One Thousand Gurus Podcast

#21: Dr. Arnel Calvario Ripkens - From KM to TEDx, Asians in Hip-Hop, and Cultivating Leaders of the Future

• J.R. Yonocruz • Season 3 • Episode 1

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Dr. Arnel Calvario Ripkins shares his inspiring journey from growing up in a diverse community to becoming a pioneering leader in the dance world. He highlights the importance of community, identity, and healing through dance while embracing the experiences that shape our lives.

• Dr. Arnel’s upbringing in a culturally rich environment
• The creation of Kaba Modern as a response to community needs
• Impact of social media on dance and the shift from personal to digital learning
• Experience with Awesome Shock and integrating dance therapy
• Leadership lessons and the importance of nurturing future dancers
• Contribution to "With Love" discussing queer and Filipino identities
• Emphasis on self-care for dancers and leaders
• Great insights on personal growth and community involvement

Guest bio:
As a visionary leader in the dance community, Arnel has inspired countless individuals through his work as founder of Kaba Modern, former Executive Director and former Board President of Culture Shock LA, former President of Culture Shock International, and as a member of the Kinjaz, while also empowering future leaders through his global education programs LEADERSHIP TOOLS for the DANCE LEADER and  ROOTS B4 BRANCHES.

He recently was the closing speaker for TEDx UC Irvine this past May and is a contributing author for recently released book: WITH LOVE - What we wish we knew about being Queer and Filipino in America.  In addition to all this, he works full-time as a Doctor of Occupational Therapy for the Long Beach Unified School District and is working in collaboration with Andy Ho and Culture Shock LA to expand his DANCE THERAPY program Awesome Shock LA in 2025 to provide an affirming and impactful space for dancers with disabilities.

Socials:
IG: @arnelcalvario
FB: Arnel Calvario
Website: www.DrArnel.com

Links/resources:

One Thousand Gurus Podcast:
Everyone has a compelling story to tell with insights we can all be inspired by. J.R. Yonocruz is a self-improvement blogger, relationship coach, and serial hobbyist with a passion for learning. He interviews unique guests from various fields to distill the strategies, habits, and mindsets we can use in our own lives. Each “guru” has a chance to give the audience a peek into a new world.

www.onethousandgurus.com
Instagram: @OneThousandGurus
TikTok: @onethousandgurus
YouTube: One Thousand Gurus Podcast
Email: onethousandgurus@gmail.com

J.R.:

Hello everyone and welcome back to another episode of 1000 Gurus with me, your host, jr Yonacruz. So today's episode features Dr Arnel Calvario-Ripkins, our first guest of season three. Wow, I'm so excited we finally got here. Let me read his bio, or just a quick snippet of it. As a visionary leader in the dance community, arnel has inspired countless individuals through his work as founder of Cabo Modern, former executive director and former board president of Culture Shock LA, former president of Culture Shock International and as a member of the Kinjas, while also empowering future leaders through his global education programs, leadership tools for the dance leader and Roots Before Branches. He recently was the closing speaker for TEDx UC Irvine this past May and is a contributing author for the recently released book With Love. In addition to this, he also works as a full-time doctor of occupational therapy for the Long Beach Unified School District and is working in collaboration with Andy Ho, another guest of mine, for Culture Shock LA, to expand his dance therapy program Awesome Shock LA in 2025 to provide an affirming and impactful space for dancers with disabilities.

J.R.:

So this episode was by far one of my newest favorite episodes of the podcast. By far Half of this conversation, honestly, was just me listening to him and wanting to hear more from him. He's really just such a wealth of information and knowledge and experience and we couldn't even cover half of the topics that I wanted to bring up. So hopefully we can eventually schedule a part two sometime in the future. But needless to say, it was a huge honor to have him on my show and I hope you guys learn as much as I did from this conversation. So, without further ado, hope you enjoy this conversation with Dr Arnel Calvario-Ripkins. Hello everyone and welcome back to 1000 Gurus. Please welcome my guest, dr Arnel Calvario-Ripkinsario ripkins. Well, arnell, thank you for being here. I really appreciate it. You are.

J.R.:

I've already read your bio, but I kind of just wanted to for the audience kind of hype you up or, how the kids say, glaze you a little bit because for those who don't know arnell, you definitely all have links to like his bio and everything and in my show notes, but Arnel has been an inspiration and a pioneer in the dance community for a long time now. Part of the reason why I moved down to SoCal and UCI and Cabo Modern was because of what Arnel has done in the dance community.

J.R.:

So yeah, founder of Cabo Modern 1992, part of the Filipino American club at UCI cup of buy-in when you were a student there, and Cam's like legacy and impact has had so many ripples across the dance community. The way I was telling my friends about having you on the show is, it's like your dance inspirations, dance inspirations.

J.R.:

So for me it's been, it's an honor. Copa Modern has done amazing things in the community and then the ripple effect that Copa Modern dancers have done in the community since then has also had ripples, and in so many ways in the last 30 years. But yeah, one of the biggest reasons why I moved to socal being on carbon modern myself was pivotal for my dance career because of, you know, learning from my oldies and super oldies, like the mindsets and things that have I brought to other things in my life and we talk about this in the episode with andy yeah, of how I

J.R.:

don't know, it's something about the dancers in our community or just kind of built different or something in the water, especially at UCI. And yeah, I think we've had a few encounters over the years and I know we're not like super close, but every time that you stop by the dance team or every time I've talked to you, you've had this like this grace and humility and generosity of spirit that I really admire and appreciate about you, and you're still involved too and you're like helping out. You've done a lot with Culture Shock as well and, yeah, I'm just really excited to connect and share your story with my audience. So, thank you so much for being here, thanks fam.

Arnel:

I know that's the amazing thing about Cabo Modern. It's no matter how much time passes, there's that thread that kind of connects us all.

J.R.:

And your years on kawamodern were like exciting, fun years to like witness and be a part of so. So if you have not many clarifications, we can just jump right into it, sure? So my first question is, kind of like with everyone is your origin story? I will have linked your ted talk in the show notes as well so I highly recommend everyone check that out.

J.R.:

It's a great story but maybe just a quick like for the audience. You know where'd you grow up, what were your main influences and any like pivotal memories of your upbringing that stand out to you.

Arnel:

Yeah, so I'm the child of Filipino immigrant parents. I grew up in Harbor City, which is nestled like right in the middle of Carson, torrance, hawthorne and then also Palos Verdes, lomita, so I was really blessed to kind of live around and grow up in diversity. And the good thing about living at that era too, because I, you know, I grew up in the 70s, 80s, 90s. That was the explosion of hip-hop culture and so everything I know, I knew about dance I learned at the park, you know, and so I really credit like that entire for having so many dope OGs, you know, whether it's DJs, mcs, b-boys, b-girls, poppers, lockers, there to just kind of invest in the youth, because I was definitely not confident, I was very shy, but it was those art forms that kind of I connected to and that where I kind of found my voice. So so yeah, I'm proudly a South Bay, south Bay boy.

J.R.:

Right, I know like the SoCal area is like a conglomeration of culture and especially like what you said in that area, where a lot of the dance pioneers and everything was going on that time and it's foundational for what a lot of what we do now in the dance community is. So I guess following that. So how did like you, growing up in that area, how did it lead you to you know, joining or going to uci and then eventually I want to connect the threads back of like how modern's born well, are there anything else?

Arnel:

that was like the impetus for that yeah, so I'm kind of a mosaic of a lot of different experiences. So, in addition to hip-hop dance and locking, hip-hop dance and locking were probably my foundation I also grew up doing filipino cultural dancing and so that took me to cerritos as well, where there are a lot of dancers and DJs, and then at the parties. And then I also grew up. I went to Catholic school in the weekend CCD and Long Beach so I also commit, you know, connected with the B-Boys in Long Beach also. So I'm a kind of a blend of all those cities in addition to my city. And what I learned from Filipino culture dancing because my cousins together we were like a youth dance troupe for my aunt, who is a very, very famous cultural dance instructor is I learned teamwork and performance, quality and discipline and also culture, obviously, because we were learning cultural dances from different regions in addition to their home region, aklan. So I also learned the importance of knowing where these dances come from, similar to hip hop, if we learn top rocks, like we knew, that started in the boogie down Bronx, right, so everything was just so rich, I would say. And then also the culture of being responsible not only to yourself but your community and who you represent. That was already kind of that was my entire upbringing. So combine that also with being a boy scout and you know understanding like a troop, you know what I mean. A two boy scouts that's another thing about. I learned about teamwork as well. So after in high school, I had a dance crew and we that was the era of party dancing. You know a lot of the things like the Running man, the Cabbage Patch, the Troupe, the Smurf, and so it was like battles at the parties and we were, you know, from Harbor City, a small crew. We'd go to Cerritos and get smoked. One of my favorite crews was Funky Junction in Cerritos, and it's so funny because later on I recruited a lot of them into Cabo Modern. So after high school I was looking for that right.

Arnel:

When I got to UCI I joined the Filipino club, uci Cabo Bayan, of course, and we had the culture night and my entire Filipino American experience was the cultural dancing and my hip-hop and locking. So I asked the president you know, is there a club in existence? You know, can that be a section in the Filipino-American Culture Night? And that's when he mocked me a little bit, teased me. He said yeah, just create your own team and you know we'll call it Cabo Bayan Modern Dance Troupe and I was like, okay, let's do it. I held auditions and then it was born. And then I found out that he wasn't serious. But it was too late. Cabo Bayan was born. I already had 14 dancers, and it's funny because the first year they didn't trust us that we were going to be good, so they stuck us in the middle, hidden in one of the suites, just in case we sucked okay, moving on.

Arnel:

All right, yeah but it ended up being something that people like connected with, I think, people of that era. Really it resonated with them. That's like their high school experience, that looked like something that happened in their hometown. So the auditions the next year doubled, tripled the next year and it just exploded. And then that's where we saw, like Samahang Modern, pac, modern all of these moderns popping out in every Filipino club. Then it went to the Chinese clubs, the Vietnamese clubs, all these clubs were exploding with these dance teams.

Arnel:

And then the next step was because we were performing only at clubs and car shows, because the promoters are like, hey, if we invite these groups to perform, they'll bring their friends and it'll be good for promotions and growing. Our events is. We didn't want to just perform once on stage because the clubs and the car shows were great but the stages were so small. So that was the birth of vibe, created by a member of kaba modern, joseph leasing. He was in a fraternity called ltd and creating vibe, which is actually going to be celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2025 it's crazy, it's 30 years since it started also was the ripple for creating all the dance competitions, because prior to that, we had no hip-hop dance competitions or even just dance competitions in general outside of like drill team and cheer and song.

Arnel:

So it actually created an entire scene of these. You know, dance competitions like maxed out, prelude, you know bridge, later on, hip Hop, international, world of Dance, all of those competitions popped up after. So we had no idea we were just trying to take space and make space for others and do something grassroots, community powered, powered by college students. We had no idea that it was going to be anything bigger than just you know for our immediate community, but it ended up being like worldwide so pretty crazy.

J.R.:

Yeah, so vibe was the first like kind of hip-hop dance, like I didn't know that what do you think?

J.R.:

was like the. Why do you think it? I guess I don't know, maybe. So I know that hip-hop dance, you know, like 70s, 80s and whatnot. It was there and then I guess in the early 90s, right, there was this sort of it seemed like there was a hole that was filled, and then it just this makes sense to a lot of people and it started catching on right yeah, yeah, I mean there's definitely battles and jams and parties.

Arnel:

All of those things were really thriving in this in the late 70s, the 80s and the 90s I think some somewhere in the 90, a lot of the freestyle scene started to be hybrid with choreography. You know, and you know much props to Moptops, elite Force, buddha Stretch and such, because they are the pioneers of hip hop choreography in New York. All of that started evolving and morphing and that's why I think the spaces started also evolving where people wanted to go to battles and jams, but they also were craving, you know, theater expressions and stage as well, and that's kind of at the time that's when the birth of the dance competitions kind of. I think it came from that energy, right, and that's that hybrid energy, right.

J.R.:

So there's a lot of factors in play and then it was just kind of like the right time.

Arnel:

It was, you know, the that sort of what's it called intersection of all those things, and it created this sort of new area, while still combined and from everything else yes, and come on, it was like right at the beginning of that yeah, and it's kind of crazy because when I look at it, you know, at the root, all these art forms that we're allowed to, you know, we're guests in this culture. That's like created by our black brothers and sisters in New York and, of course, with a lot of influence from our Puerto Rican brothers and sisters people always ask me why do so many fucking so many Filipinos and Asians? Why are they doing this thing? Why is our scene so Asian, you know, and it's funny because when we were creating all of these spaces, we weren't thinking about it, thinking about that, but when I look back on it, it's because the university these are university created like collectives and a lot of these events were created on university campuses and unfortunately, you know, there isn't equity and accessibility in those spaces, as it should be. It should be more diverse, it should be more inclusive and all these clubs should be like very diverse, but we're not, you know. So there's a lot of Asians in these university spaces creating these collectives, or dance families, as we call them.

Arnel:

Another thing that comes into play with it, too, is Asians are often invisible, right, and we also don't grow up with love languages that are necessarily words of affirmation and such. So we do. We operate more in quality time, spending time together and acts of service right, that's our more common love languages. So there's a part of us that wants to express, that wants to be seen, that wants to, you know, be affirmed, and I think the creation of these events and these teams allowed a lot of people who are kind of muted versions of themselves to feel like they belong to something and who they are can be seen and celebrated.

Arnel:

Because we're not talking about, like five teams, right, we're talking about jumping from kabo modern to like over 30 in just a couple years and to the point where we have hundreds all over the world now. Right, clearly, people are really craving a sense of belonging and a sense of being seen, and that's global, you know. So, yeah, I mean, I don't want it to be all asian, but I see that the need was probably always there, you know, for asians to be seen and to have a have this experience. So I guess that's kind of my theory, yeah, yeah no, that's interesting.

J.R.:

I was thinking that exact question you just answered it which is so, like how does the Asian sort of participation or influence in this sort of scene Like? Where do you think that comes from? Yeah, just answered it.

J.R.:

But more specifically now I'm curious, you know that that Filipino sort of generalization it's. You know, we sing, we dance, we do nursing. I want to. I wanted to ask what your thoughts are on that. As you know, one of the pioneers of this, as as you know, it seems like a lot of filipinos, we gravitate towards these sort of art forms we do dancing. Do you have any sort of theories on why that might be?

Arnel:

I think it all goes back to colonization. You know, as you know, people who've been colonized by spain and you know, have been oppressed by many other countries, and also, you know we're third world country. What we clung onto for our identity in the Philippines was our cultural dances, our cultural music. That was our expression and that's how we held on to who we were, even through colonization and after. So it's no surprise that you know that we, as Filipino Americans, embody that being child of immigrant parents, right, and also, I think it's also that thing too, like I mentioned earlier, because verbally expressing yourself is not a primary mode of expression in our culture.

Arnel:

Singing, dancing, all of that is. It's a way to kind of express yourself, have a sense of community, because you're doing it all together and have fun, you know, without being judged, because everyone's just doing their thing, you know, and it's freedom. It's liberation because when we are truly comfortable being able to sing or dance, you know it's liberating, so it's liberating, it's connecting it's, you know it's communal, yeah, and individually. Know it's liberating, so it's liberating, it's connecting it's. You know it's communal, um, yeah, and individually it's a release, right. So, yeah, I again that's another thing that I just grew up, right, whether I mean I'm not a singer, but I have many aunts and cousins who are amazing singers, right, you know, and I have to say that growing up, my parents always encouraged me to play an instrument. You know what I mean, like any instrument, so it's been a part of our knowing of being in this world. Is singing or dancing?

J.R.:

Yeah, yeah, it makes a lot of sense. I wanted to ask now on dance, I guess from the 30 plus years from Cover Modern I know you've been dancing before that- but, I wanted to get your perspective on how you feel like dance has changed from then from the 90s or 80s until 2024.

Arnel:

What are some of?

J.R.:

the big things where you're like, wow, I've noticed this as someone who has that perspective.

Arnel:

Yeah, Well, first of all, my knowing of dance and learning of dance and absorbing of dance was person to person. So we weren't dancing in front of mirrors, we were dancing at the park, facing each other, learning from each other. There's also a culture of respect and appreciation. So when OGs invested in you, you always show your appreciation, your ultimate respect, and that's also really deep in our culture as well as Filipino Americans. So, growing up that way, even when I started Cabo Modern and we would rehearse in the studio sometimes, because mostly we're rehearsing outside in parking lots and between buildings that was foreign to me because my training is not in front of a mirror. I learned everything. But that's why the roots of Cabo Modern is. There is a lot about respect and, you know, like you said, like showing reverence to your oldies and like appreciating each other and growing together. It's because the founders of Cabo Modern that's how they learned. You know we didn't. We learned through elders and through people who invested in us. And it's really about passing that on to the current and to the future generations. Right, it's. It's really about passing that on to the current and to the future generations, right, it's. It's generationally uh, it's a generational investment 2005 because I was there.

Arnel:

That was the advent of myspace, facebook, later on, of course, youtube and instagram. You saw a lot of things. The great thing about that is, prior to that, if you wanted to see another crew or team dance team or dance family performances, you'd have to grab that vhs or be made a tape and you know hope you can get a copy or borrow a copy from that. But once we went, once youtube hit, you know now we have access to everyone and it was exciting in the beginning. But there was a weird transition from 2005 to maybe 2007 when people weren't sure do I like this better than actually learning in person. You know what I mean. Do I want to go to a live dance competition or do I want to just wait till the clip drops on YouTube and watch it like binge watches?

J.R.:

Oh, like an experience. You're doing it digitally versus in person.

Arnel:

Yeah, so it was kind of an interesting time, and especially when youtube lifted off, all of the live dance competitions started struggling, some of them ended abruptly. It was also the advent of dance shows, because prior, there was definitely things like in living color, where you saw the fly girls, and, of course, music videos, but now we had this, you know, america's best dance crew, and, later on, some other dance shows as well, and so people were just eating up, you know watching it, you know on tv, but what was missing now was like that person-to-person investment where, and that culture of appreciation and respect that that you get prior to the advent of social media. Something was definitely lost. So I think what's interesting, though, is when the pandemic hit, I feel like we kind of bounced back because we lost. Now that we were like lost human connection and being able to see it actually rubber, banded back to where we are now and feel more drastically.

Arnel:

Yeah, now people want to come to live events, and even though there's so many dope things like snipes and you know things, other offerings where people like, like other media offerings people want to be there in person and they want to feel the energy of people, and now it's an interesting hybrid after the pandemic, where we have access, global access, through social media, but people are showing up battles, dance competitions, dance showcases, theater shows. They're packed, they're full, they're sold out, because now we, I feel like we've reached an awareness and appreciation of what it's like to share space and have experiences in person, collectively and individually, and also embrace, like the access and the ability to share. You know, virtually as well I. I like where we are right now.

Arnel:

Yeah, there's also been a return and to the investment of understanding culture and history and getting in those lanes of appreciation versus appropriation where I feel like when it was those confusing times, people were just consuming without any care for respecting the OGs, respecting the pioneers, all the cultural things. Now people are really advocating for that, which is so. It just makes my heart full and that we're back there again, while also pioneering new pathways of ways to share and innovate. How dance is, you know, proliferated throughout the world you know digitally as well, yeah, so it's an exciting time.

J.R.:

yeah, no, that's great. That's a great perspective and I feel like there's a lot of takeaways there of seeing where it started, where it went, where it is now and now and how it's okay. This is a good space we're in now. I wanted to pivot a little bit. So I know that you've still been involved in dance a lot and I think you know your impact is still being felt in the dance community. I wanted to ask how has your role shifted? You know, starting Cabo Mater in 1992 and staying for a while, and then came Legacy, and then there's the abdc, and then there's culture shock and everything you've been doing, and now the stuff you're doing with awesome shock and everything else right.

Arnel:

How is?

J.R.:

your, how have you, how has your perspective shifted or, like your role in those organizations shifted over time? Yeah I'm asking as a person it's okay you're pioneer of these things, you're starting these things, you're involved in these things, you're seeing it grow and you have, like, maybe a vision of how you want to contribute to those spaces. How has your perspective or your role shifted since then and you know what's been your contributing, that sort of vision? That you have for yourself in those spaces.

Arnel:

Yeah, because obviously with Cabo Modern you know that was in Cabo Modern I was in my 20s, right? So that was the time of let's just create everything.

Arnel:

You know unlimited, limitless energy, and you know who needs sleep, you know you just you're just so excited to just build, build, build. After I graduated, you know, from UCI and then I moved on to, you know, figuring out my career path in the health at least the health side of my career. I definitely moved from, you know, an active director to advisor, you know, like kind of being just coming when needed, and that's when I was able to spread my wings and join Culture Shock LA. And Culture Shock LA really came into my life in my late 20s, going into my early 30s, and Culture Shock LA was really like the bridging of who I grew up with as a Boy Scout, who loved community service and who loved being in the community and also really investing in cultural appreciation of all of these dance art forms. So that was where I built. I became an evolved leader because I became executive director of Culture Shock and it's a nonprofit organization. Because I became executive director of Culture Shock and it's a nonprofit organization, so I had to learn about the nonprofit world, grants and budgets and positions and bylaws and strategic plans and such, and so that was cool because I like learning about that stuff, but I had to learn it pretty fast and luckily I had amazing leaders with me to learn all of that stuff with.

Arnel:

And so during that time I was still advising Cabo Modern and also creating KM Legacy, because all the alumni I grew up with were looking for a place now to perform and some of them went to Culture Shock and some of them actually, who weren't like community service leaning, still wanted to perform in those competition spaces or at clubs. So it was interesting to create KM Legacy as another space for Kabo Modern dancers and also friends of Kabo Modern to kind of still have a sense of belonging and still have that height sense of training in a safe space. That seemed exciting. That's going to push them to even grow more. And so that time of my life was very busy because I felt like I was in a safe space. That seemed exciting, that's going to push them to even grow more. And so that time of my life was very busy because I felt like I was in a relationship with dance and it was also the time where up to that point which is kind of wild to me I wasn't out yet because I was just so busy. I think, subconsciously maybe, I was keeping myself busy, not to really even think about my identity as a queer person. But I did have a lot of eye-opening experience during that time of my life that were really like leading me to finally come out and live my truth. And I think once I did that things kind of like rocket ship, like really like higher, and I was able to build a lot of things that I think really were transformational for me. You know, because after that is when I finished my doctorate program, I really went full steam with Culture Shock LA and created like co-created with my other leaders benefit shows, all our afterschool programs, all our youth teams. You know Future Shock, mighty Shock, mini Shock.

Arnel:

And then you know I, at the end of my 30s, going into my 40s, I started really thinking about why do, when people ask me my career, why do I default to occupational therapist? You know my career is as a dance educator and as a doctor of occupational therapy, and we're often influenced to have one label, but I'm an intersectional human being. So I'm a dance educator and I'm occupational therapy and I started thinking about what things can I create that actually brings both of my expertise together as well? And so that's when I created Awesome Shock because I knew that, especially our neurodivergent youth, they often get turned away from dance studios.

Arnel:

I had a lot of kids I worked with at Children's Hospital LA and then later on at Long Beach Unified School District, where their parents were sharing that they love to dance.

Arnel:

At home there's no space for them to dance and so that's why, with Culture Shock grant funded, I was able to create these free dance after school dance programs and I went back to my roots it's just hip hop dance and locking, mixed together with sensory strategies from my occupational therapy background and created this program that now I'm building with Andy Ho, who's another one of your guests, and it just feels so exciting to see that all my things can also come together to offer something unique to the world. That's really needed, and so that's been super rewarding. And when I started kind of going into these other, I don't call them passion projects, I call them purpose projects, because I think passion is what you do in your 20s, when you're just excited about a thing, you're fueled by energy. Later on, in my 40s, and now I'm 51, I do only purpose projects, things that align with what I think my purpose is, my God-given purpose in this world.

Arnel:

And so Awesome Shock is one of my purpose projects and because I'm so involved in this direction, where everything I do with dance needs to have some kind of purpose, because also I'm more protective of my time. Every decade I become more protective of my time With Cabo Modern, I've now like I just want to be a founder, like I really trust, like andy and jen sango and all these other incredible you're jason bueno asaya, all these incredible, incredible humans who were incredible leaders for kaba modern and kaba legacy to be the leaders and mentors for kaba modern. I trusted that generation now so that I can really focus on my purpose projects and I'm always going to be the founder, I'm Yoda to them. So I, you know I still help, you know I still I'll still be a supportive force, but I can also sleep peacefully knowing that there are these other incredible leaders who will take care of them.

Arnel:

Because with Cabo Modern, since it's a college group, the greatest need is really support for the directors, the leaders, because they're 18, 19, 21. So having these we call them Jedi Council, the Jedi Council advisors be able to mentor and invest in these leaders and the leaders invest in the dancers, makes for a much healthier and safer experience for all the dancers. Yeah, I had a question on that. That's one thing that I'm very curious about. Dancers makes for a much healthier, you know, and safer experience for all the dancers?

J.R.:

yeah, so I had a question on that. That's one thing that I'm very curious about is like leadership and how you see or approach cultivating those leaders, because, like you said, it's you know, it's not. It wouldn't be on someone like you to touch every single dancer and be like you know, here let me mentor you. But it's like helping to develop those leaders who can now take ownership of those teams and entities and you trust that they're going to do an amazing job. How do you approach that, like when a leader comes to you asking for guidance or what kind of sort of overarching message do you lean into for those leaders?

Arnel:

Yeah, I mean. The one advice I always tell people is that life is a combination of making things happen and letting things happen. So there are certain things that you have to take charge of and you need to go for it, and certain things that you also have to allow to happen, because you have to rely on other people who have a higher sense of knowing for their contribution to that project or that thing, and there's also like a trust in God, in the universe. You also have to let things also just happen naturally and organically as well. So part of leaning into that is knowing that when you do the, you find that balance.

Arnel:

There's going to be times that you're just going to kill it. You're going to find that right balance and smash it, and there are going to be times that you're going to make mistakes, but the mistakes are opportunities to learn. And there are going to be times that you're going to make mistakes, but the mistakes are opportunities to learn. And as a 18, 19, 20, 21 year old, that's exactly what you're supposed to be doing, right, as long as it's not super harmful or, you know, toxic to the dancers. There's a certain amount of mistake-making that is good for your character for you to develop as a person. So that's what those advisors are there for to kind of impart their wisdom and guide these leaders and having those incredible like I did it moments, but also to really affirm them in that, but also when they make natural, as everyone is going to make mistakes, really help them be introspective and figure out. What do we learn from this, not just for kabo modern but for your life, you know, as a human being moving forward and a lot of people, myself included.

Arnel:

There are certain things whether you're a leader in kabo modern or just you are a member or choreographer you know that there are lessons you learn during that period of time that you do take into your life moving forward. You know there are certain. There's everyone has their own version of. I learned this in Kabo Martin and I brought it here. I know for inner, even job, interviews. Sometimes they ask me you know some of what is something you're most proud of? I can pull something from Kabo Martin. Or what's a difficult situation that you learn from? I can pull, you know, a situation for the dancer dancer or dancers I work with that were challenging. That you know. So there's always something to gain. But the key is to lean into that growth mindset of whether you're winning or whether you're navigating challenges. You know what I mean. You're always going to be growing if you choose that, if you choose that. I love that.

J.R.:

Yeah, I think that answers it. I was kind of just asking, as a stand-in for like leaders, like what sort of advice you think could help them.

Arnel:

Oh yeah, yeah, with leaders specifically, it's have the courage to take charge, but also know that you can't be everything to everyone, so you really have to rely on a communal effort and we really, now, for every time we have leaders come in, we have an onboarding where we go over like effective communication strategies for navigating, you know, group dynamics, self-care because that's something that a lot of people don't talk about with leaders, that is just so incredibly important yeah, and even cultural appreciation, so these are like things that for the leaders, for kaba modern and for cold shock.

Arnel:

Like all the groups I work with, I spend time doing that and I did teach a leadership course called leadership tools for the dance leader and a lot of those things from. A lot of the content from that are from mistakes I made as a young leader that I learned from and I just kind of put it together in a course, mixed together with my organizational leadership courses, to offer specifically to dance leaders, because I wish I had someone you know helping me. I mean, I definitely am okay with what happened, but maybe it could have also been easier if someone was mentoring me or someone you know had some advice to impart to me when I was figuring things out for Kabo Modern.

J.R.:

Yeah, definitely I like that. It's kind of you know you learn from your mistakes. But also it's key to pass that along to the next generation so they can stand on those shoulders and, you know, make the space even better than when you left it. Right, yes, yeah, Quick question on that. So those resources that you compiled, can people access that, or is it?

Arnel:

And then a lot of things were also coming out in the dance community like even just now, people were speaking their truth about sexual harassment and all these other really dangerous, important things to talk about. So leaders were coming up. So I created it as a virtual program five sessions and yeah, five five week sessions. So one time a week for two and a half to three hours virtually, and I didn't know that it would. You know, it's like one of those things, just you know, once you create it, then it just accidentally, you know. So I did one.

Arnel:

My first cohort was like only 22, but I did so many cohorts that I ended up reaching over 380 leaders in over 42 countries. So I kind of had to figure out also time zone. Like I would like you know one cohort. I would hold it on the mornings on saturday so I could reach all the asian countries, and I was like I need to hold it at this time at a different day so I can now get the european countries and the cool thing is with that I also created a space on facebook so I can now get the European countries and the cool thing is with that, I also created a space on Facebook where they can also get together and I hold reunions and the cohorts just grow.

Arnel:

So those 370 something leaders I still create spaces for them to check in and I'll create like activities and breakout rooms and such. But in 2025, I'm going to try offering it in person at Movement Lifestyle I'm still talking to Sean Evaristo about it and possibly maybe in Orange County. So I might try an LA cohort and a Orange County cohort, because something's happening again where I'm getting a lot of people asking me for advice and it's easier for me to hold a course where I can just deliver it in a more structured way and also more rich way and communal way than just, you know, emails and phone calls like over and over. So I think I'm going to try that next year and see where that goes.

J.R.:

Yeah, so if so, people are interested in this sort of thing, or what would you recommend them to check out or reach out or like how do they?

Arnel:

yeah, um, definitely my instagram, because I usually um, I will usually announce it and then I'll keep applications before I would announce it, leave applications open for two to three weeks and I would fill up. So, um, I'm gonna do that again. But also next year I'm to have a landing page for my website. So that's one of the things that I like. Website and you know my, my Ted talk. Those are things like all the things for myself have been on the back burner forever, and last year and this year I tried to really say I need to make sure I take care of those things so I can continue doing what I do in a more efficient way. So next year I'll also have a landing site where everything will be there as well, but it'll be Instagram and that website together, okay, so just stay tuned on your Instagram.

Arnel:

Yes, and then we'll announce it.

J.R.:

Yes, that's exciting. I'm going to say straight up that sounds like.

Arnel:

I would want to do that. I don't know if I'm eligible. Yeah, you could teach it. Yeah, no, that's crazy.

J.R.:

I feel like that sort of thing you're offering and have been offering. I feel like it's so valuable in my own experience as a leader on a team and trying to create some sort of structure or something that you can pass on so that these spaces can be safe, can be productive, can be productive, can be like fruitful for these dancers, who, a lot of them, tend to be younger or, you know, whatever stage they're in. I feel like that's so important for us to keep these spaces like that or keep it, and improve it right.

Arnel:

And even identity Like I forgot that the first sessions is identity and mission, because we don't need another team that looks like another team right. Like when collectives come together, it's because of a particular reason, you know whether it's like a connection they have with each other or a specific leader that inspires this group. So I think that's important for leaders of organizations to also think about, like why did you, why do you exist and what do you want your mission and vision to be? And to understand understand that that's going to be extraordinary, as long as you spend time really knowing what that is Before you have rehearsals and start having auditions. Start first with what makes you special, what is your footprint on the world, because we did go through a time in our dance community where all the teams looked the same.

Arnel:

It's just for the sake of dancing there's no difference and it's okay to start with inspiration.

Arnel:

Like every dancer, singer, spoken word, artist, everyone starts from inspiration, where you kind of imitate or you just like, really want to emulate, like your idol. But eventually, as you grow past that, you take some of the sauce. That's just yourself. Put it into your inspiration and you end up developing your own thing. And so that's just yourself. Put it into your inspiration and you end up, you know, developing your own thing. And so that's what? When we think about dance, you know, whether it's a dance crew or a dance company or a dance family, each one should have its own identity, mission and vision. You know, and they should know that before they ask people to join them.

J.R.:

Yeah right I love that so much because I've had this conversation too, like asking different dance teams and project teams so what's your like? Why are you here, what is the purpose and the values? I want to say something, but it's like everything you're saying is amazing and I don't want to like add to it too much because I want to cover some other things, but it's I've asked my own team this before when I before I joined leadership.

J.R.:

I'm like we're taking on people and we're having all these culture problems because we didn't identify what our values are and what our purpose is, and so let's start with that and then we audition people and interview and all that filter them in so that now we have this sort of common denominator, Because if we do it in reverse, we're going to come up with all these again, these culture problems that we're having.

Arnel:

That's exactly it, and especially when you have to let someone go, if you weren't transparent with them from the beginning of what you stand for, then what is your basis for whether they stay or not? Exactly you know. So, to be truly ethical, um, that should all be worked out in the beginning, and that's actually. Every person that asked that to come approaches me wanting to create or found a team. I have them, like write your mission statement first. If do you do your personal mission statement to know who you are, then write your mission statement for with your by yourself or with your leaders, for your group, and then everyone that you take on your team needs to like, support or embody that you know, I love that that's yeah, that's amazing.

J.R.:

Okay, really quick for this last section. I wanted to ask. Okay, so I had questions on your TED talk, but we're linking it. Check it out Maybe we'll have a part two if it's in the cards, but I wanted to ask about the book that you contributed to called make sure. I want to get this right with love, and it's how? Oh my gosh, I'm missing it. It is what we wish we knew about being queer and Filipino in America.

J.R.:

And so I haven't read it. It's on my list and I don't know if this is too much of a teaser, but could you maybe share with us any sort of snippet of what your contribution to that book was?

Arnel:

Yeah, so last year, in 2023, this amazing person, dustin Domingo. He put a call out to all queer Filipino, filipina, filipinx people out there to write letters to their younger selves and they said you can submit up to three, because we're going to do this collection of these letters. It's going to be a book. So, of course, I wrote three and I picked different times. I picked when I was 10, just being confused and actually not embracing that. I picked when right before I came out, and I picked right after I came out, and so I wrote those three letters, just hoping one of them was going to be picked. And then I found out. It's funny because I found out the same month that I found out that I was selected for the TED talk. I found out that all three of my letters were accepted into the book, and so and everything aligned with each other because, also, when I did my TED talk, that's the same week that the book came out.

J.R.:

Oh, wow, that's crazy.

Arnel:

So it's all kind of in tandem with each other and so I've been doing like book talk panels, you know, speaking on panels for these book, the book release, and meeting also some of the other people who wrote letters, because there's 50, he picked 50 amazing human beings and some of these letters are like hella funny. Some of them are very thought provoking, Some of them are heartbreaking, you know. So they're all so different and they all like touch just a different part of the queer experience and collectively I think it's really rich. So it's such an honor to be a part of the book. It's a little bit I was more worried about my parents because, you know, over the last five years I've been a lot more vocal about my queer experience and that's scary for my parents who still think, you know, I mean, it's true, you know queer phobia, you know homophobia is real and I have been the recipient in recent years of, you know, hate crimes and things and such. But I think there's such an importance to speak your truth and to you know, for your own healing and for the chance that you might help someone else, you know, in their healing journey. Yeah, just impart your experience and how you got through it or how you're figuring out your way. You know through it. So that book is definitely a very unexpected blessing.

Arnel:

I really wasn't sure if I was going to get picked, and so to have all three in there is such a huge honor. And to again meet the other authors and it's ongoing, so there'll even be more panels next year, so it's just something I just continually look forward to. It's like the gift that keeps giving. You know so, and there's nothing like it. You know cause to speak about your queer experience in the Filipino culture. It's alsooo, you know to be bakla and you know in the queer community. That's empowering, but it's still so much it is degrading, you know, in a lot of spaces. You know so. So yeah, on goes the fight, for you know speaking your truth and helping people feel affirmed in who they are and also help people know that they're not alone.

Arnel:

I like it a lot. I was about to ask for feel affirmed in who they are and also help people know that they're not alone right now, nice.

J.R.:

I like it a lot. I was about to ask for a snippet, but I think that's a good sort of summary of what it's about, and what you get from it and what you can learn from it yeah, yeah, one of my, one of my stories fell on 143 oh really people are like what page you're on?

Arnel:

look for 143 nice, one of my stories is on that page.

J.R.:

Nice, nice yeah. What a coincidence.

Arnel:

Is it?

J.R.:

so sorry. How's the book like laid out? Is it just like randomly, or is there some sort of format?

Arnel:

Structure, structure, so yeah, I didn't even know how it was going to be laid out. I love the way Dustin organized it, because what he did is the foreword and introduction, is like his story, and then he separates all the chapters into life lessons. Okay, yeah, and then the letters are grouped according to that life lesson oh, I like that.

Arnel:

Yeah. So it's cool, it's a really good book. It's awesome because you can just open it up and just read you know, two or three pages just to read one letter and then you can put it down. Or you can deep dive and be like I'm going to read this whole chapter of all these letters and take that in. So I'm more of I'm not a read-write learner, I'm an audio-visual learner. So I'm more like I just want to open up, read something short and then think about it and then you know again, pick it up again. So it's a perfect book for the kind of reader. I am.

Arnel:

So, yeah, I think people would enjoy it and it's great for everyone For queer people, obviously, it's amazing to read these stories, but it's also good for all our allies that want to get a sense of understanding of what some of these experiences are like. So I think it's a great book for everyone.

J.R.:

Yeah, definitely. So I have a book summary website, so it's on my list. I usually do audiobooks like Audible.

Arnel:

This one's only print right. For now. I told Dustin he would be amazing, you know. So, yeah, he wants to do it. It's just so many letters though he has to figure out, but I think he should.

J.R.:

Yeah, yeah, definitely. It's on my list regardless, but if it ever drops on an audio version, I'm going to post up like a summary.

J.R.:

Sounds like an amazing book. Yeah, sounds like an amazing book.

J.R.:

Yeah, all right. Anything else on that topic before we go to rapid fire questions?

Arnel:

No, I just want to say it's available. I mean, when it comes to books, it's always best to buy from the direct publisher, but it's also on Amazon, so it is easy to find. And, either way, supports Dustin and the amazing people behind the project Gotcha.

J.R.:

Yeah, I'll link Dustin's website, because I think that's what I have now in our booth and so it links to that page that I think it's where we can order from. Yes, yeah, cool.

Arnel:

Quento books, yeah, perfect.

J.R.:

All right, so rapid fire questions. First one, arnaud, is called the billboard question, so if you could put up a sign for millions of people to see, what would it say?

Arnel:

It would say my mantra, which is give love, receive love, be love.

J.R.:

Next one what is one of the hardest challenges you face in your life and what did you learn from it?

Arnel:

I did go over this in the TED Talk, but I would say finding out that I was HIV positive, you know I was because I was 31 and I was in my the last year of my doctorate program and I wasn. I was just battling, navigating, feeling like I was a fucking disappointment to my parents and that was going to hurt all the people in my life while trying to finish my doctorate. So that was the hardest part, but that did. I had no choice but to reach out to like close friends and lean on community and and then it also led me because I found out I was hiv positive before I came out, which is crazy. So I did that process of telling everyone I was HIV positive and then I went a year later another round of hey also.

Arnel:

So that time was very challenging because all of that was scary emotional. It was a time where I was figuring out if I even deserved to live. I was navigating those thoughts but I came out on the other side having a deeper appreciation for life and a stronger commitment to my purpose, and also both of those experiences made me really embrace that it's so dope to be different and it's good to be more than one thing All the parts of yourself, the painful parts and the joyful parts and the in-between parts make you extraordinary in the world, so we should embrace it all, yeah I love it, so good.

J.R.:

Okay, next one self-inflicted wound. So do you have a story about something that's gone wrong in your life? That's your own fault and you can't blame anyone else because you did it to yourself?

Arnel:

yes, when I went on academic probation for common that's always one of those that's a whole other story. But yeah, I got an academic probation. I listened to a counselor who was discouraging. I actually dropped out of my bio major and then, when I changed my mind, they wouldn't let me back in so and I only had one year left. So it was really bad advice to tell me to drop a major.

Arnel:

That was so close to finishing. So I had to add all my classes through AdCard and prove and get straight A's to prove to the university that I deserve to be a bio major. And that's when all my friends were gone and I was like the only one left in my age at UCI and I ended up doing it. I got back in two months before graduation and then I graduated. But all of that time, that whole two years of figuring that out, I didn't know if I was going to get a degree. So I did that to myself. Yeah, yeah, definitely.

Arnel:

But, I also got myself out of it as well.

J.R.:

I think you're the second person to say academic probation I did that to myself. People are like no, I did that to me. Okay, if you could redo one thing, what would you do differently and most of my guests will be. Like you know, I don't regret anything, yeah. But for the spirit of the question, if you, as a thought experiment what would you redo?

Arnel:

I mean, if I could redo some of the mistakes I made as a young leader, because I don't think I have the lens now of an awareness of like kind of stepping outside, of just being present and having a very like wide perspective, Because I think when I was a young leader I was just fast, fast, fast, let's build, build, build. It's so exciting. You know, I didn't take as much time to just stop, be present, integrate the lessons and then move on. I was just rapid fire. I was just so excited to have the opportunity to create and build and do things, do fucking cool things with my friends. I would have stopped and like really thought about what am I learning? What am I experiencing? What ways can I do things better? Am I even taking the time to celebrate too? You know, I would have done a lot more of stopping.

J.R.:

Like more stopping, reflecting and celebrating.

Arnel:

Like you said, I didn't do that until I was in culture shock. That's when I was like cause. Now I had all these leaders, like I had, you know, co-leaders, and we were doing that for each other, whoa whoa whoa, whoa, let's think about that. Oh, is that in budget? So, yeah, I wish in college. Even though I'm grateful for that time, I stopped a little bit more. Yeah, I like it.

J.R.:

It's good advice. Well, if you could give your younger self advice, what would it be now If you haven't already touched upon it? Any age, any range.

Arnel:

I would say at every age, because we all battle insecurities. I would just say you're enough. Who you are as a human being is enough and you have worth in this world. You will always make mistakes, you'll have your moments of triumph, but you belong in this world.

J.R.:

You carry a unique purpose and you're enough you know in the last few years what new belief, behavior or habit has improved your life boundaries.

Arnel:

I'm a people pleaser, so I learned in the last, especially in the last decade, when I started placing boundaries around what I'm able to do and what I'm willing to do. Everything in my life got better. When I was, I would say, I still spent most of my thirties just rapid fire, which is also why I was single for most of that time, cause I feel like I was in a relationship with all of my purpose projects and my degree and you know. But once I did that, it was pretty immediate because once I had boundaries, I started taking having better self-care practices. I started scheduling myself in my own calendar, you know, not the appointments, not the obligations to other people, but just. And it wasn't until that moment that I ended up meeting my husband, because literally the next year after I fully integrated that practice, I met Dustin in the most unlikely place and then, you know, he became my husband. So yeah, Nice. Love it.

J.R.:

I always say, at least in my perspective, and my experience or my philosophy is that any relationship can be improved with stronger boundaries. Yes, I think it's like that sort of when the boundaries are not there and you don't know where I end and you begin. That's where all that conflict comes from, with families, relationships, friends. Yeah. But when you strengthen those boundaries, that's when you can fully love someone, because now you know where you guys are.

Arnel:

Yeah, and your relationship with yourself. And that's right, that gets strengthened, also because you have a better knowing of who you really are. You know the good and the areas for growth.

J.R.:

Yeah, the areas of growth. I like that Nice. Who would you call successful and how do you define success?

Arnel:

I think success is different for every person, because what's meaningful to each person varies. So I would say success is a high level of achievement and something meaningful where you can enjoy it yourself and also impart something to someone else. I know that's kind of vague.

J.R.:

Yeah, no, but I like that. It's a good framework. You're doing something that's meaningful to you and then you can share that with other people. Is there anyone that comes to mind that embodies that? Someone you know, someone you don't know? Famous, not famous.

Arnel:

I would say my husband. I think it's important to really admire and respect your husband while also knowing what you bring to the relationship. But what I admire and love about Dustin is that he doesn't care a lot about what other people think, and so he's fully present in everything he does and he's a hundred percent. But he also balances that with. He's such a compassionate and kind person. So I think that's success because he he can more boldly jump into things, because he doesn't really care about what what people think as much you know. So I admire that in him, yeah, and he's so successful in all the most important things, which is being a good to your family, being good to your partner and being good to yourself. He's so great in all of those things I love it um, if you knew you couldn't fail, what would you try?

J.R.:

or what would you be doing now?

Arnel:

if anything different, if I knew, I couldn't feel I would probably move from the tedx to the ted space. Yeah, just go for it. I still think that's something I'm just going to continually to grow personally, to get that space. But I'm very afraid to do that because the tedx was already its own journey. But, yeah, I would just go straight for that TED space and yeah, go for that.

J.R.:

Question. I don't know if you'd know the answer, but what are the steps to getting to the TED stage?

Arnel:

That is something I'm still exploring, because I feel like it's by invitation and I think your TEDx talk, like a TEDx talk, needs to be a certain amount of like impact and reach, and then they'll pull you to the TED space Might be an invite, amount of like impact and reach, okay, and then they'll pull you to the ted space, sort of thing.

Arnel:

Yeah, but also, I think there must be some kind of investment, because to go to a ted conference is like a lot of money, so even to be in that space requires a true investment for me. I'm not willing to spend that money to be in that space, but if I'm I end up being in that space, I will fully be grateful for it. But it's just mainly maximizing impact. If I have any opportunity on that scale to share anything from my story that might help other people, that would probably be. That's. The scariest thing I've ever done is my TEDx talk, because you're talking. Talking about other people and building for other people is fun and it's not as scary for me. I can speak. Public speaking is not hard for me. For other people is fun and it's not as scary for me. Public speaking is not hard for me for other people, but talking about something vulnerable is really scary for me. That's why I actually went, for it is to really challenge myself and it was the most frightening experience but also liberating at the same time.

Arnel:

So, that's the one that I would do if I wasn't scared. Ah, I see, right now. Yeah definitely In reality. I'm like I need to build over this for a couple of years. Nice, I like that I can see that, though I'll manifest that for you.

J.R.:

Thank you. What is one of the best or most worthwhile investments that you've ever made in either time, money, energy or anything else?

Arnel:

The most worthwhile is always going to be my family and Dustin, my doggy. It's truly unconditional, you know, and so it's the most important thing in my life right now. Everything I do is for my loved ones and for myself, and you know so that's always going to be the most important investment of my time. Yeah, and hopefully be it, because my goal right now is to be the most important investment of my time. Yeah, and hopefully be a, because my goal right now is to be a dad, so.

Arnel:

So everything feeds that, like everything I do with work, feeds that dream for dustin and I.

J.R.:

So, yeah, I love that last couple favorite recent purchase in the 50 to 100 range that has impacted your life the most, and let's say the last six months.

Arnel:

Oh God, that's such a good question. I've never been asked that, oh, 50 to 100.

J.R.:

We can change the parameters. But that's kind of the base. It's like a relatively inexpensive purchase recently. Nothing too crazy, but it could be.

Arnel:

Trying to think Sorry, I know this is rapid rapid fire, it's okay, I'm gonna say. I'm gonna say this chain, so this is from rare vintage um, it says yoda on it and it's a gift to myself. So, um, I just feel really powerful and I feel like it's a gift to myself. Yeah, so I just feel really powerful and I feel like it's taking me into like my next chapter of life. So I think this is a good purchase, like right now, like symbolically, because it has an energy that's carrying me forward.

Arnel:

So, yeah, I'm going to say this piece, this.

J.R.:

Yoda piece. I like it. It looks good Last rapid fire. Any favorite books looks good, last rapid fire. Any favorite books, movies, videos, articles or media that you share or recommend the most. Let's see, besides your ted talk, which is great, and besides the book with love, which I think everyone should check out, besides any other media you recommend, I mean, I love podcasts so I'm trying to think well, what I like?

Arnel:

have you seen words that move me by Dana Wilson.

Arnel:

I haven't yeah, that one's really good for dancers because she interviews all kinds of different experts in dance and I've been enjoying that one a lot lately. Young Pueblo have you heard of him? So, young Pueblo's. I started following him first on Instagram and I love his writings, but his books are like incredible. They're just poems and again, it's just what I like, like it's short, easy to read, but his writing is really impactful to me and I think it just resonates with where I am in my life. So he has several books and they're all great. My favorite one is the way forward. But young pueblo he's the bomb nice. On instagram.

Arnel:

I also like this illustrator called dev dev. I'll say dev the pineapple. Let me just look at it up real quick because she, her stuff, is artistically fun, but is it's really says a lot of things, a lot of social justice themes that are on hers. Oh yeah, dev at dev the pineapple, devon blow she's incredible. I love her art but it's really the messaging and the words and I'm a quote person, so she sometimes takes these incredible quotes and then puts like an illustration with it and it's really powerful and I think we're just navigating such crazy times and next year is seems like it's going to be even crazier, but her stuff really mobilizes me, empowers me and also grounds me. So dev the pineapple, I also like. We the urban.

Arnel:

Oh yeah, yeah I also like we the urban okay nice, cool.

J.R.:

Yeah, we'll link to all of those. I think those are really good wrecks. Okay, so we're in the final section. So I I would like to end with gratitude Shout out to my mom for teaching me. Gratitude, arnaud. What are you grateful for?

Arnel:

I'm grateful for loved ones chosen and blood. I'm grateful for my journey you know wherever it's going to lead me. I'm grateful for Dustin and Kenobi's our puppy girl. I'm grateful for this time, you know. And, yeah, I'm grateful for the possibility of something better.

J.R.:

And last, any final ask for the audience and ask from them and or any final takeaways that you'd like them to take from this conversation.

Arnel:

I think the last takeaway I would say is like to ever be a master, an expert in anything requires a commitment and embracing of always being a student. So everyone carries worth. Everyone has a unique purpose, or multiple purposes, for why there are here on earth, and so just lean in with you, know growth, mindset and always know that, like who you are matters and you, you're also never alone. We're all connected. And if I have an ask, I would ask people to also flourish yourself, but also flourish other people as well. I think where we go in this world requires us, requires both self-care and community care and they're intertwined. And for us to go further as human beings, we need to to really invest. We need to go back to basics and really invest in self-care and community care all right, arno that is it for questions.

J.R.:

Thank you so much for everything. Honestly, this is one of those episodes where I'm just going to listen again for myself so much.

Arnel:

Well, I also want to give you your flowers because it makes me happy that, first of all, you're doing this incredible podcast. I love the ethos that's carrying this podcast forward and also that even the TikTok stuff that you do with your girlfriend and the dance stuff you do outside on top of your career, you truly are an example of someone who isn't defined by one identity. Like you embrace it all. It all helps each other and you know, as a founder of Kyle of Modern, it makes me super incredibly fulfilled to see someone from my family like living their truth in such a loud and amazing way.

J.R.:

So oh, thank you so much, arnel. You're gonna make me tear up. Yeah, I'm happy to, you know, make someone like you proud, just to be my authentic self. Until you know, following your example too, you're like. Everything that you do, I feel, is an example for people like me to live our truth and do we're passionate about to give back to other people especially. So thank you so much. All right, so I'll do my final sign off. So thank you guys for tuning in. I hope you guys learned a lot as much as I did in this and enjoyed this episode. Just a reminder to always be kind to others, especially yourself, and remember that you can always learn something from someone if you just take the time to listen. So thank you guys for tuning in.

People on this episode

Head Shot

J.R. Yonocruz

Host
Contributor

Dr. Arnel Calvario Ripkens

Guest