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Chris Hall is a first generation multi-racial Caribbean American who was raised by a single mom. He tells us his story growing up in NY City and he dealt with poverty and being a bit unusual because he looked different. As it turned out, he also was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder and Dyslexia although he did not learn his diagnoses until he was in high school. Like many undiagnosed children he felt out of place. Finally learning of his medical issues he began working to understand and grow.
Chris went to college and successfully studied and graduated. He tells us how he eventually substituted some Eastern medical practices for the medications his doctor prescribed for him to help with his ADD. I asked him if he felt that his new regiment regarding ADD was better than Western medications. You will hear that indeed he feels more improved now.
Chris eventually began working at Boeing in various financial roles. He always credits good mentors and teachers with his successful building of confidence and success on the job.
In 2017 he decided to give back by becoming a mentor and coach to others. He also has, as he puts it, started a side hustle as a public speaker. So, clearly he keeps busy and loves the activity. He will tell us, however, that it is important to take time to relax, unplug and think. I leave the rest for Chris to tell. All I will say is that clearly he is unstoppable. I hope you see that as well.
About the Guest:
Christopher Hall is a 1st Generation multi-racial Caribbean American, who was born and raised in NYC by a single mom. Ever since young, Chris has been passionate about helping others and leading his life with positivity, determination, empathy, passion, kindness, and grace!
Being born and raised in the heart of NYC was not easy! As the only child of an immigrant mother who did not attend college, Chris and his mom went through hard times. Both financially and in regard to learning as he struggled with a learning disability (ADD/ADHD/Dyslexia) when younger. However, through these tribulations, he was fortunate enough to have had mentors, teachers, and a wonderful tutor Krish Kamath who went out of their way to teach him and provide him with guidance. It was through this that Chris became fearless, confident, and resilient. These times built his character and truly instilled a drive and burning passion into wanting to help others! In November 2017, Christopher channeled this passion of helping others through mentorship, and his goal was simple: He was eager to mentor people and help them find their WHY and their own passion! Chris truly believes everyone has a deep inherent why that is so powerful, yet many do not know what it fully is or how to access it, and are oftentimes pressured by what society wants them to be. Chris's goal is to make my vocation a vacation and help others do the same.
Professionally
Chris was also a 2019 member of Harvard Business School Summer Venture in Management Program (a highly selective residential week-long PreMBA student at Harvard Business School campus which exposes you to real-world Business Cases) and was a recruiter and ambassador for the SVMP Alumni Association. Chris Hall is also a 2019 Forbes 30 Under 30 College Scholar.
From a professional perspective, Chris Chris has interned twice for The Boeing Company as a Financial Analyst and was extended a full-time offer for Boeing's Top Finance rotational program called the Business Career Foundation Program (now reprogrammed as the FCFP) which exposed him to 6 different roles within Finance, Strategy, Contracts, HR, and Sales within 2 years.
Outside of this Chris, use to work as a Teller in Banking, worked as a Sales Consultant, Senior Sales Consultant, and Sales Trainer for an Internal Currency Exchange Retail Corporation, and was set to get promoted to Assistant Sales Manager (prior to COVID in March of 2020).
Chris was also extended an offer to Intern at Morgan Stanley as a Compliance Analyst in New York during the Summer of 2018.
Finally, Chris has received interviews, Superdays, and/or offers for multiple Fortune 500 Companies including Goldman Sachs, Google, Blackstone, Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan, Boeing, Airbus, Bloomberg, Bank of America, Lockheed Martin, HSBC Bank, Fox News, Amazon, Barclays Investment Bank, etc.
This is what inspired Chris to begin mentoring others after having experience with these firms. Up to date, Chris have mentored over 700 people across 5 continents in person (from November 2017 to date) and virtually and has helped over 12,000+ people through his YouTube Videos! Additionally, his LinkedIn posts have amassed over 100,000+ views altogether.
Chris's primary goal as an individual is to give back and serve others! Whether that is offering the top quality products in a corporation, to helping individuals during times they need it the most. Chris's success is making other people and companies successful!
Chris is eager to take upon new challenges and grow in this beautiful journey of life. It is my drive and my personal values that influence me to work hard and even harder, every single day!
Outside of work and mentorship, Chris is very passionate about Mental Health, Self-Care, Self-improvement, Traveling, Nature, Singing, Hiking, Archery, YouTube, Finances, & fitness!
Ways to connect with Chris:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherrangonh/
Calendly: (To book a 1:1 Mentorship Session) https://calendly.com/christopher-rangon/mentorship
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@chris_rangon/
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@skateboardcrh12
**Instagram: ** https://instagram.com/chris_rangon https://www.instagram.com/christopherrangonspeaks/
About the Host: Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.
Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children’s Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association’s 2012 Hero Dog Awards.
https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/
accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/
https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/
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Transcription Notes
**Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.
**Michael Hingson ** 01:20 Well, hi there and welcome once again to unstoppable mindset. And this episode, we get to talk with Christopher Hall. Christopher is an interesting person by any standards. He's got the the luxury of being a first generation multiracial American. He is passionate about helping others and he does a lot of different things and has a lot of life experiences, which was what makes this really funny. And not only funny, but fun. I shouldn't say funny, really, because it is fun to really be able to talk about experiences, and talk about them very seriously. And so Christopher really has a lot of experiences that a lot of us don't normally get to experience and, and share up. And so I think we're all going to be drawn in by our discussion today. And with that, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. Do I call you Christopher or Chris? You
**Christopher Hall ** 02:25 could call me Chris. And thank you so much, Michael for having me. I really appreciate it.
**Michael Hingson ** 02:30 Then I will call you Chris just not late for dinner. And Chris. Chris lives back in Pennsylvania. So right now we're recording this at 734 in the evening. He just got home from work. So you haven't had dinner yet? Have you?
**Christopher Hall ** 02:46 No, I haven't. But I made sure to, you know, pass by Starbucks or for a quick snack so
**Michael Hingson ** 02:55 well, what's, what's the snack today?
**Christopher Hall ** 02:58 The snack was an impossible breakfast sandwich, actually. So yeah, what's
**Michael Hingson ** 03:03 what's an impossible breakfast sandwich? What's that?
**Christopher Hall ** 03:06 So it is a breakfast sandwich on a ciabatta bread with eggs, cheese and impossible meat? Because I'm pescetarian. So I only eat fish. Yeah. And it's pretty good. It hits
**Michael Hingson ** 03:22 the spot. What kind of fish was it? You know?
**Christopher Hall ** 03:25 Well, it wasn't fish that I specifically ordered this time, but it was impossible beef. So it was based beef. Got
**Michael Hingson ** 03:32 it? Okay. Me. I'm a shrimp fan myself. But that's another story.
**Christopher Hall ** 03:39 Awesome. Well,
**Michael Hingson ** 03:41 so you are from New York. You've been in New York. Why don't we go back and start at the beginning? Why don't you tell us a little bit about you, Chris, the young person growing up and all that stuff. And let's go from there.
**Christopher Hall ** 03:53 Absolutely. So I was born in 97 in Brooklyn, New York. And I was raised around Bay Ridge and I moved to Queens, New York when I was about six years old. And I lived in Queens for most of my life. Ended up going to elementary school, middle school, junior high school in Queens, went to high school in Long Island, just about 20 minutes away. And I attended Baruch College in Manhattan. And that's where I decided to pursue my degree in finance. I was really, really passionate about finance and math. And yeah, that's, that's that's just a little bit about my upbringing. At least in the New York side. New York is such a diverse place.
**Michael Hingson ** 04:52 Yeah, yeah. It is. So multiracial. What races.
**Christopher Hall ** 04:57 Oh, gosh. All right. I even began. So this is a long list. Okay? Yes. So both of my parents are from the Caribbean. But just through generations of family. They, they, they come from a lot of places. So, on my mom's side, she's from the island of Martinique. But I have grandparents that originate from India. On my dad's side, my dad is was born in the country of Haiti. But he's white and complexion. And both of his parents actually emigrated from England and France, to Haiti. And I also have heard that I have Middle Eastern genes in my blood as well. So very, very mixed between Caribbean, Middle Eastern, Indian, and you're up here.
**Michael Hingson ** 05:55 Wow. And again, you were born where? Exactly?
**Christopher Hall ** 05:59 I was born in Brooklyn, New York.
**Michael Hingson ** 06:01 So there you go, the melting pot of the world by most any standard or one of them. Well, so you're you were raised by your mom, I guess primarily. So there wasn't a dad in the picture.
**Christopher Hall ** 06:17 Yeah, so I was I was primarily raised by my mom. You know, she was a single parent, who just took care of me throughout throughout the highs and lows. And I owe her so much. My dad did provide moral support, or monetary support. But it was mainly my mom who took care of me. And I'm tremendously grateful for that.
**Michael Hingson ** 06:49 But you had said, when we chatted before that there were a lot of hard times economically and you also have a disability or you did I don't know whether you still regard yourself as having that lunch. Tell us a little bit about all that.
**Christopher Hall ** 07:02 Yes, absolutely. So my mom works as a housekeeper. She still does. And she's worked as a housekeeper for over 37 years. And while growing up, I went through a lot of tough times and tribulations and I and I saw my mom go through so many hardships. There were times that my mom would be late on rent multiple times, there were times that I was unable to afford new shoes. There were times that I saw my mom give me food. And unfortunately, I didn't see her eat. But I was very, very, very fortunate that, you know, my mom really, really took the time to instill hope and kindness inside of me. So even though I did witness that, and even though at times it did affect me, I always remained optimistic. In regards to learning disability, ever since young, I was very hyperactive. And I actually did not speak my first word until the age of four years old. So I actually went to a delayed language school. Because I did not really say my first ever syllable until the age of four. And I went to school in Brooklyn called high tech, where I was able to learn language and how to enunciate my words. And it was it was truly a challenge. And even throughout school, and I guess throughout growing up, really I struggled with attention deficit disorder, and dyslexia. And there were so many things that I struggled to understand. I struggled to comprehend. And I remember vividly taking so much longer than my peers around me. And I remember vividly studying for hours trying to work so hard and I wasn't getting the grace that I wanted. So that is that is still something that I do struggle with to this day in regards to concentration, but I have figured out ways to really navigate it. Just by understanding my body, understanding the way my mind works, and really working for myself, or working with myself rather, in order to ensure that I'm putting my best foot forward
**Michael Hingson ** 10:00 So you still deal with dyslexia today?
**Christopher Hall ** 10:02 Yes. Okay. Yes, I do. So, you
**Michael Hingson ** 10:06 know, if I may, a couple of things come to mind, let's go back to your mom and you and you have a lot of challenges economically and so on. How do you think that has shaped your outlook on life? Today? And when what is your outlook on life?
**Christopher Hall ** 10:30 That's a great question. I guess just start off with the first point. What really stood out to me, I guess, when I saw my mom experienced the things that she did, was really learning about the power of being mindful, the power of being mindful with how I save and how I spend my money. And also understanding that, you know, you should always prepare for any form of situation that does come your way. But also, at the same time, I also learned not to be afraid of investing in myself, because that's, that's so important to me. And I'm sorry, Michael, what was the other part of your question?
**Michael Hingson ** 11:22 Well, the so you, you learned to be very mindful of money, you learn to be intentional about what you do, and how So it clearly hasn't made you bitter, to have gone through all that stuff. And I find that fascinating, and actually very joyous and wonderful, because I've spoken to a number of people on this podcast who have had in their own way, similar situations, that is, they have had adverse situations they've had to deal with growing up. And they come out of it, recognizing what they had, and appreciating what they had and what they have now, in so many ways, and are very articulate about it. And say that even so they wouldn't have changed, or traded their childhoods for anything, because of the fact that in reality, they learned so much because of what they had to do. Absolutely,
**Christopher Hall ** 12:27 absolutely. I definitely do concur with that point. I feel like coming from humble beginnings, allows you to learn and grow. And I feel also, at least for me, personally, the most valuable things in life aren't things that are necessarily tangible, like money, it's there are things that are intangible, such as, you know, feeling joy, feeling love, you know, having peace of mind. And, and I feel like throughout the duration of my childhood, I experienced that because I have a beautiful mother that always, you know, told me about the power of having hope, of having kindness of helping others. And it allowed me to grow up with really a lot of humanity and just see that there are things that happen in life. So yeah, I'm tremendously grateful for my childhood. So so thank you for asking that question, Michael.
**Michael Hingson ** 13:36 Now, at the same time, you you had learning disabilities, you had issues with dyslexia and ADHD, how did you navigate through all that and come through that it had to be frustrating? Or does it? Was it not necessarily because you really didn't know for a long time? What really was going on?
**Christopher Hall ** 13:57 Yeah, great question. So I wasn't officially diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia until I was in about ninth grade. So this was around the age of 14 or 15. And it was it was hard. And it was very, very frustrating. But my mom realized from young that I really needed extra attention when it came to schooling. And, and it was from there that my mom said, You know what I'm going to take to time to invest in my child. And literally, I am my mom's investment. I remember, you know, her taking me to programs, such as Kumaon and score. Me going to an ideal Montessori school when I was young, and you know, she would take the time to invent asked, like $350 a month, $360 a month to send me to a private school. And I remember, you know, waking up at 5am, to get ready by 545. And, you know, to, you know, go on a two hour commute, two and a half hour commute from Brooklyn to Queens. And getting that individualized learning. So I'm very, very grateful in that regard. My mom saw the power of good teachers, good programs, and education. And I feel like that just made things easier for me, because it encouraged me, because it made me realize that it's not like I'm uncapable of learning, I just learned in a different way, I just comprehend information and obtain it in a different way. And it was through learning through beautiful teachers, and individuals who pushed me that I realized, hey, you know, I am able to do that. And it gives a great sense of empowerment. And, you know, later on when school got a lot more serious, and, you know, when you're in sixth grade, seventh grade, eighth grade, you're taking very core curriculum courses in order to get you ready for high school. And I realized that I was struggling during that time. In seventh grade, I was failing a lot of my classes, I realized the importance of, Hey, maybe I do need to go to a specialized doctor to see if I could get the help that I needed. And I ended up going to a doctor that specialized in ADHD and dyslexia and things cognitively in regards to the brain. And in regards to how you process information. And I took assessments, I took tests. And that's when I received my official diagnosis. And I was very fortunate that I was actually prescribed medication. And I was able to take that during high school. And that really helped me. And that served me tremendously. And, and I took medication, I would say, from really from high school, up until my sophomore year of college, and it helped me
**Michael Hingson ** 17:48 when your concentration, did you were able to stop taking the medication anymore?
**Christopher Hall ** 17:54 Yeah, so currently, currently, I do not. And I was able to find natural ways to really aid with my concentration in regards to just organizing organizational skills, natural supplements. Really adequate sleep, adequate sleep helps me a lot. Going to bed at certain times also helps me a lot to with my concentration. There you go. Yeah.
**Michael Hingson ** 18:28 Do you find that the natural remedies do as well or even better than taking the typical western science medication? And I asked that, because I've talked to two people on this podcast from both sides of that. So I'm just curious what your thoughts are?
**Christopher Hall ** 18:46 Yeah, great question. Um, I would personally say yes. It in the very beginning, in all transparency, I did have a lot of doubt where I just said to myself, like, oh, is this really going to work? You know, I took, you know, a Western prescribed medicine for five to six years, is the natural remedy going to work the same way? So, in my mind, I started to have doubts. But I really took the time to do my due diligence and research. I looked at different natural supplements, I tried different things. And I was I was really able to see what worked well for me. And I do have to say, it does work as well. For sure. Absolutely. I think you do need to be a lot more. You know, disciplined, however, with your habits in order for it to work efficiently, you know, such as like your sleep, and your exercise for me exercising and sleep. actually helps me a lot My concentration.
**Michael Hingson ** 20:02 So you, you strike me as a as a person who has been very grateful for all that you've had, which is great. One of the things that I've noticed from a lot of people who we've had the the honor to chat with, who have been through a lot of adversity and come out of it. The other end I think is the best way to put it is that not only are they grateful, but they, they love to give back, which I think is important. I think I've been doing some of that ever since being in the World Trade Center on September 11. And I decided after that, that if I could speak as people were starting to invite me to do and if I could sell philosophy and life instead of selling computer hardware, it was a lot more rewarding. So how do you do that? And how do you give back to to the world and to people because of the things that you've experienced?
**Christopher Hall ** 20:56 Absolutely. Great question, Michael. So I try my utmost best to give back in any way I can. I would say you could give back in the smallest of ways. I know with me, I tried to give back through teaching, mainly through helping others. So one huge initiative that I've taken ever since 2017, when I was a junior in college, was actually to pay it forward and help people when it comes to obtaining internships and when it comes to obtaining full time jobs. And I did it originally because I had a mentor who worked at Morgan Stanley, and his name is Christopher too. And he took time out of his very busy schedule working 60 7080 plus hour weeks, just to mentor me and teach me. And, you know, I went from someone who was just very, very shy and reserved. I didn't have that much friends, to someone that was brave, eager and determined to network with people to connect with people to get to learn more about others. And it was true that I feel like my passion for giving back at least when it came to mentorship was born. So I've primarily have done that through my college campus when I was in college, and also via LinkedIn, as well. And I'm grateful to say, you know, to date, I've volunteered. And I've helped about 300, maybe 350 to 400 people for free. And I realized that I was very great at mentorship, and I realized that I was able to really give back to others and others really appreciated what I had to offer. And I turned that into a side business over time in about 2020 or 2021.
**Michael Hingson ** 23:37 Wow, well, how do you continue to mentor people you've mentored hundreds of people? How do you do that without getting tired? And how do you just keep going forward?
**Christopher Hall ** 23:50 That's a great question. I would have to say I, I remember my why. I know for me, when I was struggling and going through so many challenges in middle school, high school college. I had a long time tutor, teacher, someone who I would even consider a family friend who took the time to teach me and believe in me and helped me and and it was even during the times I didn't believe in myself. And I remembered vividly, you know, he would always say, you know, take the time to rest but keep on moving forward, keep on going. And during the time that I mentored people, there were times that I was dealing with other responsibilities in life there were times that I was dealing with challenges, setbacks, etc. But I am knew that if I had the opportunity to positively affect someone's life that could not only affect their life, but also affect their family's life and the people around them in a very, very positive and optimistic way. So I kept that in the forefront of my mind. And during the times that I felt tired, or if I felt like I needed a break, I took the time to get rest. Because resting and recharging is so important. But I never quit. In addition to that, I feel like what really allowed me to just remain resilient, is just by seeing how my mom approached situations, there were times that my mom worked 12 to 14 hour days, six days a week, even seven days a week. And she would always take the time to do things with a smile on her face, even though she was exhausted. And that was something that really inspired me. So ever since young, I told myself, hey, if I am tired, but if I'm doing something great, I'm going to take the time to remain resilient and go through it. And that's something that served me personally.
**Michael Hingson ** 26:35 Well, you clearly had a role model that helped with your mom. And I had a lot of role models. Yeah. You had a lot of role models, but your mom certainly set set the tone. And that helped.
**Christopher Hall ** 26:48 Absolutely, absolutely for sure.
**Michael Hingson ** 26:52 So you have, you have said that you treat your vocation like a vacation. Tell me about that?
**Christopher Hall ** 27:05 Yes. You
**Michael Hingson ** 27:07 know, I'd ask you that one.
**Christopher Hall ** 27:10 Yes. So, gosh, I actually did not know what the word vocation was. Until my senior year in high school. In 12th grade, I had a psychology teacher by the name of Donato manga Liuzzo. He goes by the name of Mr. Monk, for sure. And he always talked about the power of doing things that make you feel passion, and true love inside. And he always talked about the power of going after your goals and going after your dreams and not being afraid to set yourself apart. And he would always tell us this continuously class he says, you know, you'll reach an amazing stage in your life when you make your vocation a vacation, when you make your work something that you love. And I really resonated with that. And that's what I've strived to do. Ever since my senior year in high school going forward, I asked myself like, okay, you know, outside of me taking care of my needs, like financially. Does this role or does this hobby something that I'm doing? Does it make me happy? Because life, life goes by quickly. And it's and it's great to feel happy? Yeah.
**Michael Hingson ** 28:49 So you graduated from college? What do you do now?
**Christopher Hall ** 28:55 So I graduated from Baruch in 2019. And I currently work at the Boeing company. So I work as a finance contract specialist. And I really love what I do. Tell
**Michael Hingson ** 29:11 me more about what that what that means, like what your job is? Absolutely.
**Christopher Hall ** 29:15 So I help with selling V 22 helicopters to the government. So I look at contract proposals. I write drafts of letters. And I help with negotiating in order to help, you know sell these to the government such as the US Navy, and the US Army. And I've been with Boeing for about two and a half years, a little over two and a half years. And ever since I was 17 I was passionate about aviation and aerospace Bass, it was something that I've always wanted to pursue. And I was very fortunate that I wanted to pursue like a space like that, because aviation, I think is such a diverse, and really niche community. Even though aviation is so big, you see airplanes in the sky all the time you see helicopters in the sky all the time. But being able to be in an industry where you're able to serve millions of people, is something absolutely fascinating. And I'm grateful to do what I do every day. But
**Michael Hingson ** 30:45 you also have started a career in coaching and public speaking. Tell me more, a little bit more about that. What got you started down that road as well? Yes,
**Christopher Hall ** 30:55 absolutely. So for. So for career coaching, I guess we'll start there. In in 2017, as I mentioned earlier, I had a mentor, by the name of Christopher, and he helped me when it came to giving me the opportunity to learn more about interviews and connecting with people and things of that nature. And when I received the full time off, well, not a full time offer, actually, but an internship offer from both Morgan Stanley and the Boeing company. I was so happy, I was ecstatic. And I told my mentor Chris about this. And he said, you know, Christopher, I'm so proud of you. And I want you to remember something, I want you to do one thing, and that is pay it forward. And that was something that really, really really, you know, stuck with me. And it was something that made me feel so inspired. So ever since November of 2017. I've mentored many people around college campus. And in the end of 2019, when I was graduating from college, I realized, Hey, I'm very, very good at this, maybe I should, you know, see if I could cultivate this into a business. I've been hearing a lot of people say hey, Christopher, you, you know you have something, you are really able to inspire and help others and connect other people as well with their opportunities and and help people find their why and their passion, you should turn this into a business. So in 2020, I was thinking about it. And I'm asking myself, okay, how can I do this? And unfortunately, COVID happened. It really hit New York City hard in March of 2020, with with the lock downs. And I told myself, you know what, okay, I'm going to try my utmost best to help as many people as I can, because I see people getting laid off, left and right. And that simple initiative of wanting to really help people as much as I could, turned into me, putting a lot of posts on LinkedIn sharing, value added information about how to search for jobs during the time of the pandemic, how to ask, informational, or how to have informational interviews in an appropriate manner, what questions to ask, after an interview, how to answer specific interview type questions, and I would create these posts on LinkedIn. And I took the initiative to set up 45 minute long calls for free from 12pm to 9pm, seven days a week, from April of 2020 through August of 2020. And during that time, that was about 11 people a day, max that I mentored. During that time I mentored over 200 people within that four month timeframe. And in August of 2020, I decided I want to pursue this and I want to transform this into a you know small time business. And by small time I don't think that's true. right word, but really, as a side business rather. And during that time, I said, You know what, let me use Calendly. And let me charge $20 for a 25 minute mentorship session. And I was very, very grateful that I was able to obtain clients that wanted to, you know, learn more, and they wanted to pay for my services. And it started from there. And in regards to public speaking, I would say, I had a passion for public speaking and really helping others, at least in regards to speaking in public ever since 2019. That just started with me being curious, and seeing if any elementary schools, high schools or colleges needed a speaker in order to help with providing students motivation. And it was from dare that I decided to reach out to high schools and colleges, at the time I was in Seattle. And I realized when I, you know, took the time to get out of my comfort zone and speak. It left the students feeling very, very inspired and very motivated. And that's how my passion for public speaking was born. And so far, I've I've spoken to the University of Washington, to provide a workshop there. I spoken to my alma mater, which is Razi school. And I've smoked, and I've spoken to other small various places, as well. And that's something that I'm very passionate about to how
**Michael Hingson ** 37:07 did you find some of these places to speak at? like University of Washington, that's clearly quite a ways away from you.
**Christopher Hall ** 37:17 Yes, so, before moving to Pennsylvania, I was actually in Seattle for about a year. And I actually have a lot of friends that attended the University of Washington. And Boeing actually has a very good relationship with the University of Washington. Well. It was it was it was very, very easy for me to leverage my connections and have the opportunity to speak there.
**Michael Hingson ** 37:49 So does Boeing know that you're doing public speaking like this?
**Christopher Hall ** 37:56 I would say yes. Yes, they do. I posted on LinkedIn. And I talked about, you know, my love for for, for speaking with others to, you know, you know, to my team, so they're, they're fully supportive of it? Well,
**Michael Hingson ** 38:11 it certainly has continued to work out pretty well for you, needless to say, which is as important as it as it could possibly be. What have you taken in the way of lessons from your work at Boeing that has helped you and the rest of things that you do?
**Christopher Hall ** 38:31 Absolutely. So I would have to say, there have been a couple of things. Number one is networking. Really, taking the time to network is truly so important. So when it comes to, you know, connecting with others, collaborating with others, when it comes to specific projects or tasks, building rapport is truly so important. Because at the end of the day, people will give you opportunities if they know you, and they're able to vouch for your work ethic, if they know who you are. What is your personality, what you bring to the table. So that is that is truly important, you know, networking and fostering relationships, I would say is number one, number two, one thing that I've learned is, and it really alludes to number one is you know, ensuring that you have good rapport with people, as much as you can never burn your bridges. You know, the world is very big, but it's also very, very smart. People talk and individuals know each other. So always take the time. To put your best foot forward and lead with transparency, lead with love, you know, always take the time to serve others in any way you can, it really helps tremendously. And that is, that is something that I've learned and, and number three, I would have to say, one of the biggest things that I've learned through Boeing is Never be afraid of interacting with others. I know throughout my time, you know, at the Boeing Company, there were there were times that I was intimidated to reach out to a senior vice president or a managing director, or CEO, of you know, you know, Boeing Business Unit. But I realized throughout my time, people are eager to connect, and really help. At least, that's most people. So about what I would say is, I guess the common theme between all of those three things is not being afraid to put yourself out there. And really take the time to add value, and do good.
**Michael Hingson ** 41:23 As a motivational speaker, what theme Do you think resonates most with your audiences? And why is it important today?
**Christopher Hall ** 41:33 Yes, so I would have to say, resilience is, is something that definitely resonates with a lot of my audience members, because the thing about life is, life will have its challenges, and at times, it will be unpredictable. And there will always be uncertainty, there will always be, you know, individuals that may not recognize or see your potential. And one thing that I feel that my audience really connects with me about is empathy and, and really taking the time to just understand how to navigate through hardships. And that is something that I speak about a lot. When I mentor and when I speak to crowds as well. It's, it's the power of overcoming challenges. Taking the time to go the extra mile, learning how to believe in yourself, when a lot of people don't believe in you. Taking the time to cultivate your mindset, when you are in a very, very, very dark place. These are all the things that I feel my audience relates with a lot, because a lot of my mentees, one thing that I've realized in regards to a common theme is is all of them are intelligent, all of them are capable. But there are life situations and challenges that people go through that make things less than ideal, someone may go through a layoff someone may have a death in their family, someone may have gone through trauma. And oftentimes, it's very, very easy for people to lose hope in themself. You know, and and there is that life challenge, right? A toxic job, a toxic workforce, whatever the case may be. So in regards to my mentorship, and with my public speaking as well. It's not just so me teaching you how to find a job, it's me giving you the tools to allow you to navigate through your emotions to allow you to find your why to find your passion to find what makes you spark. And, you know, make you go after that. So so I feel like that's a very important critical theme. Especially, and what I discuss on a day to day basis,
**Michael Hingson ** 44:36 so what kind of tools do you give people? Um, so you talk about the fact that they face challenges and so on. What do you actually teach them in the way of tools to deal with that?
**Christopher Hall ** 44:45 Absolutely. So I teach them different things, primarily through affirmations. I teach them about the power of affirmations. The power of journaling, the power of taking the time to navigate through your emotions, and really take the time to write down how you're feeling? What are the challenges you're going through? And where do you see yourself going to moving forward? What are what are things that you want to start doing? What are things that you want to stop doing? What are things you want to continue doing as well. I talked to people about the power of mindfulness, and about the power of also meditation as well. You know, one thing that I'm very, very big on is spirituality, and how it helps people. More so with connecting with your True Self with who you are. And that is something that I really do feel, helps a lot of individuals as well, because everyone has a personal story. And everyone has a challenge and a struggle that a lot of people don't know about.
**Michael Hingson ** 46:08 Tell me, you've used mindfulness as a term a number of times, what does that mean? Exactly?
**Christopher Hall ** 46:14 Mindfulness just means being aware, at least for me, being aware of your emotions, and your thoughts, how they make you feel in that moment, and how they drive your behavior. So what are your patterns? When you feel stressed? What are your patterns? When you feel discouraged? And by patterns? I mean, what do you tend to do in that moment? What do you resort to? Water? How do you face it? What do you run away from? What do you incorporate in your day to day habits in your day to day life, things of that nature. Another part of mindfulness is how you make others feel. But in regards to one on one personable mentorship, I really concentrate on helping others really navigate how they feel with their own emotions, and how they navigate through that.
**Michael Hingson ** 47:25 Well, you keep pretty busy between speaking and working at Boeing and coaching. How do you do that? And keep up a work life balance? How do you find time to rest and rejuvenate yourself, if you will?
**Christopher Hall ** 47:44 Absolutely. So I do it through a couple of ways. And that's such a great question you asked Michael. I guess number one, I'm really, really passionate about mentorship and helping others. And I'm very passionate about bowing. So one thing that I feel that's great is that even if I do have a busy schedule, it doesn't exhaust me or drain me, I may feel tired, naturally. I may want to pause, take a break and you know, be re energized. But it doesn't drain me in the sense where I dread that I'm doing what I'm doing. I love everything that I do. So in regards to what makes me feel energized. There are a couple of things that do number one is music. I am a very, very, very big fan of all styles of music. I love to play the drums. And I've played them on and off for about 17 years. So you know listening to music in the car. While I'm taking a walk outside while I'm running, that that really helps me a lot. Speaking of taking a walk outside and running one thing that I love to do is I love to connect with nature. So I love to go for walks I love to hike. I love to explore new different neighborhoods, like just different areas in general, and that really energizes me. Another thing too is talking with with with great friends with amazing people. So it could be something as small as meeting up with a friend to grab lunch or dinner or playing basketball or watching a movie. Or or even doing something as simple as you know, staying on The couch and petting my cat. Right? Those are those are all the things that re energize me. And it makes me feel supercharged for you know, when I do the things that I need to do?
**Michael Hingson ** 50:16 Well, so what's your favorite place to go? You see you like to do a lot with nature and go places do you have a favorite place?
**Christopher Hall ** 50:25 Well, I, I usually don't like to give people favorite places where I like to go. But I guess one place that I used to like to go to, in Seattle was was was was a beach that I was at in Edmonds, Washington, where I used to live that. So as kind of like, a go to activity right after work, I would drive from my house and the beach would be about seven to 10 minutes away. And I would, you know, drive up, see the sunset, see the water, you know, come up to shore, you know, smell the air, see the mountains and the horizon? See, you know, the dogs playing, and that gave me a lot of peace. Right now, currently, I like to just, you know, walk in and run on a lot of trails. So I feel like that's, that's, that's my favorite activity. Oh,
**Michael Hingson ** 51:35 well, it gets you away from the other stuff. And it gives you time to think which is, of course, part of what I suspect that you're really thinking about and looking at is to get that time to decompress a little bit.
**Christopher Hall ** 51:48 Absolutely. Absolutely. For sure. So,
**Michael Hingson ** 51:51 you've talked about motivational speaking, and all that. And as long as you love to mentor, what advice do you have for someone who might want to become a motivational speaker or a coach?
**Christopher Hall ** 52:03 Absolutely, I would say, take the time to find out what you really love. Number one, what you are really good at or something that you feel like are starting to get good at, and take the time to really study that craft. I know this may sound like very generic or cliche advice, but taking the time to learn from others, right? That could be through reading a book, checking out a YouTube video, you know, reaching out to someone on LinkedIn that inspires you just to learn more about them and have a coffee chat with them. That can really allow you to grow and learn more about a specific space. And it could really inspire you to try new things. And go ahead and try them. That's, that's, that's really the most important part, take action and do. And I know that this is something that I was personally struggling with, for a long time, and I still do struggle with it transparently, you know, in my journey, sometimes you ask yourself, like, oh, my gosh, I really want to do this, that and the third, where do I begin? And you know, the answer to that is, you just need to start, start very, very small. And it can be something as you know, offering to volunteer at an elementary school or middle school. Volunteering to speak at a nursing home, volunteering to speak at your alma mater, like in college, maybe speaking at an organization that you were a part of on campus. All of these things can allow you to grow and learn and get more experienced, so you feel comfortable with speaking. And that's how you're able to grow in in regards to mentorship. Just take the time to mentor someone. It could be something as simple as mentoring your friend when it comes to their resume, giving them a mock interview, giving them advice on what are some of the things that work for you. That help you get a full time job. And just mark just start small and work your way up. There's no such thing as as an overnight success. You know, for for me, career coaching is is something that I've been doing for six years. Close to six years, November would be six and By all means, I'm not perfect at it. But I know that I'm getting better every single day. So it's, it's practicing taking action and putting yourself out there,
**Michael Hingson ** 55:09 which makes a lot of sense, practice is the only way you're going to really get better. And thinking about what you do. You're absolutely right. So what for you? What are your future or your future aspirations for working as a motivational speaker? And as a coach, and just as important, what are your aspirations for life at Boeing?
**Christopher Hall ** 55:35 Absolutely. So I would say, aspirations in regards to life of Boeing, I'll start with that is take the time to, you know, work hard and really grow in my field. That is something that I'm very passionate about, I would say, long term, I really want to get into sales, at Boeing sales and marketing, that is, that is the space that I'm very passionate about. And, you know, grow, have the opportunity to collaborate and, and just have the opportunity to work with clients. I love working with people. So so that's something that I'm very inspired about. So that's, that's on the buying side, in regards to motivational speaking, and in regards to career coaching, I would say really take the time to continue helping more people. I really want to make more content online. I've been starting to post videos more on my tic tock and by all means they are not perfect. But I've been but I've been taking action. I have an account called Chris underscore Rangan ra n Gln. So I've been posting a couple of tech talks. And I want to do more of that. I also intend on posting more YouTube videos, that is something that I'm very passionate about in regards to content creation. And I want to cultivate my own website, I want to build my own website, around career coaching, around public speaking. And I guess it's not I guess, the goal is to hopefully, you know, a very big goal is hopefully to have the opportunity to be flown out, to speak at a university or add an organization internationally. And be paid for it. So so so so that is the goal. That is the aspiration. And that is something that will take work, it will it will take a lot of time to get there. But it's something that I'm very passionate about.
**Michael Hingson ** 58:06 Well, I hope that somebody listening to unstoppable mindset might find your story and all the things that you have imparted to us relevant and maybe invite you to do that very thing. We can certainly help for that.
**Christopher Hall ** 58:20 Thank you. I appreciate that.
**Michael Hingson ** 58:22 How do you how do you want to be remembered for your speaking and coaching careers in your time at Boeing? What what do you want your legacy to be?
**Christopher Hall ** 58:33 Wow. I love this honestly been thinking about that question. For for for a couple of weeks, actually. I would say I want my legacy for speaking to be
**Christopher Hall ** 58:54 Wow. You know, Christopher was someone that gave me hope. When I did not believe in myself. He took the time to inspire me and because of him, I'm better and I'm striving to make you know other in my life better. I would have to say that is that is a very, very big inspiration for me because I always aspire and try my utmost best to share love. To share positivity. I think love is so important because there's a lot of hate in the world. There's a lot of fear in the world. There's a lot of destruction in the world. So being able to share, you know, love and light is something that I'm very inspired by. For work. I want to be remembered as someone who just shared you know Over emotional intelligence, and positivity, I want people around me to feel inspired to become their best version of themselves. I want people to feel, you know, app peace and feel happy and feel encouraged to take on more work, I want people to, you know, feel motivated to take on extra projects and to really believe in themselves. So, in regards to work wise, like, I don't necessarily have, you know, a tangible goal of, Oh, I wanna, you know, sell 3500 airplanes, or things of that nature, of course, that would be great. But for me, I want to be remembered for helping others. And really helping others, I guess, just to elaborate on that more, helping others find, you know, that positivity within them, helping people find, you know, their inspiration within them feeling inspired. So, so I would say those, those are the two things.
**Michael Hingson ** 1:01:26 Well, it doesn't get better than that, and great aspirations, and I, and I hope it works. You clearly can do it, you're very articulate about what you think. And I really love a lot of the, the different kinds of pieces of advice that you've given us today. So I want to thank you for that. If people want to reach out to you as a coach, or to explore you speaking, where they are. And you know, I want I want the same thing, being a keynote speaker and a public speaker, but you know, this is you. So if people want to reach out to you, how do they do that?
**Christopher Hall ** 1:02:03 Absolutely. So there are a couple of ways you could do that. You could reach out to me via LinkedIn. My LinkedIn would be provided, but my handle is Christopher Rangon H. Another is via my Calendly if you're interested in one on one mentorship, you could raise search calendly.com/christopher-rangon r a n g o n slash mentorship. In addition to that, feel free to follow me on Instagram and on Tik Tok. Both of my handles are Chris, c h, r i, s, underscore Rangon. R A N, G O N and more for my YouTube channel. Feel free to follow me at skateboard. C R H 12. Yep, I created that account when I was into skateboarding. And I was 12 years old, hence, hence the user name skateboard. CRH 12.
**Michael Hingson ** 1:03:16 Cool. Well, Chris, I really am grateful and honored that you came and spent time with us today. And I hope people do reach out to you. And I hope that people will reach out and let us know what they thought of the podcast as well. You can reach me, Michael hingson at M i c h a e l h i at accessibe A C C E S S I B E.com. Or go to our podcast page www dot Michael hingson m i c h a e l. h i n g s o n.com/podcast. Wherever you're listening, please, we really would appreciate it if you would give us a five star rating. We are very grateful for your ratings and your comments. And we would greatly appreciate you doing that for us. We'd love to hear from you. I know Chris would love to hear from you. And we would appreciate both Chris, you and anyone out there listening. If you know of anyone else who we ought to have as a guest on unstoppable mindset, please let us know or email with introductions and we would be very happy to reach out we respond to everything as soon as I see it. So we will definitely respond. But again, Chris, I want to thank you for being here with us. And for all of your time and for all the wisdom that you imparted with us today. We're really grateful for it and thanks again.
**Christopher Hall ** 1:04:42 Thank you so much for having me. Really appreciate it. Michael, thank you.
**Michael Hingson ** 1:04:49 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again
