Takin A Walk/Episode Seventeen with former Greater Media CEO Peter Smyth talking about The Home Base Program

Buzz Knight:

I’m Buzz Knight. On this episode of Takin’ a Walk, this walk is part of the two-part series focusing on the Home Base program. Home Base is a collaboration between the Boston Red Sox and Massachusetts General Hospital, focusing on helping all of our veterans and military families. Peter Smyth is my former boss from Greater Media and he sits on the leadership council of Home Base.

Buzz Knight:

Well, well, well, Peter Smyth, it’s so good to actually see you and be taking a walk.

Peter Smyth:

I know, isn’t it amazing? It’s great to see you. How are you, my good friend?

Buzz Knight:

I’m doing very well. I haven’t seen you in a couple of years, believe it or not.

Peter Smyth:

Is that really true?

Buzz Knight:

Yeah.

Peter Smyth:

Wow.

Buzz Knight:

I think the last time I saw you is when we went to CES.

Peter Smyth:

In Vegas. It’s funny you say that because when we were in Vegas, you and I, we had a great time and Freddy’s tour and Paul’s tour was terrific.

Buzz Knight:

The best.

Peter Smyth:

And I saw the flying cars and all this other stuff I found. You got to invest in technology, in yourself. I mean, you just got to say to yourself, “I got to do these things”. And right after that, I flew to LA and spent time with my daughter. So it was a great trip. And then right after that, that thing came around.

Buzz Knight:

The thing.

Peter Smyth:

The thing, the thing, the thing that … yeah, the thing.

Buzz Knight:

You must’ve listen to other versions of Takin’ a Walk because you know I don’t like to refer to it other than as that thing.

Peter Smyth:

The thing. No, listen, I am an avid listener. I think anybody who doesn’t listen to this is foolhardy. So my recommendation is hurry up and listen.

Buzz Knight:

There you go.

Peter Smyth:

Yeah.

Buzz Knight:

Well, so what’s cool here too, I told you before we started here and I want you to set the scene where we are-

Peter Smyth:

Sure.

Buzz Knight:

… is an earlier version of Takin’ a Walk with a young woman by the name of Thato Mwosa, who is a Botswana filmmaker. We walked over at the lower mills side of where we are here.

Peter Smyth:

Correct. Correct.

Buzz Knight:

So when I came into your place, I was like, “This looks familiar.”

Peter Smyth:

Well, let me tell you a little bit about this. This is called the Wharf and in front of us right now is the marina of the Neponset River, which leads into Boston Harbor. And this complex that we’re in, it has about 30 condos in it. And we bought it about two years ago. We rented it out. And what I like about it is that there’s a conservation piece over there. You get to really see all the different environmental things and you get to see the animals and the birds. And it’s just a very cool place to be. And I love being on the water.

Buzz Knight:

Beautiful.

Peter Smyth:

And yeah, it is beautiful.

Buzz Knight:

It’s a beautiful scene. We’ve got a nice crisp day. Now let me ask you as part of the purchase and sale when you did this deal, did you require Diet Pepsi to be part of this deal?

Peter Smyth:

I have to tell, full disclosure, who’s ever listening to this. I got to tell this story.

Buzz Knight:

Yeah. And even for the people listening at Czechoslovakia, explain this to them.

Peter Smyth:

Okay. I feel like I’m in an anonymous meeting or something.

Buzz Knight:

It’s therapy.

Peter Smyth:

Yeah. It’s therapy

Buzz Knight:

Walking is therapeutic, by the way.

Peter Smyth:

I do walking all the time. It makes me feel great. It’s a great, it’s a great hobby. I’m addicted to Diet Pepsi.

Buzz Knight:

Oh, okay. Really?

Peter Smyth:

There’s your headline.

Buzz Knight:

Yeah.

Peter Smyth:

And so-

Buzz Knight:

Don’t bury the headline.

Peter Smyth:

And so when Buzz was coming over here today, we’re going to take a walk and I sit to him, “Hey, listen, Lightyear. I got to ask you big favor. My car’s not here today. Can you do me a favor and pick up a six pack of Diet Pepsi?” And so as the dear friend he is, he does it. So I said to him, “You can’t tell our friends this because I’ll never live this down.” So now I just did it on a podcast where thousands of people are going to hear this.

Buzz Knight:

It’s public knowledge. It’s worldwide knowledge, but we always knew that. So it’s no secret.

Peter Smyth:

Yeah. Yeah. I used to have David Aucoin sit there and check the dates. And I saw him recently and he said to me, “I brought the soda, but I don’t know if I have the dates right.” I said, “Did you learn anything?”

Buzz Knight:

Now, by the way, full disclosure, since I bought the convenience store out of their last six bottles of Diet Pepsi, I did not check the dates.

Peter Smyth:

You know, life is one big compromise.

Buzz Knight:

Oh, yeah.

Peter Smyth:

And so beggars can’t be choosy.

Buzz Knight:

There you go. Exactly. So I have a walking question.

Peter Smyth:

Sure.

Buzz Knight:

And this is the lesser of two evils questions. So when you’re taking a walk-

Peter Smyth:

Correct.

Buzz Knight:

… there’s two scenarios I’m going to present. I want you to pick the most favorable of these two bad scenarios.

Peter Smyth:

Okay.

Buzz Knight:

You get a pebble in your shoe when you’re walking.

Peter Smyth:

Ooh.

Buzz Knight:

Or you get that sock that slips down while you’re walking. Which would you prefer out of those two evils?

Peter Smyth:

Well, the sock thing drives me crazy. I mean, it’s just, I love to walk. I walk every day, but I’m also a golfer and I like to walk when I do it. And when my socks go into my shoes, I just can’t function. I feel like-

Buzz Knight:

It’s awful.

Peter Smyth:

I feel like Mickey the Martian. Here I am trying to hit the ball and I’m pulling up my socks. And then when I’m walking, I’m sitting down half the time, because I’m pulling up my socks. So you don’t get the cardio rhythm up. It’s just obnoxious.

Buzz Knight:

I feel like I’m 12 when I’m dealing with sock issues. You know what I mean?

Peter Smyth:

Yeah. I mean, I’m waiting for my mother to show up. I mean, it’s-

Buzz Knight:

What’s next? Is she going to clip my gloves on my jacket so I don’t lose them.

Peter Smyth:

Right.

Buzz Knight:

Oh my God.

Peter Smyth:

That’d be great.

Buzz Knight:

This is so great.

Peter Smyth:

Oh, it’s just great to be with you, my friend.

Buzz Knight:

So, Peter, we often on the Takin’ a Walk podcast really need to draw attention to what charities are doing-

Peter Smyth:

Correct.

Buzz Knight:

… since charities are having such challenging times these days, all of them are. So you spend a lot of time with two specific charities. One that is the focal point of this Takin’ a Walk episode, which we’ll talk about. And then the other charity that you work with is an amazing organization. So tell us what’s going on first with The Hundred Club.

Peter Smyth:

Sure. Well thank you very much for bringing them up. Through my whole career I’ve been a big believer in philanthropy. I think that we’re all very fortunate people and we should give back to the society in the cities that we live in. The Hundred Club is an organization that was founded about 60 years ago by Norman Knight and a group of business leaders in Boston.

Peter Smyth:

And recently I was named president of this organization. And what they do is, they take care of fallen firefighters and police officers. And we help the widows at the worst time in their lives. And we provide them funding and we provide them education. And for veterans through this other charity we’re going to talk about, we provide them mental health care because suicide is just … is so rampant in the police and in the military.

Peter Smyth:

It’s really astonishing that a nation of this magnitude that we don’t take care of our first responders and we don’t take care of the military the way that we should. So it’s a humbling experience. It’s a good experience. It’s something at this stage of my life I should be doing. So I’m very grateful, one, for you doing this interview to discuss it. But number two, because I think that it’s something that everybody, everybody can contribute to this. Instead of bitching and moaning, just get involved. Get involved in something. Just don’t sit there, but get involved.

Buzz Knight:

Yeah. And there’s a lot of pain out there, obviously-

Peter Smyth:

There’s a lot of pain out there and it’s just not because of the thing. The thing is no big deal. What is a big deal is how people deal with stress and how people deal with anxiety and how people deal with suicide and all these different issues.

Buzz Knight:

Well, and thank you for your work on The Hundred Club and all the people associated. And obviously those that we’re honoring obviously from the work-

Peter Smyth:

Correct. Thank you.

Buzz Knight:

… and Norman Knight is an-

Peter Smyth:

Wow. He’s the best.

Buzz Knight:

… iconic figure and please send Norman-

Peter Smyth:

I will.

Buzz Knight:

… our best.

Peter Smyth:

He’s 96 years old.

Buzz Knight:

God bless him. He’s-

Peter Smyth:

God love him.

Buzz Knight:

He’s an amazing man. And boy. So hi to Norman. So we’re here also to talk about Home Base, I’m going to be taking a walk in this episode with General Jack Hammond, but from your work with Home Base, tell us how Home Base is doing in these challenging times as well.

Peter Smyth:

Sure. Well, first of all, Jack Hammond, General Jack Hammond is an amazing individual. He ran Fallujah during the Gulf … I mean during the Afghanistan/Iraqi conflict and he’s just done an amazing job. This whole organization, Home Base came together, it’s a partnership between the Boston Red Sox and Mass General Brigham Hospital.

Peter Smyth:

And what it does is it provides care for the invisible wounds of war and it takes care of veterans from Iraq, Afghanistan, Vietnam, the Navy Seals. And what it does is it brings these families to Charlestown where the clinic is. It’s all built out with Mass General doctors, psychologists, psychiatrists. And they’re given a two week intensive care program where they help them build the family back. They help them to restore the confidence that they need. And we raise the funds to build the clinic in Charlestown.

Peter Smyth:

It does need a lot of fundraising. It does need a lot of help, but it really is the epicenter for these veterans when they come back, because they have no place to go. They have no place to deal with the depression, the PTSD, the suicides. They have no place to go and Home Base is a refuge from that pain that they experienced in the wars that they were in. And as a country, we got to take care of our veterans.

Peter Smyth:

I mean, they served us, now it’s our term to serve them. And what Jack Hammond does, who’s a remarkable and you’ll very much enjoy your talk with him, remarkable individual. He runs it, he oversees it. And Michael Allard is his chief operating officer. And these two gentlemen together have built one of the most remarkable organizations. Let me tell you one story and I’m sure that the general will expound on more.

Peter Smyth:

But recently, I was in New York for the Salute The Heroes. It was on the USS Intrepid. It was an unbelievable night. It was to recognize people, veterans and what they’ve been through and coming on the other side of it. For the veterans from … or the graduates of the Home Base program were given medals that night, medals of honor by Prince Harry. And he was there and what they asked the Fisher family, who owns Fisher House, which is a remarkable organization.

Peter Smyth:

They asked Home Base to provide some of their graduates … and I really shouldn’t use the word graduate, but people who went through the intensive care program and they were there that night and they showed a documentary of what these men and women went through. And it was just so powerful that you sat there and you thought here are people that were desperate.

Peter Smyth:

I mean, on the cusp of just self destruction and they turn around and they turn these hellish events into a remarkable life with their families and their children and their loved ones. And so the work that they do at Home Base is just outstanding. And it has to be continued because as long as there’s men, there’s going to be conflict. And as long as there’s conflict, we’re going to need to call on these people. And if we’re going to continue to rely on those people, then we have to let them rely on us.

Peter Smyth:

So I’m very honored to be a part of it. That night, one of the veterans, one of the graduates that we had selected to receive this award from Prince Harry was a Navy Seal who couldn’t be there because he was on assignment. And I found that incredibly powerful. I mean, what these men and women do, all of us should say thank you to them when we see them.

Buzz Knight:

Absolutely. Thank you. Yeah. Well, thank you for your work that you do with that charity and how you help them and give them a liaison into the community that you’ve been part of and also The Hundred Club as well. Obviously, I know where your heart is and how special that is. So thank you for that. And thanks for taking a walk. I think we’re going to stop this episode and I think we’re going to be taking a drive to get more Diet Pepsi, is that correct?

Peter Smyth:

Absolutely. And if he doesn’t do it, I’ll come back and tell you that he let me down. But I have to say one thing before I go and this adventure that Buzz is on, I challenge everybody to listen and just experience these great talks, these great stories and these great walks because you catch people at their most calmest moments. And I just think it’s great.

Buzz Knight:

Oh, thank you.

Peter Smyth:

And I wish you all the success.

Buzz Knight:

Thanks, Peter. Love you. Great to see you.

Peter Smyth:

Love you too, pal.

Buzz Knight:

Thank you.

Peter Smyth:

Thank you very much.

Buzz Knight:

All right. Off to get some Diet Pepsi.

Peter Smyth:

Here we go.

Buzz Knight:

Let’s check the expiration dates.

Peter Smyth:

Absolutely.

Speaker 3:

Takin’ a Walk with Buzz Knight is available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

Buzz Knight is an established media executive with a long history of content creation and multi-platform distribution.

After a successful career as a Radio Executive, he formed Buzz Knight Media which focuses on strategic guidance and the development of new original content.