Episode 529 Chris Smith Building Veteran Community Through Fitness Transcript
This transcript is from episode 529 with guest Chris Smith.
Scott DeLuzio: [00:00:00] Some of us get out of the military thinking that the hardest part is over but then real life hits There’s silence the lack of direction the nights you can’t sleep and the days that feel just as heavy and you’re trying to stay sharp trying to show up for your family but deep down you know that you’re struggling to keep it all together and Chris Smith gets it Our our guest today his path after the service Didn’t follow a clean line There’s PTSD homelessness and a long stretch of feeling like he didn’t belong anywhere Uh what pulled him back wasn’t just getting help It was movement it was structure and it was showing up for others This episode is gonna talk about rebuilding from the inside out talking about how uh warrior Strong creates space for veterans to connect through yoga fitness and shared experiences comradery Uh whether you’re sweating through a class together or just learning how to breathe again through meditation and other practices like that [00:01:00] Before we get into that episode though I also wanna take a moment to Raise awareness for something deeply important to our community The Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation This organization is working to build a permanent national memorial in Washington DC to honor the service members families and civilians impacted by the global war on terrorism I As Memorial serves as both a tribute to those who served and a way to ensure their sacrifices are recognized and remembered for generations to come If you would like to learn more or find out how you can support the mission visit GWOTmemorialfoundation.org Now let’s get into today’s episode
Scott DeLuzio: Hey, Chris, welcome to the show. I’m really glad to have you here, and I’m really excited to get into the work that you’re doing with, uh, warrior Strong and all the, the cool stuff that you guys [00:02:00] are doing. I know we’ve, we’ve talked about a little bit on the, the podcast before, but it’s just a great organization.
I want to have you on and, and share a little bit more about what you guys are doing.
Christopher Smith: Yeah,
Definitely.
Having me
on. We’ve
We’ve been trying to
find different
ways to kind of get our message out there and
Scott DeLuzio: mm-hmm.
Christopher Smith: a
Scott DeLuzio: Really great opportunity.
Christopher Smith: I know I really
appreciate it and I know Tom does as well.
Scott DeLuzio: Well, and I, I appreciate the work that you guys are doing. Uh, I know you’re, you’re helping out a lot of, a lot of people out there. But before we get into that type of stuff, just for the listeners who maybe aren’t familiar with you and your background, can tell us a little bit about yourself, your, your military background, and you know, how that experience shaped, you know, your approach to what you’re doing today.
Christopher Smith: Yeah. So, uh, my name is Christopher Smith, uh, program director for Warrior Strong. I joined the
Army
Pretty much.
Junior year of high school deferred entry until I graduated. my third day in basic was September 11th. Yeah, so [00:03:00] we we were told that, you know, we were gonna be going overseas right away.
We got a bunch of extra training and then when we got to the end of basic, they’re like, oh, just kidding. You’re you’re gonna go to a IT. from there, um, I was in the Corps of Engineers. I did eight years and, uh, two tours for almost two and a half years. It was a transformative experience for me just because I, even though I was part of a military family I wasn’t prepared for what the military was going to be.
I had heard stuff from my stepdad and, um, my dad ’cause they were both military. But I wasn’t quite prepared for the reality of being in the army was. So it was kind of an eye-opener. was an experience because both my dad and my stepdad were both navy. My grandfather was a Marine, my uncle was a Marine. [00:04:00] Um, so I learned, grew up hearing all the stories about the Navy and hanging around like different VPs. ’cause my stepdad was a flight engineer on P three Orion’s. So I grew up in that kind of world. So I was expecting kind of similar things in the military or in the Army, I’m sorry. uh, it was not the case. They always talked about how much the swim qualification sucked when they had to go do that. So I was expecting to do that and instead, uh, spent most of my time dragging my face through gravel and dirt and mud.
So not quite what I was expecting.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: um, I’m sure every, every veteran you speak to can have a similar story to this or not experience, rather.
It sucked while I was in, but there’s certain parts that I miss. but there’s, uh, other parts that I can do without. Especially when I joined we still had to polish our [00:05:00] boots and, um, even though I still do that, I still polish my shoes especially dress shoes
because I find it kind of zen-like,
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: I don’t wanna have to do it when I’m told
to.
So,
Scott DeLuzio: Right. Yeah. It, it, it’s funny how it’s like one of those things where you’re, you’re told to do something and I don’t know. Sometimes it, it’s like, no, I don’t, I I’m not going to do it. I’m, I’m gonna rebel against whatever the, the thing is that you’re being told to do. But you know, when you have the idea to do it yourself, it,
Christopher Smith: yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: it seems like a great idea.
And like you said, in that case, it’s like a zen-like experience. And there’s other things too that I’m sure people can relate to. Maybe it’s not polishing boots, but maybe it’s, you know, the way they, they hang their clothes in their closet or something like that. It’s just, you know, certain things or the way they make their bed or whatever could just be that cathartic thing for them that just stuck with them.
I know I, [00:06:00] I posted a video on. On Instagram a few months ago, and it’s gotten just a tremendous amount of, uh, views, just people keep commenting on it and everything. But it, it’s basically drill sergeants in the chow hall yelling at the, the recruits to, you know, hurry up and eat and, you know, sidestep through the line and, and, you know, hold your tray a certain way.
And it’s just constant chaos. And, uh, so many people are commenting, yeah, I still eat and, you know, my whole meal in like two minutes. And, you know, it’s just a thing that’s stuck with you, you know, that may be not such a healthy thing, but it’s, it’s just a thing that sticks with you, you know?
Christopher Smith: Oh yeah. I get, I get frustrated like when dinner is ready and my wife will be taking a little while. I’m like, listen,
dinner’s ready, it’s time to eat. We’re, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right. Yeah. I’m, I’m usually, I’m usually the one in my family that’s done first and then everyone else is still, it looks like they just started [00:07:00] and, and I’m sitting there like, okay, well hey, if we’re gonna sit here, let’s have a conversation. They all have like, food in their mouth, so it’s like
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: we, we just can’t get a timing.
Right. You know? It’s crazy. Exactly. Yeah. Yeah.
So let’s, let’s talk a little bit about kind of your, your transition and, and how you got into doing what you’re doing now. You know, leaving the military and I.
I know must have been crazy, you know, being, you know, basically your first few days in, in the Army, nine 11 happens.
Like that’s, that’s a huge, I mean, that was a huge shift for everybody in the, the country. I can only imagine you know, someone who is, you signed up in a time, you know, we were kind of in a peacetime environment and then three days later, whoops, not anymore. And, uh, that, that must have been a huge, huge transition.
But then you know, going throughout your time in the military, uh, I’m sure there like other things that you just weren’t expecting. Right.
Christopher Smith: yeah.
Speak a little bit more on like, the basics aspect of it. I remember we [00:08:00] were in in, had just gotten into. right from after the morning meal. And I remember I was in the back scrubbing pots and pans and sneaking french toast as they were bringing it back off the line and bacon,
because you know how that, you know how that is.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh yeah.
Christopher Smith: and I’m scrubbing this big pot and when the drill sergeants comes in and he turns on the radio and it’s um, rush Limbaugh and he is like freaking out. And thinking like, is he doing like a war of the worlds kind of thing? Like what is going on? Like this? Like what he’s saying isn’t making sense to me?
And all, everything just stopped. Everything stopped. ’cause he yelled, he was like, shut up, listen. Pay attention to what’s going on. And then next thing we knew, we were pulled off of KP duty. We were put into a room with a tv and we watched what was going on and that’s when they announced that you know. We were getting special, you know, we’re not special training, but we were getting extended training. We were gonna go [00:09:00] overseas. They swapped out all the
drill sergeants that we had for new drill sergeants.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh wow.
Christopher Smith: Yeah. And it was crazy. But you know, when my first tour was in 2003 during the invasion of Iraq and I was involuntarily transferred to a water supply and petroleum supply company. And it was kind of hectic because I had just gotten home and I had just started school. I had finished my first week of college. You know, like, all right, here I am, you know, going to learn how to do computer animation and web design. I come home, there’s a message on the answering machine and they’re like, uh, specialist Smith, you need to call us right now.
And I’m like, there’s no specialist Smith here. There’s a PFC Smith. They can’t be talking about me because I haven’t gotten promoted. And um, so I call back and they tell [00:10:00] me you know, is this specialist Smith? And I’m like, no, this is PFC Smith. And they’re like, no, this is Specialist Smith. And I was
arguing with him for a little bit and they were like, no, you’re
Scott DeLuzio: You’re a specialist
Christopher Smith: have to be down at
Scott DeLuzio: down at this
Christopher Smith: tomorrow
Scott DeLuzio: tomorrow morning,
Christopher Smith: all
Scott DeLuzio: all your gear
Christopher Smith: And
Scott DeLuzio: um,
Christopher Smith: I was kind of in shock. And then, I’m packing all my stuff up
and my parents come
home and they were like,
Scott DeLuzio: whatcha doing?
Christopher Smith: And I was like,
Scott DeLuzio: Well,
Christopher Smith: don’t have any information to give
Scott DeLuzio: you,
Christopher Smith: I have to be
in Philly tomorrow morning.
I’ll talk to you when I get there. Got everything packed
up. Had dinner
Scott DeLuzio: everybody.
Christopher Smith: and then. Um, we went down to Philly, of course, and then two Lakes, two weeks later, we were in front Fort Drum training with 10th Mountain. and I’ll never understand why they sent us to Fort Drum,
To train for the desert.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: that because, uh, we got there. It was negative 20 degrees.
And
Scott DeLuzio: And it’s [00:11:00] not like we don’t have desert here, right?
Christopher Smith: yeah,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right. Exactly.
Christopher Smith: And it’s like, But I
mean, after the training, I understood why.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: but it was just, it, it, it’s crazy to think that at that age, right, eight how old was I? I was 20 20 years old when everybody else is kind of like. On the weekends to go to like college parties or, you know,
starting an entry level job or something like that
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: that I was going to be a totally different, not just country, but hemisphere of the world and an area where I didn’t know any of the societal norms or any of the language and just kind of get dropped into
these situations, you know, and then, um, expect to do the job that I was trained to do with, you know, everything from [00:12:00] bullets flying at you, explosions going off, and popping up out of nowhere. And just thinking back on it now, like it’s really crazy to think about how one decision that you made. Can totally alter and change the projection of your life just completely
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: and not even, not even know about it.
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Christopher Smith: even have an inkling of that’s gonna come after that, or anything that’s gonna
happen after that, after you’ve made a decision.
Scott DeLuzio: Right. And, and you probably didn’t go into it thinking, Hey, this is gonna be a complete life changing experience and, you know, everything’s gonna be different after this, but here you are, and that’s what you had to deal with. Right?
Yeah.
No, I,
Christopher Smith: I
Scott DeLuzio: I joined.
Christopher Smith: was like,
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Christopher Smith: I’ll do a little bit
of time in and then I’ll go to college and, you
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: get done
and, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: And that’s the way most people were, [00:13:00] right?
Christopher Smith: Exactly. Yeah. Exactly. Especially in that time.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. ‘
Christopher Smith: cause I mean, there wasn’t really, I mean, there was other stuff going on in the world, but not anything that would be construed as like wartime situation. There were like conflicts and. Peacekeeping missions and all this other kind of stuff going on,
but nothing to that
scale. I mean, outside of
Scott DeLuzio: That.
Christopher Smith: of
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Christopher Smith: But it was just crazy. And then when I finally separated after two tours
Scott DeLuzio: My ex-wife,
Christopher Smith: moved,
To Scranton, Pennsylvania. When
I was deployed and
Scott DeLuzio: came home
Christopher Smith: and
really didn’t know anybody here.
I mean, we were an hour and a half away from where our family was in Allentown, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. And I mean, the only people that I really knew here were a couple of the guys that I got, because again, second tour involuntarily transferred to another unit. And, uh, I knew a couple of the guys there and to just [00:14:00] leave and. Being an area where I don’t really know anybody, don’t really have any job prospects struggling with my marriage hence,
you know, having an ex-wife now.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: yeah. But for years, a couple years afterwards struggling with P-T-S-D-T-B-I trying to get my life on track,
it was, I was not in the best of places.
Uh, I was homeless for a period of time to get out of that. Thanks to my status as a veteran. I was able to apply for programs that, uh, wouldn’t normally be, available to a non-veteran. And after I, you know, that aspect of my life back in order, I met a really amazing woman who’s my wife now.
And she encouraged me. She was like, Hey, you have a GI Bill, right? I was like, well, yeah, I do. but I’m an engineer. I don’t need to go to school. And she’s like, listen, you have all this experience [00:15:00] engineering, but nobody’s hiring you. And I was like, well, yeah, but somebody will at some point. And um, she was like,
well, at some point it doesn’t help your kids.
And I was
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: what? You’re right. So she encouraged me to go back to school and, um, I did. I went back and got my degree in nutrition and dietetics from Mary Wood University diversity. Um, and it was a
great, it was a new experience and once again, another thing that you do that you don’t think is gonna alter your trajectory, it ultimately ended up doing that.
While I was in school, I was the president resident of the Student Veteran Alliance for Marywood.
And I had
Scott DeLuzio: I had just joined.
Christopher Smith: it was a veterans organization. Some of the people that are a part of it, you know, they’re friends of mine. We continue to talk to this day and I was like, yeah, this should just be fun, something fun to do. And we had a really amazing director of military and veteran services there Lauren Williams, and she kind of pushed me into that leadership [00:16:00] role. Yeah, even though I, I left the military as the army, as a sergeant I didn’t really see myself as,
you know, like a leader. Like I, I’ve led people, I’ve led missions, I’ve done that kind of thing.
But in the outside world, I didn’t see myself as that. I just kind of saw myself as, you know,
I’m Chris. I don’t have to be Sergeant Smith anymore. He comes out from time to
time, especially when
I’m angry,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, I’ve, I’ve noticed that too with Sergeant DeLuzio too.
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, exactly.
Christopher Smith: And I was like, yeah, okay. You know, I’ll do that. I’ll, I’ll, I’ll be the, i’ll, you know, run for the president and we, and we voted on it and, you know, it. And, you know, I had an amazing vice president treasurer and secretary and we ended up becoming, uh, nationally recognized by the Student Veterans of America. we were named chapter of the year and I believe it was [00:17:00] 2015 and they brought the award back ’cause they had gotten rid of it for two years because there wasn’t any chapters that had actually,
you know, at the level.
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, okay.
Christopher Smith: And And we did that by applying for a grant through the Home Depot Foundation. And we transformed one of the old suiting housing on campus into a veterans resource center. And from there, I
kind of, knew I
Scott DeLuzio: wanted to,
Christopher Smith: in higher education for a little bit. So
Scott DeLuzio: after I graduated
Christopher Smith: I
Scott DeLuzio: I took a
Christopher Smith: as a utility
Scott DeLuzio: job.
Christopher Smith: I mean, why not I’m, I know how to use tools and do
all the other stuff that they’re required. So I did that until director of Military and Veteran Services opened up. So I took that role at Marywood and
That’s when
Scott DeLuzio: I
Christopher Smith: got introduced to Tom.
Scott DeLuzio: okay.
Christopher Smith: I was looking for programming for my students and we [00:18:00] didn’t really have a very
Scott DeLuzio: Very big.
Christopher Smith: For programming. So I was looking for something that was free and, I had been told by an organization here called Equines for Freedom that I should give this, uh, guy Tom Tyson a call. I was like, okay, I’ll do that. And I gave him a call and he gave me a little bit of what he did and I was like, okay, this is cool. You know, like, because at that time warrior Strong was doing yoga and Wii hai and I was like, well, if I can’t get them interested in yoga, I can
definitely get my vets interested in Muay Hai.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: And yeah. then ’cause I was never like a, a yoga guy. I was always like, you know, I’ll do pushups, I’ll do sit-ups,
you know, I’ll go lift some weights,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: but I’m not
gonna touch my toes.
Scott DeLuzio: Right, and And likely probably couldn’t at that point. Right?
Christopher Smith: No, no, I think the
closest I got was, uh, my shins maybe.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, sure.
Christopher Smith: Yeah. I, I
was like, you know what, what the hell? I’ll give it a shot.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: I took [00:19:00] one yoga class with them and I was like, oh my God, this is way harder than I thought it was gonna be. This requires a lot more effort than, you know, picking up heavy things and putting them back down. So I really enjoyed it. And the part of the problem at that point was, it was kind of hard to because at that, at that time warrior Strong was only teaching one class a week or one class a month. I’m, um, one to two maybe like one class was yoga, one class was mu some. Uh, there’s a joke in the yoga community that, uh, a lot of yoga instructors like to flake because
we’re so in the moment
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, okay.
Christopher Smith: that we caught up, we get caught up in like doing something and forget we’re supposed to be teaching a class. And I got frustrated because there’s times where I really wanted to do yoga, but there was no class happening because,
The instructor had other obligations or,
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: couldn’t make it that day. Because I’m the type of person that if I see a [00:20:00] problem and nobody else is doing anything to fix it or there’s an inability for other people to do it, I’ll fix it.
I’ll figure out a way. So I went, I got my yoga certification we were and then became part of Warrior Strong, fully, not just a, a member, but an instructor. And since then it has been a really big part of my personal journey. I worked at Marywood for two and a half years in the role of military and veteran services I got approached by the, uh, the mayor of Scranton to come work for her. I’ve always been big into politics. Although I try to stay out of arguments with people just because
Sergeant Smith comes out when I get into those arguments. So I said, you know, yeah, lemme give it a shot. So I went and worked her, we worked with her for a little while, and then, um, she asked me to go down and help out the Department of Public Works.
So I went down there and I was a supervisor for the refuse and recycling [00:21:00] department. And
the, again,
Scott DeLuzio: Another
Christopher Smith: I was not prepared for to think that it was gonna change my life.
Scott DeLuzio: thing,
Christopher Smith: Uh, because I was like, is like refuse and recycling? Well, how hard is that? The trash guys go out, they
pick up your trash and that’s it. The logistics
Scott DeLuzio: behind that is
Christopher Smith: insane. It is.
They’re
Scott DeLuzio: like,
Christopher Smith: talk
Scott DeLuzio: talk to you
Christopher Smith: for an
Scott DeLuzio: entire program,
Christopher Smith: just about
Scott DeLuzio: that
Christopher Smith: And it’s one of those civil civics things that people don’t think about trash gets picked up. It’s no longer at your house. You really stop thinking about it. But there’s
like so much that goes into it, and there’s a
Scott DeLuzio: politic.
Christopher Smith: that goes into
trash too.
It’s crazy.
Scott DeLuzio: That’s,
Christopher Smith: It’s,
Scott DeLuzio: it’s crazy to think that, like something as simple as, as the stuff that, that you throw away that you, you know, I, I throw stuff away. I put a, you know, a can in the recycle bin or whatever. I don’t ever think about that can ever again until like it’s. That bring it down to the street and the truck takes it away and like, I don’t think about it.
[00:22:00] It’s, it’s gone. It’s garbage. It, it’s out of my mind, out of my, my head. But then there’s, there’s people out there who like, that’s their job and that that’s what they think about and that’s what they, they talk about and debate about and you know, what do we do with this and that? And it, yeah, there’s a lot that goes into it.
I, I suppose, and,
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: most people probably don’t even know the half of it. Right?
Christopher Smith: No, and it’s
crazy too because the debates can get pretty fierce
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,
Christopher Smith: because believe it or not, um, trash and recycling is
money. It’s a lot of money in
it.
Scott DeLuzio: I’m sure. Yeah.
Christopher Smith: but you know, I mean, you, you tell one person that you’re not gonna pick up the recycling because they in violation of City Code and they, they lose their mind.
Scott DeLuzio: It’s crazy.
Christopher Smith: like I said, I’m, I’m a big stickler, you know, for, you know, rules and regulations. And if, like, my, one of my trucks gets rejected because you put something in your recycling that the recycling company [00:23:00] won’t take. You know,
you, I’m gonna tell you, listen, you can’t do that.
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Christopher Smith: And if you wanna argue with me, you can argue all you
want.
By the end of the day, you’re still not gonna be do it.
Scott DeLuzio: Right. That’s right.
Yeah. Well, so
you had a kind of interesting transition, uh, not just through your military career you know, starting in a pre nine 11 era and then very quickly getting into that being thrown in the deep end, let’s just say. And, uh, everything that came along with it. But then, you know, also after getting out, dealing with homelessness and, you know, figuring out.
The GI bill side of things and you know, obviously you, you knew that you had some of these things available to you but it wasn’t your first go-to, right? Because you already, you had an engineering background, you know, from the, the military. You know, what, what do you need to go to college for?
Right? That was kinda the mindset I, I suppose. Right. And then you kind of, kind of went in and, and it [00:24:00] opened up some doors that maybe you didn’t think were available to you. One question I did have as you were talking was, um, that you you said something about a program when you were homeless that helped you kinda get back on your feet and, and get back into that situation.
What was that program and how did you know about it? Like how did you come to know about the, this program? Or was it something that, that was told to you like through a TAPS program or something like that? Or like what, what brought that to your attention?
Christopher Smith: So,
Scott DeLuzio: what.
Christopher Smith: happening is there’s a period of time, uh,
where I got lucky and I was couch surfing.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Christopher Smith: And, um, at one point the couch surfing, um, the wave came to an end. And so I was, living and sleeping in my car. And one night it was really cold and I couldn’t do that. So I was like, well, you know what the only
option I have right now is to go to the homeless shelter.
Scott DeLuzio: Got it.
Christopher Smith: So I went to the homeless shelter and I was filling out, ’cause you actually have to sign in and do all this other stuff. [00:25:00] And I marked down that I was a veteran. And while I was talking to the guy at the homeless shelter, he was like, you’re a veteran. Why are you here? I was like, what do you mean? Why am I here? he’s like,
well, there’s a program right around the corner, you know, for veterans that are struggling with drug abuse and alcohol. And I was like, well, I’m not with those. I mean, I had a couple of
issues, uh, when I first came home
Scott DeLuzio: mm-hmm.
Christopher Smith: alcohol but managed to get that under control. And I was like, but I’m not experiencing that. And he was like, well, listen, just go talk to them. And so I did. And it was, catholic social Services here in our area in Scranton. Got me in touch with what’s called the St. James Manor which I think now is, uh, St.
Francis of a sissy,
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Christopher Smith: St.
Francis Commons is what it’s called now.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Christopher Smith: basically what it was, it was a a, a VA rent controlled program and it was based off of a percentage of your income. And at that time I was [00:26:00] working, I was working part-time jobs, because it’s really hard to apply for
bigger jobs when you don’t have a permanent address.
Scott DeLuzio: Hmm.
Christopher Smith: And at that time I was only had disability, but I was giving half of my disability check to my ex-wife for the kids and stuff. And so I got really lucky. Because
at that time, my rent was only 200 bucks a month,
Scott DeLuzio: Okay.
Christopher Smith: which in our area now, if you found a place that was 200 bucks a month, you’re, you’re living
in a cardboard box.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. The price, housing price has just gone outta control lately, and it, it, that, that’s absolutely right. Yeah. You, you wouldn’t be able to find anything like that other than through a program like this, uh, that you’re talking about. You know? It’s just not, not possible. So, yeah, you, you know, that is a good thing that, uh, they pointed you in that direction to kinda help you get back on your feet because like you said, without that permanent address it’s a little bit more difficult to apply for [00:27:00] those full-time jobs and, and everything.
So, so that’s, that’s great that, yeah. And I, I wanted to, to talk about that too because you know, sometimes again, you walked into that homeless shelter because it was cold, not because you were looking for permanent housing. Uh, the homeless shelter is not a permanent thing. I think everyone kind of knows that.
Right. But it’s, it’s something that I. It’s like, Hey, I just need, I need to take the edge off of the cold that’s outside and, and get a little, little warmed up here. That is, uh, you know, kind of what you’re looking for. But when when you’re given that opportunity, you know, someone said, Hey, why don’t you go check out this, this program?
You know, that opened up another door that, again, you, you probably weren’t expecting, but here it is. So, you know, I think that kind of theme of this so far, you know, from, from your story is like, take those chances o you know, let those doors open for you and, and, and see where it takes you. And you know, a lot of times there’s, there’s some good stuff on the other [00:28:00] end, right?
Christopher Smith: Oh yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: And it’s one of the things I try to teach in my yoga practices as well, right? Nothing ever stays the same.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: Everything is always changing. Everything is constantly in flux. So what you might have projected for your life for the next 10
years, it can change in an instant
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: won’t be expecting it. I try to teach people not to be attached to outcomes or to desires. It’s really hard to learn. Uh, I still struggle with it.
Still expect the world to be a certain way
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Christopher Smith: Like to teach veterans because sometimes we can get caught up in being veterans, right? Like that’s our primary. Identifier, I’m a veteran. And then everything that you do is based off of that self identification, well, not self identification, but off that identification. it becomes a core port of who you are. But I try to teach
that’s not really who you are.
Scott DeLuzio: [00:29:00] Right.
Christopher Smith: It’s an aspect of you. It’s a, a piece of you that will be yours forever. But it is not the thing that
makes up who you are.
Scott DeLuzio: It’s not a defining characteristic of, of that person, you know,
Christopher Smith: exactly.
Scott DeLuzio: could be any number of things. But it doesn’t, doesn’t have to be, that is your identity, you know.
Christopher Smith: Mm-hmm. And, and part of that is during my time for higher education. And then, uh, when I was working in the mayor’s office, I did a lot of stuff with veterans. The common refrain that I heard from many veterans was, well, I don’t want a handout. And it was a constant struggle to remind them, listen, you signed a contract. Part of that
contract came with these guarantees
Scott DeLuzio: Sure.
Christopher Smith: you needed this help, this was available to you if you wanted to go to school, that was available for you if you needed a home loan that’s available for you. So I try to [00:30:00] encourage veterans, if you are eligible for something and you need it, take it. You sign that contract. It’s like the same thing. If you went to work for a Fortune 500 company, you sign the contract stating, you know, I’ll work for you. And they tell you, you get healthcare, you get, you know, dental eye vision.
It’s the same concept.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah.
Christopher Smith: I think a lot of, I think a lot of vets get trapped into that mindset where, you know they end up having, detrimental things happen because they don’t want to be seen or feel like
they’re taking more than their share.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Christopher Smith: It’s just, if there’s one thing any veteran who is watching this can take away from me talking is to use your benefits. you don’t know how long they’re gonna
be around for.
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm. Yeah, it e even things like disability [00:31:00] benefits, I, I hear from people from time to time that, oh, I, I’m not applying for disability. You know, even though they have something that’s service connected and it’s very obviously service connected uh, you know, injury or, you know, mental health condition or, or something like that.
And I’m not applying for it. And the mindset is, well, because there’s always somebody worse than me and they, they deserve it more than me. But it’s not because you’re applying for these benefits and even getting these benefits, you’re not taking away from somebody else. You’re. You’re getting in addition to that, somebody else, right?
So that person who, you know, lost a leg is still getting their benefits. It’s not like you’re taking away their benefits because just because you applied for, you know, your PTSD or something like that. Like you’re, you’re both getting the benefits. And like you said, it was a great example actually when you applied for, you know, work at any other company.
They’re gonna give you certain [00:32:00] benefits, you know, your healthcare, your, your dental vision, you know, maybe retirement plan. And, you know, all these things are, are part of the deal of your compensation when you, when you work there. Now some of the stuff. Maybe, Hey, you know what? Maybe you’re lucky and you don’t need any of that, the healthcare that year, you know, but you still get it.
It does. It doesn’t mean that, oh, you know what, next year I’m just not gonna get the health insurance. ’cause I didn’t use it at all this year. You know, like,
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: course you’re still gonna use it, right? So, so yeah. Take take it and, and, and use it. But you know, kind of to, to come. No, go ahead.
Christopher Smith: like 10, sorry, like, you don’t know, like, I’m not, saying to veterans go and apply for all these things, right? But we know, like the Vietnam vets that came before us, they, it took years for Agent Orange to get, you know,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: Recognized. And now with us, with the burn pits, it took years for that to get recognized. And you don’t know, like I, we [00:33:00] have people who are part of our organization. That, you know, they were fine. They were fine, they were fine. And then all of a sudden
they’ve got like four different types of cancer,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: which all can be traced back to the burn pits. And if they hadn’t had other things going on with them, who knows if
they would’ve been able to get taken care of.
Scott DeLuzio: Right. And, and the other thing too is the kind of the group effect that that takes place when the va, you know, if the VA sees one veteran who has certain type of cancer that could be linked to the burn pits and it’s just the one, one veteran, they’re gonna think, okay, well maybe that’s just an anomaly.
And it’s, it’s not really related to anything, but when they start seeing. Tons and tons of people coming in with the same types of cancers. You know, obviously there’s various, uh, types, but when they’re seeing an increase in all these different types of cancers coming in, and they all happen to be, you know, in their, you know, thirties, forties, whatever, [00:34:00] and, you know, Giada area, uh, era where it’s clear that they were exposed to burn pits.
’cause most of these bases that we were deployed to had burn pits. And now you can start to say, okay, well maybe there’s some correlation here between all of this. ’cause there’s a, there’s a ton of these people, you know, had more. Vietnam era vets, you know, came forward a little bit more earlier maybe they would’ve sped up the process of, of making that connection to Agent Orange and, and, and the issues that that they were having.
You know, fortunately we got the, the, the burn pit bill passed, you know, the PAC Act that, that is now recognizing these cancers for the burn pits. But you know, and, and also the, the agent Orange, but way overdue for the Vietnam guys, you know?
Christopher Smith: Oh yeah. And I mean, I mean there’s again, more
politics involved in
Scott DeLuzio: Sure. I won’t get into it.
Christopher Smith: because, you know, art Sternsmith will come
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, sure. I’m [00:35:00] sure we can go down a huge rabbit hole, right? Exactly.
Christopher Smith: Yeah,
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: So,
Christopher Smith: But yeah,
but
Scott DeLuzio: so yeah, bring, bring that full circle to, you know, kinda what you’re doing now with Warrior Strong. You know, there’s, there’s. Guys and and gals, they’re, they’re sitting at home, but their, their themselves go as far as their physical health and which has, has a tie to their mental health as well.
And they’re not, they’re not getting out, they’re not exercising, they’re not interacting with other people. They’re not doing the things that you know, you need to do in order to,
Christopher Smith: Mm-hmm.
Scott DeLuzio: you know, keep that, that mental and physical health strong. And so now what you’re, you’re doing with Warrior Strong, is, is now helping those folks and you know, probably yourself as well, you know, getting, getting out there and, and kind of forcing yourself to be in, in front of these people. And you know, going to a class doing, uh, you know, the yoga and, and the other, you know, types of you know, fitness stuff that, that you guys offer.
[00:36:00] Um, there, there’s all sorts of things now that that you guys are, are, are doing that are helping people. But they need to reach out and they need to realize that there is support out there. There’s, there’s organizations like Warrior Strong that can absolutely help them with some of this stuff. Get your ass off the couch and, and get into a, you know, a program.
That type of thing is, uh, you know, super important. So, you know, tell us a little bit more about
the, the program and kinda like what you guys do, just for the listeners who maybe aren’t super familiar with it, uh, you know, at this point. I know we talked about it in a few other episodes, but, um, you know, some people may maybe miss those episodes.
Just tell us a little bit about it.
Christopher Smith: Yeah. Well, I mean, one of the nice things about,
Um,
some of the stuff that we do is if you are the type of person that doesn’t wanna get off your couch,
we have classes for that. And I
don’t.
like fitness and yoga, I’m talking like we have meditation and breath work classes. So I mean, if you, I mean, if you have your own pathway to fitness and you just really want some like, comradery [00:37:00] and, you know, maybe some ways to de-stress, we have that. Right now we are running, oh, on top of all the VA stuff that we do. Um, I think we’re running about 18 classes a week. I, we, we have a Monday, Wednesday, Friday morning hi class high intensity interval training class. And then we have yoga classes Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday night. Tuesday, Thursday morning, we have meditation, breath work. Monday night we have meditation. Tuesday night we have meditation. Wednesday we have meditation. and soon in September we’re gonna be offering a new program. I don’t know if Tom wants me to talk about it just yet. But it’ll be Friday nights and it’s a, I mean, it’s, it’s a sponsorship that we, it’s like the first one that we’ve gotten, well, not first because we partner with like the Fisher House [00:38:00] Foundation and couple of other veterans organizations.
But this is like the first one that is specific to,
The fitness aspect of it.
Scott DeLuzio: Okay, awesome.
Christopher Smith: And. The great thing is, is like, even though we’re based in Scranton, Pennsylvania you can take our classes anywhere we do any of the personal, or I’m sorry, any of the in-person classes that we teach, they’re also taught online all of the other stuff like the meditation and the breath work, those are all online and we do it through Zoom, so you can be anywhere.
We have veterans that take hi classes from California in the morning with us and we have veterans that do meditation at night with us from Texas. And it’s a great thing because you’re gonna be able to interact with veterans in the comfort of your own home that’s what you choose to do. And we have seen friendships spark because of that, where people will make plans to meet each other at different, [00:39:00] like racing events or, every year we do a retreat, and this is the first year that we’re actually able to fly veterans from outside of Pennsylvania in for our retreat. So we have somebody coming from California, and hopefully one other person again from Texas. I keep mentioning those two because those seem to be the, we have other states that are involved.
Trust me, we have many more, but
these are just the two that top that come
to the top of my
Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Yeah. And I, I think that’s, that’s an important point too, is the virtual aspect of it because you know, again, some people. Are, you know, they’re in that isolated phase and sometimes it’s baby steps. You gotta, you gotta take, you know, one step at a time and maybe, maybe doing a virtual class is a lot easier than getting in your car and driving to a place and doing, you know, some other kind of class.
You know, so doing it virtually. Hey, cool. And, and if you know it’s too much for you, at some point you can, you can check out. You don’t, you don’t need [00:40:00] to, you know, it’s not a big deal. You don’t need to stick around for the whole thing. But, you know, hopefully you do, obviously. And, and you get the full benefit of, of the class plus the, the, like you said, the comradery and the, those connections that get made, people meeting up at different events and, and stuff that, that’s a great way to ma start making those connections, especially if you’re missing it post-military.
You’re, you know, you had your group of people that you, you served with, maybe deployed with and you want to just stick with tho that group of people. But. Obviously you guys move on and, and you go your separate ways and sometimes you’re in different parts of the country and you gotta, you gotta, life goes on.
You gotta find those, that new tribe, that new group of people. And, uh, you know, I think it is a great way because, you know, if, if you’re interested in yoga or any of these other classes that you guys are offering you know, you at least have that interest in common. Plus, you know, being a veteran. And so, you know, you have some common ground and it makes it a heck of a lot easier to start talking with somebody.
You know, if, if you’re dealing with, [00:41:00] with that common ground, right.
Christopher Smith: Yeah. And we, and one of the things that I’ve noticed is like in the different aspects of working with veterans that I’ve had, getting veterans to talk on a one-on-one kind of thing, it’s kind of hard, but getting them to talk while they’re sweating their ass off, it comes a lot more naturally. Because, I mean, if you think about it, one of the first things that kind of bonded us together, it wasn’t going overseas. It was being in that pit, Getting screamed at having to do a thousand pushups a day. And coming back to the barracks and talk about, oh man, that sucked. I can’t believe we had to, oh, that drill sergeant, blah, blah, blah. Oh,
that private over there. He screwed everything up.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Christopher Smith: It’s really the, the, the complaint sessions is where those bonds were
built.
And
Scott DeLuzio: The shared suffering.
Christopher Smith: especially in my HIIT class
Scott DeLuzio: [00:42:00] Yeah.
Yeah.
Christopher Smith: especially in my HIIT class or my Tuesday night yoga
Scott DeLuzio: Right, right.
Christopher Smith: my Tuesday night yoga class is is a power yoga. they’ll make little snide remarks or gimme side eyes because I have ’em doing like a ton of abs and they’re
like, oh my God, can we just stop doing
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. All right.
Christopher Smith: you’re here for this. This is what you signed up for.
Scott DeLuzio: That’s awesome.
Now, now what your, your background, you said, you know, when you were, you went to back to school, you got a, a, you know, degree in nutrition and, and, and that type of thing. Do you bring that, that work into the work that you’re doing now or that, that piece of, you know, your, your education and, and stuff, do you, how does that fit into what you’re doing now?
Christopher Smith: So, um, we teach a monthly nutrition class and because I’m running a bunch of different programs traditionally that was, uh, done by one of our other members who I think you’re gonna have on Jason at some point. And he was doing a really good job. Uh, but we’re kind of switching up the format a little bit. Uh, so now I’m gonna be a part of that and it’s [00:43:00] gonna be more of like a question and answer type thing. But more so because I’m a certified
Scott DeLuzio: Personal,
Christopher Smith: trainer.
I tend to
Scott DeLuzio: conversations with people.
Christopher Smith: who are looking to lose
weight,
Scott DeLuzio: Hmm,
Christopher Smith: or to eat a little bit more healthy. Decided I didn’t wanna have to pay to go take the same test that I took in order to graduate to be able to do nutrition.
’cause I just paid you
hundreds of thousands of dollars get this degree. I’m not gonna pay you
more money to take the same test
Scott DeLuzio: sure. So I can’t get like,
Christopher Smith: dietetics really gets into the, the real nitty gritty of nutrition
Like, you, like it’s used for health therapy to help alleviate disease symptoms or even get rid of some of them outright.
Through nutrition. But what I can do is I
can give healthy eating styles.
Scott DeLuzio: Sure
Christopher Smith: give you information about different types of proteins different [00:44:00] types of carbohydrates, and I can help you figure out a, like a way to manage the way you eat. And plus just having that knowledge in this area in general is helpful because the VA reports that the three things that veterans self-identify as having the biggest issues with are loneliness, obesity, and diabetes. So I’m kind of
in the perfect place where I’m supposed to
Scott DeLuzio: that’s in the sweet spot. Yeah,
Christopher Smith: of
Scott DeLuzio: exactly.
Christopher Smith: yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Well,
Christopher Smith: Go
Scott DeLuzio: yeah. Yeah. So.
I, because these are such big issues and there’s so many people who are, are dealing with all those, those issues, issues that you just mentioned. Something tells me that there’s a reason that they’re, they’re still, uh, dealing with these issues and they’re not being, you know, actively solved or, or, you know, worked on or whatever the case may be.
What’s the, for someone maybe who hasn’t been active [00:45:00] in a while maybe is isolating and, you know, that loneliness is, is a big piece in their, their in diet, nutrition, overall health and wellness. They haven’t been active in a while. Maybe they might. Feel a little bit hesitant to get involved. Maybe they, they think, Hey, everybody else is probably gonna be a stud superstar in these, these programs, and I’m gonna be walking in like a, you know, slob just getting off the couch kind of thing.
What would you say to kind of help them take that first step and, and actually get involved in some of these programs?
Christopher Smith: So my advice would be. I’m gonna come from the yoga aspect of it. Stop comparing yourself to others, That’s what’s keeping you from taking that first step, right? If you’re worried that you’re gonna go to these classes and everybody is gonna be Chris Hemsworth, trust me, if, if you’ve been to a gym lately,
there’s very few Chris Hemps worth swapping around.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Christopher Smith: But, more [00:46:00] realistically, right? There’s several stages that people go through before they come to exercise. Pre-contemplative, contemplative. I can go through and we can discuss all those different stages before they get into the actual exercise, but the simplest thing you can do is go for a walk, even if it’s just around your block, it’s around your neighborhood, when you get up and you start going for a walk, that isn’t because you have to. Go somewhere like you walking at when you’re at work or walking, you know, ’cause you have to get groceries or whatever. But a purposeful walk to get outside. Especially if you have the opportunity, if you live close to someplace where you can get a little bit of nature, even if it’s, you walk past the house that has some really nice potted plants that’s the easiest.
Right? And for those who don’t have that ability just getting outside, get outside first step, [00:47:00] outside, get that fresh air, and then find something that you enjoy. Exercise wise, I tell everybody that comes to my classes, the best exercise for you is the exercise you’re gonna do.
Scott DeLuzio: Right.
Christopher Smith: You can come to my HIIT class and absolutely hate it, but come to my yoga class and absolutely love that. Or vice versa. You can go to yoga and absolutely hate it, but, you know, come in the morning and, you know, pick
up heavy things and put ’em down and love that.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Right.
Christopher Smith: But it’s really
just take that first
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: Don’t let it hold you back. it might be a little intimidating especially if you’re not sure what your goal is.
But then once you take that first step, find somebody e even it’s a friend uh, or me, you know, and, you know, out what exercises you’re gonna do or [00:48:00] what you enjoy doing exercise wise. Of the other things that we do in our program is we provide a certification program. if you do enjoy something you can then become the expert in it, uh, and we’ll, we’ll take that responsibility on to get you certified in that. So that way you can become a personal trainer, a running coach, a yoga instructor, breathwork, meditation and that way you can then take passion to other veterans and then help out
your fellow brothers And sisters.
Scott DeLuzio: and that’s, that’s great because it, it’s that ripple effect that, you know, you, you helped yourself by, by starting. And like you said, just take that walk or, or take that next step and always just do that next thing. And then, you know, eventually you get to that point where maybe you decide, Hey, I want, I wanna do this for, you know, a, a career, you know, a job or whatever.
And you get that certification, now you’re helping other people and you’re, you’re looking at those people who are maybe [00:49:00] in the same place that you were just a short time prior. And it’s like, Hey, I, I know where you, where you were. I know what it feels like to be in your shoes. I’m here to help. And those are the people I think will, will make the biggest impact.
And so that, that’s awesome that you guys offer that, that certification or that path to certification, you know? So I, I, I think,
Christopher Smith: And we’ve seen,
Scott DeLuzio: go ahead.
Christopher Smith: well, we’ve seen it change people’s lives. We had a, a veteran that had a similar story. He was homeless. He started participating in our program, and now he’s one of our favorite our, well, our community’s favorite meditation instructors. So it’s, you know, it’s, again, coming back to that, not attachment, you know, don’t have attachment to your expected outcomes because you’re gonna be surprised when you learn to let go of preconceived ideas and fears and [00:50:00] take that first step, things change, and it will surprise you anybody how quickly your life changes just
by taking that first step.
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah, someone was, was asking me a little while ago, they, they wanted to start a podcast and they, they asked me for, you know, some advice and, and things like that. And I know this is different than what we’re talking about with, with fitness, but
I’ll get there, gimme a second, uh, to, to circle back to it.
But they, they were asking me all these questions, you know, what kind of microphone, what kind of, you know, cameras and what kind of software to record and all, all the technical details and like, what, and then they’re like, okay, what, what’s like the, the number one piece of advice that you, you’d give somebody to, uh, you know, before starting a podcast?
And I said, well, just start like that. That’s the best thing that, that you could do is just start. Look, I don’t care if you have the best equipment in the world. The first few episodes are probably not gonna be your best episodes ever. You know, you gotta learn along the way.
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: You gotta do things and make a [00:51:00] mistake here and there, and maybe, maybe you realize, hey, that wasn’t the best way to do things.
And then, then you, you, you learn and you grow and you get better. But. I know that conversation happened to be about starting a podcast, but it’s really true for just about anything, including your, your physical fitness, your mental health, your whatever that is. Take that first step, whatever it is, and just do it.
You know, not, this is not a promotion for Nike or anything, but yeah, just do it. You know?
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
It’s, it’s 100% correct. There’s, if you, if you have an idea and you sit around and you wait for somebody else to have that same
idea, you’re gonna miss
Scott DeLuzio: yep.
Christopher Smith: If you have the idea, it,
run with it.
You might
Scott DeLuzio: Mm-hmm.
Christopher Smith: So what? You
Scott DeLuzio: Yep.
Christopher Smith: right? Then you learn from that failure and then you can take those lessons that you learned through failing to improve. And that’s really, I mean, any, when you think about any type [00:52:00] of anything, right? Any endeavor that you take on, whether it be education, mental health, or fitness, you’re gonna fail at some things, and that’s okay. Failure is how we learn, it’s how we adapt and it’s how we change way we do
things in order to
have that
positive outcome
Scott DeLuzio: Right. Yeah. And we’re, we’re so like adverse to failure. Uh, I think in, in our society and our culture and everything, like we, we, we don’t want failure like that. That feels terrible. And I think part of it’s social media where you see everyone’s a game all the time and, and then you’re a little self-conscious because you go to try this thing and it doesn’t quite work out and it’s like, oh my God, everyone see me not doing it a hundred percent.
And, uh, you know, perfectly or whatever. And that, that, who cares? Like that person who posted the thing on social media, they didn’t do it perfectly the first time they did it either. And like, just
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: be okay with not being a hundred percent is I, I know it’s hard. I I have the same problem myself. Like, I, I struggle with that too, [00:53:00] but I.
I gotta constantly remind myself it’s okay that it’s not a hundred percent perfect and a hundred percent accurate and a hundred percent whatever. It’s, you gotta let go sometimes and just, just be okay with not being the best or, or with, with, even with failure. You know, think about anything that you did growing up as a kid riding a bike.
I’m pretty sure anybody who got on a bike for the very first time didn’t just start pedaling and it was like, oh wow, this is easy. You know, they, they probably fell, they probably scraped their knee. They probably, you know, cried a little bit too, and, you know, but eventually they figured it out. And I, I remember what teaching my kids how to ride a bike and, and the excitement on their faces when they finally got it.
Oh my gosh. It was amazing. You know, but they wouldn’t have had that excitement had it not been for the failures, the scraped knees, the, the, the falling off and the struggle that they, they went through.
They, they wouldn’t have been as excited. They’d just been like, oh, cool. This, this is just a thing I could do now.
Like I, I didn’t realize I could do it, but now I can. Cool. But with, with a [00:54:00] failure, they, they realized, Hey, I, I gotta put some work in. And now that I did, and I, now it’s working, I’m super stoked, but that, that this is actually working, you know?
Christopher Smith: Yeah.
Scott DeLuzio: same thing with anything, you know?
Christopher Smith: Oh yeah. Like, what was it, two years ago me and my wife were going through a little bit of a rough patch. We weren’t married yet. And I needed something to keep my mind off of everything that was going on. And and I picked up a couple of free pallets. I’m like, I’m gonna become a carpenter world class. And all the, all the stuff we had for the backyard were like those
folding Walmart chairs that you get for like sporting
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah.
Christopher Smith: And was like, well, we really need some new furniture. So I took these pallets, I mean, outside of the stuff they learned in the army, which was not building
furniture, it was knocking things
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,
Christopher Smith: And the first couple of chairs that I made were garbage. [00:55:00] They lasted for a season and later became part of the
fires, uh, that we had at night sitting
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Christopher Smith: little campfire. But that experience, those failures taught me, okay, I can’t touch this piece this way. It also led me into like looking up how to do things better and realizing that, yeah, these might have looked like garbage.
They worked, we had people had things to sit on. That sense of just doing that, making those
pieces of furniture, at
that time, I felt
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah.
Christopher Smith: accomplished
Scott DeLuzio: I was like,
Christopher Smith: my
Scott DeLuzio: have a
Christopher Smith: a place to sit and we
can all hang out together around the fire.
Scott DeLuzio: place. Yeah, yeah,
Christopher Smith: So it’s
just like you said, just do it.
Scott DeLuzio: exactly.
Christopher Smith: for
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. And, and, and figure things out.
Uh, part of the fun of, I guess, of life is figuring things out and, and, uh, you know, seeing, seeing what you’re capable of. And, you know, you, you won’t [00:56:00] ever know if you don’t try. Right. You, you’re capable of a ton of stuff that you probably haven’t even tried yet and you don’t even know.
So, so this has been I, I think this has been a great conversation. You know, hearing a little bit about your background and you know, the, the transformations that took place along the way. I think that’s. That’s a, a key component of, of your story is all these, these different changes that took place changes in mindset, changes in locations, change, changes in things that you were doing with your life and, and everything.
Just a lot of, a lot of changes. You know, if you look back at you know, 25 plus years ago or whatever it was, you know, at that time point, uh, when you, you first joined the military you probably wouldn’t have expected that all of these things would’ve happened along the way, but by being open to these changes that you allowed them to happen
and, you know, look at where you’re now and you’re, you’re out there, you’re helping other folks and, and you’re doing, doing a lot of great stuff.
So,
Before we, we wrap up though
Christopher Smith: I didn’t
Scott DeLuzio: Oh, oh, [00:57:00] go ahead.
Christopher Smith: was gonna I honestly didn’t think I was gonna make it to
the age of 25. You
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Sure.
Christopher Smith: You
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah. Yeah. Especially,
especially, uh, realizing, you know, in basic training that you’re, you’re doing a lot more than what you originally thought you’d be doing. You’re, you’re gonna be asked to do a lot more. So, yeah, that’s, that’s, that’s a lot. Before we wrap up though for folks who are interested in finding out a little bit about Warrior Strong you know, where they can go to support you know, either financially or get involved themselves as far as, you know, some of the programs where, where can they go to find more information and, and find out, find out more about the programs?
Christopher Smith: Yeah. Well, if you’re in the Scranton Wilkes Bury area, you can come to three 11 Adams Avenue and downtown Scranton, we have a studio. You can’t miss it. It says Warrior Strong right on the window. Come down. Talk to me. If you’re not in the area and you’re, you know, [00:58:00] one of the far-flung places around the globe, uh, you can find us at Warrior strong inc dot com.
You can come to our website, you can email me at [email protected]. and you can find us on, both the Apple and Android app stores. Our app, we have an app. It’s a hundred percent free. It will give you connections and the ability to RSVP to our classes. It also has some prerecorded classes on there.
So you liked what we were talking about here today, but you’re still not sure you’re in that pre-contemplative stage, the website, check it out, download the app, see the videos that we have,
do a couple of the online classes,
Scott DeLuzio: And then join.
Christopher Smith: us,
For the classes that you
Scott DeLuzio: Sure. Yeah. And that, that’s a great way to do it too, because you can kind of do it at your own pace and, and see what you like, what you, what you maybe don’t like. And before you, you just kind of dive in and, and get involved with, with a class. You [00:59:00] can, you can start doing things that way. And I think that’s, that’s a awesome thing too.
One one correction. I just want to make sure for the listeners, I, I, I think the website is it, uh, dot com or.org? I, I, I thought Okay.
Christopher Smith: My,
Scott DeLuzio: Yep. Okay. That’s fine.
Christopher Smith: just so used to.com,
Scott DeLuzio: No, I know I, a lot of people are. I just wanna make that, that clarification there. But for the listeners that link’s gonna be in the show notes anyway, so you don’t have to worry too much about that.
Just
Christopher Smith: Mm-hmm.
Scott DeLuzio: away and you’ll, you’ll find the link. But, but man, Chris, this has been a, uh, great conversation. I really do appreciate, uh, not only all the work, uh, that you’re doing, but I appreciate you coming on the show and sharing, you know, your, your background, your story, and you know, everything that you do.
Thank, thank you
Christopher Smith: you and thank you. Thank you again for having us on
Scott DeLuzio: for
Christopher Smith: supporting us. Um, I know you’ve done a couple of other episodes. Look forward to hearing them when they come
out. And
Scott DeLuzio: mentioned.
Christopher Smith: I know this one you said isn’t gonna come out to September but we have a new
program that we’re gonna be starting September, so check
Scott DeLuzio: Yeah,
Christopher Smith: It’s really exciting. It’s and if [01:00:00] you’re contemplating,
check us out. Go for a
Scott DeLuzio: sure.
Christopher Smith: take a couple deep breaths that the eyes fall heavy
and just be in the moment.
Scott DeLuzio: Great advice. And, uh, yeah, we’ll, we’ll have, we’ll have those links and, and people can, can check it out there. So, thanks again Chris. Really appreciate it.
Christopher Smith: You are very welcome. Thank you.