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Meet Kristain Thompson, candidate for Arkansas State Representative District 52, who shares his journey from small-town roots to public service. In this candid conversation, Kristain discusses the challenges facing rural Arkansas communities, fr...
Elevando el River Valley
Okay. What's up, guys? This is Obi Rosales with Eleva. Today is another great day. I have a great guest today. Tristan Thompson. You are running for what? District 52. State representative. State representative for District 52. And first of all, thank you for watching today and always joining us and commenting and liking and. And forwarding everything we do here at Town Square. We're inside of the Co Create Innovation hub, is a great place to come learn collab. Check out their website for more events, and I also want to thank our collaborators that make this happen week to week. Welcome to A level, bro. How are you? Hey, dude, I'm doing great. I really appreciate y' all for having me. How was the. The great freeze for you, man? We. Heck, I really didn't take too much of a break, to be honest with you. You know, I work at Arkansas Tech, so we had a bunch of virtual operations and stuff like that. And so on those days, you know, did my work like normal, but then still, you know, we still went out and campaigned and stuff like that. And, you know, I was riding around on my Can AM one day, going through all the snow and stuff, going to see people handing out some hot chocolate here and there and, you know, just letting people know that at the end of the day, you know, we're. I'm gonna do the hard stuff, too. Yeah. And so. And you know that I stayed on the road for a lot longer than what? Oh, yeah. You know, I'd never seen. There was R Dot guys that I talked to that were like I've been working here for 20 years, I ain't never seen anything like that. And, and, and those road crews man, they, they did a great job. You know, when they could finally get, get it going, you know, because that's what it was. It was just every time I felt like I saw somebody going like any, nothing was changing but like just the way that ice and everything just went together, man. Oh yeah. Let's give it up to all the crews out there. They were clearing out the ice and everything. My trash can still haven't, hasn't gotten picked up but you know I'm coming at it with a good heart, you know, like safety first. You know, I live up a hill on both sides so I wouldn't want the trash truck coming up and skidding off or whatnot. So yeah, our, our can is pretty full like over the top. But I mean just, I would say I encourage everybody to just be patient, be peaceful. Cuz at the end of the day the mayor and everybody was just like hey, we're doing what we need to do. It was a different kind of weather pattern or storm. Yeah, you know it was great the first few days and then everybody, everything froze on that Monday, Tuesday. And like I stuck until Tuesday. But my buddies have big trucks so I was hey buddy, like on Sunday can you come pick me up? I need to go to Walmart. We ran out of everything cuz we, I, I, I was trying not to pack up my fridge like the apocalypse. Yeah. What happened is my, my son invited three of his friends that weekend and. How old they eat all day? 15, 14. Oh yeah, yeah. So they eat all day. So we were like babe, the, the cookies are running down, the, the chips, the cereals, the milk. So on Sunday I was like call one of my buddies, hey man, are you around? Take me to Walmart. And then when I went everything was gone. I had to use skim milk and. I'm telling you I did that same thing. So you know I drive a four wheel drive and like where I live like you're either you either took a wrong turn or you're coming to see me. That's the only two ways that you're going to find out where I live because I live in Belleville, Arkansas and we live out on a farm there. And so you know, I was afraid that I wasn't going to be able to get out because my incline going out of my driveway then it kind of goes back down. My wife, she, I took her to work every single day. You Know, when they were open. She works at Chambers bank there. And, you know, at the end of the day, it was fun for the first couple, but when my kids started asking me, they were like, hey, dad, can we go to school tomorrow? And we kept getting those no school things. That's when I knew it was too long, when my boy was ready to go on back to school. Oh, yeah, yeah. My kids were out sledding for the first three days. And then Tuesday. What happened, guys? No, we're okay. Wednesday, I think they were over there. Like, we had our fun, you know, But I was trying to convince them to go out there before it all melts. But I think they were. They. They had their fun, though. It was more than last year. We did it for about two days, and then everything got back to normal, but we were pretty much stuck, man. But listen, I'm happy that you're here. When I met you, I liked your attitude and what you're trying to do, and I told you, you know, you're gonna come to the podcast and you're here now. So thanks for coming and, you know, let's, let's, let's, let's get to it. I have a few questions for you. Yeah, normally it's not a bad thing, but. No, I don't want to say I wing it, but I like to have regular conversations like, we just met. How are you? What's your name? And I'm doing. But I did have some questions today. So first of all, before we I get called a bunch of different names, so it's okay. You know, I'm just somebody. I kind of just look at it like I'm just a normal dude at the end of the day, you know, I'm somebody. I have a wife. We've been together for eight years or been married for eight years, been together for 10. I have a three year old and a five year old. Taylor and Bradley, they, you know, those are the lights of my life. And at the end of the day, those are the people who, you know, I'm worried about their future and thinking about their future. But, you know, I went to Ark. I graduated from Dardanelle High School, went over here to Arkansas Tech, played football at both places, you know, left with a political science degree. And then I ended up coming back there and got a master's in student affairs administration, started working in the athletic department as the NCAA compliance officer. So, you know, that's legislative based you know, they got a rule book with a thousand pages in it, and you gotta know it all pretty much. And so, you know, after that, I've been working in the foundation now, though, so, you know, I get to raise money for the athletic department and different places on campus. They kind of just plug me in whenever they need me. And so I just solve everybody's problems every day because, you know, everybody's budget ain't big enough. And, you know, everybody always has those wants and those that they need to get. So I'm the one who. Who kind of fills in the gaps form. And so Arkansas Tech has been a great place for me. And, you know, if you're gonna cut somebody open, they're gonna bleed green and gold. It's gonna be me. You know, I met my wife there. My brother and my sister both went there. All of my best friends, just from college, we still talk all the time. And Arkansas Tech has been a special place. And it's a diamond. I tell everybody, like, you gotta get there and see it. Yeah. You know, because it's just a special place. And so we're in a really good spot. And Tech's only going up from here, you know, and we're excited about where we're heading. Yeah, that's a great place. I knew a few. A few people there, and it's just a. It's a good environment, you know, and, you know, and I'm glad that you're. You stayed here. You know, a lot of. I mean, I'm new in this town. I've been here just over three years. And there's the thing that some people just want to leave, you know, but right now we're about, stay, grow here, be an entrepreneur. We can do this, you know, and. We left for a couple years right after college. We moved up to northwest Arkansas, you know, you know, chasing the dream. And then after you have that first kid, you know, we started realizing that every time we'd go back home, we'd be sad when we were leaving. And, you know, and we moved out to Farmington thinking we kind of got enough from the hustle and the bustle of Fayetteville. And then, heck, they threw up a Starbucks on the corner. Yeah. And, you know, I'll never forget that day, sitting on the couch, and I looked over at my wife and said, what do you think about moving home? And she was like, I never thought I would have heard you say that. But, you know, when you have kids, that changes a lot. Yeah. Then you start thinking about the values that you want your kids to grow up with. And I grew up on a farm. My wife grew up on a farm. You know, if we want our kids to have those same type of values that we have, you know, they have to grow up similar to you. And I'm a big family guy, you know, her parents live right down the dang hill from us, and that's the best thing ever, because my kids get to see their grandparents every single day. And my mom, she's the child nutrition coordinator at Dardanelle High School, so. Or Dardanelle School District, so all the cafeterias. She's over all the cafeterias and stuff. And so you see the things that, you know, kids getting to eat for free and stuff. My mom's the one that's filling out grants and doing all that kind of stuff. And, you know, we didn't come from much. You know, I was the kid that was on our kids and all that stuff. But at the end of the day, you know, my mom, very hard worker. She had three kids by the time she was 22, and all of her kids went to college. And, you know, she would always push. She wanted us to be, you know, contribute to society in the right ways. And so she was hard on us. But at the same time, there's nobody who loved us more and wanted to make sure she would. I don't know how she did it sometimes, but she would always make everything always work. Yeah, they do, moms, they just make it happen. I remember my mom, we didn't have much food at one point or whatnot, and she just put something together. Yeah. You know, I'm talking about, like, chilaquiles. I don't know if you ever heard of those, but those. That's tortillas with, like, a red sauce. Yeah. Probably sprinkle some cheese. There you go. Chilaquiles. And we're like, okay, that there was nothing in the fridge, but now there's some food. Exactly. And I bet you still eat that today, don't you? Yeah, actually, she's coming into town, so that's on my list for her to make me. And she'll sprinkle some onions. But, I mean, that's maybe because I'm hungry right now. I'll say that. You know, like those. Those meals that you have, like when you don't have much and you don't know, like. Like ramen noodles. Like, everybody to everybody, like, ramen noodles is like a. Just one of those, like, cheap meals or whatever. Hey, I love eating ramen noodles. And my kids do, too. Yeah. It's funny you mentioned ramen noodles, because up to the point I know what I mean? So, man. Anyways. Well, what moment or experience made you decide to step into public service and run for office? Okay, so I feel like I answer this question a million times all the time. You get used to it. Yeah, you're right. And so, you know, the biggest thing for me is when I was growing up and stuff, you know, I was always the guy who would run for student council and do all that stuff. And then, you know, I've met a couple of people that worked in the political world and stuff like that, and I was like, you know what? That might be something I want to do, you know, and then I go to Arkansas Tech and I joined the political science college. And so as I'm sitting there, you know, going through all of it and I graduate, I realized that I didn't want to go into politics because I didn't like the way the people were. Yeah. You know, that was my big thing. And, you know, I'm somebody who believes that, hey, God worked too hard on you to change yourself. And I'm just somebody who. I wasn't. I wasn't going to conform to some of the things. And so. And I had opportunities to go and work in politics and stuff like that, but at the end of the day, that just wasn't the path that I wanted to take. But now it's gotten to a point where I have a three year old and a five year old and I don't know what the world's gonna look like when it's their time to live in it. Yeah. And so, you know, if we're gonna do something to make that better, we have to start now. And, you know, I'm not somebody who's in it for me. You know, like we were talking about it earlier, like, you know, I want to see real change. You know what I mean? And I want to empower our voters and I want to empower our people, because at the end of the day, I'm somebody who. Did nobody come and save me? Yeah. You know what I mean? And that's just the way that I operate through my life. And, you know, I want to be somebody who can go to battle for these people and tell them, like, hey, guess what, guys? I need you to help me. Help you? Yeah. By doing these things and, you know, going out and voting and registering to vote. And, you know, that's one of the big things I want to go after this race is, you know, start a huge voter drive and have people getting registered to vote and letting people know that, like, this is how you let your voice be heard. I don't care what anybody tries to tell you. You're one vote. People are going to say, well, you know, that one vote ain't gonna matter. You're right. But guess what? When we're all on the same page and we got a couple thousand of them, yeah, Your vote always matters because there's a bunch of people that feel the same way that you feel, and you have to vote that way, and you gotta be informed. And that's one thing that I really wanna do. And I'm gonna use social media to do that. But I wanna keep my people informed and, you know, help them understand better, you know, the legislation that's going through, you know, those big ticket items that you're seeing on the news that makes you nervous. I wanna be the guy that you can come to my page and, hey, I know that Christian's gonna have something up about this. And I break it down for you in just plain English. It's my job to be able to decipher all that stuff for you, which is what I learned going to school. Yeah. Yeah. And then I just want to explain it to you and help you understand. And I'll tell you, you know, this is why this side wants it to be this way, and this is why this side wants to be the other way, you know, because at the end of the day, you know, people just want information. You know, when I'm somebody who. I want to be super transparent with everybody, I want you to know what's going on. And I. And I need you to care at the end of the day, because some of these things, you know, that we're going to be making decisions on are going to affect your kids and your grandkids and stuff like that. And so every day I wake up, that's what I attack it with, is what I'm going to do is going to affect a lot of people. And I'm somebody who doesn't take that lightly, you know, And I tell everybody this, like, accountability is one of the Most important things. And I'm somebody who, I don't mind being held accountable. But you have to hold your public officials accountable by going to vote. If they are. Vote. If they are doing everything they're supposed to do, keep voting them in. But when somebody doesn't do what they say they're gonna do, you hold them accountable. If I don't do what I say I'm gonna do, you vote me out. And that's, that's. I truly believe that. And, and there's no. It's black and white, you know, and that's the way I look at that. Wow. Well said, man. I have another question for you. For people listening who live in the rural Arkansas or River Valley area, what do you think are the biggest challenges our communities are facing now? You know, rising costs is something that is really big because in our rural communities, you know, we, we have an older population, you know, and those people are on fixed incomes. Yeah. You know, if you add $50 to somebody's fixed income, they start having to make decisions on am I going to get gas or am I going to eat today? And you have to, we have to figure out a way to make living in Arkansas better for the everyday Arkansan. There's a lot more of us that are living closer to the poverty line than above the poverty line. And, you know, when it comes to health care, you know, we have to make sure that we can still get people their health care, you know, even in our rural communities. And, you know, we have some really good rural hospitals and things like that. Where I live, Danville Chambers Memorial Memorial, that's a great hospital to go to. And you know, some. But, you know, when you get on another side of the district, you know, it's not the same. And so that's one big thing. And the other big thing is, you know, the opportunities that our children have, you know, do I love our small town values and I want to keep those the same? Yes. But I also want to find different avenues, whether it's workforce development, whether it is, you know, bringing in, you know, trade schools, doing these different things to get our kids workforce ready. But also we need some more industry, not just. I'm not somebody who believes in just bringing something in because somebody wants to come here, you know, because when you do things out of desperation, it ends up coming back and biting you in the butt. And that's something that I am very big on. Never operate from a place of desperation because it will always come back on you. And so I think that we need to find partners in different places. And you know, you can find those down in Little Rock sometimes. And you know, you start trying to, you gotta build value for yourself. Yeah. And that's real big for me, you know, I have to build value every day in what I do. Because when you're asking people for their hard earned money. Yeah. They have to see some what's the return gonna be. And that's something that's gonna, that you have to build value, break it down for them and help them understand this is what's gonna happen and this is what the long term effect of your gift is gonna be. And so you just always, we have to bring value to ourselves. One thing we have is land. You know, there's a few different opportunities that are being thrown around that you know, can change, you know, but also, you know, you have land, you know, we have to make sure we'd have the workforce to be able to, you know, handle some of that stuff when you bring in new industry. And you wanna know something? I just want our kids to be able to say, hey, if I want to stay here and I want to live at home, then I can live at home and I can stay here and I can build a career. That's what I want to see more of in our district. That's great, man. Great answer. No, and I, and I, and I see the past, the passion. Yeah. You know, ever since I met you, you're just ready. This is what I'm going for. And now you're here, you know, now if elected, what can people realistically expect from you as a leader? How do you plan to represent everyday people? You know, I am an everyday person. Like, that's the thing, Like I would represent y' all the way that I'd want to be represented. Like, you see me around, like, hey, you see me most of the time we, we're going to be in some type of the same place. You know, I'm not going to disappear after the election. By no means. And so, you know, when it's time for me to be in Little Rock, I'm gonna be in Little Rock. But when it's time for me to be at home, I'm be at home doing the same stuff I have been doing. You know, I'm not a big social media guy or anything like that. I'm just a put my head down and work type of guy. And so I show up for people. You know, whether it's, you know, just, you know, volunteering at different things or just people call you all the Time and need something. You know, I'm. I'm. I'm one of those people that are just like, you know, I'm. I'm a good neighbor. You know, you call me, you need something, I'm show up for you. You know, somebody called me during the, um. Who was. Was somebody that. Her son played t ball with my son, and she needed groceries or whatever during this whole thing. So guess what? I get out and I go and I get their groceries and stuff and take it to them. It's about those small things, you know, it's not necessarily these big old things that people. People remember the small stuff that you do for them. And I just want to be a good. I want you to feel like, you know, me and my family, I want you to feel like you can look at me and you say, hey, I'm gonna pick up the phone and call Christian. And that's what you need, you know, and that's what you need in your representative. I want you to feel like, hey, that dude is one of us. He just has to go down there and vote for us. And that vote that I cast is Yalls vote. It's not my vote. It's a part of my. It's a percentage of my vote, a very small percentage. But, you know, my goal is to do the best for the most with that vote. And, you know, that's how you got to operate. it was just, if elected, what can people realistically expect from you as a leader? Yeah, and I lead from the. I always. You know, people say, like, they lead from the front, stuff like that. I lead from the middle. I want to be there with everybody. I don't want to be higher than nobody. I don't want to be lower than nobody. I think that at the end of the day, we all bring value to this whole community. But I think that if you're not careful, you'll miss some of that value. You gotta go and find it. Sometimes you have to go to them places that you normally don't go. And that's one thing I've realized more than anything through this campaign, is that there's a whole bunch of places I haven't been. And you think that there's a bunch of. I've been everywhere. Yeah. No, when you start driving, you start knocking on doors and things like that, you end up at some places where you're like, I don't even know how I got here. I probably shouldn't even drive down this road right now, to be honest with you. But, you know. You know, you still drive down that road. And at the end of that road, guess what? There's some really nice person that's going to invite you into their house and offer you something to drink and have a real conversation with you. And that's one thing that through this whole campaign, I've been having real unfiltered conversations with these people. Yeah. And, you know, a lot of them feel like they're forgotten. And, you know, some of the stuff you see, you know, some of these folks need help, and. And we got to figure out how to get them that help, you know? And, you know, most importantly, people want to say, you know, well, people need to help themselves. Yeah, you're right. But also, sometimes people need some help, too. Yeah. And you got to show grace to folks, you know, and, you know, just. Man, it's just some of the stuff I see, man, like, it puts tears in your eyes. Yeah. And that's what I want to try to help. And we're gonna be able to save everybody. No, but heck, I'm trying to save the highest percentage that we possibly can. Yeah. No, and that's how you find out. Going into the community, spending time with them, having real conversations, and that's how you get real feedback, you know? Yeah. I'm glad you're doing that. And I'm sure you've heard stories. I mean, a lot of people. I mean, sometimes when you hear their stories, you look at your life and you're like, man, my life is good. Yeah. You know, and some people are not having a good time, you know, and that's the thing. And you. And you almost start feeling bad sometimes, you know, because, like. Like I told you earlier, like, I didn't grow up with a ton of stuff, like, much. You know, we had our needs, and mom made sure we had a couple of those won'ts, you know, And I'm. My grandpa was somebody who was very instrumental. My dad left when I was in the second grade, so my grandpa was somebody. My papa. That's what I call him. He was a farmer. And he's just somebody who just instilled a lot into me about just, you know, you look people in the eyes, you know, you tell them what they need to hear, not what they want to hear. You give them a firm handshake. That was like the most important thing to him was how firm your Handshake is. And I remember being little, just shaking his hands, like, hey, that's not hard enough. And I would just continue. And he used to roll my knuckles, like, you know, when people can grab your knuckles like that. Him and my big, big T. That was my Uncle Tom. And, you know, you. I've got two degrees and stuff. And I always tell everybody, like, that's not the most important stuff I learned. Like, the degrees get you in the room at places. The values and stuff that you grow up with is what keeps you there and what makes you successful. Yeah. And so, yeah, I think I kind of went off a little bit. Oh, no, you're right. You're right. I mean, I've heard conversations like, athletes or whoever, they can be the best professional, have titles, but it's about their morals, their attitude in the room. You know what I'm saying? That keeps you in the room, like, the way you were brought up. So I'm glad you mentioned that. And I tell that to my children. I'm like, look, man, like, at the end of the day, you could be a professional athlete, have, you know, titles and all that stuff, but how's your character gonna be in front of these people? Are you gonna be. Are you going to have empathy? Are you going to have, you know, just balance your. Your life out just because you have these? You're not better than them. You. Maybe you can teach and bring them up with you. So those are the things I teach my kids. Because, I mean, I rather have somebody that's less qualified with a great attitude than somebody that's qualified, and it's just nasty attitude. You know what I mean? And that's what just like, you're saying, like, that's what I have to get on my kids, too, because my kids don't grow up the way Aren't growing up the way that I grew up. And, you know, like, I still want my kids to have, like, that thankfulness and that chip on their shoulder like I have, you know, and it's a healthy chip on my shoulder. I ain't mad at nobody for it. It's just that, you know, it just is what it is at the end of the day. And I would never change anything about how I grew up. But also, like, trying to get that in my kids, too, is kind of hard because they just live a different life than I did. And I'm glad that they do sometimes. But then there's also them times where I'm just like, man, you know, like, you got a million monster trucks, dude. Like, I didn't have a million. Know what I mean? Tell me about it. But as fathers, we find a way to kind of, you know, keep that same, you know, line of, like, teaching them and everything. Yeah. Because, like. Like, I mean, I grew up in a small little house. My kids have a huge house. Yeah. You see the dynamics, and it's kind of like, well, you can't go until you clean that room. Yeah. You know, we're not going to buy this today. If you want it, you have to work for me or. Yeah. Save some money, I'm telling you. So, I mean, we. We'll find ways. You know, it just, you know, we. We keep it that generational goodness, you know, from what we learned, and then we pass it on to them and, you know. Well, I was hard on myself. I used talk to some of my friends, and then, man, you're the first time dad. I'm sure you're doing the best you can, so just keep doing it, you know? Yeah. And I talked to, like, I was on the phone with a lady for work earlier, and her kids work at the company with her, and I'm like, your kids want to spend that much time with you? Like what? Like, how was your parenting style and stuff like that? Anytime I see a good parent, because you can see him. Yeah. You know, one of my best friends, his dad, he works with his dad, and his dad was his best man and dude. And like, that's the thing. Like, the first thing I asked him, I said, and he's a really successful guy, but he didn't ever miss nothing. Like, we went to. Me and his son went to college together. Over here, he would be at the dang basketball game. It would be a random Tuesday. Never missed him and his mama or him and his wife miss Tammy. They would always be there. And I always asked him. I'm like, you know, you seem to have figured out how to, you know, you know, be the successful person, you know, and be a great dad. Because how did you get your son to ask you to be his best man? Yeah. And, you know. Cause heck, I hope I'm that lucky that my son wants to do that. If he had to ask today, it probably wouldn't be me. But, you know, I tell him. And he told me, he said, christian, guess what? He said, you know, it's sacrifice. He said, there's going to be times where, like, there's going to be a game. You got to leave work. He said, you got to go to that game. He said, then you need to go Back to work and finish what you're doing. Yeah. He said, you know the times that you get to relax and stuff, like you don't do that anymore. He said, it's. It's sacrifice. And he said, but you get to make the decision whether you're going to be there or not. And so, you know. You know, and he's somebody who, heck, I call for wisdom. I got a bunch of my friends, dads and stuff that, you know, I call for different stuff, you know, and I've played golf with them or do this or do that, and they've just, you know, when you see people who are doing something right, you seek that person out. Yeah. And you ask them how. Because people always want to try to come up with these new things and new ways of doing things when at the end of the day, if it's been done one way and it's been successful, why don't we just keep doing it that way? Exactly. And so that's why I just go, I'm an expert guy. And that goes with everything I do. If I'm not the expert in it, I'm go find an expert. Because there's no. There's no reason not to, you know, if no question's a dumb question, at the end of the day, don't think so highly of yourself that you don't think that you can go and ask for help. And that's one thing. Me, I wear folks out. If I need something or I need some help with something, I'm gonna wear you out about it because I want to know and I want to understand. And, you know, I. There's people that I have different views from and everything like that, but, like, at the end of the day, I gotta know why you feel the way you feel about that. Yeah. Because you may not change my mind, but you gave me a whole brand new perspective. Yeah. And I believe that if you, you know, walk through life with a wide lens and you can ask, you know, you can ask people all these different things and you can learn something from every single person that you encounter. Yeah. And, you know, that's what I go through life. I go through life like, you know, my mom told me when I was seven years old, she said, christian, you never know. Because I asked her if she was popular in school, and she was like, yeah. I said, was it because you're nice to everybody? She's like, yeah. And she said, because, look, Christian, you never know when you're gonna be. Need somebody, so you always need to be nice to somebody. And, you know, that has done more for me in my life than anything. And I learned that 22 years ago. Wow. And so that's done more for me. You know, Treat people with respect. It don't matter if it's the person that's in charge or if it's the person that's taking out the trash. Everybody has their place. And at the end of the day, everybody deserves respect. It don't matter who you are. Yeah. And it comes back to you. One of my friends, he mentioned this week, like, kill him with kindness. Seriously. Might take a little longer, but it's just. You're sowing seeds, you know? And yes, a week, two months later, a year later, people remember that, man, this guy treated me with kindness. He was there for me. One thing I get, I'm a good listener. So I have a lot of people that are just telling, talking to me, and I'm listening. Sometimes I'm like, dang. But I'm like, that's my gift. Yeah, let me listen. Then I'll add my 2 cents and then just let them vent. Yeah. You know, that's main. Maybe my wife is not going to agree with me. Like, the why the. And that's the thing. Hey, marriage. We could talk about marriage all day. And I got a good wife. My wife, I mean, man, her name's Tori. Her real name is Victoria, but I'm the only person that calls her Victoria. Everybody else calls her Tori. And so when I'm referring to her, to everybody else, I call her Tori. But if I was to call her Tori right now, and she's in the room, she would look at me like I was crazy. And. But, man, like. And being married, that's another thing. Like, oh, yeah, it is. You know, there's been times where I tell folks, me and Tori, you know, people say you're on different pages of the book, right? Like, oh, we weren't on the same page. Hey, there'd been times me and Tory wasn't in the same book. And, you know, but at the end of the day, you know what? You choose to wake up and love that person. And at the end of the day, I know there is nobody that loves me more than her. And she knows there ain't nobody that loves her more than me. And with all of this, it's. It's a sacrifice for our family, you know, And I'm very aware of that, and she's very aware of that. But we're servants. That's what we are. You know, we keep God in the center of our life. You know, you'll catch us at church on Sundays, Wednesdays, you know, you know, that's really important to us. And one thing I realized is once you get that in your life, everything else just seems to just work itself out. And so, you know, we. We attack life with a servant attitude. And I live like I'm going to get hit by a bus tomorrow. You know, I'm glad to wake up every morning. You know, I look at my kids every day, and I'm thankful for my kids. God blessed me with some really good kids. They're Omri. But he blessed me with some really good kids, and he's blessed me with a really good wife, too, you know, and, you know, I think that, you know, I don't think God gives you all these things just to be able to, like, keep them to yourself, you know, and, like, I want people to know my family, you know, my kids ain't perfect by no means. You know, I'm not perfect by no means. But you know what? At the end of the day, I truly want what's best for everybody. And, you know, with our family going through all of this, you know, like, my wife, you know, she gets asked about it all the time, and, you know, we. You know, we try to keep it, you know, just. We try to just be normal unless we're going out and doing stuff and stuff like that. And, you know, you know, we lose a lot of time that we normally are used to having, but also, we understand as a family how important it is right now, you know, and if we felt that there was somebody in there that could represent us the right way, that could represent us, you know, that we could. I'm not good at blindly trusting, you know, and our last representative that we had was really good, Marcus Richmond. He's great, man. I've had many conversations with him. And if he was running, I wouldn't be running, because, you know what? I truly believe in him and what he does. But, you know, when people approached me about running and things like that, you know, these are constituents. These aren't other politicians or anything like that. Yeah, you know, I thought about it, prayed about it, and, you know, you know, you make a list and, God, if you can check everything off this list, you know, I'll run. And. And heck, he checked it all off. I didn't have anything else to say. But we are very aware of the importance of what we're doing and the impact that it has if we do what we're supposed to, and the impact that it has. If we don't do what we're supposed to, and we don't take that lightly. And my kids, they're not going to see as much of me sometimes as they would normally. But at the end of the day, I'm fighting for their future, and that's what's important to me. And, you know, I just. But when you're walking with God and, you know, you have him in your corner, you know, the fear and stuff like that and the anxiety and all that. That's all gone. That all washes away, you know, And I'm somebody who's real strong with my path and how I'm going and. But also, like, I don't take nothing for granted. Like, every single. Even if I lose this thing, at the end of the day, I'm gonna be okay. There's a reason why I did it, and there's a reason why God wanted me to, you know, And I don't. You know, I try to just keep it all light, you know, and at the end of the day, like, it's not like I got a bad life. That's kind of like what I tell my wife. I'm like, we lose. You know, as long as we gave it everything we had, I'm okay with losing. You know, I don't ever want to be the person that's like, man, I wish I'd have done this or I wish I'd have done that. You know, we're very. You know, we're happy with our lives and stuff like that, and we'll continue to be happy, you know, whether we win this race or lose this race. You know, my life's gonna get a lot harder if I win the race. But you know what? The people of our district are worth it. And that's what I want people to understand, that you are worth having a great leader and somebody who's gonna lead with you, be with you, and understand what you're going through. And somebody who's been there, done that, and can tell you the story and show you the T shirt. Yeah. You know, and I want to be an example of these kids that, hey, you can do whatever you want to do. All you got to do is put your mind to it and work hard. Now, if you don't want to work hard, you know, it's gonna be hard for you to get there as long as you put in the work and do what you're supposed to and, you know, you know, live a servant life, put other people in front of you all the Stuff that you want will end up coming anyway. Awesome. Speaking about putting in hard work, I always take an opportunity to ask my guests to speak to the camera and just kind of share some wisdom. There might be somebody that wants to run, that wants to make a change in the community, maybe open a business, pursue college, maybe take that next step. What would you say to someone that's watching to, like, just encourage them to just move forward and. And just kind of like, as you said, I mean, dreams can happen. I mean, if you work hard, you know, things will happen. And I see you working really hard and I see a good future for you. So what would you say to anyone out there? And then you can look at the camera and just kind of speak. Speak from your heart. You know, the biggest thing is you have to put other people first, like I just said. But also, Rome wasn't built in a day. You know, you're not going to get out of college. If you're in college and have that job that you want, as soon as you get out, you have to work it. And that was one of my problems, too. And the guys, it's building blocks. You know, you lay a brick every single day, and then you look at the end of the day and you end up and you got a wall. And that's how you have to attack it. You can't get everything at once. This life isn't going to be a microwave where you can have it in 30 seconds and it's hot and ready, you know, and that's what a lot of people want. But at the end of the day, anything that's worth having is going to take time and it's going to take effort. And pressure is a privilege. When things get hard, when you get pressure, anything that's worth having comes with pressure. And if somebody's going to pay you a lot of money to do something, there's going to be pressure with that. And you have to be. That's part of it. You can't get what you want and not have pressure with at the end of the day. And, you know, just think of every time when you're going through it. You know, pressure is a privilege. I have it on my wall in my office. I have this big old thing on my wall. It just says pressure is a privilege because, you know, some people don't like pressure, but some people thrive in it. And I'm somebody who, man, I feel uncomfortable if there isn't a pressure in the situation sometimes. And I don't live in comfortability. That's you know, I've pushed myself. Like, when I was getting my Masters, I pushed myself. I was working my normal job and then taking 12 hours of master's classes, and I was thinking, man, how am I gonna make it? And at the end of it, you know what? Like, there were some pressure moments, some tight deadlines and stuff, but at the end of it all, I finished that within a calendar year, my Masters. And after it, I was like, you know what? I think you could have took a little bit more, you know, because, like, once you get them on the other side of something, you're like, it wasn't even that bad. Yeah. And. But at the end of the day, you know, you work hard and you learn. If you ever stop learning, you know, that's an issue. You know, I don't care if you're 70, 80 years old, you. If you're looking to learn, you're looking to better yourself every single day. That's number one, you know, because none of us know everything. And if anybody tells you they know everything, oh, yeah, they ain't telling you the truth. And so you just have to, you know. And at the end of the day, 99% of the stuff you feared never happens. That's why I told my youngest. Yeah, like, 99% of that stuff don't ever happen. You work yourself up. Like, coming to have a conversation with you, I could sit there and be like, oh, my goodness, what's he gonna ask? What's gonna. At the end of the day, he gonna ask me what I'm gonna ask me. I just don't have a good answer. Yeah. So, you know, you can't ever. And you can't take life too serious, and you need to enjoy it. Like, yeah. You know, me, like, my office people. I have a great office of people that I work with every single day. And what makes me sad as I know that one day we're all not going to be there, because that's just life. Yeah. And I feel like I'm living in one of them core moments right now with the people that I'm working with. That's going to be one of them core memories. And those people that you know, are going to have an everlasting relationship with me and my wife. And I told them that the other day. I said, y', all, like, you know, when you're thinking about the good times, we're in one of those good times right now, and just make sure that we're enjoying it. And, you know, that's. I'm just real thankful And I'm really just. And I'm glad that at a young age I've realized a lot of this stuff because I still got a whole lot of life to live. But heck, I'm just trying to enjoy every single moment and hour and, you know, just, you know, And I'm not saying that I'm happy all the time and that I don't have hard times, I don't have down times, but, you know, when you're having those down times, that's when you grab onto them friends and get, you know, and talk to your friends, man. Don't ever, man, if you can, don't feel like you can talk to somebody, ask what they're really your friend. Because, you know, I call my friends about all kinds of stuff and, you know, if I'm struggling, like, nobody know, I don't have a friend that I call about all this election stuff. You know what I mean? You know, but, you know, you always need to be, you know, have those friends that you just feel like you can pick up the phone and talk to. And, you know, I have my high school friends and my college friends and heck, they intertwine and some of them are friends and stuff now and be intentional with your friends. You know, have those trips that you take with your friends and have those get togethers. Our big thing is our fantasy football league. They all come to my house, we do the whole draft board and all that stuff. And. But that's our one time a year that we all know that we are all going to see each other at the same exact time. And, you know, we don't take it for granted. And heck, we still talk about old stories and stuff like that, but I always tell everybody. And I was talking to my mom about this the other day because I just randomly stopped by. Yeah. And I was just like. Well, I was like, you know, mom, you got to be intentional. You know, I. I was turning around on your road because I was campaigning or whatever, and I was about to turn back around. I'm like, my mom's literally right there. I need to go see my mom. Yeah. And, you know, we go in there, I end up being in there for an hour. We're talking about other stuff and just. But when I leave, you know, I feel so good, you know, and, you know, after you start, because you repeat the same thing a lot all the time, you know, during campaigning and stuff like that. And, you know, being able to just have had that little hour break with my mom of just us just talking about old times and she had found some pictures and stuff that she was showing me and stuff. And, you know, you just. You continue to be thankful because I'm just really in tune with all this. Ain't gonna last forever. Not gonna be young forever. My kids. Ain't gonna be young forever. My mom's not gonna be here forever, you know? And you got to be intentional, because I don't want to live with no regret. I don't. Awesome. Well said, man. Well, I've. I've learned a lot from you today, man. I'm glad we had this conversation. Before we finish up, where can the viewer find you? Websites. Okay. Numbers. Yeah. So the best place to reach me, you know, Facebook Christian Thompson for state representative. Go search me there then. Also, I have a website, just Christian Thompson dot com. And, guys, find my phone number. Get a hold of me. I'm somebody who. I want to be one of the most approachable people ever, you know, because that's what everybody deserves. And so don't ever be afraid to reach out. No questions. A dumb question. If you have a problem seriously, call me. And I mean that. And I want to be somebody that you all can be proud of. At the end of the day, that's really important to me because I always tell everybody that I got to come back here and live, and I prefer to be liked. Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so that means I have to do a good job. Awesome. Well, Christian, thank you for coming today. Great conversation, and thank you for joining us today on Eleva. You know, go find Christian Thompson, learn more about him, and thank you for watching here, and we'll see you guys next