What Makes the Cow Guy Cry – From Trading Floor to Redemption | Addiction Recovery, Sobriety & Reinventing Your Life

In this powerful and deeply personal episode of What Makes the Cow Guy Cry, host Jim Dedelow sits down with Scott Shellady (The Cow Guy) and former Chicago trader Matt Maloney for an honest conversation about life after the Chicago Board of Trade, addiction, sobriety, career collapse, faith, and rebuilding from rock bottom.

When the iconic trading pits of the Chicago Board of Trade and Chicago Mercantile Exchange faded into history, thousands of traders were forced into an identity crisis. For many, the end of the open-outcry era meant more than lost income — it meant lost purpose.

Matt shares his raw story of alcoholism, drug addiction, and hitting rock bottom inside the Board of Trade building — before crying out for help and beginning a 19-year sobriety journey rooted in faith, accountability, and personal responsibility. His transformation from self-destruction to successful real estate broker and devoted father is a testament to redemption and second chances.

Scott reflects on:

• Surviving the collapse of a financial career

• The mental health toll of losing professional identity

• Why you should never define yourself by your job

• Watching colleagues fall into addiction, depression, and suicide

• How resilience, discipline, and faith helped him endure tragedy, divorce, financial pressure, and even a cancer diagnosis

This episode explores powerful themes including:

✔ Addiction recovery and sobriety
✔ Alcoholism in high-pressure careers
✔ Life after Wall Street and the futures markets
✔ Career transition after job loss
✔ Identity beyond your profession
✔ Faith, spirituality, and personal growth
✔ Overcoming self-destruction
✔ Mental health for men
✔ Reinventing yourself after 40
✔ Redemption stories

From the trading pits of Chicago to real estate in Indiana and life beyond the markets, this is a conversation about hitting bottom, rebuilding your life, and choosing who you want to become.

If you've ever struggled with:

• Substance abuse

• Losing a career

• Financial stress

• Midlife reinvention

• Faith during hardship

• Finding purpose after failure

This episode will resonate.

Because sometimes the biggest comeback isn't financial — it's personal.

🎧 Available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts.