In this interview segment, John Malott recounts a life‑changing episode when, at age 17, a cocaine‑induced heart attack forced him to confront his spiraling addiction. He describes the chaotic night of drug use, the physical symptoms, and the surreal moment of waking up in a hospital. Malott then details the depths of his addiction: stealing, house‑robbery, and a $1,000‑a‑week habit that left him isolated, with burned bridges and constant police trouble. He reflects on the relentless drive that made him find a way to get high no matter the circumstance, illustrating a mindset of obsessive problem‑solving applied to substance use. The conversation shifts to the turning point where Malott redirected that same drive toward business and personal growth, noting how everything seemed to move in slow motion for others while he accelerated. He draws parallels to other former addicts like Grant Cardone, emphasizing that the energy once spent on destructive habits can be channeled into productive ventures. The tone is candid, raw, and reflective, moving from grim recollection to hopeful empowerment.
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So 17, though, you have a heart attack. So like, just, I mean, is it, is that something that when it had, like, do you even remember what it felt like? Or like, did you just wake up in the hospital?
Yeah, I don't remember all of it. Here's what I do remember. I went back to my dad's house, which I haven't been to at that point in quite a while. And it was all night. We said we used to get hotel rooms and we would pass the pipe around, you know, there'd be a lot of times there'd be 8, 9 of us all, you know, wired and geeking in that room. And then this particular night there was only about 4 of us, which was unusual. And so the pipe was hitting, coming around a lot more than I was used to. And so by about 6 in the morning, I real— I knew something was bad wrong. You know, this was an all-night thing, started like 9 o'clock at night. Okay, you know, my, uh, my girlfriend, I said, you got to come, you got to, you got to take me somewhere. And, and she took me. I said, take me to my dad's house. And nobody was there, so I broke in the house and I went and laid on the bed that at one time was my room. And next thing I know, I remember waking up. I wake up quick, you know, was— I was in the hospital. Clearly there was lights everywhere. And then I was out. It was like 2 days later when, you know, when they told me what happened. Oh, it was like, it was 2 days before I was you know, conscious enough to realize what it— you know, what I actually did to myself.
Okay, but you felt— you said like at like 4 to 6 AM or something, you did you feel like chest pains or anything?
Yeah, I was— well, I knew my heart was pounding so fast, like, okay, I could hear it in my ears.
Okay, gotcha.
It was moving so— and you know, your heart's gonna speed up when you do cocaine.
Yeah, for sure.
But this was, this was a whole different deal. Okay, my heart wanted to jump out of my chest. I knew something was—
okay, gotcha.
Because it was It was almost like it was like one straight beat. It was going so damn fast.
Wow. It was okay.
Yeah, I knew, I knew I was messed up.
Got it. Yeah, because from smoking weed sometimes that happens to me. But like, I know I'm by the window looking out the window, but I'm like, yeah, yeah. So this, you were like, this is not paranoia.
Yeah, this is not paranoia. This is some, this is some shit.
This is the real shit.
Yeah. But what's crazy is that I accepted it because I hated my life, man. You know what I was like? I didn't have shit. I, you know what I mean? Yeah, my life just really sucked. I had already destroyed so many relationships, burned so many bridges. There was not much left. So for me, I was like cool with it, you know, in a way, in a weird way, man. I was like, you know, all right. Yeah, you know, that's—
no, because you were at such a low point, you were kind of like, well, maybe this is better in a sense, because it's, it's, you know, being a bum. Yeah.
And being a piece of shit is is hard. It's hard work. And every day was a grind. I had police, I always had issues. You know, I had so much stuff going on. It was just, it was hard to keep up with all this stuff. And then when you've burned so many bridges, you don't have people around you anymore that'll support. So there it was, I was alone. And that's why, you know, it's weird when I think about laying on that bed, I was like, all right, this is, and I looked up at the ceiling. I'm like, all right, whatever happens happens.
Yeah.
And it's crazy because my mom was the one who found me. Oh, she's never there. She hadn't been around, you know, forever. So it's interesting how all these, all these weird things kind of came together at one point. And then going into after that, um, because I used to rob houses to support, you know, I'm, yeah, I'm 16, 17 years old with a $1,000 a week, you know, drug habit back then.
Yeah, you're gonna need to rob some people for that.
Yeah, no job, you know. No, yeah, yeah, I wasn't building ClickFunnels. Yeah, so it was like, uh, yeah. Yeah, you did by all means necessary, basically. Here's what's funny about, or crazy about the human mind, that I think about now. I never missed an opportunity to get high. You know, like, oh, it's Tuesday night. I'm getting high. I have no money. I'm still gonna, there's no doubt that I'm gonna get high tonight. Wednesday I'm getting high. Thursday I'm getting high. There was never like, it never even dawned on me that I wouldn't get high. You know what I'm saying? Like, I hear people quitting on shit and they haven't done anything. I'm like, if you really wanna do, if you really wanna be where you say, You can find a way to get there.
Yeah.
It's a testament to the human mind, man. I found a way to get high no matter what.
Definitely. And I think like, so are you familiar with Grant Cardone? Yeah. Yeah. So he has a story like when he was younger, you know, he was an addict. I don't know what he did, but his story is I think at 25 or 30, didn't they do Quaaludes or something back in those days? I'm not, or that was the Wolf of Wall Street.
Yeah. I know they did weird drugs back then.
But it just, it seems to me like, 'cause you're talking about the mind where it's like people that have gone through that, like you were saying, like it's always hard to have to go that long doing that drug. So if you just kind of steered your energy towards business, and you know, now we are where we are now. And like, so you already had the ability, but you were just pointing it towards a very negative angle.
Very negative.
So it's a good point that you make. Yeah.
When I, when I finally started redirecting the energy, yeah, amazing things happen. I mean, definitely it was crazy. And then it just seemed like everybody else was in slow motion too when I really got rolling. Yeah, like, man, it's like, how hard is it to win a race that nobody's even trying to win? Everyone's making excuses and, you know, whining. And I'm like, all right, shit, we'll just keep rolling.
