Forge Your Path: The Journey of Chris Perron

We're going to be talking to him about everything

that he's up to and how he uses his skills that he learned in the military to do what he's doing now . So , Chris , thank you so much for joining me .

When I ended up getting married and having a family , we got a house . There's certain things that your body can only do for so long without proper maintenance of it .

You've got to take your sabbaticals , take your times , you know , and at this point in time in my life I had an opportunity , after you know , securing a few things , you know , like I said , such as a beautiful wife , having a kid in the house , be able to be a coach in the community , and at that point in time for me that was the major turning point to

really give back to the community and to society that I was actually when I left high school to protect . So now I have a direct influence and it really helps me , you know , kind of keep the American dream alive for each and everybody individually .

So in 1996 , I had , you know , an opportunity to go to Bosnia . We went to Bosnia to help the issues that were going on in the late millennial , in the late 20th century I should say it's four unit and that was a very eye-opening experience , especially leaving high school and going over into a world conflict From there .

You know it was every six months we deployed . It was pretty fantastic . I mean it was for four years . Every six months we're in and out and I traveled the Northern Hemisphere , we went to Africa , we built a clinic . We also raised the foundation of a school for a village . Besides conflict , the Navy Seabees are primarily , like I said , builders .

We're here to help people and help develop the community that we want through the infrastructure that is needed I don't know if that makes any sense , such as we had this community and we built a clinic . Sometimes the CVs wouldn't need water . Well , because they would need water more so than the clinic .

So we would try to get certain physical attributes and physical , I'll say technology , or avenues for technology to the people to become available , or avenues for technology to the people to become available . You know so , as I traveled from 1996 to 2003, .

My ending tour was in Operation Iraqi Freedom and I was a part of a fleet hospital unit and that in that , all in itself , again , just you know personal experiences . And you know , going to conflict for a country under the American dream , you know it is . It is one of the greatest things I think anybody can do .

And also , being a Navy SEAB , you know I had a . We're one of the very few special force units that actually serves , you know , hand in hand with females .

So that's kind of an oddity , but a , you know , for a growth , is amazingly pleasurable later on , really understand and work with , like our counterparts , you know , to build a better tomorrow for you know , within country and outside of country , you know so the CBs are very , very important for general infrastructure building and the supporting of .

You know , within country and outside of country , you know so the cbs are very , very uh important for general infrastructure building and the supporting of , you know , natural disaster cleanup , because we usually , you know , if you want to talk about the cbs traditionally west coast , you would see them in california .

But you know we clean up a lot of the hurricanes that happen in the gulf of mexico katrina and such like that . You would see us because we're close to those areas , our bases are close to those areas and we have , you know , great community contact .

And this , you know , for me leaving after 2001 , after Operation Iraqi Freedom , you know , getting back , you know , to society , I have really tried to reach back out on everything that I've seen and try to give back to the community so we don't have to , you know , kind of deal with certain unfortunate events that happen elsewhere on the planet .

So that's right there . It's kind of like the major thing was to support the country to develop the American dream .

Right , there is kind of like the major thing was to support the country to develop the american dream , to do what's called with me , you know , to the best of my ability and , you know , bring back , if I can make it , all the information I can to the people who can make a better tomorrow without having to do the arduous task you know .

So that's kind of what made me go into the service . You know I only did seven years but that was probably the best seven years that I've ever been discharged Best seven years I've ever had . Most experience I've ever received in my life .

I've come to realize it's really the dictionaries that kind of cross people up . You know , from when you have the youth you know or mainly the youth , I'm talking about the high schools and they go into the service and they come out .

It is a different language-based community from military to , uh , the civilian world and at that point in time what I've been doing is trying to take , you know , my knowledge of like I , I know actions and you know focus through form . So it's like I'm , you know , I'm trying to help with other counselors .

Take military members jobs and actions that may not directly correlate to a job outside , but it has the same subconscious underlying features that you want in an employee . I don't know if that makes any sense . It's like they may be functioning in a security-type guard manner but they can function outside of that . Even though they're only security guards , they can

actually be amazing store managers because they can be charismatic versus more stern . They can be charismatic versus more stern .

You know , it's just kind of like rounding off some of the edges and developing that you know , that powerful figure within the community where they you know they can , they know they're going to get the you know fairness from individuals but also they're going to have , you know , the community trust where , yes , this is the individual that you know went to the

front lines .

But now , through some simple guidance and , as I say , I'm just a coach because I it's tough for me to be , even just to stay on a good path , but helping people to , you know , showing them a different light to follow the way to where they want to go , and usually it's just by sheer simple linguistics and patience to looking for what you want .

You know , because in time or reality based that we live in is all done by time and weights and measures . So , essentially , when I talk to people , if they have goals , I want to figure out what their goal is and how much they can actually press themselves to really obtain it .

And with veterans , you know a lot of the people I've , you know , went to college with . You know it was interesting , like I said , going to college in my late 30s , early 40s and speaking , you know , it was a very large age demographic .

But you know , the biggest help I gave to the younger individuals were just making sure that they knew arithmetic and made sure that their bills were paid . And at that point in time , you know , once they were able to slow down , really I helped them work with what they were interested in .

I might not have been exactly interested in a particular topic , but I can still bring water to help grow the idea and then bring other people to help them grow the idea , because it's , you know , everybody's different , but a lot of the veterans don't get to have the time , or they need a little bit more time to articulate in the words for civilians to

understand them . So it's like I'm trying to bridge that gap a little bit because of the fact of why I went to college , why I want to be a social you know I'm saying a social activist , but a coach , just a , you know , just another happy inmate on this planet living the dream .

And that's where I sit there and I try to talk to the veterans , where they get frustrated Because , again , even though some veterans go through some stuff and they're correct , there's certain things that civilians have never been , you know , experienced , and that's where they have to take some time and , you know , and we have to kind of do a , you know , a nice

communion together to kind of get to where we need to go , you know , because we all have a job and we all want to do it for a good reason , and it's really the patience between the two parties that really makes it successful , you know .

So that's what I try to do is try to help the veterans , you know , take their time , also , not be upset with the civilians and make sure that the civilians try to help the veterans in a manner that they might not be that old term unpacking your backpack , you know . Same thing with the civilians towards the veterans .

They might , you know , need to have a different lens put on their eyes when they look at these particular , you know individuals within their community . So I try to be that bridge to help the veterans and the civilians kind of get together . Hopefully that answers that . Well , tell us , you know .

You know , give the everyday people or other civilians the , you know , best practice tips on , you know , kind of dealing with life's everyday challenges from , you know , maybe a military perspective , or to some people and we have some conversations like what can we do to make our lives better ?

Is , once you realize that you don't pay anybody to wake up , life is free Then you have to take a look at why you're in debt , and that will answer a lot of questions for you , you know . So , if life is free , time is free , then what are you doing to make the best life for yourself ?

So , as we take a look at our daily task and what we want to do , you know , for now I'm being a coach and I can only speak about myself , and the first thing I had an opportunity that I wanted to give back . Then they said , ok , you can be a coach . Well , you got to pick up the broom , and that's the next thing I would say .

You always got to start with the broom , and if you know how to use the broom granted , it might be at the bottom , but really nobody's messing with you it gives you time to figure out what you're doing . So if you want to do something I want to coach . I started at the rec level in my community you have to pay the time . You know you give back .

You know you're not getting paid anything . You may know it , I may know a lot of things , but I know that there is a due price to pay , you know , for your rewards that you truly grant , you know are truly rewarded . So it's like you know , the biggest thing is just slowing down , paying attention .

Life is only as fast as it needs to be what you want to put into it . So , like I said , if you don't pay anybody to wake up , life is free . And now manage the time that you have in the most opportune way to you know , really develop a , you know , self-sustaining life or , you know , a good push to the direction that you want to move in .

You know , and that's really oh . Another thing too is , since we can't read each other's minds , have faith in your inner self . There's going to be a lot of words out there where a lot of noise will come to you , but take the time .

I say meditation , but really take the time and listen to it's tough your internal gut feelings or , you know , intuition , and really just walk slow , stay strong , walk slow and just be , you know , thoughtful . You know that's really about it .

I mean , the biggest thing is , once you know that life is free , don't get in debt and if you do , make sure it's going to be for a good return . You know cause . You know at financing and you know investments . There is time . You know pay to play , but make sure that you take the time before you go in debt .

You know that's the biggest thing I say to people . Don't you know ? Don't the old adage of ? You know , following fads , or the Joneses or the Smiths ? You know , just stay true to your name and make sure that you know you are the best part of your last name , you know . So just try to be , you know , try to be , you know , happy about yourself .

You know , while you're going out there , life is hard , that's why we can't fly . I'm sorry . Life is hard , that's why we can't fly . I'm sorry . Life would be a lot easier if we could fly , but since we can't , it's just picking up the weight and just walking making it happen .

That's great , but to actually see the systems in progress as you stay with the youth that you're coaching , which is just phenomenal , it is absolutely just amazing to be a margin of guidance , to watch them grow versus , like , you know , I'm not trying there and they're already willing .

I'm now trying to guide them in their own personal bodies , which has been just so fun . Versus , you know , I coached the game of soccer , do you can ? I ? Can I speak about this for a moment ? Excellent . So the game of soccer is , you know , being a New Englander for all my life , I played it when I was a kid but I never watched .

But now , as older , this is kind of like all my life . And when I got to teach the kids , you know , one thing I always tell them is the ball doesn't move .

The ball doesn't move , it's always you , and it's the approach and when they actually and I get to actually set up certain drills where they can actually see that they are developing their own form and their own style , but in the confines of properly playing the game . So you have certain routines but then you have to .

You know , for me , as a youth coach , I've seen a lot of people take personal polishes off of uniqueness and for me , all the players that I've , you know , for the most part , come I have a high percentage returning players and it's they're doing it because they know they're doing it for themselves , not me , you know I , I can I set the stage .

So as we go through there's , you know , a couple teams in different , uh , skill set groups . You know some are more rec , some are more competitive , and it's the same exact symmetrical field , it's the same exact symmetrical sphere called a ball , called a soccer ball . You know it has a , you know , a numerical dimension .

Everything is laid out through weights and measures and the biggest thing is , once I tell them and I kind of , you know , reveal this to them is it's your power and your finesse that makes the game easier and how you can actually work with your teammates and how you can properly lead . You know , and leading isn't always talking .

Actually , the best leading is through action and a good lead if it is anybody played any type of , you know . Uh , team sport is just getting that , whether it's ball , the football , the puck , whatever it may be , just in the right forward moment that your teammate can grab it in stride and do what they got to do .

Next , you know , because it's really just about a outcome that we all want , which is we would like to win , but really it's the practice of how we can work together and what we're willing to do for ourselves and one another .

And the youth group now is really , I mean , I can't honestly tell you that the Saturdays , even over the winter , are packed and the kids want to play and the parents are having a good time and it's just , you know , let's just enjoy ourselves while we're here .

And , you know , try to kick a ball into an upright rectangle and keep it as simple and as fun as possible . Simple and as fun as possible , because as we grow older , we , you know , whatever , I don't know why the fun gets taken out of life , but I try not to be the person that brings the darkness down to that level .

You know I just try to like give them the most , uh , the highest point to achieve , you know . You know we have states . You know we we have opportunities to go to the state . You know , and I try to do everything that I have been taught through that .

You know , through my past of my education and serving the government , and I took a look at how actually I use the navy cds . A how do you get everybody around the world from different demographics to come together and do the impossible ? That right there gave me a lot of thought and I still haven't got it down to a path .

But , to be honest with you , what I've got going so far is , you know , I rely , I still rely on my cd community just to provide , you know , amazing support for my local community that I live in and the youth , and it has been uh beneficial .

I'm now starting to work in the schools and I'm finding out that I wish our communities were a little bit tighter than expected , you know .

But other than that , I will have to say it's nice to have the youth out on the rec community also , now that I'm working at the uh , a middle school in my town and tying it all together , it's really the youth can really see a long possible .

You know , like education isn't something that's not fun or for the majority you know it actually has like within our community and there's a few coaches in town that actually coaching colleges , where when we talk to these youth kids who are under , you know , in the middle school and below that , we can have a path , as long as you kind of stick within our

community , because outside of it we don't control but within our community we can get you all the way up to the doorstep of the possible college , a local college that you want and that right there is kind of hardly unseen nowadays . So that's where it's like I try to be that path because I I , you know I retired per se .

I , you know I'm a disabled veteran . I went to college , I got a degree . You know what else do I have left ? I have a house , I have a kid . You know I'm just trying to . And that's where it's like , no , you give back , you teach them that it isn't , you know , uh , cold both way , you know .

You know going to school with hills , both way , snowinging , yada , yada , yada . No , it's just you got to take your time , be patient , the work is yours . Make sure nobody , you know , you don't get distracted by other people or other things . I should say . But as long as you concentrate , you are the only you .

And if you want that , take a simple step forward and just start looking at simple things that you can do , just to build your foundation on where you want to go . And with the youth soccer it's just year by year . You know , we go over certain things . The expectations never really change because the humans are there .

You know , they're all humans , they're all just growing . So it's really just trying to refine your form as a team and that's it , you know .

And as we grow and move together and develop together , they have , you know , uh , within my community there has definitely been a large bloom of participants that have come out of the woodworks , that want to come out there and experience the environment . You know , and that's kind of how I give back .

I mean , like I said so , I'm a board member for our local soccer . I'm also a middle school coach and multiple coach out in our , out in our rec division in town , you know . Plus , I have an application to a college , but that's , you know , the underlying coaching aspect . It's really not to the sport , it's really to people who want to press themselves .

And then you work , you know , with them and also , being a coach , you know you kind of help them with school and you know making sure everything is so . It's like , you know , just trying to be a that positive , you know northern needle on a you know social compass . So that's why I try to give back to the youth .

Hopefully that answers or goes over why I want to coach the youth or participate in that particular genre .

You know , playing sports is one thing , but understanding the human body , that mind-body continuum together , is , I'm trying to get a complex like a veteran-run complex , so that would actually send the body through pretty much every course of pressure to really develop itself .

You know , I see a lot of things and now this is kind of like a professional , like a little bit outside of the youth conversation . This is like a professional take on .

What I see with the civilian community is there isn't a lot of physical obstacle courses that really , you know , besides like mud runs , but we need locations where the youth can really and even just veterans , whoever you know want to press , press themselves and get into situations that are not normal , you know , such as you know , we all play soccer , we all

drive , we all do simple things but we need to do , you know , such as , if you never ice skate , you need to start ice skating . You need to start using different muscle groups , because if you don't use muscle groups then you have different .

Because if you don't use muscle groups then you have different neuropathy that happens to you and you have certain pathological developments .

It is a long and crazy story to talk about , but know why the mind-body is so important and to be honest with you , I don't know why nowadays just in general , as I've traveled is , we don't have a lot of interactive complexes . So I have a business plan I'm slowly trying to put up together about 160,000 .

It's two buildings but 160,000 square foot facility that encompasses a full-size soccer field and the other facility . We have a few other things , such as things that make service members stronger . So you know there'll be different obstacle courses or pugilist events . You know the old American gladiators type thing .

I don't know if you remember that game , game show , but there are certain events , there are certain physical activities that need to be uh well if done , will help influence that individual in life and further them down the road , because it builds if you have physical confidence and you have mental uh confidence to do certain things versus uh , I've seen that when

everything has become routine , uh , you have a lot of stagnation . So that's one of the bigger things that I'm working on is actually trying to develop a some sort of fun , interactive complex , you know , really embracing 2025 . I'm a gamer through and through so I , you know , I play , uh , video games , uh , I also have a appreciation for e-sports and all that .

So there's a lot of things for a lot of uh , for a lot of people out there , but there isn't really major , any or any major hub that brings in , you know , the full body experience plus the recovery time . You know , when I say the recovery time , that's the other end of it .

I see a lot of sports facilities , have great workout facilities , but now , like I said for my human services aspect , a lot of blue collar workers are just just people in general don't have enough downtime to really relax their body . You can't go to a place and just you have to make an appointment , but you have to make a lot of different .

It's like a doctor's appointment If you want to get a massage . You even got to take off work at times or take off your weekend , so which it's kind of you know . You know , I find that part of the issue in today's society where people are kind of being burnt out and there's no place to actually just decompress even for an hour .

You know where you can just go , and that's where I'm looking for something part of that complex , to where you can actually have a sabbatical , or I say a sabbatical but like a little spa treatment , even though maybe most of it will be automated , but it'll be a time and place where people can just go and relax while maybe their kids are playing , you know ,

doing a soccer routine , or their wall climbing or something like that . You know so it is two-fold in life , you know . So I really do believe that I'm trying or I really do believe that there's a complex needed out there to give a , you know , a full body experience and a recovery experience , you know , to the , to the local people .

So that's my , that's my next big big on the works , that's , that's my next big big , uh , on the works . That's , that's my project .

Impossible right there , mr curtis well , that's how I should contact info , so people can keep up with everything that you're up to yeah , no , I , I'll , uh , I and that is , and that is , you know , one of the items I'll definitely be getting out there because , like I said , starting starting this new one , I am super , super nervous because I hate , you know ,

doing something new .

I don't want to be seen in the ill light or I am extremely tentative and it's like I don't want to be seen wanting this , and that's where it's like , you know , I'm getting out there and I'm slowly working it and , yes , I'll even put out plans because I've already set stuff up , I've already done a lot of the work and I'll definitely put it out there .

Because when you serve your country , you kind of have to know how to swim , you kind of have to know how to climb , you kind of have to know how to throw something and hit something . You kind of have to know how to defend yourself . So that's where you take a look at when I put this together .

It's not I'm not trying to build a warrior , I'm just trying to break off the uh , the rust you know to to . You know , have everybody become a little more fluid ? You know , bruce lee says must be like water , and absolutely , if you follow what he says , you know you need to have your . You know time , space .

You know get into the zone and that's where we need more . You know libations only go so far , but really just the community and the teamwork together or being a part of something where other people are doing the same thing , you know , in proximity to you , it makes just the community that much better and stronger , you know .

So that's my biggest goal on that and I'll definitely get my uh information . I don't have anything right now . You know I have a uh . I don't know if you want a twitter handle or anything like that , but I do have a uh yeah , throw it out uh . So let's see here . I forget which one you're supposed to put .

I think he's supposed to be at yeah , absolutely . So hang on a second , let me . Let me get my All right . It's going to be at seven , seven , seven dot Chris dot PRRON . So that's triple seven dot . Chris dot PRRON and that's at TikTok .

Now , it's just a simple little thing that has me with a boomy hat on there , but that is my first kind of like attempt at trying to put something together as a older person in the community , because I have an Instagram , I have a Facebook . We've been around since the beginning of that stuff .

But that TikTok I'm trying to be a simple little hub of where you can go . You don't even have to see me . I put up information up there , just simple little snippets that I find interesting . That may help other people if they read it in the same context or even a different context . So it's just trying to understand .

Okay , if we're here , what are we doing here and how can we help each other together ? And I know that working together makes the job goal . You know , job usually easier and go by faster , you know . So that's where you know from my experience . I'm truly trying to take the second half of this uh lovely life and trying to spin it .

You know , I've been a part of the teammate . I know how a teammate works and now it's just everybody else , it's just let's go , you know . So as we take a look at this , you know , again , it's just , you know , I come up , I see certain things I used to have . I used to . I used to have 30 libraries for a year .

I was almost like a bread robber and I and I curried for 30 libraries and that was probably the greatest experience I've ever had in my entire life . But it was

a sad experience . And here's how I take a look at time being in New England as I went around to these ancient libraries that pretty much were set up since the dawn of America . They're getting that pretty much were set up since the dawn of America .

They're getting rid of older books right , old books , old old books and they're just replacing them with the new . And that's where it's fascinating , even though the librarians you know the librarians amazing people , absolutely amazing people they're chucking our past out and implementing you know what is desired to be in there .

And that's where I was like wow and I ended up acquiring an amazing library , personal library . You know , throughout that time , and that's where it's like no , I need to , you know , want to go out there and reach the people and just be a coach , because , again , I can't say I'm a master of anything , because I'm still figuring this out .

I'm just like a compass . And that's where it's like taking your time , research what you want and I'm pretty sure you're gonna get it . You know that is . You know the unfortunate part is , you know there'll be times where even society will burn its own libraries . I it's , it's crazy like that , but it has to happen .

I don't know if that makes any sense , but if you pay attention and you remember , you know which is . You know your , your institutional memory . Everybody is has their own timeline . Using the Finding Nemo thing , how old do sea turtles live ? They live 300 years old because they don't really work .

They understand that if you ride on the wave or you ride on the flow , you can go for a long time , even though things change . There's universal laws that don't . You know , the planet doesn't change , the world does , and as long as you can keep manifesting with the times , you'll be all right .

I don't know if that you know , that's part of like an in combination of everything right there Finding the complex , putting the complex together and getting the community together and still working with the youth and still working with the people trying to make their day better .

Jump on your favorite podcast app , follow us . Leave us a review . If you have any guests or suggestion topics , curtis Jackson 1978 at attnet is the place to send them . Thank you for listening and supporting the show and , once again , you know , chris , thank you for your service , thank you for all that you do and thank you for joining us .