Barbering, Business, and Beating the Odds - Travis Sanders

[00:00:00] Welcome back to another episode of the AMPD UP211 Podcast. Today, we've got a powerhouse guest, Travis Sanders. He's not just another master barber and business owner, he's a survivor, an educator, and an amputee who turned adversity into opportunity. From cutting hair to cutting through life's toughest challenges, Travis shares his raw journey of resilience, reinvention, and leaving a lasting legacy.

[00:00:24] You're gonna love this conversation, so sit back, get ready, and let's get AMPD UP with Travis Sanders. Travis, welcome to the AMPD UP211 Podcast. How are you today, sir? Fantastic. Good to see you on this Valentine's Day. Good to be seeing you.

[00:00:49] I hear ya. I hear ya. So, you know, I've been researching you, looking at your journey, your amputee journey, your journey as an author, a mentor, a business owner, so many titles that you wear so gracefully, I must say. And I think where I want to start with you in particular is your amputation story.

[00:01:17] So, I know you're above the knee, correct? Okay. Tell me a little bit more about how you became an amputee. So, the cause was blood clots. And at the time, I was experiencing numbness in my toe intermittently. Did not know why.

[00:01:43] And then within a two, two and a half week period, it went from numbness in my toe to my toes, to my foot, to going up to my calf. Within a week, it was more, less intermittent and more regular and painful. So, I went to urgent care. And they said it could be a nerve issue. It could be a vascular issue.

[00:02:08] We'll set you up an appointment with the vascular doctor to see if he can look at it and tell us. But the next available appointment was two and a half, three weeks out. So, I thought maybe it's a nerve issue. So, I went to my chiropractor and had him do some adjustments and see if he could solve the issue. And it progressively got a lot worse. So, then I went back to urgent care. And then urgent care said, well, if it's that bad and painful, you need to go to ER.

[00:02:37] So, within two and a half weeks of the beginning of it, I'll go to ER, Kennistone, Wellstar. And they do ultrasound. And they say, you have blood clots all through your leg. And we can't find a pulse anywhere in your leg. We need to get you in surgery. There's a possibility you could lose your entire leg, which was terrifying. So, going to, this was June 7th. No, no, I'm sorry.

[00:03:08] How long ago was that? A year and a half, less than a year and a half ago. Oh my gosh. Yeah. I didn't realize that you're very much a brand new amputee. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, they did surgery immediately eight, nine hours to no avail. So, they said they're going to go back in. This was on Thursday.

[00:03:37] They were going to go back in the next day, Friday, do more surgeries. This time, instead of scoping, they opened my entire leg up from ankle to groin and stents bypasses. And came back and said, so we got blood. But we found the pulse and got blood flow in your groin area to just above your knee, but nothing below.

[00:04:02] But we're going to give it a few days for it to heal and see if it opens up to no avail after a couple of days. It did not. And since there was no blood flow, it got infected. And they said, we're going to have to amputate from below the knee down and see if that gets the infection, if that solves a problem. So, they amputated below the knee and then had to come back because it didn't solve the problem. They still saw infection in the bone.

[00:04:32] So, then they had to come back third surgery, fourth surgery, and then they had to amputate above the knee. But being that I had blood clot issues in both legs, they were concerned of how fast it would heal. So, I ended up staying in the hospital for about six weeks longer than I wanted to before they would let me go because they were trying to figure out where the origin of the blood clots and why I had so many. And they couldn't find anything out. So, I go home.

[00:05:04] Long story short, I get an infection, had to come back to the hospital. They didn't have to cut anymore. They just had to clean out and get the infection out. And then I went home. What was the period of time between that very, very first sort of exploratory surgery and you actually going home? Like, what was that passage of time? Six, seven weeks. Okay.

[00:05:33] And during that six, seven weeks, how would you describe your mental state? I mean, what was your support system like at that time and how were you managing what sounds like some pretty big news, you know, earth shattering sort of massive piece of bad news? How were you handling that?

[00:06:00] Well, fortunately, my support system was great. Lots of family, lots of friends, loved ones coming to see me on a regular basis. Most of my family's in Michigan, they drove up to see me, check on me. It was, so it was very traumatic.

[00:06:20] But considering that the worst news that he gave me that I could lose my entire leg and I still came out with above the knee, I thought it was a win in kind of a weird way because it could have been worse. So I just took it as bad. And how much residual limb do you have? Are you all the way down to where the top of your knee was? Correct. Okay. Yeah.

[00:06:47] So as far as an above the knee, you're in a pretty optimal, you know, situation. Um, that's what they tell me. Yeah. I had no idea. Yeah.

[00:06:59] I'm below the knee, but, um, the AKs that I do know, you know, will speak about how thankful they are when they do have a considerable amount of residual limb left, which makes adapting to, uh, prosthesis, um, a lot easier.

[00:07:18] And, you know, I can only assume that things are going well and you could probably help us understand better, but based on some of the video I've seen of you in the gym, I mean, given, given the passage of time, as far as how long you've been an amputee, it really surprises me that you're actually as mobile and active as you are right now. How, how would you, what would you attribute that to?

[00:07:48] Um, strong mindset, um, being a former athlete and being in the gym prior to this and just the will to not allow it to limit me. What is the thing that surprised you most about adapting to a prosthesis? Hmm. That's a good question.

[00:08:18] I'm full of them. You know, I can't, I don't really, I didn't know what to expect. So since I didn't know what to expect, nothing really surprised me per se. Yeah.

[00:08:32] Um, one of the things I did before I got my prosthetic was I, I programmed my mind by watching tons of YouTube videos of other amputees that were above the knee that were active, that were running, that were playing golf, doing all the things that I like to do. And I said, you know what, if they can do it, I can do it. Yeah. That's such a, that's such a great in itself. That's such a great piece of advice.

[00:09:00] And it's something that I would tell most new amputees is if you're, you know, getting ready for an amputation or if you're, you're relatively, um, you know, post-op, you know, very new amputee.

[00:09:16] Uh, there are so many resources out there, you know, YouTube and otherwise where you can visualize because so, so much I think for myself, and I don't know how you feel about it. Sounds like you would agree for me. A lot of it is visualization, understanding movement, how that movement is going to change because we try to picture ourselves, right? Okay.

[00:09:45] This, this part of my body is going to be gone. And how am I going to move? Like, what's going to change about me? And then it gets, gets into that visual space of, okay, it's, it's, it's different, but it's not something that is impossible. And you're seeing other people doing it. And it's a confidence builder in that when you finally do don that prosthesis for the first time, all of those memories kind of kick in, right?

[00:10:13] That you were visualizing like, Oh, okay. That's why they were, you know, extending themselves in that way or pivoting in this other way. It was more just to adapt to this new device. Right. And I can't speak to, you know, being above the knee. Um, I don't know what that feels like. I mean, for me, if we were going to say, okay, what were the things that surprised me?

[00:10:42] Um, it's, it's really more like quirky stuff. Like I couldn't believe the amount of sweat that my residual limb was creating when I was active. Like it was, it was bizarre. And I thought, wow, is, is this normal? Like, is, is this how it's supposed to be? And fortunately, everyone I spoke to said, Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. Like you will acclimate and your limb will get used to this. It just takes time.

[00:11:11] But yeah, initially, I mean, I'm literally taking my prosthesis and like, you know, like dumping it out. Cause it was just filled, you know, with, with sweat basically. Um, so those things were very quirky. Uh, just realizing that all. I had a similar experience. Oh, did you? And I, I shared it with my prosthetic doctor. Yeah. And he said, what you need to do is get antiperspirant deodorant and either spray it on your limb or rub it on there and they'll help it out. Yeah. So that's what I did. Yeah.

[00:11:41] And the summertime went really hot. Yeah, no doubt. No doubt. And I think for myself, you know, I'm about seven years in now. And realizing that all these new sort of pathways in terms of my residual limb and building muscle memories based on my residual limb, not the leg that I used to have.

[00:12:04] So knowing what it feels like, you know, to go upstairs, to ride a bike, you know, to jog, all of those things, you're sort of retraining your brain because right. We don't have that touch anymore. Our residual limb is inside of a socket. So it's, it's as if we're training our brain. Okay. This is what it feels like when my residual limb takes a step to go upstairs.

[00:12:34] And then you get sort of programmed over time and you're not really expecting to, to have that touch of your foot anymore. It's more, what does my limb feel like when I'm touching correctly? Right. So it's definitely an exercise in adaptation. I mean, you are an active guy and, you know, going through something like this.

[00:12:59] I mean, do you, do you feel like, uh, it's sort of, um, like your confidence took a hit when all this happened? Initially, drastically. Yeah. But then the more I started to challenge myself and do more stuff, once I got back in the gym and start, you know, getting the muscle back, I lost and getting the strength back, I lost all these things moving forward, built my confidence back up.

[00:13:28] Uh, just recently on my birthday, Thanksgiving, I did a 5k walk, um, you know, things like that to help build up my walking ability and my confidence in being able to walk. And, you know, obviously you're, you're chugging along here, um, in terms of your progress as an amputee, which is super inspirational.

[00:13:52] I mean, I, I know plenty of people in a similar situation that did not get mobile as quickly, you know, maybe, maybe, maybe it took them two, if not three, you know, years before they could even comfortably don a prosthesis well enough to go into the gym, to have enough confidence to go into a gym and feel like they could push themselves a little bit.

[00:14:19] But, but I look at someone like yourself and I say, gosh, you know, this guy, he really leveled up because, I mean, you're very entrepreneurial as well, you know, and going back to what you, what you do professionally as a barber. I mean, what was that transition like for you?

[00:14:43] It was actually very therapeutic to be back around clients and friends and to be able to share my experience and share my story about what happened. Cause everybody wanted to know, I kept them abreast via email, um, what happened, what was happening when I would be back. So to be back in that environment was super helpful and therapeutic.

[00:15:07] And I couldn't be more grateful and thankful to be able to be in that position because a lot of people that I, um, who come out of the hospital amputee, they're isolated and secluded because they're not going back to work. They're just home with their caregiver and that's it. Yeah. Yeah. And, you know, I didn't, I didn't grow up, you know, around barbershops.

[00:15:33] I know there's very much, you know, a subculture that occurs in that environment. You know, I've, I've read extensively about how there's, it's very much a community, you know, barbershops and the conversations and the connections that are made in that space.

[00:15:53] Um, there's an intimacy about it and I'm, I'm fascinated by it because it's not something that I grew up around, but I look through that lens and I say, gosh, it's, it's such a bonding moment for so many people. I mean, how would you describe it?

[00:16:12] So it's very, it is very, uh, family oriented and the, the best way to describe it is you're building relationships with people over generations. There's been experiences that's happened to me multiple times where I would start cutting a young man's hair, say he was in high school. Then he graduated college. He'd get married. He'd have kids. Now I'm cutting his kids hair.

[00:16:39] And it's just, and seeing that happen over and over and over again, it's just, it's an amazing feeling. I would think so. I mean, to see generations and to be tapped in to their personal stories and to be able to share that. I mean, just, just through that discipline, right. Of barbering, like, I mean, that's gotta be some very, very beautiful moments like in your life.

[00:17:07] And it would seem to me that when you were going through, you know, your own struggle, becoming an amputee and going through what you had that I'm, I'm, I'm guessing you had, you had quite a bit of support surrounding you. Oh yeah. My clients came to see me, um, regularly. Yeah, that's awesome.

[00:17:32] And, uh, obviously that was a return on the investment that you had made in them. And, uh, you know, they, they saw you as someone that was important and they wanted to have a round. And, um, I'm sure, uh, a lot of things be, you know, sort of went full circle for you. I feel that way sometimes because I'll meet people, you know, I'm very much a part, you know, of this limb loss, limb difference community.

[00:18:00] And I try to make myself as available as possible to the community. And very often, um, when I suddenly develop a need in my life, I'm always sort of blown away by how much support sort of shows up. And, uh, that's always a really, really good feeling. I think it's kind of what life's all about. Um, I want to talk, I want to talk, um, about, you know, the fact that you're an author.

[00:18:30] And, you know, I, I do quite a bit of writing myself. And I was curious to know where you draw a lot of your inspiration from when it comes to writing. Life stories. So the first, my first book is, uh, life lessons learned from barbering. And I felt that I wanted to share the things I've learned from the interaction with my clients and the stories that I've learned from them over the years.

[00:19:00] So that was the first, um, inspiration from that. I'm currently working on my second book, hopefully be coming out in the next 30 days on the lessons I've learned from my limb loss. And hoping that others can benefit from either book, um, to help them in their life and their, in their growth, in their journey, in their path of life. And where, where's the, uh, where's the best place, um, to get your first book?

[00:19:29] The one that's out already. It's on Amazon. It's on Amazon. And it has 25 star reviews. All right. I like that. Currently. Do me a favor and repeat the title of the book just so everyone has a clear and they can search it on Amazon. Life lessons learned from barbering. You can just Google, or not Google, but a search, uh, books by Travis Sanders and they'll pop up. Yeah.

[00:19:59] Yeah. Check it out. Everyone. Uh, this guy's a remarkable human being. Um, was there ever a time in your recovery where you felt like this isn't going my way? Like maybe, maybe it's not going to work out for me. Multiple different times, right?

[00:20:22] The window of when I first got out of the hospital and I was struggling on trying to, um, be more mobile. I didn't want to be in a wheelchair. Um, so I was using a walker. I didn't like the walker. So then I transitioned to crutches, which each transition was more challenging.

[00:20:44] And then I got used to the crutches and then I healed up enough to where I could get fitted and then got my prosthetic. And then there was another transition of trying to figure out how to maneuver on the prosthetic with the crutches in and out of the car. Cause I'm driving, going to work. I started back work and I was on a stool sitting, but just maneuvering on being uncomfortable on how long to wear the prosthetic.

[00:21:13] Don't wear it too long. Um, then I got used to that and then I went through physical therapy and then that was challenging. And, but again, multiple different levels of, okay, I'm, I'm adapt. I'm used to this point, but then it's really hard and this sucks. And then, okay, I'm moving through that. So it wasn't like one moment. It was multiple different moments. Yeah, that's a really good point. Someone was asking me about that the other day.

[00:21:39] They said, uh, you know, when, when was that, uh, pivotal moment when you realized that you could thrive? And I said, it's never one moment. It's a series of moments. It's, it's, it's these small incremental challenges and then failures. And then eventually overcoming those challenges. Because I agree with you.

[00:22:09] Someone will say, well, well, you know, wearing a prosthesis, does it hurt? I'm like, well, yeah, it hurts. Um, usually more often when you're a newer amputee because your limb hasn't really desensitized completely yet. It hasn't matured all the way. So the types of pain I have now are very different than the types of pain I was having when I first put on a prosthesis.

[00:22:38] Because, like you mentioned, you know, you sort of hit a plateau and you're like, oh, this sucks. And then you sort of go at it, go at it, push through. And then you hit another plateau, right? Transitioning, right? From wheelchair, uh, walker, crutches. You know, sitting on a stool at work to wearing a prosthesis at work.

[00:23:02] I recall going back to work and being in pain all day. Like literally just going, this is not sustainable. Like, how am I going to function in a professional space when I am in pain for eight hours straight?

[00:23:29] And somehow you tell yourself, okay, this is temporary. I got to keep doing, I got to keep doing the work. Like, you mentioned physical therapy, you know, taking breaks when you can, uh, taking off your prosthesis when you can. I was really, you know, I was really fortunate that I had an adjustable when I was a newer amputee.

[00:23:56] So I could loosen my socket, I could tighten my socket. Um, and I look back on that now and it, it almost seems a little, you know, surreal only because I, I, I can wear a prosthesis all day now. And it's, it's, it's as if it's not even there, which if you would have, you know, took me back, you know, six years, I would have said, there's no, there's no, there's no way.

[00:24:25] I'm going to be able to wear this all day because I'm so uncomfortable. And, you know, it's, it's, it's that patient process. It's failing forward. It's allowing yourself to, um, you know, deal with those challenges in a, in a, in a graceful way. And if you're just exhausted, that's okay. Because tomorrow is another day and life is a gift. So we have to keep going. Wouldn't you say?

[00:24:56] Yes. You know, I've got a note here about your uncle, John and his, uh, mentorship of you. Would you mind, uh, talking a little bit about that for us? Not at all. So my dad wasn't around and my uncle stepped in and, uh, was a father figure for me and did an amazing job to, uh, give me focus and this focus and discipline on what was important in being a man.

[00:25:25] And after I graduated from high school, I attended a junior college for a couple of years, but didn't really make any progress. So he advised me that, um, maybe I should go in a different direction, either a trade or go into the military. And, uh, I didn't want to go into the military. He suggested that I think you'd be a good barber. You're good with your hands. You're good with people. Um, so the next day I signed up for a barber school. That was in 1988. I've been barbering ever since.

[00:25:53] And what I didn't realize at the time, he was creating a path, not just for me, but for my younger cousin and my younger brother who looked up to me and they ended up being barbers as well.

[00:26:36] Wow. Of youth and just struggling to find themselves. So to have someone in your life that helped you stay on courses. And is he still around? Yes, he is. Oh, that's, that's even more of a blessing, right? Cause he can, he can enjoy you and what you're doing. Yeah. He's, he's part of, uh, he's part of the story in my book as well. Oh, fantastic. Yeah. Everyone's got to check out the book.

[00:27:06] That sounds awesome. I have to as well. Um, would you say that there are any similarities between the amputee community and, you know, the barbershop community? Yes, there is.

[00:27:29] But I would think, I would say that there's more of a, uh, bond and connection with other amputees than the bond in the barbershop community. Only because the tragedy is so similar. It's more of a, uh, it's more of a brotherly bond. Yeah, I know what you mean.

[00:27:51] Um, to lose a part of yourself certainly is, uh, you know, it's something that puts us in a deep sort of reflection about life and what's important. And when you meet people that have a similar experience, I always say it's kind of like, uh, it's kind of like going to war, you know, we, we, we came back from it and now we, now we can, we can live to tell.

[00:28:21] We can talk about it and swap our little, you know, our little war stories and, uh, relate to each other. Um, and I, you know, I meet amputees, gosh, with the podcast and the community that we built. I mean, I, I feel like I talked to various people in the community every day now.

[00:28:48] And there is very much, you know, a bond that we share. And I, I very much appreciate that. Um, because it's, it's, it's important to know that you're not alone in this, uh, because that isolation, um, can occur pretty easy if you don't have other people out there to talk to.

[00:29:13] And I would encourage everyone, you know, that's living with this, you know, to get as many resources as you can, you know, whether it's podcasts like this or, you know, the content that you're putting out, um, as far as, you know, your book and, you know, the video blogging that you do and things like that. All, all of which are, are very, very helpful. I mean, you never really know like who you're inspiring out there.

[00:29:42] I mean, do you ever think about that? I mean, when you post something, how do you, how, how does, uh, how would it make you feel to know that's affecting a lot of people in our situation in a positive way? Well, it, that's the reason I do it. Um, because it helped me when I was going through it.

[00:30:05] I joined several, um, amputee Facebook groups when I, when I first started and by me looking at all the other content to help me through the process. I felt that, um, I didn't want the experience to read to define who I am, but redefine my purpose in the purpose of being able to, um, inspire other people in what I do.

[00:30:31] So then I started posting, um, content on my page and writing blogs to help people who've gone through traumatic events, whether it's an amputation, whether it's a loss of a loved one in a relationship, death or whatever it is. People are experiencing trauma and they need something to help them work through it. Very much so.

[00:30:53] And, you know, even in the research I've done, you know, on you and in preparation for this interview, I was struck, you know, a few times, uh, in terms of just being inspired by what you represent in the community, not even just as an amputee, but as a guy who's out there, you know, mentoring, you know, young people, building community, giving people, uh, a space.

[00:31:21] To, uh, to, uh, be part of something that's bigger than themselves. You know, I actually had, um, this morning I had written down a question that I wanted to ask you. This is, this is a little bit of an odd question. Um, if you could cut anyone's hair from history, anyone, who would it be? Martin Luther King. There you go.

[00:31:51] MLK, baby. Yeah. And how do you think that would go? Like, what would, I mean, you've got the way in which you interact, right? As a barber. So walk me through that experience. Like, what questions would you ask? Well, it would be amazing, but it wouldn't be really, as far as questions, any different than most people I cut.

[00:32:21] Because, you know, I dig deep in getting to know somebody personally and what makes them tick and why they do what they do, um, their hobbies, what they love about that. And just let them talk once I hit them with the questions. Um, and just let it grow the conversation organically. And that's one of the things I love about what I do. Yeah, just let it, let it flow.

[00:32:50] And, uh, you know, let it happen in a natural way so that they're comfortable. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The more you end up learning about them. Yeah. Yeah. I would think so. And you seem, like, very approachable in that regard. So it wouldn't be, like, an intimidating thing. It'd be more like a, hey, I just want to share, you know, what I'm going through or how I'm feeling.

[00:33:19] I mean, it's really a form of therapy when you think about it. I mean, you're sitting down and it's a little bit vulnerable for some people, isn't it? Like when they sit down in the chair? It can be. Let me tell you how much of a therapy session it can be. Right. So I had a new guy who came to see me, who moved in town from, from Texas. Right. And, uh, his name's Scott.

[00:33:48] Scott came in and I said, this is before he even got in the chair. First time. Right. I said, Scott, how you doing? He said, I'm doing fine. And then within 10 seconds, he's like, you know what? I'm really not. And he dropped on me every issue from his fiance, not wanting to move to Atlanta from Texas that they had planned to do to his job. Wasn't what he, uh, planned for it to be.

[00:34:16] I mean, just, he hit me with everything and he was like, I feel better now. I was like, well, I'm glad you do. Let's get your hair cut now. Usually it happens progressively over time. Yeah. Yeah. But he obviously had a need, you know, to, to, to vent, to dump, you know, do an emotional dump, but he felt comfortable in that situation just to kind of let that out.

[00:34:46] And he saw you as someone that didn't pose a threat, wasn't going to judge, was just, you know, just a, just a friendly face and, uh, you know, a friendly spirit vibration that, okay, I'm, I'm just going to get this stuff off my chest and I'll feel a little bit better. You know, it's like the, it's like the, like the therapist chair, right?

[00:35:11] You're, you're, you're, you get comfortable and then you just let it all out, you know? So I, I, uh, you know, I, I've been shaving my head now for so many years. It's been so long since I actually had someone do anything with my hair. But, uh, I do recall that being, you know, like an intimate kind of setting.

[00:35:37] It's, it's, uh, you know, you're in close, close proximity to someone and you do get to know that person, you know? And it's, uh, it's very, it's very much an exercise in, um, connection and being connected and communicating and bonding and all of that. I, I, I am truly fascinated by that particular atmosphere.

[00:36:05] It's, uh, it seems like a very, very worthwhile career choice for someone. I don't regret it at all. So what is next? Let's talk about, uh, what's next for you. Obviously you got the, the next book coming out. What's that? What's the, the second book called again?

[00:36:31] Um, resilience, the lessons I've learned from limb loss. And is there anything you want to share about resilience? Is there anything you want to tease or are we just going to have to wait until we buy it? Well, resilience is built over multiple different, like we, like we talked about before, ups and downs, trials and tribulations that you push through and recover from.

[00:36:59] Um, but if you quit when you're halfway up the hill and you don't reach the top, then you're wasting, you wasted the potential of building on your resilience. Absolutely. But the next thing for me is I've recently, I recently got my, uh, life coaching certification and, um, moving forward to be able to help other people through life coaching to work through

[00:37:29] their traumas. That's fantastic. I mean, what a worthwhile endeavor as well. I mean, just, uh, being able to help others, you know, get through trauma or get through, you know, difficult times, no matter what that is, medically, professionally, just giving people the tools and the practices that they need in order to find their best selves and to be able

[00:37:58] to move forward, you know, with their lives and, and live well. Because so much, so much for me now, you know, being in my fifties, being an amputee, part of a community, um, for me, it's all about just living well, you know, living in a way that I can be proud of that I'm here to serve, um, the people that I love, the communities that I serve, the people that I interact with.

[00:38:26] All of that I think is, is so critical right now, especially given the, the climate in the world and the division that we see going on in the world where people have become, you know, really in, in a lot of ways, very tribal. They're very sort of divided and I choose to, you know, really just be light in that situation. It's okay for people. Powerful. Yeah.

[00:38:56] It's okay for people to disagree. It's okay. You know, I have lifelong friends that I may not agree with everything they feel, you know, religiously, politically, whatever, whatever you want to, you know, whatever issue you want to, you know, pull out of the air.

[00:39:16] But I will not let that, um, blind me from the beauty of friendship or the beauty of community or connection. Uh, I think it's really important for all of us to bring our best selves to those conversations and not give up on each other because as long as we stick together, we will, uh, we will continue to progress. It's when we start shutting down.

[00:39:44] I feel that's when we're kind of like doomed, you know, when we just say, ah, I just, I don't want to deal with any of those people. It's like, well, okay, but at some point we have to live together and, you know, we're only as strong as our numbers. And if we isolate, it's probably not going to go very well. So I appreciate so much of what you're doing in the community, your work, you know, as a

[00:40:14] barber, you know, uh, as an author, as someone who is, is now embarking on, you know, life coach, you know, mentoring people in their lives to improve themselves. You know, all of that is fantastic. And, you know, it's on the heels of what most people would probably consider to be the end of Travis. Yeah.

[00:40:44] Yeah. I mean, what would you say to the doubters? What would you say to the people that quietly thought, well, he's going to lose his leg and it's kind of like lights out, party over. You know, I, I really don't like to focus on those that don't support the vision of where I'm going and what I can become, because I think that is a waste of energy.

[00:41:10] I'd rather focus and talk to those that want, like you say, want, want and need the shining light to brighten their day, their week, their month. Right. So I want to be that light that shines and so bright that it draws them to me. But to, to focus on negative rhetoric is not something that I try to feed.

[00:41:41] Very wise words. Very, very wise words. I think I would wholeheartedly agree with that. I tend to remove those energies out of my orbit. But I'm like, nope, don't need that. Let's, let's just keep moving forward. Travis Sanders, such a pleasure to meet you. I will continue to follow you. I am so excited to see what's next for you. And please don't be a stranger.

[00:42:11] I really appreciate you coming on the show. And for everyone out there that's listening, please check out Travis. Check out his feed. Check out his blog. Check out his books. Go on Amazon. Do the search. And, you know, until next time, my friend, we will see you. Thank you for having me. Appreciate your time. Oh, man. My pleasure. Everyone, my name is Rick Bonkowski. This is the Amped Up 211 podcast.

[00:42:40] And I want to wish everyone health and happiness. And we will see you next time.