CEOs You Should Know: Big Red Barn

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to CEOs. You should know. I'm Christopher Thompson from iHeartMedia,
joined by two men associated with a Big Red Barn
Retreat in Blythwood, John Charter, director of Development and Lamont
Chris Christian, the director of Post Traumatic Growth Programs. And
John for those who don't know, or who may have
driven past that beautiful piece of property and weren't really

(00:20):
sure what the purpose is, tell us about the Big
Red Barn Retreat.

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Absolutely, Chris, thank you for having us on here. The
Big Red Barn Retreat's been around since twenty fourteen, and
we serve veterans, first responders, active duty military personnel, and
their families through a variety of programs and services offered
weekly or through our Warrior Path or Struggle Well program,
which Chris here can tell you a lot more about

(00:45):
than I can.

Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, Chris, your mission officially is post traumatic growth. What
does that mean? And how did that become your area
of service?

Speaker 3 (00:53):
Well, I'll tell you know. I did thirty three years
as a combat infantry managed served down nation across the world,
some desert shield, desert storm, a rock, Afghanistan, and when
I retired, my last assignment brought me here to South Carolina,
and I was the number two person in charge of
Fort Jackson and also the drill Sergeant's program that was
out there. And so what I'll tell you is my

(01:16):
experience as a leader in the military dealt with a
lot of I would call struggles, right, not just combat,
you know, that's usually what people think of when they
first hear about the military, but just life in general.
And so many people are aware that there's a stigma,
if you would, that military and first responders struggle with
this thing called PTS. Everybody's familiar with that, but very

(01:40):
few people know about post traumatic growth, which is really
taking the struggles that we have in our life, the
adversities that we may go through, and turning that pain
into our purpose and turning our struggles into our strengths.

Speaker 1 (01:52):
John, you work for an organization based in South Carolina,
based in the Midlands. When you are promoting the Big
Red Barn Project to folks out across the country, what
are you telling people? How do you sell South Carolina
to them?

Speaker 2 (02:07):
That we're a little gem of an area. We've got
seventy five acres out there, five miles of walking trails,
horses and the Leon Irons Lodge where we host the
Warrior Path program. It's one of the things that makes
us unique, you know, when we're talking about this population
and therapy or any kind of self help or mental
health care, A lot of times people envision a bays

(02:30):
room and a guy and a coat and tie tell
them how they should feel. But that's not the approach
that we take out at the barn. We have our
Warrior Path program in a lodge, a rustic log cabin.
Each room has its own style and personality, and all
the participants don't feel like they're out there, you know,

(02:50):
for self care or self help, but that's actually what
they're getting. And then you know, just sprinkle on top,
getting to have a group therapy session or an individual
there alongside a horse really can draw the person in.

Speaker 3 (03:05):
Yeah, Chris, I have to laugh on that because sometimes
now I call it the best known secret of the Carolina.

Speaker 1 (03:11):
Well, Chris, I've got to ask him. And you've been
in a position what you are leading men and women now,
but you've been in a position in the military to
lead men and women, who or what influenced your leadership style.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
You know, it's a conglomeration of a few leaders right,
I'll start with my father. My father joined the military
after serving in Vietnam and trying to go through college
to become a doctor. And he married my mother and
I when I was about thirteen years old and said,
you know, I want to take this family and grow
this family. And I watched him as he decided to

(03:45):
go back into the military and serve our country again,
started over as a private, was stationed at Fort Bragg,
North Carolina in the eighty second and that lesson that
he showed me in his perseverance, in his leadership over
the years influence me when I finally made the decision
to become part of this thing that we call military service.

Speaker 1 (04:06):
We're talking to John Charter, the director of development, and
Lamont Chris Christian, the director of post traumatic growth programs
at the Big Red Barn Retreat. I'll ask you both,
and I'll start with you, John, what's the philosophy that
drives you each day?

Speaker 2 (04:21):
How can I serve others best? You know, I'm unlike
Chris and a lot of the people that work at
the Barn, I was unable to serve my country or
my community in a military or first responder capacity. So
my service now is to them. You know, they took time, effort, blood, sweat,
tears everything to live help me live a better life
for safer existence, and now I can kind of give

(04:44):
that back to them through this service.

Speaker 1 (04:46):
That's a fantastic philosophy. Chris, what about you?

Speaker 3 (04:49):
Yeah, you know this unique training that we receive in
post traumatic growth training has allowed me to be where
my feet are at oftentimes, you know, being in a
military and a first responder. I'm also a reserve deputy
with Richland County Sheriff's Department. My training always has me
in the frame of mind of thinking around the corner,
also replaying and going over the past to kind of

(05:11):
not second guests myself, but you know, conduct after action
reviews and see how it can improve. But if I'm
where my feet are at, I can enjoy that moment.
And that's where the struggle, if you would, for many people,
just because of the way life is is coming so fast.
Things happen and you really don't have much control over it.
But when the realization sets in that I can control

(05:33):
my attitude in my effort, that's me just being where
my feet are at right here in the present, and
that's the philosophy I focused on, and it's very helpful.

Speaker 1 (05:42):
I'm always curious as we talk to leaders in the
community about social media wise literature. You know something you
may have seen or streamed. Is there anything recently you've read, watched,
or heard about that influences your decision making today, Chris,
I'll start with you.

Speaker 3 (06:00):
Yeah. Actually, there's a PhD by the name of Lorie
Buchanan and she's written several books that focuses on self
care and internalization of living better and doing well. She
follows a very similar philosophy of post traumatic growth that
doctor Richard Tdeshi and doctor Lawrence Calhoun had derived through

(06:22):
their research. And when she says something that I hold
true to right now, and that is a quote and
she says, what you are not changing, you are choosing.
I'll say that again, what you are not changing, you
are choosing powerful. Yeah, it's very helpful in the aspect

(06:44):
of recognizing that the challenges that I may have in
my life, if I don't take an opportunity to find
a better way to live in a more healthy way,
in a more positive way, that I'm choosing to live
in the opposite. And that's where a lot of many
of the people that participate in our programs and services,

(07:05):
to include their families, recognize that they have control over
their attitude and their effort. And that's that's how you
can create that change in your life.

Speaker 1 (07:14):
John, what about you, Anything that's influenced you recently that
you've you've read, you've seen, you've streamed.

Speaker 2 (07:20):
Oh yeah, absolutely so my personal life. I'm going through
a season of change for the last year. It's just
been a new job, new home, life situation, and I
had a very dear friend of mine recommend Marcus Aurelius's
meditations to me, and so all of a sudden, I'm
into the Stoic philosophy idea and then turns out, after
talking with Chris about it, a lot of what we

(07:40):
do with Warrior Path and Struggle Well has some basis
in the Stoics. Just like what he said, you know,
you can control what you can control, and you know
everything else it can affect you as much as you
want it to. So that's that's been refreshing for me
in this in this season of change.

Speaker 1 (07:58):
What advice would you men give to an aspiring young
person who wants to do what you do, who wants
to serve those who have served.

Speaker 3 (08:07):
You know, one of the things I wish I knew
as a young man was to really find a mentor right,
a support network and mentors we typically are derived of
the three to five people that we spend most time around.
And so who are those three to five people? Are
they people that are gonna pull me down? Or are

(08:27):
they people that are gonna lift me up? And then
ultimately mentors right, finding that person who is doing what
I want to do and can walk me through moving
in that direction and again in a positive way to
allow me and give me permission to grow when I'm
ready to grow.

Speaker 1 (08:47):
John, you have a different background, would you have different
advice for an aspiring young person?

Speaker 2 (08:52):
Different? But in the same vein is get out and
do some service. You know, giving to others doesn't have
to be monetarily, as much as we appreciate donations at
the Big Red Barn Retreat, but giving of time and effort.
One of the things that we're able to offer is
volunteer opportunities. We can handle large groups if they want
to come out and help us clean trails or help

(09:14):
us get the lodge in order on a Thursday afternoon,
or we can take individuals and small groups when we
serve our meals to our Warrior Path participants at the lodge.
So we have all manner of opportunities and just go
out and do experience and you know, put those things
under your belt and learn from them and grow from them.

Speaker 1 (09:34):
John Charda and Chris Christian. As busy as you are
with a Big Red Born Retreat, is there any spare
time in your life? And if so, what do you do?
What do you do with that spare time? People want
to know what you might be doing in your free time.

Speaker 3 (09:47):
You know, it's interesting because when I talk to people
and they say, oh my gosh, Chris, you're just doing
so much. Because typically they say what are you doing?
And so I give them the laundry list of the
stuff that I'm doing, traveling, training and doing and doing
what we're doing today sharing the message about the Big
Red Barn Retreat. Nobody ever asked me what am I
doing when I'm not doing anything? So I have this

(10:07):
thing I call POC, which is proof of chill, and
all that is is me sitting in a place of
comfort and relaxation, my feet kicked up, and then I
take a picture where you can have a view of
my knees down to my feet, and then the view
of what it is that I see. Sometimes that's a
football game. Sometimes that's a seat at the pond or

(10:31):
some other place out in nature. Sometimes it's just sitting
on my balcony. And when I'm in that place, I'm
very relaxed and really what I call in a place
of solitude, but.

Speaker 1 (10:44):
It sounds a little meditative, much like you, John Proof.

Speaker 2 (10:47):
Of Chill trademark, Chris Christian, Holy moly, myself, I'm a birdwatcher.
I'm an avid birdwatcher here in the area and across
the state. So when I have a little free time,
I like to be out our National Park, or on
Lake Murray, or somewhere down on the coast looking for
that next bird that I haven't seen.

Speaker 1 (11:07):
We are so respectful of you and what you do
and how you serve our community and those who have served.
Thank you so much for joining us. John Charda, the
director of Development and Lamont, Chris Christian, the director of
Post traumatic growth Programs at the Big Red Barn Retreat
in Blythwood. Thank you for joining us on CEOs. You
should know.

Speaker 3 (11:24):
Thank thank you.