The Thicket Podcast

06/10/2026

Good things are coming to The Thicket.

We’ve got some incredible guests coming your way — stories worth hearing, from people worth knowing. Hill Country and beyond.

Hit follow so you don’t miss a single one.

06/10/2026

He walked into the Odessa mall and told the Army recruiter: “I just wanna blow some sh*t up.”

Walked past the Air Force (“I’m not that smart”). Past the Navy (“don’t like boats”). Marines looked him up and down at 250 lbs and told him he had work to do.

Army got him. The rest is on the podcast.

🎙️ Episode 3 of The Thicket: https://open.spotify.com/show/4z9NNpxM6sJqbR1bPR729v

06/05/2026

In your 30s, you can count your real friends on both hands.

In your 40s, you can count them on one.

Reid Thomas on the cost of getting good at what you do — and why the most important thing he learned from his mentor wasn’t about horses at all. It was learning what a “2 a.m. friend” actually means.

The smaller your circle gets, the more it tells you about the work you’ve put in. On yourself.

🎙️ Episode 1 of The Thicket here: https://youtu.be/Em2ozRn1uqg

05/29/2026

“When s**t hits the fan, that’s when I’m at my calmest. That’s my peace.”

After being asked if he was nervous before a big night, his answer says everything about who he is.

The chaos is where Chef Mark is most at home.

🎙️ Episode 3 of The Thicket here: https://youtu.be/HC4AC2-is5M

05/26/2026

Basic training doesn’t teach you how to cope.

It teaches you to keep going while your wife’s filing for divorce, your grandma’s dying, your buddy’s getting a Dear John letter — and you can’t drop and go.

Chef Mark with Compadres on what the military prepares you for, and the part it doesn’t.

🎙️ Episode 3 of The Thicket here: https://open.spotify.com/show/4z9NNpxM6sJqbR1bPR729v

05/22/2026

This Memorial Day, NBC will air a segment on the Today Show about Chef Mark Sierra and his wife as they give tribute to fallen heroes and their families. Mark also put his artistic talent to work with a special piece to be revealed during this segment.

National stage. Big moment.

Episode 3 of The Thicket is the part you won’t see there. We dive deep, unfiltered, and no scripts.

The Today Show is the highlight reel. The Thicket is the long conversation behind it.

Share, follow, and subscribe on here, YouTube, and Spotify to help the algorithms get this amazing story out!

🎙️ Episode links below.

YouTube: https://youtu.be/HC4AC2-is5M

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4GOTChBbyeI7NyX2nrWnAQ?si=XSybyhRiTM2xbwU8LpxjxA

Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-thicket/id1896498852?i=1000769030298

US Army veteran, Iraq combat tour, tattoo artist, restaurant owner,...

05/22/2026

“I woke up with anxiety. Massive.”

Chef Mark on the morning he broke down crying outside the pit. Didn’t know how to control it.

Then his phone rang. NBC. The Today Show. Jenna Bush.

He thought they were full of s**t. They weren’t.

This Memorial Day, NBC will air a segment on Chef Mark Sierra and his wife as they give tribute to fallen heroes and their families. Mark also put his artistic talent to work with a special piece to be revealed during this segment.

National stage. Big moment.

Episode 3 of The Thicket is the part you won’t see there. We dive deep, unfiltered, and no scripts.

The Today Show is the highlight reel. The Thicket is the long conversation behind it.

🎙️ Episode 3 is live here: https://youtu.be/HC4AC2-is5M

Share, follow, and subscribe on here, YouTube, and Spotify to help the algorithms get this amazing story out!

05/21/2026

Next on The Thicket.

Chef Mark Sierra of Compadres Hill Country Cocina. US Army vet. Iraq combat tour. Co-founder of The Purple Heart Project. An artist in both the traditional sense and with food.

We get into:

→ Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley and what “Mexican food” actually meant in his family’s backyard
→ Walking into the Odessa mall recruiter and asking to “blow some s**t up”
→ A 15-month deployment to Iraq and the 65 brothers his brigade lost
→ What basic training prepares you for — and the part it doesn’t
→ Cooking as therapy, and why making tortillas keeps him connected to his grandmother
→ Starting The Purple Heart Project with his wife Dahlia to honor recipients and Gold Star families
→ The morning anxiety broke him at the pit — and the phone call from NBC that came minutes later

This one goes places.

🎙️ Episode 3 drops tomorrow. Follow so you don’t miss it.

05/21/2026

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05/18/2026

For five years, Reid Thomas tried everything to help one of his people. He treaded water as a manager — second-guessing every decision, wondering what else he could do, what he was missing.

And then they did the work. On their own.

“They told me they’d never seen themselves at their sober best. And I now see them at that.”

Reid says that moment — watching someone choose themselves — is as rewarding as anything he’s ever done with a horse. And it has nothing to do with horses.

🎙️ Episode 1 of The Thicket here: https://youtu.be/Em2ozRn1uqg?si=UngZeFD19iJRoosL