Chris Romulo: 0:00

The way you think is crucial, absolutely crucial, because I've learned that many times in my life my self-talk wasn't where I needed to be. But when I did have self-talk that was constructive, it guided me in the right direction.

Porter: 0:19

Alrighty folks, Welcome back to Transacting Value, where we're encouraging dialogue from different perspectives to unite over shared values. Our theme for season four is intrinsic values, so what your character is doing when you look yourself in the mirror. Now, if you're new to the podcast, welcome. And if you're a continuing listener, welcome back. Today we're talking our September core values of bravery, courage and patriotism With youth empowerment. Speaker and founder of the philosophy Champ Up, Chris Romulo, coming out of Sparta, believe it or not, Jersey. But we'll get there in just a second, folks, Without further ado. I'm Porter, I'm your host and this is Transacting Value. Chris, what's up man? How's life?

Chris Romulo: 1:01

Goal Porter. Yeah, no complaints, man, all is well. I woke up this morning and took a deep breath of air, and I'm happy about life.

Porter: 1:10

Good yeah, I'm glad a lot of that smoke stopped blowing south. Huh, That'd be a lot different breath, wouldn't it?

Chris Romulo: 1:15

Yeah, that was pretty challenging for a couple of days, but you just say, all right, at least you're here, you're able to roll out of bed and say, okay, how can we figure out another way, right?

Porter: 1:27

Yeah, dude, story of life, Matter of fact, pretty close to yours. As a matter of fact, you sort of grew up building resilience from a young age. I think right, yeah, I would say.

Chris Romulo: 1:36

I grew up facing some challenges and that definitely at times it was a little much, but then at times it was just like it was perfect for who I am today sitting here talking to you.

Porter: 1:49

Sick. Well, let's just start there then. So, for everybody who's new to the show, chris and I are actually talking on a video call, but since we're just recording the audio, chris, let's take a quick couple of minutes. Who actually are you, where are you from and what sort of things have shaped your perspective?

Chris Romulo: 2:05

First and foremost, I would say I'm a dad and a husband, so a family man. That's my identity, right, and that ties back to growing up, where family life was a little more of a struggle, where I grew up in Queens, new York. From an early age I realized that my dad was not fully vested in our family. He was pretty detached, and I realized that at about eight years old and that was a hardship in my life and I would say it was the foundation for again, for what I am or who I am and what I share with these kids and these presentations that I do around New York City and New Jersey. So, on top of that, I was blessed to have become a professional. Well, I started out as an amateur Muay Thai fighter, but I also became a professional Muay Thai fighter later on in my life and I was blessed to have fought for Team USA in Thailand and I also became a professional North American champion in 2010. And alongside of doing that, being in the fight career, I was lucky to have opened my own gym. Right that was the evolution of being a Muay Thai fighter opening up my own gym with my wife in Rockway Beach, new York.

Porter: 3:29

Congratulations, Dude. I can't believe it. You had an opportunity to use that fight with Team USA and then ultimately obviously set up your own Muay Thai gym, which I'm assuming you're still running now.

Chris Romulo: 3:40

Oh, unfortunately we closed during pandemic of May 2020, at the height of pandemic in New York City.

Porter: 3:49

I guess that's a good point. You probably didn't have much of a choice. I mean, you guys got slaughtered.

Chris Romulo: 3:53

Yeah, we. Actually we were in the second hardest hit zip code in New York. At that time we battled a lot of things obviously our own conscience and the safety of people in our community, and also financially, like there were some challenges, obviously trying to keep a business open and running, even though we weren't able to keep our business functioning right Because we weren't in the gym but our landlord was asking us to pay up full on each month's rent that we weren't in the gym. That was like a triple threat there.

Porter: 4:25

I guess? Yeah, I agree. But so what we're talking about this? Let's call it champion spirit here. This is a segment of the show called Developing Character. Developing Character. So for everybody listening, this is two questions. And, chris, it's really as vulnerable as you want to be, it's totally up to you. But two questions. This is to get to know you a little bit better, right, mainly your value system. So question number one when you were growing up, what were some of your values?

Chris Romulo: 4:52

I actually, I'll admit I didn't have a lot of values growing up because of the lack of a father figure in my life. I made things up as I went along and I made a lot of decisions that led me down some self-destructive path. So I wouldn't necessarily say I had a value system. I was just working on survival from the age of eight years old, I would say all the way up until, literally, I graduated high school and just jumped into the working world as a young adult.

Porter: 5:23

I think it's kind of I don't know if refreshing is the right word to say, but it's kind of a refreshing perspective, because something that we haven't actually even talked about on the show is just being able to identify that you have a value system, in some cases as a luxury, because you're so focused on just trying to survive and get through life, and I think that's an underrated perspective. So, first off, congratulations for doing yourself a solid man and getting through. But that brings me to my second question. All that being said, what, then, are some of your values now?

Chris Romulo: 5:52

So now I would say I actually have come up with this acronym for champion. I have a champion values, right? So courage would be my first value and as a principle, I like to think of them as principles as well, like understanding that fear is part of our life, but in certain circumstances you want to challenge that fear. You want to work through whatever fear might be in front of you. Obviously, if it's not life threatening, h would be hunger. I consider it the growth mindset, or the champion mindset, wanting to learn, and not just learn about things outside of you but learn more about what's going on inside of you. That hunger for introspection. Oh yeah, right, yeah. So you want to be being audacious, right, taking bold risks. As a fighter, you're always taking a bold risk in life and to become a champion, you want to take bold risks. You want to challenge yourself against the competition that you know might be better than you, because that's the only way that you're going to become better as a boxer or a fighter. And M would stand for mission-minded, having a goal or a purpose. When I was a kid, I didn't have ambitions or goals, I just thought I was just living day to day and again, survival. So mission-minded is huge for me. Having a goal, having a direction of where, or vision I was talking about it earlier today with a friend. Having vision P would stand for patience, right Understanding that life, business, family, it's all a journey, that it's not a sprint, it's a marathon, and you want to have that patience and trust the journey. I would be integrity, another value I definitely didn't have a lot of. I said a lot of things as a kid but I didn't follow through, I didn't walk the talk. Integrity is huge now and I've learned that through fighting and being a martial artist as well. O would be ownership, right Responsibility for your thoughts, your feelings and your actions Again, something I didn't have a lot of growing up, because I would blame the world around me. I used to think it was all, it was society, or it was school, or it was my dad or whatever kids in the neighborhood that I would blame and say, oh, this is why life sucks. So owning the fact that the only thing you can control are those thoughts, feelings and actions. And the last one would be nobility Carrying yourself with respect and honor I came across this term in some leadership research I was doing a few years back and carrying yourself like a world-class human being. That's what I consider nobility. Not that you have to act like royalty, like you're a king or a queen, for whatever matter you're thinking of, but the fact that you carry yourself as a world-class human being and you treat everybody the way you want to be treated goes back to the golden rule of life.

Porter: 9:05

I already focused it tight and we'll be right back on transacting value Among all the noise and confusion of life that adults are exposed to that can beat down or diminish our dreams. The hardest aspects to overcome are internal, but at least we've had some years to acclimatize. What about teens? Did you know that ADHD, anxiety problems, behavior problems and depression are the most commonly diagnosed mental disorders in children, and some of these conditions regularly occur together? Science has some answers. Art has another, more specifically, martial arts and its avatar of a champion spirit, chris Romulo. Chris uses his personal experiences to amplify what truly makes a champion. He also crafted a youth empowerment platform to share how, reframing his perspective from the streets of Queens, new York, to his own Muay Thai titles and eventual training gym forge resilience through his philosophy champ up, and how it not only helped him to thrive while overcoming self-doubt, fear, disappointment, hardship, confusion, negative self-talk and inflated egos, but also to empower high schoolers during bullying, peer pressure and lacking direction as they begin to form their own identities. To find out more about scheduling Chris for your school assembly and to show students options for mental resilience or that they have a champion within, check out chrisromulocom today.

Chris Romulo: 10:37

The fact that you carry yourself as a world-class human being and you treat everybody the way you want to be treated goes back to the golden rule of life, right?

Porter: 10:46

Yeah, well, it's something to be said for royalty, right. Like, to whatever extent maybe there's I don't know lacking humility or gaudy, like spending money and all sorts of stuff. But say what you want about monarchs throughout history. I mean, look at even recently, right, queen Elizabeth. You look at centuries ago, with Cleopatra and everybody in between. Anybody who's filled any position of royalty has a presence of mind and critical thought, understands how they come across, understands how they want to come across and how they want to treat people and what to do about it. Right, it used to be diplomacy and politics was carriage, intact and bearing in respect and civility for the sake of policy, you could argue. Now it's a little bit different. But I think there's something to be said for nobility, right, that still carries a certain presence on how you either want to be perceived or how you want to feel, because you got to live with you. Nobody else does. I think that's huge man. And so, taking those principles, this acronym, champion, that you just talked about, you've turned it into a like a philosophy, like a movement, right? What do you do with it? Like it's one thing to put it on posters, it's one thing to paint it on a wall. It's one thing to hang it up in a gym, but what does it do for you?

Chris Romulo: 12:02

What I do with this message. I call it the champ up code. I take it into schools, into middle schools, and the goal is to empower the youth of today, because, I mean, this is not a secret but the youth is our future and if I can be a part of cultivating and planting these seeds of champion ethics and principles, what's more noble than that kind of mission, knowing that you've had a part in saying okay, instead of complaining about sometimes, people complaining about the youth. Right, they're too attached to social media. Yeah, that could be possibly true, but why not do your part and be part of the solutions instead of being a part of the issue, the problem, and which is complaining and not taking ownership? So this is my form of taking ownership for the lack of guidance that I had growing up. Let me take what I've learned through martial arts and the struggles of life and being in the ring and being a business owner, and do my best to pass that on to the youth, because that's how any knowledge is passed on, what's been passed on throughout history and time, right From a mentor to the youth Sure, and I mean, you're what?

Porter: 13:21

early 40s? I appreciate that.

Chris Romulo: 13:24

Now I turn 49 in November.

Porter: 13:27

Wow, good for you. Something to be said for jumping jacks and Muay Thai, but okay, so you've obviously had some time, though, to cultivate your outlook on the world and philosophy for how you want to carry yourself. But you're saying middle school. So now we're talking 10, 12 years old, somewhere in that window, maybe a little older, maybe a little younger, but in the US, primarily middle school, right, okay, yeah, so we're talking kids. How do you translate what you've done, coming in as this professional fighter, gym owner, businessman, success story, and then explain that and explain those things to kids that are still trying to figure out the usernames?

Chris Romulo: 14:10

Great question, I believe what the way I'm able to translate that is through my vulnerability of sharing my story of how many challenges and setbacks in our face as a kid being bullied and not having a father figure and being physically abused by a fourth grade teacher when I was a kid All these things at the time I didn't realize that they were going to shape me for this path, this journey of life. Right, the concept is fall seven times, stand up eight. It's not a matter of if life is going to knock us down, it's a matter of when. And then how are we going to carry ourselves or pick ourselves back up and carry on? So the vulnerability that I share is through my philosophy of it's not the world that's against us, it's not the outside forces. What's really holding us back is our internal struggles, what I call the seven dictators that try to control us, and these kids really get it. Over the past school year, 55 schools. That is one of the major takeaways that I hear afterwards, because I do a little Q&A after each presentation and kids are always talking about yeah, I get it the self doubt, the fear, the disappointment, the hardship, the confusion, the ego and our self talk. Those are the dictators that try to hold us down, regardless of what's going on outside of us. So I don't know why, but it really resonates with middle schoolers and high schoolers, I would imagine. But mainly I like to talk to the middle schoolers because I was there. I was in their seat literally at one point in my life where at 14, because of everything that was going on in my life, I felt lost and confused. So I want to talk to that kid that might be feeling the same way I did and say look, this doesn't have to define you. Whatever hardship or whatever dictators control you, don't let it define you. It's normal, we're human beings. But let's not let it hold us down. Let's decide, let's make a choice, because I always say that being a champion is not just having that belt. Being a champion is making that decision and saying I'm going to battle through all these challenges that these dictators that might be trying to control me.

Porter: 16:31

But it's not blindly fighting right, like you're not street brawling and metaphorically here, you're not like street brawling and just blindly swinging right. You've got to have some kind of a plan. We've got a. Saying so. For anybody new to the show, I'm active duty in the Marine Corps, so one of the things that we sort of grow up on in the DoD is that the only plan that is bad is the one that you never implemented. But you've got to have one to start from. And you may even have already accounted for in the planning process that it's going to fail, but it's still a starting point. It still gives you something. And so, in your experience, well, like some of these dictators you just mentioned, you've got fear, you've got self doubt. These are things that obviously some of these kids can relate to. It's so can adults. Your message and the way you explain it. That might be your demographic and that might be where it fits best, but it really sounds like what you're describing is multi-generational. Alrighty, folks, stay tight, we'll be right back on Transacting Value. Thomas Jefferson wrote in a letter to George Washington in 1787 that agriculture is our wisest pursuit because it will, in the end, contribute most to wealth, good morals and happiness. Did you know that, even at a nearly $1 billion valuation, farmers markets nationwide still authentically serve their local markets as direct to consumer, armed fresh models of freedom, self-reliance and teamwork? At the Keystone Farmers Market in Odessa, florida, those same ideals also cultivate an agritourism experience preserving the old ways of wholesome, family-oriented, sustainable growth of produce and people For premium quality produce at affordable prices, opportunities for the kiddos to feed the baby cows or to simply wander the garden and watch your future meals grow. Visit Keystone Farmers Market on Facebook or come by in person to 12615 Tarbon Springs Road, keystone Farmers Market, the place with the boiled peanuts. That might be your demographic and that might be where it fits best, but it really sounds like what you're describing is multi-generational. Have you found that to be the case?

Chris Romulo: 18:42

Yeah, absolutely. It's interesting because, after multiple presentations I've given, the kids are engaged, fully engaged, but it's always the staff, like the teachers and the principals, that are just like wow, I really needed to hear that, because it's something I tell the kids. We don't get rid of the dictators. We don't completely annihilate them. They're with us our whole lives. I share with them that, even till this day, when I closed my gym in 2020, the dictators were controlling me. I was aware and I didn't give up, but at least I knew who the real fight was against. I can be vulnerable like that with the kids. I feel like it's powerful for them because they're like, oh, okay, if this guy, who's supposedly a champion, who's been in the ring and has faced some of the deepest fears that humans have of facing another human being in the ring, who's prepared to try to take you out too, and he's sharing with me his fears and his self-doubts, okay, if that's possible for him, then it's possible for me.

Porter: 19:50

Well, that's sort of the baseline, especially for a lot of middle schoolers. But you can look at geez man, you can look at millennials, you can talk about people of your age, you can look at people of your parents' age, it really doesn't matter. But to see, for example, any of these storylines, any of these fears, any of these emotions personified, it's in cartoons, it's in movies, it's in music videos. It's sort of the extreme end of action, because that's what people gravitate towards to pay attention to, because it's entertaining and it's whatever. And so I think it's easy to get disillusioned with. Okay, but what does that actually feel like? What does that actually mean? What does that ground it in? And in the infantry? There's a lot of those instances where we'll have, in some cases, 17-year-old kids. It could be as simple conceptually, as simple as hitting a target with a rocket or shooting a rifle for the first time to just dealing with getting yelled at and character maybe degraded a little bit. You know and you learn, not what other people actually think about you, but what other people could think about you. And so you're put into these uncomfortable positions to learn how to deal with it. And it's not like the movies we have this. I guess you could say concept, and truthfully I'm pretty sure it came from Voltaire, but don't quote me, I don't remember or maybe Grossman. Anyways, the point is it's called a fog of war dirt, smoke, dust, debris, confusion, all of these things. If you were to picture yourself in an explosion and your ear is ringing dust everywhere, you don't know where to shoot, but everything's happening super fast. What do you do? How do you respond? And it's easy to get disoriented, right, and it's almost like the things that you explained. You could sort of call that the fog of life, right, where things just come in and creep in and it's easy to get overwhelmed and afraid. But you still got to find a way to react and prioritize towards those things. I think you said it right when we were speaking I think it was a couple of weeks ago now and even a couple of minutes ago you said the more important struggle is inside you, it's how you reason and work through some of that stuff. And so when we're talking mental and emotional battles and ways to relate for you, for example, would you say 55 schools in the last school year alone, 55, yes, yeah, so you're talking. Let's just say, at least 50 kids per school. That's almost 30,000 people and that doesn't even include all the staff or anybody else that heard your message. How do you account for all of those different perspectives and influences and interpretations of your message and still ensure that what you experience gets across Like? How do you communicate that effectively?

Chris Romulo: 22:31

I walk into these schools and I just, I only imagine talking to one kid, right, that's how I frame my mindset going into these talks. But the one kid, the one avatar that I'm thinking of, is this 14-year-old boy who was lost, sad, confused, angry, and that was me. Well, that's what I go in thinking into these talks, and you mentioned a little bit you were alluding to it a little bit earlier is the story of the underdog, and I've really feel like people gravitate and whether it's the staff or whether it's the kids gravitate to this story of the underdog. I mean, that's why Rocky was such a successful series for so long. Everybody wants to see the normal person rise to the top and finally make it and achieve success. So when I come in with my vulnerability and my target, I really believe these kids are able to whether it's a boy or a girl are able to understand that this is just an underdog story. It's the story of a kid who found a way and was able to reverse or break the cycle of whatever was going on in his life, of family dysfunction, father trauma, however you want to think of it. He was able to reverse that but also be vulnerable and say he's made mistakes, but he's constantly looking for the next step forward. So hopefully that answers your question.

Porter: 24:05

Yeah Well, I mean, I can't even say for sure, because it's up to everybody listening, I suppose but yeah, you know how do you communicate it effectively, and being able to frankly identify who your audience is you mentioned as an avatar but like, conceptually, who is it you're talking to, and then just conveying your point to that image, makes a big difference. And you previously, when we spoke, had also mentioned fears of public speaking, fears of crowds. Getting through some of these little hurdles, right? Or even in your case, when you were growing up, trying to succeed in spite of life carries its own fears, right. And to whatever extent you've got to rely on yourself in that process, or even just as recent, as when you close your gym. What's the future look like? What do we do for an income? How do we make money when nobody shows up for a close contact sport, when you can't breathe in the same place? So there's a lot of fears and I think they can manifest to a lot of different directions and because of a lot of different causes. But in your case, chris, I'm curious why did you choose martial arts as a way to learn discipline and self literacy and how to overcome those things and just build yourself up?

Chris Romulo: 25:14

The irony of finding martial arts. Even though my dad was completely disconnected and you could look at it as narcissism, complete narcissism, it was all about what he needed to do for himself and the irony of that is like he was the first one to expose me to martial arts, and not an accident. But I used to watch my dad leave the house on the weekends and we would leave the house. When we lived in Elmhurst, queens, we lived in a small one bedroom apartment. There was five of us living there and I remember him leaving on the weekends with this brown duffel bag and I would always wonder where he was going and I would ask my mom and my mom would just say, oh, he's just going off to do his thing. And then finally, one day my mom told me he was going off to go train Taekwondo in New York City.

Porter: 26:08

All right, folks, stay tight. We'll be right back on Transacting Value. Alrighty folks, here at Transacting Value, we write and produce all the material for our podcast in-house game perspective alongside you, our listeners, and exchange vulnerability and dialogue with our contributors every Monday morning. But for distribution, buzzsprout's a platform to use. You want to know how popular you are in Europe or how Apple is a preferred platform to stream your interviews? Buzzsprout can do that. You want to stream with multiple players through an RSS or custom feed, or even have references and resources to take your podcast's professionalism, authenticity and presence to a wider audience. Buzzsprout can do that too. Here's how. Start with some gear that you already have in a quiet space. If you want to upgrade, buzzsprout has tons of guides to help you find the right equipment at the right price. Buzzsprout gets your show listed in every major podcast platform. You'll get a great looking podcast website, audio players that you can drop into other websites, detailed analytics to see how people are listening, tools to promote your episodes and more. Podcasting isn't hard when you have the right partners. The team at Buzzsprout is passionate about helping you succeed. Join over 100,000 podcasters already using Buzzsprout to get their message out to the world Plus following the link in the show notes lets Buzzsprout know we sent you. Gets you a $20 credit if you sign up for a paid plan and helps support our show. You want more value for your values. Buzzsprout can do that too.

Chris Romulo: 27:40

And then finally, one day my mom told me he was going off to go train Taekwondo in New York City in the Upper East Side. It was with this guy named S Henry Cho. He was like the legend of Taekwondo back in the 80s. Then it turned into me bugging my mom to see what my dad was doing, because we had no connection. But I wanted to see what this journey was that he would take every weekend. And finally one weekend my mom forced my dad to take me and he brought me into the city on the subway and he brought me up to this dojo on the second floor on the Upper East Side and he literally opened my world up. He just showed me this other side of him, like I'd never seen this side of him before, where he was on the dojo floor in his white crisp Taekwondo uniform with a black belt on, and he was like making the noises you know the Kia. And all of a sudden I was like I couldn't believe that was my dad on that floor and from that moment on I didn't think of it at the time. This is the way for me to connect with him, because I was just amazed by what he was doing, you know, and eventually I got my mom to sign me up and unfortunately, when I finally got into the dojo, my dad gave up on martial arts. So this day I don't know if it was my fault, if I infringed on something that was his, but you never step foot on the dojo floor again. But credit to him for exposing me to that and I would say, with his guidance in that brief moment, and people like Bruce Lee at the time, back in the 80s, those were my mentors, right, even though I never met Bruce Lee, he died before I was born. That was my mentor Because I looked at him as like, oh, this is Asian American guy. Like lighting up the screen and becoming a legend, literally. Or I mean he had obviously passed away, but he was a legend In 1977, or whenever it was. I was watching this stuff, but I was like, all right, if he can do that. I felt like I was completely lost and confused. I was like, if this is going to help me find my direction, this is what I want to do with my life. And again, thanks, thanks to my dad for that.

Porter: 30:00

I think there's a lot of cool opportunities and lessons and we can pass down to our kids, but I think the majority of those things are caught before they're taught. And so, especially when it comes to martial arts, I started in Taekwondo when I was probably I don't know, you'd have to call my mom, she would remember, but I was young, probably six, seven, you don't have to call her. But anyway, the point is, by the time I was 15, I was helping run an afterschool martial arts program. So I'd go to high school, do my homework at school, get off, eat lunch, go home, eat lunch, whatever, and then 330, I'd have to be at a dojo and then everybody, all the kids, would get picked up or I don't know, six, six, 30. And then I'd have class, or I teach class at seven and then I train eight to 10, and then lock up for I don't know two and a half years, three years, while I was in high school, and a lot of that. Even Taekwondo, I mean, I've heard different perspectives. Right, like it's the hamburger of martial arts, all the way up to it's a solid foundation and it's incomparable and various things in between. And I think, briefly, we had talked a couple weeks ago about the National Association of Professional Martial Artists, and so there was a conference everybody listening. This was back in 2003,. The story that Chris and I discussed a few weeks ago about this father-son duo, ernie Reyes Sr and Ernie Reyes Jr Now Jr, I think, is in his 50s, but at the time Ernie Reyes Jr presented his dad with a Lifetime Achievement Award in martial arts, which was cool because of the father-son thing. But what I thought was really neat about it is martial arts is a unique journey for every artist going through it. It doesn't even matter the style. Whatever you take from it, aside from the obvious hard skills in your style, is different for everybody. And so I don't know I'm not going to presume the guess but maybe in your dad's case he accomplished what he wanted to and it had nothing to do with you. But if nothing else, I think there's a lot of power in the fact that you've been able to look back and find something valuable in those types of moments and in those memories right, like you said, when you didn't have much of a relationship with him to then, in the moment he became this totally different person when you walked in. I mean that's a powerful pivot and a powerful mind shift. What made you choose to take something better, to take something different out of that experience? Because a lot of people carry a lot of baggage and it's not always necessary.

Chris Romulo: 32:22

That's a really good question. I don't know what I could attribute that to, but I just remember being a kid and just saying If I ever become a dad, I don't want to be the dad that I had in front of me, who was completely neglectful. I guess you could call it luck, because what's typical is kids that grow up without dads. They take the other route, which is spiraling and self-destruction, and I've been there. I've definitely been there, but just that thought when I was eight years old set me on a path, but I did spiral and get lost many times in my life. But coming back to that thought in the back of my mind, I feel like it's what's always given me that lighthouse on the shore, and that's one of the major things that I talk about with the kids at these presentations. Like your self-talk, the way you think is crucial, absolutely crucial, because I've learned that many times in my life my self-talk wasn't where I needed to be, but when I did have self-talk that was constructive, it guided me in the right direction. So, yeah, I would say I was lucky to have been at least aware of what I was thinking right, instead of just going off of feelings and emotions which were not taught to deal with as kids, but at least I was aware of what was going on inside my mind.

Porter: 33:48

Alrighty folks, stay tight and we'll be right back on Transacting Value. Did you know that children who do chores to earn their allowance have more respect for finance and more of a drive for financial independence? Did you know that families who complete tasks together have stronger bonds? Did you know that cognition, sense of self and anxiety all improve if people have regular interactions with nature? Imagine what instilling self-esteem, resilience, family teamwork and an authorized sense of self could do for the growth of each generation. No matter the temptation At Huff Cluck or Farm, that's just another Tuesday. Want to learn how to homestead or just more effectively develop your character for an unknown future? Follow or direct message on Instagram at Huff Cluck or Farm. Watch it happen in real time. A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. A foolish man learns from his own.

Chris Romulo: 34:43

I was lucky to have been at least aware of what I was thinking right, instead of just going off of feelings and emotions which were not taught to deal with as kids. But at least I was aware of what was going on inside my mind.

Porter: 34:59

That's huge, yeah, I mean, even for an eight-year-old, even for anybody, let alone an eight-year-old yeah, crazy. And then, applying that, I assume the lifelong learning which is something you talked about earlier. Now, I guess initially it seemed like it was more studying, like actively learning new things, but now it sounds like it can also be passive. Just when you say lifelong learning, it sounds more like an awareness, more like an ability to critically evaluate. Am I close or am I missing the mark?

Chris Romulo: 35:31

Oh, because I would say I'm still proactive in learning and understanding myself as a human being. With the struggles, the trauma that I face as a kid, I'm still looking for ways to enhance, whether it's reading, whether it's going to see a therapist, whether it's joining an organization that deals directly with kids of dysfunctional families. I'm always proactive about trying to understand myself just a little more, so that I'm working on that 1% every day concept. Every single day I'm trying to make a little bit of progress so that exponentially over time, who knows where it leads to? I mean, the goal is not to reach some destination with my self-healing or my self-recovery or my learning and understanding myself. It's just to stay on that progress, on that track of all right. What can I learn today?

Porter: 36:24

about myself. Well, I mean, that's the whole point of martial arts or martial artists anyways. It's all about a way and a journey, in some respects right, do you use your hands and your feet, or are you on the ground or are you grappling right? A lot of those things may change, but it's all about the journey. It's all about the spiritual gain you get from those opportunities and obviously, how. A manifest is relative, but huge man, I think it's awesome what you're doing, I think it's a great message you're putting out and I think it's a phenomenal opportunity for one you're creating, for yourself, but for two 3,000 other kids every eight months out of the school year, the amount that you're accomplishing for their growth, even just through exposure. I'm sure you're not wrestling or sparring these kids in your speeches, but the experience is no, it never gets that physical, Definitely not. You know middle school, you never know.

Chris Romulo: 37:17

What I go in. The main objective is helping them understand that here I battle through battle and obviously you understand the world of combat and battle, being a soldier yourself. Whatever battles I've been through, it's always about the internal battles. It's not about the actual physical. It's how you can deal with what's going on inside first, which can help you in the physical realm.

Porter: 37:42

That's it right there For sure. You can teach hard skills, you can learn new hard skills, you can figure out how to shoot better, run faster, farther, but it takes a lot longer to shift your perspective and then commit to it and believe in it and stand behind it and grow beside it. 100% man Dude. I love it. For the sake of time, though, if anybody listening wants to find out more about your champ-up philosophy, about the schools you're going to, about anybody, obviously around Jersey and New York, for that matter, who's listening to this and wants to bring you into the school. Or if people just want to find out more about you and your fighting career, how do people learn more about you and your message? Where can they go?

Chris Romulo: 38:22

Say the best way is go to my website, chrisromulocom. I would say that's ideal, because you'll get a full grasp of what the journey that I've been on and how you can take some of this and use it in your own life. Whether you're a kid Most kids don't go to websites nowadays but even if you're just an adult who's struggling, you've lost your way and it happens to everybody. There's nothing wrong with you for losing your way, but just know that there's a way to get back on track. There's always a way, Sure.

Porter: 38:56

Yeah, for everybody listening, a link for Chris's website in whatever player you're streaming this conversation on. If you click see more, or if you click show more, or if you're on our website, it's underneath this recording, but the link for Chris's website is in there. You can just click on it. It'll take you right to the website so you can find out more also. Chris man, I appreciate this opportunity. I feel like it's been a lot longer coming than two or three weeks. I've been looking forward to this and it's just been creeping every minute until we got to this conversation. I really appreciate the opportunity, man, just to hear from you, learn your perspective a little bit. You've taught me a couple of things. I was making notes as we went also and I really appreciate your perspective and take on life man, thank you.

Chris Romulo: 39:38

Thank you, porter. It was a great interaction and it's always an honor to come and share what could potentially help your listeners, help you and help the youth. I mean that's the goal, thank you.

Porter: 39:50

Yeah, dude, well, that's the cool thing about podcasts too. We just invited the world to listen to your entire message and then invited them to find more information about it on your website. However much gas or airline miles you're putting on your car to get to schools, I hope we just saved you some trips. But yeah, unreal, dude, unreal. But okay, that's going to close us out. So again, chris's links will be in our show notes and for everybody listening. Thank you for tuning in and listening to our core values for September of bravery, courage and patriotism. Also, to a certain degree, chris, I got to thank all your life experiences, man, and, frankly, I'm sure you've said it plenty of times. But a huge thank you to your wife for putting up with all your experiences because, man, after everything you just described, what a wild ride she must have been on. So, yeah, thank you to her, man, she's a saint.

Chris Romulo: 40:42

Pass it on for sure, thank you.

Porter: 40:43

Yeah, yeah, but otherwise also I got to thank our show partners Keystone Farmers Market, huff, clucker Farms obviously Buzzsprout for your distribution. But, folks, if you're interested in joining our conversations, checking out our merchandise, any of our member only options or just listening to any of the other conversations that we have, check out our website at transactingvaluepodcastcom, follow along on social media and we'll continue to stream new interviews every Monday at 9am Eastern Standard Time on all your favorite podcasting platforms. But until next time, that was Transacting Value.