Billy Brimblecom: Restoring Mobility Awareness
Positive thinking is one of my favorite topics. It may be intangible, but the value of mastering it knows no bounds...especially at times when the circumstances feel impossible.
As a professional, I am first and foremost a sports broadcaster. I have hosted the Kansas City Royals' pre- and post-game show since 2008. I had a front row seat to the team's electrifying World Series run in 2014 and Championship in 2015. It's an experience I reflect on often in my keynote speeches around the country.
What began as a long-shot wildcard game turned into back-to-back playoff seasons that were among the most memorable of my career. Not because my team was playing, although that was certainly a bonus. But because of how many times the players' positive thinking turned a situation around to secure their position in the next round of play.
Often times, the come-from-behind wins were so incredible that you almost couldn't believe them. Almost. The amount of talent on the rosters those two seasons was something we hadn't seen in a long time. When a game is all but lost, talent alone won't sustain you. Positive thinking will.
I believe wholeheartedly in its power to change a situation and a life...even thousands of them, as was the case for one recent guest on my podcast, Rounding the Bases. Creative energy was out in full force earlier this month when I welcomed a musician who has been rocking for decades. He's sold out shows and shared the stage with legends, but his biggest gig to date was a mission that turned pain into purpose. And he largely did it through positive thinking.
Billy Brimblecom is the CEO at Steps of Faith Foundation. He's also co-creator of Thundergong, a raucously star-studded annual event raising millions to restore mobility.Together, the take a stand for amputees across the country. And turn prosthetics into possibilities, so those in need of a limb never miss a step.
SINGLE: Positively Dreaming
When I was growing up, every kid I knew wanted to be one of two things. The first was a pro athlete. My sports-adjacent dream of becoming a broadcaster was an anomaly. The second was a rockstar. This is what Billy Brimblecom, like so many aspired to be. But unlike the others, he is one of the few who actually made it happen.
From the time he was gifted his first set of drums, Billy has been a student of the arts. As he got older, his musical repertoire grew, as did his interest in other performance mediums. Namely, improv comedy.
It was here that he learned to adapt and adjust. It also brought friends into his life like SNL alum Jason Sudeikis, also known as Ted Lasso. Though funny, he also proved to be one of Billy's most serious champions.
In college, Billy studied to become a jazz musician. He played saxophone, but drums had always been his forte. And in his early 20s, he joined a promising new rock band. They recorded an incredible studio album he was proud to have played a role in and were preparing for a world tour. Better still, they were earning money in the process. He was living his dream.
Then came the car accident.
“That was the first time I cheated death," he said of the experience that not only called for The Jaws of Life, but left him with two broken vertebrae.
As awful as it was, months later he began experiencing ankle pain that turned out to be something even worse. "We thought it was nerve damage," he shared. The actual diagnosis? A cancerous tumor known as Ewing Sarcoma.
DOUBLE: Adapting to Change
A lifetime of studying music and comedy taught Billy a few things about embracing unexpected change. "Improvising is about listening and reacting and adapting," he reflected. "You can't be rigid."
It's a lesson that resonated when his team of doctors made the decision to amputate his left leg above the knee. It was a last-resort move to eliminate the cancer, as well as any chance that it would come back.He became one of the 500 people who lose a limb every day in America, a staggering - and widely unknown - statistic for such a prolific disability.
"Death really wasn't on my radar," he shared. "It [the amputation] was kind of, honestly, the thing I feared most."
As devastating as the loss of his leg was, it marked a turning point in Billy's life. He didn't know it then, but he was suddenly on a highway towards purpose he never could have imagined.
TRIPLE: Finding The Good
Losing a limb is traumatic. But what makes Billy's story so extraordinary is the remarkable grace and positive thinking he shows towards the experience.
"It's a complex memory of being in the hospital and losing my leg initially, just because there was so much good happening in the midst of so much bad," he shared.
Friends from around the country offered support, in person and from a distance. Even more memorable, Def Leppard drummer - and fellow amputee - Rick Allen personally called to check in on him. Not once, but twice.
So when he later learned the prosthesis he needed would cost $30,000 out of pocket, even with insurance, it's no surprise he found a way to turn the situation around.
"My brain naturally tries to make every thing into a positive. Every negative into a positive," he shared. "I have know of always had this 'What do I got to do to get through this' kind of thing."
To get Billy back on his feet, so to speak, his friends rallied to put together a fundraiser. It was a two-night event complete with live music, an auction and comedy courtesy of his improv buddies.
The event raised all of the money Billy needed and then some. It also laid the foundation for the annual rock-and-roll variety show Thundergong that has raised millions for amputees in need.
HOME RUN: Full Circle
Soon after the inaugural Thundergong, Billy's prosthetist asked him for a favor. He was fitting a new patient who had recently lost his leg to cancer, just like Billy did. He hoped Billy - who had a few years of recovery under his belt - would share some perspective.
It was the event that brought everything full circle. Billy left that day inspired by the connection and motivated to find more. Soon after, with the support of the clinic, Steps of Faith Foundation was created.
Now Billy has an opportunity daily to impart hope and positive thinking every day, just like he did years ago. But now, he also has resources to provide the support and life-changing solutions to amputees...the same kind he needed when he was navigating his radical lifestyle change."
I was always ... a purpose driven guy. But boy, did this really submit a whole new purpose for me," he said. "This is a superpower."
Listen to the full interview here or tune in to Rounding the Bases every Tuesday, available wherever you get your podcasts.
Learn More About Positive Thinking from Joel
Book Joel Goldberg for your next corporate event. He draws on over 25 years of experience as a sports broadcaster. In addition, he brings unique perspectives and lessons learned from some of the world’s most successful organizations. Whatever your profession, Joel is the keynote speaker who can help your team achieve a championship state of mind.
Full Transcript
Joel Goldberg 0:03
Welcome in everybody to another episode of Rounding the Bases presented by Community America Credit Union: Investing in You. I'm Joel Goldberg. Got a fun show today. Really cool topic, really interesting guest that I've had the chance to get to know a little bit recently and so I'm excited to share that with you. Shout out as always to my friends at Chief of Staff Kansas City: Making Connections That Matter. Whether you're in Kansas City, around the country, if you are in the job market, looking to hire someone, looking for a resource, I highly recommend that you check them out. ChiefofStaffkc.com My guest today was introduced to me by a former guest from way, way, way, way back when, Jason Holzer, and this is a guy that that is really interesting. I would say creative energy is out in full force today as I welcome a musician who has been rocking for decades. He sold out shows and shared the stage with legends but his biggest gig to date is a mission that turned pain into purpose. Give it up for Billy Brimblecom, CEO at Steps of Faith Foundation and co-creator of Thundergong, the raucously star studded event raising millions to restore mobility. Together, they take a stand for amputees across the country and turn prosthetics into possibilities...so those in need of a limb never missed a step. I am happy right now to be joined by Billy. Billy, how are ya?
Billy Brimblecom 1:49
Good morning. Good. Thanks for having me. And I got to start out by saying you have a logo that is like an illustration of your face. And yeah, I gotta get one of those. It's like a stamp that's like...
Joel Goldberg 2:03
Yeah, I've got I've got I've got a cool little logo with the microphone and the goatee and you know, all that to the broadcast or whatever that means. I hope that whatever one you get is better looking than mine. We'll work on that. Or work on that. Oh, where to begin? You know, when when you and I went out for lunch, or it was coffee, at one point or whatever. And I and I was sort of joking. Like, there's a month for everything. I think I said you and I want to have you on the podcast. I was like, there's a month for everything. Right? Is there a month in? Yeah, April. But I joke a little bit about that. But it's also a point that I think that you know, for for those that have lost limbs, for those in need of prosthetics, for those that have gone through that, I don't know that most of us realize the numbers. And how many people are affected by that, you know, you just maybe in part because, like, if I see you, I may not know that you lost a limb. Oh, he's got a little bit of a limp, maybe. But I would never know. And I'm just curious how much awareness there is. Or lack thereof?
Billy Brimblecom 3:09
Yeah, I mean, I think there's, there's quite a bit of lack thereof. It's, it's one of those things that I think, you know, the bottom line is people don't like to think about disabilities, you know, understandably. It it, you know, it makes you feel, you know, feelings. I think there's a high level of fear, you know, people don't like to dwell on bad things or scary things. So, so I think that's part of like the kind of awareness issue but like, you know, I didn't know any amputees personally at all, and only knew of one before I lost my leg. That was an it was Rick Allen, the drummer for Def Leppard, you know, and so, so, yeah, 500 people lose a limb every day, just in the United States alone, which seems like a crazy stat and is. But it's true. So and that's, that's just in this country. You know, I think I think the highest rate is I don't know the numbers visited in India, you know, so yeah, there's there's a there's a coffee day, there's a pizza day, there's a doughnut quarter, whatever, there's a quarter at least. Yeah, limb loss Awareness Month. So yeah.
Joel Goldberg 4:25
Alright, let's, let's hear a little bit of your background and story and how you came to this place. I'll talk about the music and a very famous best friend. I haven't even mentioned his name yet, because I think a lot of people go there first. And we'll get there later because it's been a great collaboration and in many ways beyond friendship, but tell tell me your story and how you got there. I mean, I know that you had to have grown up absolutely loving music. Or maybe you came to it later. But I mean, music has been your life. You did not expect to be in a position in life where you would lose a limb. Nobody ever does. Or, to take it a step further, to be making such an impact on other people's lives. So how did you get here?
Billy Brimblecom 5:04
Yeah, um, I started, I always loved music I grew up, you know, even as a kid was like a radio kid just like obsessed with listening to the radio. I'm 47, I had to think about that a minute. 47.
Joel Goldberg 5:20
That's when we know, by the way, we're up there. And I've got you by a handful of years where it starts like, what's the difference?
Billy Brimblecom 5:25
Yeah, well, my birthday was just in January. So yeah, 40- fairly newly 47. So you know, growing up in the 80s was like a really a wonderful time for music. And if anything, the recent We Are The World documentary reminds you of like, just the crazy zenith of superstars that there were at that time, that was just a different time anyway. No, always...
Joel Goldberg 5:48
Hold on. I gotta interrupt you for a second. Just because I love tangents. How uncomfortable was was Bob Dylan at that thing?
Billy Brimblecom 5:57
You know what I love I, so that's been like, before the documentary, that whole thing of him seeming uncomfortable, has been a thing that's been around like in in, you know, like memes and gifts and that kind of thing. Forever. And I, it's funny to actually then see the context of it. He really wasn't comfortable. The thing I love about The documentary is they talked about how basically Stevie Wonder was like, No, here's what you sing. Like he mimicked it in his voice. And then it was great. You know, I loved it. I love to also, why was Dan Ackroyd there? I love Dan Ackroyd, why was he there?
Joel Goldberg 6:35
Why was he there? Was he just partying? Was it a Blues Brother invite? Was it like...I don't even know?
Billy Brimblecom 6:39
I don't know. They never they explain a lot of little nuggets, including Al Jarreau having too much to drink. But they don't comment on why Dan Aykroyd was there.
Joel Goldberg 6:48
You know, they there was a lot that like I liked it, but I didn't like it. I mean, it was every bit that I liked was a peek behind the scenes, you know, journey back to childhood doesn't matter whether you liked the song or not. But there's so many artists there's so much superstar power there. I didn't know all the story of and I didn't understand the the massive amount of work that Lionel Richie put in, like I got such a different level of respect for him because forget about the music. To corral all those people, to convince all of it, there's a whole nother discussion. It wasn't intending to go here. But there was so much left undone. It's like, Hey, Billy Joel was there, we didn't see him on and on and on. So who knows, like, maybe there's a part two and part three. Anyway, if you haven't watched it yet, check it out. Because if you grew up like Billy and I in the 80s, it was a really cool trip down memory lane and no shortage of superstars. Anyway, go on with your story.
Billy Brimblecom 7:42
Yeah, no , so I mean, I have to, I have to find this photo. But I have a photo of me actually, the tag to that story, but also talking about growing up loving music. I, I started playing, I wanted to play the saxophone, again, the 80s very hot instrument, the 80s. So I had to play the clarinet for a year, this thing they do for you in band. You know, you know how you get a kid to not be excited about playing the saxophone? Don't let him play it. So nonetheless, I was put on the clarinet. And then in sixth grade, I decided to play the drums. And I actually have a photo, I got the drum set for Christmas, it was my grandma, my grandparents house. And so I have a photo of me playing the drums in my house, like, you know, the day after Christmas or whatever set up for the first time. And it's just a good snapshot of an important moment in my life. But also it's a snapshot of like, an 11 year olds bedroom, you know, and I have a homemade USA for Africa sign, heal the world. Like a homemade I mean, I was into it on my wall. I'll get you the picture. It's ridiculous. But anyway.
Joel Goldberg 8:48
So another set of superstars, by the way.
Billy Brimblecom 8:51
Exactly. So start started playing the drums. When I was yeah 11 And so yeah, and did all band and all that kind of thing and all through through middle school in high school and was also in my, so, when I was 11 that was sixth grade. I also started I was in my first play in school in sixth grade. So So yeah, I grew up loving music, loving Saturday Night Live and, you know, just just that that era of those guys of comedy, Bill Murray, Eddie Murphy, etc. And, yeah, in high school, that I really, you know, that really cemented itself. You know, it's like, I didn't have a whole lot of interest in doing homework, or, you know, much that didn't have to do with, you know, being in a play or playing music but managed to graduate nonetheless, and had a really great high school experience as a result and, and, you know, really created great friendships that I have to this day. And then also, I started in high school I asked my one of my theater teachers I knew she was friends with the owner of Comedy Sportz. Comedy Sportz with a Z at the end, which was an improv comedy club we had here in Kansas City, later became Comedy City. I knew she was friends with the owner and I was about to graduate high school and my mom was like, you gotta get a summer job before you go to college. I was like, Okay. And so I asked Mrs. McClatchy, my theater teacher, if she could see about me getting an interview to be a server at Comedy Sportz, because, you know, to serve pizza and popcorn and that kind of thing. And she did. Then the next day, she was like, okay, here, here's your, I talked to my buddy, uh, ComedySportz. Here's your information. And I was like, oh, for uh, for an interview? She said, no, that's your audition. I was like, you have to audition to be a server there? And she said, no, you have an audition to be in the company to be a performer there. So I was 18. And yeah, I couldn't believe it. I didn't think that, I thought I was too young. And anyway, I auditioned. And I made it in and, and, you know, again, another life changing kind of thing. I, I started in workshop training, you know, being trained to play the improv games, that Comedy Sportz. For those that don't know if you've ever seen Whose Line Is It Anyway, it's kind of like little short form, improv games. Comedy Sportz is, was like that, but had kind of like two teams like they were competing against each other on a sporting format. But yeah, so that was right before I graduated high school, and it was this really crazy thing that really, you know, in retrospect, changed my life. Because then I right as I started college, a few months later, at KU, to study jazz music, I was, you know, I was being trained and actively performing as a musician, playing jazz music, playing the drums, and doing these improv comedy shows. So it was really like, I was improvising over two different art forms, at 18. And I realize now as a grown up that just how impactful that was on me in a number of ways, but also again, just like I said, about high school, kind of fostering these close relationships, when you're performing with people, it's like, I wasn't an athlete. So those are my teams, you know? And, yeah, Comedy Sportz, in particular, some of my, you know, best friends to this day, one who you've mentioned that still haven't mentioned his name, you know, that's where he and I met, you know, so yeah. That was up to being 18. So we're not to Steps of Faith yet. But yeah, that was, that was a really, really big thing. And I was also, I will say that, at the time, when, a few years into Comedy Sportz, you know, I was 21 or so at that point. A lot of my, my closest friends there started to move away to pursue, you know, that in Chicago, or in LA, or in New York. And my rock band at the time had just got a booking agent. So I was like, well, I'm not gonna go, you know, take Second City classes in Chicago, like my buddies are doing. I'm going on the road with my band. And then that kind of set the trajectory for my life up until I was about 28.
Joel Goldberg 13:15
Yeah, so alright, we'll get to 28 now, because that's such a massive part of the story. Good, bad, everything in between. And I would say just a massive amount of good now. And it's interesting, as I hear you talking about the comedy background and the music background, that's sort of the signature event, this massive thing you're doing every year in Thundergong, which happens to be with some of those friends, including the one that I mentioned, Jason Sudeikis, aka Ted Lasso. I feel like I have to say that for people that don't know the name, or nobody knows how to spell the last name, but I mean, shoot, if you're a fan of Saturday Night Live, which I've been since, I don't know, before my teenage years, you saw Jason on SNL. And for those of us in Kansas City, he's, you know, he is one of the many celebrities that that are the pride of Kansas City and comes back for The Big Slick tournament and, you know, raising money for Children's Mercy. So, I will we'll get into that later. But, you know, like, I guess life's pretty good, right? I mean, you're, you're in a rock band, for goodness sakes, who doesn't dream of doing that? As a kid? I think every kid maybe not every kid dreams of either being in a rock band or being you know, a pro sports player. There are other dreams. I think that for most guys, I know. It was one of the other if not both, and most of us didn't make it to either of those. So I made it I at least like to talk about it. And that's been a dream. But you're you're living the dream. And then everything changes. Completely, obviously out of your control. Tell me about age 28 or somewhere around there.
Billy Brimblecom 14:49
Yeah, yeah, it was. It was. yeah, I mean, I was I wasn't like making good money. But I was ,I was on tour. You know what I mean? And I was, you know, It was, I think a lot of people don't know, when it comes to you know, there are professional sports options that people aren't aware of playing in other countries, playing minor leagues, that kind of thing. I have a lot of friends that have done that. I guess I would say, to try to make that parallel. The same kind of applies to professional music. And, you know, it's like, you're an opening band on tour playing clubs, you know, it's like, it's a very blue collar job until it's not, you know, and you can you can make a decent living doing it, I did not make a decent living doing it in those days. Anyway, I eventually made a living, okay living, doing it. But, ya know, I was I was, I was on the road had been playing in a few different bands off and on and was, you know, working retail job when I was home or working tenant bar at a restaurant or something like that. And, yeah, I had been in a really crazy car accident. In 1999, actually, driving those, right as I was headed into Lawrence, was living in Lawrence at the time. Was coming from Kansas City, it was snowy and really bad and crushed two vertebrae in my back, they had to cut the top of my pickup truck off and use the jaws of life to get me out. It was awful. So that was the first time I cheated death. I say that, because several months later, I started having this really bad pain in my ankle in the middle of the night, and it hurt really bad for like three nights. And this would, this would go on and off for months. Wouldn't, wouldn't hurt at all and then it would hurt again for a day, sometimes a few days. Got it looked at and you know, doctor didn't see anything. Said it was like some sort of undiagnosed trauma from the car accident. Fast forward to the beginning of 2005. I was 28. I just turned 28. And was on the road all the time. Playing and that was great and everything but that pain had been happening more frequently, would last longer when it would come on and was at a higher level of pain. And so I finally went and got it looked at looked at we thought it was a nerve damage ,is what we thought it was. Some sort of nerve related thing from the car accident. And so I went to neurologists, and he was like, this is not a neurological issue. Have you had this or this, or this or this test done. And I thought he was full of it. And I was like this has been here for years now. Anyway, long story short, I did test test test this test and there was definitely something in there and they determined that it was cancer. A type of cancer, sarcoma. There's lots of other kinds of sarcomas, they're all bad, but basically big scary flaming tumor. But a Ewing sarcoma was in my left ankle. So yeah, you know, thank God I I just very, very lucky for a lot of reasons. But one of those reasons is the guy that my primary care doctor recommended I go to who was this is a sarcoma specialists and an orthopedist and orthopedic oncology, that whole thing happened to be in my hometown, you know, wasn't even far away. And that's Dr. Howard Rosenthal. This is someone who people come from all over the country to get helped by, he happened to be down the street from me, so I feel really really, really lucky. So yeah, he diagnosed me and then you know, ultimately saved my life. You know, I got into chemo. Also shout out to Dr. Mark Myron, who's retired, who was my oncologist who I love with all my heart. You know, he and Dr. Rosenthal literally, quite literally saved my life. So so there's a lot of different versions of the of the cancer leg story, but But ultimately, we knew that getting into it once we knew what I was dealing with. Okay, it's Ewing sarcoma, here's where it is. Here's the plan. We knew, you know, this was at the beginning of the year I was getting into chemo, it was basically going to be the rest of the year doing chemo and there would be some sort of surgery that would be very drastic in the middle of the year over the summer. But the only reason that I would lose my leg would be to save my life is what Dr. Rosenthal told me. So ultimately, they felt in order to get clear margins, to get rid of the cancer, and make it do their best to make sure it's not going to come back that my leg needed to be amputated right above the knee. Which was kind of honestly the thing that I feared the most. Death really wasn't on my radar. It was thankfully very much on the radar of my doctors, which is why they went to such drastic measures. So that was a, you know, I was just in this new band that I was very excited about that had all this promise to tour the world and and we had made this just just just finished this record that I was very, very proud of and so it was just this devastating thing, you know, as you might imagine. So but yeah, it worked out.
Joel Goldberg 20:01
I guess, I guess it did. And you think about where you were then? Versus what 18. Now, almost 19 years later, where you're at now, I know that you have this incredible purpose in life that you could never have had before, because it wasn't your story. I mean, I suspect you would have had a great purpose and something because I, I think that's, you're driven that way, very clearly. I mean, this has been now your life's work, and so much more to go. And so, before I talk about what you do, every single day, and you know, the foundation and and your life's work, I'm just curious. And I asked this question a lot of times to people that go through adversity. How you were able to get through that, or how difficult I mean, we always see, we oftentimes see the end result, so to speak, and none of us are an end result yet, but Right, I'm seeing in talking to you in a purpose driven place, where we're, we're, this is your life, and it's a great life. But what were those initial years, like, you're still young at that point, too. I mean, 28 is not, you know, late 40s, or you're struggling? 40, something like that. But where, where were you at that point? And how long did it take you to get to a good place? Or maybe it was a good place right away? I don't know.
Billy Brimblecom 21:24
Definitely was not a good place right away. Yeah. No, that's a good question. I realized that, like, you know, as you get older, hopefully, you're paying attention to what's around you and other people, you know, I mentioned earlier, really quickly, you know, being 18, and learning to improvise over two different art forms really changed my life. And I think part of how that changed me was, you know, improvising is all about listening and reacting and adapting, you know, you can't be rigid and be like, it's no, no, you know? I mean, you've got to, you got to somebody might be taking it another direction. And, you know, it's you have to listen and react and adapt. So that was in me. And still is in me, and I had an incredible network of friends. I mean, when I was I was in the hospital for about a week. And I mean, it was like, every night, like last call, man. I mean, it was like roomful of people. I had friends from all over the country. That that that either, you know, that came in to visit me. So that really helps. I mentioned Rick Allen from Def Leppard. You know, he called me, true story, called me when I was in the hospital. Two days in a row. Def Leppard was supposed to play. They did, they did play the night for my surgery. And my sweet buddy, Greg Todt, from Johnny Dare's Morning Show, had had gotten in touch with them. They were actually playing the T-bones Stadium of all places. It was August 3 2005. My surgery was August 4. Rick ended up not coming. But he called me the next day, I was right out of surgery. And he was like, all right, how about I call you tomorrow when you're not so sedated. And I didn't want to go pfh, sure, this guy's not calling me again. Sure enough, he called me the next day. So there was all these like, very extraordinary, like great story, memory kind of things, all these people being there, Rick calling me that happened. That really, it's a complex memory of being in the hospital and losing my leg initially, just because there was so much good happening in the midst of so much bad. So that was a big part of it. But but then also just you know, then I then you went, then I went home, you know, like, sometimes when you're at like a funeral of somebody that you really love, the emotion kicks in, in my experience, once all the pomp and circumstance is over for you, you know, they're buried, your're home back to life without them. And so that that was definitely hard, because then kind of the reality of it all started to set in. And I realized that like, not everybody is like this, this is a thing that I didn't choose. I mean, it there's some choice in it, but I this is a, this is a superpower. And it also can be detrimental depending on the circumstance, but kind of naturally try my brain naturally tries to make every thing into a positive, every negative into a positive. And so I just have kind of always had this What do I got to do to get through this kind of thing? You know? And yeah, I have always felt like a very purpose driven guy. I just was like, What do I got to do to get through this so that I can get back on the road with this new band. That's exciting. And we're gonna go to Japan and we're going to do all these great things and we're going to play this record that I'm really proud of. I did all those things, that all that happened. So there was just a light at the end of the tunnel of just like the hope I just have always you know, you can go a period of days without food or water you know, you can go without proper nutrition and food, food, clothing and shelter. The three basic human needs is what you're taught is your kid, I would add the most important thing in there is hope. Because you can live without all of those for a period of time. But everybody needs a shred of hope. And I just always had that, you know, So long answer to a short question. But that's kind of how I got through it all, you know.
Joel Goldberg 25:22
And so here you are now, and I know we could talk more music, and I'll probably get there. And we'll talk Thundergong in a moment. But I mean, this is this is your life now, Steps of Faith Foundation. And really, I would imagine, no two stories are the same. But you you have to have a different level of empathy and understanding for what anybody is going through and losing a limb, not that you can put yourself in their head, because, again, everybody's got different levels of how they handle adversity and different situations. But tell me about the Foundation because it's incredibly important work. And I'm not sure that most people understand. I think we all understand that for someone to get a prosthetic, for someone, for an amputee, to be able to, to get what they need, I think we all have an understanding that probably isn't cheap. You don't walk into the store, and I mean, not to make light of it here. But this is this is not an easy thing. So tell me about the Foundation and the work that you're doing.
Billy Brimblecom 26:25
Yeah, I mean, everything medical is expensive period. That's the country we live in. And, you know, after I lost my leg, I had health insurance. But my insurance wasn't going to pay for all of the cost of the leg I needed. And so I learned this news. And then happened to, after that appointment, be going to lunch with a good friend of mine, my buddy Cory Rittenmaster, who was one of my, one of those very close relationships I mentioned, that came from working at Comedy Sportz. We worked there together, Cory trained me and Jason. He was he's a couple years older than us. He was visiting in Kansas City, and he was like, well, maybe we can put together some kind of fundraiser to raise the money for you. And I didn't think anything of it because I had to come up with $30,000. Long story short, that's what happened. Cory put together a bunch of our Comedy Sport buddies, including Jason. Jason was on SNL and like, brand new. Like in his like, second season as a cast member. So not really famous, but we put together this big fundraiser that was at the old Record Bar that when it was in Westport, did two shows at The Improv Comedy Show. My band played, another band played, we had a big auction all these things and raised all the money and then some. And so that was in my head. So then then fast forward Steps of Faith, my wife and I moved to Nashville, Tennessee in 2009, to just have more opportunities, to pursue more opportunities to make a living, playing music. And we then fast forward to 2013, we had a brand new baby. Our first baby. And my wife, there's no paid maternity in Tennessee, for teachers. She was a elementary school teacher and I was a freelance musician. And so I was like, not only was I thinking about how to make a living at that point, potentially doing something else other than music for the first time in my life. At 30, whatever, six years old. I didn't want to, you know, most of my living as a musician in Nashville, while I wanted it to be in the recording studio and was sometimes, but I was spending a lot of time on tour on the road. And so I didn't want to leave town. I didn't want to leave the house with a brand new baby. And so I was asked to speak to somebody at my prosthetic clinic when I was there for an appointment for myself and a new amputee one day. You know, again, newborn baby. My prosthetist was like, hey, there's a guy who just lost his leg to cancer, I'm fitting him today, on your way out, will you just pop in and talk to him for a second? I think that you know, you're a few years down the road, you're doing great. I feel like he could use your perspective. So I talked the guy for five minutes, all he was all wide eyed. And I could see again, hope. I could see the hope in his eyes. And I left that day. I'd had a few conversations like that throughout the years, but I left that day, just feeling very excited and emotional, that I was able to kind of speak that language to him. It's different in like, I can only imagine what you're going through. I have empathy. I have sympathy for that. And being like, I know, I've been through a very similar thing. You know, it's harder to find that with this, you know, losing a leg thing. And I told my wife when I got home, I said, I wish that that made me feel so good. I wish that that could be my job. So the next day I had another appointment with my prosthetist I told him that jokingly he was like, well, maybe it could be we laughed it off. Eventually, he introduces me a few days later to the guy that owned the prosthetic clinic. And we had a conversation and I laughed that off. And then we had another conversation. And he's basically at that point, I said, I, you know, look, that just made me feel so good. I wish I could just do that. I don't know what that is. He said, well, I have established a 501c3, a couple years ago, that which for those that don't know, 501c3, that's the that's the tax code. That's the IRS tax denomination for tax exempt for a nonprofit for charity. And so he said, I've established this thing, the 501c3, but there's no business. We haven't done anything. It's just sitting dormant. And I just changed the name actually to try to relaunch it to Steps of Faith. What if you come on, you run this thing, and we'll get help to try to get prosthetics for folks that have no health insurance or no other way to pay for it. Which turns out is a lot of people. And that was the beginning of 2013, April 2013. And here we are at 11 years later, you know that I joke that that day, it was like he tossed me the keys to a car with no engine. And so let's see what you can do with that. Yeah, and 11 years later, and well over, you know, 1000 people. That's what Steps of Faith does. We help people all over the country, my wife and I moved back to Kansas City, seven and a half years ago, with the blessing of my board of directors. And, yeah, you know, Steps of Faith. Again, as an organization, we help amputees that have no health insurance, or no prosthetic coverage, we help people all over the country, we help 262 amputees last year, we hope to help over 300 This year, it's ridiculous that this organization should have to exist. But again, health insurance, and that whole mess in this country is what it is, it's a mess. But I'm really thankful for this job. And again, I was always like I said a purpose driven guy, but boy, did this really submit a whole new purpose for me. And I'm really, really thankful of what the work we've been able to do and what I get to do every day.
Joel Goldberg 31:55
Yeah, and more to come. The website, it'll be in our show notes, is stepsoffaithfoundation.org and you'll you'll see everything about what they're doing, the numbers, the stories and ways to help and support. The, the signature event is Thundergong. And this is a massive fundraiser and a really cool thing. I mean, look, who hasn't watched Ted Lasso? Oh, so now you get three of the biggest characters. Not just your childhood friend, Jason Sudeikis. But Hannah Waddingham seems to be popping up everywhere and everybody loves her. I mean, she seems to be just the most, I'll use this one, I don't use it a lot, delightful person? I don't know. You can speak to it better better than me. And just chock full of superstars and sort of this combination of to me I, Brendan Hunt, by the way is is on there as well. He's hysterical on Ted Lasso. And many other celebrities. It seems like this combination of your comedy background and your music background and your band Summer Breeze is the house band. Tell me what this has evolved into? Because it is, it's not just a hey, come and donate it. This is a big night a fun night.
Billy Brimblecom 33:16
Yeah, it's really, it, it's a beautiful thing. And I'm really thankful. And it is kind of the culmination of all of the things that you know, we all have gifts, right? You know, I always joke that I'm not good at many things. But all of the things I'm good at go into this event. At least all of the things that I love doing, you know, and I think it resonates with people because it's, this is what Jason and I grew up doing together, you know. Jumping around, making each other laugh, loving music. Jason is a drummer as well, you know, he's a hobby drummer. I was with him buying his first drum set at Explorers Percussion in Kansas City. And in whatever year that was, I don't know, 96, something like that. And so, you know, loves karaoke, loves to sing. Jason's a very musical guy. Even though he's not famous for being musical. We know your dance. We know he can dance man. He's good at a lot of things. But yeah, it's a rock and roll variety show is really what it is. And I'd been trying to do something, I, when I first got the Steps of Faith job, I told him and I was like, man, you know, we could do something similar to what you guys did for me, you know, where there's, there's comedy and music and, and, you know, but if we raise $30,000 We get to help like over 30 people with Steps of Faith, you know. Instead of just half of one leg like y'all did for me way back in the day. And that's because Steps of Faith, were able to get prosthetic parts at wholesale, and it's all this relationship based thing and so that the donors dollar goes really, really far. We can get somebody walking for as low as $500. So anyway, yeah, we came together to really build this thing that was just yeah, he hosts and and it was the first year was was Jason and Will Forte and Fred Armisen. We also had Wynonna Judd, a whole other story, but her husband and drummer is one of my favorite people in the world. Cactus Mosier is his name. And we met before Steps of Faith because, like me, he has a left leg above the knee amputee drummer. And we connected that way. And so Wynonna played, we had Tech N9ne and Chris Calico. It was just really, really incredible thing. And then yeah, fast forward. You know, we did a couple pandemic year virtual events that had everybody from Foo Fighters to Camilla Cabello to Michael McDonald and Sammy Hagar. It just was insane that that went from making a stage variety show where there's music I mean, that's the thing with undergone it's a concert through and through. But there's funny people that are not famous for being musicians, that are musical, that do it. So it's funny, it rocks, there's all this music. Yeah, we did a couple of virtual shows, which was basically making a couple TV shows. That was a whole other thing we had to learn how to do. But we figured it out. And they were very successful for us. And then yeah, the last two years being back. Live 22 and 23 has just really been this beautiful thing, where it's been this really big jump in fundraising for us. And this past year, like you mentioned, yeah, we've had Brendan on and off a few times, they bring in the very first year even Brandon hunt, and 2017. But this last year, I said this in 22. And then I said it again and 23 because it was true, it was the best the best yet. You know, we had we had Jason and Brendan and Hannah, who is very who is delightful and just cool as hell, just the greatest, you know, she's an artist period. And that's that was you know, as Jason joked after she sang her first song that night, and everybody was losing their minds all the time. Glasgow fans, literally from all over the world, these fans. There are people from Armenia, Australia, the UK, it was crazy. Yeah, she's like a world class singer. He joked after that song, he was like, Yeah, you know, acting was her plan B. You know, she's really just unbelievable. And then we and, you know, we had Nathaniel Ratliff, we had all these incredible artists last year, you know, musicians, actors, everybody's singing, everybody's playing music. And it's, yeah, it's this really beautiful thing that has really dramatically changed the trajectory for Steps of Faith. You know, and two friends that love each other, that grew up together, coming together to do the things that we love. But you know, very clearly, you know, knowing, you know, I know how to open the door, you know. But celebrity allows you to open bigger doors, right? And we know that and that's by design. And so Jason and I coming together, using his celebrity, bringing in his friends and my friends, our mutual friends, and that kind of thing to just, yeah, raise a lot of money for Steps of Faith, have a really good time doing it, but also just create this really special night for everybody that's there. You know, it's a community event for Kansas City and anybody that can make it in town to experience it.
Joel Goldberg 37:58
Super cool. Every time Nathaniel Ratliff it feels like is in, and I got a game or something, I'm gone. That's my, that's that's unfortunately, me and live music during the summer but I think from this neck of the woods too, right? I think he's a Missouri guy? Herman Herman Missouri, Missouri pretty, pretty cool stuff. And what an amazing entertainer. If people want we'll have this in the show notes as well. Information, Thundergong.org. And I already told you about stepsoffaithfoundation.org. Let's get to the baseball theme questions. Biggest home run that you have hit professionally?
Billy Brimblecom 38:35
Professionally? What?
Joel Goldberg 38:37
Which means not marry your wife, not having your kids. What's what's the big one?
Billy Brimblecom 38:42
Yeah, I mean, the biggest one, the fine print would be actually making it to Japan one year after losing my leg, but and playing and being on tour there, which was a wonderful experience. But no, I mean, Thundergong. You know what I mean? It's like we've done seven of these things. And to get to like I said, do this with my my brother. It just checks all the boxes for me. We've raised millions of dollars doing it. It's just wild. We raised almost a million from the show last year. We raised about $900,000. So yeah, that's definitely the biggest homerun for me so far.
Joel Goldberg 39:23
So far and more to come. How about a swing and a miss along the way and what did you learn from it?
Billy Brimblecom 39:30
Swing and a miss along the way. Man, I've had so many of those, you know. Too many to name but I would say what you learn, what what I've learned from it, is like, I'm more likely to hit when I'm doing something that is authentic to me. You know what I mean? I'm more likely to hit when I'm doing the things that not that come the easiest, but feel most natural to me. You know what I'm working with in my gifting I'm way more likely to, you know, connect.
Joel Goldberg 40:04
I love that. That resonates. It's a great message for everybody listening to that, at least once you get to a point where you can say no to certain things, say no to the things that don't speak to you. Yes, a lot of us, not everybody, a lot of us, me included, are people pleasers. And we like to say yes, and you get to a certain point where you realize, you know what, it's, you're not being a bad person. This, this doesn't make sense. For me, if it doesn't make sense for me, it's not going to make sense for you. So just my take on that. I love that lesson. Small ball, the little things that add up to big results, what are the little things that matter to you every day, the little things that make you successful?
Billy Brimblecom 40:43
Relationships require work. And sometimes, I mean, obviously, anyone who's married knows that, you know, or a parent. But but so it's it's that, but but it's also, I would say, I'm a better husband and parent, because I work. And it's important to me to be a good friend. So I think the little things that, you know, these little touch points, texting a friend checking in, you know, getting together for lunch, you know, you reaching out, hey, let's hang out again, before we do the podcast, that means a lot to me, you know what I mean? It's worth it, to do those little by little to invest in, in friendships, and being with other people. We're designed to be into communion, community, otherwise, we would not all be on the planet right now, at the same time. We're here together right now for a reason, because we're supposed to live in community, just like you and I are right now having a conversation where there's hopefully, you know, a very large audience listening. And so, you know, so those, those little things that add up for me is just taking the time to, to not just be here, but but be open and out, connecting with other people.
Joel Goldberg 42:03
I love that so much. And it's actually not going to take some musician to say this. This, by the way is true across the board, no matter what you do in life. But this isn't that it's a big name drop, but it's not because he is very gracious making himself available. But Garth Brooks came on our pregame show this year. And, you know, he loves being around baseball and all that anyway. And he said the exact same thing. He said, we're here to serve other people. Why do I want to go hide when I can be out there with people that and that's, I love that message so much. Because it's true for no matter what you do, and you can be the most famous person with the least famous person, there's still a chance to make that impact with others every single day. So great words of wisdom there from Billy. Four final questions. We'll have some fun with these as we wrap things up. Ashleigh does great research for me. So she takes on some stuff. So what I'm seeing here is that you called George Jetson the best character representation of you. Can you explain that? Because I love that who doesn't love, who did not grow up loving George Jetson? And by the way, since we're somewhat close to age. Doesn't it feel like every day we're getting closer to the Jetsons?I think I mentioned that in an interview one time.She does deep research.
Billy Brimblecom 43:15
She does do deep research. Yeah. And the funny thing is that a friend of my wife's actually gave her a George Jetson t-shirt to give me after that. I think my George Jetson comment was that I really just wanted a car that wrapped up into a briefcase. Yeah. It was more about that. Yeah. He was a businessman. He was a good dad. He was an attentive husband. Yeah, yeah.
Joel Goldberg 43:39
I'd say maybe a combination of George Jetson mixing a little Inspector Gadget. How about that?
Billy Brimblecom 43:44
See, I kind of Yeah, we're we're just a few prosthetic innovations away from me being part Inspector Gadget, and we need this robot leg to like, you know, be able to reach across the street and grab something. You know.
Joel Goldberg 43:58
You gotta, like, you gotta last name that that sounds like it's made for like a TV character or something like that, too. So unique. It's a unique thing. Alright. Second question. As we round the bases, let's go a little bit of music here. I was reading that you've got a Led Zeppelin tattoo on your arm and that Madonna was your first celebrity crush. So we're talking about sort of two different worlds right there. And I'm curious if maybe it says a lot about your diverse tastes and music. I am looking right now at the Led Zeppelin tattoo. And Led Zeppelin Madonna and maybe everything in between. I don't know.
Billy Brimblecom 44:38
Yeah. So So starting with Madonna for going in chronological order. No, I yeah, I just was Madonna. becoming like a superstar was like, you know, I think at the age where I don't know the exact ins are mid 80s You know, where I was like, a little kid. kid but like old enough to have a crush. You know what I mean? And so yeah, I just was all about her. So yes, I was I was I was definitely had a crush on young, 80s, borderline era lucky star lucky dude. And that yeah, those early Madonna records hold up, by the way as a adult musician now. But yes, so I was definitely first celebrity crush. And yeah after the first tour I did this is my very early was 22. Led Zeppelin's my favorite band of all time, John Bonham is my favorite drummer, my favorite musician of all time, Led Zeppelin drummer. Their fourth album, they had these like four symbols that represented them. And this was the drummer symbol, and I was like, I know there's like probably 1 million dudes that have this. I don't care. I love John Bonham. So yeah, I went and got the tattoo after the first tour. And then I actually was able to, I was too nervous to show it to him 'cuz I had coat on or something. But I met John Paul Jones, a couple of years ago, Led Zeppelin's bass player. Oddly enough, I met John Paul Jones, and Stewart Copeland, my other my other favorite drummer is the drummer for The Police talking to each other in the corner of a room at the same time. And I did, I wouldn't say I really connected with them. But I was, but they were very nice and very gracious. And I was able to just kind of gush about how much both of them meant to me. It was like wild that like they were just standing there together anyway.
Joel Goldberg 46:33
Yeah, that's got to be better than like, if I were to meet them. I'd be like, I love your music man. And and then I wouldn't know what to say. You could talk about drumming.
Billy Brimblecom 46:41
I didn't say much more than I love your music. I just was like, Oh, what do I ask them? I mean, I met you know, I met Paul McCartney once, you know, not to be name-droppy. But short and sweet. And I thought I knew it was likely to happen for like, a couple of weeks. And so I was like, What do I say to him? What do I say to Paul McCartney? You know, and not like, what do I say to him that no one else has ever said to him. That doesn't matter. One time. Quick story. One time, jazz era. College. KU jazz group we I was we played at the Lied Center. It was the KU Jazz Festival. This is probably 1996. And my group I combo played. And that was great. And then Bela Fleck and the Flecktones played. And I was so and I talked to everybody in the band. I was waiting around like all night, at the very end of the night, like way after everybody left, Bela Fleck comes out because I just wanted to tell him I thought he was great, you know? And he could tell I was nervous. And I said, Hey, I'm sure you've heard this from 1,000 people in there, but I just wanted to say I just thought you're so you know, so great. I loved the show so much. And he was like he kind of interrupted me. He's like, I haven't heard it from you. That was a big lesson that I stick with so so I don't care if Paul McCartney or you know, Stewart Copeland. Nobody's heard it all. You know, they haven't heard it from me. So yeah, with Paul, I just it was very short. I said it is a true pleasure to meet you. And he immediately shortened our names. I was with Sudeikis, it was at SNL. He was introduced to Jason. Jason, Jace is on the show. Hello, Jace. Immediately shortened his name. Hey, this is my buddy Billy Baba. Bill. Hello. Like immediately nicknamed us, though. Yeah, anyway.
Joel Goldberg 48:19
That's amazing. All right. I can go into Chris Farley mode about that. Chris Farley, Paul McCartney. That was before your time. Before your experience. I should say not before. But I anytime I ever hear something, hey, remember that time when they... It doesn't matter what it's about. Like, pull the Chris Farley right there. The Chris Farley. Paul McCartney. Okay, third question as we round the bases. How religious of an experience, if that's the way to call it, was your tour of Abbey Road Studio in London.
Billy Brimblecom 48:57
It was very, very special. Yeah, great question. Again, I was in that was the same trip where I met McCartney, not McCartney, same guy responsible for it. Where I met John Paul Jones and Mr. Copeland. Yeah, my wife and I were over visiting Jason in London when he was working on Season Three of Lasso. And we had gone to this Taylor, we were going to this Taylor Hawkins tribute show at Wembley Stadium, the Foo Fighters drummer that passed away. That's where I met John Paul Jones is to a couple. But the day before we got this tour, thanks to Tom Howe, who was the was a brilliant musician, composer and a total sweetheart of a dude who is the composer for Ted Lasso. And so he had arranged this tour of Abbey Road. Yeah, so it was a it was my wife and I had Jason and Brendon Hunt and Joe Kelly, the third creator of Ted Lasso and our buddy Ed Goodman. Again, comedy school, was friends since 1995. It was incredible. Dude, it was absolutely incredible. All the things in there, my wife and Brendan both messed with it, played the lady Madonna piano, you know, really interesting sounding piano. And when we went to Studio B or or, you know, to any studio to I can't remember, the Beatles fans are screaming right now. It's true. It's B. Anyway, where the Beatles made all their records, I basically interrupted our, our guide, the woman that worked there, and I was like, I'm sorry, where did Ringo set up and she was, like, right over there. And I just walked over into the corner and just stood there, you know, it was incredible. I mean, the Beatles, to, to me, and to many people are the most important, you know, for group of musicians of all time. And, you know, at minimum, the most important rock and roll band of all time and wrote the book, in my opinion. And so yeah, it was it, it definitely had a very, yeah, religious or spiritual, just incredibly special, that it was incredible. You can't just like sign up for a tour of that place. So I felt very, very, she talked about how Paul like lives nearby. And so he'll just pop in all the time. You know what I mean? And he's always trying to buy gear from there. Like he's tried to buy it, and they just won't sell it. No, it stays here. Like he's trying to buy that piano and like, yeah, anyway, crazy.
Joel Goldberg 51:32
Super cool. Amazing. Last question, my walk off. You've done so much in life, you got so much more to do. Great that you've met all these cool people and great friends. And it's all coming together so, so beautifully to make an impact. By the way, if I've, if my dates are right on this, and we're running this, here in April, coming up on eight, eight years sober. I mean, you know, you've you've put so much work into yourself and to others, and I'm just curious, as the walk off, and, you know, with what Steps of Faith what, what? Where do you want it to go? What's the what's the ultimate for you?
Billy Brimblecom 52:12
The ultimate for Steps of Faith?
Joel Goldberg 52:14
Yeah. And your work? Yeah.
Billy Brimblecom 52:17
Well, 11 years into Steps of Faith, it's just the beginning. I had this kind of notion about six months into doing this job where I was like, okay, this is very hard. Now, I will say, in a lot of ways is way easier, but there's just new things about the job that are hard, right. But at that time, just trying to build something out of nothing, trying to raise money, all it's very hard. So I felt then that I understood that my mission for this job, what I needed to do was to build it, to where it would survive and thrive without me. And we're getting there. I love doing it. I'm not in a rush to leave. But ultimately Steps of Faith is just the beginning. I have a lot going back to we can we can end the way we began. You know, there's a lot of a lot of work to do for amputees and really disabled rights in general. Now, disability is a large umbrella. Right, I'm going to speak to my lane as a man who's lost a limb. Again, sticking with things I know the best. Right? And so I just want to help people to know more to destigmatize, you know, disability. Destigmatize, losing a limb. I mean, what a crazy terrible thing to me, you know, even the term life or limb, you know what I mean? It's like, I didn't lose my life, I lost a limb and kind of gained more than I lost in a lot of ways, right? So I want, you know, I want more representation in all forms of the media for people that have lost a limb. You know, it's not just veterans and children. Veterans are half of 1% of the amputee population. That's not a negative thing to say about veterans. That's good. It's just we shine a big light on the military in this country. But you know, 500 people lose a limb every day in America, there's less than 2000 people that have lost a limb in combat, since 2001. 9/11 2001. Right? So it's really, really small population. So it's really, it's really just continuing to, you know, eventually, one day I will leave as the CEO of Steps of Faith and hopefully just join the board. And maybe we're still doing fun things like Thundergong. But you know, really, the work is just beginning. And I just want to, you know, spread the word about the importance of what we're doing. And unfortunately, you know, right now, it's a problem that's not going away anytime soon. And in the meantime, I'm also going to hopefully try to work to create a world where we don't need to exist. You know, if losing limb is a nightmare enough, you then shouldn't have to deal with the evil greedy mess that is the health quote unquote, care system in this country in order to just pay for a leg so that you can get back to work and take care of your family. So, you know, there's some some some legislative advocacy in there a little bit as well that I try to do every year just to try to bring common sense to the issue. But yeah, you know, just keep going, man.
Joel Goldberg 55:39
April is Limb Loss Awareness Month. I think the official title is Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month. People can make a difference at least just by checking out some the information. You can go to stepsoffaithfoundation.org. Thundergong.org. And while you're at it, go to summerbreezekc.com too, because who doesn't need a little bit of yacht rock and a little bit of music. Will you guys be playing the summer?
Billy Brimblecom 56:04
Yeah, yeah. 15th Anniversary Show for Summer Breeze. May 4 outside at Knuckleheads. 15th anniversary, making smooth music for a long time. It's been a really long, fun smooth trip with that band.
Joel Goldberg 56:43
Billy, thanks so much for for spending time, for telling your story, for inspiring others in all the great work and I'm proud to have had the chance to start to get to know you a little bit. We'll do lunch again and all that good stuff. But thanks for spending time on the podcast.
Billy Brimblecom 56:57
Man. It's a it's an honor to be a guest and I appreciate the opportunity to hang out