How do you go from being a dirt poor kid in Canton, Ohio to America's Most Trusted Fitness Professional? Clark shares how he built on his mother's legacy of honesty, compassion, belief, and hard work to keep taking the next step.
If you are ready to make your own evolution, Clark is taking applications for his personalized 90 day fitness program Maximized Man Elite. You can find out more about his books, mindset advice, and fitness app on Instagram.
Want to part of the free podcast community? Join here.
How do you go from being a dirt poor kid in Canton, Ohio to America's Most Trusted Fitness Professional? Clark shares how he built on his mother's legacy of honesty, compassion, belief, and hard work to keep taking the next step.
If you are ready to make your own evolution, Clark is taking applications for his personalized 90 day fitness program Maximized Man Elite. You can find out more about his books, mindset advice, and fitness app on Instagram.
Want to part of the free podcast community? Join here.
Amber: I don't know a lot about you. I looked through your Instagram and watched some of your videos. Wendy had nothing but good things to say about you and said you had a great personal story different career changes and different things that you've done.
So I'm curious to know more about you and who you are if you wanna introduce yourself.
Clark: Yeah. Yeah, not a problem. So, My name is Clark Bartram, and mainly what I do now is I coach men over 50 because I am a man over 50. I'm 59 years old and I'm a pretty fit guy, so I feel like I'm an example to these guys.
But my backstory is one that would lead you to believe that this wouldn't be where I ended up in my life with the fact that, you know, I went through lots of trauma in my life, like most of us do, family issues, my mom's boyfriends dad not being in the house. All of the typical stuff that we hear in life led me to realizing that [00:01:00] there was something greater for me, and I knew that something inside of me was telling me that being in Canton, Ohio wasn't where I was going to be for the rest of my life, that's where I grew up.
As much as I love Northeastern Ohio and being a Canton kid, I knew there was something bigger for me and I didn't know what it was. And I realized that the only way I was gonna ever get out of there was joining the Marine Corps or some branch of the service. And I wanted the hardest challenge I could get.
I wanted to dress blue uniform and I wanted to be the United States Marine. So that's what I did. Got in the Marine Corps, ended up excelling and meritoriously, promoted all that stuff. Played rugby in the Marine Corps, got to travel around the world, and then ended up getting out 1984, needing a job.
So I'm like, okay, what am I gonna do? Like I looked in the paper and there was a job opening for a gym, [00:02:00] family fitness center. So I went and applied, and I applied and I applied. And the manager kept telling me, Hey, come back next week. Come back next week, come back next week. And this guy told me that four times.
So I finally was at a place where I needed to have a job and I was getting ready to go rent something, and I had to put in a credit check. And they said, who is your employer? And I was thinking to myself, that guy keeps calling me back. I'm gonna just say that he's my employer. So I wrote it down and I went back in the next week when he had asked me to come back.
And he looked at me and he pointed, he's like, I like you. Because apparently the company that I was trying to rent from contacted him and said, Hey, does this guy work for you? And he's like, oh, good move. So he gave me the job and that kind of got me on the path of being in the fitness industry. So I started body building, got in the magazines.
I always knew like that each thing was a stepping stone. So from the Marine Corps, which is very physical, to getting in the gym business, to [00:03:00] managing gyms, then going into body building, and then getting into modeling, and then getting into movies, and then ending up where I'm at today, coaching men, because of all of that resume has led me to a place of credibility passion and excitement for what I do. So there you go.
Amber: I'm thinking back to one of your videos on Instagram . You're holding a book in your hand and you said this started from an idea. So that started back when you were in Canton, Ohio. And you said, I don't know how I'm gonna get outta here, but I know the next step . Is that how you have approached everything, is, I'm just gonna take the next step and I'm gonna take the next step and let it unfold?
Clark: I love what Oprah Winfrey said. She says, what's your next best move? And that's how I approach my life. It's like, okay, what today? What's my next best move? So when I had this idea to write a book, I took action like that. So the backstory on the book is one of 'em, at least, Where Your Mind Goes, You Go. [00:04:00] I had a panic attack on an airplane and it was horrible.
, I wanted to jump out. I was gonna jump out of the airplane cuz I didn't know what was happening. I didn't know what a panic attack was. I'm the most confident guy you'll ever meet. Nothing like that has ever happened. All of a sudden, I'm on the airplane and boom, something just comes over me, literally from head to toe that put so much fear in me. Fast forward, I realized that I needed to do something about it and I didn't wanna medicate myself. I wanted to learn about the brain and how we function and how we think. So I started really doing some investigation, a lot of YouTube videos, a lot of counselors, a lot of research books and all that sort of thing.
Then one day I was sitting here in my house and I was watching this preacher lady by the name of Joyce Meyer, and she said, "where the mind goes, the man follows", and instantly in my heart, I heard in my spirit, I heard that's the [00:05:00] title of your book. I'm like, title of my book. What are you talking about? I'm now talking to God.
I'm like, I'm not writing a book. Yeah, you are. I'm like, I'm not writing a book. That's the title of your book. I swear to you. I got up, I took this computer or a version of this computer, maybe it was the last one I had. I went to my office, which is was in the living room at the time, sat down and I started to write that book and it just flowed and flowed.
I literally didn't leave that space. I didn't leave that space until that book was done, and now I'm thinking, okay, I got all of these words on a paper. What do I do next? And I heard inside my spirit again, Google best book designer. So I went on Google. I just put in best book designer and this one popped up and it I knew it was the guy.
So I called him, I said, Hey, I just wrote a book, I think, and I need to do something with it. So I ended up getting it edited from a friend of mine [00:06:00] that I knew this guy designed it, and then he said, here is a contact in China to print the book. I'm like, all right. Then I spent a bunch of money printing, 3000 books, and I remember one day I was sitting in my office out in the living room and I hear beep, beep, beep.
I got a big long driveway. I looked in the driveway, there's a truck backing up. A guy gets out with a pallet jack. He goes up on the lift and he drops off three pallets of books in my driveway, and leaves, and I'm looking at all of these books. Now what am I gonna do with these things? So in the fashion of Mc Hammer, I sold those things outta my trunk.
I sold 'em everywhere I could go. I gave 'em away and, they're all gone. I just had a few boxes show up the other day from a, a warehouse that they were sitting in for a long time. So I have a few left now, but it's because I took immediate action on an idea. And I don't think [00:07:00] enough people do that.
Amber: That's really powerful what you just said. I'm thinking back to when I've watched The Secret and how they talk about whether it's God or the universe, whatever you believe that is, that's speaking to you, that when that's given to you, it's kinda like, are you gonna run with this or you're not gonna run with this? To not give a space to talk yourself out of it, no time to think about it. You're just in it and seeing that idea through.
Clark: Yeah. So many people are given those nuggets, right? We all get million dollar ideas. We all have opportunities to do things, but what I've experienced through me dropping those million dollar nuggets on people is people just don't take action.
That's a real big problem. Everybody says, I want to write a book, but nobody writes a book. Why? Because they don't put paper pen to paper or fingers to computer and just start doing it. Like you, you said, I want a podcast. You hired somebody to teach you how to do a podcast. Now you're doing a podcast.
[00:08:00] That could have been just the thought in your head, but you're a person that takes action. If you weren't, we wouldn't be sitting here right now, .
Amber: Exactly. I'm not saying I do this perfectly by no means my life is busy and my life is complicated just like everyone else is. This podcast for me, it's what you talked about. I know this is a thing I'm supposed to be doing and, I'm gonna find the time to do it in between everything else. Sometimes that's at 11 when I finally got the baby down, I'm doing some editing, or I'm messaging people and making connections for interviews. I feel like until you've experienced that it's weird to know what it feels like when it's like, no, this isn't just a thought, this is something I'm supposed to be doing.
I don't know if you've felt those differences in some of your ideas.
Clark: You know in your spirit and your heart and your gut and your intuition when you are supposed to do something, we always get ideas of, oh, I'd love to do this, or I'd love to do that.
But when one catches a hold and it won't let you go, you have to do it, [00:09:00] and I'll just let you off the hook here- none of us do anything perfectly. Anyone who acts like they have it perfect. I I will never follow them. I'll stop following them. It's like, oh no, you're that person. You're not for me. We're all a work in progress, right?
We were just out here doing the best we can, sharing the information and not worrying about where it's gonna end up being at. You know? I mean, I have people tell me, oh, you should only do podcasts that are on this level. I want to talk to everybody and anybody, cuz you never know who you're gonna connect with.
Even if no one ever watches this. You and I are connected now and this is a cool exchange for me. This is enough for me.
Amber: That's exactly my approach too. You never know. I could be at Walmart and I could be like, Hey, I just did this interview with Clark Bartram he is a super smart fitness guy. He does all these things and maybe that's a person, I need his services, or I need something that he has, or I need one of his books. . You never know [00:10:00] how that one conversation, how it's gonna spill over I think, is it butterfly effect? Every interaction, there's nothing wasted and there's nothing that's, not necessarily worth our time because you just don't know where that conversation or that interaction is gonna end up. In like the, you know, big space of life.
Clark: Yeah. That's why it frustrates me when you come across those people that act too big for something or too busy for something. I realize people are busy and maybe they don't have time to do everything that they want to do, and they have to kind of prioritize certain things.
But it's rare that any of us really run in to that person that's that busy that they can't do a podcast or a phone call or give some encouragement to somebody at the gym or Walmart or wherever it is they run into them. We're all humans experiencing this thing from our [00:11:00] unique perspective, but it's interesting when we have the opportunity connect with people , and kind of intertwine these feelings and emotions and experiences and go, wow, that's really cool.
I, I've never thought of it that way.
Amber: I'm just thinking I just had like a small snippet of your story, but what you said in the very beginning about. I had all these things happen to me that many of us experience that are often used as the reason why we don't do something or the reason why we stay stuck.
And you held onto this belief that there was like more in life for you. Honestly, that's why I started this podcast. Cause that's part of my story too. I've had all kinds of trauma too, but I can remember being like little, little girl, super chaotic, home and just like, I know there's more out there. . I know there has to be good out there. I just know this isn't it, you know?
Clark: Yeah, there is. And it's, it's neat to have that [00:12:00] understanding. When I tell that to people who don't get. They might look at me in a certain way, like, who do you think you are?
You know, people from my hometown. Most people get it and understand. They're like, I thought the same way about you. We always knew there was something different for you here. When I go back to Ohio and visit, and again, I love Canton, Ohio. I love my people. I talked to my mom. Well, what's left of my mom?
Yesterday, my older brother called me today, it's my heart, right? But when I go back there and visit, they're like you don't look like you belong here. People that don't know me, if I go to a restaurant and they'll say, who are you? What do you do? I grew up right here in this neighborhood and they're like, wow, you look like a guy that's from California.
I'm like, no, I'm from Ohio. But I was called to something different. Not better, not greater, it's just different, right? I was called to a different life, not working at Timkin Roller Bearing or Republic Steel. I appreciate the [00:13:00] blue collar workers. That just wasn't for me. It wasn't my path.
Amber: And here you are now. You've led that throughout your entire life and how many people you impacted with that. You made some sort of impact on that employer where you're like, guess what? I work for you. That's what I'm telling my landlord.
It's something powerful to look back on everything. Kind of messes with your head a little bit when you have some space to look back and be like, I didn't know that that was gonna happen. And see all the steps when you're on the, on the end of that idea, like when that book was in your hand.
Clark: Yeah. You know, I've mentioned my mom and my sister, my older sister who's the greatest person on planet Earth. Literally I get emotional thinking about that. She turned 65 yesterday or the day before, and I called her to wish her happy birthday. Her name's Michelle. I said, Mish, what are you gonna do? She said, I wanna take my daughters and go see our mom. She's in a, a home now and just [00:14:00] flesh and bones, like she's not there. And she said, I wanna do a video chat with you and her. So she has dementia and all that stuff. So I'm sitting here in my office and we're doing a video chat, and I'm just looking at this woman who I remember as strong and beautiful and confident, single mother of four kids and just this rock.
And I'm looking at this shell and just reflecting on all of that, right? And then realizing that I'm here doing what I'm doing because of that woman, because of who she was, because of the strength that she represented in the honesty and, and the transparency. And one of the nurses I could hear in the background, she said, oh, Linda is so straightforward and all of us at the same time, even the granddaughter said, we are all that way because of her.
I will tell you what I'm thinking, I don't care what the repercussions are because there aren't enough honest people in the world. I found myself telling my [00:15:00] mom, you know, you remember me and I grabbed the magazine. I'm the guy. I'm the famous guy that used to brag about all the time on the magazines and this, and you know, I'm just being cocky just to try and get some sort of recognition like she knew who I was and I believe on some level that she does know who she's talking to. , but on the outside it doesn't seem like that's the case. And I don't know why I'm talking about all that, but it, I think it's partly due to what we've been discussing here and as a whole is like, what do we do with our life?
Where do we take it? What do we let that stuff hold us back or do we continue to move forward? I like to think I'm continually moving forward.
Amber: Your mom's example, who she was for you. I am imagining that that gave you some of that drive and that inner belief that Canton Ohio is not where I'm staying forever, that passion you have inside of you, that pursuit [00:16:00] for more and get everything you can out of life.
Clark: Yeah, you know, we were poor. We were really, really poor. Some would say white trash. You know, this thing that the label we put on ourselves. And I think that's part of the drive is I watched my mom work three jobs. I watched her struggle. I remember being instructed on what to say if a bill collector called and all of those sorts of things. It stays a part of who I am. And it's not anything that I'm not grateful for having experienced in my life. But I don't want ever be giving those instructions to my kids.
I don't want them to see that level of struggle. I mean, I'm still struggling to make it in life. We're all struggling at different levels. I just want to take what I learned from both her and my Dad and every boyfriend that ever came through and all of these people that passed through my life and use that as a platform to [00:17:00] build from.
And as I build from that platform, then that effort and energy and legacy from her and them is passed on to the next generation, my kids. And then that they have all of that information to build from as well. And that's how it should be. Right? That's what we do as parents. And, and that's the beauty of it all, is we get to take all of the trauma and all the BS that we did and say to ourselves, that'll never happen.
That I'll never be that parent. I'll never do this to my kids. You know? But we do , we do. It's just a different way of doing it. ,
Amber: Your kids though, , it's not a rating system, but your mom started here and you learned from your mom and you took all those experiences and then your kids get to start from here.
Your mom's legacy is continuing because you decided to build on it. You didn't decide to go the other direction and say, I'm just gonna peace out and work at Republic Steel and get my retirement and that's it.
Clark: Yeah. Or end [00:18:00] up in jail or dead or, you know, a lot of the other examples that were very close to me, you know, very close friends. It's interesting you know, I always look at it like there was some protection around me that got me through that to this. It, it's weird. It, it, it really is. And it's interesting to kind of have these conversations to take a step out and be on the balcony of your life and observe it instead of being in it.
Amber: Right. Not being straight in it, but to have some perspective on it and how it unfolded or why it was that way, or what you learned. For a lot of time, more time than I'd like to give it credit to you, I was angry the things that had happened to me. I can't remember who, a coach or a therapist, they said something that was the catalyst for me getting over myself and making good of it was that "everything happened for you". Like there's a gift in it. No matter how horribly crappy it was, no [00:19:00] matter how much it shouldn't have happened, there's something in it for you. Someone that hurt you that's something that they don't get. You get to keep that good and run with it and let the rest of that go. That was a big shift for me. Not quite sure where I'm going with this, I think it's some of the things that you said we get to choose. It's a choice that we get to make. It's kind of the way you're talking about those decision factors of am I gonna take action or am I not gonna take action? How am I choosing to see what happened to me and how can I use it from my benefit?
Clark: Yeah, I remember I was sitting here in this office one day and my mom, the main boyfriend that came through was a guy by the name Ron, big Ron. We called him. He was a big iron worker, hillbilly guy. He was the nicest guy when he wasn't drinking, but when we was drinking, he'd beat us up and all this sort of stuff.
And I remember I was sitting, actually, I was taking a bath and I was doing some thinking and praying and, and my spirit and in my heart I heard, forgive Big Ron. And I'm like, [00:20:00] I don't know how to get ahold of this guy. So I called my mom, I said, Hey, do you have Ron's phone number by any chance? She goes, it's really weird.
I just got his phone number. Why? I said, I feel like I need to forgive him. He was in Vietnam. He got contaminated with Agent Orange. And I find out from my mom when I asked for the phone number that he's dying from cancer, from Vietnam and Agent Orange. I'm like, wow. So I call him up and I hear his voice, familiar voice.
I say, Hey Ron, big Ron. He's like, yeah, who's this? I said, it's Clark. And we hadn't talked to him a long, long time. Last time I saw him, I was gonna beat the hell out of him because he had done some stuff to my mom. Now I'm grown up. I'm not a little kid anymore. I was a Marine, I was a bodybuilder. I was big I was gonna beat him up in the courthouse, but I didn't cuz the cops got me. So now I'm ready to forgive him. And I just called him that day and said, Hey, I just wanted to tell you [00:21:00] that everything you did to me and us made me the man I am. So thank you. Thank you for being in my life. I have no anger towards you.
Matter of fact, I love you and I appreciate you and you are a good man. And I just wanna let you know that whatever happens, you can go off into eternity and not worry about me. You know what I mean? We're good. and he cried and it was a great conversation. And I realized that at that time that Big Ron is as traumatic as it was at times.
I mean, pulling the guy out of bars, you know, I'm hit, I'm hit like Vietnam flashbacks and stuff. And at 15 years old, pulling a grown man out of a bar shot, like I shouldn't be doing this, you know, but it helped mold me, , it helped made me Clark Bartram. So it's, it's interesting. He's gone now and that was that and, and my own dad, when my dad died, I sat next to him in the hospital bed and [00:22:00] got to say the same thing to him.
Go on. I'm a good man and it's because of you, your legacy will live on in me. You go on into eternity knowing that you not showing up at the house when you said you were going to and all of what we went through. I'm good. I'm good.
Amber: What a powerful experience for both of you. You had this evolution where you were gonna thump this guy and then you were able to completely and fully give that gift to him , I release you from me, I love you, be at peace with this.
I wonder how much impact that had on him as he was in his last moments.
Clark: Yeah. I felt like it had a lot, you know, and I tried to encourage my mom to do same thing, but she had experienced a lot more pain than I did. And we all have levels that we can get to and maybe not be able to experience something positive from something. Maybe that's what she's doing right now in those [00:23:00] moments where she's laying there. Releasing these people from her life to allow her to go off into the next chapter or phase or whatever that looks like and be freed of all of that sort of stuff.
Amber: People experiencing dementia. We don't know what's inside of their world. Maybe that is that opportunity to take care of what needs to be taken care of here for the next thing.
Clark: Yeah. Could be seeing pictures and visions and moments and time and able to who, like you said, who knows? Nobody knows. We like to think we know, but we don't know. We have no clue.
Amber: Yeah. Yeah. We don't. I had this opportunity. My mom died when I was very young. I didn't know my dad and maybe a year before he passed away. It was one of those, take action I'm just gonna try and reach out to this guy. But we were able to have this conversation and he was just so honest. He owned his stuff. He was a Vietnam veteran too. That's what made me think about this. And he just talked about how[00:24:00] he spiraled, basically he got hurt in the military, put on a lot of pain medications. They took him off the pain medications and then, , he was completely addicted. He had a 40 year run of heavy drug use and ,he completely owned it. He was getting ready to go in rehab actually, the day before I called him. I had no idea. He's like, I couldn't have raised you, I couldn't have done it. I was so far in my addiction I could not have been a dad to you. , I've always kept tabs on you, I've always seen what you do, but I wouldn't have been what you needed. Really powerful when you can have those conversations and make peace with that and release whatever negative parts might have been there.
Clark: Yeah. And all it does is free us up and give us the ability to not have all of this stress and anxiety that's not necessary because we're holding onto something.
You know, you think about your dad's story, he didn't want to get that way. He served our country. He got injured, he was trusting in physicians, they put him on drugs. He just said, okay, [00:25:00] alright. And he took em. And then all of a sudden they grabbed a hold of him and it changed who he was as a person.
He was no longer your dad. And that's what he said. from where I was at, I was not me. it's crazy because we sit in judgment from our little perfect place in life of people who didn't choose that path. They didn't choose that path. We don't know the stories. We don't give people enough grace to hear the story and believe it. Right? There's a lot of homeless people around here and I like to take the time to meet them and hear their story. The other day it was, it was beautiful because my son, he was leaving to go to work and he texts me, he said, if you're bored, there's a homeless guy around the corner that looks like he needs help.
and he knows from experience that this is something that's I do this. So I had a couple people here and I just said, excuse me. And I left and I went around the corner searching for this guy. Just by the looks of him, it's hard for most people [00:26:00] right? To let somebody like that close to them.
They're afraid to get cooties or whatever, you know? Thankfully I don't care. I said, Hey, you need a ride to Interfaith , which is the homeless place that helps. He said, please, , and he started telling me his story. So he gets in the car and I drive him over there. So this mile and a half drive I found out this guy's a Navy veteran and his story and all this. I'm like, man, if people could understand that, we're a couple bad choices away from that being us. That's why I never wanna overlook anyone in a situation like that and do the best I can with what I have. And I don't have some Messiah complex. I don't think I'm any better than anybody else. This is not for everyone. That's not what I'm saying. It's something that I enjoy doing or like about myself. And that came directly from my mom. 100%. She picked up hitchhikers, anyone that needed food, we had no money. We were so poor. But she fed [00:27:00] everybody, , everybody. If you were hungry, you came to the Bartram's house and you got fed, period.
Amber: I'm picturing your mom in my mind, probably nothing what she looks like. But your mom didn't look at what she didn't have. She looked at what she did have and what she could give to people and that's what you did for that homeless man, what can I give to you?
You gave him a ride, you gave him an opportunity to share a story. No judgment. I feel like that's one of the most powerful things that you can do for people, is to let them tell their story without any judgment .
Clark: That doesn't cost us any money. It's a little bit of time. And again, that goes back to what I said earlier. We have the time, we pretend like we don't. It's just a matter of how we manage and what we prioritize. Is getting to the gym that fast, or is getting back to this or that, does that take priority over another human being's life? Not for me. It doesn't, you know what I mean? I'm gonna [00:28:00] get my workout in, I'm gonna get my meal in, I'm gonna get all of that.
I'm just so thankful because here's the truth, it doesn't do as much for them as it does for us. We get more from those exchanges than that person will ever get from the exchange, in my opinion, if you do it with the right heart in the right attitude. There's a person sleeping outside with a freaking basket of belongings, and this guy was my age and he looked like he was 20 or 30 years older because of where his life had brought him.
And it just pisses me off when people pass and yell at a homeless guy, go get a job. It's like, shut up man. Shut up.
Amber: It's actually a parenting concept, but I feel like this carries over to all of our interactions and how we treat people that no one sets out to be bad. No one sets out to give people a hard time. That's not our innate drives for any human. If that guy could go get a job, he'd go get a job. Give some space for why can't he get a job? What has he experienced in his life that he's sleeping outside. There's a story behind that.
I've actually heard that same thing that you just said. It was actually a hoarder's episode where he said, we're all five choices away from having to sleep outside and use bucket for a toilet. Drop the judgment this could be you. It's very humbling when you see someone like that and you're like, I can make two different choices and we could trade places.
Clark: Yeah. And I don't want anyone to think, like I said earlier, that I'm suggesting I'm better and your worse. What I'm saying is this is a choice that I make for me in my life based upon my unique life experience. And we all have them. So there might be a reason that someone doesn't do that.
And that's fine too, right? .
Amber: Yeah. It's different callings, right? My husband would have an issue with it if I was going to help homeless men, he'd probably be very concerned for my safety and prefer that I do something else. Rightfully so.. There's other ways that I'm called to help people, other means of service. A lot of times we'll do meals like you're mom did, and different things like that. . It's what you said - differences don't mean better or worse, it's just differences. You have your way of service. Everyone else has their own unique way that they can serve best.
Clark: Yeah, and and that's the problem with the world that we live in. We live in a soundbite world. If you were to take any sound bite from this only, there would be a whole lot of judgment placed on me when there was not context to really drive home the exact point that was trying to be made. So that's why some of these social media platforms get people against each other when if they sat down and had an actual conversation, they'd be like, oh, I didn't know that's what you meant.
Oh, I didn't mean to be such an asshole to you, or whatever. And it's like, yeah, exactly, [00:31:00] exactly. This is what I'm saying. That's why these forms are good, right? Longer form that are more exploratory that will allow people to understand. Yeah, we all come from a different place. And I agree as a husband to a wife, I wouldn't want my wife going around picking up homeless men, helping them, because that's out of her heart.
There needs to be wisdom applied. So how can we serve these people? Yes. Well, we can have a meal in our house and everybody's here, so it's safe, it's fine. Give 'em a shower, give 'em a meal, send 'em on their way, whatever the situation is. Right? And it's not our job to, to figure anything out either, right? We don't have to have an end solution. So what are you gonna do with him, Clark? How are you gonna end the homeless? I didn't say I was ending the homeless problem. That is not what I said,
Amber: You're responding to that need for the person that's in front of you in that moment, I'm thinking of that starfish story. You can't save all the starfish, but you can chuck one back in the [00:32:00] ocean. Maybe that guy just needed someone to be nice to him that day and listen to him.
Maybe that was the most like profound thing you could do that day. We don't know.
Clark: Well this is a great conversation here,
Amber:
I appreciate just you dropping in that reminder of we all have a backstory and what is it that you're called to do? How can you take action right now for the thing that you know is inside of you? Is there there's anything else you'd like to say?
Clark: Got everything out that I wanted to share. You almost had me crying a couple times. I think that what this has really done for me, in all honesty, is, is unearth a lot of emotions that maybe I've pushed down specifically as they relate to my mom and what I need to do being what's my next best move.
And what I will say is this, the only thing my mom responded to in a way that I thought was [00:33:00] reminiscent of her knowing who I was. I said, Hey, I'm gonna come and visit you. And she said, when? And I said Soon. And I need to follow through with that, whether I think she's recognizing me or not, to not judge that, just go be there.
Because energy recognizes energy and she will recognize my energy. She will know.
Amber:
Her energy will know that you're there.
And I really do hope that you get that opportunity with your mom while you have the time and, and you can sit with her and have those moments with her.
Clark: I'm, I'm gonna go on the airline as soon as we hang up, .
Amber: thank you so much for sharing and your openness.