the topic of the week from the group. So I encourage everybody to be active in the group so that they get the right training that they need. 

I'll also give you a free PDF download of my number one best selling book The Power To Speak Naked. And uh we'll give you access to my drop the mic speaker trainer series for free. Uh So all of that is gifts to your audience but only John if they hit pause right now, give you a five star review and let you know what's working. That's amazing man. And if people were to take one nugget away from this conversation, what would you like them to take away? 

Oh, you have a story, you have a story and you have no idea of the impact that it would have until you tell it. And uh you know, we're never alone in our struggles even when we feel it, somebody will not have gone through the exact same scenario as you. But somebody can definitely empathize or sympathize with where you're from because of their own experience. And it takes the brave soul to speak up to find that community of like of, of individuals who have gone through the similar scenario. And by sharing your story, you become the leader, you also control the narrative. So don't be afraid to say the thing that you're afraid to say, it's likely what your ideal audience needs to hear. Love it. Thanks so much for joining me today, man. It's been an absolute pleasure. Thanks for having me, John. Thank you so much for tuning in to between the before and after. If you've enjoyed this episode, please like share, subscribe or leave a review because that helps this podcast to reach and inspire more people. I love exploring the stories that take place between the before and after the powerful experiences that shape who we become. And I love human potential. I love the possibilities that lie within us. So whatever you may be up against, I hope these stories inspire you because if you're still here, your story is not done yet. So keep moving forward. Anyone can come from any place of Brokenness and destitution and build an amazing life.