Scheananigans with Scheana Shay - Smoking the Toad with Parker Young

Episode Date: September 11, 2020

This week Scheana sits down with actor, Parker Young and his wife Stephanie. Parker opens up about his battles with mental health and his experience with healing plants… you won’t believe what he recently smoked to help aid with his depression! Scheananigans with Scheana Shay is produced by ACTIONPARK MEDIA. Follow us on Instagram: @scheana @scheananigans @actionparkmediagroupSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

From Vanderpump Rules to Vegas and everywhere in between, it's time to party with Sheena Shea. This is Shenanigans. And now, here's your host, Sheena Shea. What's up, guys? We are getting into some Shenanigans again from my house in San Diego, but today I've tried to set it up a little more professionally. We've got the mic stands. It's not just Brock and I sitting on the floor up in our empty office room.

I have my friend, Parker Young, who you may know from Bravo TV's Imposters and listed suburgatory 20s, A Million Things, Arrow, or more recently, my vlog. How are you? I'm good, Sheena. How are you? I'm pretty good. Also joining us is his beautiful wife, Stephanie. How are you? I'm good. How are you? I'm good, Sheena. How are you? I'm pretty good. Also joining us is his beautiful wife, Stephanie. How are you? I'm good. How are you? Good. Thanks. Happy you both could

be here. Yeah, thanks. Thanks. This is my first podcast. First podcast? Yeah. No way. Yeah, you're taking my podcast virginity. Oh my God. I love popping people's podcast cherries. Yeah. This is exciting. I'm a little nervous. Be gentle with me. I'll keep it PG-ish. Yeah, cool. We'll see. You know, I got to say, I commend you for being so open and willing to just give of yourself to your fans.

Seriously, I'm a pretty private person so this feels very foreign and exposing, you know, and you just like open that door and walk through it. Yeah, I just put it all out there. I love it, man.

It gets me in trouble sometimes but it also makes for entertaining television. Yeah, thank you. Okay, so then I guess is this y'all's first interview together?

Yeah. I think so. I think it is, yeah. Oh my gosh, I love it. I know, I know, know crazy he's nervous i'm gonna say something that i shouldn't she's gonna this is why we have her here so she could do exactly that expose me and we've been together for like what 15 14 15 years i mean yeah she knows

she knows all the skeletons yeah okay give me one just to start out. Oh, God. So for those of you who don't know, Parker and Stephanie went to high school together. We did. And then did you go to college together as well? No. So I moved out to L.A. after high school. Okay.

And we dated long distance a little bit. And then a little bit. First breakup. Yeah, we were a little bit off and on. I mean, you're so young. Yeah, we were really young and then decided we wanted to stay together, be back together. And then, you know, we had kind of an open relationship for a little bit. Things got a little spicy.

But yeah, yeah, we've kind of been through it all. Yeah. Got to spice it up after 14 and a half years. So what is one thing you do to spice up your relationship after being together for so long? Oh, man. You know, we... I mean, I know some stories, but I don't know how much we want to say on the podcast. You know, like Thailand.

No, I mean, I think we met when we were kids. She was 15, I was 17. And, you know, you still want to experience life and experience other people. So we had a phase where, you know, we just, we just, we were less, you know, really it was on her. She was just less, she just wasn't, she wasn't a jealous person, you know, we would like meet. That's so incredible. Yeah. But I mean, it took hard work. In the beginning of our relationship, there were definitely times where I would like throw your phone and.

Yeah. I was definitely jealous in the beginning. For sure. For sure. But we like, you know, we would meet a girl and like, you know, maybe have a little fling kind of thing. A little throuple. Yeah.

I know about throuples. Do you? I've heard yeah we don't we don't need to get into that again though i've already heard that you can listen to my last podcast okay we talk about throuples with brock no oh no see now i'm i'm too old and too jealous for that. I'm a very secure woman. However, like that was fun in like my early twenties, but now in like my, Oh God, mid thirties, I don't think I could ever do it again. And he doesn't have any interest in it. He is also a very jealous person. And even if I were to make out with another girl that is like not okay oh really oh yeah that's interesting yeah it happened it didn't go well oh that's funny yeah I was like

in front of his face and he's like oh you're doing that in front of my face I was like I it was just we were drunk and but her and I had like kind of been dating before him and I and so it was just this like weird jealousy thing already. He didn't like that she had better hair than him. You know, actually, I think he did have better hair than him. He's got better hair? Yeah, he has better hair than most girls. That's true, he does.

But yeah, so with us, that's not been a discussion or something that he would want to do, and I've had my time in yeah doubles and all of that so yeah yeah there comes a time and place and i definitely feel like i'm getting a lot older yeah like it's not really my cup of tea anymore yeah especially when we have a kid i'm like i feel a little like weird right i feel like though when you are together so young it's like you know you do you experiment with those type of things yes yeah all right throuples i like it yeah it's like you know you do you experiment with those type of things yes yeah all right throubles i like it yeah it's not for everybody no that's the thing though because i

mean you really like jealousy cannot be a thing i mean i'm a jealous i mean like i yeah i i wouldn't be able to handle her like with another dude i like, look, do whatever you want. You know, you've given me permission to, to be, God, I sound like such a douche bag. Oh my God. Uh, but,

but yeah, I'm a jealous person. I, I, it's okay. He's not a douche bag. I can, thank you,

Stephanie. I'm pretty sure everyone knows that. Definitely not. Thank you. No, he's great. So I was watching, um,

I was just looking up some clips of things that you had done when I was getting my questions together. And I rewatched you on Watch What Happens Live when you did that with Erika Jayne. Yeah. And you guys got a lot of those like relationship type questions. And then you had said you were like, well, yeah, we're open. Then Andy's like, wait, what? You have an open relationship? So I want you to explain that a little more.

Is that, did you just mean like you could leave your phone open and not have to worry because you guys have that type of trusting relationship? That's part of it. Yeah. You know, part of it is, is Steph has, uh, you know, she's, she's got access to my phone and everything. I mean, I don't hide, we don't hide secrets from each other, you know, like we're open in that sense.

Right. But, but even in, in, uh, you know, the broader sense where we were a little open with our relationship in terms of, like I said, you know, like feeling free to spice things up if, uh, you know, if the opportunity presented itself and it felt right for all parties. Yeah. All right. And again, these are like, these, these, these things are few between. Totally. It's not like we're all the time just out there meeting chicks. But we lived in Vancouver for a year or two. And we had a friend there. A friend? Oh, I think I heard about this friend.

Last week, we were at the Grand, the Fairmont Hotel in Del Mar for Stephanie's birthday. And I heard a Vancouver story. Yeah. Yeah. Uh-huh. Fun times. All right. Fun shenanigans.

Yes. So Parker and I first met, I forget what movie it was, but we were at a movie premiere probably like two, three years ago. When was Imposters on? Probably around that time. Okay. Two years ago. Yeah, because I remember I was a fan of that show.

Bravo had just came out with their first two scripted series. And I was obsessed with it. I was so sad when it didn't return for a third season. Did you guys really film that in Mexico the second season? Yeah, part of it. Oh, okay. Yeah, season one was Vancouver. Season two was Toronto.

Oh, so that was Vancouver. Yeah, yeah. Oh, gotcha. Yeah, that was the Vancouver. Actually, that happened before. When we were filming Arrow, I think, in Vancouver. But yeah, season two was Toronto and then Mexico City. Okay.

Yeah. Cool. What is one of your favorite roles that you've played so far? Oh man, I feel so grateful for every opportunity I've had. I've learned so much from everything that I've been fortunate enough to work on, but I'd say the show Enlisted was a lot of fun. It was about three brothers in the army. I just really felt like me and those, I mean, really the whole cast just felt like family it was so fun to show up every day and put on my military fatigues and lace up my

my army boots and just just have a blast yeah it was so much fun and they they sent us to um this army base in in el paso texas called fort bliss and they like beat our ass for about a week just to get us to put us through like a kind of a little uh mock kind of boot camp yeah and uh man I love that shit I mean it was it was so fun and I think the idea was we're doing a comedy you know like we're doing a comedy about about the army and if if before we before we've earned the right to start telling jokes and and bringing humor to the military, like we need to understand the gravity of the story that we're trying to tell, you know? So that was, that just had a blast on that show.

Yeah. What's been your favorite stuff to watch him in? I would say Imposters. Yeah. I loved that show. It was such a good show. It really was. I was really sad when it didn't come back.

Yeah. We were shocked. I know. It really was. I was really sad when it didn't come back. Yeah. We were shocked. I know. We really were. We were, yeah. We were pregnant at the time, so we were like, what the fuck? Oh, that's the worst. Like, oh my God, yeah.

We thought we were, you know, set to have a baby and whatnot, and then found out it got canceled, and we had no idea it was going to happen. Yeah, it freaked me out, Sheena. It was like, you know, we moved down to San Diego, kind of just after season two we moved down here for what we thought would be a few months to have the baby and then head back for season three. And when we got down here, we found out the show was canceled

and we were like, well, shit, like now what? Now we're just raising this kid. And I was having like a midlife existential crisis, you know, just really trying to think about my future and raising a family. I mean, I swear I had postpartum depression. I mean, it was a rough little go a couple years ago. Now, I know Steph had told me that during that time, there was something you tried that kind of changed your whole life around.

Can we talk about that? Yeah. Yeah. Um, absolutely. Uh, I think you're referring to the plant medicines that I was. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, I guess a couple of years ago I just was, was having a rough go. Like I, and really it was all in my head. It was all internal. I just, um, you know, the show went away and, uh, the baby was born and, just, you know, the show went away and the baby was born. And, you know, there were just some other things going on that just made me feel, I could just feel this seed of negativity, just kind of this like darkness, like poor me, like life sucks. Like I'm a fucking failure. I'm going to ruin my daughter's life. I was just, I could just sense that I wasn't in the headspace I needed to be.

I mean, forget work and life success, but just to raise my daughter, you know? Yeah. So I heard about ayahuasca. And I mean, long story short, I dove into this interesting world of different plant medicines. Ayahuasca, psilocybin, which is magic mushrooms. Those were like the two I started with. And it really is just a journey inward to kind of explore, you know, things that may be limiting beliefs or things that might be holding you back. A lot of people go through past traumas, PTSD, things that are things they experienced when they were younger and that they need to clear and kind of release from their system.

So there's a lot of that. And then there's a lot of just looking at life from a larger, grander perspective, you know, feeling like we are all connected and all that kind of woo-woo shit of, you know, what is our purpose and recognizing that we're just these beings that are so fortunate to be here floating through space on this rock we call earth, you know, all the pressures that we put on ourselves are really inconsequential when you start to look at that reality, you know? So, yeah, it helped me a lot. It's not, it's not for everybody, but it really helped me. And I'm really grateful for, for the medicine workers that, that make it their life's mission to bring this to people because it's still Schedule I drug. I mean, it's up there with like, I think cocaine is a Schedule II drug.

So these healing plants are considered worse than cocaine. Yeah. It's crazy. It's crazy. So it's really insane, but there's a lot of research coming out. A lot of my buddies are military veterans, guys that have spent their whole lives at war and have A lot of my buddies are military veterans, guys that have spent their whole lives at war and have a lot of trauma. Since I've moved down here, I've met a bunch of SEALs,

and this work has helped them tremendously to deal with PTSD and sort of help them acclimate into civilian life, right? Actually, last weekend, I, forgive me for rambling on, but I'm definitely passionate about this topic. This last weekend, I got invited to a ceremony in the desert that I was- This is, I wanted to ask you about. Yeah, I was terrified about this one, Sheena. It's called 5-MeO-DMT, and it's basically extracted from the back of a Sonoran river toad. And it's this poisonous frog.

Like an actual toad. An actual toad. Yeah, yeah, yeah. An actual toad. Very poisonous toad that burrows in the ground all year because it's so hot out there. And then when it rains, when the monsoons come, the toads come out. Yeah, we were told as kids not to touch them. Yeah, really poisonous.

Yeah, like don't. Because he grew up in Arizona. So yes. Now he's smoking them. I know, crazy, right? So they extract the poison from its back, and you basically smoke it. You smoke this toad, and I was terrified. They were doing this veterans group, a bunch of seals and rangers

were going out to the desert to have this experience with these beautiful shamans that were in town. And I got invited and I was like, you know, I was really nervous. And anyway, long story short, I ended up going and had a beautiful, I mean, it was like one of the best experiences of my life. Yeah. It was cool. So have you ever done ayahuasca or anything like that i have not but seeing you i think so i mean my dad's gonna kill me if i ever do or if he ever finds out i do because he's very against that kind of stuff or drugs in general um but seeing the change in him is insane like he went from being like so depressed and like this all was happening

after I had a baby and I was having postpartum depression too. So it was just so rough. Yeah. It was a very rough time in our lives and he kind of like holds the fort together, you know, like he's my rock. So when he was depressed and going through his stuff, like it weighed a lot on me. Um, so seeing him change drastically, like it just, it's insane. And it makes me very happy. And I truly believe in this stuff. Yeah. And I truly believe that, you know, it's not for everybody, but if you have mental health issues and you know, you're depressed and anxious, I mean, it works. Yeah. It does.

It works. And I go through my phases still, especially being a new mom. Like, there are days where I'm so depressed and anxious and it doesn't go away. Yeah. You know, like, it goes away. Days are better, obviously. I'm definitely out of my postpartum depression state. But, you know, every day is different.

Totally. And I totally think I could benefit from it. I don't know if I'd smoke the toad though. That freaks me out a little bit. Okay. So how many days did you do this for? The toad? Yeah. So I went on, uh, I got there Friday night. I smoked the toad Saturday, Sunday, Monday.

Wow. For you, I wouldn't start with the toad. I would start. Yeah. I don't know that I would smoke the toad. I've got this, we can talk about this other stuff. I got it. I mean, I don't have it, but this guy I work with, um, and there's, there's, yeah, there's a, there's a, there's a much gentler approach. You know, there's these, these chocolates that are, uh, it's all sounds

really crazy, but, but, but that's where I would, I would, I'll rope you in at some point probably. But yeah, the toad, the toad, basically you just, you just basically die. I mean, you go and you confront your mortality. But what's cool is that when you die, like when the ego, the chatter, the part that's anxious and note taking and all this, when that part dies and it's scared, it's, it's fucking terrified. It doesn't want to die. I mean, obviously no one wants to die, but when that part goes away, what's left is just this sort of infinite consciousness, you know, the sort of like the, the, the ego's finite.

But when you, when that leaves, there's just this infinite love and peace and consciousness. And from that state, I mean, it's like, it's pretty, it's pretty awesome. You know, how do you convince yourself to do it again? Like multiple times? Like, isn't it scary? Yeah. Oh yeah. So it was, it was really crazy. I was, um, three nights in a row. Like, it's like, okay, you did it once. I mean, I know, I know what it's like to a festival, you know, I can go day two, day three, but I'm like, that's like a fun music festival. And even if you're kind of feeling shitty,

you know you're going to feel better when you put them in your system but to do something like this just seems so scary yeah you feel like you do it once and not want to do it again yeah and a follow-up question with that is does it scare you each time he's done something like this yes so every time he goes and does like a journey I always get terrified that something bad is going to happen, but I know that he needs it so much that it's worth it. And I truly believe that plant medicine is healthier for you than taking drugs, pharmaceutical drugs. You know, like I think there's a lot of risk involved with that. Um, so yeah. Yeah. So, you know, it was a good question. You have to know that you're in a safe environment with, with people that know what they're doing. You know, I don't just go out there by myself

and find a toad and smoke it. Like I'm, I'm with my sister's husband did in high school. I'm, I'm with professional, you know, I mean, truly guys that have been doing this work for decades and I feel safe, but, um, I would smoke the toad. And again, I hesitate to even talk about it because the experience is truly indescribable and, and to try to describe it is, is really not doing the experience justice. Yeah. Is it different for everyone or does everyone have the same experience? It gives everybody what they need. We all need something a little bit different, but ultimately all points in the same direction. It all points to love and gratitude and, and letting go of the burdens that we carry.

But what got me to smoke for three days is I would smoke it and I would go to this realm of universal consciousness. Let's call it that. You can call it God. You can call it whatever you want. But I would go to that realm, and as I would come back, I almost every single time would have this moment of like, holy shit, I'm never doing that again. Like that was too, I'm never, I'm not, that's, that's it. If I come back, if I make it back to my body, that's it. I'm grateful. I'm done. And I'd come back and it's the, the toad only lasts like 10, 20 minutes and you're back. And I get back, it's it. So I'd come back and be like, I'm never doing that again. And then I'd take a breath. I'd be like, holy shit.

I'd feel so grateful that I'm in this body, in this physical form, and that I have this life to live. And I'd roll over. I'd make eye contact with all my buddies. And again, these are fucking hardened SEALs and Army Rangers. These guys have been through stuff, and they're warriors. So we would all have that experience of going, coming back, holy shit, never again, never again.

And then we'd take a breather. We'd look at each other and be like, all right, boys, let's go again. Let's do it again. And the idea was let's confront that death over and over and over again until the fear of it goes away. And once the fear of dying goes away, life becomes a lot easier. It's crazy. So we were like, I was becomes a lot easier, you know? So, so we were like, that was, that was, I was resisting. I was resisting death. All right, light up. Let's

go again until we stopped resisting. You know, that was sort of, that was sort of the way it worked for us. Yeah. That's so crazy. I had texted you this morning. I was like, can we talk about smoking the toads? I didn't know how open you wanted to be about that, but it was so curious. My mom was like, don't talk about it. Don't talk yeah it's kind of like uh going into labor except for it's a lot longer labor's longer yeah remember i was like i don't ever want to do this again and then you forget about it you're like okay let's do it again i guess it's similar yeah i mean okay i see you can make that comparison in a lot of different ways you know mine would be festivals you're like can i go day three?

Can I do this? You can do it. We got this. Yeah. But the difference with a festival is like sometimes at the end of that third day, you're like, I'm dead. Like, I hate myself. At the end of this, the other side of this experience is it's worth it. Yeah.

You feel good. You know, you start looking at things a little differently. You try to have a little bit more love and compassion for people. At least I try. Yeah, definitely. But, like, when we were driving back from Arizona, we stopped at this gas station. You know, we put our masks on. We go inside.

This dude walks in with no mask on, you know. And outside on the door it says, like, masks are required. Oh, yeah, but in Arizona. I try not to judge, but this guy walks in and the woman working there goes, oh, sir, you need to have a mask, please. And he's just like, yeah, well, once you give me what I need, I'll leave. I don't need to wear a mask. And he's just being a dick about it.

And I was like, whoa. And I walk up to the guy just in case something happens. I wanted to kind of just help this chick out. He buys a lottery ticket and he's like mumbling under his breath and says, I can't believe you guys believe in this shit, whatever. I was like, hey, man, the lady asked you to wear a mask. You should wear a mask, right? Yeah.

And I got a little bit confrontational with him. And he huffed and puffed and walked out of there. And what it made me realize, I'm like, here's a dude who's walking in here buying a lottery ticket, hoping to win the lottery. You're not going to win the lottery if you're a fucking dickhead and you're mean to people. Winning the lottery is loving yourself, loving others, being a good person. The lottery's won. You can scratch the winning fucking bingo, whatever.

It's not going to change your life. You're an unhappy dude and you make people miserable. That's not the way to live. And I, trying to love and be compassionate, I still notice myself get a little bit confrontational with this guy, maybe trying to protect the chick or whatever. But one minute later, another guy walks in. Excuse me, sir, could you please put your mask on? Ah, fuck it. I gotta take a piss. I walked to the bathroom. He comes back out and I'm like,

okay, I'm going to say something to this guy now. You know, like I'm, again, I'm like getting too protective or something. And he walks out and I got my mask on and I just look him in the eyes and I try to just give him like love instead. Like the last guy, I got a little confrontational. This guy, I'm going to just be a little bit more compassionate towards. And he sees me standing there. I'm holding my daughter, who's two years old, wearing a pink mask on her face. And he sees us and sees that we're not fighting. We're not judging, whatever.

If she can do it, he can do it. And he softened and he was like, beautiful daughter. She's great. He holds the door for us so we can leave. And I was like, by, by not being confrontational, I was able to sort of, I was sort of able to change his perspective a little bit, you know? And that's a, that's a tough thing. You know, we want to go to war with people, but sometimes there's a different way to go about it. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. What has it been like raising a kid during a pandemic? I mean, especially just her age, you know, I mean, she's, is she two yet? She is two. Okay. About two in a month. Yeah. Gotcha.

It's been tough. I mean, she's, she's at an age where she wants constant stimulation, you know, she wants to be like going to the pool, to the park, to the library and all that shit's closed down. So it's a lot of sitting at home with mommy and daddy and, uh, it's tough. You know, she gets, um, it's all this energy she wants to expend. And then we get frustrated because she's frustrated and it's like, fuck, we have to just realize how lucky we are. And once we kind of shifted the perspective and realize like, what a gift to be able to have this much time. If it wasn't this pandemic, who knows where I'd be off working, doing something and like be working 12, 14 hour days.

Missing moments. Yeah. So, so we're really just soaking it up and enjoying it. Who is that handsome man that just walked down the stairs? Is that Brock himself? Oh my God. What up fam? Hey honey, how you doing?

We're doing good. We're podcasting I realized That's why I was tiptoeing around Yeah I think I Do some stuff Okay

Alright See ya brother Nice He was pretty quiet though So I will say You guys are By far

Our favorite couple To hang out with Thank you Brock I think has A man crush On Parker What was it he said He texted our favorite couple to hang out with. Brock, I think, has a man crush on Parker. What was it he said? I texted you guys last week after.

Oh, he really enjoys Parker. Oh, yeah, he really enjoys hanging out with Parker. Hey, man, right back at you. We love hanging out with you guys. I fucking love him, man. He's awesome. It's like you feel safer when that guy's around, right? Like physically, because he's just this big presence, but also like he's a good solid dude you know and it's great

to be around good people totally we love hanging with you guys yeah it's nice because like we can like have fun with you guys and like do our you know like game nights party whatever but also your family people and it's just like a nice to have that balance because a lot of his friends in San Diego were just party friends. Yeah. It's hard to find friends. I'm like a couple of weeks ago, we did this like pirate ship cruise thing with all of his friends. And I mean, there wasn't one sober person there other than myself. So I'm the only sober person there. And they're like, take this, drink this, do this. And I was like, no, I'm sober right now. I've made this very clear.

Like, nothing's going to change that. And then we're at dinner later. And they're like, do you just think of us as, like, party friends? And I'm like, I mean, I know you're, like, his genuine friends. And, like, we're friends. But the only time I've ever hung out with you is when we're partying. So that is kind of the correlation here. And they're like, well, you know, we could be sober too. Like we can come

over and just cook dinner and do game nights. So I was like, okay. So that week I invited one of the couples over for dinner and I was like, all right, let's try and hang out normal. And they bailed. Yeah. I was just like, and I don't think it was because we were just having a normal night. It was like he was stuck at work a little late and her boyfriend is opening up another F45 out here right now. So they were both working late and dinner wasn't going to be until like 8, 830. And she was like, I can't do it. Like it was like seven o'clock.

She's like, I need to eat and go to bed. And I was like, okay, so you're, you're being normal. You know, you're not partying. But I was looking forward to just like having some of his friends over for a normal night. And we still have yet to do that. Yeah. But we love having you guys over and, you know, just thank you for including us in your birthday last week. Like that was so much fun. That was a lot of fun. Yeah. Thanks for including us over for dinner. Of course. Yeah. They had my enchiladas.

They were delicious. Dude. So good. So good. Yeah. That was a good night. We played Heads Up. If you guys didn't see it on my vlog.

Hey, who won? Who won Heads Up? Whatever. We won. Yeah. I'm not so sure about that. I think it was a tie. Really?

Okay. I think it was a tie. I think it was a tie. All right. Well, we'll have to it was a tie. I think it was a tie. All right. Well, we'll have to have a sudden death. Yes, we will. Settle the score. We'll do it again.

So it was the four of us and then Mitch, who is from Huddles. And if you guys have followed me on Instagram story or joined any of my Huddles, you would know who Mitch is. I actually wanted to ask you about this, Parker, because I know you are one of the founders of huddles as well. So it's basically like, I'm sure most of you know what a cameo is, where you can reach out to a celebrity via this app and get a shout out video for a friend, family, for a birthday or whatever. But huddles is taking this and making it a more interactive experience where you're basically FaceTiming with people you're fans of. And I get a FaceTime

with people who we've talked about, not just like them being a fan of the show, but people who also struggle with anxiety, women who have gone through infertility struggles and miscarriages. And it's been a great experience for me, especially in the pandemic. This started out, I mean, I know you guys just started it in like March. And when you approached me, Parker had asked me if I wanted to join this. I was like, yeah, it sounds great. A hundred percent was going to charity. And it's something that I have done every single week. I actually, I need to schedule one for this week. Now that I'm saying this, I'm like, shit, it's already Thursday. But it's something I've done every week.

I have not broke my streak. And I just want you to talk about where the idea came from, how it started, and how other people can get set up with it. Yeah, thanks. You did a great job of explaining what that is. And I just got to say, you're a fucking badass, man. The fact that you, dude, I have so much respect for you. That goes back to what I said at the beginning of this is like, I asked you if you wanted to be a part of

this and without even thinking, you were like, I'm in like, what do I got to do? I mean, like, like you just were so willing to open yourself up and be there for your fans. It was, it was, I have so much respect for you. Thank you. Yeah, really. But basically, yeah, at the beginning of the pandemic, me and a buddy of mine came up with this idea to basically create these sort of safe virtual spaces where celebrities can hang out with their fans, right? And the goal was sort of to encourage people to continue to social distance, to help people with the isolation of the quarantine, and in the process, raise money for charity.

So it was sort of this experiment. Like, does anyone want to talk to me? Like, maybe no one does. But people were like, yeah, sure. Like, I'll join. And it became just really fun. It was a really cool way for humans from around the world to engage and interact and not feel so alone. Yeah.

And it literally is from all around the world. I have a girl in Thailand who joins mine weekly. Yeah. It's so cool. And, uh, and then they start to become friends, you know,

you start to unite people from all over the place. Yeah. Yeah. Baby, you have the huddle hose, right? They call themselves the huddle hose. Yeah.

Shout out to the huddle hose. Um, but, but yeah, they, they, they join the huddles and they're from all over the place, different walks of life. And yeah, we just hang out. So we were like, let's try to expand this. Let's try to get more people to want to host these huddles. And you were one of the first. And I had no idea. For all I knew, this had been around for years.

And I was like, why am I just hearing about this? And they're like, we just started it. I had no idea because it was so well put together. The only thing that I was like, oh, there's not an app for this yet. Because I assumed y'all had been doing it for a while. But now there is an app and the app keeps getting updated. And it's such a great experience. Like I said, we've centered certain huddles around topics. Like I've continued my

huddle group on Instagram. So we have like a group chat on Instagram and I'll usually post in there like what day works time and whatever for everyone, because my schedule is quite open right now. And a lot of them are back to work. So I try to schedule my huddle time around when it works for everyone else else because obviously if they can't make it then I'm not doing it so in the group chat one of the girls or myself I forget who it was mentioned something about anxiety and literally the 12 other people in the group chat were like me too me too me too oh my god you take Wellbutrin I take Lexapro you did and it was just like everyone opened up in that chat and they were like, I've

never felt safe talking about this before because people like my boyfriend judge anxiety and don't really believe in certain. Yeah. He's just like, well, like, you know, get over it or change your mindset or I'm like, but there's chemical imbalances in people's brains and there are things that you can't just snap out of it, honey. No, you can't. And I've tried to explain this to him. And I actually am fully off my well-being now. And I actually feel amazing.

But it was a struggle. And I had withdrawal symptoms. As I'm coming off my well-being, I'm going through a miscarriage. And it was just like the worst time to be getting off an antidepressant and anxieties when I'm going through something where I would need it the most. And I was trying to explain all this to him and I'm like, okay, you don't get it. That's fine. Like, you know, we don't see eye to eye on everything and it's fine. It opens up our perspectives and other senses. But with my huddle group, there were just so many people that were like, can we actually just have one where

it's focused on anxiety because now we feel like we have a safe space to talk about something we've never been able to talk about before and the best thing to do when you have anxiety and depression is to talk about it yeah and to know you're not alone totally yeah when I had postpartum depression I was keeping it a secret for a really long time and that didn't help at all. Yeah. Like being able to talk about it and, you know, get other people's opinions and know that other people go through the same thing you do and you're not alone is the best thing ever. Yeah. It really helps. Definitely. I love that that happened through huddles. Yeah. And even the day before my vlog and podcast came out about the miscarriage, I did a small private huddle with

a few of the women from the group. And I didn't even know any of them had struggled with infertility or had a miscarriage or anything like that. I just picked the original four girls. And then, um, my like gay BFF, virtually, David. Love him. I feel like we know each other because we've followed each other for so many years. And now it's like that I FaceTime with him. And I've given some of them my phone number because it's just like I've really gotten to know them. And they feel like actual genuine friends.

I don't consider them just like fans anymore. I'm like, I'm a fan of you just as much as you're a fan of me. I hate the word fans. I know it's more than that. Yeah. Because it really is. And so there were, I think it was just five of them that I had been huddling with from day one. And I was like, there's just something that I want to tell you guys. Like we told my family and all my closest friends before you find out publicly, this is what I'm going through. Like, I want to let you know privately. And I just felt like I owed them the same respect because we were getting so close and I was talking to them every week. And so we did a private huddle and it was either

four out of five or five out of six, whatever it was there, it was all of the women in there had suffered with infertility or a miscarriage or something in that sense. And I had no idea. Like one of them, it was, I mean, she had had multiple DNCs and it was so crazy. Another one was like my age and she's been trying to get pregnant for years. And it was just like all except one. And obviously David couldn't relate, but I wanted him there because he's just such a big part of that group. And I was like, oh my God, I was like, I had no idea. Like when they say it's what one in four, I mean, it was like four out of five in just

that group chat. It was so crazy, but I love awesome though. Yeah. And it makes, it just makes you feel back to normal. You know, like it makes you feel better about what you're going through because everybody is going through something. Yeah. And it's like, I would never wish infertility upon my biggest enemy. I would never, ever wish that, but just knowing that so many other women have been through it and that I'm not alone in it. And we're hearing other stories that were so much worse than mine,

I was like, wow, okay, I had this pretty easy. It could have been even worse. And you don't ever want anyone to go through that, but just knowing that you're not the only one, it definitely makes your personal struggles easier. Yeah, that's awesome. So yeah, so I love that you were the person who introduced me to huddles. And if you guys want to book me on a huddle, you can.

We both donate to charity. So your money's also going to a good cause. It's just a lot of people I think are like afraid to do it too. And they like get shy. It's so true. I've talked to so many people that are like, oh my God, I wanted to join Sheena's Huddle so bad, but I'm just intimidated. I'm nervous. Like I like her too much. I don't want her to think I'm a weirdo. And I'm like, I'm so nice. Like it's a safe space. I promise. And I always tell people, I mean, right now in a pandemic, it's different, but I've always said in the past,

I'm like, if you see me out, come up, say hi, give me a hug. Right now, keep your distance, wave from afar. But normally, I'm like, I'm not usually a germaphobe. I'm all about meeting fans and interacting and hugging and shaking hands. But like I said, right now in a pandemic, it is a little different. And if people come up to me, I'm like, I just like, yeah. But and I hate that because I'm like, oh, it's just like, I've always been that way. So at least virtually we can still have those experiences.

And I just think it's great. I think it's great what you guys have started. And yeah, thanks. Thanks. Thanks for saying that. Yeah. It's been cool. And getting new people on the platform. We got some of the selling sunset girls and some of the, uh, got one of them on and then i think she got a few of the other ones on so i love that

because you know you spread the word and then it's just gonna get bigger yeah hopefully yeah we'll keep doing it i think it's awesome yeah thank you yeah a lot of fun definitely i was scared to join one and then i did sheena's one time before I had met her in person. And it was like I had the best time ever. I was like, oh, now I understand. Like, this is addicting. Yeah, it was so much fun. Yeah, it was so much fun. When the screens are popping up and you see, like, everyone's name I saw, it said Parker Young.

And I was like, Parker's joining my huddle? And he's like, no, it's his wife. And I was like, oh, awesome. And I was so happy you did. And then one of your friends was in it as well. Yeah, one of my friends joined, too. Yeah, and she was so nervous I'm like you're just do it it'll be great yeah she was really happy she did it there's always like when it's someone new there's like the one person in the bunch who's just like quiet and then you have some others

that are very strong personalities where I'm like you zip it I want to talk to her like let me just try and get some interaction because I feel like if I don't lead the chat sometimes then the quiet ones will just sit there and listen the whole time and I'm like no I want you to have your turn to talk too but the more that I've done these and the better I've gotten to know a lot of these people some of them just don't shut up and then oh my god strong personalities you know who you are and i love you but i'm like she has dominated this huddle but we also do a lot of one-on-one so sometimes i'm like i don't feel bad being like zip it yeah not your turn to talk exactly but yeah but i think they're great so Thanks, Shana. Thank you. Yeah, good job with that. Thanks.

So what are some of y'all's favorite things to do down in San Diego? Because I feel like as much as I've been coming here for, I mean, my whole life, but really a year now since Brock and I have been together, the past month and a half I've been more of like a hermit. Are there like good restaurants you recommend or things that would be good social distancing for the listeners if they're coming down to San Diego? Yeah, have you ever tried smoking a toad?

Oh, my God. Can you do that here, or is that just an Arizona thing? You could do it wherever, if you find a guy that can administer it. But I'm kidding, don't do that. Well, maybe do it, but in San Diego, I would go surfing. Surfing is a fun one. But I did, I did, I did just start to learn how to surf and that's been a fun thing to do outside and socially distanced. We live in Coronado and his dad owns a bike shop. Yep. Shout out to Holland. Holland. Yeah. So if you ever want to rent bikes. That's so crazy.

My dad is from Holland and his dad owned a bike shop. Really? Oh my God. That's so funny. Yeah. Now his brother has the bike shop, but that's so crazy. So if you want to go ride bikes. So if you need a bike.

Coronado is the best place to do it. Okay. Yeah. Holland's Bicycles in Coronado. It's been there since the twenties. And ask for. The oldest establishment besides the Dell. Second to the Dell, yeah.

Yeah. But yeah, ask for my brother, Nelson. He's there. He'll take care of you, help you get a bike. So is all of your family down in San Diego? Yeah, that's why we moved down here. Okay. It's my...

Well, not my... My sister's not here. From Arizona, though, right? From Arizona. And then they all relocated in? Exactly. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so we came down here kind of temporarily and then

just fell in love with being in san diego yeah so uh we stuck around as far as restaurants like i'm not a huge foodie he's not a foodie at all it makes me so sad i'm kind of a boring i'm like a foodie a secret foodie i'm already like doesn't feel that part yeah i know i'm i'm sorry yeah but um we went to Cheesecake Factory last night. I was like, there's so many good restaurants down here. And we're like, let's go to Little Italy. I'm like, honestly, I really want Cheesecake Factory. You know what I did like a month or two ago that was really fun is at Balboa Park, they have this archery course.

It's kind of like golf but with targets. And you take a bow and arrow and you like go from target to target. Look at that. He changed the subject from food to archery course. It's like, it's kind of like golf, but with targets and you take a bone arrow and you like go from target to target. He changed the subject from food to archery. He eats to live. He doesn't live to eat. Love it. I wanted to ask you to, um, your daughter's name, Jackson, J-A-X-O-N, where did you get that name? Oh, we're huge fans of Jax on the show. We know that's not true. You know, I don't know exactly where it came from. We liked the name Jackson. We wanted something strong. I liked the idea of her sending an email to a future employer and the dude not knowing

whether it's a boy or a girl. Love that. You know, and he's just like, all right, Jackson Young, let me meet with this person and see what I think. Yeah. And then he'll be pleasantly surprised that it's a woman. Yeah. And because we were so, we didn't know like what we wanted to call her. Jackson gave us a lot of options.

It's like Jackson, Jack, Jax. You know, there was like a lot of, you know, we could figure it out. And then my last name is Young. So I liked the idea of her initials being J-o-y oh that's right you said by the way this is my idea so we we called we we her name is jackson o'ryan young so uh joy so she can go by joy if she wants to be feminine yeah she wants to be a little girlier yeah but she's definitely a jackson for sure yeah we were like we were gonna name what was the girl we were gonna name her poppy stop it look i have a poppy flower tattoo my grandfather

who passed away a little over two years ago his name we called him poppy so she was born shortly after he passed away and i thought that'd be such a cute name but yeah she's not a poppy she's definitely a little jackson Tasmanian devil. I can't wait to get her into jujitsu classes, and she's going to be choking out all the boys. Yeah. Parker cannot wait. Have you guys watched Cobra Kai? No, what's that?

Oh, my God, it's on Netflix. It's so, you know, the Karate Kid back in the 80s? Yeah. So it's like 30 years later, and it's all of the same actors, but now they have kids, and it's still dueling dojos. So you have Miyagi Do and then you have Cobra Kai and it's so good. And I'm so sad. We just finished the second season.

I was like, I tweeted the other day. I'm like, so what do I do now that Cobra Kai is done? The third season isn't coming until next year, but it's, it's good. I've heard good things.

I, um, I have a bit of a problem with not watching i don't watch a lot of scripted stuff i watch like a lot of documentaries it feels and i need to get over this but it feels like i watch bravo which makes i make him watch like bravo with me so is that how he got into vanderpump rules oh 100 yeah but i i need to get over over this the only show he watches on Bravo besides Blow Deck

I'm obsessed with Blow Deck Med it's so good I'm watching season 2 right now because I'm like I didn't watch I swear so Hannah and I have been friends since the show started and I swear season 2 she told me she wasn't coming back to the show and I was like

well if you're not coming back then I'm not watching it and so then I didn't watch it and then like halfway through the season my mom was like Hannah's still on it and I was like I swore she told me she wasn't doing it anymore I was like well now I'm like 10 episodes behind I'm not gonna watch it so then I stopped watching it for a couple years started watching it again this year and I was like wait I need to go back and watch season two because Malia and Bugsy, there's some drama that happened season two. I didn't see that season either. I should go back and watch it. It's so good.

I have like two or three more episodes, but I'm so into it right now. And I have to remember that this is before and then I still have new episodes on Monday. But I'm obsessed. He gets mad at me when I put on Below Deck without him. That's like the one he's like, wait, what do you mean? Oh, Rock 2. I have to save it to watch with him. I don't know if that's true.

That is true, 100%. Do you watch any of the Housewives? I mean, I get stuck watching what she puts on. He definitely is more of a Vanderpump Rules Below Deck fan. Housewives, he's like, I can't listen to this chatter. Yeah. He gets all angry. But again, my choice is more like survival.

He doesn't choose Bravo. survival survival shows and stuff like there's a show called alone that i really like um have you heard of alone alone oh my god i love it they basically take 10 survivalists and they drop them off in a different part of the world like in the arctic for example was this last season and they're completely alone they have camera equipment so they film themselves. And the objective is basically just survive as long as you can and be the last man standing. So one by one, these guys that fancy themselves, guys and girls like survivalists have to call up and tap out and say, I can't do this. I need to go home. Like I'm starving or I'm lonely. And, uh, the last man standing gets half a million bucks or a million bucks or whatever. Gotcha.

Yeah. I like that show. Cool. What would you say is your dream role to play or someone to star opposite of? Oh, man. You know, I've thought about this a lot. He loves Tom Hardy. Oh, yeah. He has like a man crush on him.

But I think every human being does. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know it's hard for me to say what my dream role would be because i i feel like stuff presents itself to me kind of for a reason a little bit like when i'm ready for it or to learn when it's when it's time to learn something new about myself and if i try too hard to like get a specific role and it doesn't go my way it just fucking pisses me off and yeah um Yeah, I don't know how he does it. I love...

It's hard. I did it for a long time. I love comedy. Like, I just like not taking myself so seriously. I like trying to find the humor in real-life situations. Yeah. Like, there's something fun about going to work and being like, all right, let's fucking have some fun.

Yeah. Like, let's find the fun in this. But I also love action shit. Like, I love, you know, just me personally, like, you know, all my buddies down here are, you know, special operations guys, right? And so they, you know, we like to go rock climbing and spearfishing and shoot guns and camp and shoot bow and arrows and ride motorcycles. So I think my ideal role would be something that kind of merged the two.

Like Mission Impossible with a little bit more humor. Something like that. Like a dark comedy. Yeah. Yeah, Mission Impossible with a little bit more humor. That'd be fun. That'd be fun, right? Like Archer, but real life.

Yeah, like Archer. Like a live action Archer, something like that. Okay. But the new show, yeah, I'm a little hesitant to talk about it because I, I don't want to like jinx anything. It's still basically a year ago. I got this, I got this role, uh, that I'm really excited about. And it's been a year in the making because, um, COVID and everything. We just had to keep pushing it back, but it's a new show created by Chuck Lorre and the, the big bang team. And it's, uh And it's, yeah, it's a new sitcom about a

Marine combat veteran who's struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio. And he's having a bit of a rough go. He's living in his dad's garage and, you know, he's abusing alcohol and having some issues readjusting to this new life outside of the military. And one of his best friends is the Afghan interpreter that served with his unit overseas. And that Afghani comes to the States to start a new life and in so doing helps the Marine get back on his feet. It's a really cool story. But it's a sitcom. It doesn't sound funny. But the goal is to take this really important story that I believe in so strongly. I think it's such an important story to shed light on, on this particular story and to do so and bring humor to

it would be, you know, a huge accomplishment. So, um, I know some of these guys, I know a lot of these guys that are, that are in this position that are, are trying to, um, to find their, their purpose outside of the military. And some of them aren't having an easy go of it. Some of them have been in rehab and have certain traumas that they're struggling with. And it was so serendipitous that I was blessed to meet a lot of these guys. And then after the fact, this story came into my life. And I was like, shit, man, I would love to have the honor of bringing this to life.

I know these guys, and I think it's an important story. And, I mean, Chuck Lorre and David Goetz and Maria Ferrari are just gangsters, right? I'm just like, to be able to work with them would be such a dream come true. So I'd worked for CBS before. It's a pilot for CBS. I'd worked for CBS. I'd worked for Warner Brothers. So my team reached out to them. It was like, yo, what about Parker?

And they're like, yeah, we love Parker. But, you know, Chuck's going to get who he wants. You know, Parker's got to go through the normal process and audition, meet the team. Which is such a crazy process. So I went through the whole process. And it is. It's a long process. And when it was all said and done, you know, I was fortunate enough to be offered the part.

So now we're just playing the waiting game. We'll hopefully shoot the pilot in October. Awesome. But the crazy thing about it, Sheena, is that it's a pilot, and all this work goes into it. And then CBS can watch the pilot and decide, eh, we don't want to put it on the air. Right. And then nobody sees it. That's happened over and over again with way, that's the way TV works.

And I've, I mean, I've, I've worked on incredible pilots where they just, they're like, ah, we got, we love it. We've got one slot, you know, we're going to put a different show with someone more famous or whatever, you know, and it's just, it's just the name of the game. Well, fingers crossed. And then all of a sudden it's like, nope, not happening. You're like, not again. We'll see what happens, you know, either way.

I'm trying not to be attached to it. But be positively optimistic. Yeah, always. Absolutely. Definitely. What was the first role you booked? Because when I was looking on your IMDb, it said delivery man on like days of our lives. Yeah, that's what I was going to say.

Was it? So when I moved out to LA and I started self-submitting myself for jobs. Through LA Casting. LA Casting, Actors Access, I think were the twomitting myself for, for, for jobs. There's like casting actors access, I think with the two websites, at least at the time. The first one that I went and auditioned for was a, an XM radio commercial, like a spec commercial, like meaning they pay you like they paid, I think they paid me 50 bucks cash. And I was like basically a Chippendales dancer. I was like dancing. Oh my God.

Yeah. And this like ridiculous commercial, 50 bucks. That's what started your career, honey. And then I started, I started doing extra work and background work, just trying to like, just do whatever I thought I was supposed to.

I had no, you know, there's no playbook for this shit. What year did you move to LA? Right before 08, I think. Okay. Yeah. So that was like same time I was acting. Yeah. Seven, right?

I graduated 07, so it was. God, I graduated college think. Okay. Yeah. So that was like same time I was acting. Yeah. Okay. Seven. Right. I graduated Oh seven. So it was, God, I graduated college in Oh six. Well, she knew you look very young. I'm 32. I'm not that far behind. Okay. Yeah. I'm 35. I just turned 30. So I'm in my thirties now. Yay. You're catching up. Yes, I am. But yeah, so then I, um, that delivery man on days of our lives is one of the, you know, one of the first things, you know, and I was so excited. And the reality of this business is it's like, it's so hard and you get told no so many fucking times, you know, and it's those little tiny victories that keep you going, you know, and you just keep going, you just keep, you know, the dots just kept connecting and I just kept

working and trying to grow and, you know, be honest with myself about where I needed improvement. And, uh, it's just this ongoing journey, you know, be honest with myself about where I needed improvement. And it's just this ongoing journey, you know. And unfortunately, I don't know how to do anything else. So, you know, I'm good. Well, you're doing great job. Lots of credits under your belt and many more to come.

I agree. All right. We're going to end this with I want you to each tell me one fact about the other that most people wouldn't know. Oh, jeez. Stephanie, you first. Oh, God. Me first? What's something people wouldn't think or know about Parker? Okay. Or you can just tell us a crazy story.

Two things. First, he doesn't like to cook. He's never cooked me dinner, ever. Oh, wow. Or lunch. 15 years. He's cooked me eggs and smoothies. Yeah, that's about it.

So when that happens, oh my God, pigs will be flying. Let's see. He's like, I can make mac and cheese. Yeah, right? I don't even know if he knows how to make that. Jackson will teach him how to cook. Yeah, exactly. She'll be cooking for you before you cook for me.

Another thing. What's your favorite thing about each other? How about that? I love how much he loves me. Aw. Yeah, and I can tell. He's always there for me, and he keeps my spirits alive, and he makes me a better person for sure.

Aw, your turn, Parker. I'm trying to get back there for the cooking one. That's not true. I've made like tuna fish. Okay, yeah. Your tuna is good. I do have to say your tuna is good. I am.

I'm pretty pathetic. Like I'm like, I don't want to devote any time to doing something. Like if I could, if I can save that time to put it elsewhere, like I'll do that. So I'll just take the ingredients and like throw them down my face as quickly as possible so I don't have to devote any time to it.

Let's see. What's your favorite thing about staff? It's ended on a positive note. I mean the whole thing's been positive. You can say something positive but like maybe something

that is quirky or weird about me. No, I love everything about you, baby. Aw. Thanks, honey. Yeah, I mean, she's so incredibly supportive. Like, no matter what I need, I mean, she's just so selfless to support me. And, I mean, even this weekend, like, I felt selfish going and smoking the toad, you know, like leaving her with the baby. And she was like, no, like go.

Like I almost talked myself out of it. I called her on the phone. I was like, I'm going to leave. She's like, no, like do it. Like take care of yourself. Take care of yourself because when you're whole, that's when you're the best husband and father. You know, she lets me be my full self and be the man that I need to be and not try to put me in a box or constrain me or tell me no.

She's like, you do you and be the best you you can be, and that helps. And I'm just here for the ride. Aw. I love that. Well, thanks for doing your first podcast. Thanks, babe. That was really sweet. Yeah, guys. Thanks for having us, Sheena.

This was fun. Yeah, Sheena, this was cool. I was really nervous. No, I'm so happy you were able to do Yeah, guys. Thanks for having us, Sheena. This was fun. I was really nervous. No, I'm so happy you were able to do it too. Maybe podcast number two I'll come out of my shell. Yes. We'll do this again.

We've got a good little setup here. It'll get better. Tell everyone where they can find you. Are you private or are you Publix? I am private. Okay.

Parker? I actually currently just deleted my Instagram because I'm like abusing it. Really? I literally just deleted mine too. I've done that. Yeah.

But it's Parker dot young is my Instagram. That's the best place to find me. Um, or go to huddles.com and come join me. Come meet me for real. Yes. Huddles. Huddles. H U D D L S.

Yeah. Thanks for listening guys. Thanks guys. Thank you. Bye. Sheena Shea. huddles h-u-d-d-l-s yeah thanks for listening guys thanks guys bye thanks for listening to shenanigans with sheena shea download new episodes every week on apple podcasts spotify or wherever you get your podcasts Looking fine and I got my girls with me With the boys at the table getting tipsy Miss me, kiss me one more time Get over here boy, I'ma make you mine

Do you want it? Let me see you shake that Do you need it? Let me see you shake that Do you want it? Let me see you shake that Come and get it Let me see you shake that