In this deeply emotional episode of What Makes the Cow Guy Cry, host Jim Dedelow sits down with Scott Shellady for one of the most raw conversations yet — about anger, guilt, grief, and the lifelong pain of losing a child.

Scott opens up about the death of his 17-year-old daughter in the John Hancock Center in Chicago after a heroin overdose — a tragedy he often describes as being "bullied to death." What began as severe middle school bullying spiraled into isolation, toxic friendships, drug experimentation, and ultimately a fatal accident.

This episode explores:

• The anger parents feel after losing a child

• Feeling guilty for moments of relief after tragedy

• The emotional stages of grief (shock, anger, depression, acceptance)

• Heroin overdose awareness and teen drug use

• The long-term psychological impact of bullying

• Parental trauma and complicated grief

• Choosing happiness after devastating loss

• Mental health for fathers and men

• Faith, forgiveness, and resilience

• Living with a "hole in your heart."

• Surviving cancer while carrying grief

Scott speaks candidly about:
• Being angry at his daughter after her death
• Feeling guilt for not having to "worry anymore"
• Watching her struggle after intense bullying in junior high
• The danger of vulnerable teens gravitating toward toxic peer groups
• The haunting memory of seeing his daughter on a gurney
• Praying not to wake up during the darkest 60 days of grief
• Losing his brother to brain cancer
• Fighting prostate cancer himself
• Becoming an adjunct professor at DePaul University as part of his healing journey
• Choosing to live with purpose instead of bitterness

This is not just a story about child loss — it's about:

✔ Parental grief and trauma recovery
✔ Coping with the death of a teenager
✔ The effects of bullying on mental health
✔ Addiction and accidental overdose
✔ Grief counseling insights
✔ Post-traumatic growth
✔ Faith in the face of tragedy
✔ Learning to be less judgmental because "you never know how heavy someone's cross is"

Scott shares the powerful metaphor of feeling like a wounded war veteran who lost a limb — invisible to the world, but painfully present every day. He explains how grief doesn't get better — you just get better at carrying it.

For anyone struggling with:

• The loss of a child

• Suicide or overdose in the family

• Bullying trauma

• Cancer diagnosis

• Survivor's guilt

• Depression after loss

• Finding purpose after tragedy

This conversation is honest, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful.

Because sometimes healing isn't about "getting over it" — it's about choosing, every day, to live anyway.

🎧 Listen now on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major podcast platforms.

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.

In this powerful and deeply personal episode, Jim Dedelow sits down with The Cow Guy for an unforgettable conversation about resilience, grief, tragedy, and the deliberate choice to be happy — even after unimaginable loss.

The episode begins with a hot-button discussion about the Chicago Bears stadium controversy, the future of Soldier Field, Arlington Heights, and the possibility of the Bears moving to Indiana. Jim and Cow Guy debate the economic future of Chicago real estate, population shifts, sanctuary city policies, corporate departures like Citadel, Boeing, and McDonald's, and the broader trend of Americans relocating to warmer states like Arizona and Florida.

But the heart of this episode dives much deeper.

Cow Guy opens up about the devastating loss of his daughter in the John Hancock Center (now 875 N. Michigan), the moment a Chicago police officer told him, "Sir, your daughter is deceased," and the unimaginable task of making seven phone calls to family members to relive the tragedy again and again. He shares the emotional aftermath, the waves of grief, losing his brother and father shortly thereafter, and how trauma permanently changes you.

This episode explores:

• Coping with the death of a child

• Grief recovery and emotional resilience

• Mental strength and mindset after tragedy

• Post-traumatic growth

• Choosing happiness as a daily decision

• Overcoming anxiety and fear

• Life after loss

• Suicide awareness and family trauma

• Faith, mortality, and perspective

• How routine and work help during grief

• Personal development through adversity

• Leadership through pain

• Motivation for difficult times

Cow Guy shares his philosophy: If you're going to be here, make it worthwhile.
He explains how tragedy stripped away his fear, and why choosing happiness must be deliberate.

Jim also reflects on interviewing a mother who lost two children — including an autistic son killed in a train accident — and how shared tragedy creates a quiet understanding between people who have "tasted death."

This episode is raw, real, and ultimately hopeful.

If you're struggling with grief, navigating trauma, rebuilding after loss, or looking for motivation during hard times, this conversation delivers powerful perspective and practical mindset shifts.

🎙 Topics include:
Chicago Bears stadium debate, Chicago politics, economic migration trends, grief counseling, death of a child, resilience mindset, mental toughness, choosing happiness, overcoming tragedy, life lessons, motivation podcast, personal growth, and inspirational stories.

Watch on YouTube at WJOB1230 or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.