#303 Mel Chancey - Youngest President in Hells Angels History

The Shawn Ryan Show

Shawn Ryan Show

Philosophy, Society & Culture

4.9 • 46.6K Ratings

🗓️ 11 May 2026

⏱️ 303 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Born and raised near Chicago, Illinois, Mel Chancey grew up in a Catholic household, even serving as an altar boy. But early in life, he found identity and belonging in motorcycle club culture. What began as camaraderie evolved into full immersion in the outlaw biker world. He became part of the Hell’s Henchmen before the club patched over to the Hells Angels, quickly rising through the ranks due to his intensity, loyalty, and commanding leadership presence. At a young age, he was serving as a chapter president. In that world, brotherhood was everything. Life revolved around respect, territory, and reputation. Mel has spoken openly about the violent rivalries, bombings, turf wars, and constant hyper-vigilance required to survive. The bombing of their Chicago clubhouse marked a turning point, escalating tensions and deepening the cost of leadership. Power, ego, loyalty, and fear blurred moral lines — and carrying the weight of that conflict came with consequences. Eventually, Mel was arrested in a federal case tied to club activity and served years in prison under RICO-related charges. Prison became the defining turning point of his life. Stripped of his title, patch, and status, he describes hitting rock bottom in a quiet cell where self-examination became unavoidable. It was there that he returned to his Christian faith — praying, reading Scripture, and experiencing what he calls a true spiritual awakening. The identity once rooted in reputation and intimidation was replaced with surrender, humility, and conviction. Walking away from that life was not simple. It meant losing brotherhood, history, and everything familiar. Mel emphasizes that leaving was the hardest decision he ever made — and the strongest one. Today, he is a motivational speaker focused on faith, redemption, masculinity, and discipline. He is active in the bodybuilding community, affiliated with organizations such as IFBB and NPC, using physical training as a metaphor for rebuilding life through structure and accountability. As Managing Partner at Core Medical Group, he works in health and wellness, specializing in hormone optimization and holistic performance. Now a devoted husband, father, and grandfather, Mel Chancey is committed to building legacy instead of reputation — living proof that transformation is possible and that second chances can redefine a life. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Ready to upgrade your eyewear? Check them out at https://roka.com and use code SRS for 20% off sitewide. Face the decisions our founders grappled with in Revolutionary America, a Hillsdale Studios film. Only in theatres May 31 - June 2. Get your tickets now by going to https://hillsdale.edu/revolution Download Cash App Today: https://click.cash.app/ui6m/14ipql92 #CashAppPod As a Cash App partner, I may earn a commission when you sign up for a Cash App account. Cash App is a financial services platform, not a bank. Banking services provided by Cash App’s bank partner(s). Bitcoin services provided by Block, Inc. For additional information, see the Bitcoin disclosures. Get 30% off your first subscription order of ARMRA Colostrum at https://armra.com/srs or enter code SRS at checkout. BetterHelp is now accepting insurance in many states with average copays around $23—fill out the questionnaire and check your coverage today at https://betterhelp.com/SRS. #ad Mel Chancey Links: IG - https://www.instagram.com/melchancey316 IG - https://www.instagram.com/john316devotionalteam IG - https://www.instagram.com/chanceyfitness WEB - www.chanceyfitness.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Mel Chancy, welcome to the show.
0:07.0	John, thank you, brother.
0:09.0	And I'm excited.
0:11.0	Yeah, I'm excited too.
0:13.0	Man, I can't believe how many mutual friends we have.
0:16.0	So, last week, I started getting texts from all my buddies saying,
0:22.1	oh, I heard you have a Mel on the show.
0:23.9	Oh, you got to ask him about all this stuff he's doing.
0:26.2	No, he's got a movie coming out.
0:29.1	But Blake Cook, Cody Alfred, Ray Cash, Two Lamb.
0:34.3	Yeah, so many.
0:35.7	You baptized Cody, right?
0:41.4	Baptized Cody at our core military military uh our appreciation our appreciation our military appreciation weekend and that was uh the last
0:48.2	weekend in february that was about a year ago right no just this this one that passed did this that was
0:54.0	this one yeah just a few months ago, the end of February. And Cody had asked me, and he said, I'm ready. And I said, you are? I said, where do you want to do it? And back of my partner's Sydney Gordon's spot, he's on this big, you know, the intercoastal in South Carolina. I go, you want to do it out there? And he goes, yeah. And I said, you know, they're catching some bull sharks out there. And there's a lot of stuff out there, right? And he goes, we'll be good. I go, he's got a big bathtub upstairs. And he goes, no, bro, I want to do it out there. and I said, okay, so I was like mentally prepared. And like, he asked me the night before and we were doing it like at noon the next day. So I was like pacing around. He's the first person I ever baptized. He's the first person. First person I ever baptized, you know, and I wasn't really sure at first. But you know what the word tells us. what Jesus said to the disciples, go out and baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, right? So we're all qualified as believers. So, you know, I wasn't really tripping out on that part. I was tripping out on the, you know, what I see Sidney and the boys catching out of there, right? You know, so it threw me off a little bit, Sean, right? But we got it done and we got some great video of it. And, you know so it threw me off a little bit shot right but um but we got it done and uh we got
2:03.0	some great video of it and and you know there was a lot of mud out there we had another dear friend of
2:07.7	our house uh colton hill that came out there to help me too because you know cody's a big a big kid these
2:13.5	days right and i'm dropping them down and i'm not 300 pounds anymore so i was like like, can I get them back up? And, and, uh, but it was, it was amazing. And, uh, and now he's on the team and he's on fire for the Lord. Cody's really, his eyes are open, Sean. And, uh, and, you know, he calls, he calls everybody calls me their big brother. Whether they're older than me or not, they're like, Mel's our big brother, because you know, I look out for everybody. But, yeah, it was amazing.
2:38.6	And so many people that we know i was like you know
2:45.0	i was an honor for me to come here and sit with you man that's cool that's yeah i was really happy to see cody uh take that step that was that was awesome yeah i was i mean how did that feel to baptize somebody for the first time?
2:52.1	It was cool. I mean, I made it through. I didn't start crying until them two dudes did, right?
2:57.1	Because I'm like, all right, you got to say the words here. And I got to be, and there had to be
	...

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