HemoLife Podcast

Riize X Hemophilia Mentorship Event Recap

• L.A. Aguayo • Season 2 • Episode 1

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We recap a Houston mentorship event built by and for hemophiliacs, where hands-on gym coaching met real-life guidance, shared stories, and a promise of continued support. We map what worked, where we’re going next, and how mentorship turns a single day into real change.

• vision for a community-led mentorship model
• why safe, smart training protects joints
• practical skills that last beyond the event
• honest talk on infusions and listening to pain
• confidence building through conversation and peers
• swimming as a lifelong joint-friendly option
• communication coaching to help people open up
• “phone-a-friend” mentorship for business and life
• launching a hemophilia coloring book for kids
• community-first choices from sponsors to catering
• plans to expand events and deepen follow-up

Sign up early so we can add you to the list and grow this. Feel free to reach out if you want to be a mentor, join the team, or attend the next event.


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SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to the Emo Life Podcast, your gateway to transformation and empowerment. Hosted by Elliot Guayo, we're diving deep into the world of rare disorders, unlocking the full spectrum of your potential. Each episode, join us as we connect with pioneers, wellness experts, and food survivors. They're here to share powerful stories and invaluable insights from mental resilience to physical health, community news to life-altering strategies. At HEMOLife, we provide the tools you need to excel and inspire. Prepare to elevate your life, learn, laugh, and grow with us. Let's embark on this journey together.

SPEAKER_02:

All right, guys, welcome to the Humolife Podcast. I'm super excited to share this episode with you guys. It's been a while since we posted. We've been extremely busy. Our mission has gotten bigger. Our vision has gotten bigger. Our team has gotten bigger. So on today's episode, I'm joined by Dr. Joe, my buddy Brandon Brooke, and also somebody else you've seen on the show before, Carlin McLuchan. So today's episode is going to be a recap on a very special event that we had in Houston, Texas. We all had a dream and vision to put this event together. It's a new mentorship program that we're going to be offering, and we couldn't be more excited about how that went. So welcome to the show, guys. Let's have a little event recap on what everyone else missed out on and what's to come.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, I can definitely get started. I mean, just like LA mentioned, we had a vision that we wanted to do something different. And that different was having an event sponsored by a large company, one being RISE, with RISE energy strips, the sleep strips. They have a whole host of strips. But RISE decided that, hey, we're going to invest in putting on a program for hemophiliacs, bringing out hemophiliacs, and then comboing that with LA and Carlin's experience in the gym and really teaching hemophiliacs how to get healthy, how to get right with their body. And the way to do it in the gym, the right way, not just to go in uneducated and start lifting weights. We wanted to make sure that the hemophiliacs understood that there's a certain way of doing things to keep your joints and your body protected. And so the event was, God, guys, I mean, we had a great turnout. We actually had to switch the restaurant that we were going to two times because we had more and more and more and more people. You can see uh the videos that are gonna come out, you want to see everybody. Uh, we kind of pack the whole part of the restaurant. And like, I don't know, like there was a lot of people that benefited from just hearing our stories. And I'm just looking forward to the next one. And we also have plans for doing three or four of these in the first quarter of uh, you know, 2026. So I know some people missed out, but you know, having Carlin there, LA and Brandon, we all kind of worked together to make sure that this was a success. Like I'm I'm I'm I'm really applauding you guys uh for you know helping out and sharing your expertise in the gym and just the camaraderie that we have. Like, like I said, by hemophiliacs for hemophiliacs, giving back to the hemophilia community. That's what we're all about.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, man, for sure. I mean, you know, we talked about just seeing a gap in the community of just bringing true mentorship, something that would move the needle in people's lives. Um, I feel like the consensus nationwide right now is that all these events are becoming very redundant and it's the same information over and over again. And, you know, a lot of times, you know, these types of events can hype you up for one day. And then after you go home, what's real applicable applicable things or processes or habits or things that you've learned can you put apply to your life and actually see real change? And then on top of that, have follow-up from a group of mentors. So, I mean, the the event was amazing. We all did our talks, and I could just see it in their eyes on how much it was impacting them. I remember talking to one of the, I was like talking passionately, looking right in the eyes of one of the boys, and I saw tears like in his eyes. And then I almost had to like pull back a little bit because I was like, man, this guy, this is like this is hitting him, man. Like this is this is crazy. But so yeah, man, I know we just we all killed it and we all brought something special. We we all have visions for what we want to do individually and then together as a team. And the unique part about this sponsored event from Rise and Swift Scripts is they're giving us free reign to make our dreams come true. And that's kind of where I want to pass it on to Carlin because he had an opportunity to bring one of his visions to life as well during this event. And it was, I think it's pretty special.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah. So, first off, let's start talking about the event and the event itself. That was one of the, I can say one of my favorite events, even though like I was part of the event, it felt like I wasn't part of the event due to the fact that like just sitting on the outside looking in, like stepping back and watching like help some of the kids in the gym. It was just like, wow, this is like really, really like happening. And it was just a good sight to see because when I first met LA, it was through his bodybuilding journey. And I was a swimmer at that time, and I was like, mom, if I ever stop swimming, I want to look like him. And from that point forward, it was just like to be there and let all this happen, it was so much joy in just the group itself. Everyone was so happy, everyone was involved in what was going on. We had kids asking us questions, and like when it was time to leave, no one wanted to leave. And that was like the sweetest part of it all. Just to see that we came in and taught them these forward body movements, and it was like, okay, can we stay? And it was like to see that it shows that what we did helped them get out of that barrier that was kind of like the scared barrier, like, what happens if I do this? And it was like to have me and LA, Brandon, and all of everyone that was there to help them along that journey was was pretty cool. Because when we when we put Brandon on the the leg press machine, we're like, this is gonna help this, this is gonna help this. And it helped them, and all the other people that were watching, they were like, oh, oh my God, this is and that point forward, it was just like, okay, now as we get deeper into this, how does how we just gotta keep it moving from this point forward? For that to be the first human filter event that I've been to since 18, it was a very, very big difference in how everything flowed because you had people sharing their stories, you had the the audience sharing their stories, and it was just to hear everyone's stories and how everyone is to where they are today, and just to hear some of the kids' stories, like, hey, I want to be a streamer, I want to do this, I want to do that. It's like, yeah, if you can do that, how do you do that? Then us giving them that the LA's book shows them how to go about these ways and how to build these habits so they can be the streamer or be these things.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I mean, I think the camaraderie too is like in the beginning of the event and the end of the event, we had some young kids, 14, 15 years old, even eight years old, that maybe were kind of shy and really didn't know how to interact. And by the end of it, they went through the, you know, process of working out the gym and then they really opened up at dinner. And really, I think a lot of folks don't realize it, but part of growing and maturing as a young adult is to be able to have these conversations, to be able to come out of your skin and being around four or five successful chemophiliacs that are in their 20s, 30s, etc., that gives them a lot of confidence. Like, hey, I don't have to be shy and I can actually open up. So part of you know, these events are really getting that movement in a patient's life to go from really kind of, you know, oh my gosh, I I can't say much, I can't do much, I feel real, you know, maybe embarrassed at times to wow, like, yeah, I can be a confident young adult. And so I know Brandon, he's new to this, he's new to our team, but he jumped in right away and like saw the value that we were adding and wanted to help other hemophiliacs there. I mean, Brandon, tell us a little about how you how the event went and what what'd you uh witness and what what do you feel?

SPEAKER_04:

With me, the dip biggest difference was the how you kept saying it was bi hemophiliacs, for hemophiliacs. And it was to piggyback off what Carlin said, it was one of the things that like I've been to many events and this one was different from the rest of them because it was, like you said, bi hemophiliacs, for hemophiliacs. And the thing about the event was is that there was something that I think was missed out in the late two thousands, early two thousands of having the mentors of somebody that's older that has the bleeding disorder to the younger ones because growing up I didn't have that. I didn't know anybody that was older than me. Like the first person that I met that was older than me that had the bleeding disorder was LA. And seeing what he went through and then having my own issues with my ankles and having a fusion done at twenty-three years old because I wasn't doing the right movements with my foot, because I wasn't infusing like I was supposed to. That's where this kind of opened up to me because it's the mentorship of the younger ones. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and uh to to to echo on that point, and I'm gonna keep going into that. I think sometimes, like, okay, you can have big events, whether it's NHF or HFA, you can have these big events, great, these big events, and I think they do provide a logic education. Don't get me wrong, I think there's a certain time and place for them. But I think what a lot of the community doesn't understand or realize is that just getting five, six, seven hemophiliacs together in a room and sharing that brotherhood and sharing that conversation, there's a lot of value in just us being together in a room and being able to converse, have a lunch. So whether there's education or not, whether we're going to Alpha Land or not, whether we're on a podcast or not, take all that out. Us just being together for a 24-hour, 48-hour period, having lunch, the camaraderie, there's so much value in there that people don't understand and don't really in the community, they don't emphasize. Like just us being for hemophiliacs, by hemophiliax, conversing as hemophiliacs. I mean, there's so much value. Like, I have really bad ankles, okay? Brandon has a history of an ankle fusion, okay? And I just recently went to an orthopedic surgeon, I was gonna have to get the same thing. So I walk around with braces on my ankles and I'm a physician, I have four kids, like I'm busy, and I felt even at the age of 38 years old, I felt like kind of embarrassed. I have to wear ankle braces. But talking to Brandon, I'm like, no, like he suffers from the same thing that I suffer from. Like, I don't know, just having that, like, wow, someone else is going through this that I'm going through. It gives you like a sense of peace that's you don't even have to say anything. You just just being around other you're like, dude, like I feel good. Like, I'm not alone.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. And one thing that we talked about at the meeting was, you know, we we talked about you become the average of the three or four people that you hang out with the most, right? So I know you're talking about gathering with uh with people and how important that is, and that is that is amazing. But what separates these events is we're high-level individuals, okay? We like let's give ourselves some credit here. You know, Dr. Joe's an entrepreneur, successful businessman. Carlin, going from a collegiate swimming swimmer to stepping on the bodybuilding stage, you know, like we we have all done some like really great things that we have found a way to communicate that effectively to these individuals. And so that's the extra value add that we're we're offering. We are true leaders who have dedicated our lives to to helping out the next generation.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. And they can come to us to ask for hey, and I had a guy reach out yesterday, hemophiliac that's a friend of mine, and he's like, hey, I'm starting this business and I need to market it. Well, I need to how what would you do? And I was like, Well, man, I tell you what, when I started my business three years ago, I wish I had someone to call that I could phone a friend. Someone could come to LA and be like, Hey, uh, what did you do for your clothing line? Come to Carlin, hey, what did you do for this? You know, how did you do this? How do you do that? Come to Brandon, hey, I'm struggling with this. How how did you? And I I feel like that mentorship, but the available ability to phone a friend, we have all assets that we've accomplished. We have all lives that we've lived. And so having the ability for someone to reach out and be like, hey, I don't know the answer to this. What do you think? And it might be something that branded might be like, hey, I didn't personally have it, but might have my uncle or my best friend that went through this, and this is what I would do. This is what I want I wouldn't do. So to almost have like a phone a friend, whether what aspect of your life, whether you're a doctor, a lawyer, a dentist, uh, you work at, you know, it doesn't matter what, you know, we have all life experiences that we're going through living with hemophilia. And I think that our team is the asset that we're talking about.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

You have a phone a friend. Hey, it could be a dumb question. It could be like, hey, like I'm dealing with this insurance-related issue, or for my business, do I need liability insurance? Do I need like that's what I was asked yesterday? Like, how should I market this? So when you sign up with you know our team and you support us, you're giving the support from LA, Carlin, Brandon, Dr. Joe. You're getting a whole support team that we can help you solve problems outside of hemophilia. I mean, hey, we're all humans. We all, whether have kids or not kids, and we're all trying to, you know, live a life that, yes, you know, you're gonna have issues. We're here to support you.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, and we're and we're talking about going beyond hemophilia, right? Like, I mean, yes, we're gonna be there for you, make sure you have your medication, your supplies, the resources, you know, your insurance, make sure that's taken care of. But we're talking about things outside the box as well, you know, because I mean that's the biggest thing that I've seen throughout my time in the industry, is seeing all these people who are struggling to find purpose and direction in life. And that's kind of like where we're going the extra step and saying, hey guys, we we know how to take a vision and bring it to life, you know, a blueprint to following your dreams, and we want to be your leaders and mentors along that journey. So it's beyond you, yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Beyond you, so Carlin, I have a question for you. So, what would you like to see in the next event? Because we're already talking about the next event, and then I want to ask Brandon, I want to know from you like, what do you would like to see, or maybe a certain location? Like, tell us, tell us what you guys want for like the next event.

SPEAKER_03:

For me, it would be I would for me like swimming oriented, and the reason why I think swimming oriented is because once someone learns how to swim, this is something that they can do for the rest of their lives. And having hemophilia, learning how to swim at a very young age will help you due to the fact that when you're pushing off of these walls and you're doing these certain kinds of kicks and things of that nature, it gives you that kind of flexibility as you grow through the sport. Then from there, once you learn that, that once you learn the swimming, you can do it at any time. You don't, you can do it at any weight. You don't even have to actually swim. You can do like water aerobics and things of that nature. So that way it's light on our joints and we can still thrive. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's that's awesome. Brandon, what do you think? Like what what what would be a cool event, a place, or something that would, you know, inspire hemophiliax to come out and join?

SPEAKER_04:

That I've actually been thinking about and I haven't really set on a certain thing yet. I know that as far as like event-wise and things to do at the event, getting people warmed up more to be more interactive with everybody, because I know that was something that I was dealing with at first was warming up, talking, putting my voice out there to people.

SPEAKER_01:

So I mean, have like a coach, like uh we could have like a guest speaking coach maybe come in and start teaching uh patients, not patients, you know, uh teaching our our group of guys that hey, like here how here's how you would do a guest speaking event, and we can do communication skills and stuff like that. Like yeah, like we said, self-development skills and stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

And like like like you guys were saying, I think that people were struggling in the beginning to open up. And I know that we were kind of rushing through. We had we had a lot going on, and I I think that I wish for the next event we would have more time to apply to the opening up of the conversations like Brandon just talked about and getting deeper and having and and then having us mentors give them feedback from every all of those things. I know that event, this last event was more about let's get to the gym and let's really hone in on that stuff. We had a little bit of time to talk about our stories, but I would like to dive deeper into those conversations. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, because like with with me, it was when you go from not being around a bunch of hemophiliacs to being in a room full of them, it can be intimidating, especially if you haven't had anybody to have those conversations with or have those discussions about the hard stuff as far as the bleeding disorder goes. So having somebody there that could like be an icebreaker for everybody and kind of not really force people out of their shell, but kind of pull people out of their shell to where they're just sharing with everybody.

SPEAKER_02:

At the end of the event you told me you were wanting to share something and you didn't because I asked, I said, Does any did anyone not get an opportunity to say something that's on their heart? And you said that you were in there in the corner kind of being like, I want to say something, I want to say something, but you were too scared.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, yeah. It was I was telling myself, speak, speak, speak, but at the same time I was like, keep your mouth shut. It wasn't because it wasn't because it was anything that was like bad, it was I was pulling myself out of my shell to speak in front of everybody.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and keep going, yeah, no, I saw that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, yeah, you did open up a lot towards the end. You were so much more open towards the end. It was fun.

SPEAKER_04:

Yeah, the thing that I was wanting to like say is especially to the younger ones, the ones that are fifteen, sixteen years older or younger, take the factor, do the profile, listen to not only your hematologist, but your body. If your body's telling you I'm in pain, I'm hurting somewhere, take the factor. And that was the one thing that I was just like wanting to tell them is yeah like I was wanting to scream it, but at the same time I was like holding my mouth shut.

SPEAKER_02:

That's extremely impactful. I and I wish you would have said that. You'll I'm sure you'll have another opportunity to do it, but I'm the same way. I was so freaking stubborn. I didn't never want to infuse, and now we're paying for that. And so we look at these young guys and we want to we want to be like sincere and look them in the eye and say, guys, infuse. I promise you, you do not want to you know start skipping, especially when they be you know get older and older, you just want to push it off. Like, I don't know, who cares? So that yeah, that's a good message, Brandon.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and the other thing I will I want to allude to is like Brandon, this was your first event. This is our first event. And imagine though, where you're gonna be on the third or fourth event. So you just partnered up with us, and so you're coming out of your shell. And so part of the mentorship and part of the growth is I imagine some of the other hemophiliacs that were there, they're gonna attend our second, our third, and fourth event. We should look at almost like a timeline of we first met them here, they were in our shell, and then after these four and fifth events that we're gonna do throughout 2026, what now who they are? Like now, like literally, like wow, they've really come out of their shell. I think that's one of one of the things I'm super excited about.

SPEAKER_03:

Yeah, that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02:

Carlin, I try to tee it up for you, brother, but but I mean, to talk about the coloring book, tell tell the world about the your coloring book, man. We're excited about that.

SPEAKER_04:

For real.

SPEAKER_03:

So we're very excited. Speaking of that, I have to meet the publisher here very soon. And uh, so we are dropping a hemophilia coloring book. There would be different versions to this coloring book, and in these coloring books, it'll give you small little hints of what hemophilia is like from that young age as we're all growing through 18, college, all of that. So that way you have something to kind of hold on to and cherish. And it and I even updated it and I left a little note in there. And that's gonna be secret. I'm not gonna tell everyone what's on the note yet, but it's going to be very, I want to be, I want it to be impactful to you. So some of the wording is for you to feel what it says. So that way, while you're coloring it, it's more so, okay, let me remember that I'm not alone because it's hard to, it's hard to think you're not alone, but when you're actually having hemophilia and you don't know anyone else that has hemophilia, it's hard. So like as you're coloring this coloring book, I want you to make sure that you feel that you are not alone through this whole journey as you're as each version drops. I want people to know that we are together. You're not alone. Like you're not the only one with this being disorder.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and the pediatric population, when you you know get a new diagnosis of hemophilia or you're three or four years old. I mean, then we had some really young kids there coloring the book. I mean, you can be coloring any book, but coloring a hemophilia book, there's that's that's the first, I guess, time when a hemophiliac at a young age could be like, wow, I am not alone. I'm coloring a book about myself, not Spider-Man or you know, Superman or whatever. This is me in this book. And it gives them a little sense of reassurance and grounding that everything's gonna be okay. And Carlin's book really does it. It's really well illustrated, too, man. Yeah, really well illustrated.

SPEAKER_02:

I was impressed. I wasn't, you know, when you first said coloring book, I was like, all right, all right, let me let me see this thing. And when you showed it to me, I was like, holy cow, like you put some like deep, deep effort into this book. Oh, yeah. I think it's gonna be very empowering for people like the younger kids to thank you to color through.

SPEAKER_04:

That's what that's something that I said to him when he showed it to me because he went through the entire thing before the event with me. And I was like, that is literally from page one to the last page, I was like, that is exactly what I went through. Yeah. And I think that's important for these younger ones to have because we didn't have that. You go to these events and you get pamphlets handed out to you that have these big words on it that you don't know what they say, but your parents do. Yeah. So it's good to have something that the kids can look at and be like, oh, this is what I can look forward to. This is what I can tell people, this is what people are gonna say to me, but I can be ready for it when it happens.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, yeah. And I mean, that's that speaks volumes to a young kid. And you know, when I say for hemophiliacs, by hemophiliacs, we really do mean that. And in the future, like, even down to the catering, like we had options that we could cater any type of food, anywhere, but we decided to select a hemophilia-based business that a hemophiliac father, uh, he's he's with us, uh, a son, and we decided, hey, we're gonna use you guys to sponsor this event. And so, really impacting the community down to the granular level, guys. Uh we when we host these events, they're curated by hemophiliacs, even down to the people that are catering it. We are going to empower the hemophilia community in multiple facets. So when we make these events, they're very intentional. If there's a hemophiliac that you know wants to cater it or sponsor it, or this, that, this, that, we're gonna try to bring every aspect of these events to be hemophilia based. That's what that is. So this is very thought out. LA put a lot of time and effort into this to really focus on, okay, we're gonna have this event. We have three or four or five different things that we're gonna do. Is there any way that we can plug in a hemophiliac, whether it's a sponsorship, whether it's uh having them come out to talk, maybe, or every aspect, we're really putting a lot of thought in this to really give back to the hemophilia community in multiple multiple ways.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, man, I'm excited. There's we met a lot of really cool people. And you know, if anyone is watching this podcast and um, you know, right now we're hosting these events in the Houston area, but you know, maybe in the future, near future we could expand to other areas. But if you're ever interested in, you know, what it's uh, you know, maybe maybe even being a mentor, part of our team, or if you're interested in attending the next events, or you have a child um or a young, young kid who could really use some mentorship and guidance, you know, feel free to reach out to any one of us.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, I mean, I've had such a great time with, you know, the camaraderie, the mentorship of our team. It's only going to be growing bigger and bigger and bigger. We did have a couple people that signed up last minute that couldn't go, but you know, the next event's gonna be even bigger. LA, once you say that, I mean, we had 22 people, 23 people. We're we're planning on doing this bigger and bigger and bigger with the support, but we need support. I mean, we can't just, you know, we need more people to get engaged, more people to come to these events because we're trying to do something really big and different, and we really need your support. And so, um, yeah, I'm I'm just excited about the support that we're getting currently. And, you know, sign up early next time, guys. Sign up early so we can add you to the list and you know, uh grow this.

SPEAKER_03:

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_02:

Hey, we just want to make a quick episode for you guys. We were super excited about having a little recap, and then we're even more excited because we had a full-time videographer with us, and I think that's gonna be a game changer for the hemophilia community. I mean, having cinematic quality footage of how the entire day went. So, even if you missed the event, you're gonna have an opportunity to see all of the highlighted moments that were there that made it so special. So awesome.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, hey guys, it was good chatting with you. You guys have a great day.

SPEAKER_02:

Good day. See you guys. Bye.

SPEAKER_00:

Thank you for tuning in to the HEMOLife podcast. Today's episode hopefully inspired you and provided valuable insights to enhance your journey. Join us again to hear more incredible stories and expert advice from our community. Make sure to subscribe and stay connected with a group of extraordinary achievers and pioneers. On behalf of LA Guayo and the entire Emo Life team, keep pushing forward, strive for excellence, and remember you are the architect of your own desktop. Until next time, stay strong, stay inspired, and continue on your path to an elite life.