>>Narrator: How do I know which path is best for me?

Is it possible to take on these challenges and obstacles?

Where do I even start?

What should I do with my life?

Sometimes, the only way to find out is to go see what's possible Since 2001, we've been sharing the stories of people who ventured out and explored different career paths and different possibilities for their futures.

This is one of those stories.

This is Roadtrip Nation.

[MUSIC] >> Chandler: I'm so excited for this road trip because this is something that I've never done before.

>> Yesenia: The four of us, we're gonna go on this road trip in the big green RV, and we're gonna interview so many amazing leaders and individuals that have found their way.

>> Anthony: I'm always looking for people wiser than me to listen to and learn from.

>> Keilahn: I'm just really interested to see what's a common theme between all these people in their different fields.

What's a trait that they share, what is it that it took to get there?

>> Yesenia: We're gonna be so inspired and get to go all around Texas.

>> [MUSIC] >> Keilahn: I saw you guys were doing one in Texas and I was like, that's interesting.

Let me just shoot my shot and see what happens.

>> Chandler: To take on this journey with three different individuals, from three different walks of life in a confined space but also be inspired, be stretched essentially.

That's my type of party.

>> Anthony: Be with some impressive folks around my age.

>> Yesenia: I'm waiting to see who's gonna crack first, who's gonna be like get away from me [LAUGH].

>> Keilahn: As far as being on the RV and all that too, it's a little nerve wrecking but at the same time I love to feel uncomfortable.

I feel like when you're putting yourself in those uncomfortable positions, that's when you're gonna grow the most.

And that's so exciting to me.

>> Chandler: I think once I step on that green RV, it's gonna be totally different from what I imagined.

And I just know that I'm gonna walk away from that experience more inspired, and motivated, and just a better person.

>> Yesenia: I'm not nervous at all, I'm just really excited about the uncertainty.

>> Chandler: I have a lot of things that I'm praying, I'm hoping that, yeah, I'm gonna have a better grip on that when I'm done with this experience.

>> Keilahn: Bring it on, I'm ready for it.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yesenia: I'm Yesenia Anaya.

I'm 23 years old, and I'm a little bit from everywhere.

When I was in the third grade, this period of my life was like the good time, that pure, innocent, good memories kind of thing.

But then my mom got really, really sick and she almost died.

It was really, really scary.

My mom did the best she could but big things happened.

We went into foster care for a little bit.

We were around a lot of domestic violence and I saw all of that firsthand and kind of stepped up to the plate really quickly to protect my mom and my brother and I had to grow up really fast.

It was just a really dark period in my life.

But I'm proud of myself because I still graduated fifth of my class and worked all the time, got into a good college and the honors program, I did all of that with everything going on.

I've always been kind of the guardian, and I just kind of had a moment where everything kind of came at me at once.

I have to help myself first before I even think about helping anybody else.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yesenia: Hey everybody.

After I kind of had that realization that's just kind of what I've been doing.

I've been trying anything and everything.

I started realizing that hey, I think you have to start exploring your creative sides.

Now I'm a trivia host.

I do trivia, music, bingo, karaoke, I'm a host like I'm entertaining people.

And I love it.

And then I DoorDash and I Uber Eats.

I also write a lot.

I stopped writing around the time that I went into foster care.

And I just kind of found it again, that passion, and so I think that that's also going to play a really big part in my career.

I know that I wanna do something that's gonna be fulfilling and that's gonna impact lives.

I know that I have that ability, I know I'm here to do something big.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: I am Chandler Forman.

I am 25 years old, freshly 25, and I'm from Houston, Texas.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: I am a vibrant, confident soul who is very curious.

I went to school here in UNT, University of North Texas, which is very North Dallas.

I majored in converged broadcast media.

I had just completed two very big chapters.

I graduated and I had just crowned the successor for Miss Texas.

So that was a two year long journey for me.

I had studied the job of Miss Texas because I think people think of Miss Texas and they're like, she's just a girl that waves and parades the city.

And it's like, no, it's actually a job.

Whether that's discussing with business owners about important business decisions or things in the community, discussing with leaders of Congress.

After Miss Texas, it was literally like, okay, what are you gonna do now?

Going from structure to creating my own structure was the most challenging transition for me.

Ultimately, I don't think I will ever be that person who's like a one word career, a one word occupation.

No, it's gonna be like I'm a TV personality, flute playing, MCing business owner.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: There are a couple of things I wanna work on on this trip.

But one that stands out to me in particular is because I am starting this new chapter and I'm applying for jobs and I'm transitioning into career Chandler.

I ultimately just wanna be better for not only myself as an individual but for the people around me.

And that is both my village, friends, and people I will meet that I have yet to.

More than anything I wanna walk away from this being okay with where I am.

Hello.

>> Keilahn: Chandler!

My name is Keilahn Garrett.

I'm 21 and I live in Houston, Texas.

I started college at Jarvis Christian College in 2018.

I went there for two years for the wrestling program and my junior year I went to University of Houston for their accounting program.

My end goal for school is to get my bachelor's in accounting and then also have my CPA.

My senior year of high school, I read this book called Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

It's like my whole thinking on what the financial world was just like blew up.

It changed my whole entire perspective.

It's why I chose business as my major.

One of the biggest things I wanna do while I'm young is figure out ways I can make money work for me.

Because if money is working for you then don't have to work as hard.

And when you free up your time, that's when you become wealthy instead of rich, and that's where I wanna be in my life.

My freshman year is when I started getting into credit and I was like, you know, if I just bought a car that would build my credit, I can kinda justify buying this nice car because my dream car was a 2015 Camaro.

And so that's what we did.

>> [MUSIC] >> Keilahn: When I finally did something for myself that was like an expensive purchase and nice, it felt really good.

Maybe I can actually live the lifestyle I wanna live and do the things I wanna do.

And it represents potential to me.

Going to school for accounting, it's cool, but then also it's like I have this really big dream of doing business.

I don't really know what kind of business I wanna start.

I don't know what I'm necessarily good at.

I don't know, I'm kind of hard on myself sometimes, so I just feel like at 21, it's like not getting on myself, like if you really wanna start a business, why haven't you done it yet?

You had some tools to do it, why aren't you working harder?

What is it that I'm not doing for myself to like reach where I wanna reach?

[MUSIC] >> Keilahn: The thing that I lack is passion for a specific industry or item that I would do like I just don't have that and I think it's maybe because I'm not a creative like that.

And I wonder if that's gonna affect what I'm able to do.

>> Chandler: Hi Anthony.

>> [MUSIC] >> Anthony: My name is Anthony.

I'm originally from Austin, Texas, and I've lived in Texas pretty much all my life.

>> [MUSIC] >> Anthony: I moved to the Houston area when I was pretty young.

I've grown up around here and gotten to let the environment shape me a little bit.

I did relatively well in school but I was also a hood rat, like a delinquent.

[LAUGH] I definitely got along best with other kids who were causing trouble.

I actually did well in my classes but I wasn't the most focused when it came to setting long term goals and trying to figure out exactly what it was that I'm gonna do with school.

I tried college, it seemed like it should have gone well.

I wanted to go to University of Houston for mechanical engineering.

I had applied for financial aid and I was going to get an estimated $6,500 grant.

I was notified that my $6,000 Pell Grant turned into a zero thousand dollar Pell Grant.

I just kind of started to hide myself from the school, from my family, I wasn't talking about it.

I was working at the time, trying to pretend like things were okay but I was really like super anxious.

I got into a lot of kind of boring jobs, like food service, changing tires, also worked in construction for a little while.

I could've maybe bootstrapped my way out of that debt by now but I've also been helping out at home.

I got really discouraged off of that first semester, so I hadn't really made a concerted effort to try and keep pursuing school just because there's always like more bills piling up in the back of my mind.

Now I'm just trying to find my way a little more clearly.

I'm into things like art and music, health of the body and the mind.

Science and engineering fascinate me.

I have a passion for just like helping others and trying to make the world around me a little bit of a better place.

What I'm looking forward to gaining from this road trip, definitely a lot of wisdom, a lot of perspective.

Meeting someone and building this relationship could open doors that we didn't even know existed had we just continued so focused on our path.

>> Yesenia: So this is our home, hey.

>> Chandler: This is home, this is home, are y'all excited it's finally here.

>> [MUSIC] >> Anthony: The other Roadtrippers, well Keilahn, I've known him since Junior High.

I'm kidding, no, I haven't known him [LAUGH].

>> Keilahn: Y'all, it looks huge.

Anthony is very interesting.

He's like a cool guy, jack of all trades.

>> Chandler: Anthony comes across as like, for the most part quiet, but also a good listener too.

>> Yesenia: He is so pure and he's just so caring and thoughtful.

>> Anthony: Yesenia, the first thing that comes to my mind is very strong.

>> Keilahn: She's like an open book, I love that about her.

>> Chandler: She is very willing to listen, willing to be present.

>> Yesenia: I have so much respect for Chandler, I think she is just a boss.

>> Anthony: She's had opportunities, pathways opened up to her and she took everything she had and pursued that.

>> Keilahn: It's almost uncanny how easily she can give a compliment.

It's very sweet, she's very sweet.

>> Yesenia: And then, you know our baby, Keilahn, I love that kid.

>> Anthony: He's doing what he can to set himself up to be successful in the future.

>> Chandler: I think he's just someone who wants the best, who's optimistic for the most part, he gives off overall positive vibes.

>> Keilahn: Everyone's really cool in their own ways.

>> Anthony: There's things I admire about all of them.

>> Yesenia: I love our dynamic already.

We feel so comfortable like we've known each other for forever.

[CROSSTALK] I'm just really excited for all the moments we're gonna have and all the genuine real, raw conversations that are gonna happen.

>> Chandler: I'm even excited to live in an RV for a [LAUGH] couple of weeks, I think it's gonna be a good time [LAUGH].

>> Anthony: Still wanting to chop a couple of these.

>> Chandler: I know y'all are cooking but tomorrow we are interviewing Danielle A Vann.

She's been on literally every network and she is a 19 time award winning author.

International.

>> Yesenia: [LAUGH].

>> Chandler: International.

She also has two podcasts.

>> Keilahn: She's gonna be our first person talking to and she's actually like a life coach and we're all looking for something to do with our lives, right?

>> Yesenia: I'm excited, that sounds good.

>> Chandler: Anthony, thank you for this.

And sous chef, yes yes yes.

Thank you for this meal, it's piping hot.

We love hot food.

>> Yesenia: It was Anthony's vision.

>> Chandler: Danielle Vann went to HeartMath Institute and is a cognitive behavioral therapist practitioner.

>> Danielle: Let's start with meditation.

So first and foremost, no expectations.

I'm Danielle Vann.

I'm a cognitive behavioral therapist.

I also do the neurolinguistics programming.

I'm a life coach and I teach meditation.

I work with people to really let go of their past, their limiting beliefs, and to learn that our thoughts create our feelings and our feelings create our actions.

At your age, I was in broadcasting.

I loved to interview people, I loved to communicate and felt like that was going to be my life.

From then on, had my first daughter, I'm holding her and I'm like, whoah, I don't know about this.

This is changing my whole world.

Life continued on, I made a little bit of a switch, became a writer and in 2016 there was a massive event that happened in my life.

My middle daughter, who is now 15, came in and said, I'm really not feeling well.

Within 45 days I was standing in an emergency room with her dying in my arms.

She was in kidney failure, had to have her kidney removed, and I had suppressed every bit of my emotions and it made me very ill.

I was in and out of the hospital for six, seven weeks, and a nurse came in and she said, this is emotional pain, it will kill you.

And I looked at her I was like who are you?

What are you talking about?

Cuz I was angry, why do I have to live like this?

It was the best thing that could have ever happened to me because I went on a journey then to heal myself.

So I went back to school, I told my husband look, I know that I already have two degrees but I'm gonna go back and we're gonna try something else and he's like, okay.

And all of a sudden this was born, and I get the opportunity to teach people that there is beauty in imperfection.

There's beauty in allowing yourself to feel whatever it is that you feel.

>> Keilahn: I've had things happen to me in my past and it's like, I'm fortunate enough to not dwell on it too much to the point where it affects me but I know lots of people that do have things happen in their past and they can't seem to let go of it.

What was letting go of it and moving on from it like for you?

>> Danielle: It was hard, it was hard fought.

There were times that I wanted to give up in the process and just go back to this mindset of people pleasing and how many more words can I get, how many more moments can I have where I feel like I'm shining.

As I moved through trying to heal, I had a beautiful friend that said, you need to try meditation and you need to do what you know best, which is to write.

The biggest problem with people learning meditation is that they have this idea that it needs to be a certain way.

It doesn't need to be a certain way.

What works for you is not gonna work for me.

Meditation is whatever it is that serves you, don't overthink it.

>> Yesenia: Yeah, that is me.

>> Danielle: [LAUGH] Right, we overthink badly, right?

So just don't overthink.

>> Anthony: There's something that caught my attention because I've thought about it a bit and I think I've talked about it with these folks a little.

The word overthinking.

It bugs me sometimes [CROSSTALK] because we're thinking all day.

It sounds to me when people say overthinking how the act of thinking itself in an excess is a problem.

But I mean, if you could elaborate a little on what you think that actually means when people are making the mistakes that people typically fall into like what does that look like?

>> Danielle: Okay, I love that.

And you're right, because overthink is sort of like this elusive word, right?

And where does it become a problem?

So we think between 50 and 60,000 thoughts every single day.

So so many of those come from our subconscious, some of them are automatic like our breathing.

The problem with overthinking becomes when we target our focus into one thing, okay?

So we have a thought.

It's actually neutral, thought comes in.

Okay, I'm hungry.

We have to actually connect with that thought, right?

So, no, I'm not hungry, why did I have that thought?

Or gosh, I'm ravished, I'm gonna have to eat everything right now.

We put the meaning to that thought.

Then something happens within our body.

Our emotions begin to arise, that's how we connect to our thoughts through our emotional body.

Our emotional body is going to then move us into action, so thoughts, feelings, actions.

When we get caught in a single thought, I'm stupid, I'm fat, I hate my life, and the emotional body is rising and connecting to that.

And it's not moving us into any action to either correct or change or help us, that's where overthinking happens.

>> Anthony: What you said reminds me of something that another friend of mine said to me a while ago, there's a difference between having your mind full and being mindful.

>> Danielle: Yes.

>> Chandler: You described in your brain chemistry podcast, how it's being aware of overwhelming thoughts, basically.

And I know that the time period that we exist in now, there's this huge imaginary time clock that's just up and we feel that we have to abide by these like, it's year 21, I should have a car by now.

The whole mindfulness and awareness, I get caught up, I get to overthinking, and mindfulness is that much harder to me.

So my question is, how can we daily get the motivation to practice that mindfulness and to stay grounded in that because of what we're distracted by and again, the chaos that we're faced with every day?

>> Danielle: The first question I ask myself when I wake up, how do I wanna feel today?

You have a choice.

Every single time that you run into something, every single moment, do I wanna connect with this and feel my best?

Or do I wanna feel the moment in a way that doesn't work for me?

And I check in with myself throughout the day.

Am I still living in that intention?

What am I gonna do to make myself feel that way throughout the day?

And am I going to allow myself to be driven off course by social media, by the things that people put into my awareness.

If you're watching or listening to things that are not feeding your soul, you're feeding your soul with those things.

So, positive, negative, where are you gonna land?

If it doesn't feed my soul, it's not worth being in my soul.

>> Chandler: The interview with Danielle really set the tone for the rest of the week for me and I think changed my thought process.

>> Yesenia: I just loved how human she was and open and vulnerable.

I want to be that, like anything that I do, I wanna be able to be vulnerable and be authentic and genuine and just me.

>> Chandler: She just kinda spoke to me in the season I'm in in my life right now.

>> Danielle: Life is about learning, that's why we're here, we start small, we grow, we learn, we move through, we connect, we create, all of that is real.

I end every podcast, I end every day with my children.

I end every conversation with friends and they're annoyed, but give me three things that really are inspiring you, that make you feel good, that really set your soul on fire.

That's where you begin to celebrate, that shifts the mindset.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: Alrighty, it's time to drain the black tank.

>> Anthony: Let's hook up that first.

>> Chandler: You got it Keilahn.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: You should open up your own construction company.

>> Anthony: Hey, let's make sure it's tight.

>> Chandler: There it goes.

Anthony knows how to do everything, you too, Keilahn.

I hear that, hey.

>> Yesenia: Yeah, you did it!

>> Chandler: We're so proud of you two.

On behalf of the light committee over here.

>> Keilahn: On behalf of the light community?

>> Chandler: Today we get the opportunity to interview GONZO247.

>> GONZO247: Let's get our hands dirty, come on, let's go paint something.

>> Chandler: He is a graffiti artist from Houston and he has been inspired and influenced by his Tejano culture, his ancestry, and hip hop to create the visuals to tell stories.

>> GONZO247: So if you don't know, this is the H town, represents Houston.

When the Astros were in the World Series, I got contacted by the city and they were like, hey, can you create some kind of sculpture so that the fans can come and appreciate the Astros.

And I was like, yeah, when do you need it, like tomorrow, I'm like, what?

Okay, let's do it.

So I thought it'd be cool that we all take some time and just have some fun with it, but feel free.

Just go bananas like you wanna tag your name on it or put a message on it.

My name is GONZO247.

Obviously, that's not my legal name, but I've been going by GONZO247 for more than half my life.

I am born and raised here in the city of Houston.

I grew up in East End and my parents immigrated here from Mexico.

So, I was first generation born here in the States.

And there's a long story to get to where I'm at today, but part of it was trying to figure out who I was and where I fit in.

Growing up, the only piece of art that I had access to was this mural.

The artist who painted it, his name's Leo Tanguma.

Some of my earliest memories in life is seeing this mural.

I remember thinking to myself, like, I don't even know what this is.

But one day I would love to do something like that.

And so my parents, being immigrants, they have this idea of who they want you to be.

And for my parents, it was like, you need to go to college.

That was kind of what was fed to me in order to be successful, in order to live the American dream, you have to do these things.

I felt like none of those call my attention.

I always liked art.

My mom would say art's not a career, art's a hobby.

My parents, they didn't understand who I was as an artist, so they didn't bother to invest any time or energy into it really.

Spray paint was never supposed to be a medium to create art.

It was a tool to paint your mailbox or a tool to paint your bike or a lawn chair.

I had access to spray paint.

My dad had spray paint in the garage.

And so I remember going to my dad's garage, I had a spray can and I started thinking of something.

And I saw this piece of wood and then the first time I did it, I was hooked.

It spoke directly to my soul.

That's when I knew, this is something that I wanna do for the rest of my life.

One way or another, this is gonna be a part of me.

Follow your passion.

Do what you love and love what you do, otherwise it's work.

I love graffiti and creating so much that I was following that passion, but I wasn't kidding myself in the sense of I'm gonna make it overnight.

Your passion comes from within, whatever that is, that's your motivation and that's gonna afford you everything else in the long run.

Everyday, you're gonna love your life because you feel like you're fulfilling who you are.

>> Keilahn: You've said when you graduate high school like to everyone else it was a big deal and like to me it kinda wasn't, cuz I remember my dad telling me he's like that's all you're supposed to do, right?

I wanted you to go deeper into like, what are some of the things you would tell yourself when you're going through that kinda situation?

And how are you actually motivating yourself to like keep pushing through that?

>> GONZO247: One day my dad came into my room and he basically point blank asked me like, am I gonna have to take care of you for the rest of my life?

I told my dad, I understand why you're approaching me in this way.

But I wanna let you know that you don't have to worry about me.

At a certain point, you have to be able to take your own responsibility and say, I'm an adult now, you're no longer responsible for me.

There were moments where I had to kind of think, man, I really hope this works out cuz I've put in a lot of time into this.

Sometimes when there were these dark moments, something would spark that would let me know, hey, you're still on the right track.

It might be dark, but here's a little spark, and that on little spark will be like, okay, that spark's all I need to build the flame backup.

I could just see it, keep the end result in mind first and then figure out your route.

>> Chandler: I have a question in regards to your love for hip hop and you recognizing yourself as a Tejano.

So I kinda just wanted to know a little bit more about those two worlds colliding in your art.

I just kinda wanna hear you elaborate with vastly different worlds.

>> GONZO247: I spent time in Africa, I spent time in Asia, I spent time in Europe, and the more I experienced this, I saw that every major culture or civilization had their symbols or patterns or color combinations that made them who they are.

And the more you do that, the more you find out that we are all more alike than we are different.

And so when we all work together, we make beautiful things happen and I interpret that through the art.

A lot of great things have come out of collectives, I mean, you'd be surprised, the power numbers, you all collectively have this idea and then you can make it happen, like it doesn't matter.

You wanna say, hey, I wanna get 12 ice cream trucks, and we're want to make them all slabs, and we're gonna swang and bang up the hood, and we're gonna be throwing popsicles out.

Boom, you could do it, you're gonna find people and they all have the same idea.

And I know this guy, I can get these rims, whatever crazy idea you have, I guarantee you, you can make it, you can do it.

You just gotta think about the end result, so backtrack to how to get there.

One day we're all gonna have ice cream trucks and we will be swanging and banging.

And we're gonna have a DJ breaking down the ice-cream song.

>> Chandler: Put a DJ on it in inspiration of what this place used to have.

>> GONZO247: History is today, history is happening, five minutes ago already happened, right?

So history is today, you just gotta make it.

Think ambitious enough that today is gonna be history, and then the other thing is the future already happened, bam.

>> Chandler: Thank you.

>> GONZO247: That's history.

>> Chandler: GONZO was a big deal, he was so relatable and down to Earth, I just really appreciated that time with him and how expressive he was.

>> Anthony: It was cool to see just like his humility, I almost cried tears of joy just cuz he had this very humble beginning.

It just feel like I could relate to him really well.

And it just kind of confirmed for me that I can give myself permission to pursue what feels right.

Maybe just through having met him I can take advantage of some opportunities I may not have had access to before and really just put myself out there in bigger ways.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: Our next interview is with Jackie Venson.

>> [MUSIC] >> Jackie: My name is Jackie Venson, I'm from Austin, Texas, I've pretty much just been doing music my whole life.

My mom got me into piano when I was eight, and then I switched to guitar ten years ago after kind of having this really intense journey with the piano.

I went to a music college on piano.

They would have these concerts called the cafeteria shows.

One night there's a caf show, and this is like three or four months before I graduated.

So I'm like, I am gonna need to get a job, but I was literally freaking out for the entire last semester of my schooling.

And I go to this cafeteria show to just try to get out of my head, and this guy is ripping it and he's singing.

He's going into the audience, he's dancing on stage, he's head banging, and it was just so cool and I was like maybe I can start a whole new persona.

Each square, I can put a separate sound on that square, so here's the kick drum part, here's the clap part.

I always thought that I had to go find music industry professionals to help me with my music job.

I need a manager who's a music industry manager with a resume and a roster of experience.

>> Yesenia: [LAUGH] >> Jackie: This is what you actually need, you need people who are loyal, you need people who are smart, because literally every job is teachable.

Humans are smart and they're resourceful and they can adapt and they can learn.

By finding people who are good people, you get lead to the good people who have experience.

>> Yesenia: Here we go down this road feel that world... >> Jackie: It's been this insane roller coaster ride, it started off as something so urgent.

I felt I gotta do this, this is my dream and it was that intense for maybe seven years, especially since I started playing guitar at 21.

And I had that kind of like brainwashing, thinking that 21 was old to start something, that was informing me.

It's like, you're starting guitar at 21, there are prodigies who started at 6, all this urgency it's just not useful.

I think this is my favorite quote that's ever been said, listen to yourself and in that quietude you may hear the voice of God.

>> Anthony: Beautiful.

>> Chandler: Thank you, Jackie.

>> Anthony: I like Jackie's quote a lot because I think that we oftentimes, we know what we have to do, we know what's wrong.

We have a pretty clear image of where it is that we have room to grow, and a lot of the times it's just an unwillingness to sit and reflect.

No one is gonna know better than ourselves how we live our best lives.

>> Yesenia: Are you feeling inspired after the interview Jackie today?

>> Anthony: Can you tell?

>> Yesenia: A little bit.

>> Chandler: [LAUGH] >> Yesenia: That was fun.

>> Anthony: Yeah, it was, for sure.

>> Yesenia: I love how human she was, [LAUGH].

>> Anthony: Yeah, yeah, I didn't really know what to expect, but she just turned out to be super cool.

>> Chandler: Yeah, I agree.

>> Yesenia: I feel like we were all just hanging out like, we were just chillin, yeah.

>> Chandler: Yeah.

>> Keilahn: I would love how calm she would talk and then her emphasis- >> Yesenia: Yeah, she's very animated.

>> Chandler: [CROSSTALK] Yeah, I love that.

We think it takes all of this stuff or these things or these titles to get to where we wanna be.

And sometimes it's like, but what if we just try with what we got, with who we got right in front of us?

>> Keilahn: All of that almost ties into how she talked about having that sense of urgency for so long and then burning herself out.

And then it's just now that she's, well, I think it's the past few years, she's just able to look and say, I have 40 more years.

>> Chandler: Yeah, >> Keilahn: To chill out, I thought that was a really good point.

>> Yesenia: I heard that loud, so loud.

>> Keilahn: That resonated a lot.

>> Yesenia: That really got me thinking because I do, why am I putting all this pressure on myself at 23?

Why do I feel so strongly that I have to have all of my stuff figured out?

Where does that come from?

Why am I creating that?

You know what I mean?

>> Chandler: There's no definitive or distinct time period where we're just gonna be like I'm comfortable, I'm where I wanna be, I'm at peace.

No, it's like we have to make peace with wherever we're at and respect the journey wherever we are, and just learn how to ride the wave.

>> Yesenia: When I look around at the table and I look around at y'all every day, I get really proud of us because we are really young and we've done a lot of things, we've accomplished a lot.

>> [MUSIC] >> Anthony: Right now, in general, I feel pretty good.

Something that I think I've realized is I'm more extroverted than I think.

Just being around people and being able to learn and have super stimulating conversations, it's been kind of like lighting me up and I felt pretty excited about life.

>> Yesenia: I'm feeling good, I've had a lot of moments to actually think about what's next?

I'm doing a lot of self reflection and just kind of trying to soak in every moment that we have here.

>> Keilahn: It's very surreal, it's a really extraordinary experience that I'm very grateful for and appreciative for.

And it's kind of sad that it's even almost halfway over, I'm like, dang, I feel like we just got started.

>> Chandler: It's an emotional ride, right, and it's constant self reflection.

It's like we're literally walking everywhere with a mirror.

It's just been a very eye opening experience thus far, and we're only halfway through the trip.

>> Chandler: Today we are interviewing Chad Harris.

>> Keilahn: We're at Whinstone, the largest Bitcoining operation in North America.

>> [MUSIC] >> Keilahn: I recently started getting into the crypto space, so being able to meet someone that's such a staple in it is gonna be exciting to learn from and just hear about.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chad: My name is Chad Harris, I'm the CEO of Whinstone, which is a company owned by Riot Blockchain.

>> Megan: Megan Brooks, Riot Blockchain COO.

>> Anthony: So to start us off I wanted to ask a question.

For everyone still learning, myself included, could you explain just briefly what is Bitcoin, what's Bitcoin mining, and what got you guys into it?

>> Megan: Bitcoin is basically virtual money, digital currency.

These miners that are sitting over here solve algorithms, those algorithms create a reward, that reward is given value by the market.

That's as easy as we can make it.

This is considered the freedom currency, and so I think this is gonna be something that brings us to the forefront to bring people together, it's creating opportunity.

>> Keilahn: I wanna ask a little bit about you guys specifically being the biggest operation for Bitcoin in North America.

I'm curious to know, is that a goal you had in mind?

Or like when did things get so large on scale?

>> Chad: Yeah, so I mean I think it's really simple.

So if you hit the rewind button and you go back three years, we were in New Orleans, Louisiana, we were mining for ourselves.

And when we hit 600 machines, we're like we have a power problem.

As we identified these problems, we didn't know any better, we just solved them.

So fast forward, we get ourselves to Texas, and about a year ago, Megan and her team from Riot Blockchain came in search of potentially becoming a customer or just to see what we had built.

And they saw these massive racks and they were like, hey, these guys obviously are onto something.

>> Megan: Tear to my eye because I was running a very small facility.

>> Chad: And so we didn't set out to go build the largest, we just were fanatical about systems and procedures and building.

So we're going inside.

Watch your head.

Step up and it's gonna be a rush of air, but once you go in there you won't notice it.

>> Keilahn: It's so cool cuz I've watched so many videos about it.

>> Chad: Bitcoin mining produces a lot of heat.

And so as you look in here, you can feel the rush of air.

So we capture the heat and we force it out of the building.

So we engineered this space to move the air the most efficiently with the least amount of capital cost.

>> Chandler: What are the most important leadership qualities that you feel you possess and that other businesses to be successful need to learn to implement?

>> Chad: That's a great question cuz if you asked me that when I was 49 years old, I would give you a completely different answer.

When I turned 50, what I learned was it's not me, it's we, it's not I, it's us.

And it required me to pause for a second and understand that some of the battles that I choose to not fight are ones that are not important to the end results.

Only choose the right battles to say, hey, we have to do it like this.

It's okay to let people win, it's gonna help them in the future, and I think that's probably my best quality.

>> Anthony: When it comes to crypto and the implications on what it could mean for the future, why is it that this currency is just so meaningful for everyone and that it's going to be of such great benefit in a practical way?

>> Megan: Well as a company we are creating, we are minting Bitcoin.

Our Advisory Board member was in the USSR, and at the time his family had to leave with less than I believe $400 equivalent.

All of their belongings had to be left and they had to come to America.

With Bitcoin it would have been easier to just move the money.

And the control that's there on these government levels is what is causing the issue.

And Bitcoin is decentralized, it provides freedom, it gives us the ability to have a say.

>> Chad: Two guys walk in from Africa and they start telling me about how they're using solar panels with chips on them to communicate between villages, and they're using Bitcoin to trade for goods and services.

And I literally sat there and I looked at him was like, listen, if I didn't believe in this product before this meeting, I believe in it today more than ever.

And that's when I realized that we're actually building that infrastructure that supports those efforts in areas where there isn't banking.

And that's really what makes it freedom.

>> [MUSIC] >> Anthony: That interview was cool.

>> Yesenia: How did seeing somebody who led like Chad impact kind of the type of leader that you might wanna be?

>> Keilahn: It's really different from what I've been training myself to be.

And then meeting lots of the different leaders and meeting you guys, it's a completely different end of the spectrum that has just as much or if not even more power to it.

Not necessarily having to be such a strong leader but being more collaborative and working with others.

It's a different end of the spectrum though, I definitely want to explore more as I'm continuing this self learning journey.

But I'm still kind of like forming an idea of it myself actually, I still haven't fully wrapped my head around it.

I definitely really think it's powerful and Chad's definitely gonna be a good inspiration, I'm really hoping to keep in touch with him in some way.

>> Chandler: Now it's time to go interview Brady Johnson.

He got his bachelor's from Texas A&M in horticulture with an emphasis on tree and nut crops.

>> Anthony: So we're at Cooper Farms.

>> Yesenia: Growing up around some farmers and stuff, these hours are long, they put work into there.

Farming is their life and it goes from generations to generations to generations.

So I'm really curious to hear what this means to them, you know what I mean, cuz this is beyond just a job, beyond just a career, this is a way of life.

>> Keilahn: It's a lifestyle for them.

>> Brady: I'm Brady Johnson, 28, from Fairfield my entire life.

Been farming peaches for almost half of that time.

Right now we're pruning, and this is a massive job.

We have 30,000 trees that all got to get a haircut.

So if you wanted to cut it like right there, that would be perfect.

Something a lot of people don't know is peach trees need a lot of cold weather to be able to make a crop in the spring.

We normally get about 800 hours of anything 45 degrees and below, so this weather is really good for making peaches in the spring.

Our day starts at daylight and we harvest till about 5:30 seven days a week for four and a half to five months.

It's very monotonous, it's the same thing all day long, but it's very rewarding when you're doing something that you really enjoy or that you like doing.

It's not a job anymore, it's a lifestyle.

So you get up and do it and go home, go to bed, and get up and do it all again the next day.

But when you love what you do and you feel like you were meant to do that, you don't mind putting in the 100 hours a week.

>> Keilahn: I want the ice cream on top of my pie.

>> Yesenia: [LAUGH] >> Keilahn: I'm so stoked.

>> Brady: So we built this place about 11 years ago now, 12 years ago.

>> Chandler: Thank you.

>> Keilahn: Thank you, guys.

>> Brady: And it was really just an extension of a place where we could sell our fresh peaches and other fresh produce, and it turned into all of this.

>> Keilahn: My god, I'm literally a kid in a candy shop.

Next time I go through Fairfield, I'm stopping by.

>> Chandler: Now I'm supposed to be trying the peach cobbler but this peach pie looks good.

>> [MUSIC] >> Brady: Be willing to outwork everyone else and don't be afraid to sweat.

>> Yesenia: Yeah.

>> Chandler: Okay.

>> Yesenia: [APPLAUSE] >> Keilahn: Nice, that was a good one.

That was a good one.

>> Chandler: I love that.

Our next interview is with Cecilia Salvans.

She went to the University of California in San Diego with a double major in urban studies and planning, and in communication.

>> [MUSIC] >> Cecilia: My name is Cecilia Salvans.

I'm 35, originally from California, I moved to Dallas.

Luckily I was very fortunate to just transfer with my company and I am a senior urban planner within Aecom.

Never in a million years would have thought I'd be with a company for almost 13 years, but here I am.

And I truly love who I work with and what I do.

I don't really believe in luck but I do believe in stars kind of aligning and opportunities happening.

And when I transferred to Dallas, they're like, we need someone that's in Texas to help lead the master plan for the Corpus Christi naval base.

And I was like, I'm in Texas, like I can help you and they're like, okay, yeah, you do it.

Now I'm helping manage a group of eight planners, then project managing and seeing how I can still try to wear different hats.

Really I think my biggest passion right now is making sure that our group has those opportunities to advance in their career.

Cuz I think that gives me a lot of gratification and satisfaction that I'm helping them get to where they wanna be.

On a personal level, I was diagnosed with breast cancer a year ago and when that happened, I quickly realized that Aecom was not just my work it was my family, sorry.

People from all over the US was like, you've got this.

They were there.

And so, yeah, for me it really showed that like we're a family.

>> Keilahn: I was curious going through that, you seem so strong willed and so positive.

I was wondering like maybe what lessons did you learn within yourself while going through the process?

>> Cecilia: It was funny, when I finished chemotherapy, my girlfriend was like I wanna take you to go out to go celebrate and have drinks.

And I was like, yeah, let's go.

This group of young girls were there.

And I was like, how old are you like, we're 21.

Something resonated with me and I was like, hey, can I buy you all a round of shots or whatever you're drinking.

I remember, I took off my wig and they're like.

>> Chandler: I'd be crying in the club.

>> Cecilia: And I was like, so, if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.

So, if you have older sisters, if you have anyone, you need to be checking yourself.

You have to be an advocate for yourself in the workplace and in your own personal self.

>> Yesenia: Phenomenal advocate, you are.

>> Cecilia: [LAUGH] >> Yesenia: I know that I'm an advocate, right, I find pride in the fact that I'm an advocate for others, but I also realized she has been such a good advocate for herself and I want to do that as well.

>> Cecilia: Always listen to your heart and passion and always ask questions to help you get there.

>> Chandler: I miss this.

We haven't done this all week.

But let me get that we out of it.

I miss this.

You all haven't cooked all week.

>> Anthony: [LAUGH] >> Chandler: We currently have the best chefs in the house cooking up.

This is Miss Yesenia.

This is Mr. Anthony.

They know how to make just about anything.

We've gone grocery shopping approximately three times.

And sometimes we've been without groceries and they still manage to make a beautiful creation.

So today is our last interview with Ariana Cook.

She is managing director, playwright, artist, and Texas Woman's University, I went there for two years.

My artistic life includes acting, directing, playwriting.

My most recent projects include adapting and directing a new translation of Elektra.

She got her Bachelor of Fine Art.

And then she went to TWU and graduated in 2013 for a Master of Arts, Drama, and Theater.

>> Anthony: I wanna know what her thoughts are on education and her career path.

>> Chandler: She is currently the managing director of Cara Mia Theatre Co in Dallas.

She went to San Houston State University for her BFA in musical theatre and Texas Woman's University with a master's of arts, drama, and theatre arts.

>> Ariana: My name is Ariana Cook.

I am currently the managing director of Cara Mia Theatre here in Dallas Texas.

I also work as an actress, I work as a playwright, I work as a director, I continue to dabble in those endeavors.

>> Anthony: What are some of your favorite parts of your work?

>> Ariana: I actually started to enjoy putting a grant together, there's nothing like putting the submit button on it.

I really started to enjoy bookkeeping.

Something that I'm really proud of that Cara Mia does is that well over 80% of our money goes to programming and well over 50% of that money goes directly into the hands of artists.

We are very much about paying people and supporting the artistic community, especially artists of color.

So, seeing that and being able to show that in my financials, is actually really rewarding for me.

>> Yesenia: I would like to know a little bit more about the education that you've had and also kind of that process of trying to figure out what you were gonna go for cuz you had a couple of different interests as well.

>> Ariana: I grew up listening to musicals, my mom would say, don't watch cartoons watch The King And I.

And so I had a lot of exposure to that and I definitely fell in love with it from that standpoint.

As far as what I wanted to do, I always loved theatre, ever since I was six years old, I was taking theatre classes, I was involved in theater.

Even though I did have other interests, which did kind of pull at me because of this whole idea of how am I going to make money, I still went for it and luckily I had a very supportive family that said, if this is what you want to do, let's do it.

>> Anthony: We were talking earlier about the fact that you're somewhat eclectic person.

And that really resonated with me because I once upon a time had an interest and aspiration to get into STEM and just see what kind of impacts that I could make because I felt like okay, if I can then I should.

And that felt like conflicting with my desire to pursue like the arts.

And while I do wanna hear specifically about your education experience, I also would like to know how that decision was made and how you went about just making it.

>> Ariana: I did follow a very traditional educational route.

I went in and got my BFA in musical theatre, fast forward many years, I went back and got my master's.

I felt that was a really good decision for me.

I had some time in between working in the industry as a professional to determine whether or not a master's in that field was good for me.

I think when you talk about STEM and this is what the world needs right now, I would say the world needs art too.

What started out as a young person just wanting to be on Broadway, that was like, I'm doing this show like seven eight times a week for a year, and all of a sudden I was like, I don't know if this is what I want, I just finished school.

And that's when I kinda fell into working in regional theater and especially when I moved over and started working with Cara Mia and culturally specific institutions, I really discovered how art is so needed for our cultural communities, for representation, for telling our stories.

It's up to us to change the narrative of who we want to be in the future.

>> Keilahn: I'm curious to know where you may have found some bumps in the road and then what you may have done to encourage yourself or get yourself through the moments of self doubt.

>> Ariana: I leaned in.

I went through what I call my quarter life crisis, which lasted about six years, and that happened, starting in my mid to late twenties.

[LAUGH] It really did.

At first it was really depressing, I was having a hard time as an actress, I was having a hard time making money.

I was having a hard time with this artistic lifestyle, is this something I can even do?

What I did is I explored every avenue that was open to me.

I went through a time of like just kind of despair about it but then I said well what am I gonna do about it?

I said I'm gonna lean into learning more about directing.

I'm gonna lean into learning more about playwriting.

I went to a director's lab, I started teaching myself bookkeeping, I started learning how I could do everything within the field.

So, instead of really focusing on my deficiencies, I focused on the things that I was good at, I am good at organization, I am good at persuasive writing.

At first looking at those things, I was like, how does that even fit into theater?

But I found a way for it to fit in.

I started to lean in and say what do I do well and how do I take joy in what I do well?

And it opened up a whole new world for me.

It was hard and I did have to push through it.

But now, I have a full life in the theater and I'm not in a job that I hate.

>> Yesenia: I kinda was just wondering, when you were our age what are some things that you've learned, especially going through that period of those rough 20s?

If you could look back and say sorry to 21 to 25-year-old you, what would it be?

>> Ariana: I would say this is the perfect time to learn who you are.

The way that you can do that is by doing a lot of personal work, doing a lot of career work, and trying different things, and exploring different things, teaching yourself new skills.

What are you interested in?

Start dabbling with it.

It's just a matter of really trying to keep pushing.

I would just say I'm so sorry that you didn't believe in yourself because you're a rock star.

And that's something that I think everyone has to go through on their own.

But I would say double down, lean in, be a part of change, be in awe, and be humble at the wonderful variety of the human experience, and see how that informs who you are.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: Yesenia, I just wanna know if this interview with Ariana sparked some creativity of singing in you.

Did it make you just reflect on your desire for theater?

>> Yesenia: Absolutely, but I think also it's, I think I have a lot more self-work to do.

So all of that I think is gonna be essential in actually getting started.

But I for sure am gonna be reaching out to different theater groups and centers.

So we'll see what happens there.

But it felt really good to be on the stage again, even if it was just standing there.

[LAUGH] You know what I'm saying?

>> Keilahn: Yeah, that's awesome.

For me I think the biggest takeaway was I wasn't really clear on how exactly I should find myself.

I don't know, Ariana was the first one that kinda made me feel like it's okay not to really know what you wanna do.

The lines can be blurred and you can kinda figure it out as you go.

>> Anthony: Sure, feel like you have any more clarity from the beginning of this trip to now?

>> Chandler: I know that I feel different.

I know that I want different.

I know that I'm growing, I'm shedding.

So I'm cool with being undefined.

So much clarity has been taken away from this trip.

>> Yesenia: What about you?

>> Anthony: I feel a lot more clarity.

And it's not in that I feel like certainty, but I just mean that it's clear to me that there's so many opportunities and options available to me and just paths that I could pursue to just grow.

>> [MUSIC] >> Chandler: I was challenged this entire trip from start to finish.

>> Yesenia: I was really trying to soak up every single moment.

>> Anthony: I feel a little anxious in anticipation, in an excitement kind of way.

>> Keilahn: I do think that I was able to grow and able to open up to people.

>> Anthony: I just can't wait to go home and jump on whatever the next thing is.

>> Yesenia: I don't know what my future looks like, but I'm okay with not knowing.

>> Anthony: Getting to go on this trip has given me a bit of space to breathe and shift my perspective a little bit.

>> Keilahn: Not everyone gets to do that.

Not everyone gets to travel in an RV with great people.

>> [MUSIC] >> Yesenia: I think it was a unique experience because we really were connected whole-heartedly from the start.

We were having deep, thoughtful, reflective conversations throughout this entire trip.

I wouldn't have done it any differently.

>> Chandler: What's my next thing I'm going to tackle?

I know I want a big girl job.

I know I want to write a book.

>> Anthony: I want to make art, I want to make music.

I guess it's just a little less intimidating now.

>> Yesenia: I was so concerned with stability and trying to make sure I was gonna be okay and chasing someone else's dream, basically.

And I never allowed myself to fully just submerge myself in the gifts that I've been given.

>> Keilahn: I've decided to start just taking a look at what I like to do personally.

What do I personally enjoy?

And stop trying to form a passion that's out of what I think I should do.

>> Chandler: I really do feel like what's to come out of this is a better person.

>> [MUSIC] >> Anthony: I learned to appreciate myself a little bit more.

>> Yesenia: I've really learned to believe in myself that I am a good person, I'm going somewhere.

Catch me in ten years, what's up [LAUGH].

>> Anthony: I feel like I've probably connected most to Max, [LAUGH] just kidding.

>> Speaker 13: Who's Max?

>> Anthony: GONZO's dog.

>> Chandler: I would tell Chandler before starting this trip to take it one day at a time and to read the quotes that are at the front of the bus on day one so that you can leave your expectations at the door [LAUGH].

>> Keilahn: I have this thing I call a life high, basically I just feel good, life is so good right now.

And so, that kinda kicked in, and I was like, man, this was such a great experience, overall.

>> Yesenia: I don't know this has just been such a roller coaster of emotions, and reflections, and growth.

This is literally gonna be something that is gonna affect me for the rest of my life, which is just so cool.

I'm just so grateful.

>> Anthony: So this is it.

>> Yesenia: I thought I was gonna be super emotional, but I really don't feel like this is the last time I'm gonna see y'all, so.

>> Anthony: I mean, it's not.

>> Yesenia: I wouldn't wanna do this with anybody else, though, for real.

Thanks for making this an absolute enjoyable, impactful, amazing trip.

>> Chandler: Absolutely.

>> Yesenia: And I'm glad I got to grow alongside y'all.

>> Anthony: Group hug.

>> Chandler: You know I'm here.

Wondering what to do with your life?

Well we've been there and we're here to help Our website has some awesome tools to help you find your path And you can check out all our documentaries, interviews and more Start exploring at roadtripnation.com