Outlaw Wisdom: Discussions About Life, Love and Everything In-Between
An original podcast devoted to the underdog and hosted by Drew Glick (author of the book series, The WheelHouse). Join Drew goes as he goes toe-to-toe with special guests, influencers, actors, authors and fellow Outlaws, and shares stories of tragedy, triumph, loss, grief, redemption and success. Drew will take his listeners on a one-of-a-kind journey that will motivate, inspire any prove that anything is possible as long as you believe it is.
Outlaw Wisdom: Discussions About Life, Love and Everything In-Between
Finding Purpose: How Ryan Beatrice Transformed Hardship into Opportunity
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What happens when a funeral director becomes Bigfoot? Ryan Beatrice knows firsthand. This captivating conversation reveals the remarkable journey of a multi-talented Pittsburgh native who balances life as an actor, funeral home director, vending route operator, and—most surprisingly—the official East Coast Sasquatch for Jack Links jerky.
For three years, Ryan has donned the iconic Sasquatch costume, enduring sweltering heat for up to six hours while bringing joy to thousands across events from Maine to Florida. Behind the furry facade is a story of perseverance and unexpected opportunity that emerged during the darkest days of the pandemic. "A big furry Sasquatch hand reached out and grabbed mine," Ryan reflects, describing how this unlikely role transformed his life and finances when traditional acting jobs had dried up.
Beyond his Bigfoot persona, Ryan's acting career continues to flourish. He appears in Jeremy Renner's "Mayor of Kingstown" and recently wrapped filming for Netflix's upcoming "How to Rob a Bank" alongside Pete Davidson, John C. Reilly, and Zoe Kravitz. Throughout our conversation, Ryan offers profound insights on mental wellness, emphasizing the importance of self-kindness and purpose. "Working without purpose is just work," he observes, encouraging listeners to nurture their unique talents and interests.
Perhaps most touching is Ryan's philosophy on fatherhood. As his 14-year-old son excels in track and football, Ryan prioritizes unwavering support while encouraging independence: "I never pushed him into anything. I said you choose what you want to do and I'm going to be right there with you." His parting wisdom resonates whether you're an aspiring actor, overwhelmed parent, or anyone facing life's challenges: "Befriend yourself and be there for yourself, because you're going to need yourself at some point in life."
Want more wisdom from unexpected places? Subscribe to Outlaw Wisdom and join us for conversations that reveal the extraordinary in seemingly ordinary lives.
Produced and Directed by: Drew Glick
Hosted by: Drew Glick
Co-Host: Sam Ailewi
Edited and Arranged by: Drew Glick
Studio Intern: Elisa Hernandez
Intro+Outro created by: Music Radio Creative
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Copyright 2025, 2026 by Iervasi Media Partners
Meet Ryan Beatrice
Speaker 1All righty, ladies and gentlemen, let's welcome Ryan Beatrice to Outlaw Wisdom.
Speaker 2Ryan, how are you today? I'm great, I'm great, it's great to be here, and thank you so much for having me be a part of this.
Speaker 1Fantastic, so tell the listeners a little bit about who you are, where you come from and what you do so.
Speaker 2I am from a little bit outside of Pittsburgh. I've been in the acting field for quite some time. However, that's just one of the few hats that I wear. I'm also a funeral home director and embalmer. I graduated down here. I do that still more so on the side, but I also run a vending route and that's for Snyder's of Hanover and Lance Cracker, so I distribute that to all the bigger supermarkets in my area. The acting also comes into play for me and I run with that just wherever it takes me, and it's been fantastic year this year. For me it's. I couldn't ask for more. It's all the things that I prayed for a couple of years back.
Life as Sasquatch for Jack Links
Speaker 1Fantastic, and I know I know. When I first met you, Ryan, you were telling me something about Bigfoot. Yes, yes.
Speaker 2So one of the contracts I've held for quite some time now, since right around COVID is working with Jack Links and I work with them as Sasquatch, so it is a fantastic role. They're a fantastic company to work for. They treat me great. Work for that, treat me great.
Speaker 2It is interesting acting, you know, behind heavy costume and makeup number one, just the heat factor but also it's kind of like being a undercover celebrity. You know, you walk into some of these events and I do all different types of events, from meet and greets and pictures and all kinds of stuff. But one of the most fun things I do is these big events where I get to meet people, because a lot of people are excited to meet me and they come up, they announce my name over the loudspeaker and there's thousands of people at these events. My next one coming up is I'm going to September 25th, that is, in Atlantic City at one of the biggest trade shows they have. So I'm going to be performing down there and I'm really excited for that show. I hope the weather's holding up down there, because I think it was raining when I looked last, but it changes so much down there that I'm really excited for this next trip with Jack Lynx. That's great.
Speaker 1How long have you been doing the role of Bigfoot?
Speaker 2It's been going about three years now. I haven't missed a single event, at least for the East Coast Mostly Northeast we kind of are in, but I'll cover from Maine to Florida wherever they need me at. There also are another Squatch as well as Getty over on the West Coast. So those guys are great and I've talked to them a few times. But we cover both sides of the US the best that we can.
Speaker 1Awesome, and how did you get into that role? That's kind of like a you know a fringe part of acting. How did you get into that?
Speaker 2You know I love the stress. The part about this is you just never know what the next door you know is going to open into, and you don't know what tomorrow holds, so just keep on going with it. I didn't expect to get this. I saw it being advertised that they were looking through one of the talent agencies that I knew and I messaged back and they said you know, we like all the stuff that you've sent us, we like you, but we need to make sure that you, you know, are going to look good in this. So we had to get measurements and dimensions and all that fun stuff and from there I met the guys.
Speaker 2They're two of the salesmen in the Northeast. They'd also run the marketing department and the side of dealing with Sasquatch and we go to all these different events or picture opportunities or even stuff for some of the shirts. We do all kinds of stuff and they're fantastic to me. They treat me well. They always send jerky home for number one, my 14-year-old son. His name's Michael and he really appreciates getting to try all of the new flavors. So it's very exciting for him as well as me.
Speaker 1That's great, and that means you must be pretty tall, though, right? Or do they put you on spills or something?
Speaker 2Well, so I'm about 6'2" myself. We're on 250. So I'm a bigger guy. However, the Sasquatch does the rest for me. It does add to my height as well, as you know my stature, kind of how I stand, how wide I am. It does the magic and you know, whenever Sasquatch is out there, that's him and he's. You know it's the call of the wild, I'd say.
Speaker 1Right, right. And did they have training for that? Did you have, to like, learn how to walk like Sasquatch, or was that just like?
Speaker 2There were multiple trainings that we went through and different classes that they sent, and when I got there my first day, you know I wasn't aware of how hot it really could get in there and I learned quickly that you have to regulate your body temperature in every movement you make, every motion that you do. That's a little bit of energy that you have less and you don't get it back until you take a break because you're not cooling down. So you always have to kind of take that into your thoughts, especially when you're going to be out there for hours at a time. Balls balls to the wall and was bouncing around and going crazy and dancing and, you know, just meeting people and getting hugs, and an hour went by and I was like, oh man, I have to, you know, calm down or I'm not going to make it these last two or three hours, depending on where we work.
Speaker 1So, yeah, it does get hot behind there and how many hours a day, you know? Are you in the costume?
Speaker 2So it ranges. I've done so many different events where sometimes it's three hours and sometimes it's six, but they make sure I get a lot of breaks and I've learned how to drink within the costume properly so I can stay hydrated at all times. A lot of it is a mental game. It's how you talk to yourself in your mind, how you keep yourself going. It has to be positive thoughts. You have to keep that positive line of thinking. You have to remember that I am looked up to by a lot of these adults that are here, let alone the kids that are here, and you know people come up and they're all watching me. So I always put the best show that I can forward and I think that's why Jack Links has stuck with me. I stick with them, you know, and we just get along together and we both work for each other and I think it's a wonderful relationship that we've had for these past years.
Speaker 1That's fantastic. I love Jack Links, by the way. You know their jerky is great. It's so good when I was driving trucks back in the day, I mean that was my go-to all the time.
Speaker 2Oh yes, oh yes. And here's the funny thing about it it's just meat and them preserving it and them dehydrating it, yeah, and it's good, even if you leave it out. So a couple of times I had big bags I left out and the jerky dried out, but it just changed its texture and I still liked it. It still tasted good. It's just a little bit of a dry jerky. So where I'm going with it is it's one of those snacks you can have in the back of your car. It's one of those snacks you can throw in you know your broom and find it a year later and it's still fantastic, if not better with time.
Recent Acting Projects
Speaker 1Exactly, exactly so. So, aside from Sasquatch, you, you also acted in a couple movies recently, right? Yes, can you talk about some of those or no?
Speaker 2Of course I'd love to, so I do. Mayor of Kingstown. That's a Pittsburgh-based show. Jeremy Renner is the main star. I am in the prison gangs. In season three and season four I was the prison tattoo artist that was featured.
Speaker 2I started as background with that show and that's how I tell every young actor to start is do background, see how it goes, see how a set works, see how everyone does their job separately. See how you're supposed to act, see how you are contracted to act and go there, have fun. Network. Some people love it, some people don't. My first time on set was not with them. It was another show called American Rust. That's also on Amazon and it has some big stars in it as well. That I was a frack worker and I started with that, and then Mary King's Time was second for me.
Speaker 2But this year was a lot of fun. I was up on set with them so many days. They treat us well. We always eat good. You get to see big, huge stars. It's fantastic. The latest one that I did it's going to be coming out next year. It's called how to Rob a Bank. It has big stars like Pete Davidson, john C Reilly, zoe Kravitz a whole ton of great stars and I got to work, you know, face-to-face with these people and be in scenes with them, and we were in downtown Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2They rented out the city. I don't even know how much something like that would cost, but it sure was a lot because it was like four streets that buildings are taken over and every night I'd get there about 5 pm and we'd go until 5 am filming this and we're doing all kinds of crazy stunts and fun stuff and I can't get too deep into all the things, but I really hope everyone goes out and sees. Uh, well, doesn't go out and see, but just goes to netflix and goes to their room and sees me on screen. I have a really cool part as a protester. I was part of their core background actors in this film and I was there for two weeks straight. So, uh, you will see a lot of my face on there.
Speaker 1Oh, that's fantastic. I'm excited to see that one. And you said it's on netflix. Right, it's going to be coming to netflix yes is that? Is that next? That's next year, I'm assuming right next year, yeah 2026.
Speaker 2I'm not exactly sure of the date, but it will be. It will be coming, however, america, kingstown, that's going to be starting in. Well, we're going to start filming again for the last season, I'd say in January At least that's what we're thinking, but we don't even have that contract yet. You know how that goes with the movies. Maybe there won't be another season, so it's kind of one of those things that we'll have to see how that goes Right.
Speaker 1Well, I wish you all the best of luck with that series and everything else you got going on.
Overcoming Hardships
Speaker 1Thank you so much. So let's tell the listeners a little bit about like. You know you want a personal level. I know when we first met we talked briefly about some struggles you had and you know, one of the goals with the show, ryan, as you know, is we like to inspire our listeners. So anything you can maybe you know, maybe tell the listeners a little bit about you know I'll tell you how you got beyond your hardships. You know, sure I'd love to do that, I'd love to share that. I'm going to stick on the acting side of things.
Speaker 2Listen a little bit about. You know how you got beyond your hardships. You know Sure I'd love to do that, I'd love to share that. I'm going to stick on the acting side of things now. I have hardships outside of this, just like everyone else, and I think the biggest piece of advice I could give anyone is be kind to yourself. Talk kind to yourself. You're having your voice. You're the only one there for you. No one else is going to chase your dreams. No one else is going to tell you it's okay when you fail. They might, but they're not going to tell you as many times as you have to tell yourself. So be comfortable with yourself, love yourself, take care of yourself and be kind to yourself, because the world is cruel right now. It's a crazy place to be in. So be kind to yourself.
Speaker 2But I was down some years back. Acting wasn't taken off how I wanted it to. It's been my dream. I've done it since high school musicals Guys and Dolls, hello, dolly Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat some of the bigger ones that I did that I had bigger parts in back in high school and I stuck with it and I've always done like brand ambassador work and I've always had a good face to present to people. I like to storytell. That's what I wanted to do my whole life and that's what I have the chance to do right now is storytell for a lot of the movies and shows that I'm acting in.
Speaker 2But getting back to the COVID time, when everyone was down and out and everyone was, I mean, no one was doing too good, at least some people were. But you still had some issue during that period and I had a lot of them. I worked in the food industry, didn't know if stuff was going to be open, didn't know if stuff was going to be closed. My acting stuff was kind of slow. I only did one thing that year and then it was kind of like a big furry Sasquatch hand reached out and grabbed mine. It was just something that wasn't expected. And it was just something that wasn't expected and it was something that put a lot of money in my pocket.
Speaker 2And there were people that I have grown great relationships with. I'm friends with these people. I mean, they're great friends I. You know they started over just jack link and his sons. It was a family thing that grew huge. And the gentleman who I work with who's the lead salesman and marketing guy. He is fantastic and he's been with the company since I started, so it was a great relationship for me to make. I've gotten to go places I don't have money to afford. They make sure I can travel to all these areas that they take me and it's been eye-opening, it's been mind-blowing, it's been humbling. I've been so thankful, mind-blowing. It's been humbling. I've been so thankful. Everything's been changing in my life. I've dropped 50 pounds. This is over five or six years that I've dropped 50 pounds, but I've really been working at it.
Speaker 2I quit drinking four years ago. I just was too busy. I didn't want to drown out any of my feelings anymore, which is hard at first, but it's something I recommend that everyone does at some point is just be okay with yourself. Be okay with yourself, your feelings, be okay sitting in the room alone at night by yourself. Be happy there. Make that a place of comfort, because if you feel like you're trapped with your thoughts and you don't want to be alone and all those things, it's kind of hard because most of your life, I'm sorry to say, you are going to be alone. You have a lot of things you got to do on your own adventures, and there's a lot of times you're not going to have a companion. So just love yourself and always look forward and know that that door could open at any second. So never quit, just keep going. Tomorrow's a better day.
Speaker 2You have the power to change anything about yourself. You have the power to become anything you want. You have the power to be as creative as you want. You have the power to bleed your creativity and to show the world you do, especially with social media. You can put things on there. You have a new audience of people. You can spread yourself. You can become and sell yourself how you want, especially if it's acting to different casting directors, to different acting companies, commercial companies, to different casting directors, to different acting companies, commercial companies. You know huge, it doesn't matter. The sky is the limit. Just get up, go out there, work every day towards a goal, because working without purpose is just work.
Speaker 2When you're working towards a goal, you have something to look forward to. You have something to be proud of. You have something to display to others and when people acknowledge that and see that especially with a lot of the things I've been doing people are saying that's so cool. I love that you're doing that. Those are fantastic things. Those things mean the world to me, because it's what I wanted.
Speaker 2I wanted to show people you can do it. I want people in my area, in your area, across the world, to get involved and to bleed creativity and to never stop, because the second that you put out that little flame that's burning inside you. I can't say what it is, but everyone's good at something. Everyone has some skill. It doesn't have to be an art, it doesn't have to. It could be a sport, it could be how you cook, it could be any. You have something in you, everyone does, and if you let that flame get extinguished, it may never relight, and when that's gone, then you're just living without purpose and it's just work. And to wake up every day and to have no real thing to look forward to, I think is one of the biggest downfalls that we can give to ourselves, because we're the only ones that do it.
Speaker 1Exactly. I agree with you a hundred percent. My father told me as a kid growing up that if you wake up every morning loving what you're doing, it's not a job. I've heard that.
Speaker 2I've heard that as well and I love that. I love that saying. It's very true with my acting thing because, yes, I love distributing chips. Yes, I loved helping in the funeral industry. However, if I could choose anything, I want to go out there and get to be different characters and tell a story and personify a character the best that I can. I leave it all out on the floor at every set that I go to. I put it all out there. I don't do what it will do as extra. That's another tip I'd like to give to anyone starting out.
Speaker 2If you're going in as a background actor, if you're going in for a small part or big part, don't do that little extra thing, even or big part. Don't do that little extra thing. Even if you're thinking about it, you're like I want to do it. Don't Look and do the part. Do what your script says. Sometimes, if they say improvise, sure, improvise. But if they say, do what is on this script and just run it, just run it and be a part of something bigger and then watch all of those things come together and that's the magic of movies.
Speaker 2It's never just one person. There's a whole crew and team of people that are adjusting the sounds, the lights, people that are feeding you, the people that are cleaning up after you, the people that are taking care of the bathrooms, the big stars that make millions of dollars, the little stars that make a couple hundred All of those people are coming together on a single day, which isn't hard to get any group of people together for anything and they're making what I think is magic in my eyes, because what I do and when I see what comes after they've done post, it's magic to me and I hope it's magic to everyone else who enjoys these shows and these movies and these commercials and just anything on a screen or anything on a podcast or anything that's recorded. I hope people enjoy them and take them because as a country, I feel it's getting squeezed out a lot and it's getting diluted because there's so much that's being forced social media and people try to live up to other people's standards and lose part of themselves with that.
Speaker 1I couldn't have said it better myself, ryan. You know words to live by, you know.
Speaker 2Yeah, sure, sure, I appreciate you know getting to let out a lot of this and I apologize sometimes if I start going, but this is all stuff coming from the heart and stuff I really mean and feel and just want to get out there, and I really appreciate you giving me this platform and the opportunity to say these things and spread what I really love Fantastic.
Speaker 1One thing I want to ask you you have so much going on. How do you manage your time? I mean between Sasquatch and the movies and the business and your 13-year-old son? I mean that's got to be difficult.
Speaker 2It is. That's one of the toughest things is time management. I'll say it like this Right now I can do it. Right now I'm in good health, I can get to all these places, I can run on a couple of hours of sleep and still be functional the next day. I'd say not drinking is one of the biggest helps to that, because we get so lost in that. Or just having a couple on the weekend or having a couple here a couple of days of the week that I can't do that because it just doesn't work with my system. So any of those polluting factors that I could say to people if they want to get rid of, try some of them first. No one says you have to quit anything, but try to reduce some of that and give yourself some health and ability to go and do extra things out in the work field. If it's not the work field behind the desk, any type of work that you're going to be doing.
Speaker 1Right right behind the desk, any type of work that you're going to be doing, right, right, and you know for me everything, everything you know. All my organizational skills are like mental. Do you actually, you like, do you write things down and do you have like a calendar, or do you just you just put it in your head and you seem to remember it like I do?
Mental Health and Self-Kindness
Speaker 2I live off a calendar. I have everything punched into my calendar, I have alarms set, I have timers going. I have so much sometimes that I really have to break it down and I do take the time to make sure I have enough time to at least take care of myself for a couple hours. One of my favorite things to do that I do every day, seven days a week is I go to the YMCA A numerous amount of them because I have a pass and it'll let me go to any of them but I go into the sauna. It does help me for just mental clarity.
Speaker 2The sauna has been used since times of the Romans they used to have them back there and even further back times where I'm sure that they were heating up caves or just fire and being hot in there and sweating it produces all kinds of good hormones that come out, chemicals that are released in our brain. It produces a bunch of great things and I try to do that a little bit every day. It's kind of my place for mental clarity. It's where I can sweat out all of my problems. When I usually do a 30-minute hit for 180, 190, 200 degrees, I like to usually be in a sauna at, and it's fantastic for me, it's just something that helps me daily, that I look forward to every day.
Speaker 1Oh, that's awesome. So I want to go back real quick to something you touched on earlier regarding you know your your career and you know how things didn't really seem to kind of pan out for you initially. What kind of advice would you give to somebody who may be dealing with those same thoughts and maybe struggling with their mental health?
Speaker 1Because you know, like you said, we're in a world right now that is on fire and I know a lot of people are kind of thinking worst case scenario and I always try to keep positivity in my life and the lives of people around me. How would you express that to somebody that's dealing with certain with similar thoughts and feelings?
Speaker 2So I know everyone's struggling right now with some form of mental health, and when I say these things, I would never take away from mental health, because most of all of these conditions in mental health there's a wide spectrum affect everyone differently and significantly or not significantly Everyone is different. Everyone's DNA is completely different and we handle things differently. However, what I'm going to say is I think everyone has a little bit of form of depression, a form of anxiety. They don't have to be generalized like you have a disease. It's more like every human feels these things at different levels throughout the day. And if you can try to Every human feels these things at different levels throughout the day and if you can try to level some of those and maybe to take some of the lesser blows in life a little less harshly and push them off to the side. If something is really bothering you, you got to think it through. It's kind of like a wave you let it come in and you let that wave go right back out, but if you sit with it too long, you're going to drown in any form of that. So I'd say that all goes back to what I touched on in the beginning, which is be kind to yourself. Don't get bogged down because life it's so easy to. It's so easy just to go on Facebook. It's so easy for me.
Speaker 2I pick up the newspaper. I still like reading the newspaper. Maybe it's just the feeling of the pages, but when I do that it's just sadness mostly. There's some good stories, sure, but most of it is just them highlighting bad stuff. That's just kind of what the media is and it's what people I think are hungry for. They're always looking for the next worst thing and terrible things happen and we forget about it the very next week or the next year because we're pounded with so much shit on social media that it's just like bang, bang, bang, bang. We are getting desynthetized to that. That's something that happened and that they touch on in mortician school is you will get desynthetized to all different types of feelings. When dealing, especially with death, you have to be able to regulate, but I don't think that everyone should be like that all the time. We got to feel and we got to deal with things, but let things come in like a wave and let them go right back out.
Proud Father Moments
Speaker 1That's great advice, and is there anything that you know before we wrap it up, anything you want to add or tell the listeners? Sure, I haven't touched on.
Speaker 2I would like just to touch on my son real quick. He's doing fantastic. This year he stepped into a role in track and field the past couple of years. He goes to a very large high school is prominent in football as well as all of their other extracurricular and curricular activities. But he went to Penn Nationals this year where he was invited. It was hosted by New Balance. They took 70 of the best kids from all around and he got first place in his flight. His name's Michael Beatrice. Also this year he is starting as a freshman on his high school football team and I just wanted to shout out to him how proud I am of him and how fantastic it has been watching him grow and be the man that he needs to be and step up into some really big shoes. He's only 14, going against 18 year olds and cracking like he's never cracked before. So that is something I wanted to touch on real quick.
Speaker 1Awesome, and you think he'll follow in his father's footsteps. Steps into the acting, or is he going to go his own way?
Speaker 2I've always coached him and taught him and just fathered him to go his own way. I never pushed him into anything. I never made him do anything. I said you choose what you want to do and I'm going to be right there with you. I'll be sitting there when you win. I'll be sitting there when you lose. I'll make sure that I'm always your biggest support and I haven't missed a single event for him, and all of the companies I work for, thank goodness have been very supportive of that and they won't ever have me miss his games because I won't.
Speaker 2He knows who's there. All kids know who's there and I'd always say that if your kid's doing something, please don't ever miss it. If they're doing something, I don't care what it is, I don't care how small you think it is. It doesn't have to be a sport. It doesn't have to be. It could just be something they're interested in or something they want to talk to you about.
Speaker 2Take that time and go. Always show up, always support them. Never make a kid feel stupid for something they're excited to tell you. You'll regret it every day for the rest of your life. You'll listen, you'll be a part of their life and you help them grow, because in my life I want him to be so much better than I ever was. I want him to be way higher up than I ever could have been, and I tell him those things and I tell him he can do it. It's easy Well, it's not easy, but it's easy if you keep some things in mind. And the things are is be kind to yourself, realize that you're your best friend and you have to always have your own back. You have to make sure that you get through these humps in life. You have to make sure you get over those hills and yes, there are people and yes, you can lean on people. But really befriend yourself and be there for yourself, because you're going to need yourself at some point in life.
Speaker 1Exactly, exactly. I couldn't have said it better myself, ryan, and I want to thank you. Man, you've been, you've just been, amazing to talk with and I think you've you have some great stories and and and great feet and great input, definitely.
Speaker 2I feel we always talk well and I hope to come back again one day and talk you Just in our interview process we were-.
Speaker 1I would love to have you on in season two and we can update listeners and talk about how to rob a bank. Hopefully by then it'll be out.
Speaker 2That's right. That's right and I love your show and what you do and the conversations that you have. Freedom of speech is huge. I hope we always keep that and I thank you for what you do as well.
Speaker 1Speech is huge I hope we always keep that, and I thank you for what you do as well. Thank you, ryan, it's great speaking with you. I look forward to it in the future. Thank you, my friend, it was great talking to you as well. Thanks, we'll talk soon. Thanks, bye-bye, bye.
