#13 - The power of transformation with Chris Powell, host of 'Extreme Weight Loss'

Chris Powell (00:03):
Even though I was, I was sober at this time. I mean, three months sober, I was still so, so pissed. I was so, I was so busy pointing the finger at all the reasons why it happened to me, and it was this person's fault, that person's fault, this person. And I was just angry until I literally woke up that morning. I just, and I realized, I was like, it's like that Taylor Swift song. I'm like, I'm the problem. It's me.

Joey Odom (00:30):
Welcome back to The Aro Podcast. This is Joey Odom, co-founder of Aro. And just in case you wanna be best friends, I have bad news. I'm off the market because I just made my best friend Chris Powell. Everybody knows Chris Powell. He was the host of Extreme Weight Loss. He's gone through a journey and I feel like I just went through a journey for the last hour talking with Chris. It was like a therapy session for both of us. It was amazing. You have one of the most positive guys on the planet, and he talks about the depths, he talks about the things that he's gone through, and he's very open, he's very vulnerable. And it was a really, really incredible conversation. Um, I went back, gang, I've been, I've gotten away from those long form introduction of guests, but I think I'm back.

(01:14)
I went back to it with Chris and it, it really played. So that's a lot of fun. You'll like that introduction, hopefully. And here's a little something for you. You may wanna go watch this one on YouTube. Um, for two reasons. One, Chris references a couple tattoos, so he shows them on camera. And secondly, he's just a beautiful man. So you're gonna wanna see this on YouTube. So go check out our YouTube page and, uh, and go check that out. And please do check the show notes for all the ways that you can, uh, you can find, find Chris. Please go listen to. I needed that, his podcast. It's fantastic. Without further ado my conversation with my best friend Chris Powell.

(01:51)
Ladies and gentlemen, our guest today lost everything and then went to the extreme to help other people lose everything, or at least a lot of their bodies. And yes, he lives in a valley, but he's also been through some valleys that he's now using to help others get out of their valleys. He's made a bunch of money, but more importantly, this dad made cash. And Ruby, his goal to help 1 million people move is always on his side. No, really, it's tattooed on his side. And I promise if you listen to his podcast, you'll breathe a sigh of relief and say, ah, I needed that. He's made you laugh, cry and get inspired. He's a great dad, a podcast host, an entrepreneur, a real life transformer, a hurdler, and a familiar face. He is this week's guest on the ro o podcast, Mr. Chris Powell. Chris, my brother. Welcome.

Chris Powell (02:38):
<laugh>. That was a really good intro. Did you write that?

Joey Odom (02:42):
I wrote that. I did. You're

Chris Powell (02:43):
So good, man. That was amazing. Thank you. Thank you,

Joey Odom (02:47):
Brother. And let's, let's fact check it all. Did, did how did the fact, because some of those many people know, yeah, you've made cash, you've made a lot of money, but you've made cash. And Ruby referring of course to your two children,

Chris Powell (02:57):
Of course, the the most valuable things in my life. That's for sure.

Joey Odom (03:01):
That's it. And did you pick the hurdler? I didn't know. By the way, we are hurdlers at, at ro, we play hurdle every single day, just like you all play hurdle on. I needed that. So you're not literally, you probably could hurdle hurdles, but you're, you're a hurdler on the online game. <laugh>.

Chris Powell (03:17):
What, what a great game, by the way. Also, you know what's so funny? In full, full transparency, I didn't even know about Hurdle before Matthew. My, my podcast co-host was like, get outta here. You don't know what hurdle is. Hold on, we're gonna play it right now. We played it and we had so much fun with it. We're like, we have to do this every single time on the podcast.

Joey Odom (03:35):
It's so somewhat, we, we go to, so our producer Caitlin, who's listening now, is the Queen of hurdle. I mean, it's, it's like yesterday, it was something like Cage's the elephant, cigarette daydream, like a random one. And she was in half a second. She, she nailed it. And then she'll go down to the 2000, I dunno if you go all the way down to the sixties. So we play like nine versions of them. So it's

Chris Powell (03:55):
A bunch of, oh my gosh, you know, the furthest back we've gone is the eighties. That's nice that, that's my era. But, but sixties, you guys are hardcore then

Joey Odom (04:02):
No one gets 'em the sixties, but we at least try, you know? Um,

Chris Powell (04:05):
Exactly. Yes.

Joey Odom (04:07):
Well, so I'm so glad to talk to you. Thank you for, thank you for coming on. Um, everybody knows you, um, every which, which will, which will lead to a question further in the show talking about some of the valleys you've gone through. Um, but ma'am, will you start for us 28 years old, living outta your car, losing everything. Will you talk about what, what, what brought you to there? And then obviously there's a, an amazing story afterwards, but tell us about that. Just going all the way back that people may not know that piece of your story.

Chris Powell (04:36):
Yeah, no, absolutely. So I ended up, you know, graduated degree of ex in exercise science, passionate about helping people change. I, I always have been like I, because I exercise helped change my life. And, um, at the time I actually landed a gig on the local, uh, morning news show, which is Good Morning, Arizona. And I was, and, and through that experience, I was actually, I met a gentleman who was 630 pounds. We became best friends. I helped him lose 400 pounds. I mean, it is, it was just a wild journey. Um, and I'm, I'm, I'm getting to how I ended up living outta my car, <laugh> in the process. So I was in the gym just doing what I do in the gym, getting a little crazy, and I ended up herniating a disc in my back. And, um, and then at the time, so this is back in 2006, and, um, you know, I, I had a lot going for me at the time.

(05:28)
You know, as far as like, I had a local segment on, on tv. I was a a up and coming trainer in the area and, you know, with a, with a full waiting list, you know, a heck of a roster. I, I had actually also at the same time, um, I had invented a nutrition system and I took all of my, I had actually saved up over a hundred thousand dollars. I borrowed some money as well. And I, I tooled the factory in China and I started creating these nutrition systems that I was really passionate about, teaching people how to change the way they eat, buy colors and numbers. And so I was just super passionate about that. Injured my back when I was, uh, you know, I go to the doctor, and again, back in 2006, you know, the first thing a lot of the doctors would say was, well take this for pain.

(06:12)
Mm. Handed me not just like one of those little orange bottles of Vicodin, but it was one of those, you know, this, this sucker was like probably a foot long <laugh>. And I mean, and it, it didn't have 30 pills and it, it had 300. Oh my gosh. And, um, and, but, and it was, it was great for managing the pain at the same time, like within the same window of time. Um, my first shipment of all this product, like this is my dream was to create this nutrition system and everything. And I, uh, I had it shipped over from China. It landed at the, at the port at San Pedro. I, I go out there, I open up this container, you know, and, and it's full of 12,000 units of this product that I had literally spent and borrowed hundreds of thousands of dollars to make.

(06:59)
And I opened up the first box and the thing fell apart in my hands. And, and I literally collapsed onto the ground. I put my, my, my forehead on the pavement. And I remember it being really hot, but I just, I just sat there. I, and my whole, like, all of the hope and all these dreams literally just collapsed right there. Because the thing is, there was, there wasn't any recourse based on the channels that I went through. I didn't know what I was doing. There was no contractor or anything. So I realized that I just, in that moment lost a couple hundred thousand dollars, ugh. And by the way, not all of it was mine. Right? And so, sure enough, going back to the painkillers, I quickly realized within a couple days, not only did they kill the physical pain, but they also killed the emotional pain and the disappointment of everything I was going through.

(07:49)
And two a day quickly turned into 12 a day. Wow. And then that turned into a, just a, a two year battle. I ended up losing everything. And, um, and I ended up, I, my roommate at the time was great guy, just probably one of the nicest people in the world. He was, he was severely hooked on painkillers as well. Hmm. You know, it was a common bond that we had. And, um, he ended up kind of going upside down one day. Well, we, he, he got, there's a, a, a drug called Suboxone, and it covers, it blocks the receptors. So if you do take opiates after that, because we're both for two years saying, we gotta stop, we gotta stop. As it got worse and worse and worse, we would always have these conversations. We have to stop. But we just couldn't. And, um, you know, no matter how many times we tried, so he got Suboxone and his, his body, his guts released everything.

(08:39)
He started bleeding out. It was a, it was a horrendous situation. We're, I'm two years deep into a heavy painkiller diction. Now. It went from Vicodin to Percocet to Oxycontin, morphine, whatever you could, whatever, name it, whatever we could get our hands on. And, uh, I remember sitting there, I, when I took him to the hospital, that was kind of like the moment of clarity for me. I was like, I just, I can't keep living like this. I'm gonna die. I'm gonna end up in the hospital like him. And so it became, that was a, a long journey of recovery for him. My neighbor at the time who he knew what we were going through we're too. I mean, I, I don't mean to like, but like, we're just good guys. But we were severely hooked on drugs and, and we just couldn't get out of, its, its claw man.

(09:21)
My neighbor was a great, great man. And he saw what we were going through and he said, Hey, you know, when I took my roommate to the, to the hospital, he owned the condo. He was losing it cuz he was upside down on that as well. He's like, you gotta move out. So I literally, I was, I threw my duffel bag in my car and my neighbor said, Hey, why don't you crash on my couch for a couple weeks and, uh, you grind this out. So I went, I did go, I went cold Turkey Wow. On that one. And my neighbor, what, what a great man he was an angel. And he came into my life at the right time, and he let me just recover on in his guest room and on his couch. And then one day, I, you know, when I was, I was feeling better, I was starting to come back around.

(09:58)
I said, dude, thanks so much. I got in my car and I drove a cold, a couple friends, Hey, can I crash on your couch tonight? And that became my, that was my life for the next several months, is just kind of floating from couch to couch, figuring out what I was gonna do. And so this is, uh, this is 2008 at this moment. I picked up, I went out to LA thinking that, well, it wasn't, it was where I was. That was the problem. Not who I was <laugh> right. Now, of course, there's definitely some misguided thinking. I was like, oh, well, if I go to LA that will solve all of my problems. So I, I run away from Arizona away, away from the people I owed money to <laugh> immediately. Yeah. Yeah. And I spent, uh, a few, a few weeks out there just going around looking for jobs, seeing what I could do, going to local gyms and just seeing if I could drum up any kind of business.

(10:48)
And, uh, it didn't solve my problems though. And I, I woke up one, one day on my friend's couch out in Woodland Hills, and there's a chihuahua like licking my face. She had these three Chihuahuas, <laugh>. And, and it was like, and I literally sat up and I was like, what am I doing? It's not where I am. It's who I am. And I was so busy going as I was going through this journey, even though I was, I was sober at this time. I mean, three months sober. I was still so, I was so pissed. I was so, I was so busy pointing the finger at all the reasons why it happened to me. And it was this person's fault and that person's fault. And it was this person. And I was just angry until I literally woke up that morning. I just, and I realized, I was like, it's like that Taylor Swift song.

(11:35)
I'm like, I'm the problem. It's me, <laugh>, you know? And I just went, there's only one person in this world who's gonna get myself out of this. And, and I'm not gonna get, like, no one's gonna come save me. Opportunities will present themselves, which is great, but I gotta save myself here. Like, I, I gotta, I, I have to take ownership and full responsibility. So I did, and I packed up my bag. I said, I'm going back to Arizona. I'm gonna face my problems head on and dig myself out of this thing. I stopped at a tattoo parlor on Ventura Boulevard driving outta town, and I had tattooed the Roman numerals. You mentioned this in the intro, one through a million down my side. And I tell, I told the tattoo artist says like, look, I have no home. I don't, I don't know how I'm gonna do this, but somehow by the time I leave this world, I wanna make a positive difference in a million lives.

(12:24)
And this is, this is the purpose that I have to live for because I need it. I I need a purpose. I need meaning otherwise I, I know I can fall back into the grip of my vices. Mm. And so that's, I couldn't escape it. I tattooed it on my body. So I couldn't, you know, that was, that was the promise that was gonna keep me on the straight and narrow and gave me a purpose in life. And I drove back to, to Arizona and my buddy, who I ended up helping lose 400 pounds, his family actually opened up their doors to me, and they let me sleep on their couch until I got, got back on my feet. Took me about four more months, and I ended up getting a job and started making some money. When I started making some money. I could, I could rent a house.

(13:04)
And my buddy, who I helped lose 400 pounds, he went from 630, he is now 229 pounds, moved in with me, we're like besties. We lived together for two years. And what happened is that he, he decided to share his before and after pictures on MySpace, remember MySpace back in the day, and it went viral. Sure enough, a couple, a couple websites saw it, and it was a half a million views overnight on this one website. And then before you know it, the phone started ringing off the hook. I'm getting emails, I don't know how they found me, but 2020 Oprah, the View, I mean, it, it was just, they all started reaching out because of this incredible transformation that my friend had been through. Wow. And he, and they wanted to know like, okay, wait, you're his trainer. You guys are best friends, you're living together.

(13:52)
Like this is a story. Yeah. So before you know it, we were all over the place. We did Oprah in 2020 in The View, and we were all, and um, yeah. So that's, and and, and from there, it was actually when we were on the Today Show, there was a, a friend of mine, actually, she's in Los Angeles, she's a casting director. She's like, Hey, I just saw you on The Today Show. This is so cool. We're actually, we're we're looking for someone to help us in the consultation of the development of another weight loss show. Would you be interested in talking to my c e o? Said? Yeah. So I ended up chatting with, uh, you know, the CEO of a production company in Los Angeles. And we came up, we created the concept of the show. I drove out there a couple times. We mapped the whole thing out on a whiteboard, and we, we developed what became Extreme Makeover Weight loss edition. Yeah. It was a wild story. I

Joey Odom (14:44):
Did, I did not know that story. There's so much in there. One of them, the thing that just, you ever see the, the, um, like where people rescue dogs and they say like, who saved who, like, like just how important I think about your friend. And just like you, you thought maybe the all by all appearances you saved him and then all of a sudden he comes in and saves you. I mean, think without that, just the trajectory and, and it, but it came from you before and, and seemingly saving him before he came back and saved you. Do you keep in touch with him?

Chris Powell (15:14):
Oh, yeah. I just talked to him three weeks ago. Yeah. No, he's, he's, he is, he's doing okay. He, like, he had went through some really tough times and he ended up gaining a lot of the weight back. Mm-hmm. <affirmative> losing it, gaining it back again, and losing it again. Wow. And so he's, he's back down into the, he's like three 30 now, but he got back up to, into the 700 s. And so we're talking weight gain and loss on a massive scale. And I, he, you know, we've been through so many thing, I mean, so many crazy adventures in our lives. And it's like in all the craziness and, um, you know, so he'll always be one of my best friends of all time. And, but the thing is, when you know, you, you, you do that so many times, and he's in his mid forties now, and so his body can only handle so much.

(15:57)
And so he went through some tough times and, you know, he ended up in the hospital for quite some time because his, he put a lot of stress on his body. But who he is as a person, he is a beautiful human. And just, I mean, one of my best friends, we can sit there and we can laugh and laugh and laugh and he's just, he's a good dude and he saved me. And you, you, I'm glad you mentioned that because a lot of people saw what I did for him and Yeah. You know, there was, um, T L C did a, uh, two documentaries about his, his weight loss and everything. And it was, it was great. But a lot of people don't realize that he's the one that saved me in, in a lot of different ways. He, he's the one that opened up my eyes to, to the beauty of Transf transformation and to helping people change and, and the emotional side of change. Yeah. And not just the physical side. And then he turned around and his family opened up their doors to me and let me sleep on their couch while I got back on my feet. And so, you know, we're in each other's lives for Yeah. For a lot of reasons. Yeah.

Joey Odom (16:54):
You're, you're bound together. The, the thing that was so interesting to me, and you, you mentioned it there, your tattoo. I saw your, you know, I've seen your tattoo, people are familiar with your, your tattoo. I just assumed it was after you formed Move 1 million and I just assumed it was after extreme weight loss. What's so amazing to me about that, and there's so, there's so much here for all of us, just as a meta metaphor is before any of it happened, it was, it was only faith. It was not sight. Like, you, you put that on as your North Star. That was a really striking piece of your story to me, that it was all just in faith. And I mean, look at it like you have, you have helped a million, you know, over a million people now. I think that was, that was an amazing thing. And again, I don't, I don't know, and you touched on it, but why in the heck would you think you would be able to, at the point where you're, why, why on Earth did you have the audacity or the, you know, to, to believe that you could actually do that at that moment? Or did you just need to hear yourself say it?

Chris Powell (17:49):
I, I, you know what, that was it. I think I, I needed, I needed just, I didn't know what was possible and it just felt right, I guess <laugh>, like, and I've never been asked that before as far as like, what, why, why that number? I didn't, I don't know, to be honest with you. And it just, it felt right and it, I just thought, okay, if I give it my all, what kind of impact could I make? Yeah. And, and it, that, that's what it was. And it was just like, you know, what, if I could somehow positively impact a million lives, I feel like I could, I feel like I could leave the world a better place. I think it, like, that felt meaningful to me and it felt right. And so I did it. And, but you, it's, it is mind blowing Joey.

(18:35)
Like, just to, to think about the impact that's been made since I still don't feel like I deserve it. <laugh>, you know, it's just like, and it's just, it's the craziest, it's so crazy to think of the fact that I was able to touch a lot of lives and it feels really good. But then at the same time, the, the name move 1 million, it came about because I've, for so quite some time when I went through my, my struggles with mental health, I've, I lost that and I lost myself, and I lost my vision. And so move 1 million was me coming back to my roots. And so that's where the name came from actually, because I needed to find that purpose again. And it, and it worked, bro. It, it, I found my happiness in some of my darkest times when I was like going through anxiety and depression where a lot of people wanna focus on themselves. I found it when I served other people, and that's what it brought me back. So like, this has saved me twice now. Wow. It's crazy. I know. And I, I can't, I can't explain it. And I still have a difficult time comprehending it, but it's worked. And so like, I just can't leave it <laugh>. Yeah,

Joey Odom (19:42):
Absolutely. Well, it makes me think, you know, in, in the Bible they talk about, like in the Israelites, they, they would build, something would happen, God would do something and they would build a monument, and that monument is to memorialize. But then it's also like as they're wandering the wilderness, they go back to that monument and be like, oh yeah, that's right. Like, this happened before. Th this helped us. This, this developed our faith before. And I think about the fact that you put it on your body and you couldn't escape it. It was always there. And so then when the difficulty came, you just went back to your anchor. Like, this is my anchor, this is the thing that's guiding me. What a powerful thing for all. And, and do you continue, not that you're getting tattoos on all the time, but do you still do things like that almost symbolically then when something moves just as like, okay, I need to come back to this monument again, whether it's a journaling or something like that?

Chris Powell (20:24):
Yes, yes. Well, actually I got, so I got this tattoo on my wrist here, and it's this, and actually my buddy David, who I helped lose the, the 400 pounds, he's got the, the matching tattoo here on, on his, on his left wrist. And it's just, it's just, it's three dots. And this is my compass. And it's because, um, because I struggle with anxiety, I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. So I have a tendency to, to I ruminate and I into the future. And so I spend a lot of time there. And so it's these three dots and they just represent the past, the present of the future. And when I see it, it reminds me to, and I'll literally shift back onto my heels as a, as catching myself in a mental trigger. And I'll shift back onto my heels, take a deep breath, and I'll bring myself back into the moment because I tend to fall into the future so much.

(21:11)
And then David would fall into the past. And so he would, he would suffer from depression because he'd go back into his past and regret and all these different things. So again, it helps pull him. So like, this is like all these little things, like I've got, my tattoos are guides through life, if you will. It's like, I have my purpose here, and then I got my compass here, and then I, you can't see it. I actually have one that's, it's tattooed, it's very clear right now, but if I go out in the light, it's, it's yellow and it's a, it's a sun and it just, it just reminds me to shine. Like where, where I go, just let, let the light shine through us. Wow. So that's, yeah. That, that's, that's all I got. Well then, well, I had this one. It's, it's going away

Joey Odom (21:49):
<laugh>. Yeah, that's right on, on the ring

Chris Powell (21:50):
Finger. Yeah. That's another story Unto, unto itself. We, you

Joey Odom (21:53):
Know, we, we'll, we'll leave that out. People can look at, people can go read the tabloids on that.

Chris Powell (21:56):
I'm working on removing this one and yeah, that's, we'll, we'll leave that one alone.

Joey Odom (22:00):
Absolutely. <laugh>. Leave the ring finger tattoo alone. I, I wanna talk about, I, I've been, I have a question. Everybody knows extreme weight loss, and, and bro, it's, I, I mean, I'm a crier to begin with, but I, I just watched a couple clips again, just remind, you know, we used to watch this, you know, obviously the show all the time, like everybody did. And which by the way is, is now on Hulu. The, the Hulu picked it up just as a reminder to everybody, extreme weight loss. It's so good. I just sat there and cried. Chris. I mean, just, just watching, just watching those stories of people. And the question I have associated with that is, first are, are you an empath? Are you empathetic in, in by nature?

Chris Powell (22:39):
Yes.

Joey Odom (22:40):
Yes. In doing that show, I'm gonna, I want to try to ask this question the right way. Obviously you're celebrating with them, you feel that with them, but could you also get pulled into the darkness with them and just feel like that darkness, that seems like that would be a really hard thing to fight off. I'm an empath as well. Was that hard to not get pulled into the depths along with them?

Chris Powell (23:04):
Y yes. And if for, for those of you who have seen the show, you'll see, like you, Joey, I'm a crier and I, I cry <laugh>. I, I hosted the show and I cried more than anyone on, on my own show <laugh>. But that's okay. I'm okay. I'm proud of that. But like, what, because what you see, we legitimately spend a year with that individual. And so we built, there's a relationship that's built. And I always had to remind myself as I was going through it, I said, my, my purpose here is to help this individual through a transformation, let them shoot a TV show around it. So I let them, I let the producers do their job and they shot a TV show around. For me, I just, it was about connecting with the individual, like with the person I was going through this journey with and helping them through.

(23:52)
And there were, you know, it's in, it's interesting cuz in the tr in the typical trainer client world, there are certain lines that we have. But the thing is, like, I became a part of their families. They became a part of ours. I mean, when Ruby was born, my daughter, who's nine now, but there were, there were eight individuals from season four <laugh> Oh. That were in, in the room and in my, like they, they were there for the birth of my daughter. I mean, like these people, their family. Hmm. And so it was, um, yeah, no, it was actually, no, it was, they were season, uh, yeah. Season four. Oh my gosh, that's so crazy. Wow. Yeah. So it was, it, it, we bond on so many ways and, and a lot of the magic happens off camera. That's how we really get to know each.

(24:38)
And so Yes, to go back to your question, it's amazing. Like with all the celebrations of all the happiness, but like, people also carry, they're, they're carrying a lot of, a lot of heavy stuff with them. And so it, it was emotionally exhausting because a lot of times, as much as I was aware of it, and we actually had psychologists on the show and everything to help people through some really un this stuff as they start to unpack it Yeah. And things start to come up. They, we had that for help, but at the same time, you can't help but get pulled into some of it. Yeah. And it was, it was the five years that I did it, I wouldn't, they were some of the, they were the greatest years of my life. Um, but they were definitely emotionally exhausting. Yeah. And heavy. Yeah.

Joey Odom (25:18):
Yes. That couldn't have been a light time. I mean, it just could had to be, I mean, I even think I, I, I grew up in, I was overweight when I was young, and so I still, I still have little triggers at 43 years old where, where I, I can hear, you know, someone, you know, calling me names and, and all that stuff. And I can't imagine someone who's growing up with really extreme, you know, extreme weight issues because of all the baggage that comes with it and all of the childhood trauma that comes with it. And then trying to rewire relationships with people around you and with food and with, and it's just, it had to be so heavy for you to, to, to battle through it and to to be along with them.

Chris Powell (25:50):
You just said it, it, the, the part that really pulled at me in the most was the childhood trauma. Mm. Which was that, that is the common denominator. I mean, we've done 76 transformations and everyone had experience and every human experiences, childhood trauma of some sort. Yeah. You know, and, and the degree to what that is, it is relative to the individual, but like, just to be there and some of the things that some of these individuals had had endured as children is heartbreaking. Especially when you have children of your own. Yeah. And you, you put yourself there. And it's hard not it's, it's to, to be there with them, because the thing is like to, to work them through that is out of my scope of practice. We had therapists there, but it was, I could be there as a friend and a supporter, and I was, and so as they're unpacking it and my arm is around them, and I'm, you know, holding them and hugging them, it's just like, boy, you, you learn a lot about, about trauma and it, and about its effects and how it, how it reprograms the brain, but also how, how people can start to unpack that and release it.

(26:54)
And it oc it actually gives you hope that there's, it gives you hope for everyone that it, you can heal from this and you can recover even some of the really traumatic stuff that people have been through. But boy, you're right. It, it can be heavy. And, and I brought it home with me a lot. Yeah.

Joey Odom (27:08):
Which, which, which led to you, you talked about, and, and I'm curious, you, you started to lose hope and, and this may have been a couple years after the show, it may have overlapped with the show when you just began to lose hope and you've been, I courageously very open about this part of your story. Will you talk us through that? What it was like seven years ago when, when the hopelessness started to hit and then depression started to set in?

Chris Powell (27:31):
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Um, you know, and the, there was actually, there was a lot that had happened because, you know, my, my then wife and myself, you know, she became a co-host with me. And, um, it was, you know, it, Hey, I'm just gonna shoot you straight, man. That got really difficult because I felt, it's not that I felt we had two different missions. And so I started this whole thing with one specific mission, but then she's her own individual. She's her own person. And it felt like all of a sudden the direction we were going was divided. Hmm. And so, and at the same time, but we're, we were, we were on this trajectory and she wanted to do her thing, and I wanted, I wanted to take it everything in, in my direction as well. And so we, we, the, they really started to create a rift between us there.

(28:27)
And then, but then on top of that, we were on this massive platform. And so where not just television, but now social media and all these different things. And you then you get all that feedback from other people in social media. And so it's like she continued to wanna run her direction. I continued to wanna run mine. And, and it actually turned into, in, in our marriage, and this is, this is where things really started to fall apart, but there was, there was disrespect. Mm. And so, and, and it, and we started to lose respect for each other in the directions that we were going. And it started to build. And then at the same time when, because what had happened is that a brand had been built together. And so it, it really created so much confusion and chaos. And it was like trying to like, how do we deal with this?

(29:17)
And she's going her direction in life, and that's not my direction. It doesn't feel right to me. Like, I have to go this direction and this is the direction I always had been on in my path. And I was thinking, am I being selfish here? Like, what, what's happening? And it started to create resentment. And then, and then there's the fear of, wait a second. And, and that resentment, it actually started all of that, the dis the lack of the resentment and everything started to bring out a side of me I didn't even know existed. And it was, it was not kind. And it was, and, and, and then we have four kids, and they started to see that. And it was, and it got uglier and uglier. And then we started, you know, of course we started seeing therapists. I saw six therapists in five years between, you know, count marriage counselors, individual therapists.

(30:06)
I mean, um, I did, I did a number of different therapies just trying to, to kind of figure out how we could make something work between us. And, but even though it, it might work for a week or two, we both fell right back into the directions we were going and it, it continued to get worse. And so I made the decision, it was, it was me that said, I, I can't do this anymore. The kids are seeing the worst side of Yeah. Both of us. And so, but in that process of, and, and hanging in there and trying to fix things for years, it got to a point where it was anger and frustration, frustration and anger, resentment, all these different things. And then it, it, it was so weird, Joey, though, but like, it reached a tipping point where I actually went, like, it turned into apathy.

(30:58)
Mm. And that's when everything went hollow and empty. And, and a lot of people were like, well, what happened to the anger? I, and this is why I, I tried to explain it. I, like, I couldn't feel anymore, and I withdrew. And that's when things got really bad is when I just, it was, it just turned into this chaos, confusion, withdrawal. Every, it felt like everything just this whole kingdom that we had been building just collapsed. And I just, I lost hope. Wow. And that's when I knew I had a really big problem. And like, and I, I, talking to one of my therapists, I remember, you know, I, I got up to go to the bathroom when I looked down at her clipboard and she had written depression, had an anxiety disorder, and then she circled anxiety disorder. I came back from the bathroom, I sat down, she said, I've been seeing you for well over a year now.

(31:50)
Would you be interested in talking to a psychiatrist? Hmm. I think it's time. And I, I just told her, I said, I'll do anything to feel normal again. I don't know what's happened to me. I don't feel like I've lost myself. I lost, dude. Like, I, I cou I wasn't even expressive like this anymore. I just, I couldn't feel. And, uh, yeah. And everything was just to the point where, but I also, I just didn't wanna be around anyone or see anyone. I mean, that was great with my kids, but that was it. That's all I wanted to do was just be around, be with my kids. And, um, yeah. And so that's when I was, I was at a point where I was just desperate for change. So that's when I, you know, I started employing all these different therapies, breathing, yeah. Walking, meditation, all this.

(32:32)
And then I went and I saw a psychiatrist. And, and so they, we started a, um, pharmaceutical intervention and f for, you know, a a period of my life. Like, I actually started to feel like myself again. And it was a wonderful first step in getting, getting myself out of the hole. And then now I, you know, I'm, I don't need the, the, the pharmaceuticals anymore, but I still continue on with the rest of these other tactics that have completely changed my life. Wow. You know? So, but it was a really bad place, man. I was in a dark, dark place for almost five years. It, and it just got worse and worse.

Aro Team Member (33:10):
We hope you're enjoying the show. Let's take a quick moment to hear from one of our members about how Aro is impacting their life.

Aro Member (33:16):
I'll brag on my kids. I think they have pretty good phone discipline. You know, they put their phones away at night. But I do think that having it from the jump would've made it a lot easier to instill better practices. I think that this generation is gonna struggle, uh, with something that's far more, uh, ever present than it was for my generation. And that is, how do we maintain good personal relationships? Certainly phones and other technology are gonna be a constant intrusion on that. Seeking to distract you from making more meaningful connections and having this from the jump would've been a great way to set the mindset that this is a wonderful tool and very valuable, but it serves you. You don't serve it.

Joey Odom (33:54):
What is it like to tell that story? Now? You're using it as a, you're using it as as for help for others. And, and, but one, one interesting thing about it, and I I've actually said this on the show before when I've gone to therapy before, when I would struggle with something and then sh and then my therapist would say, here's what that is. They should give a name to it. And something about that gave me comfort. And I've heard you tell the story on when you saw the anxiety disorder circled, and that seemed like a turning point. And it, I don't know if I'm extrapolating too much, but it feels like it was because you had a name to it that was, it was so tangible and concrete that you were then able to do something with it. Is that, is that too much of an extrapolation, or is that right?

Chris Powell (34:30):
No, you nailed it. That that was actually a turning point. And I, I, I tell the story because it was so impactful in my life. Yeah. That, that's a moment that's forever ingrained. I can't unlive that moment. And I'll have that memory forever, because that was the turning point when I went, oh, it's the, you know, it's so funny, joy, because like when you're in it, sometimes you can't see it. Yeah. And even though I was struggling to feel until it was named, I was still, I was confused until it was named. And then once that happened, I went, oh, okay. And then it was like, because the, because this is something that I hear a lot about, and boy, a lot of people are struggling with this. First of all, I didn't feel alone. And second of all, I knew that there are numerous paths to help that condition. And that's what helped me. It. And, and the funny thing is because like, I think, or at least I thought I had an incredible sense of body awareness, but if you don't know, you don't know what you don't know <laugh>. And so I was experiencing something, I didn't know the name of it, and I was so lost until it was named. Wow. That was a turning point in my life, for sure.

Joey Odom (35:50):
Dude. That's so good. But I, I'm curious, one, the, when you started seeing the, the bad version, the self, the part of yourself you didn't know existed. I've, I've heard when people describe post-traumatic stress disorder people, especially who have been in war, and the thing that that really causes the trauma is, is reliving things that they didn't know they were capable of. Knowing that they have done something in, in battle or something they didn't know. Was that, did that send you down a spiral seeing that side of yourself, because you are kind and you are genuine, and it's not just an on-screen persona. Was it seeing that version, did that really like, kind of expedite the, the shame spiral or the spiral you're in

Chris Powell (36:28):
100%. I can't tell you. And it, I, I am embarrassed to say this. I can't tell you how many times I said some horrible, hurtful things in, in front of my kids. Yeah. My kids saw me be terrible to their mom. And I'm really, really embarrassed to say that. But that's, that's when I realized, like, okay. You know, and, and, and she was a lot better. Like typically if she was, she was to lash out to me, it, it was not in front of the kids. Yeah. You know, but, and then it would build up and then it would come out. And that's, I was so ashamed of that. That's when I realized it was like, it was just the toxicity of the relationship was, it was bringing out the worst of me. And it was, it was me. I'm, I'm the one that was, that was getting worse.

(37:20)
Yeah. And, and that's when I had, I, I just thought, okay, for her, her sake, for my kids' sake, for everyone's sake, I gotta remove myself from the situation so I can at least show up as the best me that I, I I need to heal so I can show up as the best me for her and for them. Yeah. And I need to remove myself from the situation because it, I mean, after five years, it was only getting worse. Mm-hmm. And we, we, we threw a whole lot at therapy. And it, you know, I, I believe we fought for this, you know, and I, I, I feel like I've, I fought to try to figure it out, but I also just realized that at the, at the end of the day, I really needed to step away to fix myself. Hmm. Which, you know, and, and, and I know with that comes a whole stigma about like, well, family, you know, the family got taken apart to a certain extent.

(38:16)
I am happy to say though, on the flip side, that my relationship with my kids is better than ever. Yeah. And I'm closer. I'm closer now with them than I've ever been. I can actually have a friendship with Heidi, which is good. And it's, it's, it's a healthy one with distance. And I respect her. I wish the very best for her, but like, man, I'm showing up for my kids and they're seeing a happy me and a healthy me. And it's, and which is good. But I mean, at the end of the day, like, who's to say with if what I did was right or wrong? But it was, I, I, I believe the overall net result has been positive for my family.

Joey Odom (38:54):
Dude, it's your story. That's the thing. Like, it, it, it, it is your story. And they tell you, you read so much about just like embracing and owning your story. And I feel, bro, I feel you, you and I could see, I felt it because I saw you feeling it and I felt it in my own life. The things, when I look back, I'm like, ah, I can't believe I said that to my kids. I can't believe I popped off like that. How, how do you, how does somebody deal with that? How do, maybe this, I'm asking you for advice. How do I deal with the, the, the moments when I've in the past that I can't change? Literally I can't change. And I do live, probably live, I'm like your friend. I probably live in the past a little bit more than I need to. How do you deal with that? How do you reconcile that? How do you move on from those things, uh, without just constantly apologizing to everybody around you, which they get tired of hearing that and it doesn't do any good anyway.

Chris Powell (39:41):
They can I, but you actually just said, you said for me, what's something that's really helped, and those, the magic order is I, I actually went to Maddox, my oldest mm-hmm. <affirmative> and Marley. So they were my stepchildren. And I actually got down on my knees and I asked them for their forgiveness. And I, I apologized to 'em for being such an asshole when, you know, in, in the final years of, you know, the marriage with, with their mom and everything. And I, and I asked them for their forgiveness, and they were wonderful about it. And actually Heidi even commented, um, afterwards, she said, thank you so much for doing that. I, you had no idea. Like, I think that made a huge difference. Wow. And, and they were, they were wonderful about it. And like, you know, they, they, they joked around about it and everything, but I was sincere about it.

(40:26)
And they, and they know that. And so my, I mean, my relationship with them is wonderful. It's, it's awesome. Which is, which thank goodness it is. But, um, and then the same for Cash and Ruby. And so, you know, Ruby was, was still pretty young at the time, but cash members and I, I, same, I've, I've gotten really good if, if I feel like I've done something wrong to actually just to get, and this, that's what I do. I get down on my knees. So I'm at their level and I, and I apologize to them, and I ask them for their forgiveness. And so, and that's, that's helped. Um, but here's the, the best part is that since I have removed myself from the situation, that and the healing has begun that side of me. I know it exists. I know it's deep in there.

(41:12)
Everyone says like, oh, you know, like, are you aware of the darkness within 100%? I didn't even know it was there before. I know it's in there. I know it's in there and I know it that Yep. And I, and I know it can be triggered. So I have a whole new level of <laugh>, like a healthy respect for that fact. But here's the best part is that I have not experienced and felt any of that for since 2019. Now. I mean for, oh yeah. Almost going on. No, I I would say <laugh>, hold on Now, since 2000, 2020, late 2020 <laugh> as I, we, I had to make it through the divorce first. The clause came out a few times, um, as we we're separating everything. But, uh, as, as it can happen in divorce, sure. But my, my kids, they, they have not seen that side of me ever since They haven't seen it, which is, which is amazing. I'm really happy to say that. So I don't, I haven't, I haven't spent any time apologizing since. That's so

Joey Odom (42:06):
Good. So, and you're right, that recognizing your own darkness, that that is, that's the only way you can choose to, to preserve again, the sun on your wrist. Like, that's, that's how you show your light is by knowing that that darkness is possible. And it exists

Chris Powell (42:19):
100% brother. And it, it's, it's spoken from someone who I think has been through their own difficult times. Yeah. Just, and you know, you, you know, you know you're gonna be in the hot seat next week with me in my, in, in my podcast, so <laugh>.

Joey Odom (42:32):
Yeah, exactly. Oh

Chris Powell (42:33):
Boy. You're hitting on some really good stuff. Absolutely.

Joey Odom (42:36):
Well, it, it's, um, one of the questions I had was if you, in telling this story, if it was just kind of a factual retelling or if it did, or if it, if there were, there was vulnerability along with it, and I can see hearing you tell it, seeing, watching, looking in your face, I can tell you feel it. I mean, it, this is this, I, we think about talking about vulnerability a lot and how vulnerability is just the awareness that you could get hurt. You expose your underbelly for, you know, giving somebody the opportunity to stab you. So it's the way you're telling it and what you're doing, I can tell it's not just a factual retelling. It really is something that you continue to feel. And it's, um, I know it requires courage to continue to tell. You've said it. If you said, Hey, it was embarrassing. It, it's, it, I get it. Like that's, uh, it takes a lot of courage to continue to tell this story, um, because it's powerful because people can relate it. Because even someone listening right now, and there's the, in the times you've told it, you're naming it for them. They're like, oh, Chris Feld, okay, I named. So this is a moment for somebody else to name it for themselves, just like you had the name for, for you.

Chris Powell (43:31):
Yeah, for sure. And I, I appreciate you acknowledging that. And it, it is, well, so many people, they saw me as like, you know, smiley, hopeful life coaching people. And so it's, it's, it's hard to say, okay, there's a, there's a side of me then it was really ugly. And I, I hurt a lot of people, you know, I, I, my ex-wife and my kids and everything. So like, and, and you could imagine like on social media, especially when people, they, people loved the family being together. And so obviously when everything was like coming apart, I took, I mean, people said some pretty hurtful things, and I get it. I get it. You know, I mean, and so it's, and it's again, it's, it doesn't look good on me. Yeah. <laugh>, you know, but that, that's, it's the truth. And I figure if anything, anyone else who might be going through that, who just feels, you know, obviously who's the dark side of them is coming out and it's, and it's hard for them to control, et cetera. It's like, okay, look, there might be some other issues at hand that you, and by the way, there is hope that you can do something about that. So like, it, it is embarrassing. It's not easy to share, but at the same time it's, it's real life. And I just wanted to show people like, you know, open the kimono <laugh> and, and, and show you that it's, it's not all hugs and high fives all the time. And, and hey, if you're struggling, you're not alone in this. Yeah.

Joey Odom (44:53):
And what's, what's cool, what's cool is that you're, that million on your side, it, in, in it was a vehicle for a while. You help people through the physical side of things and certainly some emotional Well, but now this is the mental, the mental wellbeing size. You, you may need to add another million for the, for the other people you're helping <laugh> other people. You're helping with that.

Chris Powell (45:12):
I would love that actually. <laugh>, that's, that'd be awesome. Maybe one of these days.

Joey Odom (45:16):
Heck yeah. On the other side as well. Your, I I can't help but think, and you, you touched on it some, I can't help but think about your friend who put me, people would look at you now and they'd look at, um, the stuff you're doing now, and they'd be like, oh, Chris is on the other side of it now. No, he's on the other side of it. But I gotta think just like your friend who you put back on a little bit of weight and then you drop it and then you put back on some, is there, is there a a a parallel between that on the mental side of Yeah, I'm still battling through the mental stuff and it's peaks and valleys.

Chris Powell (45:46):
Oh, a hundred percent. Well, and you know what I, I really learned in this, in this process is that like, just like, just like exercise. You don't do a workout and you're fit for the rest of your life, right? No. Yeah. It's just, no, this is, I, I woke up, I thought of three things that I was grateful for. I took my cold shower, I walked outside, I got direct sunlight in my eyes. I, I did 10 minutes of cardio. I, I have my rituals and that, and it really helps set that tone for my day mentally and physically. And so this is, and I am going to, I, it's, I have to practice these every day and I want to practice them because they have greatly improved the quality of my life mentally. Mm. More than anything. It's mental. And, um, and so like, I, I, I have to practice that and, and I am by, I mean, you know, it's really interesting.

(46:35)
I'm just, man, I'm gonna shoot you straight here. It was a wild run, you know, hosting a show on a and, and that, and it was, it was like financially, it was, uh, it was amazing. And then for anyone who's gone through a divorce, you, you know, that you don't lose. It's not just half goes away. Like magically. Both sides get, I don't know, where like all of a sudden, like 30%, you got like 30% <laugh>. And so I don't know how the math breaks down. I think the attorneys get a lot of it <laugh> and um, and all of a sudden, like, dude, I found myself in this place where it's like so much of what had been earned in the past, it's gone. It's gone. And I am climbing my second mountain and I'm climbing my second mountain. And because, and I bring it up.

(47:23)
Cuz you do bring up the, the financial aspect of it. It's like, yeah man, I'm, I'm back in the grind and I'm rebuilding. I'm rebuilding on every aspect of Yes, my mental health, but also, yes, and, and yes, my mission in life, you know, this is where Move 1 million came from, and then I'm rebuilding my other company. And because it's just like, I just, I blew up basically everything that was built and I'm starting fresh. And so like, I'm, I'm in this massive place o of where I feel, it's almost like before, you know, before I did extreme makeover, weight loss edition, where it was like, I was working, I was in the trenches. It was when I woke up in California, drove to Arizona, said, I'm gonna dig myself out of this. Like, that's my mentality now. And I'm l i, it was a two and a half year divorce process where the slate got wiped clean.

(48:14)
And now I'm like, I got my shovel in my hand. And when, you know, when I'm not on this podcast, I'm in meetings and I'm rebuilding it, and I'm digging myself out of this thing, and I'm, I'm building a new future for myself and for my kids. And so it's, um, just like my buddy David, you know, he gained the weight, lost the weight, gained the weight, lost the weight. And it's just like I am, I'm climbing that second mountain now, and there's been peaks and valleys and it's just, this is, this is the roller coaster of life.

Joey Odom (48:42):
Let, let, let, let me, let me give you a, a pretty direct word whether it's inspired or not, and this is the, there was a, this was when, when you told your story about your health product that you, that it crumbled in your hands and your hand was, your head was against the pavement. And I just want you to know this about yourself, and you do know about yourself, and this is like, very specifically, I just wrote it down, is, you know what to do when a dream dies. You know exactly what to do. I just wanna make sure you know that about yourself. You just said that so you already know it, but just to affirm it, like, you know exactly what to do and because you've been there before, because you have the scars from, I mean, you say like, I, I know how I know what to do with the scar, so I wanna make sure you know that about yourself. You know exactly what to do.

Chris Powell (49:24):
Thank you, brother. Yeah, man, thank you. I appreciate you. Thank you. If I

Joey Odom (49:27):
Could take, if I could like buy shares in Chris Power right now, I would, because I know, I know it's, I know you're on the come up, man. Will you talk, you've hit it a couple times. Will you tell people what move 1 million is? Will you tell us, you said that that was your anchor that's on your side, and will you tell people what that is and, and maybe even the mission behind it too?

Chris Powell (49:45):
Yeah, absolutely. It's, it's a really wild story. Um, so we're, we're about a month and a half into the pandemic, and so part, part of my healing, um, I've got a, there, there's some buttes out in the East valley of, of the Phoenix area, um, where I live. And I, I love to climb 'em and I look like love to look out at the lights at night. Again, it was just a big part of my own journey of healing, um, has kind of changed my perspective and, and reconnect with, with my faith. And, and so I was up there during the pandemic, I was looking out at all these lights and I was just, and, and seeing the reports of, you know, all this suffering. You know, people aren't moving anymore. Everyone's stuck in their homes, mental health issues and the depression, the anxiety, and everyone's sedentary.

(50:27)
And I was just saying, man, like, what could I, and this was actually in, in the, some, some depths of my darkness. Mm-hmm. And I had actually, I had started three different companies. Like, one was a, it was a, it was for buying and selling real estate. Another one was like a financial consulting company. And like, I mean, it was, it was the funniest thing. I had started them and almost thinking, okay, I'm gonna find happiness by building these companies, so I'm gonna just go and I'm gonna start building all this business and I'm gonna make money. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>. And I was up there on top of this hill looking out at all what represented about four and a half million lights of people suffering. And man, it just came to me. I was like, dude, there's no happiness in trying to build up a bank account.

(51:10)
If you want to find happiness, stop thinking about yourself and serve these people that are suffering. Wow. And it was like, dude, it hit me. It hit me in the chest and it was like, go back to your mission. And it just, like, it kept coming back to me. Like, go back to your mission. Go back to your mission. And dude, I came off that hill, literally like, I came off that hill and I felt like I was 10 feet tall. And I was like, I'm back. I'm back. And it just, it was like crystal clear. I'm on my mission and here's the catch, but I don't know what I'm gonna do <laugh>. I was like, I'm gonna help these people. I just don't know how, what do I have? Okay, I gotta, I was blessed with the platform. So I have a platform, I have a, my degree's in exercise science with, you know, concentrations in physiology and biomechanics so I can create some amazing stuff.

(51:56)
What, what can I do? How can I help these people? I sit down on my couch and I turn on the TV and I see this clip about, it's like a documentary on Japan. And they're talking about how in Japan at six 30 every morning, the whole country stands up and they, they do this routine. So I was like, oh, wow, this is freaking cool. Oh my gosh, what is this? So then I, I jumped onto Google and I, I google what's called raio taso. It's the coolest thing in the world. In 1928. I ju I'm just gonna tell you a quick little backstory and it's gonna all make sense. So here we are suffering in the pandemic. Nobody's moving, mental health, social health. I mean, it's just like it, everything's falling apart. But in 1928, emperor hero, heto, like Adam's Corona coronation ceremony, he believed so strongly in the, in physical movement together to unite his country.

(52:46)
He mandated three and a half minutes of movement as a total body warmup from top to bottom. It took three and a half minutes. At six 30 in the morning, he brought in the radio from the United States and he put it in every school, every factory, every corporation. And at six 30 this, the same piano music started and the whole country memorized a routine of 13 movements. And the whole country stood up and they did it together. And he was trying to, number one, help his people live longer and unite his countries. People were only living to 40, between 40 and 45 years old. That was a average life expectancy in 1928 in Japan. By 1955, this is 1928. By 1955, after doing this every single day in one generation, Japan became the healthiest country in the world. By 1955, he united his country incredibly powerfully.

(53:33)
I mean, to the point where it's like even in 1945 when the US occupied Japan, we prohibited it because it was so strong in bringing his people together. It united the country because movement together, it's called muscular bonding. And it's the reason why, why soldiers move in lockstep. Why dance troops, like, why they have such camaraderie. When people move together, it bonds them. If you remember turning on the TV in the pandemic, it was riots in the streets. It was division like we've never seen before. And I'm watching this thinking, we need this now. We need to move, we need to move together. And I just thought, that's my mission. That's what I'm gonna do. And then, and it's gonna be called Move 1 million. I want to move 1 million people every single day. So I created the whole routine because this is 1928 when, when Raio started, which is called raio, Taso Radio calisthenics.

(54:27)
And I was like, now they had radio, we have apps, we have web platforms. I just funded the thing myself. This is, it became a service project. So I built a web app, I built a mobile app, created the whole routine, wrote the music, and now it's two and a half minutes and it's a daily broadcast that's broadcast everywhere. So now it's, we've got 93,000 people moving every day across 71 countries. And, um, and we're growing. It's super cool. And so actually as as we speak right now, I'm, I'm building a curriculum for all National Academy Cert, um, sports medicine, like, so the National Academy of Sports Medicine and the American Council on Exercise for their certified trainers. I'm building a course for them to take a course and move 1 million so they can bring it to their communities. Cuz it's about empowering them to help their, the other people so everyone can feel that service. And so it's growing and growing and it's just the coolest thing. And it's two and a half minutes of movement followed by two minutes of mindfulness because we need that to help bring us here and now followed by positive affirmations and, um, yeah, it's, so, it's, it's taken off. You've

Joey Odom (55:32):
Got 90 3001 now cause I'm in it. That's that's

Chris Powell (55:35):
Fantastic.

Joey Odom (55:36):
I love it.

Chris Powell (55:37):
Oh, buddy, you're gonna love it. In fact, if you want, I'll send you to the course. You can become a certified ambassador. Oh, I

Joey Odom (55:41):
Love it. I'm in Absolutely. I love that.

Chris Powell (55:45):
I love it.

Joey Odom (55:45):
I I gotta, I gotta hear about, I needed that, by the way. This, this podcast is, this is awesome. You and Matthew Blades, if your friend of 12 years, tell us about, I needed that. It's already kicked off the beginning of this year, but tell us all about it. It's so, so good. You're a natural at Matthew's, a natural addict. Let's hear all about it.

Chris Powell (56:01):
Well, <laugh>, thank you. I appreciate it. I brought Matthew in because, you know, we've been buddies for a long time. Shared mission, he just loves to help people. He's been through his own mental health journey and man, that guy can, he knows how to run a show because he was, he's an award-winning radio show host for 27 years, and he's just so good quarterbacking the entire experience. But, you know, we both, we both love these, the long form style podcast, I think it's awesome because there's just so much, you know, there's a wealth of knowledge that we can extrapolate from, you know, two to three hours. But then we, we all kept running into the problem of like, who's got two to three hours? Exactly. It takes a long time to actually digest and consume that kind of content. So we just thought like, hey, like let's do a something short form, kind of like taking it back to the old morning radio shows of like the early two thousands, like the Z 100 s and everything where it's like, just where we wanted to make it fun, but also have those golden nugget takeaways.

(57:02)
Cause like I would find myself in a lot of these long form shows, just going to the summary at the end and like, just, I'll grab the golden nuggets and those takeaways. So it's like, ha let's consolidate those, but let's, let's just make it fun for people. So bring 'em in, entertain 'em. We'll play some, some games like hurdle or what would you do? Or, you know, and like you talk about some hot topics, but then e in every single show we'll bring on a specialist and we'll talk about, you know, with different, different aspects of mental health, physical health, social health with the powerful takeaways. But we try to keep it in 15 minutes or so. So it's not, you know, it's, it's not a long, um, you know, com commit commitment on their end, but at the same time for the, for the listeners, like, man, they, they get what they need in 15 minutes, but they have a good laugh, you know, I mean, and, and the name I needed that, it just, it came from the concept. It was like every single time we'd finished that, we laughed, we cried, you know, we're like, we'd all sit back and be like, man, I needed that. That was fun. Like, and how many times have you had a good workout or good laugh or good sleep and you just say, man, I needed that. So that's the concept behind it. It was just give you as much of what you need in 40 minutes as possible.

Joey Odom (58:13):
It's great, it's fun. But you also, like you said, there are the nuggets there. They're, they are. And then you talk about their solutions and strategies. There's tangible stuff there. And one thing I like that you say a bunch, you say they help people through their suffering. And I like that word because it's an acknowledgement that yeah, we're suffering. Yeah, that's, I mean, I've heard people say like, you know, you gotta live for the moments that justify life's suffering because that's what we're doing. But, but what you do is it's acknowledging that, but it's lighthearted as well. But then there is some real depth in those solutions and strategies. What, what are a couple so far, just a little give give the listeners a little bit of taste of a couple of the topics that you, you guys have hit on so far that have been interesting for you?

Chris Powell (58:48):
Oh gosh. Um, well, you know, like, just a really fun one. I'll, I'll go back to the one we just recorded two days ago. I had one of the individuals from the, uh, one of the participants from my c from my show from season five. She came on and she's, so, she's actually my vice president. And so I know a lot of people are like, Hey, do you still keep in contact with the people from the show? I'm like, well, yeah, every day, right? Yeah, exactly. They

Joey Odom (59:11):
Tell me what to do.

Chris Powell (59:12):
Yeah. Yes. And she's been through her own journey and she struggled with alcohol and then she, uh, struggled with weight gain and then she's back on and she's losing the weight again and she's going through all journey of transformation. So it was fun talking about the experiences on like, behind the scenes with the show. So that, that was a lot of fun. But also talking about the reality of, um, a lot of times when people, when they wrap a show, like very similar to what we did, a lot of people gain the weight back. Some people don't, but a lot of people do. So we, we, it was really fun like diving into that and, um, it was fun and it was also really, it was cathartic for both of us to go back and kind of rehash all of that. Um, we've had some brilliant conversations with, um, some, um, cardiac surgeons and, you know, just talking about just overall heart health, stress, et cetera.

(01:00:00)
Um, you've, we've had, oh, I mean, gosh, our talks about addiction, you know, especially coming from my, my opioid addiction, but also some, some of the, some folks that came from, uh, like Recovery Elevator, which is a really big podcast in the addiction world with, um, with alcohol. So Matthew is, Matthew is, gosh, I think he's 12 years years sober. Rachel, who's my VP is seven years sober. And so, um, you know, when, when you listen to the podcast, we're all recovering addicts, you know, all, all of us, whether it's food, whether it's painkillers, alcohol, what I mean, you, you name it. And in fact, I would say half of our guests have been former addicts as well. And, and we all just, we all come from our own journeys. And it's, it's really, it's powerful to share because again, man, we're not alone in this. No, none of us are alone in this. Like, we're all struggling with something. And, and you know what, and you said it also, we're all suffering to a certain extent, and a lot of times in our past and sometimes in our current, you know, existence where we reach for those things to try to, to try to numb those emotions. So just, I, you know, like, I guess the overall theme for the experience is like, yes, you'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll learn, but you're not alone for anyone who's suffering, you're not alone in this. What

Joey Odom (01:01:15):
A, what a great message for people to hear everybody go listen to, subscribe to it. I needed that. Um, I have one more, Chris, I keep trying out ending questions. I have, I have a new ending question that I'm gonna ask you. So we'll see how this goes over <laugh>, but it's easy, it's easy for us as people to when we see somebody going through something to say, Hey, here's, here's the, here's some advice for you. If you were to step outside of yourself for a moment and look and say, what would be the advice for you right now for Chris Powell right now? What's the advice? If you were taking care of yourself, what would you tell yourself? What's the advice you need right now to hear?

Chris Powell (01:01:48):
I, it was funny. I actually wrote this down the other day when it came to me. And it, it's so simple, but I forget it so quickly. And I find in, I find myself in this place, and this is the anxiety taking over. I find myself constantly in a place of panic, creating a sense of urgency around everything that I do. And I actually, I wrote down, not at my computer because I, I had to write it physically just so I, I can really get it ingrained in my mind. I just wrote, be patient. And it's just like, man, I just, I find myself trying to force things to happen so much. And, um, that's, that would be the one bit of advice i, I need to give to myself on a regular basis. Cuz that is, that is the anxiety aspect of it. And that, that's that anxiety disorder kicking in. It starts ruminating and just thinks it's gotta get done. Now, now, now, now, now. But at the same time, that causes so much stress on me and it's also unrealistic. And so I just, I need to remind myself to be patient and allow things to allow things to happen as they need to happen. I, because I'm trying to control it. I, I, I, I am a control freak, if you will. And so I, I gotta, I got to let that go and just be patient and let things naturally evolve. Yeah.

Joey Odom (01:03:16):
Yeah. Chris, thank you. Thanks for not your time, man. Your vulnerability and openness, that's, that's very meaningful to me. It's gonna be meaningful to everybody listening. So thank you very, very much for what you're doing for the path you're on. And, um, yeah man, thank you,

Chris Powell (01:03:28):
Joey, thank you for, for such a insightful and respectful interview. Like, you're, you're really intelligent. And, and it is, it was just from, from the introduction on, I was like, oh man, y y you know what you're doing <laugh>. Like you're, and, and I'm, I'm really excited to have you on our show. So yes, I, I'm excited to, to reciprocate. Thank you my friend. It's been an honor. It really has been.

Joey Odom (01:03:55):
Well, thank you brother Chris Powell is the real deal. How good was that conversation? I am very, very grateful for all of his time and very grateful for him being so open in that interview as well. What a great conversation. Go check out Move 1 Million, that's M1M.org. Join in. What a great goal. What a great mission. And then please do go subscribe. You'll listen and subscribe to I Needed That Podcast with Matthew Blades. It's really, really great and it's bite size. You can digest it really quickly. It's awesome. And you'll have some great tools for yourself throughout the rest of your day. Thank you so much for joining me for this week's edition of The Aro Podcast. We can't wait to see you next week. The Aro Podcast is produced and edited by the team at Palm Tree Pod. Special thanks to Emily Miles for video and digital support and to our executive producer Aro's own, Katelyn Farley.

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