Episode 31: Uplifting Suicide Awareness with Mark and Sarah Moss, Part Two

00;00;09;01 – 00;01;34;01
Rick Hoaglund
Suicide is a complicated issue. It’s shaped by a multitude of factors spanning mental health, socioeconomic circumstances and environmental influences. Efforts to prevent suicide typically include a combination of raising awareness about mental health, ensuring the availability of accessible mental health resources and providing support services. Let’s speak with Mark and Sarah Moss to delve into Uplift. Uplift is a different approach. It’s not simply a mental health initiative or a government-backed campaign. Rather, it’s a grassroots movement dedicated to combating suicide. Utilizing a strong sense of community, Uplift uses the power of the community as its primary tool. Last year, they raised over $20,000 to support suicide awareness. So in our last episode, we talked about your individual stories. And just so that people know, Mark lost his grandfather. He died by suicide. And Sarah is a suicide survivor. But you’ve taken this horrific experience for both of you. You’ve each had- had this and you’ve turned it into something positive. Tell me a little bit about, you talked about how there were sort of sad days before this? Like where we- we were commemorating suicide and suicide deaths. And that’s all important! But you’ve taken this in a completely different direction, and it’s something new!

00;01;34;04 – 00;05;13;28
Mark Moss
So, like you mentioned, we always kind of went to a walk to commemorate, y’know, the memories that we had of the person that we lost. And so, as Sarah mentioned kind of before, it never left us in a good, I guess, a good state of mind, a good head state, especially my Dad, for sure. And then his, my- my grandad’s life was still, I’ve- never left us in a good headspace? And so it’s not something that I was like, man, I feel so much better. And so we quit going. We went for, I guess, four or five years? But it was always around the date that he committed suicide. And so it was like, my gosh, this is super duper heavy. I don’t feel like doing this anymore! I’d rather spend the day outside with my kids or, you know. And in that, you know, he was such a family man that that’s kind of relayed to me, too, is just how important family is to us and each other. And so I guess it was three years ago coming up in April, I made the decision that, all right, let me invite two friends over, because I have a garage gym. And I’m like, let’s just do a workout. We’ll post on social media because who knows who that will reach? Came inside and told Sarah about jt, like, Hey, I’m going to invite Zach and Darrell over this weekend for a workout and then we’ll post to social media and see how it goes. And most boys hashtag suicide awareness or something small like that. And she’s- she was my backbone always and was super supportive. And she was like, no, do something bigger than just workout in the garage! So I was like, okay, let me, let me think! And I’m not much of an entrepreneur, she’s more of that, but this was my entrepreneur brain coming on. And I have a buddy who owns a T-shirt shop, and then he owns a gym as well. And I’m pretty connected down here with a lot of folks in the CrossFit space. And so I asked him, I said, Hey, what do you think if we started this thing called Uplift? And the name came kind of naturally because it’s just, you know, we want to that’s, that’s the goal behind this, is to Uplift other individuals, no matter where they’re at in life, whether they’re, you know, solid in their scene, super happy or they’re depressed because you don’t know what somebody is going through on a daily basis. You know, their- their life may seem like it’s all sunshine and rainbows in the, in the heart of hearts it may be catastrophic. And you don’t know! And so we wanted to kind of reach people where they’re at. And so my buddy said, yeah, let’s do this thing, like you sell shirts to raise money. And that’s where the kind of the fundraiser part comes in of it. So we sold shirts, but the fundraiser is kind of like a marketing thing too, where people see Uplift, and I’ve seen them- I’ve seen them everywhere across America. And it’s, it’s cool to see that. But all it takes is a conversation of what is that? What’s- what’s Uplift? And then you never know. You know, it may, my gosh, like I’ve been struggling with this and this and then, you know, they may invite them to the gym or like, Hey, I’m here for you. You know, you don’t know! And so my buddy was like, Yeah, like, we’ll sell shirts and then we’ll have a workout that will be- I don’t know if you’ve ever heard of, like Murph. It’s like a CrossFit workout where the whole community kind of comes together. And that, that sense is to honor Lieutenant Michael Murphy because he gave the ultimate sacrifice of his life. But it’s done every Memorial Day, and it’s like a kind of unites the CrossFit community-

00;05;13;29 – 00;05;25;21
Sarah Moss
All across, boxes across the United States, they’re the same- and it definitely makes an impact! Yeah!

00;05;25;22 – 00;05;56;17
Mark Moss
Yeah. And so that’s where I kind of wanted to go with it was, Hey, let’s do a suicide awareness type workout where we put something together. The CrossFit community and the fitness community kind of comes together and just not necessarily remembers, but brings people together for all one purpose, and that’s to spread suicide awareness. And if folks are struggling with it, you know, they can come in and work out and then put a loving arm on them and say, Hey, you’re cared for, you’re loved man, like we got you.

00;05;56;19 – 00;05;59;16
Rick Hoaglund
So this is held on a particular day every year, right?

00;05;59;19 – 00;06;59;03
Mark Moss
So it’s kind of swapped around the past two years, which I know is probably not the best thing. But the first year it was just kind of like, again, this is my entrepreneurship style. Like, hey, we’re going to do this thing, let’s go in October! And then, you know, this past year I’ve learned, okay, there’s a lot of stuff going on in October, whether it’s football season, football season is the big thing down here, and I’m sure- Hey, Washington, they made the championship this past year, so it’s up there! But, you know, football is a big thing down here. And so in October, it had, you know, pretty good, pretty good attendance and I guess really across southern Louisiana and Mississippi and kind of over in Florida and then this past year, we did it in September because that’s Suicide Awareness Month, I said, well, that would make a lot more sense if we did it in September! And so we transitioned from October to September this- this, I guess, 2023 year. But we had it in Labor Day weekend? And so a lot of people traveled during Labor Day!

00;06;59;04-00;08;32;22
Sarah Moss
Yeah! So I think this year the goal is to have a September weekend that is not Labor Day weekend, that is just going to be our go-to day to ideally have something similar to the Mark WOD where all the gyms across the US do this, come together, love on people, invite people whether they work at ur not because I’m telling you man, you just move your body, it’s scientifically proven the amount of endorphins that it releases. You know I forget who said it, but it’s like one of my favorite quotes ever is, you know, you don’t give yourself a fighting chance if every day you don’t move your body, you spend time in the sun, spend time in the word. And it’s so true! If people did just 5 minutes of each of those things every day? The amount of difference that your your body or mind has, because you literally release dopamine levels and endorphins and all of these things that happen when you move your body and get outside and all of the things that give us a fighting chance. I mean, even though I have a job where I move my body, I spend 90% of my time sitting in a dark room editing. And that’s what I was doing yesterday! I literally edit in a dark room for hours and it was the end of the day. And I was like, why do I feel unhappy? No wonder I feel unhappy! I haven’t seen the sun, I haven’t been around people, I haven’t done- so I was like, I’m going to the gym. I looked ridiculous and I smelt bad from just all of the things but I’m like, nah I’m doing it. And when I left, I felt 180 difference. It was what I needed and I’m thankful I did it! And that’s what we want people to learn is, move your body. Even if it’s just one day a year! You’ll feel better! Come with us!

00;08;32;25 – 00;08;55;26
Rick Hoaglund
It is kind of I won’t call it therapy, even though it’s like, well, it is mental therapy! It is therapy to actually get out there and get into the gym. And this may help someone that might be considering suicide if they- if they ended up using your day to either commemorate someone, someone’s life or to they themselves are suffering, it might actually have a huge impact. Just this one day!

00;08;55;29 – 00;10;37;11
Sarah Moss
Especially the community aspect of it, because I’ve done I think every type of fitness you can do from, you know, solo training and gym and even group classes. But one thing that I love about the CrossFit community and I think when people think CrossFit, they think this crazy heavy lifting and all of these crazy things and they’re absolutely is that. He’s that! He does that! I don’t do that! I still background a lot, I do what works for myself and my body. But why I stay in the CrossFit community is because of the community. I love that, you know, there’s something really fun too, and each person’s different and I think they have to find what works for them. But you know, CrossFit for me is the one sport that if you ever watch the games, the loudest cheering always happens not for the first person across the finish line, but for the last person who is still out there working hard, busting butt! I challenge you. Go go look up a CrossFit games, last person competing in a wide everyone in the stands hundreds and hundreds of people if not thousands and some competitions are roaring! The other competitors in space, it is such a community of just- I don’t know what it is about this specific sport because I think that happens in a lot of team sports where you’re just going to rally behind the people around you and that’s what we all need! Because some of us, you know, we do work remote or we might work with a bunch of people, but we still feel disconnected. One thing I’ve learned is that sometimes the people who seem the happiest and have the most going on might be the saddest people you know. So just to have that community of people who just know you, love you, no matter what, grind it out with each other. It’s just… it tops all, truly.

00;10;37;13 – 00;10;45;05
Rick Hoaglund
So I’ve got to ask a really basic question. It’s okay for you guys to laugh at me – what if someone doesn’t know what CrossFit is?

00;10;45;07 – 00;10;48;00
Sarah Moss
That is not bad! That’s not bad at all!

00;10;48;01 – 00;12;43;11
Mark Moss
There’s a lot of people that don’t know! It’s just a fitness regimen and there’s gyms across the United States. I think there’s 13,000 affiliates, but there’s other gyms that also participate. And it’s just, you know, it’s such a unique thing. Like Sarah was saying, it’s just like a community thing where whether you do or don’t exercise, you can come in. The coaches, especially the good coaches out there, they’re going to give you something that you can do that that’ll get you moving. And that’s what it’s all about. It’s just about moving. And then the community aspect’s definitely a cherry on top where whether you’re a CrossFit games athlete and they’ve had those guys on ESPN and all that? Whether you’re a CrossFit games athlete or you’re brand new, they’ll meet you where you’re at and it’s just about getting you moving, getting you living a healthier lifestyle both physically and mentally, because they’re so much like she was saying, there’s so much with exercise that comes into play where it’s just like a mental thing. And I know for for me, whenever, you know, everything was going on with my granddad, I had to get outside. I had to work out because my brain could not handle it. I couldn’t understand, like it was just part of me? And it’s still is, and it’s like any time I don’t work out and you can you can attest to this. I’m not the same person and it’s not me! I don’t think it’s me being selfish? I think it’s just me – that’s how to cope. That’s how I cope with what I, you know, getting through a day. And so for folks who either aren’t physically active and it doesn’t have to necessarily be CrossFit, it can be, I always encourage my mom and dad to go walk on a walk where they go outside, go on a walk, and just- just being active for 20 or 30 minutes a day makes such a difference in terms of stakes and where you’re at emotionally, physically, mentally, all those things.

00;12;43;12 – 00;13;06;10
Sarah Moss
And to extend even further on that, we do have people who they are in a good headspace. They have no desire to CrossFit, which is my- I mean, my mom’s 72. She does water aerobics, that works for her. She’s not about to go jump in a CrossFit gym. She’s like, How can I help? We said buy a shirt! 100% of the fees and the funds from that go to the Wounded Warrior Project.

00;13;06;11 – 00;14;15;06
Mark Moss
It’s called Warrior WOD this year. Yeah! So the past two years we’ve donated to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. My grandad was also a veteran. And so this year, upcoming in 2024, all the funds are going to be donated to Warrior WOD. So all the t-shirt sales and everything like that is going to go 100% to Warrior WOD, and what they do is they take veterans who are struggling with PTSD, struggling with mental health issues, struggling with all the things associated with suicide. They get them plugged into a gym, whether it’s a CrossFit gym or whatever type of gym. They give them a free membership and then they can get some of that out, you know? And that’s kind of what we’re doing as well with fitness, I’m like, who can we partner with that that completely goes alongside that? And so I found this through one of our partners with- with Uplift. Ask them, Hey, who, who fits this mold? And they said, Warrior WOD, 100%. And so that’s where all the funds will be going to this next year.

00;14;15;09 – 00;14;42;22
Rick Hoaglund
So this workout that’s put together- I have to be honest, we haven’t told our our audience this, but you yourself, you’re a trainer. So we should we should start with that. So this isn’t a couple of guys in a garage that are making stuff. This is like a professionally done regiment. What goes into that? And then how do people how do people know to do this workout? And the third question is, what’s your website? Because we want people to go there as well!

00;14;42;22 – 00;16;40;27
Mark Moss
Yeah, good question! So I don’t program the workout myself. I have buddies that are super smart. The past two years, Brandon Luckett, he’s programmed the workout, and he’s made the CrossFit games for three years. And so now he owns a company called the EMOM Company and EMOM stands for Every Minute On the Minute, but he’s programed the workout the past two years and he’s got a whole regimen of things that he does, but it’s scalable where anybody can do it! So we walk in, it’s- I don’t even remember what it was last year, but we had multiple tiers for every fitness. It was like level four was like, I always call them like, the fire breathers, where they’re just like, they can roll. I’m not one of those either. They can roll and then it goes level one or level four, three, two and one, and level one. It’s something where, hey, you come into the gym? You can do this! Like we’re going to make it scalable and available to you or you can you can get after it. But you know, it’s it’s not me programing. I have- I have good people and a good support system behind me that programs everything. And then your second question, I believe was the website! And so we’re updating the website this year. I have somebody at our gym now who’s really helping me a ton with that because that’s not how my brain works. I’m so like- she’s the creative one in terms of photography? I do benefits! That- my brain is like black and white. I don’t see color, I don’t see gray. It’s just like, this or that! And so last the past couple of years has been- the website’s been rough. Yeah! And so this year the website is www.uplift-wod.com, and it’s not up just yet, but it’s going to be within the next probably week or so.

00;16;41;00 – 00;16;43;18
Rick Hoaglund
What does WOD stand for? It’s like workout something…?

00;16;43;18 – 00;16;46;08
Mark Moss
Workout Of the Day!

00;16;46;11 – 00;17;01;14
Rick Hoaglund
So, so everyone’s doing some version of the same workout. And what if I have a mobility issue or maybe I have a learning disability? Am I able to go ahead and do these as well?

00;17;01;17 – 00;17;21;04
Mark Moss
Yeah. The cool thing with the CrossFit Games, if you’ve never seen it, they have adaptive divisions where some folks are missing an arm, something missing a leg. The beauty of CrossFit is we can scale for anything. And so it may not be the same exact version of of that, but we’ll make it happen! You’re going to move!

00;17;21;05 – 00;17;35;00
Sarah Moss
Yeah, we have everything in there from young athletes to our older, much older class who’s doing significantly scaled. But it’s all relative because they could kick my butt in what they do. I’ll tell you what! Pregnant ladies…

00;17;35;01 – 00;18;16;04
Mark Moss
Yeah! And I know we had a- a person at my old, I guess old gym that we used to go to and he was blind! We couldn’t, he couldn’t see, but he got after it. He moved! And you know if, I guess it depends on the gym is some coaches are like, hey, this is what you’re doing good like some coaches are area like their routine. They care about the person who’s in there and it’s each person. So if somebody needs more help, they’re going to be there and they’re going to root them on the whole time. That’s the community, the good community aspect of it.

00;18;16;05 – 00;19;20;24
Sarah Moss
Like this year for a Uplift, we came to our gym not knowing how many people would show up or- or what, and I decided to go with my camera to just capture whatever was going on. And as we just saw person after person after person fill in with their Uplift shirts on ready to roll. It was such a powerful, just amazing moment. It brought me to tears for people who were just rallying behind in our gym, my husband rallying behind me, rallying behind each other. And we they all you this work. And at the end we had food and we laughed. We just talked and spent time with each other and everyone – it was just such an amazing thing to witness. You know, it’s one thing to be in and that’s another thing. You know, people want to go in this watch and just be part of something. And to just see that because everyone’s was fine with the shirts, those shirts that to me aren’t just the shirt. Our shirts represent so much to me. And the people showed up and they showed out and they loved each other. And these were people from every type of physical background you could think people who don’t even know each other, people who came from other gyms and other places just to be here for us was huge.

00;19;20;24 – 00;19;27;22
Rick Hoaglund
If I’m a gym owner, I want to be participating in this. How do I go about it?

00;19;27;25 – 00;19;34;21
Mark Moss
So the website will be up and running. You can also reach out to me. I’m pretty active on Instagram-

00;19;34;21 – 00;21;32;19
Sarah Moss
and I think we’ll be posting on both our because we do have an Instagram page now and we’re also going to have a website up and running that will be Here’s Your Day right on the website. You can buy the shirts, any other merch. You do not have to have the shirt or buy the shirt to do the workout. We find people like to do it because it does just create this thing and because the money goes for such a good cause. But you can do either or. So we have the Instagram up and running which will be announcing everything, we’ll have the link on there for all the merch. We’ll have the date posted in the next few months, late at latest, and we’ll have the website posted there as well. So that way people can just see all of the above and we want to really adding stories on their too, that it’s really just our year of just kind of getting it all. You know the first two years were just like, wow, this went so fast, it almost got bigger than us even because we weren’t planning it! And this was the year that we’re kind of like, okay, this got bigger than we expected. So we have a friend now who is building our website and getting our Instagram rolling because even though I’m good at that, I have three kids and run a full time job, I’m like, I want to help you! I’m here for you! I have no time! And so this is the year we’re just really finalizing this everything. And I feel like especially by next year, everything’s just going to hopefully such a smooth space of just really see the growth. Because I think our long term goals, we’d love to see this across every gym in CrossFit, across America, just like the Murph in where this becomes such an impactful big thing. And you know, who knows, maybe we might even grow from something further than this, beyond CrossFit, whatever that looks like, because right now, you know, we give all this money to this organization and that’s something we prayed about is the money will never go to us, and that money will never go in our bank. But if we ever get to a place where we feel led to to take that money and divert it to people who are trying to pay for a funeral or friends for their mother who just committed suicide or fill in the blank, like that’s definitely I feel like the future thoughts of ours, wherever God takes us for us is where we just really want to follow, and-

00;21;32;22 – 00;21;59;21
Rick Hoaglund
And if I’m somebody that I live in the middle of, okay, I grew up in the Midwest, I’m just gonna say the middle of a cornfield because that’s kind of where I grew up and not really close to a gym or maybe the gym is very, very small, not participating. Can they do the work out on their own? Is it posted? Is the workout posted on your website, or is there a way that someone can get a copy of what that workout looks like so they can buy their t shirt, do it on their own? I mean-

00;21;59;27 – 00;22;09;18
Mark Moss
Yeah, yeah! It’ll be posted on the website for sure. And then on the Instagram page too! And this year it’s going to be super exciting with the workout upcoming.

00;22;09;20 – 00;22;21;27
Rick Hoaglund
The website has the workout on it, you’re able to buy the merchandise, so if you’re at home, you can do this on your own. If you had I mean, if there’s no gym, no place to go, you can do this on your own as well.

00;22;21;29 – 00;22;45;28
Sarah Moss
And I also think for people who, you know, don’t have the equipment or don’t have the means to do all of those things, I would highly encourage grab some friends and go for a walk, get outside, move your body! Like my mother in law and my father in law? They won’t be doing this workout! But I do believe that they’re going to buy shirts and they’re going to do a walk together and just to be outside. And it doesn’t mean you have to talk about it, but just move your body, be in nature, be with each other, be the ones you love, not in a place where there’s a sad song in the arms of an angel and you’re releasing balloons and you just at the end of it like, my gosh, that was really heavy. I’m very sad now, but to just be with you, love the outside. You can do the WOD. Absolutely do the workout! If that’s above what you can do or want to do, then man, just be with people you love, invite over friends, invite over a neighbor. Doesn’t have to be a lot of people, but, you know, like my moms, she’ll probably just do it with herself because that’s what she loves. And so go outside and so walk around in the sun and just be intentional that day to just fill your cup, fill your endorphins, be, you know, be intentional in all days. But you know, do what you can do.

00;23;34;24 – 00;23;49;27
Rick Hoaglund
Is there any message that you would like to put out there for our listeners? Anything that we either haven’t covered or something you’d like to cover? Again, anything that our listeners you think could you know, I’m going to call it like a nugget for them a little- little piece of something.

00;23;49;29 – 00;12;28;20
Mark Moss
Yeah. So on that website and this is kind of not- I guess our mission statement as well, is Uplift others and love yourself. So that’s what we’ve posted since the very beginning. And you don’t know what people are going through. And Sarah mentioned this way earlier, it never it costs nothing to be king to people. So just saying hello and smiling, like you don’t know what people are going through. And that’s really what I reiterated last year whenever I had to speak to our Gym, as you know, like 50 or 60 people, Uplift other people, treat others how you would want to be treated, and love on yourself, because that’s ultimately super important to do.

00;12;28;21 – 00;27;09;29
Sarah Moss
Yeah, I think we’re in this kind of new society where, you know, even at the age of just 32 to see how much technology and things have evolved and we get kind of just separated from reality? I feel like there’s such this- this revolution of self, and self is good to an extent, but also others, I think is more! I think we need like less selfies, more other-ies, essentially? I think we’re just so busy on, you know, tik-tok and social media and all this stuff and we just always focus on self, self, self. What suits me, what fits me, what, what, you know what based for my life. And I think when you take things off of self and love others, you know, like I said earlier, whether it be some of the smallest acts of just opening the door for somebody, talking to people. And I always encourage people to do it for the people who it’s the hardest to do it with, the people who seem the meanest, or homeless people! I was in Nashville the other day and it was freezing cold and we were in the library and there was maybe at least 100 homeless people in there. And I smiled and made eye contact and talked with all of them, and half of them could not believe it! And that broke my heart because how many of us just walk by the people who need it the most and pay the least attention to the people who need the love the most? I think we’re all in this mindset of being on our phone. I mean, one time I was- this is such a drastic scenario, but I’m very intentional when I’m in line that I do not- I’m not on my phone. I am not on my phone unless I’m like at home, in my space, in my moment. There’s no longer hardly a time where we’re in the Starbucks line or we’re in the line at the airport where everyone’s not doing this or just looking down on scrolling, looking down, and you don’t know what you’re missing! And one time I was at an airport and I decided not to wait on my phone and I literally prevented a human trafficking incident because I was not on my phone. And so that’s a whole other situation and a whole other subject for a whole other day, but the amount of things that we miss because we choose not to be present, the amount of moments and opportunities we missed meeting a stranger, talking to someone next to us and getting off of self- How many likes did I get? Whatever! I think that’s so crucial no matter age, especially speaking to the younger generation, to just be present, be there for others, get off your phone and just love people, man! And the more you love others is, the more you will love self! Period! End of story! And the more you move your body and get off of your technology and look outside of what this bubble that we all get in? I just think we all give ourselves a much stronger fighting chance in this life.

00;27;10;01 – 00;27;31;15
Rick Hoaglund
I love it. That’s good. Words of advice. Thank you very much! Like I said earlier, I’m going to say it again. I’m really sorry for your loss. I’m so happy though they are willing to share your stories and potentially turn someone else that may be going through similar situations, turn their lives around, give them hope and allow them to- I’m not going to say Heal, because I don’t know if you ever heal from stuff like that, but but it makes their life better. Thank you so much!

00;27;38;23 – 00;27;40;02
Mark Moss
Absolutely! Thank you!

00;27;40;03 – 00;27;42;08
Sarah Moss
Thanks! Bye Rick!

00;27;42;10 – 00;28;46;05
Rick Hoaglund
If you’d like to participate in Uplift or if you’re a gym owner and you want more information, please visit Marc Moss’ Uplift Instagram page at @marc_fit, the Uplift Instagram page at @upliftWOD, or visit the website, www.uplift-wod.com. If you’re considering suicide, call or text 988 in the United States. If you’re not in the United States, there is help available. Call your local suicide prevention hotline. No matter where you are, speak to your family or friends and seek professional help. If you have attempted to seriously hurt yourself, go to an emergency room. You’ve been listening to OnTopic with Empathia! For other episodes, please visit our website, www.empathia.com. Follow us on social media @Empathia, and subscribe to OnTopic with Empathia to hear new episodes as soon as they go live. I’m Rick Hoaglund – thanks for listening to OnTopic with Empathia!