Sex, Love, and What Else Matters - Jonathan Chia: The Reality Center

Episode Date: November 22, 2024

Episode 137: This week, Kristen and Luke are joined by Jonathan Chia, an inspiring entrepreneur, Army Combat Veteran, philanthropist, director, producer, and co-founder of The Reality Center. Jonathan shares his incredible journey, from the challenges that led him to enlist in the military to his deployment to Iraq in 2007, and the founding of The Reality Center. “The mission of Reality Center is to provide technology that facilitates positive change for humanity. Our vision is for everyone in the world to have access to tools which improve their mental, physical and spiritual wellness.” Learn more. Tune in to hear how The Reality Center is making a profound impact, particularly within the veteran community, and how its influence has extended to law enforcement and beyond. You won't want to miss this powerful conversation!   Sponsors: Head to Viiahemp.com and use the code DOUTE to receive 15% off + one free sample of their sleepy Dreams gummies. (21+). If you want to upgrade your shave, head to Manscaped.com. Use the code DOUTE for 20% off and free shipping on The ChairmanTM Pro Package. That’s 20% off and free shipping at Manscaped.com with the code DOUTE.   Follow us: @kristendoute @luke__broderick Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The epic return of Yellowstone is now streaming exclusively on Paramount+. You destroy me, you destroy yourself. Unlike you, I keep my promises. The wait is over. Yellowstone, new episodes now streaming exclusively on Paramount+. Interior Chinatown is an all-new series based on the best-selling novel by Charles Yu about a struggling Asian actor who gets a bigger part than he expected when he witnesses a crime in Chinatown. Now streaming only on Disney Plus. You know what's great about Ambition? You can't see it. Some things look ambitious,

but looks can be deceiving. For example, a runner could be training for a marathon, or they could be late for the bus. You never know. Ambition is on the inside. So that goal to be the ultimate soccer parent? Keep chasing it. Drive your ambition. Mitsubishi Motors. What's up, angels? Welcome back to another episode of Balancing Act. And we have a guest today.

We have a great guest today. We have an amazing guest today that I cannot wait for you guys to meet. We have our very good, I was going to say shit. I was going say shit. I was gonna say new good friend and that doesn't really, it sounds like you're just now kind of my, I don't know. Guys, this is our friend, Jonathan Chia. Hi Jonathan, hi Chia.

What's going on guys? I never know what to call you. I call you John sometimes. Sometimes I say Jonathan when I introduce you to people, but then I call you Chia behind your back, not when you're not with me. Yeah, I was introduced to you as Chia, so I call you Chia. I think my closest friends call me Chia behind your back, not when you're not with me. Yeah, I was introduced to you as Chia. So I call you Chia.

I think my closest friends call me Chia a lot. Okay, so Jonathan Chia is someone that Luke and I met this year in 2024. That's why I say a newer friend to us, that we have become closer to and are like hanging out with with your family. And it's like so fun to meet new adult friends. Like I really love that.

So before Jonathan just tells you all about himself, I'm just going to break it down into some things that sort of represent who you are. You're an entrepreneur, philanthropist, Army combat veteran, director, producer, dad, husband, co-founder of the Reality Center here in Los Angeles in Santa Monica, California. And you are an AAGG. You are an all around good guy. Oh, thank you. I try to be.

You're a fucking homie, dude. And you're super cool, but you're like, you make being like a good person like rad. Like I feel like younger dudes that could hang out with you would be like, he looks so cool and he's so tough, but like he's so gentle and so kind. It took a long time to be in the dark and working in the dark to sort of work in the light now.

I love that. Fuck yeah, dude. I know, dude, you've got some great stories. You've told me so many stories. I can't wait for our listeners to hear them. I mean, you've lived quite the crazy life. You kind of left out, I don't know if that's in your bio, but you used to fight MMA as well. And that, that's correct. You're right, I did forget that. In a very past lifetime.

Very past lifetime. And you're still a youngin. You're still a young spring chicken. Well, Luke and I met you, so our listeners know. We met you at the Reality Center, which I will let you go into and explain our listeners know, we met you at the Reality Center, which I will let you go into and explain. You are the co-founder of the Reality Center, which is, I didn't know a whole lot about it.

Luke and Chia have a mutual friend, a very good friend, guy friend of theirs, Jeff, who has been on our podcast. Shout out to Jeff for introducing us. Jeff Perkins. And I kind of was like, okay, so you're kind of tripping, but it's like for some people with PTSD, it helps them. And I just got all this different information and I knew I just had to like experience it for myself.

So Luke and I went on a double date with our friends, Danny and Nia, and we went to the fucking reality center. So anyway, we'll get into the reality center, but I just want you to tell people about you. Like you're a Midwest boy as we are. So I think that's also why we're five. Tri-state right here, baby.

Yeah. Represent. So yeah, we have Michigan, Indiana, and Ohio in the house. Yes. So you grew up in Cincinnati, near Cincinnati. Yeah, Cincinnati, Ohio, did what a lot of people did in the Midwest, went to Catholic grade school, went to Catholic high school,

played all the sports competitively, then left high school early on, probably senior year when it really wasn't resonating with me, and started in sales. And I started selling cell phones before it was actually really a thing. And I was working inside of Sam's Club at the time. And I remember working at this kiosk booth and they started sort of training me to sell cell phones. And it was right when the Elva Lucent cell phones were turning into cool cell phones.

It was like the StarTac, if you ever remember that cell phone that folded in half was like the first cool flip phone. Like before Nokia? I don't because you know. Way before Nokia, I'm a little bit older than you guys. I'm still a baby over here. And it was just old people during the day walking through Sam's Club.

And my approach was there was a $25 a month plan. And I said, what happens if your car breaks down? You can just put the cell phone in your glove compartment and pay 25 bucks a month. And how they built the pay plans back in the day, they weren't used to the market blowing up like it did at the time, because I remember when it used to be air-touch cellular,

then one day they sent me a bunch of stuff, they're like, somebody bought out our company, it's now called Verizon. Wow. No, shit. Yeah, I was in the cell phone booth changing it to Verizon when it first became Verizon, and how the pay plans were built,

they were like, if you sell 30 cell phones, you get a thousand dollar bonus, 40 cell phones, and so far up. And so I was just on this plan where I was selling this $25 plan to every single old person to walk through there during the day. In my first month, quitting high school in senior year, I was wearing a suit every day,

trying to be a proper gentleman and be in a corporate job. And I sold 120 cell phones that first month. I made probably like $10,000 that first month. I bought myself a- $10,000. What year is that? I don't mean age you, but I wanna know what that equates to in these.

This is in 98. 98, okay. And so I went out and bought a Pearl White Infinity J30. If you look up that vehicle, it was a very amazing vehicle at the time, and especially for a 17-year-old that just dropped out of high school. And that really started me on my sort of sales journey.

It was not a broke down tempo, okay? No, my first car I bought for $1,000, it was a gray Saturn. It had a sunroof and was amazing. All right, all right. Pontiac Sunfire. My first two cars, I crashed them both. So after that, how long before you joined the military?

So pretty much going into the sales world, quitting high school early, that led to a lot of, you know, making a lot of money and living that fast life led to a lot of alcoholic stuff, drug use, just doing frivolous things. And when I turned 18, right when my, I didn't go on senior trip because I didn't graduate from high school. So all of my friends had graduated from LaSalle and Macaulay. They went on senior trip and on the way back,

we were all, when you go to your friend's houses and you all visit the friend's houses throughout the day, then you go to the big party at nighttime. Totally. Well, we all split up in two cars and we were going to Indiana, crossing the Ohio border. And you know, everything was illegal in Indiana. You couldn't smoke weed there.

Everything still is illegal in Indiana. Yes. And so we crossed over the border. We just got to the campsite that was on like the water right there, I forget, like in Lexington or something like that. That's Kentucky side. But yeah, I know the Tri-State area you're talking about. Yeah, and in Brighton, Indiana.

And one of the cars just didn't make it. And four of our best friends died in a car wreck. Oh shit. Wow. Yep, like one of the nights we were partying for our senior trip. And the driver survived, Eric Giordano. Then the passenger died,

the three guys in the back flew out hundreds of feet behind. One of them survived for a little bit. There was like literally got drafted by Michigan to play football or Michigan State, I forget which one it is, to play football, David Kaiser, and he lived for about like, maybe like a year later, you know, and like, pretty much almost. Was it, sorry, not to be like insensitive, was it like intox like a year later, you know, and like, pretty much almost... Sorry, not to be like insensitive, just was it like intoxicated driving or just there was just an accident?

Yeah, so basically, and then we might have a few drinks at our parents' house, you know, and if you remember the old Acura Integra's, it was like a hatchback. Yes, it was a red Acura Integra with a hatchback, like sort of five-door, three people in the back, two people in the front, and they missed the turn around and they went to go turn around on a double yellow line single byway, and you know, there's a lot of tractor trailers that go fast. Well, they had their left turn signal on to turn left into the driveway. The tractor trailer went on across the double-sided yellow line and tried to pass them on the left as they were turning and hit them.

And you know in Indiana a lot of people know each other. So the driver of the semi knew the sheriff. And so there was like probably 50 of us parting on this piece of land with like a trailer on it. He came back about like at three o'clock in the morning after we heard all of our friends die and we're all crying on the side of the river. And he arrested everybody.

What? He breathalysed everybody, then they arrested everybody. I was on a bunch of extracurriculars that night, so I wasn't really drinking. So I didn't get arrested. And I finally make it to, they all got air care at different hospitals, like all different ones.

So we all like split up soon as they let us leave in the morning. I went and watched the priest give the last rites to one of my buddies that died shortly after that, Brad Rantz. And so I was very, very traumatic at that time. And so that spawned. For sure. I mean, traumatic for anyone, but especially a kid. Yeah. And so that spawned a lot of just not doing the right thing.

And about 30 days later, my son was born, Dominic. Wow. Wow. And so I was going through one of the worst times of my life, smashed with what was supposed to be one of the best times of my life, me having this child. But I turned 18 a couple days before he was born. Wow. And this really big impactful thing happened to me right at the same time.

Wow. So from there, I mean, after that, I'm sure there was some, I guess, I don't know, some time where you're looking inward and ultimately you decided the military was the direction for you to go? Yeah. And at the same time, when I needed like a lot of help as a child and a young man, like my mom was a single mom. I went to my dad's on the weekends. My dad was a immigrant from Peru, you know, and so my mom dealt with being a single mom, you know, battling alcoholism her whole life, and she was dealing with her own demons and issues,

and you know, that led me deeper down the rabbit hole to try to bury that a little bit, so I went deeper down the rabbit hole, and I was really good at sales, like I said, and so I went on the road, met some guys that took me under their wing and I went on the basically went on the road selling, being an automotive consultant, moving into these dealerships, doing these super sales with these guys with three piece suits, going out with them, learning what sushi was for the first time, driving really nice cars from the dealership. But I was like really

young. And so I grew up really fast. But those couple of years, it was life from the dealership, but I was like really young, so I grew up really fast. But those couple years, it was life in the fast lane, dating girls in each city, learning to take girls out on dates, driving different cars, getting our stuff dry cleaned, paying off all the local people. You're young and you're learning from the schmooziest of them all.

Exactly. And at the same time, I didn't know how to like yield that power, right? I was like good at one thing, but I was just like completely fucking up my life, spending too much money, draining bank accounts, doing just things I shouldn't be doing.

Not being- You're ready to have your ass whipped into shape. Not being a good father, not being a good partner. You're right in the eye. Just being absent. Whether if I was still there, I was just like gone in my mind.

And it took a long time. And about 24, I was either go gone in my mind and, you know, it took a long time. And about 24, I was either go to jail, die, or go into the military and try to do something. And so that's when I had some mentors in my life that were in the military. Nobody in my family was in the military, so I didn't know much about it. I didn't know anything about it. Can I ask you just something about like your personality or kind of the way you were around that age before you went into the military. Were you, because this is either like a hard yes

or a total hard no and I don't know which one, were you like insubordinate at all? Were you like against, you know, anyone who was in like an authoritative position other than- Screw the man. That kind of thing. Well, because I'm always so curious going into the military

because you just fucking can't be, or you can choose to be and it's not gonna go well for you and then you learn really quickly, you know what I mean? So I'm always just curious, like, do you just know to stop being like that before you start? I think when your parents are divorced and you're the man of the house, like when she brings boyfriends around,

you're like, I was a little rapper gangster kid that grew up in the 90s, listened to Tupac and Biggie. And I was like, if you fuck with my mom, I'm gonna go out and brick your car and brick your house and like maybe burn this shit down. Like that's how my mentality was. It was very like angry in the 90s. How were you with your superiors when you first joined?

Like you were in like PT. There was coaches that loved me and understood me and understood where I come from. And I think those are the ones I gravitated towards. But there's the ones that saw me as like this insubordinate little asshole that were like, fuck this kid. Like we're gonna get them off the team.

We're not gonna play them. And I think I dealt with that. And I didn't have somebody like on the sidelines, like shut the fuck up. Like this is how it needs to be and you need to play the game a little bit if you want to get played. And so I think I need a little bit higher level

of direction at the time and I would be able to like yield my power a little bit better. You've lived a lot of lives. All right, my friends, listen up because I'm about to let you in on my new secret weapon for getting you through the holiday season. VIA hemp.

Let's be real, holidays can get intense. Non-stop gatherings, shopping, you name it. But VIA's products are seriously a game changer. They've got these killer THC and THC-free gummies that keep you calm and balanced no matter what's going on. So whether I'm hanging at home or dealing with holiday crowds, VIA has been perfect for keeping my cool. VIA is the real deal.

They're known for their high quality hemp, all grown on independent American farms, plus no sketchy stuff. Everything is lab tested, pesticide free, and it shows. I've been loving their THCA flower. It's got this awesome natural flavor and is perfect for kicking back. They even have a full lineup for whatever vibe you're going for. Zero THC if that's your thing, or stronger stuff if you want more potent effects. And here's the

best part, they deliver nearly everywhere. Straight to your door, no medical card needed, indiscreet packaging. So if you're 21 and up, treat yourself to a little holidays in. This holiday season, gift yourself some peace of mind. If you're 21 plus, head to Viahemp.com and use code Doty to receive 15% off. That's V-I-I-A-HEMP.com and use code Doty at checkout. Please support our show and tell them we sent you. This holiday season, enhance your everyday with Viah. Hey ladies, this episode is brought to you by Manscaped. And yes, I know what you're thinking, but trust me, this one is for us. So if you're looking for the perfect gift for your guy this holiday season, you have got to hear about the new Chairman Pro package.

It has got everything he needs to feel like he just stepped out of the barbershop, but from the comfort of his own bathroom. Okay, let me tell you about the setup. The Chairman Pro electric foil shaver is the star of the show here. It comes with two different SkinSafe blade heads, one for that super close smooth shave and one for the rugged five o'clock shadow vibe. You know what I'm saying. And because of the Flex Adjust Tech, this thing adapts to every contour of his face,

which means no missed spots and way fewer nicks. There's even a precision lock on the side so he can get an even closer shave, you know, if he's into that detailed grooming. Oh, and it's waterproof. That's right. He can shave in the shower if he's rushing out the door and cleaning it is a breeze. That is for us. He just rinses and goes.

It also has up to 75 minutes of runtime on one charge, an LED spotlight for accuracy and even a travel lock. So it is perfect if he's heading out of town. But wait, there's more. The package also comes with the Power Shave Gel, which is gentle on the skin, loaded with soothing ingredients, and perfect for sensitive skin. Plus the face shave soother aftershave serum. To keep his skin smooth, hydrated, and free from irritation, it's basically the ultimate self-care gift for him, but one you will enjoy too. So if you want

to give him something he'll actually use every day, check out the Chairman Pro Package at manscaped.com. Use code Doty to get 20% off and free shipping. That's 20% off with free shipping when you use code Doty at manscaped.com. He is going to love this one, trust me. In grade school, when I went to Catholic grade school, I was the kid with a partition around his desk, like a six foot partition around his desk, like

a six foot partition around my desk up near the, so I couldn't talk to girls or throw things or do kind of stuff. Yeah, you were the troublemaker. I was the dentist and menace, for sure. Okay. Dude, I want to hear how this went. I was basic. Fuck, man.

I was 24 going into the military, so when I was in basic, it was 17 year olds, 18 year olds, 19 year olds, 20 year olds at the most. I was one of the oldest going in there. And so they always looked at me to like to be a leader and I just wanted to like be nobody and be not seen and just say yes sir, no sir. I understood that if you caused friction in there

that life was gonna be a lot worse for you. And so I just went in there trying to run the fastest as possible. But when you go in there at 24 and you're a little bit away from high school sports, you can't run like these young kids. They were running like fucking Giselles. And there was A, B, C, and D group.

D group is most of the fat kids that had to get picked up on the golf carts. Yeah. C, maybe a little bit older that was running slow, then A train, just fucking cross country runners that were fucking gone. Straight out of high school, yeah. So when I first started, you know, you go out in the dark,

it was really cold, I think it was in, I don't know, I started basic in the winter in Georgia, because that's where the infantry train's at. And you go out in t-shirt and shorts in the middle of the winter, the water's frozen, and they say the first time you're walking two and two, and they say double time, and you fucking take off for the first time,

and you're like, oh fuck, I cannot run this fast. And me at 24, I was like sucking wind for the first couple of weeks. And finally, like, I just got it. And it just like, that shed from me started moving up in the B group, A group, then like where I was pulling the group out in front. And I just, you know, I was in a really dark place

before I went in and this was my chance to reset. And I didn't mess it up. And I took it really seriously. And I went in and this was my chance to reset and I didn't mess it up and I took it really seriously and I was older. I've had life experiences before I went in there and so I was able to communicate. You had a son. Had a son, yeah, he was like six, six-episode. That makes you grow up a little quickly too.

Yeah, Dominic was six years old at the time when I left to go to basic training in Georgia. That is wild. How long were you in the military? So around like four years or something like that. One enlistment. Yeah, that was enough for me. Basic training was about when you're in the infantry,

you're down in Georgia for like four months. Wait, really quickly, and I haven't said this yet, obviously you know, and this is from all of our listeners, thank you for your service. Thank you for your service. I have a mad, wild, like heart, the deepest part of my heart, respect, and admiration for anyone. Thank you.

And that respect will continue to grow as we hear what this guy's done. So continue. Thank you, thank you. And so one day in basic training at the end, they basically give you your duty station, and they're reading everybody out. They're like, you know, this place, this place.

And they were like, Washington, Chia. I was like, all right, Washington, DC, doesn't sound too bad. They're like, no, Washington state. I'm like, where is that? And next thing you know, before you leave, you're in your hometown, like drinking every piece of alcohol, eating every bit of food

for your can parking. You just got your bonus. So you're like buying your family everything. You're like grilling out and you're completely wasted up until that second you leave. And so I threw up in the bathroom on the way to basic training, like all over like myself. And so I show up at basic training,

which is like the in-processing part. You're just like with this ragtag group, like girls, guys, everybody in there. You're not with your inventory unit yet. And I'm just trying to figure out what the fuck is going on. I'm like hung over shit, just trying to find some water. And if you've ever been to Washington state, it's cloudy most of the time,

but on the seventh day, there was this clear day and I saw Mount Rainier for the first time. It is the biggest thing that you've ever seen when it's on a perfectly clear day and it was the most beautiful thing I ever saw. And a couple weeks after that, after you're in process, you sort of go to your unit, they pick you out where you're going to go. I got landed with my first infantry unit, which is 223 Infantry, Second Infantry Division. And we pretty much got slated to go to Iraq within a year or two.

Wow. A year. It was during Bush times when the first sort of surge was in 2003, then the second one was in 06 to 07. And I remember sitting in the quad and the gymnasium watching a little TV with all the unit like 200 dudes. And Bush was like, we're going to send five more battalions to go and crush Al-Qaeda. And it was like, we just won the Super Bowl.

It was like an eruption of us going to Iraq. Because when you're a ramped up infantry guy and you're all beefed up and you're taking the creatine and steroids and all the stuff that you're doing, you're ready to go. You're about 35 more pounds than every other human being in America. And you have this camaraderie that's been brewing for a long time. You've been training for a year to go and kill, close with and destroy the enemy and you're ready to go.

And as young kids, we were ready to defend our country. What we thought was defending our country at least. Right. And within like another year we get deployed. So we get over into Iraq and I think May or June of 2007. Wow. Wow, okay. Shit.

And your family, this is like a side military question, but was anyone in your family allowed to know where you were? Like did your mom know where you were or was it? Because of what's called OPSEC and us being infantry people out in like little J-Cops. Yeah. On these little bases. Yeah, exactly. We couldn't tell them too, too much.

We can say we're in Baghdad. They knew we were going in Baghdad, but they didn't know what specifically where we were at. They could mail us stuff, but we had to like burn and destroy all of our information. So no like, you know, al-Qaeda or whoever the enemy was named at the time could like grab our mail and like threaten our family.

So we'd like burn and shred all of it. So we were very protective of all that stuff when we got stuff. That is just like incredible to hear firsthand. And so, okay, so you get there. Obviously you were in combat. You saw some shit that you probably wish most people never see in their lives.

Yeah, within the first 30 days, one of my buddies, they were on a mission, I think it was Bravo Company, and they took what's called a deep buried IED under our strikers, which is like a tank with wheels. It's like the modern combat vehicle that could get around a little bit faster and a little bit more quiet than like,

say like an Abrams or a tank or something, like going through a neighborhood, you know it's coming. And we were light infantry, considered light infantry, but we were in a vehicle and they took a deep buried IED, which is they would throw tires in the street, burn it, melt the asphalt, then they would dig up the asphalt, put munitions in it, run a copper wire,

and inside of our vehicles, the Navy built us what's called a Duke system because they used to remote detonate the bombs Under us and they could be really far away But they built this Duke system that when we drive those like put out electrical impulse it like shut out any cell phones So they had to manually detonate anything and when if something blew up that we know it was manually detonated So we drop ramp and look for that person instantly and so they took a

Deep buried ID blew half of the striker off, and they were like in a tank, like a steel fucking $2 million thing that you think not much would happen to it, but took the whole back of the striker off. He was standing in the back as the rear air guard, you know, with either a 240 gun, and it basically took his whole legs off,

shot him to the back of it, shot him up on the screen, landed on top of it. Then they tried to, basically tried to Casavac them to the green zone, which is about 11 miles away. And when you're trying to drive faster, all these different battle zones,

like you're not really clearing them. And so you are in imminent danger of something blowing up or shooting you at a checkpoint. And by the time we got to the green zone, I was rolling with the command, with the Sergeant Major and the Commander. By the time we got there, he died. And so within 30 days in, the first guy died in our unit.

And that was like the start of like really, really dark, long 15 months. Yeah, that sounds like it. I mean, I can't imagine. Military was an option for me coming out of school or coming out of high school. I took the ASVAB and everything, but I think a lot of growth comes from that,

but there's also a lot of trauma, obviously. And you've taken that and created something really incredible that helps a lot of people. Yeah, it's led me to what my life has worked today. And you guys have been to the Reality Center and our tech company, Reality Management Technologies, that builds all the technology that is going into all these projects.

And we're really proud of what we're doing. So if you wouldn't mind just telling everyone as much as you can tell someone about the reality center and like how it was developed and why. And because I've obviously experienced it, but I'm gonna say something really fucking weird. To me, it's like I dated this person who like loved Burning Man and I would be like, what's Burning Man like?

And he's like, explaining Burning Man to someone who's never been, it's impossible. And that's what I feel like for me, how to explain the reality center. I'm like, oh my God, let me tell you what my experience was like, holy shit. But like, it's the uses and what someone can get out of being there and visiting there and going there often.

It's such a giant range of ways that it can help heal. So I would like to know how, how did you just, how were you so smart, so with it to be like, suffer from PTSD, there's a way with this technology, we can help people like me and other people. Start us at inception. Yeah, yeah, I'll, then this all goes back to some experiences that led me to knowing

that these experiences could be these healing things just like maybe like taking a pill or talking to a psychologist. And so in 2013, 14, 15, I can't remember what year, one of my buddies, Eric Rogers, was on the machine gun, fellow machine gun team. He was on the weapons squad with me. And he was a fucking crazy ass hillbilly, raised tons of horses, had a liger. He would like tell us, imagine if one of your guys, imagine if one of the guys you were in Iraq with

like just tells you one day like, yeah, I got a liger. So you're like, bro, you ain't got a fucking liger, bro. Sure enough, like you get out and this dude does have like hundreds of horses and a fucking liger and a bear and all this like crazy stuff. Did he live in Oklahoma? No, he lived in like, I think it was- Florida?

It was like somewhere in like Nashville or something like that or upper Ohio. I forget what it is. Eric, I'm sorry if I forget, but I think it was in Ohio actually. And then to come to find out, he actually has all this stuff. And so one day on his Instagram, I saw him at this filming at this,

you know, because I got out and used my GI bill to become a director and a photographer. So I was really into everything at the time. Anybody was filming anything. I'm like, what's up? Let's get let's get into this shit. Like, let me let me be out there, you know, filming. And this is like before it was cool. And it was like an Internet. The Internet didn't have things that you put.

Yeah. You didn't put things on camera and then put it on the Internet. Instagram didn't exist. It's phones. There was there. It was BlackBerry's and they like the it looked crappy. So there wasn't like cinematography with phones at the time. Not everybody was a photographer and a cinematographer at the time. I was going to school paying $50,000 a year to learn how to work an 8x10 old school camera. And I'm like, yo, this digital era is what's going to happen.

So he was like, I'm working with this nonprofit called War Horses for Veterans where it's an equestrian therapy program. And we're like, oh, and long story short, they connected us, they fly us out there. They put us up in the Double Tree Hotel, give us a nice gift bag, ask who we want to meet from our unit. And I haven't seen my guys in like a decade.

Fly the other guys in, we bro the fuck out. We get super wasted. We go to all the local bars, probably try to fight everybody in there. The next day we had to be in the barn at 6 a.m. to start the equestrian program. And I think after all my whole unit went through there, they stopped like two beers is the limit.

And so the next morning you go to pet the horses and you walk them up to the round pin and you start going around the round pin and then you basically get up on the horse and you're like riding these fucking amazing horses. And I saw some of my unit guys that were very apprehensive to do it. Then by the end, like I saw one of the guys shed a tear

and get up on this horse and saw how powerful this community mixed with this really healing experience transformation was. And I think that's what really opened our eyes to that there's something else going on and there's something else that's here that we can do these really cool experiences, involve our, get our community together

that ultimately can be way more healing than taking a pill or talking to a psychologist for a long time or not talking any smack about having to take some pharmacology or talk to a psychologist. I talk to psychologists all the time. Right, same, but I think it's amazing to know that there's another option.

Or in addition, there's that option to do something. A lot of people don't want to take pills. And a lot of people, in my personal experience, especially someone like my brother, or people that my brother was friends with, they had addiction issues too, coming out of the military, going through what they went through or even before the military or later on in life.

And if you have addiction issues, the last thing you want is a fucking pill or someone to be shoving a pill down your throat or at you. So it's amazing to be able to have a different outlet that they want to do, that they're excited about. Cheers to that. to be able to have a different outlet that they want to do, that they're excited about. Cheers to that. And so I just saw the powerful transformation

that this nonprofit and this equestrian healing experience at War Horses did with our unit. It really did something amazing and God bless the people over there. They're so amazing and been so supportive over the years. And then we just started going down the rabbit hole. So that, you know, going through that experience really opened our eyes that there might be some other experiences out there that are very similar.

And so we started me and my partner, Tarun, who you met, he was already doing like a Reiki master. He was creating all these healing events. And and really at the time when I got out, I was really guarded. I was very conservative. I grew up in Ohio, all my family voted for Bush and people like that. I wasn't really open to certain things.

Even at the time, like how I spoke, right? I would be, I thought Tarun was going to like, he would be going to the West side, doing these healing events. And I thought he was doing like maybe yoga or something like that. And maybe he was doing some other stuff. And I was like, doing like maybe yoga or something like that. And maybe he was doing some other stuff and I was like, Oh, are you going to do like these, you know, these little wimpy yoga?

Little spiritual wellness retreats. I made fun of it a lot because I didn't know about it. I wasn't in that world. And so I just like sort of pushed away from it until one time I had some like, I've like really bad back sciatica problems from carrying a machine gun, too much weight. And he's like, you know, lay down, man. And he pulled up my shirt. And like within like moments, my back started like burning, like a heating pad was on it.

And I turned around and looked up at him. I'm like, are you fucking touching me, man? And he's like, I saw his hands like two feet above me. And so he had his hands two feet above me, burning my back like a thing. And he was doing Reiki on me. Oh, no shit. Like just instantly.

Have you ever had Reiki done? It didn't work like that on me. I didn't have that kind of experience. Oh no, Tarun's a fucking... Shout out to Tarun, he's a fucking Jedi. You know, it's like having Yoda. Okay, I need to apprentice with Tarun. It's in my blood. The Force is strong with this one.

Yeah. And so that was another thing that triggered me and opened my eyes that I was like, oh my God, there's some other magic maybe going on that I'm blocking out by denying it or making fun of it and not letting it, not experiencing it and just seeing if something can happen. And I think that's another thing, that second step, that really triggered and opened up my eyes.

Then I think the third and final one, then in the time me and Tarun were working on a creative agency, we had, in production company, we had tons of clients, but a lot of our work started gravitating towards transformational products, healing, wellness, beauty, stuff like that. That was our world. We didn't want to be selling gasoline or things that hurt people or whatever it was,

things that were hurting the environment. And so we really started leaning into that. Then when a lot of our friends started killing ourselves, and two of my best friends died with one year of being back from Iraq, a lot of our stories started gravitating towards that world. And so we started pointing to our cameras, interviewing people, actually experiencing all these different wellness adventures from hiking with psychedelics, shout out to Colin from Veterans Walk and Talk, to golf with meditation, with Vets Hole in One Golf, to all these different experiences

that were out there that are available for veterans these days through a lot of these nonprofits that are especially providing them free where we don't have to pay for them and that's really the main thing. If you have to pay for them maybe people might be apprehensive and maybe not experience them so everything we do is gravitating towards everything when being 100 free to the veterans so we can just call them be like, yo what's up you want to come on this adventure with us? Let's go. That's amazing. That's badass. Yeah. Well, I'm curious, cause it's like the,

can you kind of explain what Reality Center is? Yeah, yeah, sorry, sorry. I haven't answered your question yet. We're like all on the back end of it, like we've been there. Yes, yes, yes. It's so unique. It's such a different type of experience.

There are no drugs involved. This is all sound and lights. And it is based on the tones of your voice. So I can't speak intelligently beyond that on it, so take it away. That's a pretty good explanation, Luke. So to answer your question, what the Reality Center is, the Reality Center is in Santa Monica on Second Street, and it's a sensory wellness center and a digital psychedelic lab. And we've invented a way to experience a deep psychedelic

experience or a deep meditation experience without having to take anything without any practice. And so you come in, you lay on one of our surfaces, either the wave table or one of our massage tables, all the surfaces vibrate from under, they have transducers in them, and it's synchronized with light and sound. And so LED lights go over your face, headphones go on, and all the light, sound, and vibration is synchronized to specific frequencies and specific sounds. Our reality managers are on the other side, basically neuro-DJing your sessions, picking out the music, the frequencies, the light and the vibration. And it's able to force you into this deep meditative state, some people say a psychedelic state without having to take anything or without having to practice for a very long time on meditation. And within 10 minutes, we drop you into, we sort of meet you where you're at as you walk

in. The beginning is a little bit intense and you're like, what the fuck is going on? And after that first 10 minutes, your body and your nervous system realizes it's not gonna win and just gives out of the way. Then we drop you into theta, theta brainwave state. And that's a dreamlike state, but you're awake. And so you're suspended in this awake lucid dream

and you're able to experience a lot of things in your life. Some people say they experience this movie reel of their life or they saw all their bullies in front of them that ever been mean to them or they saw somebody that their dad they crossed over on the other side or they just felt a piece of calm for once and it's different for everybody. And so we're able to sort of create that environment and let it happen a lot more rapidly without practice or without taking anything. And we do a really good job at that.

And a lot of people come in that are battling post-traumatic stress or trying to rid themselves of some, you know, purge some past trauma. Most people are, everybody's gone through some traumatic shit and a lot of people come in and they're like, it's so amazing what you're doing for Veterans Jonathan. And I go, you ever been in a car wreck? And they go, yeah.

And I go, I've just as much post traumatic stress from a car wreck that I was in than 15 months of firefights. So maybe that tells me you sitting across me might just have just as much post traumatic stress or maybe even more than me, depending on what your nervous system can take. We're all different.

And we look at everybody as an instrument and a different kind of instrument and a different size instrument. So everybody needs to be tuned a little bit differently. And so everybody comes in sort of as an individual or as a group and we use this biofeedback technology. We use their voice because a voice is a combination of your brain, what you're thinking,

and your heart, what you're feeling. And so we believe your voice is the best biofeedback to take from somebody. Not their heartbeat, not their brain waves, their voice. Because that's how you tell people what the fuck you want. Right, it'll blow your mind. I'm saying like these are subconscious things you don't even realize, but when it gets fed back to you,

when they analyze the sound of your voice and the pitches and everything, you're like, holy shit. That's when you start taking a step back. It's a pretty incredible experience. It's insane. It's so hard to explain from the perspective of someone who did it, but I will tell you guys this. I am impatient.

I am ADHD as they fucking come, and I cannot meditate. And I loved every second of being at the Reality Center. So it's for people like me, that's for sure. And that's most people, to be honest with you. I think we might have some friends here in the Valley that could benefit from this experience. We're not going to drop any names. A lot of J names. A lot of them start with a J.

Yeah, there's a lot of Js around. Anyway. But at the end of the day, we've done what we've done in our community. And just announcing now for the first time publicly that we received a grant. We've been pushing really hard in the Department of Mental Health and sort of these people that can help us amplify what we're doing.

The 700, 800 veterans that we've ran this year has been on our dime. Like I spent my own time, my days off on a Sunday, Monday away from my family, spending our own company money. We spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to run veterans free to prove out what we're doing. Like we'll put our money where our mouth is. And just about a couple of weeks ago,

we received our first grant, which is an incubator grant. So we can run 800 veterans the next two years, 400 veterans the next year is completely free. And so how we do that is we partner with all these amazing nonprofits in the area. They drive all the people because they sort of have their beat on the communities and they put a hierarchy of people,

put the people that needed the most first, and that's what we're starting to do. And so we're able to continue our mission and run veterans completely free for the next two years. And that'll be 800 veterans. And right now, we're looking to partner up with other nonprofits and other stakeholders to double those efforts. Yeah. So I think that you were kind of saying just now, how do veterans learn about this? How do they find out? How do they know? Like, are there certain outlets that they know to reach out to that could give them this kind of information?

Yeah, like, we've had so many, like, articles about us, and I've been, like, a big part of a lot of nonprofits. I sit on the board of, like, multiple veteran nonprofits, and especially in the LA area, where there's more veterans than anywhere else in the United States, and also this is the epicenter of the mental health crisis. So we feel like if we can make it here and make a big change here, we can take this model There's more veterans than anywhere else in the United States. And also this is the epicenter of the mental health crisis. So we feel like if we can make it here and make a big change here, we can take this model

and take this to other cities, other bases, other states, and start helping a lot of people out with what we're doing here. So basically eight years ago, we met this guy named Don Estes, and he's another Yoda. He's like the master Yoda. And he's been working for the last 30 years in this vibrational frequency science game. He's the Godfather. He sold the first piece of technology

to Tony Robbins 30 years ago, and he's been doing it ever since. We partnered up with them. That's huge. Some time ago, about eight years ago, he had some cool stuff at this event in this like clandestine room, and we're like, what the fuck is this?

Dude, I'm sorry, you say Tony Robbins. I just watched Shallow Howell recently, and Tony Robbins is what like does that to Jack Black. Yeah. Sorry, I just flashed my friend. He's the man, Tony's the man, Tony's the man. I've been so lucky to, you know, our team has been so lucky to work with them

throughout the years because of Don, and when Don came here from Georgia 20, 30 years ago, he was brought his first piece of technology, the wavetable that you experienced. And he was like in a cafe, I don't, don't quote me, but I think he was like at a restaurant and he was talking to somebody and Tony Robbins just so happened to be in the restaurant and he overheard him and he goes, what are you talking about? And he started telling him about what he did and he sold that bed in his trunk to Tony Robbins right then and there.

The first person he met when he came to LA. Talk about serendipity. I got goosebumps talking about that. You know what else is funny is when Chia got here, just serendipity happens all around this guy. I don't know what kind of multiverse shit's going on. A good friend of Kristin's named Cameron is good friends with Chia's cousin

and they had never met and they happened to both be at our house at the same time. That's wild. And now Cameron's coming in with her daughter to the reality center. I don't know, just the way that all worked out. It's like, that's so wild. But my cousin already asked me

for a gift certificate for her. Right, exactly. So it was like meant to happen. So her seeing me triggered her to actually come into the reality center. Yeah, I don't know. Just, it's like, you call it serendipity. There's got to be another word for it. Just the way it's a destiny.

What is the word? It's just the way things work out. It gives me goosebumps. That's how frequency works. If two things are vibrating at the same frequency, they attract to each other. If not, they just pass each other like they never knew each other. And so, you know, like you guys bringing me here, you know, made it all happen.

But back to answering your question, we met Don about eight years ago. He had this treasure trove of amazing technology, really cool things. And we started working on a project together where we started taking one of his patents. There was a patent that split sound in a very, very cool way. Imagine like binaural beats, but binaural beats on steroids.

Instead of splitting the frequency in the two different frequencies in each year, it split the frequency in thousands of frequencies each year. So your back of your mind had to like hyper listen into it to put it back together. So it allowed you to get into this flow state. And we started selling this technology to a company called Iris. And Iris bought all the technology from us. We sold the patent for a multi-million dollars. And that was our first project that we did with Don.

And he had this sort of piece of technology that was shelved for a little bit that was amazing. And we took it and sold it to this new technology company that took it. Then the first deal they did, they licensed it to the, what was at the time, not the championship F1 racing team, which is the Red Bull team.

They were losing, getting their ass kicked by Mercedes for six years and the amazing Mercedes driver guy, famous guy, and the very first race they used our technology. So the driver had our technology in their headphones, which you experience at the reality center, right? And the whole pit crew has this in their headphones and it allows them to get in like this quicker flow state by the technologies running through there.

Very first race they use our technology, they won. They won 11 of the 22 races that year and they became champions. Wow. And since then they've been champions ever since this team. I mean, if that's not proof in the pudding, I don't know what is.

Well, the flow state, there's all kinds of literature champions ever since this team. It's all kinds of literature and all sorts of stuff about the flow state. It's very, very small things that are pushing human performance when all the engines are the same and can only go as fast. We can push the human performance and their reaction and their flow state time to make these decisions a lot faster, which ultimately allows them to have these decisions a lot faster, which ultimately allows them to have a millisecond better time, which made them champions at the end of the day. So I think a little piece of their winnings was our technology.

Obviously they created a great team, have great technology, in our sense that we ultimately did a partnership with. And the second thing was we were working towards obviously bringing this technology to market. Don's been doing it for a long time, but it really stayed in that maybe 1% very wealthy palisades, Malibu, burning man world, truth seeker, Tony Robbins. And they just kept it as a secret for themselves for a very long time.

And Don made a very good living for himself and his family, but taking it to the masses is a whole nother thing. And I think for that whole time period, the world just wasn't ready for it. It was pseudo science or whatever. People wanted to label it at the time, some weirdo stuff and weird science. Yeah, new age, hippie, dippy bullshit.

Psychedelics, at the psychedelics of time, they weren't taken as seriously as now. Right, right, and correct me if I'm wrong, but you were kind of the bridge that brought in the healing of the PTSD, you brought in the military side, you brought in, you know all these people that have experienced this awful life change from the trauma they experienced overseas, even in like today's law enforcement and et cetera.

And you bridged that to help them heal and made it accessible to people, to an everyday person that has experienced extreme trauma in their careers or in their basic lives. Yeah, I think the biohackers and the true seekers were one thing, but I think when we brought it over to our military community, that's when it validated it. That's when it was like, all right, you guys are really moving the fucking needle on people

with extreme PTSD and helping people transform their lives. And so it took COVID to make it happen when everybody was shuttered in their homes, being told what to do, being made take vaccines or getting their guns taken from or whatever was happening at the time. Jessica, my wife, she's an aesthetician, had a lot of celebrity clients. She had a salon, her little place on Melrose and that got completely destroyed during the riots.

And then after the riots, you couldn't even go during Melrose because you get robbed in the middle of the daytime. Like people were robbing people by gun. They were burning everything down the street and so it was a really tumultuous time and so I think that shook everybody on the planet, especially people in America where the government was trying to pull a hostage situation on us and turn everybody against each other. And that's when everybody needed to come together. And I think that's when everybody was tired of it. And they were like, you know what, if people are going to make me do this, I'm going to do whatever I want for the rest of my life. And I think people, a lot of people

quit their jobs, because a lot of people lost their jobs. And so they're like, People are just sick of feeling like shit. And I don't mean physically from being sick. I mean, everyone was just losing it for a minute because there was so much we didn't know and so much we were being told. And again, you guys, I'm not getting into all of it, but we were all there. And if you really go back to those moments,

it was like, what the fuck is gonna happen? You know what I mean? So absolutely, people just didn't wanna feel like that anymore. They wanted to fucking feel better. And you add that with conspiracy theories. So it confused everybody a lot. And so I think everybody just like returned to home,

protected their own family and the people that are around them. And they're like, you know what? I'm gonna do what I want to do. I don't think I want the government to make decisions for me. And I think that really woke a lot of people up and that's good, right? And that's what our forefathers wanted

when we did the declaration. And so that really made mental health become a priority in everybody's lives. That's when we knew it was time to take this technology that Don built and we were helping sort of usher in and create this center. And so we started looking for property all over because it was very cheap at the time.

You could steal some stuff. You could steal some stuff. So we started looking at Beverly Hills, all these different places, but it felt very sterile. It was like a doctor's office world. And then we found this, Don actually called the real estate agent that got him his first property on the promenade in Santa Monica. And we called her, she's still in the real estate business.

Shout out to her. And she showed us this thing. like what are the chances it was crazy And at the time Don's like let me call my old real estate agent We're like she is still alive Don like we don't know you know and sure enough She had his property on right on second Street if you know where the King's Head is right in Santa Monica King's Head the old things favorite bar. It's actually I I think, one of the only bars I know in Santa Monica. I think everybody, that's the only thing everybody knows, they park in the parking lot right across the street

for 25 bucks. Yep, exactly. And you can park in our parking lot for free for the first 90 minutes. Shout out to Garage Six. Garage Six. Yeah. That is one of the most important,

people are writing that down right now. Anyone who lives in LA is like, I'm sorry, what? Or they're planning a trip to LA, they're like, all right, if we go to Santa Monica, we got to park in Garage Six. Oh man. Yeah, 25, what? Or they're planning a trip to LA. They're like, all right, if we go to Santa Monica, we got a parking garage six. 25 bucks for parking for the day is a lot of money. And so we got this amazing property right on second street in between the beach and the promenade.

And we signed a three year lease and we started going to work. And we really didn't know what it was gonna become. I was, I didn't even graduate high school. So I'm not a psychologist. I'm not even a tech guy. I'm into technology. I'm into tech company, but really Don and Tarun

and a lot of people on our team are more of the tech side geniuses. I'm not more of the interface, the sales guy, you know, the guy pushing the sales. But we opened up three years ago now. And when we first opened up our doors, it was like slow. Nobody knew who we are, nobody in the world. Was it like private?

Was it like a private thing at first? Like it wasn't open to the public? For the first year it was private, it wasn't open to the public. Appointment only, didn't take walk-ins. It's still appointment only. You have to book 24 hours out. We need certain practitioners in there

to be doing your sessions. It's not like a workout gym where anybody can be like, all right, let me check you in. Yeah, it's not a generic thing where any... You don't just go about your day, go inside. Some people are coming in there for your friend's daughter that might be going through some stuff or some changes, or a cop might be coming in there

that just discharged his weapon and killed somebody. And so it takes a very special person and the people that work inside the reality center called reality managers. We help people manage their day to day reality. And when we first started doing it, it was just like our friends. We would have like you guys in, we'd have our moms, our dads. My dad was the my mom and dad are the first people that I ever ran. They were your kidney pigs.

I ran my dad eight years ago when I was living with Tarun as bachelors We'd have our moms, our dads. My dad was the, my mom and dad are the first people that I ever ran. They were your guinea pigs, I love it. I ran my dad eight years ago when I was living with Tarun as bachelors in this really amazing, really amazing place in Koreatown. I was telling you about, shout out to June, our homie that owned the place. And she was really amazing to us and really allowed us to get our start.

And we had one of the tables inside of our condo and we were just basically electrocuting people for the first year. And just pushing buttons and seeing what happened. I remember one time when Tarun ran a session on me, probably maybe like at 12 o'clock, and I woke up at like seven o'clock the next day, still on the session with the lights going

and the vibration and stuff. I was in a deep, crazy dream, let me tell you that. But then when COVID happened, we've been doing this for a deep, crazy dream, let me tell you that. Oh man. But then when COVID happened, we've been doing this for a very, very long time, Don 30 years, me and Tarun eight years, and it took COVID to push us into getting this place. And so we opened up the Reality Center in Santa Monica, and for the first maybe six months, a year,

it was just our friends, family coming through, our celebrity friends, our athletes, just trying to expose them to, we started bringing in the veteran community. We started doing groups at a time because we have a group setup and we are allowed doing like 25, 50 veterans a day and we're just having a great time. And pretty much a year into that, a reporter who's the senior writer at the LA Times, Adam DeShoren, one of our really good friends who's a publicist friend and our publicist at the time, Alice Moon, shout out to Alice Moon and that whole team, connected us with him and said, hey, I'm going to send this

guy from the LA Times in. And I really didn't think much of it. And we had a bunch of, we always had a bunch of people in there. We were trying to do like, because we always had to do our spiel. My background, Tarun's background, it took forever. And we were like trying to address groups at a time. And so we had a bunch of clients and then we just grouped this LA Times writer in there,

just not even thinking how important it could have been at the time. But we were very good. We're the people that will bring you up to the edge and push you off, but also catch you very gracefully. So every person that comes through there, it might be a spiritual factory, but everything is very graceful and very careful of what we do with each person that comes through there.

Yes, I agree with that firsthand. And Adam had an experience on the Wavetable, one hour left, and said he was writing an article about us and kept in contact. Then about two months later, at three o'clock in the morning My phone this is a year into us into the reality center my phone that was Basically, I have different alerts for different things and for the reality center it's like a money, you know, like a money sign or whatever it is and All of a sudden it just started going fucking crazy woke me and my wife up at three o'clock in the morning,

and I'm like, what the fuck is going on here? And I'm like, the first week booked up, the second week booked up. You're just hearing cha-ching on repeat. That's amazing. That's a fantastic alarm to have for your business. I look at the schedule, and the first three weeks are booked up.

The first month is booked up. The second month is booked up. And all these, it breaks our system. All the months are booking over top of each other So like three people are booking for the same slot at the same time We didn't have as many rooms as we have at the time and like our whole team had to come together and start calling All these people and be like hey, you know the Oprah effect happened our system went crazy And can we put you you know, like a week out or two weeks out and thank God

Everybody was very like graceful and very amazing and they were like, no, no problem. You know, we'll switch you out. And so it basically booked us up for six months solid after that first year. Shout out to Adam. That is amazing. I called Adam after the first person that came through,

you know, she had an experience and I was like trying to gauge her experience and I was like, I feel like she had like a mediocre experience and I called Adam and I go, Adam, you either fucked us or really helped us here buddy. Because what he wrote was like, he's an amazing writer first of all. And what he wrote was like so articulate, so amazing.

And he had such a like a deep cosmic experience. And not everybody has the same experience. Some people fall asleep and Adam had this deep psychedelic experience. And not everybody has the same experience. Some people fall asleep, and Adam had this deep psychedelic experience. And so he wrote about that. So it's like expectation is high. Super fucking high. And so like my heart is beating

when everybody came through those first 30 people until we got in the groove. And really each person that comes through, you gain a little bit of power, you gain a little bit of knowledge, you understand how to work with people more. And three years later, we're almost 3,000 people in. So we were dialed in. We got it down.

Wow. And so we've been able to run over 800 veterans in the last three years, over 100 police officers, 50 firefighters. And it's just bleeding into these other communities, right? And so it went from veterans, me only caring about the veteran community and like, let me heal my own community as quick and fast as possible. Start locally, think locally.

Then the police started coming in, a lady named Dr. Gina Gallivan, who's this amazing, beautiful, wonderful human being who's the lead clinical psychologist for over 130 police and fire agencies, saw me on this police podcast. She was like, hey, I saw you on this podcast, I wanna experience what you're doing, like ring the doorbell.

And we were on the way out of work for the day. Experienced it. She got up and she goes, I'm going to take us to every police department, fire department, fire department in the nation. And we've been doing that and working with her ever since. And so that led to all these other communities that I, by default, that I didn't think we were going to infect. Then if you take all the veterans and police officers and firefighters and they start talking, they're psychologists saying like, yeah, I went to this place called the Reality Center and made me sleep better, it lowered my anxiety, I'm better with my wife and kids or whatever

it is. And they're like, I think I want me some of that. And so a lot of people started coming through the door that are these like, I was like, all right, who's this? These people coming through the door. I'm like, hey, how did you hear about us? They're like, oh, my client. I'm like, oh, you're a psychologist, right? They're like, how'd you know? I'm like, all right, who's this? These people come into the door. I'm like, hey, how'd you hear about us? They're like, oh, my client. I'm like, oh, you're a psychologist, right?

They're like, how'd you know? I'm like, I don't know, something is happening right now where everybody's telling their psychologist and their psychologists are coming in the door. Because they're obviously healing. There's like been some sort of shift. And I mean, what do I talk about when I'm in therapy? It's everything that's like shitty

that's going on right now for me personally. It's like, okay, I have this, that's in this, wah, wah, wah, or it's like shitty that's going on right now for me personally. It's like, OK, I have this, that's in this, wham, wham, wham. Or it's like, feeling pretty good today. I don't really have much to say. I don't have anything to complain about. And this is why. And if there's a shift in my life and it's because I went to the reality center

and I found this other sort of way that I can feel this this sense of like being elated and happy and at peace and lighter. Like, fuck yeah, I'm gonna tell my therapist about it. I'm gonna be like, hey, you're really expensive for an hour and you're great and all, but I found my own therapy. And the good therapists these days will introduce these other modalities to you. Those are the ones that are gonna win.

Those are the ones that are gonna keep clients. And I tell them every single day when they walk through my door. And so now through all infecting all these other communities, now I'm like, oh, I went to this book signing one day for this, my friend Diane Holman, who worked for this company named Sibin, it was the first psychedelic psilocybin company

that was like a corporate company, right? And she took me to this book signing of one of their executives, and I didn't even know what it was. And I'm basically walking into RuPaul's Drag Race scene, and I'm like, what the fuck is going on? And I look up and the book signing was called Queering for Psychedelics.

And I'm like, okay, cool. I'm like getting some drinks and just sitting in the background. I'm like, all right, I'm like, you know, one of the ones is a little bit different in this crowd because I'm like, okay, cool. I'm like getting some drinks and just sitting in the background. I'm like, all right, I'm like, you know, one of the ones is a little bit different in this crowd because I'm straight male. And I started listening to everybody's story. And he let everybody speak that wrote an article

in the book, wrote a chapter in the book. And it was like all these different tribes of people. And I started listening to their stories and I'm like, this is exactly like the fucking veteran stories in my community. Well, there's tons of trauma in the LGBTQ community. But the difference between, say, the veteran community, when I walk down the street, nobody's talking shit to me.

Nobody would dare talk shit to me because they made me get knocked the fuck out. Exactly, exactly. Right. But those people might have to deal with, you know, I get touted as a hero sometimes. People want to put me on a podcast and listen to the war stories, right? But you're not putting people on a podcast that are talking about their stories, you know, about those certain things, right? And so when I started hearing that, I'm like, wow, maybe their community has just as much

PTSD or even more than my community. So the things that we're doing in my community might translate well to their community. And so I started going to my team. I'm like, look, we got veterans, we got police officers, we got first responders, we got psychologists. We need to be in the LGBTQ community. We need to be in all these other communities, all these smaller communities that we can start introducing our plans to.

And so now it's become sort of full circle that if you know about us, you have Google, you have a phone, you can start researching these things as an adult, but who can't research these things as children? And so really my big focus now is starting to work with these schools and all these different districts and starting to use pieces of our technology. Obviously we just don't throw them

on the wave table right away. Right, of course. You know, that might scare some people, but we've taken pieces of this technology like the vocal analysis that you guys experience in the biofeedback, and we're starting to introduce these things to schools. So instead of us going through all this trauma

that we went through in our lifetime and not having these tools, the only tools we had was like smoking weed and drinking alcohol. Oh yeah, absolutely. We didn't even do some meditation or breath work as kids to get through some of these things, we just internalized it. And so my daughter, Charlie, who's three and a half years old,

one years old, we started introducing her breath work already. So if she's ever worked up or before she goes to sleep, I say, Charlie, give me a big deep breath. And now she messes with me. She'll be like, Pfft. Pfft.

You know, but she knows how to do it now. So she knows these functions as a kid. And so I think it's my goal was to heal my community. And now I think it's evolved into us giving this other gift to children and inspiring this next generation to have all these tools to heal while they're going through this traumatic stuff. There's all the bullying, there's all this stuff.

There's so many people that carry school trauma with them throughout their lives. I think that then affects other people. It's beautiful and it's fucking genius because kids are different now. They're just more grown up than we were. The world is so different. The world is so different. And it's something that honestly terrifies me one day when Luke and I have a kid that's like in school, like of school age and what that world is gonna be like,

because I would love for my child to be prepared the same way like everything you're teaching Charlie, because God forbid they're in that situation and they don't, if they didn't have some kind of tool that they could pull out for themselves. But then hopefully, you know, the goal would be, it goes out to all these other children. So maybe those bullies stop existing so much

because they have tools before they become a bully. Yeah, and not to get too deep, but it really starts at a really, really young age and how you're training them to look out for themselves. And so like, I think when I was growing up, I really, me and my brother and sister really didn't, growing up with a single mom, we didn't really have a lot of those tools, right?

And maybe they weren't taught to her as well. And so with my daughter, Charlie, even when mom or dad are washing, and this is a great tool, this is probably the best thing that you guys will ever do, right? Especially if you have a daughter, right? But even if you have a male, right?

That anytime that we're washing her down there, she washes herself first of all, but if we wash her down there, she washes herself first of all, but if we wash her down there, we ask permission. And so she knows that nobody's to touch her down there. And so if anybody randomly tried to touch her down there, she's like, you didn't ask for permission. That's not your area. And so the first time we saw that tested...

Because traditionally, children trust adults. And if you're bathing your kids, there's no reason to question it if it's an adult that you trust. And that's how, you know, those things. You were taught to respect adults how we were growing up. Yes or no, man?

That's how those things happen. The way we grew up in the 90s, yeah. But I think for both, both, absolutely. You can't just say one gender, sexual identity, or the other, right? I don't know if I'm saying that right. So Jessica's mom calls us and she goes, you got your daughter trained well.

And we're like, what are you talking about? And she goes, I went to go wash her down there. She goes, uh-uh. And I go, that's my girl. And so just small things like that. And we talked to a lot of our parents and our friends still growing. A lot of our friends, like some of them

don't even talk about that kind of stuff with their children. And I think for me and my brother and sister, a lot of our child virginity got taken away very fast at a young age. Not like sexual virginity, but just being exposed to things. And I don't want my kids to be exposed to those things. I want them to be kids as long as humanly possible. Stay innocent as long as you can. That's just so rad. Has it been received well as far as,

are people open and agreeing with you about introducing this to kids? Because I just think it's like, so I'm hoping that's the answer. I'm not looking for a controversial thing here. I'm really hoping that the answer is like, yes, it's fucking well received and this is where it's gonna grow.

Yeah, I mean, put it this way, our kids go to a Catholic school and some of the kids in our friend circle that maybe have maybe 80, you know 80 D or 80 HD or whatever. I don't really believe in that stuff too much anymore I just believe kids are how that how they are right and they're bored with the shit you're teaching them A lot of those and especially in the Catholic tool system. A lot of these teachers have suggested for the kids to take pills Oh, yeah, whether it's Adderall. Yeah, at what age, at four, five, six?

We're talking like second, third, fourth grade. And I was one of those kids that was put on Ritalin and Adderall and what that leads to from an older age is you start your kid on methamphetamines. What do you think he's gonna do when he gets older? When he's in high school, when he's in college? And that's just- Because it's a high.

The first time you take it, no matter how old you are, the first time you take Adderall, you take something with some sort of amphetamine, there is a high associated with it. And he knows that it's... It's very bad for children. There's other alternatives out there from Adderall that are a little bit different,

like Concerta or different things that are a little bit better than that, but I think that that should be the last resort. And I think you should put your kid in breath work and karate, jujitsu, screaming in the middle of the woods, whatever extracurricular it is to let him get whatever he needs out, then putting him back into a boring environment.

I think a lot of it has to do with... I really love your point of view, the boring environment thing. Because every kid grows Differently like and what they're able to pay attention to and what what strikes them is interesting That's why there are so many ways to learn kind of the same thing That's why that's why five out of the six billion Like the most richest people in the world all their kids want them on a story and that's like play to learn right you go

like explore things and learn new things. And that's what's like sometimes the most peak points of your life where you're just like learning things. And I think when you sterilize the school environment and you're going into this, Hey, memorize this math problem, memorize this spelling word and take this test and fill in the bright bubbles and scan, I think that's what robots were meant for and not children and I think we're Like I get I use the word sterilizing their creativity and they're or stifling their learning and I don't think a lot of it

Is any good. I'm thinking even my brain's just going from like Kids who are bored like what do they turn to they kind of like? Play with things and throw things about like that can be a way that they deal with like their boredom. It's kind of, it always seems to be like acting out in a way. Like when you're a teenager and you're bored, because you don't know what to do with that energy or those feelings that you have, whether they're great feelings or negative feelings.

So having this as an outlet, you know, like the breath work and teaching kids all of this stuff at any age really, like as young as Charlie is at three and a half. But even like if you can get teenagers to start doing this, there's kind of like no wrong age is all I'm trying to say. I wish there would have been something else, you know, so I didn't get, I never had Ritalin or Adderall as a child. In college I was diagnosed ADHD, but you know, looking back, I got in trouble a lot as a kid for... No way.

Believe it or not, I was the ADHD kid for sure. I would be playing in my desk, I'd be talking to, you know, whoever's sitting beside me while the teacher's talking all the time because they're saying things I knew. They're repeating something I heard at once and I knew it. I don't want to hear this again. You know what I look at that? I look at that as charisma. I look at that as like excitement. Yeah.

Like you want to talk to the girls and you want to learn more about girls. You want to like hang and bang with the guys. I look at it as all positive things and when you're growing up in that environment, what I did especially in a Catholic environment, that was like look down upon, right? They want you to be a robot, they want you to sit there

with your feet down, fill out the Scantron, remember things, and I think there's some merit in these things these days. For sure. Like if you wanted to have surgery on me, I don't want you to have a high level of like in schooling and intellectual level But I think for some things like maybe for some of the things that us sitting out here are going into That we need to be experiencing some other things alongside of all of those sort of school sort of right historical things

Yeah, yeah, dude. You're doing so much good. You're such a good guy. Would you say? GG and all-around good guy We got it to come back to this I don't know when we'll have you on again, but I believe we need you on I think sooner than later so I would also like to Talk about our experience a little bit as well and kind of break that down a little bit with him in the future Well beyond that we can't give it all away. We can't give it all away. I know and beyond that and beyond the reality center, there's so much more to Jonathan, Chia.

About this AAGG, yeah. Right, oh man, there's some of the stories you've told we didn't even get to touch on. We could talk for another five hours. But I think we're out of time today. Chia, thank you so much for coming on and telling your awesome stories. I totally can't wait to have you on again.

Tell everyone where they can find you and they can find out about the reality center. You are coming on and telling your awesome stories. Tell everyone where they can find you and they can find out about the Reality Center. You can go to our website to find out about us that has all the information about us, all of our data, all our press, everything we do. It's realitymgmt.com. That's realitymgmt.com and all of our handles on social media are at Reality Center. And so really easy to find it. My handles are at JonathanChiia00 on Instagram and Facebook. Really easy to find me.

And we look forward to anybody out there that feel like they might need an experience like this, might need some healing, might need some new direction, might need a fresh start, might need a reset. Come see us at the Reality Center. We're here for you and we'd love to have you. I love it so much. Thank you so much. So feel good.

And you guys, I hope you enjoyed this episode as much as we enjoyed it, as much as I enjoyed recording this. I've had goosebumps almost the entire time. They've come and gone like 12 times, but awesome experience. We're feeling good up in this hizzy. All right, guys, we love you so much and we will talk to you next week. Thanks for listening, everyone. Make sure to follow us on social media. You can

follow me on all platforms at Kristen Doty and follow Luke on Instagram at Luke double underscore Broderick. Be sure to click the subscribe button so you can stay up to date with new episodes. Thanks for listening. See you next week. Hey guys, I want to share a little something about my journey with money. I remember feeling totally lost when it came to investing. Like, when do you even start?

How do I even start? I'd wish I learned earlier how important it is to make your money work for you. Honestly, I missed out on so many opportunities because I didn't know where to begin. But little did I know when I met Luke, this is his jam. That's why I'm excited to tell you guys, like I told Kristen, about Acorns.

Acorns make it easy to start automatically saving and investing for your future. You don't need a lot of money or expertise to invest with Acorns. In fact, you can get started with just your spare change. How cool is that? Acorns recommends an expert built portfolio that fits you and your money goals, then automatically invest your money for you. And Luke has been using Acorns for years. And for me, it is so liberating to know I'm taking small steps toward my future without

feeling overwhelmed. And if I can do it, trust me, you can too. and for me it is so liberating to know I'm taking small steps toward my future without feeling overwhelmed. And if I can do it, trust me, you can too. So let's give your money a chance to grow with Acorns. If you're ready to take that leap, head to acorns.com slash doty or download the Acorns app to start saving and investing for your future today. Paid on client endorsement, compensation provides incentive to positively promote Acorns, investing involves risk, Acorns advisors LLC and SEC registered investment advisor view important disclosures on acorns.com slash doty. Hey everyone, with the holiday season creeping up on us, we all know things can get a little

wild. That's why I am all about HelloFresh. It takes the stress out of meal prep and helps me create delicious meals without the hassle. I've been loving their chef crafted recipes that come right to my door. Seriously, it's quicker, way cheaper than takeout. I've been obsessed with their veggie options like the creamy spinach and mushroom risotto. Ugh, I love risotto. Absolute heaven. And let's talk about customization. I can easily swap ingredients to make each meal exactly how I want it. Plus, their pre-proportioned ingredients mean way less food waste. It feels good to know that I am not tossing out unused veggies.

And if I want to spice things up, check out HelloFresh Market. They've got over 100 add-on items including desserts and snacks. This month, they have Thanksgiving options to impress your guests without breaking a sweat. No one has to know how easy it was. So if you want to simplify your meal time get 10 free meals at hellofresh.com slash free Doty. Apply it across seven boxes, new subscribers only, varies by plan. That's 10 free HelloFresh meals. Just go to hellofresh.com slash free Doty. You are going to love it.