Childhood in the Wilderness

• 🌲 Grew up in remote areas of Northern California and Eastern Oregon, living in tree forts, tents, or condemned homes with limited amenities.
• 🐍 Learned survival skills from a young age, including handling rattlesnakes, as taught by his stepfather.
• 🏞️ Experienced a harsh upbringing with parents who sought to live outside societal norms, leading to challenges with basic necessities and safety.

Navigating Trauma and Adversity

• 🔥 Witnessed extreme hardship, including his mother hitchhiking in a dump truck to give birth and a house fire that claimed a friend's entire family, leading to a year of selective mutism.
• 🚔 Faced the trauma of his mother being arrested and his siblings being placed in foster care due to drug-related charges, uncovering a child sex ring involving law enforcement.
• 👨‍👧‍👦 Eventually reunited with his siblings and was later taken into custody by him to provide stability after his stepfather's decline.

Resilience and Personal Growth

• 📚 Despite a difficult childhood, achieved academic and athletic success, earning a full scholarship for an engineering degree.
• 💪 Became a world-record-holding powerlifter, achieving the unique feat of squatting and deadlifting over 1000 lbs for multiple repetitions.
• 🚀 Transitioned from a corporate career to founding Kabuki Strength, focusing on biomechanically sound equipment and education to help others overcome pain and improve quality of life.

Core Philosophy and Advice

• 💡 Emphasizes the importance of resilience in body, mind, and soul, comparing it to a tree needing wind to grow strong roots.
• 🧭 Advises finding one's north star and underlying values rather than chasing societal expectations or material possessions.
• ❤️ Encourages introspection and self-acceptance, advocating for authenticity and genuine connection over superficial appearances.
• 🗣️ Shares advice for his 16-year-old self to embrace introspection and define personal values to avoid the toll of wearing multiple masks.