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Turn Up The Hustle Podcast
Welcome to the Turn Up The Hustle Podcast – Where real estate investors and entrepreneurs share their stories, strategies, and mindset behind their hustle.
Turn Up The Hustle Podcast
Turn Up The Hustle EP 14 - Christopher Matz
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This episode of the Trump the Hustle podcast features Christopher Matz, who shares his journey from a "sophisticated alcoholic" to finding a new life through sobriety, faith, and community service.
A military brat who lived in Korea as a teenager, Matz eventually landed in San Antonio where he navigated a 15 year "drinking career" while working high level marketing and sales roles. He candidly details hitting an emotional rock bottom in 2017, leading to a 2:00 AM phone call to his mother that saved his life and brought him into Alcoholics Anonymous.
Now over nine years sober, Matz discusses his path to overcoming pornography addiction and his deep involvement with Community Bible Church (CBC), where he now serves to help others find their own transformation. As the President of Business Professionals of San Antonio (BPSA), he shares his unique "hustle to serve" philosophy, explaining how he uses his obsessive mind to fuel fitness, networking, and raising money for local non-profits.
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On uh February 27th, I woke up in my bed, not knowing how I had had gotten there from a complete blackout. And as a true mama's boy at 35 years old, I picked up the phone at 2 o'clock in the morning and called my mom and told her that I thought I was gonna die. I just hear my mom crying on the other end of the phone, and that's something that you just don't want to hear. I had done a whole bunch of drugs and again five days of straight alcohol really put me in a place, the darkest place I had ever been. Wasn't rock bottom as far as losing a house, cars, a job, no, but emotionally, physically, spiritually, I was at my rock bottom.
SPEAKER_03Welcome to another episode of Trump the Hustle Podcast, where real estate investors and entrepreneurs show their stories, strategies, and mindset behind our hustle. I'm Michael Yannis, aka Mr. Hustle. To my right, Scotty Moon. Let's go. And today's special guest, Christopher Matz.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, grateful to be in here with the guys.
SPEAKER_03Man, we're pleasure is all ours, man, for sure. So before we get started, Chris, my hustle is real estate flipping, real estate wholesaling, and subject to when someone thinks of Christopher Matz, what is Christopher's Matts hustle?
SPEAKER_02My hustle is inspiring others to become the best versions of themselves. That's my hustle.
SPEAKER_03That's pretty deep, man. That was deep already. Okay. Right off the bat. Right off the bat. That was deep. Okay. Well, before the fashion, before the muscles, before the swag, and before BPSA, because that's what I already know you for. Before uh BPSA, who was Christopher Metz growing up?
SPEAKER_02Man, I was uh I was a small town kid from a little town in uh Kansas called Pittsburgh, Kansas, man. And um I grew up there until my father got into the military, and then I became a military brat. And I gotta travel at a at a pretty young age. And so um I got to live in Korea uh for five and a half years in my teenage years, which really transitioned and changed my life because I was so sheltered living in in Kansas for so long uh growing up. I got to see different countries and the way different cultures treated uh each other, and so I was around not only Koreans but Japanese, Russians, African Americans, uh Hispanics. And so I gotta I gotta pick up on their cultures, and so I learned really quickly about um just how many different people and countries there are out there because I was so sheltered in Kansas. And so once I left Korea, my father got stationed here in in San Antonio, Texas. And so I state that I was born in Kansas, but I was raised in Texas, and so uh Texas is home now, and so um just a just a just a military kid, man, that had a lot of life experiences really young, and uh and it ended up landing in San Antonio, Texas, and this is now home.
SPEAKER_03And your dad was in the uh Air Force?
SPEAKER_02He was uh he was in the Army. Army, okay. Yeah, Army, yeah. 20 uh 29 years, retired as a full bird colonel. And so um, yeah, man, he was uh long time in the military.
SPEAKER_03Is that a very disciplined childhood growing up with someone who's uh full-time retired colonel?
SPEAKER_02You know, Mike, man, I I'm glad you asked that because I'm I've always been a mama's boy, and uh I've I was a mama's boy because my dad at times, most of the time, treated me like one of his soldiers. So it was a very strict-minded household in the fact that uh I f I felt at times um, you know, that I was one of his soldiers. And um, throughout the years, you know, we've gotten closer. Uh, but essentially the the times that I would hang out with my dad, uh, I was always with my mom, were on uh when Sundays when my mom would go to church, I wasn't in the church growing up, I would go to the gym with my dad, and he taught me about lifting weights. Another thing that I cherish today. And so he instilled that in that's that into me. And so I'm grateful for that. And another thing that we really bonded over, and uh, you know, growing up, I was a big Steven Segal, Chuck Norris, John Claude Van Dam guys, and so we would watch a lot of those manly movies together. And so that's how him and I bonded. Uh today our relationship's a lot closer than it was growing up, but at the time growing up, um definitely felt at times I was one of his soldiers.
SPEAKER_03It's definitely a mindset in the army, man, because I did 12 years in the army, so I've always when I was in the army, I was like, I want to raise my son tough. Yeah. But I've got out. I got out 10 years ago, and it's a different mindset for sure. When I was in the army, man, that it's kind of like I don't want to say it's brainwashed, but it's like a little brainwash in the army, and you gotta be all really wha, right? I'm sure you know that word means. You gotta be really whole in the army, and that I've gotten out, and uh, he's retired, so the mindset's a little different.
SPEAKER_04So you're saying cool or who? Huah. Huh.
SPEAKER_01You heard that term a lot.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's you might have, yeah, you heard that term a lot. You gotta be real hoo-a. Uh so Philippines. And you say you got a lot over there? Korea uh South Korea. South Korea. All right, South Korea is uh as a teenager. How old were you there? What ages?
SPEAKER_02Man, I was like uh I was nine till about 13, 14 years old. It's actually a good age. Yeah, it was a good age. It's like the prime of your it's like we, you know, the cognitive memory is still there. And so like a lot of my childhood, I still remember a lot of my time in South Korea. It was it was awesome. Definitely a culture shock. Culture shock at first, man. I remember flying into Seoul Korea uh the night that we went into Korea for the first time, and it was like it was morning there, and I looked out the plane. I'd never seen anything that big, you know, because Korea is, I think, is five times bigger than New York City. So when you're flying in, man, it's it's eye-opening. And it was like, wow, this is something I've never seen before. So definitely some culture shock uh for sure. The the fat the the first couple years I lived there.
SPEAKER_03You said nine and thirteen-ish, twelve-ish?
SPEAKER_02Flight?
SPEAKER_03No, the uh how old were you?
SPEAKER_02Oh yeah, nine to I think fourteen. Fourteen. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03And then you came to San Antonio at 14, 15?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, right, right, uh, right in the start of uh end of eighth grade, ninth grade. Yeah. Yeah, man.
SPEAKER_03That's a that's a childhood for sure, man. That's that's what yeah, that's military brand for sure. Yeah. So here in San Antonio, how'd it go? Your first after going there for five years, you come here. Another culture shock?
SPEAKER_02Another culture shock, man, because um there I I established myself as uh as a as a basketball player, a hooper. And so, you know, that's all we did over there was basketball, dribbling around. Our base, Camp Hylia, was like two and a half miles in diameter around the whole base. So it was a small base, so there really wasn't a lot to do. So we learned um, you know, basketball was our sport. And so when I got over here, um, you know, I started hanging out with the Hoopers. I went to um, you know, Judson High School, if you're from familiar with Judson. Judson used to be a lot different than uh than it is today. Where'd you go, Skyler? Wagner. Oh, you went to Wagner. Wow, I didn't know that. Yeah, Wagner wasn't there when Judson when I went. So uh 90, what was it, nine like ninety six, I went to Judson High School, a lot different than it is now. Judson back then is you know, is historic for its football program. It's like the pride of Texas, all these championships in football, and didn't want to play football, wanted to play basketball. And um, you know, growing up on I was a basketball player, so athlete, um, ninth grade, tenth grade, 11th grade, and then that's when things started. I started to get in some trouble hanging out with the wrong kind of group, friends, and uh got kicked out of Judson High School. And so got kicked out my junior year, and um my dad put me in um Cole, which is uh Fort Sam military uh high school.
SPEAKER_03I was just about to ask, what did the colonel do when he got kicked out of Judson?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so he didn't know his son was uh he was forging all of his um I think I've in turn see I missed like 157 days of school that year, my junior, and I was I was forging his signature.
SPEAKER_03You missed 157 days of school?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, 157.
SPEAKER_03How many days are there?
SPEAKER_02Never know. Yeah, man, I was a lot. I was skipping school, hanging out, doing stuff I shouldn't be doing. You know, I I kind of my my mom and uh my mom and my dad, they were getting a they were getting a divorce around that time in my life, and there was a lot of uncertainty around my life. And so um, you know, basketball, you know, growing up, that was my first love, and I I started to fall fall out of love with it and started hanging out with some kids and doing things I shouldn't be doing, and found women and girls, and you know, I just was hanging out with the wrong folks, and so uh got in a lot of trouble, and um, yeah, they I got kicked out. And it's hard to get kicked out of Judson High School, really hard.
SPEAKER_04About to say, having gone there and seeing all the things I've seen, you must have been on well.
SPEAKER_02It's difficult. And but I'm I did it, and uh so I went to Cole High School uh my senior year, real small school, man. Went from huge class in Judson to I think we had like 47 graduating high school class. Cole is known for uh it's the home of Shaquille O'Neal. Yeah, Shaq. So he graduated in '89 and we graduated in '99. So there's a 10 10-year difference there. But it was cool going to Cole because you know, playing basketball, it's it's a basketball school. And Shaq would come to our practice when he was in town, and he gifted our school like a Pepsi Jumbotron, all the old, if you remember the Shaq shoes and the jumpsuits, the Reebok jumpsuits. We had all the cool, uh, cool fittings. So I actually really enjoyed my time at Cole, focused more on school there, got back into the good rhythm of things, and then um, yeah, after that is when it went downhill again.
SPEAKER_03Again.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Okay, after high school?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, after high school, um, again, I found myself in in some guys in some some trouble. Um, started, you know, selling drugs, hanging out. Uh, got kicked out of my mom's house. You know, my mom had through it all, man. She supported me through everything I've been through, but she had enough. You know, I was a bad kid, um, not doing too much with my life after after I did graduate high school, but I was doing stuff I shouldn't be doing, and she had enough, and she kicked me out. And I remember um I got kicked out and didn't have anywhere to go, and I was living at a trap house off of like, if you if you're familiar in San Antonio, like 410, um, there's a via bus station there. Um, when you do the loop right there off 35 and 410. And I was living in a in a in a an apartment. Back then they called an apartment today, they call it a trap house, with like five other guys. It was a one-bedroom apartment, and it was drugs all night, people coming in and out, and I thought it was the coolest thing ever. And um, that's actually where I found alcohol, man, in that in that apartment too, uh, when I was 20 years old. And uh had to take the via bus stop. The via bus um lost everything, lost my car, and I was taking it to West telemarketing if you're familiar with West. Um, and it was just in a dark place in my life, and then uh got a call that changed my life forever, and that was from my grandmother uh who lived in Kansas where I was born.
SPEAKER_03Before we go into that phone call, what you said had a little episode in high school, yeah, fixed it, and then after high school you went back to this, I don't know if you want to call it episode or whatever you want to call it. What do you think kept bringing you back to that lifestyle? With a supporting mom, I would assume. Yeah, supporting mom, colonel dad. What do you think? Like, why why go back or why even go down that path?
SPEAKER_02You know what I would think it was, Mike? I think it was, you know, I I think it might have been the discipline for my dad. You know, there wasn't discipline. My mom was, you know, she was a caring mom. She worked three jobs, you know, my last two years living with her um to support my sister and I. I mean, she's a you talk about hustle, she's an ultimate hustler. You know, I I turn I still look at her today as ultimate hustler, but I took advantage of that situation. I I didn't have the discipline which I which I have today. I didn't have it back then, and there was no discipline over my life over anything. I was just a selfish, hard-headed kid. And um, that's what I think it came down to. Living with my father, there was always discipline in the house. And then when he left, moved out, I lost that discipline. You know, I thought I could rule and do anything I wanted. And uh what I what I found out was, you know, I uh it got me into a really bad situation. Um, and that's when I ended up in that situation in the apartment.
SPEAKER_03What was those uh keywords that grandma said?
SPEAKER_02She said uh she said you you can continue to live in that apartment or I'll change your life forever and you can come and live with me and I'll pay for your college and get you a car. And um, you know, she you know, and to be honest with you two, that was a really, really hard decision as I look back on it, man, because I I thought I was living life, living in the apartment with all these guys and doing the things I was doing. Why would I want to go move up with my grandma and have a curfew at 20 years old and go to a college where I don't know anybody? You know, I had to really, really ponder that thought. And ultimately, I think God was with me. I didn't know it back then, but I think God guided me to go and and take that offer that she had offered me. And uh ultimately what happened was it changed my life. I I honestly don't think I would be sitting with you guys if I would have stayed um living in that that apartment with those guys. I I think I'd probably be dead by now. That's where my life was heading, unfortunately.
SPEAKER_04So you decided something and you told you, okay, this is what needs to happen, or what was the actual what do you think? Uh you know, God was with you, but what do you think in your mind, what was there, was there one particular thing that made it click, or one thing that said, you know what, I've got to do this, or it was just that you had enough, enough was enough.
SPEAKER_02I just saw the disappointment that I remember um you know having a conversation with my mom and my sister and how disappointed they were and what I was doing with my life, had this potential to be really good at something in life, and I just didn't know what that was. And um, you know, my mom and sister were just crying, you know, like and I was like, I I don't know what to do. And it's like you gotta go, like you gotta change your life.
SPEAKER_04So they really were a positive influence as far as you going going out there.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I remember. Um, and ultimately I I made that decision and I moved to Kansas, left everything down here, and I moved to Kansas and started over from and went to college, yeah. I went to college, um, didn't know anybody, moved back, and I, you know, I've I've been living in you know, big city of San Antonio, Korea, big places, and then I go back to a population of about 12,000 people in a small college town. Big culture shock again for me. Yeah, because now I'm around a whole bunch of like country folks, small town America. Um, you know, not my type of cup of tea. Um, but what what I found was is I really enjoyed that cup of tea, you know. I I I loved my time going back home and and going to school and getting the opportunity to go to college. And um, you know, I lived with my grandma for for three and a half years going to college and um joined a fraternity, did the ultimate college life. Like my grandma and I, you know, we we she she became my best friend. She instilled a curfew with me. I had to be home on the weekends by 12, and she would wait up for me. If um if I didn't make it, she'd take my car away. So there were rules that I had to follow so that discipline was back. I had to get and maintain a certain grade point average. I maintained a certain grade point average. But the cool thing was is we would drink together, and then I would bring my grandma um to my fraternity parties. She became like a she became like a uh like a legend there uh in my fraternity because we would take her in you know the keg stands or fraternity parties. Yeah, she would do it. Yeah, she was a trooper, man. She was awesome. Like grandma was awesome, grandma Mott's was her nickname, and so she would come with me to all the parties, and uh she became more, I think she was more popular than you. Yeah, for sure. For sure.
SPEAKER_03I now I got a picture. How old was she when she was doing cake?
SPEAKER_02So she was in her 70s, yeah, man. So yeah, when when I first moved up there, was this? So it was 2000. I moved up there in 2001. Yeah, 2001. Yeah, 2001. Um, and I didn't know anybody, so I hung out with my grandma the majority of the time. And so we would literally, man, sit. I would stay with her, she'd watch the Wheel of Fortune every night, and we would crack open a beer, and I'd watch the Wheel of Fortune all the way to the evening news, 10 o'clock at night, with her, my first three months living with her, and we got into this routine, so we really bonded. And that's when I started uh to to pick up that my love for alcohol as well, drinking with her on those nights. I'm just don't get it wrong, man. I'm just curious.
SPEAKER_03Was she an alcoholic? Is she a seven-year-old drinking every day?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I and I get asked that question a lot. Um, the the one thing that I remember telling me was um, you know, I would ask her because um you drinking with her, I I found out that when the evening news came on when I was drinking with her, she could stop every time the evening news at 10 o'clock when the evening news came off, she she put a TV dinner in and she would stop. For me, I I found myself wanting more. I couldn't stop. And so I ultimately would ask her, like, grandma, like, I don't get that. Like, how do you stop and I want more? And she's like, you just got to turn off the switch. So to answer your question, no, she wasn't out, she knew when to stop. But for others that struggle and struggled with addiction for many years, like we just don't have that, we don't have the turn-off switch. And that's the difference between a drinker, a normal drinker, and somebody like me who's an alcoholic. We just don't have that switch to turn it off. And I found that out essentially drinking with her.
SPEAKER_03That switch. I feel like I have a switch, I just turn it off. I'm done, I'm done. Yeah. But I'm trying to explain. If I was in your shoes, how would that you want more, you crave more? Like what what exactly is it at that time?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's so it's like uh it's obsession of the mind, that's how it's explained. And so it's it it's an obsession to have more that you you can't stop. And so if I have one, like um, you know, today, and I I think we'll talk about this on here. Uh, you know, I just celebrated nine years of continuous sobriety. You know, I don't drink, I don't sip, I never had a drink, don't do drugs, anything. But for me, like people ask me all the time, you can't just have a sip? No, for me, I can't, because if I have a sip, maybe not that day, maybe I have a sip that day, but the following day, I'm gonna think about that sip and I'm gonna want more of it and more of it and more of it. I have a very, very obsessive mind. And um the obsession can be used pro or negative. I've learned to use it pro, but for a long time it was negative on the fact that I was an alcoholic, got addicted to drugs, and so that's that's where it turned on the negative side. Now I use it for my for for fitness, for helping others, for business, you know, that that's where that's where the obsession of the mind comes in and the the addiction comes in now. I'm a I have addictive personality. Uh I've I've always had it. Uh it's just how I use it now, it's different than how I used to know it. Fast forward though, one of the coolest things, and this is a cool story, is um, when I my grandma drank beer uh for I believe 54 years. 54 years. When I when I came back and I got sober, and I told my call my grandma the first day that I got done, and I was like, I'm done. And I'll go over that with you guys if you want. But I called her and I told her that grandma, you won't believe this, like, hey, I'm I'm gonna stop drinking. And what she told me that day was something I'll always remember. She's like, Well, if you're gonna quit drinking, I'm gonna quit drinking too. After you know, 54 years. She stopped cold turk and she died a sober woman. Stayed with me another three years, not drinking alcohol. So yeah, um yeah, I think about her often because she did ultimately change my life. And um yeah, super grateful for her.
SPEAKER_03So from how old was she? 71 71?
SPEAKER_02She died, she passed away when she was 89 years old. Yeah. 89. She lived a good life. She was doing cake stands in her 70s. Cake stands in her cake cake stands in her 70s, not official like cake stands, but she would like pull from the keg. We wouldn't like, you know, when you think of cake stand, you're thinking of like stand-up, like her bargain. No, no, like but she would pull from she would pull from the actual the the keg.
SPEAKER_03And so you do the stand and I'll take the keg. Yeah, that's what she does.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So from drinking not a cake, yeah. Um in her 70s, what and then you came back to San Antonio. What was the reason for coming back to San Antonio uh from Kansas?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that's another interesting story. So um through college, um, you know, I was uh I became a bartender. I was the bartender at the the main spot there. And you know, there's a lot of there was a lot of pros for having that position. He met a lot of people. I was drinking bartending five nights out of the week, drinking five nights out of the week, you know, constantly. I somehow I got through college. Um and I was I started dating a girl. The blessing, the biggest blessing of my life was um a girl named Kate Lindemann, and uh met Kate in college. She was such a beautiful, most beautiful girl I'd ever known at the time. And um, she was a nursing student. She became my girlfriend, and we were together all through undergraduate school, and um, she still had two years left when I graduated. And people asked me, you know, what made you stay and get your master's? It wasn't, it wasn't the scholar aspect of it. It wasn't wanting to continue my education to do something great in life. The real answer was I wanted to continue to party and continue to drink, continue to be a college student and stay with my girlfriend as she finished school. So there was nothing about it that I wanted to do intellectually about getting a master's degree. I stayed for her, and so I stayed another two years while she graduated. And uh, she started to see the alcoholic behavior. She saw it firsthand. And um, we were together four years in college, then we moved to Kansas City. She got a really good job at a hospital, uh, and she was one of the lead nurses there right out of college. And uh, I would stay at home, Mike and Skylar, and I would drink. And she she wanted to know when I was getting a job, and I would lie to her. And um, I just couldn't, I couldn't get out of the college mentality. I would literally sit at home and drink, and I would tell her that I was applying for jobs, what I wasn't, I was lying to her, lying to her family, lying to my family. And that went on for about six months. She was working hard to support us. We had this really nice town home. And ultimately she came home one day and she gave me the ultimatum. She's like, Hey, Chris, I I think there's an issue here. I think you have a problem. Um, you can either you can either go to AA, which I didn't know anything about that, you know, Alcoholics Anonymous, never really heard of it, or you can go to AA, stay here, and we can work on this, or you can go back to Texas. And um, at the time I was such in my addiction of alcohol that I didn't think about it at all, man. I gave it all up. And um, I left Kansas City, left my relationship of five years. The best thing that had ever happened to me was her. And I left it all because of alcohol, packed everything up in my Zuzu rodeo to drive back to San Antonio, Texas, to live with my mother and my stepdad in a back bedroom that my stepbrother used to live in. Just because the addiction was so strong. And uh left it all in Kansas City. And so that's how I got back here to San Antonio. Um and I look back on it like, should I regret that? And again, I think God was with me because um I don't know where I would be if I would have stayed in Kansas City, but I know where I am now. I know what God's done with my life, and I and I'm for that I'm super, super grateful because at the time I thought it was the biggest disappointment of my life, but it ended up being like the biggest blessing in my life to make that move. But ultimately what happened was is she used the term AA, which I had never heard of, but ultimately when I got sober, that AA Alcoholics Anonymous ended up saving my life.
SPEAKER_03A lot of major changes.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, a lot of major changes.
SPEAKER_03Did you ever call her back and let her know that you went to AA?
SPEAKER_02No, no, no. I I I wrote her a letter. I wrote her a letter, I wrote her parents a letter to never heard back uh from either her um or her family. Funny thing is, is um, you know, we're still connected on social media. We're still, after all these years, still connected on Facebook. She has a beautiful family, she has a beautiful son and a beautiful daughter. She looks extremely happy, and I couldn't be more happier for her because she deserves that, man. She's a wonderful woman, and I'm I'm glad she's happy and she's been treated right because um, you know, I certainly didn't do that, and uh, she deserved much better than me. And so I'm really happy for her.
SPEAKER_03Hustlers, real estate investing doesn't have to be overwhelming, and you don't have to do it alone. Maybe watching from the sidelines, scrolling past deals on Zillow, or binging YouTube videos, but still not taking action, this is for you. That's why we built Hustle Academy, a community designed for new and experienced real estate investors who want to learn, network, and grow. Inside Hustle Academy, you'll get weekly live calls, QA sessions, and step-by-step classes on fix and flip, wholesaling, creative finance, and my favorite subject to deals. Everything you need to know to build real skills and start closing real deals. You'll join a powerful group of like-minded hustlers who are sharing wins, breaking down deals, and all pushing toward the same goal, financial freedom through real estate. If you're ready to level up, no matter what stage you're starting at, join Hustle Academy today, tap the link in the description, or visit hustleacademy.com and let's trump the hustle together. So strong words, man. Strong words. Okay, so you gotta after AA you're back in San Antonio, what's next? What's the career? I didn't know you had a master's. So you got a master's, um, you're in San Antonio. Yeah. What's the next step for for Chris at the time?
SPEAKER_02Man, I was trying to get hired to work anywhere. I didn't have any sales experience, couldn't get a job in Kansas City. Remember, I was drinking all the time. So um I was applying everywhere to get a job. And I didn't know real estate back then. I probably would have done real estate. Um, and so I was just applying. I thought I had a really good personality, which I didn't know anything, you know. And so I was applying for all these jobs. No one hired me, didn't have any sales experience. It was a full-time job getting a job. It really was. So uh I ended up being a modern-day Al Bundy, man. I got a job selling shoes um at Macy's in the women's shoe department, right? Living in back home in my in my mother and stepfather's house, uh selling shoes in the woman's shoe department of Macy's at Rolling Oaks Mall. And uh man, it was uh interesting, but the cool thing was I I got really um connected to a lot of people because you know I would talk to every lady that was in there shopping for shoes, and I made I started making some connections. And so I found out, well, I can kind of do this because I'm meeting a whole bunch of people. I start I got connected to the San Antonio Current through that job. Um, and I ended up getting my first sales position working for the San Antonio Current, doing advertising sales. If you know anything about the current, it's it's uh newspaper sales, and that's one of the hardest things you could sell. And so my selling career got started in the newspaper business uh back in 2008 and worked for the San Antonio Current uh for three years, which opened a lot of doors for me here in San Antonio. Um, are you guys familiar with the current? Yeah, of course. So uh it was hard because back then, I don't know if they have it now, we would go to businesses and we would try to sell it, but then at the back, they had the adult section. So you'd always try to brush past the adult section. Like I would take it to banks, medical, you know, hospitals, and I'd try to get them to advertise in the current, but they always had the adult section in the back. So it was a really, really hard sell if you're trying to sell that. And so uh I found a niche in hookah bars, and so uh I became Mr. Hookah. So I got all the hookah bars in San Antonio, and um, you know, from there I built these relationships with other um businesses and ended up getting a job with the city of shirts, became their marketing director for seven years, and then so on and so on. But that's kind of how I built my my start of my career was working for the San Antonio Current here and selling shoes at Macy's in the women's shoe department.
SPEAKER_04So the San Antonio Current had like a naughty section? I think it still does. Does it?
SPEAKER_00There's no way. I haven't picked yet.
SPEAKER_02Man, this is like I don't know. Like, don't quote me. I'm a big fan of the current still. Like, I I look at it on like the back then we didn't have social media, you know. But they had definitely had a naughty section. It was like all the strip clubs. No way. Every single strip club that was in San Antonio was in with in the San Antonio Current.
SPEAKER_04For the viewers that don't know, the San Antonio Current is a huge publication. Probably one of the top five, three biggest newspapers in the city that does advertising. Anytime there's a concert coming to town, anytime there's a big breaking story, a restaurant's opening, a restaurant's closing. Like anybody who knows anything about San Antonio knows of the San Antonio Current. For the fact that it has a naughty section is stunning to me. Because I've, I mean, I know a lot about the current. So I had no idea that it used to have, or maybe still has some kind of naughty section. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I never heard no one say the modern day albumy.
SPEAKER_02Modern day album. Yeah, man. Modern day like women's shoe fashion. I got you back then, man. I knew it all. Like anything uh you need as far as women fashion. I was the guy.
SPEAKER_03Okay, so now it goes to marketing. You said for the city of shirts?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it was a marketing director for the city of shirts uh for for six years. What is that like?
SPEAKER_03What do you mean what do you mean a marketing record for the city?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, so the city um city of shirts has a publication called the Shirts Magazine, and um we published it, it went to all city residents, it got mailed into their mailboxes, and so um I would sell advertising space in the city magazine, any city events that we held. Um, and so like we we host big festivals out in the city of shirts. We had a parade, Jubilee parade, 4th of July, host a big Christmas parade. And so I would sell sponsorships for these parades, and it would all go towards city revenue. And so um there I became I started meeting a lot of officials from different cities. I got really connected and networked with City of San Antonio, City of New Brunffels, Selma, Shirts, Sibyl, Selma, um, New Brunfels, and so started to build those relationships up. Um so it was a really good job. It was a city job, um, which, you know, I didn't think I would, I would definitely stay six years, but it treated me really well. And it it taught me a lot about like the chamber of commerce, how to treat business owners. Um, you know, it was very, very uh it showed me the framework on how to be successful. It did, it really did. And um, from there, um, I got hired on by Dave Ramsey, and um that was another cool job that really opened a lot of doors for me. Uh, if you guys are familiar with timeshares, yeah. Yeah, timeshares. So I was on the opposite side of that. I was selling the service to get people out of timeshares. Worked for a company called Timeshare Exit Team. And uh, you know, I started running operations throughout Texas, California, Arizona for Timeshare Exit Team, getting people out of timeshares. And that job right there really uh opened a lot of doors for me. Um, and so I'm funny thing is I'm still connected to the company. The owner of that company started a group called Happy Hour Media. It's a uh marketing agency out of Seattle, which I still employ today. And so it's funny, it's full circle that I was working with the team, Dave Ramsey, um, 10 years ago, and now I got reconnected with him, and now I'm working with their marketing agency. So full circle.
SPEAKER_03You ever do the uh financial peace university with Dave?
SPEAKER_02I did. Yeah, yeah, financial, yeah. I do. I still listen to Dave Ramsey. Um met him two times. Interesting guy, rolls around with a lot of security and a lot of cash in his pocket, always has cash. Like I'm talking about like walking around with like$60,000 in cash, like he just has on him for no reason.
SPEAKER_01You gotta have it really. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I never got that. I didn't like rolling around with that much cash, but he he does do it, and I've seen it, which is really interesting. But uh, I never I don't know why you need that much cash on you, you know. But he has a lot of security wherever he rolls. I would imagine taking that much cash with you.
SPEAKER_03All that cash. What's next after the city and uh with this Dave Ramsey um sponsorship? Well not the sponsorship, but the uh platform.
SPEAKER_02It was uh it was it Time Share exit team was the name of the company, and so it it opened a lot of doors, and that's when I started to become involved with business professionals of San Antonio. And um, you know, uh one of my mentors I met through um networking here in San Antonio when I had the various roles. Uh the same was Tom White, and um Tom started the group, BPSA back in 2017. Um wanted to start a group that uh essentially would raise money and help um nonprofits in San Antonio, and so we would use venues here locally and support local nonprofits. And so there's a lot of networking groups out there, uh, but a lot of them don't serve a purpose. And our group, what we do is we serve the community by raising money for organizations that truly need it. And so he envisioned starting the group and held it for two years, and then he transitioned. And I've been president since 2019. And we're going on uh you know 10 years of operations, still supporting local nonprofits here and giving 100% of it away. We we don't make any money off our group at all. Um, all the sponsorships that we raise, we use those services to pay for tough photography, um, marketing, um, and then the money that we do raise, we give it all back to the nonprofit. And so that's what we've been doing for the last almost 10 years.
SPEAKER_04Let's back up a second. So you came back from Kansas to San Antonio because you were still an addict, right? What was the turning point? I know you said you went to AA, but how did you end up getting to that place where and my another question that I had, like a side question that had to do with that. Were you still lifting or were you still in shape? Or did you ever you got out of you got real out of shape while you were doing that, I'm assuming?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I've I was never in yeah, I wasn't in shape, wasn't lifting. Really wasn't lifting when I moved back to San Antonio. I was still partying, drinking. You can't, I mean, you you can't out train a bad diet, man. And that's the the one thing I've learned. And um, you can't be drinking two, you know, three, four nights of the week and get in good shape. Yeah, I always envision being in the worst shape. Yeah, one guy, I'm not gonna call him out.
SPEAKER_04I know one guy that is in insane shape. Uh, you know who he is, I'll tell you who he is later. But you know, one guy, I mean, six-pack, big muscles, whatever, whatever, and parties all the time and eats like absolute the worst thing you can do. But I'll tell you who is that. Those are called genetics, my friend.
SPEAKER_02Insane. Yeah. And I and unfortunately, the majority of people don't have those types of genetics. Yeah. Um, yeah, no, I I never, I never thought, I just never thought I could do it, right? I never thought, I just never, I always envisioned doing a bodybuilding show. Like that was one of like if you had a lifelong like goals, like what bucket list of things you wanted to do in your life, doing a bodybuilding show was one of them. But did I think I could ever achieve it? No, not back then, man. I didn't. And um ultimately I was I I hit my own rock bottom in um in 2017. You know, I started to have some success with Timeshare exit team. I was traveling all over, meeting a bunch of people, going from city to city, and making more money than I ever made in my entire life. Right. And um, but the thing was is I I became more into my addiction. And it was not only like Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, it was like Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
SPEAKER_04So back up, so the whole time you're working for all these different companies, the city of shirts, the newspaper, current, all you're still an addict.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, for sure. Yeah, I mean, there was times where I was functioning. Yeah, I called myself a sophisticated alcoholic. Right. I would I would work during the week and then blackout on the weekends. You know, that's just the that was normal. That was a normal. I'd go to sleep with a five-hour energy next to my bed and a pediolite. That was my get up. And most people have coffee. Chris had a pediolite and a five hour. Like, that's not normal behavior, and put it right. And I and I prepared for that every time I went out. It would literally be next to my dead, my bed, you know. And I I thought that was normal. And um, I learned that it wasn't. A lot of things I was doing was they weren't they weren't normal. And um, yeah, I hit rock bottom in 2017. We went to the Super Bowl. Um, that was the one with the uh New England Patriots, 28 to 3. Tom Brady came back and um went to the Super Bowl and came back super just off a high note and partied for five straight days. And um on uh February 27th, um I woke up in my bed uh not knowing how I had had gotten there from a complete blackout. And as a true mama's boy at 35 years old, I picked up the phone at 2 o'clock in the morning and called my mom and told her that I thought I was gonna die. And um laying there in that bed, um, you know, the phone just got blank and I just hear my mom crying on the other end of the phone. And that's something that you just don't want to hear at all. And it broke my heart, and I couldn't do anything about it. And um, you know, I really did honestly think that I was gonna die that night. Um, I had done a whole bunch of drugs and again five days of straight alcohol um really put me in a in a place, the darkest place I had ever been. Wasn't rock bottom as far as losing a house, cars, a job, no, but emotionally, physically, spiritually, I was at my rock bottom. And uh woke up that morning, somehow I didn't die, to a text message from my baby sister who was a nurse and said that, hey, if you continue this lifestyle, you're gonna die and you're gonna lose mom and I. And that morning, on February 28th, 2017, my baby sister at the time was 28 years old, walked me into my first Alcoholics Anonymous meeting. And by doing that, it changed the trajectory of my life forever. Because what happened was I got into AA, I stayed in AA, I started to do the step work, got a sponsor, and I still go to a meeting every single day because that program changed my life. And today my main purpose on this earth is to serve other people and help change their lives. And so when Mike asked me, like, what's my purpose, what's my hustle, my hustle is to inspire people to become the best versions of themselves. Because ultimately, for me, I had to change myself and become the best version of Chris. And by doing that, I knew I couldn't do that without alcohol and drugs. And so I got sober and I remained sober today.
SPEAKER_03That's awesome. Like life changing, man. Yeah, that was really deep stuff, right? That's awesome.
SPEAKER_02I mean, it is deep, man. Anything, you know. Um, I got my family back, have real relationships now. I have real friends, I'm able to be here. Like when I was in my alcoholic uh behaviors, I was always thinking of the the past or the present or the future. I couldn't stay in the present. I couldn't be locked in with you guys right now, thinking about this moment right here. I was thinking about like, what did I do in the past or what am I gonna do tomorrow? But it's taught me a whole different way of thinking in life. And so, like, it allows me to be present with people, and and that's the most important thing is time today.
SPEAKER_03What do you say to those guys that say uh sobriety is boring?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, you know, I used to think that. I used to be that guy. Yeah, you know, I used to be that guy uh that thought sobriety was boring. And uh if you say that, I mean, yeah, definitely I was that guy because you know, everything that I did, man, you know, if I went to a Spurs game, went to a Fiesta party, uh, if I went to a birthday celebration, if I went to the pool, like alcohol is always involved. I drank from 20 all the way to 35, 15 years of solid drinking career. And I did a lot of cool stuff that I don't remember. Um, and so what I would say to those people today is if you think alcohol is boring, um try try staying sober and going to those events because what happens is is you you really get to remember and you really get to cherish the moments. Things I get to do today, like I don't have to do, I get to do these things today. If I go to a Spurs game, like I remember the outcome, I remember the plays, I remember the people that I celebrated with, I remember the ride home. And I couldn't say that when I was in my drinking behaviors, right? Um, and so those folks that that say it's boring is also, I think boring, Mike, is like when I'm feeling bored, it just means that I need to get out of self and serve others. And so if I'm bored and I'm not doing something, like I have that mentality today, like I don't need to be bored, I can be helping somebody else. So helping somebody else doesn't mean like doing something drastic, it means picking up the phone and seeing how somebody's day is, asking to be in service. And so those are the things that I get out of boredom and people that say that sobriety is boredom. Well, get out of self and do something to help somebody else that will get you out of that bored mindset.
SPEAKER_04Let me ask you a question about because I know obviously having gone to AA for almost 10 years now, um, you've been around a lot of people that have either overcome it, are still in it, struggling with it. What do you think? Because having family members, I've had an aunt that's uh drank herself to death. I've got a lot of, it runs in my family bad. Alcoholism runs in my family real bad. Um, and so I've seen a little bit on both sides of it, people who've overcome, who people are still struggling. But in your perspective, somebody who's been in this life for a long time now, what do you think it is? Because everybody's got this a lot of people, I don't say everybody, most people have the same story of I just hit rock bottom, I turn my life around, and I made a decision, and you know, I've been sober X amount of years, whatever. For the people who can't seem to who've already hit that rock bottom and then some and can't seem to click that switch. What do you think? And having been around so many people in that situation, what do you think it is that some people just can't do it, right? Obviously everybody has the ability to do it, but some people who are just stuck there and just can't can't get you know over it. What is your your analysis or your advice?
SPEAKER_02I I think it, you know, we you you talk about the steps and there's steps, and we don't have to get involved with the steps, but the first step is powerless. I I I and I and I talk to a lot of guys and girls that are in where that state of mind is where they just can't, they can't do it. They relapse, they can't do it, and it's you you gotta you you gotta you gotta become you gotta admit that you're powerless over whatever it may be. If it's drugs, alcohol, uh pornography. Um we didn't even talk about this, but man, I was I was heavily into pornography all through my adult life, man. Like I wouldn't cheat on my girlfriends, but you know, I was had a fiance, man. I wasn't cheating on her, but I was cheating on her with pornography. And ultimately, I now I'm I'm a year and a half free of that. And I and how did I do that? Is because I was powerless over porn and I admitted that I was powerless over it, and I handed that over to a higher power for me, which is God. And he helped me get to that. And I think for those people that are really struggling, they just don't admit that they're powerless over whatever holding back. And um, that's what it comes down to. And so, you know, you just gotta admit that you're powerless over whatever it may be. The cool thing about the step work is um, you know, the 12 steps, you can work them on anything. Right now I'm working them on sugar, processed sugar. Uh, my best friend and I, the last processed sugar that I've had was Christmas Eve, my grandmother, my mom's uh banana pudding. I haven't had a touch of processed sugar since uh Christmas of 2025. And so I just have to say every day I'm powerless over it, and I have to ask God to take that obsession of the mind over sugar, pornography, alcohol, and drugs away from me each and every day. And that's how I do it. It's just one day at a time. And it sounds like, oh, that's just a slogan, but essentially it really works if you just do it one day at a time, maybe tomorrow. You guys just had Mike Anthony on the show. Um yeah, right? He he always says, Maybe I'll have a drink tomorrow, which is really true, just not today. And so it's that one day at a time mindset, and that's how I live today, man. It's one day at a time.
SPEAKER_03You said you had addiction to pornography? I did, yeah.
SPEAKER_02When did that stop? So um it stopped, man, when I was uh I was engaged um to a woman that you know again, I'm I'm super happy for. We had a we were together for almost seven years in my life. So she still means a lot to me, and she helped change my life. And I never cheated on her, but I did cheat on her with pornography. And when we broke up, I looked at that relationship and I said, where was I wrong? What did I do? What could I have done better in that relationship? I could have done a lot of things better. I could always improve. One thing that really stood out to me in that relationship was pornography. It was like I was, I was, I was physically not cheating on her with another woman, but mentally, when she would go away or she wasn't around, like I would use pornography as a resource, which that's not right, I don't think, you know, in my own honest way of thinking. And I told myself, like, if I if I get into another relationship, like I'm not going to do that with it, with another person that has my love. And so, you know, I've been with my my girlfriend now for over a year, and I can I can honestly say that I haven't watched porn um with her or without her. Um, you know, I've been porn-free for as I mentioned, a year and a half now. Um, and the crazy thing is, is, you know, God took that obsession of the mind away. Like when I'm alone at night, it used to be there. You say, hey, you can you can do this, you can go this avenue. But today it's like, no, you can pick up that book and learn something. Or you can you can listen to this podcast and learn something new. It shifts my mind away. And um, it's crazy, but it works, man. And yeah, that's one of the it's one of the things I'm I'm most proud about is is that obsession that was taken away from for that.
SPEAKER_03So it's been a year and a half?
SPEAKER_02Year and a half.
SPEAKER_03I never really understood it to be honest. I mean at this point, I mean obviously we're just chit chatting here, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_03I never really understood what the addiction to pornography. Like, I don't I just Don't see it. I don't no cravings for like what it what brought you to? How does that work? What is your thought process? Like you had to see it. I don't know what to do.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man. You know what? It's something that a lot of guys just don't talk about, man. Honestly. Like, I'm with a lot of dudes, right? At the gym, church, wherever, maybe I'm a lot of part, I'm just part of these small groups. And I bring it up, you know. Hey, how you how's how's how's your marriage going? Or how's the relationship with your girlfriend? You watching porn, like I'll straight up ask, you know, I want an honest feedback. And the majority of guys that I talk to still watch porn. Like it's just one of those things. Like the majority of dudes that I talk to at the gym, I'll watch porn. And I think it comes down to the unsatisfaction of their current state of where they're at in their relationship, whether that may be a fantasy or lack of um sexual intercourse or wherever that may be, they fulfill that fantasy through pornography. And so that's certainly what it was like for me, you know. Um, you know, that's what I would do. I would turn to that to ultimately fantasize about something that wasn't in my current relationship. And I would turn to pornography. And that's that wasn't the right thing to do. It took me a long time to learn that. Again, I did it all the way my adulthood till past 40 years old, you know. And um, I can tell you my life's a lot cleaner now. Um, you know, I have that shame or guilt, you know, because when I used to do it afterwards, I would just feel like I would feel like back when I was like using drugs or drinking, like I would feel that hungover, that miserable, that self-loathing, that low, like what did I just do? Feeling after every time I did it, but I would continue to do it. And now it's like I don't have that feeling anymore. It's like a set of freedom.
SPEAKER_03Let me ask you something. You ever thought about investing in real estate, but assuming he needed perfect credit, a huge savings account, or a bank willing to say yes? That's exactly why Rick started to partner with our guy Mike Leva at Conventus. Conventus is a real estate lender built specifically for investors and not homeowners. They help people fund deals like fix and flips, buy and hold rentals, and even ground up construction. And here's the part most beginners don't realize Conventus doesn't lend based on your W-2 income or your personal credit score. They focus on the deal itself, the value of the property, and the numbers behind it. That means investors can often access higher loan amounts and more flexible terms than a traditional bank, sometimes with rates that are more competitive than people expect. So instead of asking, do I qualify? The better question becomes, is this a good deal? If you're serious about getting to real estate investing and want a funding partner that truly understands investors, reach out to our go-to guy at Conventus, Mike Leva, today using the link in the show notes and see how real estate investors are actually getting deals funded. That's definitely a topic most people don't talk about. Yeah. So kudos for you, man, for sharing your story and and you know being brave and actually talking about your your past and where you're at now. So leaving that patent, this is recently a year and a half. Yeah, man, this is recent. Yeah, this is probably more than a year and a half. So yeah, it's definitely recent in a year and a half. So from the addictions to you know, from alcohol to pornography, where's Chris at now? After all of that clean for a year and a half, uh, where's your mindset at now?
SPEAKER_02Man, I'm my guy.
SPEAKER_03And how does that work with God? Because I know you're a big advocate for CBC. Yeah, I I see you all the time volunteering. So I mean, weren't you at CBC a year and a half ago?
SPEAKER_02I was. Yeah, I was one of those guys that would like, you know, I would I would I would look down on you before using porn, but I was using porn. I was that type of guy. And I was sober too. I was sober, Mike. You know, I was sober from alcohol and drugs, but I still look down on you because you were doing pornography, but I was doing it behind closed doors. And I was looking at you like I was better than you. And so the way that you know, the way that I that I'm able to look at life now is I'm in a really good space. And you know, I I'm in a space right now where I'm in a really healthy relationship. Um my the relationship with my family is the closest it's ever been. I can I can tell you that um, you know, I don't have any kids, but my my nephew and my niece, my nephew just turned six, my niece is about to turn four years old. They've never seen Uncle Chris drunk, dry dr drunk or high off drugs. You know, they've never seen that. It's never happened. Um my my working relationships, I'm in a really good place. And you know, I was telling Skylar, like one of the one of the most the qu number one question I get is like, what do you even do for work? You know, I've been in cybersecurity now for six years, uh, coming up on six years, and my work relationship is the best it's ever been. Uh the marketing company that I work for out of Seattle is is I have so many awesome relationships, and it's such a great place to to work for those guys again. Um, the work that I'm doing in the community, I couldn't be more fulfilled. I have a great team there. Um, and then of course CBC, you know, that you mentioned, a place changed my life, and I'm forever grateful for Ed and Robert's Robert Emmett uh for changing my life. And so, as you mentioned, I do serve, but I don't do that to to brag or or boast. I do that to give back because they were there for me at my lowest point in my life. And so um, you know, it's something that I I look forward to every Sunday is serving um the church, serving people. And again, that's my number one purpose today. Um, no matter how successful I get or whatever I do, like my number one purpose is to serve. And so that's how I serve is through CBC and helping other addicts, alcoholics, uh, people that struggle with porn, you know, help them out with their problems.
SPEAKER_04How did you first come across CBC?
SPEAKER_02I came across CBC because I heard everybody uh so I've been going to CBC uh since 2012. And um, you know, I just heard everyone that I would talk to at the gym talk about this really cool church that was changing a lot of lives. Uh, but I was involved with another church where I had gotten baptized, you know, I had never gotten baptized. Which one? Uh called Revolution Church. Um yeah, Pastor Zach, you know, he baptized me. So I had a really good relationship with them. And um I would I would help him and serve him there. Um, but one day my sister, uh it was my sister actually, she said, come with me to CBC. And I went and I heard uh Chris Emmett, which is Robert Emmett's son, speak. And uh very similar to Ed's style, and I just connected with him and I said, Man, I think this is the place God wants me to be. And since 2012, you know, I've been at CBC, and it's the best thing that ever happened to me. Um as you guys know. I mean, you know how powerful that church is, and it gets a lot of bad publicity, like called a mega church and all these things. And um what'd you call it a megachurch? You know, it it's a really it's a really large church. It is. Um yeah, I don't see it as a mega church, but an outsider might, you know, just because we're around it all the time, we see the the the volume of people that come in there. Uh I guess we're accustomed to it, but if you're just an outsider looking in, I would I think it would be considered a mega church. Um, but the messages that are are are just everything that happens are you see the lives change, people give their their lives um to Christ, the messages that I preach, the relationships that are built there. It's just a special place, man. I've never been, I didn't grow up in church. Like I said, I was with my dad growing up in gyms. I never went to church. I had a resentment towards God for a long time because um growing up, you know, I always wanted the most beautiful girl, the coolest car, all these things. And I would never get them. And it wasn't because of God, it was because I was an addiction. It was like I was blaming all of my problems for for God, where it was it was my own self-doing, you know? And I let go of that resentment and I looked at God like, man, God, like you saved me from that DUI, you saved me from that drug dealer's house when I could have gone in. You saved me when he put the gun in my head, you saved me when I stole the bag of cocaine from that that dealer. Like you saved me all these times. And when I look back on it, he was with me and got me here, and and I didn't die. And that was God's grace. And so that resentment left, and I had this new relationship with God today where it's like, God is not only God, it's like, man, God's like my best friend. Like before I came on T. Show, I was talking to God, telling him how grateful I was for this opportunity, where he's brought me from, how I'm able to sit here and talk to you guys and share a little bit of my story, hoping that it affects somebody else and they may change their story. So I talk to God like I'm talking to you right now, and we just talk about life. If I have a problem, I talk to him. If I have a blessing that comes in my life, I'm thank him for him, you know. So it's a new perspective. And I wouldn't have learned that relationship that I have with God if it wasn't for CBC. They taught me to have that relationship with them, and that's what the relationship I have today.
SPEAKER_03And you've been going to CBC for since 2012?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, 2012.
SPEAKER_03That is a long time. That is a long time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, man. Um, Pastor Ed, uh he baptized me in in the Nuesis River. I think that's how you say it. Don't crow I maybe getting that on uh his first year at CBC. So ever since then, man, we've been we've been uh we've been tight, man. And it's it's um it's really cool, man, because what you see him preach, that's that's who he really is. There's no fronting on on who he is, man. He's a he's a really genuine dude. And uh he gets again, he's sometimes he gets a bad reputation. But man, I know a lot of lives he's been able to change through God speaking through him. And uh I'm certainly grateful to have him as our lead pastor.
SPEAKER_03You said you were looking down on a lot of people. You think a lot of people who serve now in C B C or in general as serve are in that same position? What would you say to those guys?
SPEAKER_02That are looking down on people.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you said when you were at C B C serving about the whole pornography thing. Yeah. You think there's a lot of people in that same boat now or serving God and trying to give back, but at the same time still have their own vices?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I think that's I think that's um yeah, that's part of life, man. Again, I I was part of that percentile, right? And so, um, you know, and I have talks with those those guys that, you know, may still watch porn that are part of the church, and we have talks on how I did it and how they can possibly do it. But it's like the difference is is like I don't judge those people today, how how I was judging people back then. That's what's changed me. And it wasn't me that changed that perspective, it was God. God changed ultimately how I think about people. And so uh I just look at everybody, and this I didn't mean this to be like some religious talk that I'm having with you guys. It's just kind of it's flowing today. And so it's like everybody's a child of God, man. And it's like I'm not here to judge you, talk about you, condemn you. Um, I'm here to help you. And so that's my purpose today. And so to the people that are still doing it, man, it's like, you know, um, God bless them and change me. And I hear that phrase a lot, but when you say God bless them and change me, it's like give God give them everything that I have, like the obsession to lose pornography or whatever they be struggling with, like allow them to have that in their life and change my perspective on the way that I might judge them. So it's always like God bless them, change me. Whenever I'm in traffic, someone cuts me off, instead of flicking them off or going crazy like I used to, is like pause, God change them or bless them and change me. That's the way I think now. And that slogan has really, really changed my life.
SPEAKER_04I would say to your question that I did grow up a lot, and you know my story. I grew up in the church basically seven days a week. Mom and dad were always, you know, dad was a dean, they're always, you know, basically right-hand man to the pastor, whatever church we were going to. We were always, I was in the uh light and audio department at one point, playing the keyboard for another one. So everybody, my whole family was involved all the time. So I've seen the fronts, the backs, the good, the bad. I've seen past I've seen the choir director impregnate singers when they're both married. Like I've seen it all, the whole thing. Like every side you can imagine of the church. The pastors doing stuff they shouldn't be doing, the deacons, the deans, the whatever. And so, one, I will say, I'm not like the greatest reader of people of all time, but I'm a pretty good reader of people. Pastor Ed is, you can tell, he's definitely a genuine person. So kudos to him for living out the walk that he talks about. Um, I don't have a great personal relationship with him, but I can just, you know, tell as what kind of person he is, his his morals and his ethics that he lives by. Um and then the people I know that know him, like you, and other people I know that know him can speak to that. But to your question as far as what majority or what percentage of people serve at the church and judge others, I think there's a small, I think it's a it's probably if I had to guess, and I don't know that I know a couple people that serve, but I'm not like best friends with everybody that serves, it's a huge, obviously there's thousands of people that serve at CBC, but I would say that there's probably a small percentage of people that are judgy, and that's just Christians in general, I feel like, right? A lot of Christians I would say not so much at CBC. CBC is a place where we welcome everybody, right? Everybody's welcome, with the open explanation from the pastor himself, all the way up to the top down to the bottom, that this is a place for for broken people, right? Just as if you were to walk into a gym, I heard a really good analogy actually this week uh on this topic. If you were to walk into a gym and see four or five fat people, are you gonna say this is a bad gym to go to? Probably not. It's made for fat people, right? Not to say that you're not gonna see people with six packs and big muscles and stuff like that. You're gonna see a mix of both. You'd want to see ideally the skill weigh a little bit more on the healthy people than the unhealthy people, right? Just so that it outweighs the balance and you don't have just a bunch of fat people running around the gym in that analogy. Um but in the church, I think it's the same way, you don't want to see all just super Christian people. You don't want to see all people with six packs and nobody that's fat because you can't relate. Not that you can't relate, but well, who's the church for?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04So we're here to save the people who are the gym is for the people who are fat trying to get fit. Now, until you're fit, you need to get fit and more fit and refine your, you know, then you get on peptides, then you get on a better eating plan and stuff like that. But you've got to get in the door somehow, right? And so I think with CBC particularly, I don't know about other churches right now, that's where I've been for years, but I would say with CBC particularly, it is a place where there's a lot of broken people, but I think that for the most part, everybody's intention is bettering themselves. I think everybody's got the intention of bettering themselves. Are there those few that stand off, not say you're like some bad person or whatever, but are there those few that maybe have that, you know, better than thou art? You know, that's that's a lot of churches I go to. Most churches I went to before this was like once you're saved and you're in the cool kids club, everybody else is just like way down here, right? And I feel that that is actually something different in the culture that's cultivated at CBC is where everybody is, and I think that's honestly where a lot of people get the or where CBC gets the bad rap from a lot of people. When we were kids, we didn't go to CBC, but we knew a lot of kids that did, and my parents were like, that place is the devil. And we're like, what are you talking about? But because it's not as strict as a lot of other churches, right? And so when I say that, the youth department, there's a lot of kids who come from families who are not grown up in church, who are not versed in church, who aren't versed in the etiquettes of church, right? Who are not versed in the lifestyle, you know, because we came from a family where there was no radio, no TV, we didn't have cable, we didn't watch movies, we didn't do anything. It was all Christian music, all everything all the time, 24 hours a day. And so when you would come from that environment and go into a church where you had heathens running around, right? Because that's what it is. You have a lot of people who are unsaved, who are barely baby Christians learning, and so they're not going to drop their habits day one. They may still go to the club on Saturday, I know a lot of them, and then come out on Sunday to church at the two o'clock, right? But that's not a bad thing, right? It's just a different type of church culture. And so for your questions, I I don't think that a lot of people look down, but I do think there's a lot of people that are in just very different stages of Christianity at that church, yeah, who have good intentions and may still volunteer, right? And have the intention of getting better and bettering other people. But I think that's one thing that's beautiful about CBC is that it's not the, and I just grew up in that stuff and I actually took a very long break from church. I took a break from church probably from 20 to 30 or so, so probably like a decade off. I was still, you know, doing my thing, but I was very disconnected from the church because I was so over it, having grown up in it, seeing all the hypocrisies of it, seeing all the people who talk a big game, all the people who literally are in the pulpit, and then Monday morning, you know, were doing an absurd amount of crazy things they shouldn't be doing, right? And so I was just really over it. Um, and so it was really refreshing coming back to CBC when I started, I don't know how many six, seven years ago. Yeah. And seeing it's kind of right when Ed first stepped out. I remember the first day he came in, they introduced him and all that stuff. And uh just a really cool place where people who, no matter what level they're at, can come in. And so that may or may not give it a bad rap because it's not the you know, all six-pack people there. There's a bunch of fat and out-of-shape people, right? Not physically, but as far as your Christianity, right? And so I think that's the really beautiful thing about it.
SPEAKER_02I love it how we welcome the broken, right? Yeah. It's like the people like we all go to the the later service. You know, I see you guys there, you guys are consistent on going. Um, and it's like he welcomes the the people that are are coming out of the nightclub, smell like alcohol the night before. Like he welcomes that. We welcome that, you know. And I see, you know, people come in with tattoos and all types of backgrounds coming in, and it's it's not a place where we um, you know, shut them out or shun on them. It's we love on them, welcome them, and just show our gratitude that they're there. And so it's it's a different special place.
SPEAKER_04And Ed spoke about it before. When you read the Bible and you actually look at who Jesus hang around hung out with, he was not around the the higher ups and the church, right? He actually was against most of those people most of the time because it was hypocrisy, because it was a lot of talk and no action. Um, it was a lot of must live by the rules, but not actually understanding or not living by what the actual meaning is. And so he hung out with prostitutes and tax collectors and you know, all the day-to-day people who had a lot of crazy stuff going on, but had the right intentions and were trying actually trying to get their lives together.
SPEAKER_02No doubt.
SPEAKER_03What's the next topic? Man, I didn't expect it to go without, but I like this talk, man. I wasn't expecting it to take it there. But uh yeah, from uh from grandma's doing beer stand uh cake stands to pornography to addiction to somebody getting someone pregnant from the church to let's go, what's the next to BPSA? What's the only on the Turn Up the Hustle podcast on Trump for the podcast? You hear about pregnancies that's not supposed to happen to professionals. What's next for the BPSA?
SPEAKER_02Man, we just continue to grow. Um, you know, we're we're hosting uh events now where we used to get about you know maybe a hundred people and now we're getting the likes of 300 to 500 people at our events, and uh it just continues to grow, continues to help uh nonprofits in our city um each and every month. We know we do it 11 11 months out of the year. The only month that we take off is for December. And um, you know, it's it's one of those things where we just able to meet a lot of great people, man, doing a lot of good work for the city of San Antonio, and uh it's uh it's serving, you know, at its finest, man. And I I couldn't be in a better place.
SPEAKER_03Who's the uh demographic to attend these PPS?
SPEAKER_02Anybody. Yeah, anybody, man. Any anybody if you're any type, if you have a job, come come hang out with us. It's a we we don't shun anybody, we don't look for different stages of work occupancy. Anybody from construction workers to to to doctors, lawyers, real estate, um, anybody can come to our mixers. Essentially, it's uh we don't put name tags on our folks, you know, there's no membership dues. It's it's good-minded folks coming together to serve a greater purpose and helping the people that really need it. And by doing that, you're really meeting a lot of great people building real relationships. I met so many good people, man, just through BPSA and and and networking, man. I always look down on it before I, you know, started getting into networking. I was like, it's a waste of time, you know, is I'm gonna go and have to wear a name tag. And I despised it. I hated networking, man. And now it's like it's one of those things where I go to a new city or I go into a somewhere where I don't know, man, and um, or even here locally, you know, like if I go to a networking event uh and it's not ours or whatever, like I'll go in there and I have a rule. Like, I may see my boys or people that I know there, but I'm not gonna go hang out with them until I meet new at least three new people. I'm gonna go meet three new people wherever I go. I'm gonna get some type of Instagram handle or social media LinkedIn handle. I'm gonna get connected with them and find out how I can be a resource for them before I go hang out with my boys or whoever I'm with. That's my rule wherever I go. If I go to a restaurant or wherever I'm at, I meet three new people, get connected with them, find out how I can help them, and then I may go hang out with my guys. But it's one of those things where it changed my mindset on networking. It really has. And it's like instilled in me. I don't have to think about it. If I go somewhere new, I'm gonna meet three new people.
SPEAKER_03That's cool. That's a cool role to have. Yeah, this is the uh Trump the Hustle podcast. So Trump the Hustle, it's not a it's not a motto, it's it's a way of life for me. What does Trump the hustle mean to Chris?
SPEAKER_02You gotta hustle every single day, and so I don't go back to where I came from before because where I came from was a really dark place. And um, I gotta have that hustle mindset to get up every day, get in prayer, meditation, set my tone for the day, and then I gotta hustle. I gotta hustle till till sundown. And every single day. People say that I'm a boring person because I do the same thing every single day. I'm methodic as far as the way that my day is structured. Uh, work out twice a day. I get up and pray and meditate. Every single day I don't miss it. Two times a gym a day, work two jobs, serve others. It's one of those things where um I've got to hustle because if I'm hustling, I'm not into self. And I'm in when I'm in self, I'm not the best version of myself. And so I have to hustle to serve others to get out of self, and that's just the way that I do life today.
SPEAKER_04Where uh for people who maybe this might be the first time they find you and see you on the podcast, where can they connect with you? How do they get involved with BPSA?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, how's it anywhere, man? Yeah, I'm connecting on social media platforms Christopher Motz, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook. Um and then business professionals in San Antonio. We have our own social media outlets for that as well. Yeah, if you've never been to one of our events, come out. You know, there's no membership dues. Come out, uh, donate to a nonprofit, help community out, uh, meet some really good people. Love to meet you if I have never met you and uh tell me a little bit about your story.
SPEAKER_04Is there any final departing words you want to give to the the audience before we go?
SPEAKER_02Man, I'm just grateful to be on the show with you guys. Some some two guys that I really look up to as far as a business mindset that actually do the work. There's a lot of people that I've met, and this comes back to that judging mentality that we just spoke about. I have to do better at that. It's like, God bless me, change them. But two guys that actually do the hustle and do the work and have the success to back it up, and they're humble about it too. Really, these guys are humble guys, they actually do the work, they have success. I've seen them pour into other people too about the work they're doing and how to make other pieces, people successful. And they're not afraid to share it. You know, they share how they became successful, and I think that's why I I really vibe with you guys because like you have it, but you're willing to give it away to help other people too. So you guys are both really successful and you're living by the motto of the podcast. I see you guys out hustling all day, right? Um, but you you have a humility about yourself that's that's really genuine, and I respect that about both of you. And um, you know, when I I I met you and I and I got met you, Mike, and we got connected. And um, you guys are the same person I see on social media that you are when I'm talking to you as a regular person. And that's rare too. And so just keep up the good work, fellas. I'm really honored to be here with you guys and grateful to the for this opportunity.
SPEAKER_04No, we appreciate you taking time out of your day to come on and come share your story with us, and we know it's gonna inspire a lot of people out there. So appreciate you taking the time to come out. And so, guys, we appreciate everybody tuning in to another fantastic episode of the Turn Up the Hustle Podcast. This was a great one. Hopefully, you got a lot of value out of it. And if you do get value, we ask you to hit that like and subscribe button. And as always, as always, as always, make sure you turn up the hustle and we will see you on the next one. Peace.
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