{"id":126491,"date":"2026-01-21T15:24:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:24:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/126491\/"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:24:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T15:24:10","slug":"he-walked-into-fat-tuesday-at-156-a-m-now-he-wants-to-give-people-a-way-out-of-doomscrolling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/126491\/","title":{"rendered":"He walked into Fat Tuesday at 1:56 a.m. Now he wants to give people a way out of doomscrolling."},"content":{"rendered":"

Randy Garrett still remembers the exact minute his life changed.<\/p>\n

It was late-night Atlanta, last call, the kind of moment that usually ends with a plastic cup and a short story you tell your friends once. Instead, it turned into a marriage that has lasted 33 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI walked into Fat Tuesday, the slushy bar. I walked in at 01:56, last call, and we met,\u201d Garrett said of meeting his wife. \u201cAnd we started having a conversation that we\u2019re still having today.\u201d<\/p>\n

That line, that conversation, keeps coming up with Garrett. Talk early, talk often, talk before things get worse.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also the through-line behind WeChangedIt<\/a>, the startup he now leads as co-founder and CEO. The company, which operates a set of apps built around peer support and mental wellness, is aiming at a problem Garrett describes as both personal and widespread: people going through real pain, often in silence, while the world keeps moving.<\/p>\n

The turning point for Garrett happened when his mother-in-law\u2019s dementia progressed. \u201cI watched it happen,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd we had no community. That\u2019s the loneliest thing in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

That experience, along with a hard year that followed, shaped how he heard the next call that came in.<\/p>\n

A friend and future co-founder, Joel Day, reached out. Day\u2019s son had been diagnosed with autism, his marriage was falling apart, and he needed help. Garrett listened, and then met the broader founding group, including Candace Chisholm, a veteran in mental health who started the earlier version of the project after watching her own family go through a crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe started HeChangedIt, because her granddaughter had cancer,\u201d Garrett said. \u201cEverybody wanted to help her. While her husband, Mike, was struggling. Nobody paid him any attention.\u201d<\/p>\n

Garrett\u2019s pitch to the team was simple: if the goal was safe space, then it had to include everyone.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The company now positions itself as a family of platforms, WeChangedIt, HeChangedIt, SheChangedIt, and TheyChangedIt, designed to support people through peer conversation, tools, and paths to professional help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Garrett\u2019s critique of traditional social platforms is blunt: their systems can keep you stuck in the same emotional loop.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re going through a breakup, you\u2019re gonna get breakup messages for the next two weeks,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we wanted to create was an off ramp from social media,\u201d Garrett said. \u201cWe want you to be able to literally take a break. You don\u2019t have to be here every day. Just be here when you need it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Now, WeChangedIt is building what Garrett calls a connected \u201cportal,\u201d designed to move a person from peer conversation to real support fast, including links to partner resources.<\/p>\n

The company has already inked deals with various partners including Action Black, a global gym brand. Garrett also described inbound interest from a Houston nonprofit with a large community, and a model that lets the company grow revenue while also committing to give back.<\/p>\n

Miami plays a role in this story, too.<\/p>\n

\u201cMiami saved me,\u201d Garrett said, describing pandemic-era New York, locked doors, and social rules that made normal life feel impossible. A friend encouraged him to head south. \u201cAnd I literally stayed in the Marriott Biscayne Bay for three months.\u201d Garrett also co-founded Miami startup OppZo<\/a>, which provides working capital for government contractors.<\/p>\n

Now, he wants WeChangedIt to be rooted in Miami\u2019s startup scene. He also wants it to be honest about the founder experience that people post about less often.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you don\u2019t have a cofounder, it is a lonely game,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd how many fantastic ideas and dreams never get built. Because they don\u2019t have the support.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the tension sitting under everything Garrett described: the modern world has more ways to connect than ever, and yet more people feel alone. The solution he\u2019s building is meant to be a door you can open when you\u2019re not okay, and a set of people and tools that help you get steady enough to step back into real life.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to open that digital door so you could be in a safe space, so you can share what\u2019s going on with you,\u201d Garrett said. \u201cAnd really build back your confidence to hopefully go back into not a virtual community, but your community.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

READ MORE IN REFRESH MIAMI:<\/p>\n

\"Riley<\/a> <\/p>\n

I am a Miami-based technology researcher and writer with a passion for sharing stories about the South Florida tech ecosystem. I particularly enjoy learning about GovTech startups, cutting-edge applications of artificial intelligence, and innovators that leverage technology to transform society for the better. Always open for pitches via Twitter @rileywk or www.RileyKaminer.com.<\/p>\n

\"Riley<\/a>Latest posts by Riley Kaminer (see all<\/a>) \t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Randy Garrett still remembers the exact minute his life changed. It was late-night Atlanta, last call, the kind…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":126492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[225,227,226],"class_list":{"0":"post-126491","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hialeah","8":"tag-hialeah","9":"tag-hialeah-headlines","10":"tag-hialeah-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=126491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/126491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/126492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=126491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=126491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=126491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}