We were lucky to catch up with Mr Puckett recently and have shared our conversation below.

Mr, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What sort of legacy are you hoping to build. What do you think people will say about you after you are gone, what do you hope to be remembered for?

When I was a homeless addict I desperately needed some kind of inspiration. Every day felt like it was going to be my last alive and there really seemed to be no way out.

28 medical detoxes, 12 rehabs, endless relapses – it all just seemed so hopeless.

I’m coming up on my 6 year recovery anniversary; 6 years off the street, 6 years of trying to do good in the world. I want my legacy to be an inspiration for people who wonder if change is possible.

I needed help from everyone in my life for so long, and it turned out to be helping others that gave me purpose. I’m truly happy with my little plot in life and hope to inspire others who feel hopeless like I did for so long.

Mr, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

When I finally got into addiction recovery in 2018 I started posting online about my struggles and successes. I was still barely making rent by skipping meals but it was so much better than living on the street with my dog.

So my stories always had an uplifting message – it was all about progress, not perfection.

These stories soon garnered an international following as people came to my posts as an uplifting part of their day. With this following I started doing international fundraisers and supply drives for people and nonprofits in need, raising over $900,000 in 5 years. Whether it was supplying goods to underfunded school districts, raising money for domestic violence survivors facing homelessness or creating TheFreePizzaDude where we’ve sent over 12,000 meals and 800 grocery orders to people in need.

As soon I went from asking for help to trying to provide it, my life finally had meaning for the first time ever. I was no longer white knuckling life and just trying to survive, I was trying to be of service to others and it put my own problems into perspective.

Everyone wants to help others, but often times people dont know the best way to help and certainly nobody wants to be taken advantage of. Using my platform to give people easy ways to help others in need, speaking openly about my struggles and which organizations helped people like me, it felt like I was a part of a community for the first time in my life.

We’d love to hear the story of how you built up your social media audience?

When I started telling my story on social media it worked as a kind of therapy for me. Here are strangers all over the world reading some of the worst moments of my entire life, yet nobody was being judgemental. Thousands of messages and tens of thousands of comments all being supportive, praising the progress rather than harping on past mistakes.

I think the main reason my audience grew so big was simply honesty. We are all so anonymous on the internet that it can feel like nobody is real. I never tried to sugarcoat the struggles, I was always open and honest about my failures. I wanted the people out there who were reading and feeling like their situation was hopeless to see someone finding hope one step at a time.

With that honestly grew an incredible amount of trust. When people see a MrPuckett post it’s not some random stranger on the internet, it’s someone who has poured his heart and soul out publicly many times. They know I’m not only fundraising for a legitimate cause, they also know that it’s a worthwhile one that will positively impact people in many ways.

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

I grew up in the 90s when home internet really started to thrive. The days of AOL cds and AIM usernames. Everything was so new to so many families that connecting with strangers on the Internet usually had negative connotations.

When I first got into addiction recovery I was terrified of telling my story online and having strangers know the personal details to my struggles. Not only the fear of being judged, but the fear of negative real world results if people knew who I was.

Unlearning that was a long process of putting bits and pieces of myself into certain posts. I eventually got so comfortable with all the digital support I was receiving that I started not to hold anything back, and it’s the best thing that ever happened to me.

Thousands of internet strangers have been involved in my dozens of charitable projects, people who can’t even point out my city on a map. Giving my real world self to a digital medium allowed others to see a genuine side of me, it humanized me in a world of faceless usernames.

While that certainly comes with a risk, so much good has been done in the world because of this openness that I wouldn’t change it for anything.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/twopucketts
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/switters.plabonga/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/TwoPucketts
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MrPuckett