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What is The Work of Warriors?
A warrior is defined as one who is in conflict and sacrifices themselves for the
good of others. Sadly, in the entertainment industry, and the world of
entrepreneurship, this perspective is dangerous. To stay alive, amidst our
struggles, we must first fight for ourselves and then fight for the masses. My
name is Kim Rapach and I am an integrative coach on a mission to end celebrity
suicide. My life’s work is to help entrepreneurs and entertainers escape the
darkness that often accompanies high levels of success. What an honor it is to
have crucial conversations around entertainment, entrepreneurship, and mental
health. “The Work of Warriors” is a series of brave conversations with talented
entertainers, and entrepreneurs who are not only using their gifts to make the
world a better place, they are modeling mental wellness in ways that inspire
others. For our purpose of bringing healing to the world, a warrior’s task is to take
great care of themselves, so they may take great care of others. The work of a
warrior, for us, is someone who has radical self-acceptance and uses their gifts to
make a profound impact on the world. If we are going to have a positive impact
on the entertainment industry, we need to do THREE things: 1. Normalize candid
conversations around mental health 2. Redefine success so that it aligns with
mental wellness 3. Engage with each other from a place of self-love, and healthy
boundaries When we fight for ourselves, we heal the world. Therefore, the world
needs more people who are willing to fight for themselves. As warriors on the
front lines, it is our greatest hope that these conversations will inspire high
achievers to care well for themselves and ask for help when they need it.
Together, we are all warriors, redefining mental health as mental wellness, and
healing the world, one warrior at a time. SPECIAL NOTE To all entertainers,
without all of you, we have nothing. Sincerely, thank you for your work, for using
your gifts to heal the world. If you are struggling, please reach out to your local
community resources, or call the National Suicide Hotline, 988.
Kim Rapach (00:00.994)
Hi Eric, thank you for being here.
Kim Rapach (00:07.666)
Absolutely. So.
The Work of Warriors podcast is dedicated to bringing mental wellness to the entertainment industry. And I know that you have experience in the industry as an athlete, I believe, and a musician. And I'm just curious, you know, we connected online, but I'm curious when you heard about the podcast, when you heard about the Work of Warriors and this idea of bringing mental wellness to a very large industry where we know a lot of people struggle.
Eric Steven Walker (00:24.583)
Yes.
Kim Rapach (00:40.042)
What made you interested in this mission?
Eric Steven Walker (00:44.53)
Well, Kim, the first thing that I found interesting was that you call it mental wellness. There's such taboo on mental health and seeking help, but if you're building wellness, that's where everything works out for you. And being an athlete, going for that professional athletic dream that everyone chases and almost no one gets to. And then in music right now is the career is building, and I'm doing that while working another full-time job.
You have to really balance things to stay well mentally. I was a catcher when I played college baseball and ended up having seven concussions throughout my life, five of which were in baseball that we know about. And so I went down a bad road for a few years after that and was hoping that maybe some of my story or process could help anyone else out that's been in that situation or currently is.
Kim Rapach (01:41.954)
Yeah, I appreciate that so much. And I wanna start where you started, which is the idea of wellness, right? I'm not sure if you know this, but I used to be a therapist. And so I had a private practice for almost 10 years, and I worked in another private practice before that. I was a social worker. And the mental health system does focus on illness.
Right? If you go just to have somebody to talk to for being human, for trying to sort out this complex life, you have to have a diagnosis and, you know, oftentimes you need to go through your insurance because it's so expensive. And so I just I think that system is a little dated.
if I'm to be candid, and it focuses on people's struggles and weaknesses and maybe even just areas that they're just not aware of about themselves yet. And wellness, like you said, takes, it just shifts the narrative, right? It just says, okay, I see you as a whole person. I see you as somebody who is human and complex and has all the human emotions, which is totally normal. And then we're gonna look at your experiences and we're gonna understand
Eric Steven Walker (02:43.013)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (02:53.848)
your experiences are unique to you and how they rest in your body, how they come out, how they impact how you see the world. And when we know all of that, we can put tools and language and practices in place that help you achieve wellness as opposed to focusing on what's wrong or, you know, and I just think often what's wrong is just dysregulation based on the experiences we've had. So, you know, it sounds like you've had
quite an experience with that and I would love to hear more about how you know the just being an athlete and being in that industry and then having injury how that's impacted your mental health and how you approach mental wellness what it means to you why it matters to you and then we'll just kind of go from there
Eric Steven Walker (03:45.266)
Yeah, that sounds great. Let me start with a, let me use a physical example before we hit mental. Okay, so let's say someone, I'm not gonna say tears their ACL or they have to have surgery. Let's say they sprain it. A doctor's not gonna go, all right, we've gotta focus your whole life on your ACL sprain. What are they gonna do? How are we gonna make your knee well?
Kim Rapach (03:52.238)
sure.
Eric Steven Walker (04:09.554)
You might have to rehab it with exercises. You might take medicine for a little bit. But the idea is to have a fully functioning knee the rest of your life, right? And not be like, oh, I had a knee injury 10 years ago and I'm worried about my knee illness. No, you get it well, right? So I wish I had known this when all the concussions had happened, but to kind of give you some background on my story. I played at a junior college in Texas called Grayson County.
Team won the national championship, so that was kind of cool. So you got to see the highs there. Went to OSU and had consecutive brain injuries, like in a pre-season. I was in position where I potentially could have got drafted that year. Had the year gone right. So I lied and said I was well after the first one. Didn't know about the threshold. Found out about the concussions, had seven. Fast forward, I get done playing. Sleep issues.
not able to wake up to alarms, couldn't focus anymore. So basically, when you would think mental illness or however that's classified now, probably had multiple things going on as a result of those concussions, right? And just sat in that for a long time. Does that make sense, kind of where, that's where I was starting before the healing process made sense, right? Okay. And...
Kim Rapach (05:22.867)
Yeah, traumatic brain injury.
Kim Rapach (05:33.518)
Sure.
Eric Steven Walker (05:36.622)
As far as wellness goes, you have to be chasing something, I think. So when someone's healing, like they have a sprained ACL, they're not chasing, not hurting anymore. They're chasing being well. Right. Okay. So some of my story and you know, this is personal to me. So again, I'm not trying to influence anyone's faith or beliefs or anything like that, but I was just so sick of it. One night I was praying like I God give me a way out of this, right? Like show me way and this idea of 1% growth daily.
popped in my mind. So for five years was chasing growing 1% daily and what that looked like and I mean that morphed and changed all the time but yeah where there's still physical problems or problems within thinking process yes but when you're growing and focusing on that your brain is no longer oh I'm sick I'm well but your focus changes from being ill to getting well. If that does that make sense? Kind of what I'm saying on that.
Kim Rapach (06:36.862)
It does. It makes perfect sense. And when you say that you were asking, like you were praying, like, God show me a way out was, can you say a little bit more about that? And then I think I have another question.
Eric Steven Walker (06:47.546)
Yeah, absolutely. So it was at a point, I'm not going to say I was fully suicidal, but I debated things about that. I'd be waking up not breathing. It's almost like the brain and organs weren't connected. And so I was like, if this how life's going to go, just take me up. You know, but the way out is like how to being someone that had played college ball and had a degree, I didn't feel like I could do everything I was gifted with. And it felt like it's because of the injury. So I was searching for any answer on that.
Kim Rapach (07:17.482)
Yeah. Well, okay. So Eric, the next question I have, and I share a very similar experience with you in my darkest season. That's really what was going on with me, too. In my darkest night, it was praying, just let me die in my sleep, give me a heart attack, make this stop. And it was frightening. And so it may not be that you have a plan, but
Eric Steven Walker (07:35.058)
Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (07:40.857)
Yeah.
Kim Rapach (07:44.906)
you're still so close because you're wanting that way out. And I think that is far more common than what people want to talk about and what people want to admit. And I know for me, I had to make a choice to choose myself. And obviously you did too. And you chose, you were given maybe via prayer or whatever the 1% better. But do you know or do you have language for what...
Eric Steven Walker (07:54.482)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (08:15.114)
What caused you to choose yourself to say, I'm worth 1% better every day?
Eric Steven Walker (08:21.762)
Yeah, I would say the choice came down to this. At the end of life, we're all gonna die, right? I mean, we know that. And so you go, do I want it to be like this or do I want it to be where I actually live life? And when all you face is pain sometimes, it's all, that's all you see. It's pain right in front of your face. But if you can shift the focus.
and go life can be beautiful, but something's got to change. And if I choose to not walk out on life today, it might change.
There's always hope if you allow there to be, you know? And I think that's where the choice came. No, that's...
Kim Rapach (09:06.634)
Yeah, and I think that's, oh, sorry. I was gonna say, I think that's so powerful because for people who are striving to make it in the entertainment industry or to be a professional athlete or musician or whatever it may be, the only way to ensure that it won't happen is to quit. Right? And the only way to ensure that it might happen is if you keep going.
And so we keep going toward our career, toward our dreams, toward that mission that we feel in our gut and our soul that we know we're here to do. We just have to keep going. I tell people I'm on a mission to make a positive contribution to the entertainment industry so that we can end celebrity suicide. That feels humongous and just a monstrosity, but I don't know what else to do. I just keep going.
Eric Steven Walker (09:34.565)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (10:02.166)
because that's what I know I'm supposed to do. And I think your analogy is the same. If I choose to keep going, life could be beautiful and you won't know unless you keep going. So it just seems like such a strong parallel to life and to what the work of warriors is all about.
Eric Steven Walker (10:22.674)
You know, and I've been very blessed to not have to deal with addiction. Like I know a lot of people have, but listening to how some of them are trained, it's, I may have heard this on a podcast from someone who had gone through it also, but it was like, I don't have to be everything you're chasing. I don't have to be that today, but I got to take one step forward. Don't they like, I don't have to be addicted today. Right. And they just try and do that every day. So if you feel hopeless, go, I don't have to be hopeless today.
I don't have to feel that way today. And you just go one day at a time instead of, and I mean, I even got to where I was breaking it down hour by hour, you know, whatever it took to go hour by hour when it was first going on, because if the whole day felt like a burden, have a purpose for each hour so that you start getting your focus beyond the illness or pain that's going on.
Kim Rapach (11:16.306)
Yeah. I have a beautiful friend in recovery from alcohol and she talks about next right thing. And so we just throw the phrase that we're just next right thing in all the time. Next right thing. Yeah. Just keep next right thing in. Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (11:23.4)
Mm-hmm.
Eric Steven Walker (11:27.474)
Yeah, absolutely. That is, I like that language. Next right thing. That's powerful.
powerful. And you know, we talk about the celebrity suicide issue that's going on. I think two main things that keep or could keep a person from drifting there is focus and expectation. So I think, I think while a lot of entertainers, like athletes, especially because I struggled a lot when the dream ended of playing pro ball. One, you got to know how much work you're putting in.
Kim Rapach (11:53.227)
similar.
Eric Steven Walker (12:05.75)
if your expectations meet your work ethic. So if you can be honest with yourself, which is tough for entertainers to do, we're dreamers, but if you're honest with yourself and go, you know what, I haven't earned that, it's a little bit easier to not be disappointed. I mean you'll still be disappointed, but if you can look at it and go, have I honestly earned this position? Have I earned what I'm chasing? You know, if you haven't, it's sad, but you can let it go.
And the second thing is focus. If it gets taken from you, I mean, what can you do about it? You can maybe move forward and change or reshape it or change what you want your end goal to be. So setting goals that are time constrained but realistic and not challenging. You want something that you may not be able to achieve but something that you could achieve if everything went right. So you're like next right thing. So it's inspirational enough to chase down if that makes sense.
Kim Rapach (13:02.698)
Yeah. And I think, you know, when you're talking about your goal and have I put in the work to match the goal? Have I earned this? I think that could be tricky too, right? Because I think so many people in this industry give so much without almost on the other end without checking, is it worth it? Do you have that experience?
Eric Steven Walker (13:11.952)
Mm-hmm.
Eric Steven Walker (13:22.331)
Mm-hmm.
Eric Steven Walker (13:29.234)
Yes.
Yeah, and when I was first starting out in music, chasing that dream, because I've written probably 300 songs. Second album comes out in September, so we're starting to release some of them and all that, but it's just like, how many of these shows do I need to play for free to try and book? Because I'd go play with friends in between their sets to try and book and some of that was going on. Am I just stupid for chasing this?
and wanting it to take off and then realizing, well, I need to focus on skill. Yeah, the songs are good, but is my performance good enough? And so sometimes it's more productivity. So when I'd set goals, I would reset goals for productivity and then look at what am I doing each day and each week to get there? And then measure it. Measure, you know, if we wanna release five albums in five years, are we doing one a year? Or, you know, if we wanna write 10 more songs in a year, are we writing one a month?
and kind of staying on that track is to where instead of having to focus on all this crazy stuff, what are we doing within the month or the day? And then it makes it easy to stay focused because the day is too short to get everything done. You want to get done.
Kim Rapach (14:43.63)
Sure, and that's much like a business plan, right? That a company would have, and that makes sense. I think what I would ask you is what are you doing? So I know for like the clients that I have, I'm not stopping them from hustling and grinding and chasing that dream, and I don't want to, but I want to make sure that they're taking care of themselves first along the way. So, you know.
Eric Steven Walker (14:46.126)
Right, exactly.
Eric Steven Walker (14:59.315)
Right.
Kim Rapach (15:09.09)
I always describe like the definition of a warrior is somebody who sacrifices themselves so they can fight for everybody else. And that's dangerous for this industry, right? Because people do sacrifice everything, their money, their time, their time with families, their privacy, their autonomy, and they lose so much and they do sacrifice everything. And so I want people to be well so that they can live within their values, they can uphold their boundaries,
have the right yeses and the right no's without just churning and burning all the time until they realize they're not actually a robot and they do have physical and mental limits, what would you say? So I guess I say that to say, you know, the work of warriors, for me, the work of a warrior is somebody who chooses to take care of themselves first so that they can fight for the rest of us. There's a limit to.
If you're not taking care of yourself, there's only so far you're gonna be able to go. There's only so much you're gonna be able to do for other people. And so it sounds like you know that, and I guess I would ask, what are you doing on a regular basis? You talked about what you're doing for your career goals. What are you doing to maintain your wellness, to maintain your mental wellness, to stay strong, to stay out of that dark place?
Eric Steven Walker (16:32.67)
That's such a great point, the way you've worded that and phrased it. And you know, I said, I'll go through goals daily. I'm looking at some of those goals are wellness goals. So drink a gallon, drink a gallon of water today. Sounds stupid, but I treat that goal just as important as producing a song. Because if I don't look at it with that same intensity as editing this song or uploading it.
Kim Rapach (16:43.254)
I would love to hear them.
Eric Steven Walker (16:58.114)
I won't drink, I'll drink half a gallon. My body gets dehydrated. I feel like crap. There we go back down the spiral again. Right? So there's routines I have. So that maybe the amount of water drink, what the diet looks like. And I'm not a strict diet person, but there's certain things I do eat every day or don't eat. And I have a checklist for that to look at. Make sure I get time of reading, meditating, and praying. I like a certain amount of time each week I like to do with that. And then...
scheduling time for people in community. Cause you probably run into this a lot of people in industry. We'll go 16 hours a day all the time if we want to. And that's just how we're wired. We love it. But you will burn out at some point. And about in 2021, aware of my desire to just work until I burn out. When I started the year out, I said,
Every month, I'm going to take one Friday to Saturday, or Friday through Sunday, completely off each month, mandated. And then one week a quarter, completely unproductive. Which for, and you know, for people that are doers, that's difficult. But that rest, I felt like was necessary because it was about at the time I needed a recharge. I try to take every Sunday completely off.
anything productive so the rest of the week can go to. It's just really valid because I don't sleep that much. I just naturally don't. I wake up on six hours and feel good. So I try to prioritize rest as well. And then obviously working out and exercise I have a certain amount of time I want to spend per week there. And I just put that on the goal list. Do we hit it perfectly every time? No. But when that you know when it's in your conscience long enough it becomes subconscious habits for you.
So you probably had to do that a couple of years, but then that just becomes your lifestyle.
Kim Rapach (18:56.906)
Yeah, I love all that. I do wanna push back on one little thing that you said. When you said it probably sounds stupid, I'm like, no, it actually sounds like the work of a warrior. Because I do think we have this idea that if we're gonna be well, if we're gonna take care of ourselves, if we're gonna, you know, we have to have this magic answer, right? It's in a pill or it's in, I gotta pay somebody $5,000, I gotta read this book, go through this program. It's like, just drink a freaking glass of water.
Eric Steven Walker (19:00.878)
Okay, alright. Okay, okay.
Kim Rapach (19:27.9)
Get hydrated, start there, just start there. And I guarantee you, I don't want to pull up my phone or anything, but on my phone I have a to-do list and I call it the damn thing. The list is called the damn thing. And it's just like, I don't really ever want to do those things, but I just do the damn thing, right? Because that's when I feel my best. I...
Eric Steven Walker (19:28.414)
Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (19:46.415)
Just do the damn thing.
Kim Rapach (19:49.27)
When I hit, my big ones are my macros, my water, my steps and my workouts, and my morning routine, which involves journaling. And when I hit those every day, I'm like, I can handle anything. But then like when I start getting grouchy or grumpy or irritable, I can see like.
Eric Steven Walker (19:56.734)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (20:09.318)
Oh, I didn't go to the gym. I haven't gone for two days. I haven't really hit my gallon of water every day. And one of those is I too drink a gallon of water a day. And these are the things that, I have these high achieving clients who they think that they've got to hit the next level in their career and that's what's gonna make them happy.
And it's actually these things. It's when you take care of your body, when you take care of your mind, and you foster the relationships of people that you love. That's everything. And when you can see that as gold, your career is more likely to take off. You are more likely to make more money and you are more likely to have better boundaries and also enjoy the success that you achieve.
Eric Steven Walker (20:55.922)
Yeah, because what's the point of achieving if you're miserable? You know, some of the, I've coached with some people because I teach full-time. Like I'm also in finance industry too. So I do a lot of stuff trying to get, eventually get out of the teaching industry. Um, but I've taught and coached with the guy that was making, I mean, I think the most he ever made was 35,000 in a year, you know,
Kim Rapach (20:59.498)
Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (21:21.618)
the happiest person ever because he just loved working on the field and loved people and loved his job and he had a really cheap house on some land out in the country. Him and his wife lived there. They had a happy family and that really taught me, hey, to be happy you don't have to achieve. Now some people it drives them to achieve, but if you have the things that are most important in life.
hey, you've got everything you need. It's just, it's fun to chase down the dream in entertainment. I think that's the balance a lot of us entertainers have trouble with.
Kim Rapach (21:56.99)
Yeah, I would agree. And I also think, you know, a message to listeners or who, you know, people who aren't really sure how or where to start is you define what success means for you. You decide. Don't let anybody else decide. And certainly don't let a bunch of strangers on the internet decide, you know. And if you have a manager, if you have an agent, make sure they have your interest, you know, your best interest in mind. But even then at the end of the day,
Eric Steven Walker (22:08.398)
Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
Eric Steven Walker (22:14.993)
No.
Kim Rapach (22:24.53)
I think a lot of people, especially coming up in the industry, if they could build that foundation first of what values am I not willing to let go of, what boundaries am I not willing to cross, and have that as a foundation so that they can protect that as they get more momentum and more success. You had said, if you're not well, if you're miserable, what's the point?
agree more I always say like the world needs your gifts but never at the cost of your soul and like you're here you have a gift and I want you to bring it to the world but
Eric Steven Walker (22:59.41)
Right. Yeah.
Kim Rapach (23:05.79)
I want you to be able to make a difference. And if you're making a difference, and we've seen it over and over and over where someone is bringing their gifts into the world, we love watching them play, whether it's on the field or a stage or whatever, read their books, buy their products. And then we find out that there's a big scandal and there's been a big trail or betrayal, or we lose them to addiction, to suicide. And I just think it's collectively traumatic when that happens.
Eric Steven Walker (23:16.303)
Mm-hmm.
Eric Steven Walker (23:36.698)
Yeah, very shocking.
Kim Rapach (23:36.704)
And so this idea of wellness, I think is so important.
Eric Steven Walker (23:41.594)
Yeah, it's a shocking thing when you lose people to it. They get so lost in the role or whatever they're doing. And, you know, to artists, and especially if there's any musicians that see this, there's a big push and you have to dress or look this way. You need to write songs that fit in. You got to do this. You get well, if that's you. But who is doing Ed Sheeran type music till Ed Sheeran did it?
Kim Rapach (24:10.647)
That's right. That's such a great point.
Eric Steven Walker (24:11.674)
He's one of the most popular. Garth Brooks was always a big inspiration to me because I've always been a rocker at heart, but rooted in country music. And he just did both because he loved them both and combined them into one thing. And it completely changed the whole country industry. So it's a deal. And plus people aren't gonna buy stuff that's not genuine. They can tell if you're faking it. And so...
If you've lost yourself, you're not well mentally, are you really going to make stuff that's pretty genuine? It's tough to be on that level, you know.
Kim Rapach (24:49.304)
Yeah.
And that's where I think those values and boundaries come in. You know, again, I think each of us has our own gift and you know, what, what I say to myself and my clients is I'm the best at what I do, how I do it. I'm not the best in the world. I'm not the best coach in the world. Not the best speaker. I'm not the best podcaster, but when I work with people, I'm the best at what I do, how I do it, and then other people are going to do it differently and they're the best at how they do it.
And there's, you know, one, there's room for all of us, but again, our gifts are our gifts. And if we shift and shape shift to meet the demands of other people, particularly strangers, that's a huge button for me, you know, strangers on the internet telling you how to do things. You know, it's just, it's gonna get you nowhere. But I also respect the fact that in the entertainment industry,
It's cutthroat. And so you have to know who you are, who you wanna be, how far you wanna go and what you're willing to sacrifice. And I just always hope that it's never yourself. So.
Eric Steven Walker (25:50.429)
Okay.
Eric Steven Walker (26:02.59)
Right.
Kim Rapach (26:04.39)
And how do you know that? And I think sometimes people don't really know who they are. They, you know, they're young, they don't, they don't know those boundaries. They don't know what values are. They don't know what their own values are, their own boundaries. And they find themselves picking up momentum. And now you've got other people controlling your schedule, your social media, your image, your money, your relationships and your image and everything. And how do you, it's like, that's how people I think get lost because they're not who they are. They're who?
everybody else tells them to be. And so.
Eric Steven Walker (26:36.282)
It's working out and you mentioned that you have your workouts you do too. To anyone in the industry, I think it's one of the most valuable things you can do because your body is training your mind for resiliency. And yeah, it makes you tough and you need to look good and all that stuff, too. But more importantly, that last rep when you have to negotiate with yourself, how am I going to hit that rep?
If nothing bugs you physically, your mind is already trained to put up with crap. And you know in the industry, there's plenty of crap. And if someone tells you, hey, you're going to do this and it breaks your value and system of who you are, you can tell them no, because you're not afraid. You know, it may take you an extra year to recarve your way back to where you want to be, but you can look a person in the eye and tell them no, that goes completely against what I do. And so I think like, you know, you talk about how you prioritize working out.
Kim Rapach (27:13.314)
Yep.
Eric Steven Walker (27:34.474)
I think that's so important. It's easy to lose it, but even if it's 15 minutes a day of just challenging your body physically a little bit, maybe as going to a sauna and sitting or getting in a cold tub, anything that is gonna produce a challenge will build mental resiliency. So like you say, you can be secure in who you are and not let people push you around.
Kim Rapach (27:55.966)
Yeah, yeah, and I think exercise for anyone, and this does apply to more people than we really wanna talk about, but for people who have trauma, in any stage of life, but especially if people have a rough start to life, if they have early childhood trauma.
That is stored in our bodies and it needs a way out. And it needs a way out through movement, through exercise, through creativity, through play, through innocence, through nature, through journaling, through therapy or coaching. There's so many ways to rewire the brain, but I think what happens for us high achievers is we tend to lock that down and go, good old Kelly Clarkson, what doesn't Kelly make you stronger?
takes you out, you know, it's like, wait, I don't feel very strong anymore.
Eric Steven Walker (28:44.211)
Right, right, right. Have you seen the study? It's from a book called Zero Point Field put out probably 15, 20 years ago. Or it may just be called the field, but it's about the zero point field, but basically how water can store, water can store memory basically. So if you have a lot of trauma within your body.
and you're not sweating that out. I mean, that may sound crazy, you're storing so much energy in your body that was negative. If you sweat it out, you kind of get to start over every day basically, you know? And that's kind of a wild thing to think about. So that's, I hadn't heard that trauma would store, like literally store in your body like you're talking about, but that does make a lot of sense.
Kim Rapach (29:38.27)
Yeah. And it's, you know, it's stored in our nervous system, essentially, like our nervous system gets dysregulated. And so if you see somebody who's, you know, angry or they're going off at the gas station or, you know, I just remember like, wow, what, what must that person have been through to behave that way? Because we're just not, we just don't enter the world like that. And so having compassion.
you know, for ourselves first. I think that's the work of a warrior, having compassion for ourselves so that we can have compassion for other people. And again, that doesn't mean you don't have boundaries. It doesn't mean you let people walk all over you, but you just don't take it personal. You say, okay, you know, that's not about me. But I believe, you know, you know, the water theory that you're talking about, I could buy into that because I think there is so
Eric Steven Walker (30:10.087)
Yes.
Right.
Eric Steven Walker (30:16.422)
Right.
Kim Rapach (30:32.612)
trauma seems to be like a buzzword, but it's really not. It's important and I'm so glad that we're finally talking about it and that we're becoming more trauma-informed in schools and in relationships and in marriage and all the things with just humanity. And I just, I wanna bring it to the entertainment industry. And it doesn't need to be taboo. Everybody has experiences and most people who are really
zeroed in and driving, they have experienced something really painful. And I'm not here to say like, oh, you have to sit in it. But you do need to unhook from it. And there are ways to do that. And it starts with this kind of work. You know, I, I think this kind of work can take us, you know, 70 80%, if not 100% all the way to being well. And if somebody can't drink their water,
Eric Steven Walker (31:26.142)
Yes.
Kim Rapach (31:31.324)
let go of the cigarettes or the alcohol or the drugs or the betrayal, then there's something significantly deeper going on that is stored that you're trying to run from. And that's where I think therapy and coaching are, it's time for that, right? That would be a great addition to your wellness plan or what you're trying to do.
Eric Steven Walker (31:39.346)
Yes.
Eric Steven Walker (31:51.594)
Kim, are you familiar with someone trauma-informed? The school I had taught at, we'd gone through a really small section out the last two years. They called it ACE scores. Is that how you've heard it too? Okay, so like basically it was what? Eight to 10, you're probably gonna die early if you don't handle it right. Significantly.
Kim Rapach (32:12.286)
Yeah, it rates the amount of trauma that a person has experienced and it correlates it to the amount of physical and chronic illness that they tend to have.
Eric Steven Walker (32:21.05)
Right. And so one thing I noticed, the school that I've been working at, they look at our students' average ACE scores compared to some schools I'd worked at previously, those average ACE scores, ours were significantly higher. Like the amount of trauma, no one should do that in their life, get along when they're in school. And you can see the difference. Well, if you don't have a coping mechanism or a method to heal, how are you going to do anything?
Well, if you're in the entertainment industry and that's you and you're still unhealed from it, you're unwell, how are you gonna achieve? You know, you can, but you're likely to go off the deep end or you're a lot more likely to engage in activities that you can't, so there is no shame in seeking help. And I like that you frame it as wellness because it's not I'm ill and I need help. It's ill and I wanna become well. And sometimes part of that is seeking help, you know?
Kim Rapach (33:19.59)
Yeah. Well, and I, you know, we've been conditioned, Eric, to think and to believe that there are those of us who have mental health issues and there's those of us who don't. And the truth is just we all have mental health. Some of us, you know, have torn our ACL. Some of us have experienced child abuse, you know, and it's left it's scars.
Eric Steven Walker (33:29.767)
Mm-hmm.
Right.
Eric Steven Walker (33:36.201)
Yeah.
Kim Rapach (33:43.69)
Right? Whatever we've experienced physically, but also emotionally, it's left at scars. And when you have language and you have a safe person or a safe community to process that with, and you can find language, it's empowering. And I just, I think, like you said, right on the beginning of the call that there's still such taboo around mental health. And it's just so unfortunate because it's just true.
Eric Steven Walker (33:54.568)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (34:12.662)
that when we are not well, we hurt ourselves and each other. And that is as intimate from our friendships to our intimate relationships, to strangers in the grocery store, to I think a lot of what we see in our world. It just comes out sideways because we're not even aware that we're not well. We're not even aware that we're dysregulated.
Eric Steven Walker (34:37.866)
And it just builds kind of like that you're unconsciously incompetent, consciously incompetent, consciously competent, unconsciously competent. Those four, you know, I think most of the world right now is living in unconscious incompetence. Some would like to change, but most aren't even aware that there is an issue.
And even if there was, they don't want to explore it because ignoring it seems less painful than trying to heal from it.
Kim Rapach (35:10.538)
Yeah, and it's natural to want to numb what hurts. It's natural. You have a headache, you want to take ibuprofen. You feel worthless even though you have a million people who supposedly love you and you still feel worthless. Well, you got to hit something a lot harder than ibuprofen to make that go away.
Eric Steven Walker (35:13.936)
Right.
Eric Steven Walker (35:17.68)
Right.
Eric Steven Walker (35:29.166)
Yeah, yeah, and that's drug addiction can happen from that easily. And I know this too, because at one point after we put out the first song, social media was taking off at a rate it happened in a while. And then just stagnated. Not that it's not growing, but in that dopamine hit you get when you're like, oh yeah, here we go. And then it stops. You really have to watch yourself because if you, when you say, if you put your value based on numbers.
They'll go up, they'll go down, they'll go up, they'll go down. If you go up and you go down, you're setting yourself up for unhealthy patterns that it can create damage that's irreversible if you live on that constantly. Not that you won't have the emotions associated, but understanding and recognizing that that's gonna happen and then having a way to manage it too is important.
Kim Rapach (36:10.858)
Yeah.
Kim Rapach (36:20.222)
Yeah, yeah, and I think it's Rachel Cruz who said, don't put your worth in anything that can be taken away.
Eric Steven Walker (36:29.799)
I like that.
Kim Rapach (36:31.23)
Me too. If your worth is in your identity as a football player or a musician or in how many followers you have, all of that can be taken away. If your worth is in the kind of house that you drive, or if I say house you drive, the kind of house that you live in or the car that you drive, all that can be taken away. And some people, I guess, wanna drive their houses, right? Yats are nice too. But if that can be taken away.
Eric Steven Walker (36:45.678)
Hahaha
Eric Steven Walker (36:50.597)
Mm-hmm.
Eric Steven Walker (36:55.748)
Hahaha
Kim Rapach (37:00.978)
then you have no worth when it's gone.
And so what I try to help people build is the solid foundation of self, you know, radical self-acceptance, radical self-wellness, um, taking care of themselves first so that when that adversity hits, and it always does, none of us are going to escape it. When the critics come for you, you know, all the things when the numbers drop, you lose followers, you lose a deal, you lose a gig, you get canceled,
you can still stand firm and know I still belong, I'm still worthy, I'm still a good human and I still have this amazing life of people who truly love me and care about me.
Eric Steven Walker (37:48.838)
And I've seen a lot of that play out both ways with some artists here in Oklahoma that are good friends of mine. You know, they may not be super organized is what they're doing. So then if there's, you know, if their system and process isn't organized, when that happens, boom, crash. Well, what makes you not succeed in anything you work on? Not working. Well, what makes you not work as an artist?
when you crash emotionally. So if you don't have things in place, if you're not committed, like I said, to your wellness, you know, like I said, the stupid gallon of water, it's not stupid, but it feels that way. It's not, it's not. It feels that way sometimes to yourself, but that's the most important thing.
Kim Rapach (38:30.814)
It's not stupid. It's not. Because we've been conditioned to think it's got to be this big magical thing. Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (38:40.518)
Yeah, it's the most important thing of the day is getting that water down because it's one you got to have it but two It's the discipline of going Am I going to be out of control or in control today? You know and you can't control other people You know, I've had it. I've had like three meetings the last couple days in a finance thing. I do all cancel My gonna be mad about that No, I can't there's nothing I can do, you know
But at the same time, I also ask, what can I do better to keep that from happening? If there's nothing I could do, let it go. If there is, then change the behavior. You know, and you got to, and it sounds simple. It takes a lot of work to get to that point, but that I think allows your mind to be more free.
Kim Rapach (39:29.822)
Yeah, the same person that I referenced a friend earlier who's in recovery, she used to be a chemo nurse and she would tell her clients, control what you can and flow like water with the rest. And I always think that's so beautiful because if you think about it, if you put your hands in a creek, right, a flowing creek of water, or even in a faucet, I don't care, but your hands are closed, no water is gonna get through.
But if your hands are open, the water can flow, right? And I just, I think that's so powerful. And the other thing that you reminded me of is, I don't know if you follow the work of Byron Katie, but I think it's Byron Katie who says that, this is happening for me, not to me. And that is such an act of discipline where I can't always, I'll be honest, I can't always believe it in the moment because I'm frustrated or I'm scared or whatever,
Eric Steven Walker (40:21.712)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (40:28.56)
and I'll pause because this is for me. I may not understand it. I may not ever know why, but I trust because this is for me and it might be protecting me from something else.
Eric Steven Walker (40:38.662)
Right. Like that your tire going flat, delaying you an hour may have kept you from that big wreck that happened on the highway. I mean, it's the pers- we can't choose what happens around us. We can control our own behavior and we can control our perspective of what's happening. You know, that's it. And so when, uh, when I was going through my healing process, I did something that really helped a lot. I made three lists. All right. And I like,
Kim Rapach (40:46.894)
Exactly.
Kim Rapach (40:54.58)
Yeah.
Kim Rapach (40:57.879)
Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (41:07.822)
I still have some of them stored away over in my stuff over here. I don't necessarily, if I'm ever having a rough day, I'll make the three lists, little small ones. Things or people I was thankful for was one list. Things that make me happy or give me some form of joy and the third one was what I'm building toward. I tried to experience one of those a day. So like thankfulness, it could be.
Hey, that it's summer in the grass as actually growing in green and not brown. I mean, it could be that simple. It could be a family member, whatever it is. Take time to have gratitude. The second one, joy, it could be if you're, for me, playing guitar. If it's someone that likes to play video games naked in their bed while eating Cheerios, whatever. That's not mine personally, but it could, no, whatever your thing is. And then like building, doing one per, even if it's like,
Kim Rapach (41:52.018)
No judgment.
Eric Steven Walker (42:01.974)
I edited one line of my song today. Okay, that's not very productive, but it's still moving forward at least one step, even if you can't take a big step. And keeping that when I'd have rough days and just keep referencing that, it's like, oh yeah, be grateful, not angry. Do something you enjoy so there's a reason to live and then build towards something. And if you do that, it may be a tough day. It's...
It's really tough to have a bad day if you do those three things.
Kim Rapach (42:34.846)
Yeah, yeah, in my journal, I make four lists of 10 things, like my journal opens up and there's 10, and it's 10 gratitudes, 10 affirmations, 10 motivational quotes, and 10 manifestations. So I think we're saying the same thing.
Eric Steven Walker (42:52.498)
Do you do that every day or you just look at the 10 most important for the time?
Kim Rapach (42:57.566)
It is on, the whole thing is on my, the damn thing list. And so I like when I can check it off. I don't hit it seven days a week, but probably four out of seven. And it's like exercise where I notice where my thoughts might get a little wonky. I'm not as positive. I'm not as hopeful, not as optimistic. I'm like, I haven't been doing what I call my morning routine.
Eric Steven Walker (43:02.223)
Okay, that's awesome.
Eric Steven Walker (43:09.341)
Yeah.
Kim Rapach (43:21.61)
which is that journal, it's those four themes. And, you know, the first tenor, what am I grateful for? And I just start writing and it doesn't even take very long. It's 10 minutes and it's worth it. I'm worth it. It shifts my whole perspective. It makes sure I get, you know, it reminds me, why am I going to the gym again? Why am I doing that damn thing list? Why am I drinking water?
yeah, because I'm building something and that's what I'm manifesting and working toward. And I do have a lot to be grateful for. I think it's a pretty amazing feeling to be in a point in your life where you can say, everything from this point is bonus.
Eric Steven Walker (44:03.239)
Yes.
Kim Rapach (44:04.298)
and that's a beautiful way to live. And I, you know, I'm not gonna settle, I'm not gonna stop chasing dreams and living big. But I'm also gonna rest and have my water and, you know, hang out with my kid and thank my husband for being awesome and supporting me and all those things and focus on what I'm grateful for. And yeah, it matters, you know, it's.
Eric Steven Walker (44:11.888)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (44:27.678)
I think it's that choosing yourself, right? The work of a warrior, you choose yourself, you fight for yourself first. Because when I do that morning routine, just a better person that day. To everybody.
Eric Steven Walker (44:40.338)
Right, makes you better. Well, and I like how you word that work of a warrior. So wars are not short things. They take a long time. And there's rarely been a war where the winning side wins every battle. So let's say you're trying to implement anything that's been talked about today. So let's say someone is listening to you and they're gonna try and do their four lists of 10 or however they want to number it. They're gonna model something that fits them like what you do.
And they do it five out of seven days. Like, hold on, we missed a date. Who cares? Get back up the next day and then get back to your routine. It's not like you're not held accountable by anyone but yourself and it's to serve you. You don't serve it, right? It's a tool. So if you fail on a day, yeah, your day may not be as good. Don't beat yourself up on it. Go, oh, I'll just do that tomorrow. And then get back on it. And eventually it'll become a habit.
Kim Rapach (45:28.854)
Right.
Eric Steven Walker (45:39.506)
you do. You know, that's where I think a lot of people when they're progressing mess up the most is they'll screw up a day, they'll skip a week, you know, I should keep doing that, oh I haven't, they'll forget, just get right back on and do it again. That's the biggest thing. You can fail, you can fail. The first gig I ever played live, third song in, I tried to sing a song out of my range and my voice popped. It was like, woo, like something went, oh it was...
Kim Rapach (46:06.839)
So,
Eric Steven Walker (46:08.082)
the worst note you'd ever heard. But you know what?
Kim Rapach (46:09.83)
Yeah, that happens to me anytime I try to sing, so that's how I sing.
Eric Steven Walker (46:15.027)
I think everyone that's seen can relate probably but it and you know what after you fail it's like hey nothing in my life really changed I still played the rest of the show or whatever and so the same thing goes for everything else like anyone that's performed has failed at some point on their
Kim Rapach (46:34.57)
Yeah, yeah, I love that. Oh my gosh, I feel like I could talk to you forever. I love that you said that. I had, for you, the worst thing that I could have had happen happen, and I'm still alive. Nothing changed. The people who love me still love me. And that's so important because I think a lot of times when you achieve success, it's the same thing. You get the award, you get the gig, you get the followers, you get the contract, you get whatever, and then you're like...
Eric Steven Walker (46:35.183)
and you still get another.
Eric Steven Walker (46:47.846)
Right.
Kim Rapach (47:03.894)
Not a whole lot has really changed. Still the same person. Maybe I have a little more money. Ha ha ha.
Eric Steven Walker (47:08.019)
Yeah, like my dad used to tell me this and I never understood it until after I went through everything. So I was like, son, nothing's ever as good as it seems and nothing's ever as bad as it seems. What the heck is he talking about? And I get it, it's like a million dollars. Let's say you made a million dollars on one thing. All that's really gonna change about who you are.
is who you can help or the quality of life you have as far as like things you buy. Otherwise, your problems are still your problems. Who you are is still who you are. It just magnifies that, you know. If you get success and get a platform to talk to people, all that platform does is magnify the person you are. So if you're a crappy person, you're gonna magnify that to the population. If you're a great person, you magnify it, but it's not gonna change who you are really.
other than knowing you can accomplish something big. That's really the only thing that changes in you, is confidence.
Kim Rapach (48:01.023)
Yeah.
Kim Rapach (48:07.262)
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, yeah, such good stuff. I love this conversation. And I just, I love what you're doing.
Eric Steven Walker (48:14.803)
Yeah, well, um...
I'm so appreciative that you are bringing that platform out. It's just not talked about enough. As an educator, being in that field for so long, while trying to make this thing happen, it's not talked about in schools. Instead of teaching people, like you said, regulating, how their system becomes dysregulated, what class teaches you how to regulate your system?
What class teaches you water intake? How to manage emotions? There's none. And if you can do those three things, you can probably succeed if you go be a construction worker or if you try and sing, you know, if you try and get on a stage in LA and sign a record deal, if you're trying to be the next Brad Pitt, whatever you're trying to do, you can probably do it if you have a good enough work ethic and you have a good enough process to manage, like I said, not lose yourself in that process.
Kim Rapach (49:13.558)
Right, yeah. Again, the world needs your gifts, but not at the cost of your soul. Yeah, I mean, you're obviously doing the work of a warrior. I'm so happy for you, and I'm just so glad to know that you are.
Eric Steven Walker (49:18.655)
Bingo.
Kim Rapach (49:28.63)
on just a constant intentional path of wellness because when you're well, the people around you get to experience that, they get better, and that's the whole purpose of this podcast. There's a lot of...
Eric Steven Walker (49:36.766)
Yes.
Kim Rapach (49:44.694)
really successful people and celebrities who are willing to talk about their mental health and they talk about it, you know, in sprinkles, right? They'll be on a podcast or a talk show and they'll talk about it, but I want this space to be, that's all we're talking about. This is, that's the whole purpose. That's all we're talking about. I'm, you know, I don't know if guilty is the right word, but I'm not, I'm just not great with names and
you know, famous people and celebrity names, unless I know them, because I just don't follow along. I wanna know how people are in there.
I want to know how they are in their heart. I want to know if they're doing their inner work, if they're healing, if they know that they're worthy, regardless of how successful they are. And I really do believe, Eric, that if, you know, just like when we're hurting and we're not well, we hurt each other and ourselves, I really believe that when we're well, we can help others be well. And so therefore, if we can bring mental wellness to the entertainment industry, I believe we can bring mental wellness to the whole damn world.
Eric Steven Walker (50:51.418)
Yes, we can. Yes, we can. And, you know, I know I haven't hit a fame level yet. You know, that would be like household name anywhere, maybe outside of Oklahoma or whatever. But if, if anyone in entertainment ever needs a resource, like I am more than willing to talk about it because that darkest place that a lot of entertainers end up in, I have been there. I'm not right now, thankfully. But...
But I know what that's like. And a lot of times people think it's hopeless because no one, no one, there's no way out. Pretty much most people in the industry have been somewhere. Well, you said high achievers have been touched somehow by that. So reach out. If you're someone that's struggling, reach out and you don't have to meet, be to meet, reach out to someone because people want to help. And then seek wellness. Not fun.
Kim Rapach (51:44.555)
Yeah, and people like you and I, we've been there. And we're here to talk about it, and I'll talk about it all day. And it's something most people don't wanna talk about, but I guess that's why I'm being asked to do what I do. So let's keep talking about it.
Eric Steven Walker (51:57.434)
Well, in it, in sense, do you feel like you've like fully healed from what caused all that?
Kim Rapach (52:05.698)
No. Fully?
Eric Steven Walker (52:09.025)
But you're in a healing process from it.
Kim Rapach (52:11.774)
Yeah, I just think the whole thing is a process. Yeah, I feel like it's a journey. It's, you know, healing is layer by layer by layer. It's like how a physical wound heals. If you...
Eric Steven Walker (52:14.441)
Okay, I like that.
Kim Rapach (52:23.562)
you know, cut yourself. It's not just, it doesn't just close up, right? It's your skin heals layer by layer. And I think healing trauma happens the same way. So I wish I would have known how to do this work, you know, when I was much younger, but I don't spend a lot of time there because I trust the process. And, you know, when the student's ready, the teacher will come. And when I was ready, I had the right coach to help me process some things that I was stuck in. So I was a therapist
Eric Steven Walker (52:32.04)
Mm-hmm.
Eric Steven Walker (52:41.382)
Right, yeah. Yeah.
Kim Rapach (52:54.256)
I had read all the books and done a lot of work, and so I was applying things naturally to myself. I had been through therapy and I'd had great experience, and I tried medication on and off, and just constantly working on the self-evolution. I love, you know, Brene Brown and Tony Robbins and Mel Robbins and all these people.
But in 2020, I realized I hit a point that was one of my really, you know, dark days, is I just, I did have something that was stirring within me that needed to be healed. And I had a safe coach who helped me through that. But the most pivotal thing in that season was I had kind of gone through those lists that we talked about, but not before.
Eric Steven Walker (53:37.034)
Mm-hmm.
Kim Rapach (53:40.798)
everybody else. So as a caregiver, as a mom, a wife, a therapist, I would get to it and I would do my best. But now that list comes first. And that was the huge shift.
Eric Steven Walker (53:54.204)
Is it almost like, and it's not even necessarily the list as much as who you become when you do the list, is so important for your kid, for your husband, for those you're going to be working with that day. Yeah, absolutely. Because if you're 50% of who you are, the world's not going to be impacted the way it could be if you were Matt.
Kim Rapach (54:06.447)
Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (54:20.482)
not that we could ever max out our gifts, but the closer we get to it, the more like, the more you're close to maxing out the gifts, the more you're going to change the world.
Kim Rapach (54:30.422)
Yeah, absolutely. I think I just posted something, I think it was today or yesterday, where I said, you know, I hit my macros. Like, I'm not into the whole diet culture, you know, all that goofy stuff, but.
I will hit my macros as often as possible because I like how I feel. Like I feel strong and I feel resilient and I feel like I can handle anything. And that's a great feeling because when you feel like you're in the dark and you're praying, you know, that God will just take you, like I don't ever wanna feel that way again. It's awful.
Eric Steven Walker (54:47.036)
Yes.
Eric Steven Walker (55:02.726)
No, that is a miserable feeling. And what's interesting, so that happened, well this year, and part of why I say rest, this year as I was pushing and pushing and pushing, I neglected rest more than I should have. Well, about that time, I injured my neck. So if you see me shifting around, that's some of what that is. I almost paralyzed myself in a squatting incident.
Kim Rapach (55:06.445)
Yeah.
Eric Steven Walker (55:28.562)
because I was trying to do way too much weight, ego lifting, again, that's a problem, pushing too much and caught COVID twice back to back. But what's interesting is with all the issues it caused of anxiety and depression, because I couldn't work out, I was basically shut down for two to three months. It was brutal, but I...
The only thing I was really worried about is getting back physically and dealing with the mental part of that. It wasn't the deep despair like, oh, I don't want to be here. Is this down? It wasn't like the old days when the mental caused the issues. And so if you've gone through that and you've gone through a healing process, what I tell anyone that's listening is if you go through a process of healing, if you have an event that sets you down that road that's out of your control,
you'll know you can get through it when you're facing it. It may be a two or three month lull and you may be like, you may be anxious or you may be depressed or you may have anything going on but you're not broken in that the way you would be if you, you know, the same when I first had, I was drifting for five or six years before I really dealt with it. Again, an injury, an illness, two illnesses.
Kim Rapach (56:27.53)
Yeah, absolutely.
Eric Steven Walker (56:53.182)
It sets you back, but if you know you can get through it because of your systems and the value and you heal old wounds, that wellness, I love that wellness idea because you're becoming more well every day.
Kim Rapach (57:09.154)
Yeah.
Yeah, and in that, you know, the example you just shared, I feel like it's a great example of like, okay, I love myself enough, I've done enough work, I have enough systems in place where I'm not focusing only and solely on what I can't do. It's like, what can I do? And you have this crave of like, oh, I can't wait till I can work out again, I can't wait till I can get back in the gym, I can't wait till I can go for a walk. But also I can still journal, I can still eat well, I can still meditate, I can still pray,
Eric Steven Walker (57:30.268)
Yes.
Kim Rapach (57:40.04)
the water, do all the things, I can still do a lot. And you were, you know, you talked earlier on the call about perspective, and I think that becomes a lifestyle. And I think just like, you know, for me, being in such a dark place and going, I don't ever want to go back there again.
when you have this freedom and you have this healing and it's empowering, you're just like, I don't ever wanna go back. I don't ever not wanna live like this because I feel resilient. I feel powerful and I know crap's still gonna happen and I'm human. I'm not gonna escape it, but I feel resilient for it. My current mantra right now is just share this with a client is I have gratitude for all that is flowing just as I want.
it to and I have resiliency for everything that's not.
Eric Steven Walker (58:34.154)
Let's say that one more time so I can get this quote in my mind. I really like it. I want to see if I can get this thing memorized.
Kim Rapach (58:41.09)
Sure, it's I have gratitude for everything that is flowing just as I want, and I have resiliency for everything that's not.
Eric Steven Walker (58:48.613)
Love it.
Kim Rapach (58:49.826)
the both and, right? Like we're human, we can have more than one emotion at the same time.
Eric Steven Walker (58:54.918)
Exactly. I think a lot of people lose sight of that too. You can be angry, inspired, and feel forgiveness all at the same thing.
Someone could cut you, someone could stab you in the back. You can be angry about it. It can inspire you to work harder to prove them wrong and you can forgive them simultaneously. And that's not normal to experience all that. It doesn't have to crush you.
Kim Rapach (59:20.318)
Right, right. And when you're a high achiever, yeah, when you're a high achiever, you can feel excited and hopeful, and you have belief it can happen, and you can also feel terrified and shake in your boots, and you can feel sad and frustrated it hasn't happened yet, and that's all normal. I think we have to, you know, just like normalize in the conversation around mental health. Can we just normalize what it feels like to be human? And there's, you're just human, and it's not personal.
We're all in it together.
Eric Steven Walker (59:51.774)
Yeah, that's just part of how it goes.
Kim Rapach (59:54.206)
Yeah. Well, this is awesome, Eric. I thank you so much for being here. I love this conversation. I feel like we could talk for five more hours.
Eric Steven Walker (01:00:01.659)
Oh, absolutely. Yeah.
Kim Rapach (01:00:03.11)
I may have been accused of that in the past. Like I'm kind of a chatter, but I'm so grateful that you're here and I hope that everyone will check out your journey because you have so many, you know, past and present and future things that you have going on. I love that you have not locked yourself into one thing. I love that you're addressing finances. I hope that you can bring those skills also into the entertainment industry because that's needed too. And I just appreciate you sharing your story and you know, just normalizing
Eric Steven Walker (01:00:07.877)
No.
Kim Rapach (01:00:33.504)
of what it's like to experience adversity and to lose a dream and then to rebuild again. And real quick, before we get off the call, I just picked up a book called Harder to Breathe. Have you heard of that? You have? No? It's Harder to Breathe by Ryan Dusic. I don't know if you can see this, but this just came in the mail today, but it's about...
Eric Steven Walker (01:00:44.198)
Uh huh. I've never heard it, no. No, I haven't.
Eric Steven Walker (01:00:55.39)
with you. Okay, awesome.
Kim Rapach (01:00:59.254)
building Maroon 5 and then losing it all and then recovering. And so I think it's going to be a story that we can all relate to and I look forward to that too. But just thank you for sharing your story. And I look forward to staying connected and just continuing to do the work of a warrior with you. So thanks for being here. Yeah. All right, we'll chat soon. Thanks.
Eric Steven Walker (01:01:17.254)
Absolutely, I appreciate you having me on, Kim. Thank you.
Thanks.