The Transformational Power of Discipline

Chris [: 00:00:01

I, stopped at playing and then I, came back to the States and really had no fucking clue what to do next. My whole identity was wrapped up over there and essentially spent from the age of 18 until I was about 27 years old, 28 years old, going to war.

James [: 00:00:24

Yeah. And that's what do you do after a decade of pulling triggers and being on point?

Chris [: 00:00:29

Yeah. And I had no clue what this society was about as an adult.

James [: 00:00:39

Welcome to the Business Blind Spot Podcast, where we talk to people who are successful in our field, learn about their journey, how they made it through life to where they are now, and learn some lessons based on their hardships, trials, and experiences along the way. Like and subscribe to this podcast so you can find it on all major platforms, Spotify, iTunes. Check us out on YouTube. Today's guest is the one and only Chris Bova. How are you doing?

Chris [: 00:01:05

Good, brother. How are you?

James [: 00:01:06

I'm good. Chris is the director of business development for Staccato Ranch, great experiential place in Austin, Texas, but I'll let you tell us more about that.

Chris [: 00:01:16

Sure. Yeah. Staccato Ranch is colocated with Staccato Pistol Manufacture about an hour north of Austin and Florence, Texas. We have 800 acres, sporting clay courses, so 2 15 stations, sporting clay courses, 2 5 stands, bunch of general purpose bays, indoor shooting facility. Just a phenomenal place to come and enjoy American freedom and

James [: 00:01:38

Cabos America.

Chris [: 00:01:40

Guns, all the things. Yeah. It's it's an incredible company.

James [: 00:01:43

Awesome. So Chris is one of my favorite marines, but also the way I met I met Chris is he beat me up a lot on the jujitsu mats. So, you know, respect to that. I'm glad we're not doing a podcast on the mats today. You know, I wanna be able to walk to my car.

Chris [: 00:01:59

Me too. I'm old now.

James [: 00:02:01

Yeah. It'll be both. But, so Staccato, for those of you who don't know, I would don't wanna put words in your mouth, but I would call it the the Lamborghini of pistols.

Chris [: 00:02:11

Yeah. That's a that's a great parallel. I I would say Ferrari. So I think Ferrari as a brand is a much more holistic brand. But Mhmm. Lamborghini, Ferrari, we're we're in the same category there.

James [: 00:02:22

Okay. Awesome. Okay. So before you became who you are now, you started out as a marine. Do you wanna walk us through your journey to get from young Chris Bova to here?

Chris [: 00:02:33

So I grew up in in Park City, Utah. Had a phenomenal upbringing. There wasn't anything too crazy there. Just a a spoiled brat from Park City, Utah. Grew up skiing, mountain biking, and I spent a lot of time in this dream world of being GI Joe. My grandparents, both served in World War 2. They met in North Africa during World War 2, and my grandma used to bring me to the, army surplus store, and I'd grab gas masks and fatigues and all that and run around with my friends playing cops and robbers. As I got towards the end of high school, I was really starting to think about what is next.

Chris [: 00:03:09

And there was no calling to go to college right at high school. I really just wanted to do something that was adventurous, and I spoke to all the recruiters. And for whatever dumb reason, the Marine recruiters really grasp my attention. And I wanted to be an infantry Marine.

James [: 00:03:27

Mhmm. So I

Chris [: 00:03:27

was like the easiest person to recruit in the entire world. Went and took the ASVAB. They're like, you can literally do anything you want in the Marine Corps. Are you sure you wanna do infantry? I was like, yeah. We're at war. I would like to go to war and and fight. So I signed up to be an infantry marine and and left shortly after graduating high school, and I was assigned to an infantry unit. And shortly after that, these guys with longer hair, really poorly rolled sleeves showed this video of people jumping out of airplanes, diving, and cool gear, and all of that, and they asked for people to try out.

Chris [: 00:04:05

And at first, I had some hesitation. I did my research, and it was seemingly a unit that you had to be a tenured marine to get into. And my buddy's like, no. Let's go try out. They're taking boots or, for lack of better terms, people that have not deployed, to a combat theater. So they're taking boots. And he talked me into TriNet, and I I made it into the selection process and went through a pipeline to become a recon marine.

James [: 00:04:33

Awesome.

Chris [: 00:04:34

Yeah. And then I went to 3rd Recon Battalion out in Okinawa, Japan, better known as The Rock, but a phenomenal unit and met some of my closest friends even to today out there and deployed a couple times for those guys and eventually made my way over to the the CIA as a a dirty contractor, as a paramilitary contractor with the CIA. Dirty. Yeah.

James [: 00:05:00

So that's a very brief, summation of an amazing career.

Chris [: 00:05:05

Yeah.

James [: 00:05:06

So, can you go a little bit more into into what that means? Like, what do you what is a recon marine? What do who are they? What do they do?

Chris [: 00:05:14

Yeah. A recon marine is, a special operations forces unit within the Marine Corps, and they do reconnaissance missions, meaning a a very small team pushes well beyond friendly lines to essentially paint the battle space to the commander. They also do direct action and and a lot of other things, but small teams meaning no larger than a 6 man team. And at the time, it was the only special operations type unit that, operated without an officer within the team. So it was all enlisted guys, cavemen, for lack of better terms there.

James [: 00:05:47

We love the cavemen.

Chris [: 00:05:48

Yes. Yes. Love the cavemen. But we got to so I I deployed to Southeast Asia as well as Iraq. We got utilized as just an an arm of the the MEF commander, the marine expeditionary force commander to go report on battle space and carry out raids and, continue the global war on terrorism. Awesome.

James [: 00:06:13

Yep. What years were you in Iraq?

Chris [: 00:06:17

The Iraq deployment was 0708.

James [: 00:06:20

So it was it was hot and heavy?

Chris [: 00:06:23

Yeah. It

James [: 00:06:23

was Ramadi and

Chris [: 00:06:25

Fallujah. So I wasn't in in Phantom Fury, the the, Fallujah 2 or Phantom Fury there. But we you know, combat to a lot of people is probably what they watch on movies where it's chaotic and Mhmm. Suspenseful the entire time. To people that are in, they they realize that there is a lot of boredom and sporadic spurts of excitement, adrenaline filled type events. Mhmm. But we we were definitely heavily engaged in in certain times, and there was a a firefight in Samara, Lake Tartar which is outside of Samara Desert and it was a traditional reconnaissance type mission. There was no preemptive thought about a direct action type role.

Chris [: 00:07:14

And we decided we were gonna start clearing these areas that US forces had not been to for years. Mhmm. And that got us heavily involved in a, a raid where there was 1 platoon of recon marines versus 30, 40 plus combatants, suicide bombers running out into the courtyard, blowing themselves up.

James [: 00:07:35

1 platoon is 12 people?

Chris [: 00:07:37

1 platoon in, total is about 24 people, including your headquarters and support element. But we were operating in even smaller teams. So I was in a team of 4. Mhmm. We had 2 teams of 4, 2 teams of 6. And that was more due to vehicle mounted operations. But we were outnumbered, outgunned. And that firefight was a hefty 20 hour firefight, and we were not equipped for the the direct action stuff.

Chris [: 00:08:04

So we're out in R and S gear, reconnaissance is freelance gear, so we're not fully kitted up in armor with the appropriate magazine level and, support. It was a a, pretty lengthy action filled battle. We lost my good friend, Mike Firske, who was killed, clearing 1 of the the first buildings, and we took 2 other casualties. But we came out on top with eliminating 30 plus combatants. We did take 1 detainee, and that was more for just collection on information and trying to build

James [: 00:08:52

since when has some recon ever been properly equipped for a firefight?

Chris [: 00:08:55

I mean Gotcha. Yeah.

James [: 00:08:56

We we get all the hand me down. Even in in

Chris [: 00:08:59

the recon level, you think you're getting all the latest and greatest equipment and Yeah. Everything. And you roll into country and the army's handing out what you've been issued to the Iraqi army. That's their, like, hand me downs. But it it was a unique experience, because, the end state where you're losing a friend and a couple other guys getting injured, people look on to that and they're, like, man, that must have been a horrific day. But I have very distinct memories of finishing that engagement and being so fucking proud of the men that I was working amongst because we literally got handed a a shit situation and just turned it into a gourmet meal. It It was an incredible experience and that's, kind of a turning point for me in my life getting back. I think I was 20, 21 years old and cleaning weapons.

Chris [: 00:09:48

Kid. Yeah. I was a baby. Yeah. And I I kinda had a career of being the new guy at each echelon that I went. So I was always the new guy, always trying to prove myself, always trying to, really put in that work ethic and that work to demonstrate my, ability to be with the the giants that surrounded me at all times. And I remember specifically getting back and we're cleaning guns and our ops chief came out and he had a 1 on 1 conversation with me and he's like, hey, brother. Are you are you doing okay? And I just looked at him and I was like, I could do this every fucking day of my life.

Chris [: 00:10:23

It was a Yeah. Not to sound like some kind of crazy human being that likes that. Obviously, losing a friend and having other people get injured is not a good day. But the feeling I had of camaraderie with those around me and just seeing everything that we had been training for for over a year in a workup come together in a moment that was unbeknownst to us ahead of time was mind blowing to me.

James [: 00:10:47

Mhmm. Well, that's, really I'm sorry you lost a friend. And but how often do you talk to operators now who go through all the training, all the crazy in doc stuff and the selection process and never get to put it to work?

Chris [: 00:11:06

Yeah. It's actually a lot more common than I ever thought it would be. There's even guys at the the tier 1 Delta, DevGru type level that I've talked to that never pulled the trigger. Very rarely at those levels, but there are guys that spent their, you know, 4, 8, 12 years training for war during a time of 2 war fronts that never got to utilize the skill set that they've been training their entire career for. So in a way, it's almost a blessing that you got to utilize your skill set, but it it's it's pretty wild how the military actually works.

James [: 00:11:41

What was that what's the election like?

Chris [: 00:11:44

Man, it was an ass kicker. I wanted to quit every single day. It was almost like an ego thing why I didn't wanna quit. You know, you're in the the preselection phase is almost worse or the the preschool phase is almost worse than going to the actual schoolhouse for the pipeline.

James [: 00:12:04

Why?

Chris [: 00:12:05

There's no operational risk management at at the pre phase.

James [: 00:12:08

It's So dumb it dumb it down.

Chris [: 00:12:10

There's no rules. So you

James [: 00:12:14

Anything goes.

Chris [: 00:12:15

Anything goes. You know, you're doing patrols, doing rock runs, carrying a 40 to 60 pound load, going out for 12 mile run. And then all of a sudden, some guys from the unit show up, and they've got CS grenades. And they're blasting me with CS grenades and making you do 8 counts. And they really prep you for it. But every day I wanted there was probably a point in time in every single day where I wanted to quit. And the only thing honestly that prevented me from raising my hand and, asking to quit was I did not wanna be that guy. Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:12:46

And I saw all these other dudes putting forth the effort and never once did I wanna be that person that just gave up. It didn't have to do with any, like, internal thing of, like, I don't quit on anything. There's no preemptive thought. I was 19 years old going through this this training, and it was really I really wanted to be the person that I looked up to within these units.

James [: 00:13:08

Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:13:08

I looked at them with this golden aura around him, and I didn't want to quit because I didn't want to be the guy that everybody looked at with shame walking away from that.

James [: 00:13:20

That's a lot to think about.

Chris [: 00:13:22

Yeah. And I make it sound like I was actually thinking about that a lot, but I was really, like, holy fuck. This pack is heavy. I'm really fucking tired. I hope we get to sleep at some point in this process.

James [: 00:13:33

You know, you hear you hear a lot of interviews. There's various podcasts with operator types on it, and it seems like everyone just has to find their own motivation Sure. Right, to why they want to keep going. But so you make it through selection and recon school, which is amazing. You get a couple deployments, 3 deployments, with your team. Why'd you get out?

Chris [: 00:13:57

I didn't like the marine corps. I actually despise the marine corps. I didn't like the mass punishment and, you know, some of the tradition sounds really good on paper. But when you're standing in formation all day waiting for a battalion commander to come out and yaw at you for a marine on the other side of the island that you're stationed. You're getting no Yeah. And you're just and I I looked at it as you know, when I went into the Marine Corps, I thought it was gonna be a career. Mhmm. I was like, I'm doing 20 years.

Chris [: 00:14:26

This is gonna be amazing. I'm gonna be a GI Joe for my life. And then you get in, and it's not the guys that you're working with. It's not the necessarily the unit you're in. It's the big Marine Corps lifestyle. And in the Marine Corps, like other branches have a different way of going about it. Like, if you're in the army and you become a Green Beret, you're gonna have a first sergeant that was a Green Beret. Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:14:53

If you're in the Navy and you become a SEAL, you're gonna have a chief that sits over your company or is in command of something that was a SEAL. Same thing in the air force for the the pj's, CCT guys, all the soft forces over there. In the marine corps, if you become first sergeant, that's a new MOS. Mhmm. So we had a a 1st sergeant come in who was directly off the drill field, and before that he was an MP in the Marine Corps. Oh, god. And the the big Marine Corps has a very different, not very different, but they have a different set of rules and regulations that they abide by in many little things than you're doing things differently in training that speak to the mission set that's in front of you. Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:15:42

And that doesn't work well in the conventional Marine Corps. So you're getting ostracized all the time for the boots that you're wearing, for not for this or that. In the Navy, you can walk into the PX as a Navy SEAL wearing flip flop shorts and no shirt, and nobody says a goddamn thing because they understand that you're in a different unit. Yep. And your command's gonna probably slap you on the wrist for that, but they're gonna be like, hey, man. Clean it up. The Marine Corps is different in that way. I I never wore the chest candy on the uniform in chest candy meaning your your dive bubble, your jump wings.

James [: 00:16:13

Back glades.

Chris [: 00:16:14

Yeah. It's like a target indicator. I could walk into the the p x wearing nothing and have a horrendous haircut, horribly drawn uniform, and nobody would say anything to me. The minute I put on chest candy and I had the cleanest haircut, most beautiful boots, perfect uniform, I would have somebody from another unit coming over to ostracize me for something.

James [: 00:16:36

For something.

Chris [: 00:16:37

Made up. Yeah. I wasn't the greatest marine, but I was pretty squared away marine and garrison. And I just got tired of that. And then I also had, guys that I really looked up to that had gone out before me that had made it over to the the world of the CIA that were doing great things over there, that were talking to me and, one, there's a good amount of money to be made over there relative to being enlisted in the the military and the mission set that they're doing spoke to me a lot more. And I decided to get out and dabble in those waters a little bit.

James [: 00:17:08

Did you already have the meetings, interviews, and whatnot set up before you got out?

Chris [: 00:17:12

Somewhat. Like, I had the introductions, but it's a a very weird weird world where it's not like there's a HR contact that you can call and be like, hey, I want to put in my package.

James [: 00:17:22

Betty from HR isn't isn't calling you?

Chris [: 00:17:24

I mean, I I think they do have a HR department, but I I don't know the number for it. That's for sure.

James [: 00:17:30

Yeah. So what was that process like? The onboarding, the training?

Chris [: 00:17:35

Yeah. So I I put in my package before I got out. The Marine Corps probably doesn't like hearing that because I don't think you're allowed to, but I did anyways. I got out, and then I was just in this waiting period, and I didn't know how long. I had an idea the distal extent of how long that process could be. So I decided to go to Arizona State for a semester of school. Mhmm. And the reason I went there is a good friend of mine, who I grew up with who was playing defensive end for them.

Chris [: 00:18:04

So selfishly, I just wanted to go watch them Yeah. Play football and I heard good things about the party life and

James [: 00:18:09

It's it's party school.

Chris [: 00:18:11

Yeah. So I went wasted, you know, semester of my GI bill barely scraping by on grades just to have fun and I ended up getting a callback to start a new vetting process to go to a particular, unit within the the agency.

James [: 00:18:27

So to move on to the your time in the CIA, were you Jason Bourne? What are we talking about here?

Chris [: 00:18:33

No. I I was a caveman with a gun. There are, individuals that are much more closely aligned to the Jason Bourne types that I know nothing about, honestly. I worked in the paramilitary side where you carry out very similar military operations that you do in the military just with a different set of rules. So I operated with typically another individual from the special operations, area of the military, and we would provide protection for case officers, facilities, orchestrate meetings between these individuals and their their assets.

James [: 00:19:13

Yeah. I like how you're downplaying that. So were you talking about, escorting them through, like, a busy market to meet someone who's giving some intel on a bomb maker, that sort of thing?

Chris [: 00:19:23

It's, I'm gonna keep it pretty ambiguous because I don't I I signed a lifelong

James [: 00:19:28

NDA trouble.

Chris [: 00:19:29

With those individuals, and I don't I never read it. So I don't know. I know a lot of it. Typical marine. Open source, but I don't know what's crossing the line, what's not. And I I've witnessed what can happen with the individuals that that cross those organizations. I'm not a big CIA fan just to throw that into the world. I think they do great things, but they're also, really good at being not great.

Chris [: 00:19:57

Yeah. But, yeah, I I, deployed for them for just over 5 years, and it it took me back to Afghanistan, Iraq, different various spots in the Middle East.

James [: 00:20:08

You were ground branch for 5 years?

Chris [: 00:20:11

I was attached to GB. I was never a ground branch operator. What's the difference?

James [: 00:20:17

Graham signs a paycheck?

Chris [: 00:20:19

Yeah. Yeah. There's that that effect of it. And those guys, they're beyond like a well, I wouldn't say beyond a tier one entity. We had tier 1 units that rotate in on various programs. So special activities division is broken up into you've got ground branch, maritime branch, air branch. Your air branch side is all the air assets, and they're all former like 1 60th aviators from the special operations air regiment in the army. You got your maritime branch.

Chris [: 00:20:49

Those are primarily made up of SEALs and special operations guys that were really good on the maritime side. And then ground branch at the time is a collective of all the tier 1, tier 2 units get recruited over there. Those guys, are actually training back stateside. I I was attached at times to that that unit, but I was not an operator within ground

James [: 00:21:13

So fine line? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. So what was your biggest challenge trans, transferring from the Marine Corps to the CIA?

Chris [: 00:21:23

You don't know who the guys you're working with are. You know what their resume is, but you don't actually know them. So you being in the marine corps, you you could probably understand that there are really good marines

James [: 00:21:35

Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:21:35

And shitheads in every unit. Yes. And that's no different at the higher special operation level. Really? And there's a lot of ego in the contract world. It's like a big dick swinging competition, you know. I did this school, this school, oh, you only did this many deployments, You only went to those schools. Mhmm. And you really don't get to know the guys that you're working with at the same level as when you're in a unit with them doing a work up, doing living and breathing with them.

Chris [: 00:22:02

So there's a lot

James [: 00:22:03

of like a waste, actually. You're still putting rounds down range. Right?

Chris [: 00:22:07

Yeah. Yeah. Still doing great work. And don't get me wrong. They were phenomenal people that I worked with. Mhmm. But there was a lot of drama as well. There's a lot of egos and, you know, young mid 20 year olds that are working for the CIA.

Chris [: 00:22:22

Your ego is pretty big. Yeah. You know, you think you're a godsend to the the world of war. Man, I was no different. I just didn't I didn't have the accolades that some of the guys I worked with. There was there was guys that were the c squadron sergeant major of combat act applications group or special missions unit that you're working with, and those guys are giants. I was just a dude from the marine corps that went to a unit and did a couple deployments, and now I'm here with these dudes that have been doing this for their entire career. So it was a a very eye opening experience.

Chris [: 00:22:56

So after the CIA? Oh. Yeah. I, stopped at point and then I, came back to the States and really had no fucking clue what to do next. My whole identity was wrapped up over there and essentially spent from the age of 18 until I was about 27 years old, 28 years old going to war.

James [: 00:23:25

Yeah. And I think What do you do after a decade of pulling triggers and being on point?

Chris [: 00:23:30

Yeah. And I had no clue what this society was about as an adult. You know, in high school, it's a different thing when you're, like, skiing and going to party keggers and stuff like that. Then you you get out and you realize that our society is, it's it's a very strong contrast. You go from where everybody is in it for the team. Literally, people will die for you on the left and right to you to coming to a very selfish society where everybody's out to, you know, service themselves, essentially just providing for their family. But it it's a very stark contrast, almost a cutthroat contrast in between the two worlds.

James [: 00:24:09

I feel like it's only getting worse too. So the difference has only been exacerbated.

Chris [: 00:24:14

Yeah. We we could go down a 3 hour rabbit hole on on current climate in our society for sure. And on on that note, like well, I'll back up. I I got out and essentially became a high functioning alcoholic. Mhmm. Had no clue what I wanted to do. Went through various jobs. Was drinking myself trying to drink myself to death at the time.

Chris [: 00:24:38

You know, I there was points where I I tried to commit suicide at a a point in my life and just had enough with our society and was so lost. It had nothing to do with, like, the traumas of getting in firefights or anything that have opened overseas. It was really just this loss of identity of, like, who the fuck am I?

James [: 00:24:57

Yeah. See, I I mean, not putting words in your mouth. Alright? But your formative years as a man were spent within a system, right, for some marine corps and then the CIA. Yeah. And then you get out. So most people your age are already married or getting ready to get married, probably own their 1st starter home.

Chris [: 00:25:16

Sure.

James [: 00:25:17

Post undergrad or they're in grad school. They're already well on their way in their career.

Chris [: 00:25:22

Yeah.

James [: 00:25:23

You know? I really relate to that. I think a lot of veterans who are listening to this would really really relate to that. So was there a a time where you decided you wanted to get help? I've gotta figure shit out. How do how did that go for you?

Chris [: 00:25:37

Yeah. I think it I I've always learned lessons or at least for a long time, learned lessons the the hard way. And not by listening to to more, tenured individuals around me, but really just trying it on, see if the shoe fits, and then failing and getting up again and trying it again. And there was a point where I burned all the bridges with family and a lot of friends, due to alcohol and drug use and just partying and trying to numb out the reality of what I was facing. And I had a good friend. He was still a contractor for the agency. I grew up with him in the marine corps. We're on the phone and he's like, what the fuck are you doing with your life, man? Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:26:18

Like, I expect so much more of of you. Like, the world is your oyster. And it's funny because he has recently got out, and now I'm, like, swinging back to him, like, guiding him through the the transition. But if you really think about it, when you go into the military, you're assigned identity. You're assigned a purpose. Your your whole life is revolved around that. And then when you get out, you get stripped of that identity, that purpose. And when you strip a purpose, you no longer have fulfillment.

James [: 00:26:46

Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:26:47

And it really took a deep dive into self exploration to become aware of these things. And then I also went through a program in Montana called Heroes and Horses, which is like this wild ass cowboy outfit that you go on these pack trips and they they really apply a lot of pressure. And the the purpose of that is, you know, things change with pressure and time.

James [: 00:27:11

Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:27:12

And to paraphrase the guy that runs that, like, we don't have 1000 of years to turn a piece of coal into a diamond and we don't want to apply so much pressure like an IED IED or an improvised explosive device that turns a physical state into a gaseous state. That's not the the great outcome. But it's fine in that medium where you apply pressure So that individual has to turn internal and reflect on who they are and start to really look at who they are truly deep down, not what society tells you you are, and find and envision your own plan. Mhmm. And that program, I went through it and it was great. Went through the program, found myself in Alaska, wrangling and guiding sober wrangling and guiding hunts, big game hunts in Alaska, which was those people have some fieldcraft that they could teach the military about for years.

James [: 00:28:11

This is amazing.

Chris [: 00:28:12

Yeah. It it was amazing. I was one of the only guys out of this program to go to Alaska and actually make it. Everybody else has, like, got fired, quit. It's it's rough up there. They live rough. Then I really started taking deep dive into a lot of stoic philosophy and a lot of these authors. You look at Man's Search for a Meaning by Viktor Frankl.

Chris [: 00:28:33

That was a game changing book. Mhmm. Talks about stimulus that place between stimulus and responses is a space where you have choice. And you start really thinking about what you can control. And you can really only control 3 things, your attitude, your beliefs, and your choices. Mhmm. Everything outside of that, you can certainly influence. But for me, it really took a lot of dumbing back to the basics.

Chris [: 00:28:56

Mhmm. Like, what do I wanna be up to in the world, and how do I fucking get there? And ignoring all of the the noise that the world offers.

James [: 00:29:05

That's incredible. That leads me to where you are now, and that's clearly where you wanna be in the world because you you were talking about it, because we're getting watched before the podcast about how much you're enjoying it.

Chris [: 00:29:18

Yeah. And and I'm really new, so I'm not gonna speak in too much depth about staccato and staccato ranch, but, you know, I got out, went through these programs, and was really seeking a a home that was aligned in values and stuff that I wanted to be up to in the world. And I've worked for all sorts of different companies and started my own and failed my own and all the things in between. And I was working for a company. I'm not gonna say their name because I'm really grateful for the job. I made a lot of money there, and it set me on a a different trajectory to bring my family together and provide for my family. But it was one of the most woke companies I've ever worked for. And they wanted to tell me all the things that I should be thinking politically and all of these things.

Chris [: 00:30:03

And for me, it was it was a hard stop. And then I got introduced to staccato and staccato ranch, and it's just been a breath of fresh air aligned with

James [: 00:30:14

How so?

Chris [: 00:30:15

Just American values, traditional American values. You know, second amendment rights just upholding what what the forefathers have built, which is an incredible thing. People take it granted what this country offers. And anybody that feels like America sucks, we have a ton of problems. I'm not saying we don't and a lot of improvement to do. But we gotta look at the fucking track record Yeah. Of the United States. You know, we are one of the most accepting countries in the world.

Chris [: 00:30:49

We have more people immigrating to this country than any other country in the world, and it's built by this pursuit of happiness and the American dream. You can come here with nothing in your pocket and elevate your livelihood and your livelihood for your family. There are opportunities everywhere. And there are certainly people that are trying to ruin that for us in this country. So being with staccato that's aligned in values, very intelligent, great human beings working there, just good human beings has been so refreshing.

James [: 00:31:19

So what I'm what I'm hearing you say is you don't have to kind of set any of your personal beliefs aside.

Chris [: 00:31:26

No. I'm not walking on eggshells. You know? And nothing that

James [: 00:31:29

has happened

Chris [: 00:31:30

to me now from the professional world was crazy.

James [: 00:31:34

Yeah.

Chris [: 00:31:34

It was just aligned with values that are are being attacked currently in the American way.

James [: 00:31:40

Yeah. You know, I I think that people just overlook the fact that a 100 years ago, people were really doing everything they could to get to this country to pursue a better life. And, I mean, any of your own personal viewpoints aside or anyone who's listening, any of your your and my viewpoints aside, right, you look at the sacrifices that some people are doing now just to get inside of Yeah. This country.

Chris [: 00:32:07

Yeah.

James [: 00:32:07

It's not because they want Netflix. Like, it's it's because they want the opportunity to live a a free fulfilled life.

Chris [: 00:32:13

And because when you turn on a tap in this country, whether you're in a prison or a house or a building, clean water is coming out. And there are grocery stores. We don't have seasonal eating here.

James [: 00:32:23

You can

Chris [: 00:32:23

get mangoes that are ripe 20 fourseven in this country. Like, we don't know how good we have it. I was just in El Salvador. Beautiful country, beautiful people, and they 23% of that country does not have access to food and water. What? A 160 people in El Salvador have a a population of 6,000,000 make up 83% of that GDP.

James [: 00:32:45

Say that one more time.

Chris [: 00:32:47

A 160 El Salvadorian families make up 83% of that country's GDP. That's amazing. And there's 6,000,000 people in that country. You know, you're I'm like the guy that's, like, tipping my wife's like, why are you giving out so much money? I'm like, I can't help. I just wanna give twenties to everybody.

James [: 00:33:04

Yeah.

Chris [: 00:33:04

And they're so appreciative. And that family was my friend that married into this El Salvadorian family. They're they're immigrants here in the United States. They've been here for 20 30 years, and they you will they're the most patriotic people I've ever met in my life. For now, that works. And you see that. Yeah. You see that with and, like, do we have a immigration problem currently? Sure.

Chris [: 00:33:26

Do I blame any of the people coming in here? Absolutely not. If I were living in Central America or anywhere that has a substandard lifestyle and I was like, oh, man. America offers me more. I would have my kids on my back with a caravan of friends, and I'd be walking across that fucking border.

James [: 00:33:40

I have this, this picture on my refrigerator, and I took it on, those old OG cardboard disposable cameras Yeah. That, you remember when you get my age, which is super old. But, it's of a group of kids in Iraq. No one has shoes on. A couple of them are malnourished, and we've given them some food and some candy, and they're just so thrilled and so excited and so cheerful. You know? And they're in deplorable conditions. They didn't really have houses. Mhmm.

James [: 00:34:14

And I had that's on my first to remind me of how good I have it. Not that I need constant reminding me. But some days, you know, you lose a deal that you worked on for 6 months, you know, or It's all relative.

Chris [: 00:34:25

It's all personal. To how easy it becomes. Yeah.

James [: 00:34:29

And that's

Chris [: 00:34:30

kind of where our society's at. We've had it so good for so long that we forget on what it could be. And we start making up issues to fight about. And none of our politicians are looking at the common thread of the populace of what we all agree on and want. Mhmm. We're they're too busy looking at the people we don't like in the past and just highlighting that.

James [: 00:34:53

But you

Chris [: 00:34:53

can look at, like, the media and the government. The the government's never here to save us

James [: 00:34:58

for now.

Chris [: 00:34:58

And the media is they're they want people to click on it. They want people to watch it. They're always gonna dramatize everything, and there's a narrative there too. They are a business. They are looking at the bottom line. Mhmm. Good, bad, ugly, they don't give a shit. They are gonna put information in front of you to get you in front of the TV, listening to them on the radio, clicking on this, clicking on that, and they're filled with media ads that are driving the narrative there too.

James [: 00:35:23

What's the outrage machine?

Chris [: 00:35:24

Yeah. Yeah. If drama your your brain is addicted to negative thought patterns. It comes from the very genetic makeup we have and the fight or flight makeup of our brain from when we are running from saber tooth tigers. It is very hard.

James [: 00:35:38

You might have ran from them. I turned around and confronted them because Well, you're a better man than me. I can. Man. You know?

Chris [: 00:35:43

I ran. But that that's a problem. You know? People are gonna get addicted to these really negative story lines and they want to hear more about it. It's very difficult to change the chemistry in your brain to not give into those, to think about the optimism, to think about the positive things that are happening. That's the battle in life. Mhmm. The battle in life is a perspective change to continually look at the things that are good, to always look for the silver lining, to be a optimist no matter what the circumstances. I've never spoken to anybody that is a giant in their field, a successful person in whatever endeavor that's a negative human being.

Chris [: 00:36:22

Not once. The common denominators, they are all going to overcome whatever's in front of them, whether they have to blast through the wall, walk around it, dig themselves out of a hole, fail a 1000000 times to get what they want. They're hyper focused, and they are optimists.

James [: 00:36:36

Winners find a way to win.

Chris [: 00:36:37

No matter what.

James [: 00:36:40

In in my industry, if you if you're successful in my industry, you're making you're making 7 figures easier.

Chris [: 00:36:46

Mhmm.

James [: 00:36:48

And a lot of people in my industry who are doing that are happy people with happy family lives, and they make it a point to be happy. They make it a point to help others. To make it a point to not be divisive, to be inclusive. Alright. So you figured a lot of stuff out. You're with a company that aligns with your values. Are you doing anything outside of that company to give back, to to pay it forward? Are you mentoring young people? What are you doing?

Chris [: 00:37:11

At this point, well, I was heavily involved in some other things. But right now, I'm an ambassador for We Defy, which you're Mhmm. Knowledgeable about We Defy, which is a a nonprofit organization that provides, financial support to get combat veterans into jiu jitsu. Why does that matter? Jiu jitsu is a phenomenal, tool to have in your toolbox. It is a one, a really good outlet for people to get their aggression out, but it's it's almost like active meditation. Meditation is a great thing for your brain. And jujitsu is an active meditation in the sense that when somebody's trying to choke you out, there's not a problem in life that you're thinking about outside of how do I defend myself, how do I survive this position. And you're also, you know, a really good workout, which we all know any type of working out is really good for your brain chemistry.

Chris [: 00:38:02

Anti depressive properties. Like, going for a 45 minute jog is better than taking any type of medication for depression. Mhmm. So there's that aspect of it. And I've got a soft spot for veterans in my heart because I was in a place where I was about to give up everything that this life has to offer over my own selfish lows and confusion about how to make it in this life. So I like to help people that have come after me really find their grounding, and, I wanna see everybody succeed. Everybody, I shouldn't say everybody. A lot of people think, like, there's only so much money on the tree.

Chris [: 00:38:36

Mhmm. There's so much only so much things that you can get and we have to disperse that amongst the masses. No. Everybody can go and make their dreams a reality, and everybody can get whatever they want. People have a lot of limiting beliefs. They think only certain things are possible. That's bullshit.

James [: 00:38:54

We call that abundance. Right? You gotta practice abundance.

Chris [: 00:38:57

Yes. And there's something metaphysically about putting that energy into the world where it comes back to you. Mhmm. You literally have to manifest your reality and I'm a big believer in that. And people have a lot of limiting beliefs but our our genetics like if you take out your genes they will stretch from here to the moon a 100000 times. If you were to read one character of your genetic code, one character every minute, it would take you like 300 years to read your genetic code. We have put space stations in outer space. We have split something called an atom, which you can't even see with the the naked eye.

Chris [: 00:39:34

You have to look at it through a very very strong microscope. And also the greatest source of energy to be utilized as a as a weapon. But there is nothing we cannot do. We're driving around in cars that drive themselves. Mhmm. My grandmother was born in Edisto Island, South Carolina and she rode a horse and carriage to school. And now we have people driving around cars while they're watching YouTube channel on their LCD screens because the car is driving itself.

James [: 00:40:06

Scrolling Instagram.

Chris [: 00:40:07

Yeah. You can fly from DFW to Heathrow in, like, what is it? 8 hours?

James [: 00:40:12

Yeah.

Chris [: 00:40:13

In a fully reclined seat with a mask on drinking champagne.

James [: 00:40:16

So let me ask you a question. In in a lot of young people that I try to mentor really deal with this. So and it's it's a lot of, envy and resentment for their lack of success versus someone else's success.

Chris [: 00:40:29

Yeah.

James [: 00:40:29

I do a lot of stuff with young veterans, on the sales side trying to find out find their strokes. So in your experience, if someone is dealing with that and the depression, lack of purpose, what do you think that they should do? What would be like their their best starting point?

Chris [: 00:40:48

1, stop drinking. Stop partying. Focus on yourself. Why? Alcohol is probably the worst drug that's out there. And don't get me wrong, I love alcohol. I love drinking alcohol. It's a it makes me feel good. I like the taste of a lot of different alcohol, but it is a depressant to achieve.

Chris [: 00:41:04

Don't drink that much? No. I I rarely drink these days, actually. But it's a a strong depressant. Put the water on it. Is the the first thing to do. If you drink heavily, the day the preceding days are fucked. So stop drinking, plus it's a waste of money when you're trying to, like, get going in life. Know what money is and how it can be utilized.

Chris [: 00:41:24

So do some self study there. Get off social media and stop comparing yourself to everybody else. Mhmm. Compare yourself to who you were yesterday and that's it. It should be continual self improvement, not continual self improvement relative to everybody that's around me. You will never be happy if you compare yourself to those around you because there's always somebody that's stronger, always somebody more successful, faster, all the things. Yeah. So and also your purpose is not gonna be some bolt of lightning that comes down from the gods and strikes you, and you're like, I know exactly what I wanna do.

Chris [: 00:41:58

No. Your purpose is what you make. Mhmm. What is your purpose? That is a self reflection and identifying what you want to be up to in the world and then going after it with a tenacity that you've never had for anything else as if your entire livelihood depends on it because your entire livelihood filled with joy and fulfillment is

James [: 00:42:19

Your purpose.

Chris [: 00:42:20

Your purpose. Yeah. So whether that's I want to take care of the squirrel population or I want to help veterans or I want to be the 1st person that provides the best source of applesauce. Whatever it is, dig into it. Try everything on until something catches your interest, and then pursue mastery in there.

James [: 00:42:38

You know, that's you really touched on 2 things that are powerful to me. I also partake in alcohol from time to time, not that much these days because I recognize like you did that, a, it's a depressant, and, b, you lose days, not just 24 hours, but days after. And so I totally agree with that, but, man, the social media thing.

Chris [: 00:43:01

Oh, yeah.

James [: 00:43:02

It is toxic. It is poison. It's a time suck.

Chris [: 00:43:05

Mhmm. And,

James [: 00:43:07

you know, you're 28, you're 30 years old, and you're comparing yourself to a 30 year old on Instagram or TikTok who has 3 Lamborghinis and and four houses.

Chris [: 00:43:17

Or even worse, there's 25 year olds that are like, why does this 58 year old why does he have a concierge that's, like, providing to him? Why does he have a guy that's driving him around the city? Well, because he put 40 fucking years into his craft. Mhmm. 40 years. Not not a year. Not 4 years. He has devoted his livelihood. He has not seen his children's birthday parties at times. He is committed to his craft.

Chris [: 00:43:42

She has started up something and she probably sacrificed x, y, and z on the other side to achieve what she has 30, 40 years down the road.

James [: 00:43:50

Mhmm.

Chris [: 00:43:51

It's not a fucking 100 meter dash. That's right. It's a marathon.

James [: 00:43:54

Yeah.

Chris [: 00:43:55

It's your life. Be intentional with your time. Be present when you're present with people And get to know people. Find a good mentor. Somebody that is not only successful monetarily, but somebody that's aligned with your values holistically. Find that person and run everything across them. And they may have good advice. They may have bad advice.

Chris [: 00:44:15

You gotta be your self filter.

James [: 00:44:17

Everyone who comes in here and sits in that chair says the same thing. Have multiple Finding mentors. Yes. More than 1. Right?

Chris [: 00:44:24

Yeah. Like, there are people that have been down the road that you're about to dabble in. Mhmm. Find somebody that has aligned values and be annoying to them until they cut you off. Overcommunicate. Become friends with them. Do things for them that they wanna the biggest thing you can do is ask for help. People wanna help other human beings.

James [: 00:44:46

Yep.

Chris [: 00:44:47

Hey, brother. I need help with this business plan. Do you mind taking a look at it?

James [: 00:44:50

And so my career changed.

Chris [: 00:44:52

Yeah.

James [: 00:44:52

I wasn't for help.

Chris [: 00:44:53

And you gotta be careful and you gotta vet these people, but most people wanna help other people.

James [: 00:44:58

So if someone is listening to this and they they wanna make a change outside of alcohol and social media, I think I think mentoring would be the next most powerful step they could do.

Chris [: 00:45:10

100%. Take care of your body. Take care of your mind.

James [: 00:45:12

Absolutely. Get sleep. Like Sleep is amazing. I you know what?

Chris [: 00:45:16

Sleep is helpful. There's there's 2 different things here. Mhmm. Medication, they're drugs. Mhmm. Medicine is food. Mhmm. Like, what are you consuming? Like, literally consuming.

Chris [: 00:45:27

And then what are you consuming with your mind?

James [: 00:45:29

I know you and I are both big fans of

Chris [: 00:45:31

the carnivore diet. Carnivore, paleo, all the things where you're eating just clean food.

James [: 00:45:36

Just food.

Chris [: 00:45:37

Getting rid of cross ass bullshit. Yeah. Like, eat stuff that's nutritious to your body. Take care of your body. It's the only body you got.

James [: 00:45:44

My girl my girl eats Cheetos and drinks diet Coke, and it drives me insane.

Chris [: 00:45:49

Dude, every time I find somebody that drinks Coca Cola, I just grab it from them and open them by a car hood, and I'm like, this is how I clean my battery. You're putting that in your body.

James [: 00:45:56

I tried that, but then, you know, we we might have broke up for a couple of weeks, because of that. But look, man. We're gonna put your information in the show notes. People can reach out to you. Absolutely. LinkedIn. We'll put your staccato email in there. Thanks for coming on, man.

James [: 00:46:14

I really appreciate it.

Chris [: 00:46:15

Thanks for having me, man. It's been a been a minute since we got to see each other, so I've had a blast talking with you.

James [: 00:46:19

Yeah. Feel like we could sit here for 5 hours.

Chris [: 00:46:22

A 100%. Yeah.

James [: 00:46:23

If my producer wasn't such a stickler, we would. But Business Blind Spots podcast, Chris Bova. He works with Staccato. The, not the Lamborghini, but the Ferrari of firearms. And, they're doing some really cool stuff down in Austin. I can't wait till I have you back on, and you can kinda talk about some of the cool initiatives that you guys are doing later on this summer. For more information, go to show notes. Look them up.

James [: 00:46:45

Like and subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcasts. Check us out on YouTube. I appreciate it.