hello? Oh, welcome to the vitality today. I have a very special guest Lawrence. Kim Lawrence had a very interesting past, but he's made some seriously amazing strides in his life. And I'm so excited to speak with him today. I know as a young man that you had the lore of crime. Introduce yourself and tell us what brought you to that path.

Cool. Thank you for having me on Caroline. So let's I guess my name is Lawrence. Kim. Let's jump right into it. I'm , this year I'll be 40 years old and I think I've spent probably more than half of my life in criminal lifestyle and chasing after that type of life. Now I started from a young age, like you mentioned, and looking back now, I think it was the limitations of my environment, what I was able to see and what was around me and what was most appealing to me at that time.

And I grew up in a house, immigrant mother and father who worked very hard and believed the immigrant way, you just work, work, work, work, save, save, save, save, save, be frugal frugal frugal, for real frugal. And, you know, there was always internal fights happening in the home about money . And, I think it had to be something like that where I felt the importance of money from a young age, being that the lack of it. Creates like turmoil or, or dysfunction. So I, the lack of control. So when I went out there into the world where my mom and dad were kept working, working, working, I was dropped off at grandma's, who happened to be in a low income area in Hawaii. And so I grew up in an area where people were at the public housing and, and so I saw that and I got to see.

What was the best opportunity in that environment and, and looked at all the ways to make money. So , joined the gangs. And then when I was in there, I was like, ah, gangs. Ain't that really great because these kids could buy us candy at the candy store. How are they making their money? I got involved in that.

They were doing drugs and selling drugs. And then. When I hung out with them a little bit, I realized, huh, this isn't it either because they get their money from these guys who buy the drugs and drive the fancy cars, who are they? And I always wanted to know who, who, who, who, and I kept opening up my world.

Unfortunately, my world kept opening up in that path because I kept looking in that path. If that makes sense. And so long story short, I seek that. I seek that path because that's all I knew. And in 2015, that path into an abrupt end, I faced a 40 year sentence of which I did eight and a half years straight in prison.

So from 2007 to 2015, I disappeared from the world and went into like educational years. Which is prison.

You know, I have a distaste for planes and cruises and stuff only because of that lack of control feeling. I just, don't like not being able to get off when I want to , but I can't imagine the feeling of getting locked up and having that door closed for the first time. What was going through your mind? What did that feel like? And what kind of conversations did you have in your head to get through to that?

You know when people well think about going to prison and hasn't, hasn't been going to prison and even people who do go to prison, the first initial thing is like, Oh, I'm getting torn away from the world. My freedom is being taken away from me. And, you know, I had all of those feelings to just it's fear of going to a place where you have no control over anything.

Everything's taken away and you just feel like everything's lost. However, when I got there, I had a mindset shift. I've I'm very good at accepting my reality. Because of the life that I've lived, I've always been able to accept where I am, what I'm doing and, I wanted to, while I was in prison, because I had faced such a long sentence, I decided this is going to be my life.

I'm going to be a criminal. I'm going to be the best that I can be. While I was there, I was embraced like after maybe like the first year or two of spinning out. And I just stopped talking to the outside world, stopped talking to my parents, stopped writing to anybody. I didn't want to hear about anything.

I just want it to focus in the environment that I was in because. It's a control thing. Again, I have no control over the outside. I have control of where I am is the little freedom as I have. I need to be in control. So I just accepted my reality. And then I was like, I'm going to be a criminal for life.

I'm going to be the best that I can be. I'm going to make the best out of this networking opportunity that I'm here and I'm just going to go all out. And that was my mindset at that time. That's what got me through the pain is to accept that is what it is.

It's interesting because in one aspect that's sort of a responsible mindset because you chose to accept where you were and try to make the best of it. Sometimes I'm like, there comes a moment though, where the curtain is drawn and you know that there's a line in the sand and there's a quote that I love. And it says today I closed the door to the past, open the door to the future, take a deep breath step on through, and start a new chapter in my life. Tell us the day that that happened for you.

People read about those things, right. They read about those moments and really, huh, that sounds beautiful. That sounds cool. But it never really happens. It's just like an inspirational point that they read about or hope for.

But I know that exact moment that that happened for me and I considered that a super blessing. And in that exact moment, I really did close a door and open up a whole new chapter in my life. I was sitting in a, like a support group. It sounded really supportive. For a group, like a drug program group, where they make you do these mandatory programs to educate you before you get out of prison, you have to do it.

And, they teach you like cognitive skills and things like that. How to deal with regular life things. But we're sitting in a group, all the young guys on one side, I'm somewhere in the middle. And there were these old timers, these old GS on this side. And there was one old man. I remember his name. He always kept himself, did pretty much his entire life in prison. And he just had this like disgusted face on his look all the time, you know? And he'd look at the young guys with this smirk on his face, sitting back and like, like, ah, you're young punks, young punks don't know, but I was just like, you just like you laughing at the old man across the yard at somebody like me, you guys are laughing at me because I got this look on my face. Nobody sends me money. I have no family on the outside. Like just feeling sorry for himself. Right? He said, you are going to be just like me in 20 years talking to somebody just like you. And everybody laughed about that because it made so much sense to them.

But in that moment, I felt like time paused for me. And I saw myself as an older man, 20, 30 years older sitting in that seat. Saying the same thing, because I know 20, 30 years later, my parents would die. Um, all of my friends will have moved on the world will have moved on with her without me. And I was like, huh?

Yeah, this is my future. It's either death or that's going to be my I'm going to be that old man there, there really is going to be nobody for me. And it's really just going to be me sitting in that chair with that same look on. And I was like F that, that is not going to be me. And from that experience. I realized that I learned how to look into the future. Right. I able to take myself in look because I read somewhere in, in prison. I did a lot of reading. I don't know if it's Tony Robbins or some of the great gurus that talk about different things. They say, you're the average of the people that's around you, the five people are on different numbers when you're the average. I totally believe that I'm a product of my environment and the choices that I make. And so. What environment I put myself in, I have control over the people. I put myself around. I have control over the things that I choose to consume in my ears and my eyes, that's up to me. If I don't have the right people around me, I can consume that could be my five things. And so I was like, huh? If I, if I stick around in this environment, which I have no control over, I'm stuck in prison. I am going to be just like this. And so I went okay. Into my cave, my room, and I stopped spending money on buying like food items and started buying books , started reading different things in the library and started just enriching my mind about different stuff. And, from there I realized like, Oh, okay, cool. I'm going to be the average of these five people. These five things that I'm reading, whatever it is.

I don't even know any of this stuff. I went away. When I got locked up in 2007, I had a flip phone, a Motorola razor flip phone and Dallas top of the line. And nobody would, nobody thought that iPhone one was going to be a thing. It was kind of like a fad at that time. And I was looking at what's going on and outside, where is it?

Huh? Everybody's going to be smartphones and apps. I was like, I better learn about this stuff. Or, you know, I'm going to be lost when they get out. And so I spent the next, like, until I got out just focused and consuming what's happening in the outside world and where I want to be. And so that's, that's what I did to get on.

And that was the exact moment where I realized I didn't want this life anymore. I went from, I want to do this for the rest of my life. I'm going to be all in to, I don't want this at all. And now what am I going to do?

That's amazing. I love that you got your inspiration and your people from books because it's true, but don't, don't reinvent the wheel just follow those have been successful for you.

What do you think about that expression? Old dogs can't learn new tricks because I think you squash that.

I believe that if you believe old dogs can't learn new tricks, it's absolutely true. You won't be able to change what, what your life is about. However, if you look at ,how our life is and how time goes by, you have control over everything that's within you. You don't, you might not have control over everything else, but you decide what you want out of your life. Some of the decisions and choices you might have to make might be difficult, but you still have the power to choose. And so we can change our lives. We can, we can change and become whoever we want whenever we want. Are the decisions always easy? No, but old dogs can definitely learn new tricks and I've used that every single place that I go that same place that I was sitting in prison in that circle of seeing the old man and the young boy, the average of the five people around me, every workplace, I go, every environment I put myself in, I look, huh, that person has been here for 15 years.

I'm new. These person are like five years. And I look, I'm going to be the average of these people. Am I okay with becoming that? And if it, if it's a no, then I'm going to search and move on until there's a circle where I feel inspired enough and a little bit uncomfortable, you don't have to keep pushing and something that I really want . You have to see that new tricks are possible.

That is so true. Tell us a little about what you're doing now.

You know, what what's exciting is, tomorrow actually, what is today? Today is the 14th tomorrow, my client has been sticking with me through COVID-19 I'm a business consultant. I've transitioned to business consultant, try to do my own entrepreneurial thing. this company, Waikiki trolley, you know, a corporation has been around for almost 50 years in Hawaii. And I've been offered an executive position as the vice president of this company after two years. Yeah. So that's exciting. That's what I'm doing.

That's so cool.

Thank you so much. I it's a huge responsibility, I have big belief that this company can come back and bounce back out of this COVID-19 situation and an industry full of old dogs who can't learn new tricks, we're definitely going to dominate.

All right. I love it. I love it. So you really, you came out a vengeance and did it.

That's so admirable.

I can't compete with People with years of experience and credentials and all these college degrees, I can't compare with things I don't have. Right. I could sit here and feel sorry for myself. Oh, I can't do that. I can't do this. I don't have this and feel like I am not good enough, but that would just, that's just me talking to myself, holding myself back. Everyone has value to offer somebody else. And once you realize that you're not afraid of the things you don't have and you embrace the things that you do have, which is your life experience.

And then you just freely give that to whatever organization people are. You know, people that don't see things the way you do, but could benefit from it. And just go all in on your, like the things that you are going to forget about the things you don't have. You know, that's what holds back 80, 90% of people from life from living their life, right?

Life is too short to hold yourself back. I mean, our life goes like this, right? So why not experience it? Why repeat it? Year after year after year, decade after decade after decade, if you're not happy, that's your fault. Move on and go experience life. Even embrace the time I spent in prison. When people say, Aw, man, it feels so sorry that you spent so long.

I said, no, you don't have to. Because I feel like it's a real great part of my book, my journey in life. Like there are people like you experienced Europe, you went traveling around the world or whatever. I went to prison. Have you been there? So this is a part of my thing. Like I'm embracing it as a part of the story. This is a part of the thing that makes my life Epic and I'm embracing it. You know, there's nothing to feel, sorry about. I love it.

Your mess is your message. I love it too. That is super cool. you're just a really neat guy and I, I love how you've made such an amazing transformation. It's very, very inspiring.

All right, Lawrence. Um, if you could eliminate one thing from this world, what would it be and why?

I knew this question was coming up and I didn't know how to answer it. so my real answer sir, is that I, I wouldn't change anything because I feel like everything's necessary the good and the bad for people to evolve for people to face certain issues together.

If I did have to choose something to get rid of something that I'm afraid of is Weapons of mass destruction, whether it's chemical or, biological or nuclear, like, I feel like those things are completely unnecessary and uncontrollable. I feel like with all of the crazy things that's happening in the world, if we could just eliminate that threat, I mean, how scary is it that somebody sitting behind a button could just like end my life within a second of me not knowing anything.

That's. It's scary. That's insane to me. Right. So I feel like that's something that I would eliminate from the world. And again, I feel like even all the bad stuff in the world are a necessary thing for us to keep evolving and growing as a human race.

I've never had anybody say that that's a really cool perception .

True because you have to learn from all the negative. And if you don't learn and then you don't grow.

Then we wouldn't know anything.

It was such a pleasure to speak with you and I can't thank you enough for sharing your story.

Where can people get ahold of you?

Um, just, just on Instagram, I just document my story. I, I realized that I'm not a creator. I like don't have enough time to sit down and create. So I just document on stories. Like here's what I'm doing, here's what I'm doing everyday. You follow you follow. If not, it disappears in 24 hours, but I try to document my day to keep myself accountable.

So Lawrence Kim 8 0 8 is the best way, and I'm always open to answering whatever questions or whatever when people reach out to me. I have nothing that I'm selling or anything like that. I just, I just want to help people believe that you're not stuck in the life in the hand that you was dealt, you know, you can just keep getting a new hand, playing a different game whenever you want.

I definitely believe that. I'm going to end this with my famous little quote here. Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself. Yay.