Kelsi Sheren: Fighting for Freedom of Speech

Chris Albert 00:00:02 (link to this point)

Kelsi, welcome to the Warrior Soul podcast. How are doing?

Kelsi Sheren 00:00:06 (link to this point)

I'm great. Thank you so much for having me. It's good seeing you again.

Chris Albert 00:00:09 (link to this point)

Yeah. Great seeing you too. We we were able to meet up down in Texas a few weeks ago where we did the Warrior Angels Foundation four by four by forty eight, and it was an absolutely awesome event. I mean, like, was so tired during the whole thing and a lot of pain, but I came back from that like kind of sky high because the people down there were amazing. The event itself was amazing.

And it was just really great to meet people like you and so many other awesome people down there.

Kelsi Sheren 00:00:39 (link to this point)

Yeah. It was a really special event. It's funny you bring that up. Like, it's obviously where we met and it was such a heartwarming event on a lot of levels. I talked to Bill Anthony's yesterday on the show about it.

And we had this conversation about being at that event, there'll never be another one like that. Be stuff that gets better and better, but that was the first of something that was really special on a spiritual level, on a connection, human connection level. And it was a a real privilege to get to be a part of that weekend.

Chris Albert 00:01:11 (link to this point)

Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, like, whole thing was just special. And and, yeah, you're right. I mean, like, there there'll be there'll be other ones.

There'll be bigger ones. There'll be better ones. But that first one was just it was just such a special thing to be a part of and seeing all the love down there and actually, you know, being in people's presence, there's just something about that. Yeah. You know, I've I've listened to so much about you.

I've I've heard you first time I heard about you was on the Jocko podcast. You went on there, you went through your story, which is absolutely amazing and and I'll say horrific in some instances, and and you've been through so much with with with everything. But, you know, you've you've also triumphed and, you know, you're you're you're in business. You've got Brass and Unity going on. I have I have my bracelet.

I actually took it off for a second because I was doing some things here with my wrist and the and the the nine millimeter round was getting into my joint. But I love the bracelet. Oh, yeah. And and everything that you've been doing. And you actually gave a bunch of those out when we were down at the event.

But, you know, you've been up in Canada. Right? And what's been going on this this year with you guys? I know your business has grown like crazy, but there's also been some other things going on. You wanna kinda get into that?

Kelsi Sheren 00:02:39 (link to this point)

Yeah. So I yeah. I've I'm I'm glad you listened to that episode. I'm glad you could listen to it while it was up. I appreciate that.

Thank you. Yeah, I have a story like every other person in the world, right? I just got an opportunity to tell it. I got an opportunity to work with some people and I'm really fortunate to continue to have those opportunities. But yeah, for me, the country in Canada, it's its own thing right now, right?

I'm Canadian. I'm a Canadian veteran. I served as a Canadian artillery gunner on the M777s, deployed as a gunner and end up doing some other stuff with some other countries. And so, you know, I've always been really lucky to have my background to kinda steer myself through business and into business. And I really didn't have a plan to become an entrepreneur.

And Brass and Unity really came out of healing and needing a need to heal myself and feel like I could help others. And so the reason we gave those bracelets out at the event was because we wanted people to feel unified and connected. And because that's what I not only stand for, but that's what I started my company for. I want people to feel like they're not alone so that they don't ever think that suicide's an option. I always want them to know that somebody's got their back.

And I just do it in a very unconventional way. Unfortunately, because of the ways that I do things unconventionally and the state of the Canadian landscape, political nightmare, whatever you wanna call this, draconian dictatorship. There's, you know, there's plenty of words we could use here, my friend. But because of the way that Canada is being, people like me are not really loved by people like the government or people like traditional media. We we stand for something different.

We stand for something called freedom. We stand for no bigotry, no separation, no hate, no no division. I my god. When you're in the military, you serve alongside everyone, all kinds. And it's a collective of of a group of humans that don't see color or anything like that.

We make jokes than we are, you know, but there's unification and love within that. And then when you get out, when you are now amongst civilian population, feels like at least, you know, a lot of people don't think the way we think or because they haven't had those experiences, they can't understand quite enough. And so when things like freedom of speech come up or things like the right to leave the country come up or to choose what to do with your own body come up, I'm deemed as, you know, a hateful person, which is the last thing I would ever wish or I'm not for that. And reject that idea and I reject that sentiment that Brass and Unity is anything but a supportful company. And in Canada, unfortunately, if you speak ill of what's happening and just our freedom of rights being taken away, then that doesn't bode well for your company.

It doesn't bode well for things. So we've gotten out ahead of it as much as we can, but there's new bills put in Canada that most Canadians don't even realize are happening. There's a new bill called bill c bill bill c 11, and it covers censorship over social media and and media in Canada, and Canada's media is statewide. So if they don't understand it, then they can't understand it. They just say, oh, well, shadow banning.

That's not no. You have no idea the reach. Right? So for us, Canada's been different, but I've been very fortunate to have a lot of American organizations and a lot of American friends, a lot of American podcasts who have kind of welcomed and embraced, you know, what we do and who we're trying to help and how we're doing it, you know? So I've been really, I mean, I've been really lucky.

I mean, look at me sitting here with you, right? So yeah, that's where we're at.

Chris Albert 00:06:35 (link to this point)

Well, you know, and that's the thing that kinda boggles my mind because because you're a person who served their country, sacrificed a lot for your country. You know, if you do go and check out Kelsi's interview and the Jocko podcast, learn about her story. She she's with the Canadian Canadian army and then actually got deployed and was was, in Afghanistan with British troops. Right?

Kelsi Sheren 00:06:58 (link to this point)

Yeah. Jocko took it down temporarily to do some editing on it. So I would say if you wanna hear that kind of story, can go on to Lex Lex Fridman's is up and you can watch it on YouTube or anything like that. I've spoken about it there or even, you know, plenty of shows I've had that conversation on, so.

Chris Albert 00:07:14 (link to this point)

Awesome, awesome. But yeah, I mean, like, you are definitely somebody who's been out there. You know, you put your life on the line alongside people of all races, cultures, creeds and everything. And, you know, your company is based around love and healing. And to think, you know, I with this whole Elon Musk trying to buy Twitter thing, I saw a tweet.

Kelsi Sheren 00:07:38 (link to this point)

Oh, yes.

Chris Albert 00:07:39 (link to this point)

Right. And the tweet said something like, don't get how Elon Musk is in favor of freedom of speech when he called the most progressive leader in the world a dictator.

Kelsi Sheren 00:07:52 (link to this point)

And because he is.

Chris Albert 00:07:53 (link to this point)

That's the reality. Is. And and that's the thing. I can't I can't believe that that people are either, like, being hoodwinked or they're purposefully hoodwinking themselves not to see this.

Kelsi Sheren 00:08:04 (link to this point)

No. They're listen. It's it's a I go between frustration and understanding because there's a lot of people, there's a subset of individuals who just for no fault of their own, they wake up and they turn CBC on, or they wake up and they turn Global News on, or they turn CTV on. And those are the media outlets in Canada. That's it.

We don't have like a CNN and a Fox and a da da da da da. We have one, and it is publicly and very well known funded by the media, the by the current government. So the media with whatever government is sitting is the one who funds the CBC and people like that. And so, of course, of course, you're not going to see that in the media. The only things you're gonna see in Canada right now are very fear based headlines and conversation.

There is no conversation about unification or support or how do we help the people that are struggling because of the literal dangerous, unhealthy conditions that people were meant to live under? You know, the lockdowns were so severe and, I mean, in so many places in the world, but in Canada, they they have they just haven't really stopped. If I'm honest, they're they took the masks off just a couple weeks ago, and then Ontario reimplemented them again. So the vaxxed passports are gone, but you still can't leave the country without a vaxxed passport. So there is plenty of things that we we're the only we're only country in the globe.

That is the the think about that. We're the only country in all of existence of humanity on this floating rock that can't leave its country.

Chris Albert 00:09:52 (link to this point)

Wow.

Kelsi Sheren 00:09:52 (link to this point)

That directly violates the charter of rights on several, several points. And that's not up for debate. That's not me saying this because I believe in one side of government or the other. That's not up for debate. That's what's happening.

They took bank accounts from people who donated more than $20 to a GoFundMe.

Chris Albert 00:10:15 (link to this point)

Right.

Kelsi Sheren 00:10:16 (link to this point)

That's happened. That's a wartime act in in invoked and put on its citizens. And World War two, it wasn't enacted for three years into World War two.

Chris Albert 00:10:29 (link to this point)

Wow.

Kelsi Sheren 00:10:29 (link to this point)

So that's happening. And when you see that and then you have an individual that's running the country, whomever side they're on Mhmm. Speaking the way he speaks about humans, saying that's acceptable, and this is coming from the leader, and then saying he's going to run for He's already been in parliament for I don't even know how long. And he wants to run again till He's going till 2025, and he wants to go beyond that. That my friends is called a dictatorship.

And if you don't understand one, don't take my word for it. I'm just a podcaster and you know, and a da da da da da Go read a book. Go look it up. Go outside of Facebook and Instagram for information and have that conversation with someone else so you can learn and understand. Because for someone to say that he's not a dictator or isn't imposing dictator type rules, draconian measures on its on its citizens, No.

That's not an argument because that's a reality and a fact. So that's why I speak about it. I don't have an issue of speaking about it because I'm not spewing lies and disinformation like the current administration had currently done on its citizens.

Chris Albert 00:11:45 (link to this point)

Wow. That's I mean, it's in it and it's insane for me as an American to hear about that in Canada. Right? We're not talking about Russia. We're not talking about China.

We're not talking about a vast number of other countries that that could be considered traditionally dictatorships. We're talking about Canada here, which was known to be far more liberal. And and when I say that, I mean, in in the terms of liberal democracy than than even The United States.

Kelsi Sheren 00:12:13 (link to this point)

Freedom of rights. Yeah. Absolutely. And we have I mean, you saw the welcoming he got at the United Nations when he went over. Members of parliament called him out, called him dictators, people who know far more than I do.

And and up and left and wouldn't even sit for his speeches because they're not going to represent themselves, as a free United Nations and then allow an individual like that to speak. Is this just not reality? It's not up to

Chris Albert 00:12:41 (link to this point)

Let me ask you this. So so with your business and and your media platform, what types of things have been imposed on you since all this has happened, and what types of things have you been dealing with?

Kelsi Sheren 00:12:55 (link to this point)

So we just have the basic I mean, listen, I'm not trying to sit here and say, oh, poor me. All I'm trying to say is pay attention because it affects people it affects people that are genuinely trying to do something and it's frustrating, right? So we donate 20% of our net proceeds to different organizations all over the world and help fund organizations that help veterans and individuals who have kind of been dropped to the wayside from the government, from Veterans Affairs. Ours is just as bad as yours. It's the same sort of thing. So we try to help community and bring community.

We don't sow division. So we're not of value to the conversation. So just things like they throttle your social media. They throttle your social media. I'm on my sixteenth current warning on my personal page for things like hate speech and sexual exploitation and all of these things.

And if you go and look at my Instagram, you can see that's the Yeah. And then so But you also Because the government has the new bill in place, they can monitor and handle social media, right? So all of a sudden, February, we got a huge hit of all of our products on Facebook. All of a sudden, we're no longer under the guidelines. I mean, we sell things with like spent casings on them, but all of a sudden things that didn't have those were not within the guidelines.

And it's because they can throttle things like that. They can throttle the websites being direct Like the direction to websites, they can throttle anything they want. And it's their prerogative now, it's the law. And so we try to use VPNs and things like that, but the problem is, you know, predominantly posting from one account from one location. They're gonna it's our I I'm I'm in Canada, so I fall under it.

Chris Albert 00:14:43 (link to this point)

Wow. It it so sexual exploitation? I I mean, I've looked at your page. I don't see where that that that

Kelsi Sheren 00:14:51 (link to this point)

I'm not one of those people that posts a lot of that stuff. I think I have a bikini photo on there. We it was a an NFT. It was an NFT. I have an NFT artist that's one of my favorites.

It's Oak and Arrow at Oak and Arrow, and he's dope. And I posted if you go on there, you'll see the type of stuff he does. I posted one of them and it was a girl. Her nipple was out and it was like a sparkle exploding and her whole face was made of flowers and it was like this kind of psychedelic thing. And I posted it, and someone must, like, taken it down for sexual exploitation.

Chris Albert 00:15:23 (link to this point)

I mean, I've seen I've seen way worse stuff than that Oh, yeah. From, I guess, could say the other side of things. But, yeah, I mean, it's that's insane. That's insane.

Kelsi Sheren 00:15:35 (link to this point)

Yeah. Funny, isn't it?

Chris Albert 00:15:38 (link to this point)

Yeah. How how does the system work there? How does how does the prime minister get elected? How does the parliament work?

Kelsi Sheren 00:15:45 (link to this point)

Yeah. Let's I mean, I wish I was more knowledgeable. I'm definitely working on getting myself better at that. It's not something I actually paid attention to in school. But I know that Honestly, I don't even know that the guy It's hard to even say he has terms anymore because he's won and then he's won again. Then he called the snap election during the Afghan pullout and he's planning on running again. So like, mean, does it matter? And then we had a partnership, I believe, where the conservatives just Sorry, the liberals just partnered with the NDP, which means the government is a Coalition. Government now.

And so there's just been The way that it is run, I don't even know that it matters anymore because the finance minister all of a sudden is very prominent in having these conversations And she's like the mouthpiece. Right? She's the mouthpiece for him when he's when he doesn't wanna have the hard conversation, which is every time. So I wish I knew more, but at this point, I don't know that it would even matter because it does feel like it doesn't matter. They're just they're just gonna do it anyway.

Chris Albert 00:16:50 (link to this point)

Yeah. So I actually I used to be a political scientist. And so

Kelsi Sheren 00:16:56 (link to this point)

Can you help me then?

Chris Albert 00:16:57 (link to this point)

A little bit. So so based on my knowledge, and I wasn't a comparative political scientist, I studied international politics. To my knowledge, the Canadian system is very much like the British system.

Kelsi Sheren 00:17:10 (link to this point)

Yes.

Chris Albert 00:17:11 (link to this point)

Single member districts, first past the post. And when I say that, it's not a majority that that wins. It's it's it's a a plurality that wins the district. The party that has the most members of parliament, they get to form a government. If they don't have a plurality, then what they do is they form a coalition with another party that can allow them to form that government.

And then once he forms a government, the ministers are are then you know, you have in in Great Britain, the minister of the exchequer, which is like the treasury minister Mhmm. That's that has the most power, and then that's followed by a bunch of other ministries. I can't remember them all or anything like that. And then the prime minister is the leader of that government. I'm not so they can call an election whenever it suits them.

Kelsi Sheren 00:18:07 (link to this point)

They can conveniently during the Afghan pullout where there's a media blackout on anything Afghan related.

Chris Albert 00:18:13 (link to this point)

Yeah. Yeah. And and so he's got a lot of different tools that that he can he can use and and push at his disposal. One of the things I think that is of issue up there is that, you know, in in in your charter, the freedom of speech isn't necessarily as codified as it is in in our bill of rights.

Kelsi Sheren 00:18:35 (link to this point)

Right? Right.

Chris Albert 00:18:37 (link to this point)

And and because of that, there is a history of of these types of things being allowed in Canada. But even even with our bill of rights, we've had massive problems with it here in The United States, granted not to the extent that you guys are dealing with up in up in Canada. Right?

Kelsi Sheren 00:18:54 (link to this point)

Yeah. And I mean, listen. A lot of people in Canada don't think they're dealing with anything at all. Right? That's the thing.

They're it's just been done so well. It's been done like with military, like planning precision. Like, it's been done effectively. That's what gets me.

Chris Albert 00:19:12 (link to this point)

Right. And and here's the thing. Like, because I I tend to read the comments on Twitter not because I wanna piss myself off, but because I wanna see what people's psychology is.

Kelsi Sheren 00:19:23 (link to this point)

Mhmm.

Chris Albert 00:19:23 (link to this point)

And whenever, you know, you had the Canadian truckers going on, it was all these people like, all these people are shutting things down. They're they're cause they're just rabble rousers. And and and what it sounds to me like, it sounds to me like, you know, The United States circa nineteen fifties, the way, like, anticommunists were here, McCarthyism, except it's reversed now.

Kelsi Sheren 00:19:47 (link to this point)

It's it's hilarious. It's for it's it's my favorite because when you see individuals, they're like, they are terrorists. I've never seen a more diverse group of age and religion and just everything across the board. Just human beings, like, rallied together. I've never seen it.

I've never And seen The United States can't go a week twenty four hours without burning a city down when they have a protest. And for some reason, we were able to go, like, five weeks. We're still doing it. We still like, you guys don't see it on the media, but we still have protests going on across the country in every every we have one beside my house every weekend because I live on the border. So, like, it's happening.

It's still going on just because you're not seeing it in the media. It's just same reason you're not seeing the stuff that's going on in China right now in Shanghai and how aggressive and just horrific it is. Human by human rights violations you've never seen before. You're not seeing it because it can't get pushed out. And that's what happens when you can control the media.

You can control what gets pushed out. That's why a lot of Americans didn't even understand that there was thousands of native American children that were found in mass graves across the country that the Canadian government and the Catholic church are responsible for.

Chris Albert 00:20:55 (link to this point)

Really?

Kelsi Sheren 00:20:57 (link to this point)

Do you know okay. Do you remember when we were in the circle outside the fire and what's his name? The chief was standing up. Yeah. And he was saying, And this is why the lawyer was here that fought the Catholic church with us.

Do you remember? Like, it was like one of the

Chris Albert 00:21:15 (link to this point)

Chief Phil. Yeah. Yeah. I remember

Kelsi Sheren 00:21:17 (link to this point)

So when was saying, were we sitting by the fire. It was during the day and he came over. He said, this is and and we will never we will never stop saying the names of all of the children that we have lost and that this is the lawyer that has helped us fight fight about it, like fight in court over it. And she was sitting on the bench, and she was oh, she was, like, older lady and all black.

Chris Albert 00:21:38 (link to this point)

Yeah. I do remember her. Yep.

Kelsi Sheren 00:21:40 (link to this point)

Okay. What he was discussing was the fact that there have been mass graves found in almost every province across the country outside of native American residential schools, the indigenous population. When the Catholic church came over to Canada, I think it was in the late eighteen hundreds up until 1997, they went and, with the government, took, indigenous children from their parents, put all the parents on reserves, took the children and put them in residential schools, cut their hair, stripped their identity, and made them become Catholic, and they would never see their families again. And not last last year or the year before, they found the first mass grave of, I believe, over 200 children in Kamloops, British Columbia. And then they found one and then another one, and then they found another one, and they found, like, another one.

And so now there is a day, August 31, is truth and reconciliation day. And that's why the Canadian flag is at half mast for a very, like it's every day for one day for every child and there's thousands. So, you know, it doesn't shock me that things are suppressed because they don't look good. They don't look good. And then when the prime minister on that very first holiday, instead of going and sitting with one of the many, many families of the children that you're supposed to be a leader of that were murdered by the the church and the government, you went on holiday to Tofino with your family.

Chris Albert 00:23:07 (link to this point)

Oh my god.

Kelsi Sheren 00:23:08 (link to this point)

That's So that's just not a leader, man.

Chris Albert 00:23:11 (link to this point)

That I mean, so the idea of that so one, that that's not anywhere out here. I have not heard anything about that.

Kelsi Sheren 00:23:18 (link to this point)

That's what chief Phil was talking about, though. Yeah.

Chris Albert 00:23:20 (link to this point)

That that's insane to me. And and what she was talking about, we we had a a fire at the campsite at the the Warrior Angels four by four by 48. And chief Phil was part of a Native American tribe, I believe it was the Dakota Indians of of Canada that came down.

Kelsi Sheren 00:23:39 (link to this point)

Mhmm.

Chris Albert 00:23:39 (link to this point)

And he he helped us go through ceremonies as we were doing the run, which which and the ceremonies were absolutely amazing. I mean, it's just really healing and and and helped put us in a good mental mindset for the challenge, but that is absolutely insane to me. I can't believe that. I mean

Kelsi Sheren 00:23:59 (link to this point)

Mass graves of babies from the ages five and up.

Chris Albert 00:24:03 (link to this point)

Wow. Wow.

Kelsi Sheren 00:24:04 (link to this point)

And there's a lot of survivors because the they closed the last residential school just in 1997. So there's survivors who are in the residential schools who said that kids would go out to the apple orchard and just never come back. Like, they were heavily abused. Like, it was a terrible situation. Oh my god.

And that's why on our reserves in Canada, most of them don't have clean running water. They don't have clean drinking water. In Canada, they don't. Because they're a second class they're people the government just puts them in a reserve and says, you're a second class citizen and just deal with it.

Chris Albert 00:24:38 (link to this point)

That's I mean, that's insane. I'm watching that the Netflix show right now about Jimmy Savile from from Great Britain, and he was a he was a celebrity out in in in in The UK. And he had, like, he was like the biggest VJ or DJ of the time. And then he had the show called Jim'll Fix It. And like, he was I'm trying to think of who he could probably compare to, like, Johnny Carson.

Okay. Yep. Like that. But like, he what they found and what he he did all this charity work for hospitals, and he would go and he'd be he'd be like a porter for some of the women's hospitals and things like that. And what they found after he died was that he was the most prolific serial rapist Jesus.

Both pedophiliac and necrophiliac in in British history. Like Hundreds of victims, hundreds of victims. And it's absolutely horrible. I listened to one of the victims yesterday. But the thing the reason I'm getting to that is because this idea of being so he was knighted.

Right? He had an OBE, and he was knighted. And this idea of being intertwined with that elite level of being, I mean, it's almost like they have carte blanche to do whatever they want, you know, because of who they are and because of what their beliefs are.

Kelsi Sheren 00:26:10 (link to this point)

Yeah. Absolutely. And then another great example is Russell Williams. He he was the colonel of the Trenton Air Base, and he murdered he's a serial killer. Yeah.

And he's from a very small town, but he was this huge prestigious guy who just thought, you know, and I can do whatever I want, and I can get away with it because of who I am. He was also he's also a sociopath.

Chris Albert 00:26:37 (link to this point)

Yeah.

Kelsi Sheren 00:26:38 (link to this point)

No.

Chris Albert 00:26:38 (link to this point)

That's that's crazy.

Kelsi Sheren 00:26:41 (link to this point)

Similarities.

Chris Albert 00:26:42 (link to this point)

Absolutely insane. And and one of the things, though, is that and and when you said the way the Canadian media system is set up, one of the things that dawned on me is that up until very recently, they can control whatever message went out because it was just the news networks and the major newspapers that supplied the coverage. Now they have podcasts. Now we have social media. Now we have all these different things that they can't get their grasp on.

And that was the case up until, I think, maybe five, six years ago. But now they have their hands so deep with Facebook and and and Instagram and everything like that, that it's kinda like a backlash, and they're grabbing hold of it, like and and and it's worse than it's ever been.

Kelsi Sheren 00:27:29 (link to this point)

The new bill, get this, the new bill in Canada imposes so that an so that Facebook and Instagram have to pay CBC, which is the legacy media in Canada.

Chris Albert 00:27:42 (link to this point)

Wow.

Kelsi Sheren 00:27:43 (link to this point)

So it's like it they're so intertwined. And to pretend that they're not is just it's dangerous. It's dangerous rhetoric. I mean, we're already Canada's already allowing plenty of things. I mean, could touch on don't wanna seem like it's all complaining and it's all negative because that's why people ask me, why are you still there then?

What are you doing? It's like, I served this country once. I'll do it again. And I don't wanna abandon it. I don't want to. I love where I'm from and I'm proud of where I'm from and I'm proud of the people. I've The first time I felt hope, like genuine because COVID was rough on everyone, right? Like, don't get that twisted just because I was me and you were you and so and so.

It hit everyone. Hit people some worse, it's some whatever. But from a business perspective, if you owned a business during COVID or anything like that, that hit. And the thing is there wasn't a lot of hope in Canada. Right?

Because things just got kept getting worse and worse and worse. And then you guys kind of stopped at a certain point, and then we kept going and kept going. And then there was rules, and then you couldn't go here, then you can't go in this restaurant if you're dirty. You know what I mean? Like, if you chose to just not do it, then you couldn't even go in a restaurant up until two weeks ago.

You couldn't go on a plane or a bus or a train at all. So when that started happening, I started losing a lot of hope. And then I remember my husband and I were driving downtown to take our son. What were we doing with him? We were going somewhere like science where we're going downtown to do something.

Right? And I remember I saw all these trucks, all these transports along Highway 176 that goes to the border and a ton of them. But all these people are out of the cars taking pictures of the trucks. I had no idea what was happening. And then my father-in-law goes, did you hear there's truckers going to Ottawa?

And I go, what is happening? And then I started seeing it. And then I was like, oh, fuck. Yes. Finally.

Finally. And I I started bawling my fucking eyes out. Mhmm. I'm not exaggerating. It was it was the moment where I realized I'm not alone in this.

There are other people in this country that don't think this is okay, that I don't have to sit in this sadness. I can be hopeful again. And so when I did the hold the line sign and I posted it, that's when we started getting hit. Because that's when I made it my stance known. And that's when people like Kid Carson, he's been a radio host for over twenty years.

Kid Carson show, Kid also got let go of his job because he spoke in agreement with the protest. And so now he's got his own show and he's doing his own thing, but he's not with the radio anymore because he wasn't toeing the line. And so there's been repercussions if you speak out against this, like don't get that twisted at all. Not just to me, but other individuals. I'm having Kid on to talk about it soon actually.

And he's much larger than I am in terms of shows, right? So for him to see it and then people like us to see it, I mean, they're doing it across the board. But I won't I won't back down on that. I won't. And I and and people say to me, my father-in-law says all the time, are you sure you're ready to take, like, what that means, though?

Like, because you'll lose it all. They'll try to make you lose it all. Fuck yeah. Why wouldn't you? What else are you doing in life?

Right. What else are you willing to stand up for if it isn't everything you put your life on the line for and your business on the line for and everything you've tried to grow? Just not I'm not giving in.

Chris Albert 00:31:32 (link to this point)

Yeah. No. You I mean, you can't. You can't because you're right. I mean, what else is there?

Right? What else is there? If if if we're going to give up all of the things that that that so many of our our brothers and sisters have fought for and died for, and we're just going to hand it over on a plate. I mean, what else is there? What do you what do you it just boggles my mind.

I was watching a video the other day, Russell Brand, who who through this, I think has developed a really great YouTube channel and and is a really great source of new I never thought I'd be saying that. Russell Brand is

Kelsi Sheren 00:32:08 (link to this point)

sorry. Guy. He is brilliant. I wanna talk to him so bad.

Chris Albert 00:32:13 (link to this point)

He is. He's great. He was showing videos of what's going on in Shanghai right now.

Kelsi Sheren 00:32:17 (link to this point)

Oh, dude, it's horrific.

Chris Albert 00:32:18 (link to this point)

Literally, people screaming like a whole city. You could hear them screaming. I mean, the the video of a of a a sanitation worker killing a guy's dog as he's being carted off, because he tested positive for COVID. I mean, that's that's that's insane.

Kelsi Sheren 00:32:35 (link to this point)

I mean We were showing it on the Drinkin' Bros when we were having a conversation. We were showing some videos about it was the day that the New York the subway shooting happened. I was on there and they said, have you seen what's going on in Shanghai? And I said, yeah, have you? And then they said, yeah, pull up a video.

They pulled up the video and it's people screaming at the top of their lungs and people jumping, just jumping. And that's really fucked up. There's bags of animals, bags of them, some alive, some dead on street corners. They're separating kids from family. They're starving people to death.

I wonder how I wonder what people will say when we look back on this seventy five years from now. I mean, I won't be here. Well, maybe, hey, technology, where we're going. Elon's right. He's got the listen.

I got so much hope for humanity now because of that dude. And fucking everybody should. Everybody should. My point is, I wonder though. Yeah.

I think about that a lot. I wonder how people are gonna look back and what they're gonna say and how they're gonna justify it because it will be justified. But how?

Chris Albert 00:33:51 (link to this point)

The tragic thing is that it is that it depends on who writes the history. Right? And and and who wins. You know? Mhmm.

Because since everything's digital now Mhmm. You can change that history like that. I mean, you can.

Kelsi Sheren 00:34:06 (link to this point)

Oh, don't I know it? I I I make a joke that every morning I wake up and check Reddit to make sure I'm a good person. You know? Yeah. Because the the the mob can outweigh the reality, and they can make the new reality.

And I've seen it. I've been I've been on the other side of it, and it's not a great spot to be. But when you know who you are, you have to hold it. You have to hold strong because that shit's you just gotta know the truth.

Chris Albert 00:34:39 (link to this point)

Yeah. No. Absolutely. I gotta ask you this because you're a mother. And and how old is your son now?

Kelsi Sheren 00:34:46 (link to this point)

He's going on he'll be six here in a couple months.

Chris Albert 00:34:49 (link to this point)

What what does he think of all this? And and do you notice the children there? Are are are they paying attention to what's going on? And and and, you know, any of his playmates or anything like that? How how are they handling all of this?

Kelsi Sheren 00:35:04 (link to this point)

I'll I'll be completely transparent with you. We've made it seem like it's nothing to him. We're very fortunate. My husband and I are on the same page about a lot of things. And so instead of during COVID, it didn't really affect him much because he was in preschool age.

So most of the kids stayed at home with their parents during lockdown and weren't exposed to anything. And we sent our kid to forest school where there were no masks and he was outside eight hours a day. And he learned how to build fires. He has a hatchet. You know, I talk about this often.

He's been through adversity. He's learned how to do plenty of things. The one thing he's never learned how to do is wear a mask. And the one thing he's never learned how to do is to act like this is something that he needs to be concerned about. Number one, that is an adult issue because it does not affect kids and we know that.

So let's just go there. Yeah, there's a subset of kids. If your kid is overweight and your kid has leukemia or your kid has diabetes, yeah, that's a different thing. But I'm saying the run of the mill, the run of mill, healthy child, healthy diet, plenty of exercise, low to minimal screen time outside is gonna be just fucking fine.

Chris Albert 00:36:18 (link to this point)

Right.

Kelsi Sheren 00:36:18 (link to this point)

So for him, he was in that program. He never had any of those issues. What's terrifying though, he did go to kindergarten this year and we have had major issues with school because there's individuals and children that have never been socialized, aren't potty trained, going into kindergarten, can't do up their own jackets, can't leave the parent yet because they never have, only wear masks, are afraid when you don't wear one, don't know how to read social cues, and there's been children in his class that have become aggressive and incredibly violent. One kid took a key to another kid's neck. These are five year olds, dude.

Chris Albert 00:36:56 (link to this point)

Wow.

Kelsi Sheren 00:36:57 (link to this point)

Yeah. So I've had the conversation with people on school boards, and it's been very clear and they've stated across the board, they have seen a massive, massive, massive impact on young children, COVID kids, if you will. And you have seen it in the form of dysregulation, in the form of inability to be separated from parents, anxiety disorders, like you've never seen, aggression, just really uncontrollable behavior, behavior that when you impose an adult stressful situation on a very small human that doesn't have the capacity to fully understand the extent. It's a form of child abuse because those children don't have they don't have the tools in their brain to wrap their mind around what you're saying. So you just don't.

We don't have that conversation. And when he says he said, mommy, the the the teachers are taking some teachers are taking their masks off now because COVID's over. I said, honey, COVID was not some never you didn't need to worry about it. He goes, I know. But then there's other kids at the park where when they fall, my son is the first one to run over and go hug someone.

So he did that during COVID and another kid pushed his arms out and was like, Get back, get back. Like, is fucked up.

Chris Albert 00:38:19 (link to this point)

Mhmm.

Kelsi Sheren 00:38:20 (link to this point)

And we've done that willingly to our children and next generation because now they know that when somebody powerful says be afraid, they'll be afraid.

Chris Albert 00:38:33 (link to this point)

Right.

Kelsi Sheren 00:38:34 (link to this point)

Mhmm.

Chris Albert 00:38:34 (link to this point)

Right. That's what was going through my mind while you were talking about all that so and I hate that it was going through my mind is, like, that's how school shooters are created.

Kelsi Sheren 00:38:45 (link to this point)

You know? Worse it is.

Chris Albert 00:38:47 (link to this point)

I mean, like, seriously, I mean, you you desocialize a kid, then eventually they're going to have to face the real world where you need people and you need to be around people. The problem is, you're not able to deal with conflict and you're not able to compartmentalize things in your mind, then you're going to have some crazy ass behavior that pops up over the next fifteen to twenty years.

Kelsi Sheren 00:39:12 (link to this point)

Emotional dysregulation is just out of control. Couple that with overdoing sugar and processed bullshit and Just the stuff of being inside that house for two years for these kids for that were the like, most formidable. What is it? Like, zero to seven is, like, the most formidable ages for tiny little humans. And Mhmm.

Like, two years of that. And if you were a very, like, terrified person or you were overweight and unhealthy and had a ton of comorbidities, you stayed at home, man. Right. And you wore masks everywhere and gloves everywhere, and you were fucking fearful. Or that's just if you believed everything you were hearing, you were like that.

So can you imagine if that was your parent and you were a two year old kid, so two to four, that's all you knew? There's parents out there that I know personally where their kid, when they take their mask off, they scream.

Chris Albert 00:40:06 (link to this point)

Wow.

Kelsi Sheren 00:40:08 (link to this point)

That's wrong to impose that on the next generation.

Chris Albert 00:40:12 (link to this point)

It's crazy. That's that's absolutely insane. That's the scariest thing I've heard out of all of this.

Kelsi Sheren 00:40:18 (link to this point)

Of course, it is. Because at the end of the day, every country did it. Right? To an extent, everyone wore masks. For the most of it, most some of America was like, fuck you.

And I was like, I love it. Florida, man. Yeah. So you were fine. But for for the rest of the world, all their you know, they're gonna see the same things.

We're not gonna see the real repercussions of this on the next generation for a little bit. We're starting to scratch the surface, but we're really not even close to seeing what the developmental delays are gonna be. We know there already are with language because of the eye connection and the mouth mimic the way kids do. We already understand that kids are struggling. And anxiety and depression in in early teens is and hopelessness and all that is skyrocketing in America.

So that's concerning. And anybody who sits there and says it's not is not thinking rationally and logically.

Chris Albert 00:41:12 (link to this point)

No. No. Or they have ulterior motives. I mean

Kelsi Sheren 00:41:16 (link to this point)

Oh, yeah. I'm saying general population that don't have control over kind of the next steps. I'm saying the people that are just like, I listen to the news, and I watch Facebook, and that's where I get my information from.

Chris Albert 00:41:30 (link to this point)

So I wanna ask you this before before we start wrapping up. I mean, the reason we were in Texas was because of the Warrior Foundation and all the work they're doing. How did you come across WAF and how did you get involved in how has that helped you along the way?

Kelsi Sheren 00:41:48 (link to this point)

Yeah. So I was really lucky again. I I kinda alluded to this at the event, you know, through my friend, Griff, the founder one of the cofounders of

Chris Albert 00:41:57 (link to this point)

Awesome guy.

Kelsi Sheren 00:41:58 (link to this point)

Combat oh, I love

Chris Albert 00:41:59 (link to this point)

Griff.

Kelsi Sheren 00:41:59 (link to this point)

Combat Flip Flops. He introduced me to Jesse Gould of Heroic Hearts, and I went and did Ayahuasca with them. And because of them, my life changed. And I always said to Jesse, like, you've got me for life. However, I can help because of what you did for me, same with Griff.

And out of the blue, literally, I get this email and it's with Jesse and with Andrew, Andrew Marr. And Adam was CC'd on it. And they're like, Oh, you two need to talk. And then next thing I was on the phone, I think in December with Andrew, and we were having a discussion about the event. He's like, You know, it'd be great if you could We're doing this thing.

And I was like, Oh, I wanna come to that. He was like, Okay, awesome. Absolutely. Like, come down. So we had it on the books and it was kind of planned out and I started to get to know them more.

And I was really lucky I had Andrew on the podcast and we kind of talked about his life and Dr. Mark Gordon, because I was also using Dr. Mark Gordon's protocol, the Millennium protocol already. So I knew of these people before. And I thought what a what a an incredible opportunity and honor and just to be asked to go participate and do this event with them.

And I said, of course, I have to go do it. And he's like, it's the David Goggins four by four by four by 48. And I was like, alright. Cool, man. I'll just start wrecking.

So, you know, I got ready for it, and I was really I was really touched because that event was not at all what I thought it was gonna be. Right. It blew my mind with how good I felt walking away from it. Nikki as well, my social media girl, she was with me and she goes, That was a different thing. That was something different.

That wasn't event. That wasn't an event. That was a community out of love and unification and wanting better and every single person being pure in their intent. And it was something that was challenging and we all got to suck together. And it was something that was so special that it's going to be hard to, like I said, to do like that again.

It's gonna be done even better, But getting to be at the first one and really connect on a deep level with individuals that were there, the way they did it, that event will forever be one of the greatest, coolest things I think I've ever gotten to go do.

Chris Albert 00:44:26 (link to this point)

No. It was absolutely awesome. It was absolutely awesome. I mean, some of the things they're bringing together there, you mentioned psychedelics. You you mentioned that it changed your life.

And and we talked quite a bit about that here on the podcast. I don't want you to get in specifics because I think the experience gets colored, but in what way did it change you? What did it give you?

Kelsi Sheren 00:44:54 (link to this point)

Ayahuasca for me was more than just a it was more than just an experience. It was the it gave me the opportunity to heal and then do the work. It was just a weekend and a moment that was a privilege to get to experience and helped me heal and see things inside myself and learn things and progress. And it gave me it gave me a a moment to realize that there's more. And it was a game changer in the sense of it also helped me fulfill things that I really were missing in my life, like faith based and community and things that are hard to put into words.

It was it was a it was a restart, a reset. It was a moment for me in time that is gonna be defining for sure a 100%.

Chris Albert 00:45:48 (link to this point)

Awesome. Awesome. Yeah. I mean, that's just that's a whole realm we've got to explore and we've got to give more credit to. And and, you know, I I try to get people to talk about that every chance we get. And and I'm just so excited for all the things. That's one of the things that gives me hope is the idea that these things are out there, that people are awakening to them. I think the more we open our eyes to those, the more we'll open our eyes to the world in the way that it should be.

Kelsi Sheren 00:46:15 (link to this point)

I love it, man.

Chris Albert 00:46:16 (link to this point)

Well, you know, last thing, I just want to thank you because when I first heard your episode on Jocko, I was actually going through a really tough time in my life. I've got autoimmune disease. I was very sick at the time. And, you know, just listening to your story gave me a whole lot of motivation to just try to keep going and kind of change the situation around me. And, you know, since that time, I've I've turned a lot of things around.

And and, I just wanna say, you know, your message is awesome. Your company, Brass and Unity, is awesome. And I really appreciate your passion and and your love for everything that you're doing right now for for, you know, not just veterans in your country, but I think veterans who who who've gone through this whole thing, this whole GWOT thing over the last twenty years. So I really appreciate you, and I just want to acknowledge you for that.

Kelsi Sheren 00:47:11 (link to this point)

Thank you, man. That means a lot to me. I think at the end of the day, all I ever try to do is, you know, talk as vulnerable as I can because I think it helps. And that's if it helps one person, it's worth everything else that comes along with it. And so I'm glad, makes my heart really, really happy to hear that things are getting better for you and that you're turning it around and that you're seeing that you're worth working on.

It's worth having you here, man. So I really appreciate the effort.

Chris Albert 00:47:43 (link to this point)

So, man, that's same is true for everybody out there in the audience too. I mean, like, you guys are all worth it, and and that's kinda what this is about is helping you guys realize that you are. How can people find you? How can people follow you on social media? How can people find your business?

Kelsi Sheren 00:47:59 (link to this point)

Yeah. So the business is brassandunity.com. Anytime you sign up to be on the subscription list, get 30% off. So go do that. We donate 20% of the net proceeds to veteran organizations all over the world.

We work to try to help elevate and talk about them. So the Warrior Angel Foundation was for vet solutions, Heroic Hearts, SOAH, and they do really great things in the psychedelic space, so go check them out, please. But we will also work with people like Defenders of Freedom and Cursianis Foundation and One More Wave and all these great people that are trying to help individuals. So you can see them and all of those types of resources on our website. The podcast is the Brass and Unity podcast.

Social media is Brass and Unity, and mine is Kelsi underscore Sheren on there as well.

Chris Albert 00:48:45 (link to this point)

Outstanding. Well, again, I wanna thank you so much for coming on. We'll definitely get all the links up to to find Kelsi and Brass and Unity and everything else up on the show notes for this episode. And everybody out there, you know, man, we've covered a lot today. I hope that you guys are hanging in there.

I hope that you're fighting for your own freedoms and and, you know, working to make this world a better place. And I hope that you're living your best lives while you can. This is Chris Albert and Kelsi Sheren, and we are out.