Dorothy: [00:00:00] Alicia Um, says to step out on faith. This is a woman who knows all about faith. The 2008 recession left her family broke, and a breast cancer diagnosis made matters worse. They lost their business, her husband had to move out of state to find work, and that’s when she found The Rose. Of course, how she found The Rose is a story all into itself.
During this episode, you’re going to hear about Alicia and her husband and their deep dive into faith. You’ll also hear the importance of staying positive and how their martial arts gym inspires young children. to pay it forward and support The Rose. Help us share the mission of The Rose by subscribing to Let’s Talk About Your Breast on your favorite podcast platform and by sharing with your family and friends.
Let’s Talk About Your Breast, a different kind of podcast presented to you by The Rose Breast Center of Excellence and [00:01:00] a Texas treasure. You’re going to hear Frank. Discussions about tough topics, and you’re going to learn why knowing about your breast could save your life.
Hey, so Alicia, tell us about your life before 2008.
Alicia: Yes, um, I’m coming from Spain. I’m actually from Spain. My husband is from South Korea. I came with my husband together to New York City. We were living in New York City for 10 years, working hard in New York City, Manhattan, Broadway. After 10 years, um, we moved to, uh, Oklahoma.
With our first child after 10 years of long waiting without for our first child, we moved to Oklahoma and that’s where my husband started his own business. His business grew from five employees to 250 employees. Really big.
Dorothy: Wow.
Alicia: Yes. Um, uh, we were really happy. I had another two kids there in Oklahoma, two more kids.
So [00:02:00] finally I have three at the age of 39, I have my last one. That’s a daughter, Natalia. We were happy, like any other family with a good income over more, more of the eight figure stage, but we were happy. We were good in those moments.
Dorothy: And then, now how did you get to Houston or to Texas?
Alicia: That’s a good question. That’s when the 2008, almost 2008 we came here, um, because the business was not going so well.
Dorothy: Mm-Hmm.
Alicia: Um, we had to move here and we, we moved here. We thought that we don’t know why we’re coming to Houston, but probably that’s, that’s the main point that we have to start over the business again. My husband started his business again, and uh, that’s when 2008, the Lehman Brothers. You know, crash on the industry. So we had nothing. We went all the way down, rock [00:03:00] bottom. We lost everything. We lost the house. We lost the business, all the employees. And that’s what everything started.
Dorothy: So there you went from being incredibly successful, incredibly normal, life is moving along. And then 2008 that really destroyed a lot of, a lot of businesses.
Alicia: No, we didn’t have. All our savings were gone. So we had to survive. My husband could not get any, anything from the retailers, or anything from, uh, he did a lot of importing business, so nothing from China, overseas. There is no money, so he could not do anything.
Dorothy: Very hard time.
Alicia: I have flashes now.
Dorothy: No.
Alicia: Yeah.
Dorothy: Yeah. It was during that time, right, that you discovered you had a problem with your breast?
Alicia: Not yet.
Dorothy: Not yet.
Alicia: Um, in 2008, many things happened about, not only that, we almost lost the house, like I was talking to you, [00:04:00] um, also my mother in law passed away. She was the prayer warrior in the house, in the family.
And, um, that was a really, that was really bad for us. I mean, for me, the only mom that I had here, my mom is in Spain. So my mother in law was my warrior for me. It was really difficult in those moments. So also my mom left, passed, not only the business, not only my house, was in a state of nothing, everything, no insurance.
Dorothy: Now tell, move to the time when you were diagnosed.
Alicia: Yes. Um, routine checkup.
Dorothy: Oh, routine. Okay.
Alicia: Um, this happened to be a doctor, we did not have insurance, so anyway, I have to do it every year a woman is, has to do the routine checkup, breast checkup. This doctor happened to be more conscious about your breasts when they touch and they feel the [00:05:00] lumps and he did tell me, you have a lump in your left breast.
So I said, how did that happen? I had a last year, another, another test and nobody told me anything and he goes, I don’t know who was. The past, uh, doctor, but maybe we could have it, you could have it maybe from a long time. So from there he did the biopsy and the biopsy came out positive. That’s when everything, we surrendered to God and that’s when everything came out.
The doors were open, opening by then the Lord came to us and I got born again. Those moments, that’s when everything happens.
Dorothy: Wow.
Alicia: Mm hmm.
Dorothy: Wow. So Alicia, was that the doctor you knew wasn’t right, or did you go to another doctor? I found that part of your story so fascinating.
Alicia: Yeah, gynecologist gave me a gift, a card, not a gift card, a card for, uh, [00:06:00] just, um, surgical, surgery, to have a surgery.
Dorothy: Mm hmm.
Alicia: So I went to this doctor to have surgery, but When I stopped in there, I thought that this was not the right, the procedure. I don’t think this is the place. Something was telling me that this is not the right place. And also I was, I was conscious about our money. We don’t have money. How am I going to pay for all this?
Dorothy: Right. Right.
Alicia: And, um. Actually, the front desk lady saw us, that I was talking to my husband, I said, I was telling him, if you want to stay here, you stay, but I’m not staying here. I don’t think we could afford this. This is not good for me. I don’t like it. I have this feeling that this is not the place. So I got up and the front desk lady gave me The Rose card.
Dorothy: That is such an incredible story.
Alicia: Such a humble place and such a good place that everything started from The Rose.
Dorothy: Yeah, yeah. And what you just said though is something I always [00:07:00] encourage women. You know, listen to what your intuition is telling you. Listen.
Alicia: Yes.
Dorothy: Yeah, because you knew something was not right.
And if you had not paid attention to that, Then it would have been a very different outcome.
Alicia: And what I, I don’t get it how the front desk, you know, the girl who was working in there, how she was hearing. I don’t know, I was, probably I looked really, really desperate. The time she just got up, probably she had those cards in her pocket, you know, because she was working for a surgeon.
Nothing to do with The Rose.
Dorothy: Right, right.
Alicia: So she got it from, who knows?
Dorothy: Who knows?
Alicia: Her bag, her pocket, and gave it to me and said, maybe you want to call them. Maybe they can help you.
Dorothy: You know, so tell me when you called, did you find your navigator then? Or, or was it, how, what happened then?
Alicia: Um, we call, we call, actually, before that we went to We just took a step of faith.
We just got born again Christians. And we just say, we have to, we have [00:08:00] to try all the, all the things, all the doors we have to, we have to start. So we took a step of faith and we call first MD Anderson and MD Anderson. If you take a, just one day visit, it’s like a $25,000. So that was closed that door. So the next door was, um, The Rose in The Rose, we call and they say to come over and let’s see if we can help you.
And, um, we went the first time and something happened with the schedule. I don’t know exactly, but we got mistaken on the place, but we took the step of action. We went there instead of just waiting in the, in the house for them to call us back. But we just went. And, um, once we were there, they were saying, um, I don’t think this is the place where you have to be because they call you from another office.
And I told my husband what I want to do.
And, uh.
And he was, someone got in the phone and they were saying, Aaron and Alicia are here. What am I going to do with them? And, [00:09:00] and suddenly she said, um, I think they want you to go to the other office. And that’s what we came to the other office.
Dorothy: Now I understand. Yeah. Yeah. Cause our navigators were here.
Alicia: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes. At this office. Yes.
Alicia: Yes. Yes.
Dorothy: And was Sally your navigator always or did you have several or?
Alicia: No, Sally. Sally was there. From the beginning.
Dorothy: Oh And so you were already diagnosed. You already knew you had breast cancer. You thought you were going to have to have surgery.
Alicia: Mm hmm.
Dorothy: And, but without any money, without any insurance. It was really, you didn’t, you were trusting.
Alicia: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes. You were walking out in faith.
Alicia: In faith. Mm hmm.
Dorothy: And found The Rose.
Alicia: Exactly.
Dorothy: So, now take us through that journey, that part of your journey.
Alicia: Um, it was very difficult. Thanks to The Rose, I had my treatment.
Every day when I went to chemo, they [00:10:00] gave me a liquid of three, a cocktail of three colors. It was red.
Dorothy: Uh huh.
Alicia: Looked like a devil red.
Dorothy: Yes.
Alicia: But for me, I just swallow it like it was the blood of Jesus. For me, it was just how it was. I just lay down in there and wait for the chemo to finish. There were many times that, um, I saw women around me.
They were desperate like I was in the beginning. They didn’t know what to do. They were, their faces were down, they were crying, they were, I did not see hope in them. So many times I just got up and, and talk to them about Jesus or talk to them about their eyebrows or why do we have that handkerchief? I don’t like it.
Why don’t you wear this one? Give them a little bit of love and joy more than anything. And that’s the way I, I pass all my, all my days, all the year that I was. with the chemo and later on the radiation. In the [00:11:00] meantime, at home, it was very difficult. My husband, we did not have an income, but my husband found a job thanks to one of our friends, uh, who called suddenly saying that we need you.
Maybe you can come to New York. He denied more three times, like, I’m not going. My, my wife is sick. She has to do surgery and she’s doing a chemo now and how am I going to leave her alone with the three kids at home? And, um, at the end of the day in August, my husband, I started in January my, all my treatment in August, my husband had to go to New York.
We have to eat. We didn’t have anything in the house. So he went to New York and he was working in there every two weeks commuting to see me. But in the meantime, I was alone with the kids. My youngest one was, uh. Two and a half. The second one was almost four and the first one was about eight. So they were very little, very small.
Church people helped me a lot with the [00:12:00] food. They brought me food, but the rest of the days and the mornings and the evenings I was alone with them. I took, I used to take my little one to kindergarten and I couldn’t even pull her in the car, that’s how, how weak I was and the pain that I had in my breast because I had the surgery.
Dorothy: Right. Right.
Alicia: And, uh, I I was just in tears just driving to take my daughter to, to the preschool. Um, but you know, the day was beautiful. I had to continue to survive. The Lord has given me this life. I still have blood in my body. because of something I have to, I have to relay on that. I have to give my kids what I know about him, about Jesus.
I have to, I cannot leave them alone. I mean, I have to just go and fight for what I believe. And, um, every day was difficult. Every day was [00:13:00] another day. I just got up and thank you, Jesus. I’m here. And let’s see, how can I, how can I help you? Maybe not now, but maybe, maybe later. With all the money that we did not have, we did not have our credit cards, we did not have any, any incomes.
So it took us a long time to, to recover. After all the 12 months that passed of my, my recuperation, we have another 10 years of recovering the debt that we had. And, um, my husband thought that probably we have, we can do what I like, which is taekwondo. And I said, go ahead and let’s start. Now I have no fear.
Let’s do it. Nothing. I mean, we have the life. We can do it. And we start our first, um, business. And of course, the dead was still there. So 10, 10 years. And every single day I was thinking about The Rose, this magnificent place, this humble place who the people [00:14:00] in here who helped me going through. Thanks to them, I’m here and every single day with my husband, I was, we were talking about what can maybe donate something, maybe all the merchandise that we lost.
I mean that we have all these business and maybe we can give it to them. We have hundreds of hundreds of. Custom jewelry, because he used to import custom jewelry. We have hundreds of pieces of custom jewelry of pink color and purple color. So, and my husband was saying, what they want to do with that? We need something more solid.
So, okay, we wait, we wait. And finally we could give. Finally, after more than 12 years, probably I think it’s 30 now, that we gave back with our taekwondo, with our gym.
Dorothy: You know when you’re talking Alicia, I just think of all the things you just told us first of all You were helping other women at a time when you were pretty sick.
Alicia: Yes.
Dorothy: You were going through your own treatment so you found some kind of comfort and doing [00:15:00] that, you shared what strength you had.
Alicia: Yes, I could not see negativity around me, you know, I have to just fight for the life that the Lord gave us.
Dorothy: Right, right.
Alicia: I know I could, I could just touch his words in the Bible, their truth, their, their faith, their positivity.
So I cannot help it just to, if I am the, just in radiation, just sitting in there and the ladies are around me and they are eating chocolates and muffins. And I said, girls, don’t eat that. That’s pure sugar. You know, the cancer loves sugar. So they didn’t like them. They didn’t like it. But I just have to say it.
I have to help them out. I have to, you know.
Dorothy: Right.
Alicia: Yes. I don’t want to see you coming back. I don’t want to see you come back. I want to see you happy and we’re going to be happy. All of us. Yeah. No negativity around me. I had to let go of my friends. They were not helping. They were just giving their own [00:16:00] advice.
The TV, everything that I watched on the TV was nice, nice music, good, handsome actors. I could not see anything bad around me because, you know, the scriptures are love and love is what we have to give, faith, love, and joy.
Dorothy: And so now you’re gradually building the business back, but you went into another business.
Now explain that to me.
Alicia: Yes. Um, well, we just opened the third one, not too long ago after all is, is a little difficult, but it’s still, uh, I still help behind the scenes. In the beginning I was in the front desk. For a few years, but later on, I figured out with my kids still young, I cannot leave them alone again.
You know, it’s going to be the second time for me. It’s my thinking. It’s a mom thinking, even though they are teens, I cannot do that. They have to be with mom. I have to help them [00:17:00] out, even though I work in the house, but they have to be with me. And that’s when I just work in the house, in the computer, ordering stuff, a little bit of accounting here and there.
And finally, yes, our business grew, our business, yes, the Lord helped us.
Dorothy: Alright, now tell me again what the business is.
Alicia: Taekwondo.
Dorothy: Okay. Say it again for me, real slow.
Alicia: It’s a martial arts, Taekwondo.
Dorothy: Okay. So I’m not going to try that one. No.
Alicia: After we opened that business, I worked hard in my black belt. When I, now I’m 55 years old.
So when I was 50, I got my black belt.
Dorothy: Whoa.
Alicia: In Taekwondo. Yes.
Dorothy: Oh my goodness.
Alicia: It was difficult. Very, very difficult since, you know, you feel like a puzzle, you know, all your body, you have surgeries here, surgeries there, you have a little bit of this, a little bit of that. And every time you get up in the morning and you have to go to train, you just think, [00:18:00] will I be able to kick?
Will I be able to say the numbers high because Master Um wants the numbers high. He wants confidence. He wants a discipline. He wants this and he was that in all those things, you know, in the morning you just get up and you say, Lord, let’s do it again and again and again. And I got my black belt. A after that.
Dorothy: So now do all your children have black belts?
Alicia: All of us. Mm-Hmm.
Dorothy: Wow.
Alicia: Yes. All of us.
Dorothy: Wow. Family. Full family.
Alicia: Yes. Mm-Hmm. So the Lord bless many ways inside outside credit cards.
Dorothy: Mm-Hmm.
Alicia: Finally, I have one credit card. I didn’t have any. Mm-Hmm.
Dorothy: So now you are, uh, 12 years out.
Alicia: Um, I started the treatment in 2011.
Dorothy: Okay.
Alicia: Mm-Hmm.
Dorothy: Yeah, yeah, so I mean you’re you’re past that five year mark you’re past that time You know you are you can wave the flag and say I’m a survivor here.
Alicia: I am. I am.
Dorothy: [00:19:00] Yeah.
Alicia: Because of that not many things came after you know that your bones and your menopause and your Things, but what can we do?
Life is like that. If it’s not like that, if it’s not that, it will be another thing because life for everybody is hard.
Dorothy: Yes.
Alicia: Everybody. There is no way. No way. It’s always in pink.
Dorothy: And, and, you know, you said something very important too about sometimes our friends may mean well, but their advice isn’t always the best. Yeah. And it’s, it takes a lot to say, tell a friend, I don’t want you around. I mean, that took a lot of courage.
Alicia: Actually, yes. Um, the friend that I had, he was, he was close to me because I could not say like that. I just did not answer the phones to men for many times and not too many phone calls, not too many messages.
And little by little, you know, we disconnected.
Dorothy: Yeah. And sometimes that’s the only way to do it. [00:20:00]
Alicia: And it was okay.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Alicia: It was okay.
Dorothy: So, so many decisions you made there, but it sounds like every single hard thing you had to do, everything that you had to decide on, you were doing that in this incredible faith that somehow you were being taken care of and led.
Alicia: I took a step of faith from the beginning, you know, going to the surgeon and, you know,
Dorothy: Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah.
Alicia: Step of Faith.
Dorothy: Oh, yes.
Aaron: Everybody has faith. When you get out of your house, your house not want to get the roof on your head. That’s faith. If not, you don’t get out of your house. So it’s a little bit. Farther than that, you have to always think in that faith.
It’s always with you.
Dorothy: Oh, yeah. And you have to nurture it, you have to acknowledge it, or it’ll go away, or it’ll go [00:21:00] missing, and you can’t find it.
Alicia: When we got born again, that’s the first thing I got. I wanted to read the Bible so much. My husband wanted to sing. I don’t know what happened with that singing, but he only wanted to sing it.
Dorothy: And he’s a good singer?
Alicia: Yes, he’s okay.
And I wanted to read. I like to read the Bible, the scriptures. Like you said, you have to be into it.
Dorothy: Okay, so now you’re back. You’re through with your treatment, you’ve started another business, it’s growing, you’re thinking about The Rose, and you’re saying, what can we do to help other women?
Alicia: Yes, not only giving jewelry, right?
Dorothy: Yes.
Alicia: Exactly. In many ways, for me, um, just a gesture of love, just helping them with a nice smile, with a nice hug.
Dorothy: Right. Right.
Alicia: Women, we can help them in many, many ways. And the robots are doing an excellent job with that. I [00:22:00] hope I can always help. Every year.
Dorothy: Well, we’re delighted.
I know that when, uh, our staff went out to the event, and this was an event That involved, uh, breaking boards.
Alicia: Well, it was not a belt testing, it was a board breaking. Kicking for a miracle, we did call.
Dorothy: Oh, great name.
Alicia: So, the little ones, the moms, uh, They buy the boards, two or three dollars at a time, or they buy as many as they want.
If dad and mom want him to really get satisfied that day, and he can break even 10 or 20. So they were breaking boards. Shannon was there, and one after another, breaking boards were there.
Dorothy: That raised an incredible amount of money. I mean, who would have thought?
Alicia: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes. I think it was 4,000 first year? Four or five?
Alicia: Yes. Something like that.
Dorothy: And now you’ve had it two times?
Alicia: Oh, we had it, uh, [00:23:00] the second time.
Dorothy: Second time.
Alicia: Second year.
Dorothy: Yeah. And it’s an amazing amount. It was like over $12,000, right?
Alicia: It was nice.
Dorothy: I mean.
Alicia: It was nice.
Dorothy: You know, we don’t have grants that are that big. Y’all don’t, I don’t know that we ever tell you. How much that means to us when when folks like you and especially someone that Understands what we do and has been helped by The Rose. I mean that just means so much but You know when we write a grant it might be five thousand dollars And then we have to write many, many, many more. And then when someone says, we’re doing an event for you, and it’s such a unique event, and raised so much money. Yes.
Alicia: Because the little ones are involved, you know. The little ones are love. They’re, ah, they’re incredible. The little ones are everything.
Dorothy: And just imagine now, what if some of those little ones actually go That’s what we’re doing. We’re right. We’re raising money for something and from the very young age.
They learn [00:24:00] Yeah, how to how to give back.
Alicia: It is so good for them.
Dorothy: Oh, yeah Yeah, I will tell you thank you many times over that You do not know how much that means to our ladies. That money goes directly to women, just like you, to get them through, to, you know, get our navigation people done and, oh my gosh.
Alicia: It’s a blessing, it’s a blessing that we could help.
Dorothy: So are y’all surprised that you raised that much money?
Alicia: Yes.
Dorothy: Oh.
Alicia: And we wait until last minute, so they were counting and they were saying, they were telling us the amount. It was fun. It was fun. It was good.
Dorothy: Now, obviously you’ve talked to lots of women, obviously you’ve helped them and encouraged them.
But now over this podcast, what would you say to women who are diagnosed feeling very low? I can’t imagine anybody feeling much lower than you. During that time, but you still found that spark, that faith, that. Yeah. What would you say to them?
Alicia: I [00:25:00] said, if you got up in the morning, you see, you could stand up.
You can even sit on your bed. Just get up. The Lord is waiting for you. He’s there for you. Just get up.
Dorothy: That is so, so good.
Alicia: Because I remember times when. My tears are coming out. I was doing the chemo. So I just extend my hand and I said, Lord, I’m here. Remember that I was drinking his blood, you know, the cocktail of three. So, Lord, I’m here because my port was in the right side and the right hand, the righteous right hand got up and Lord, I’m here.
I got up. One more day. One more day. So that’s, that’s the only thing I will tell women. We all have instincts. We have a mother instincts, we have a husband’s instincts. We have so many [00:26:00] instincts in our bodies, and we are the foundation in our house. Either you are a single or married, but you are a foundation of something.
Dorothy: That’s right.
Alicia: Just get up and function well. We have that. Strength. We can have kids. Come on. If we have kids and men don’t have kids, we’re stronger. Come on.
Dorothy: Well, we believe that here at The Rose, but you know.
Alicia: I want to believe it, yes.
Dorothy: Yes, yes. But I know, I also know your husband was an incredible source of your strength during that time.
Alicia: He was with me.
Dorothy: He was there.
Alicia: His knees, every single moment.
Dorothy: Yeah. Yeah.
Alicia: Thanks to him. Yes.
Dorothy: And you had waited a long time for those children.
Alicia: Yes.
Dorothy: So you had lots of reasons to keep getting up every day.
Alicia: We’re 30, 30 something years married. I speak Korean, he speaks Spanish. So imagine those many years, how many things we learned. Yes.
Dorothy: Oh my goodness, yes. [00:27:00] We are so pleased to have you here today, and I mean, you are the pitcher of health. So you obviously are following all the things you’re telling women to do and not do.
Alicia: I’ve tried, this year I started to do um, uh, weight training.
Dorothy: Oh!
Alicia: Because I have, you know, with all these hormone things, I have osteoporosis.
But, so I have to cover. the bones, because my husband said, you go someplace and you just trip and you will break yourself. All right. I started to do a weight training, very difficult.
Dorothy: Oh.
Alicia: Very difficult. I think that was more difficult than getting up and go and do your chemo. Oh, because it’s something new that is different.
Dorothy: Yeah.
Alicia: And I started to do the. Muscle training two days a week and the rest of the days I walk on the lake. That’s it.
Dorothy: Oh, that’s good. You’re exercising. You’re learning something new. You’ve, you’ve conquered cancer.
Alicia: I have to be here. I still plan if [00:28:00] the Lord let me. I have to be here for my grandkids, for all the women that are around me, for everyone who gets close to me.
I just want to give hope on them. I want to Embrace what I learned. What I know.
Dorothy: Well, you certainly have your life’s mission.
Alicia: Yes. Thank you.
Dorothy: In order. Ready to go. And we are so, so happy that you found The Rose.
Alicia: Thank you so much.
Dorothy: Yeah. So, however you wanna say it. Whatever you would say to a woman.
Alicia: Mm-Hmm.
Dorothy: in spanish.
Alicia: Hola chicas, ¿Cómo estáis? Soy Alicia. He tenido cancer en la mama izquierda hace 12 años. He tenido la mastectomía, como la llaman. He pasado toda la Quimo, he pasado la radiación. Me han hecho un implante en el pecho izquierdo. Y me gustaria, chicas, daros este mensage. Me encantaria que seguirais. Os levantais [00:29:00] en vuestros pies. Por la mañana os levantais y veis el sol. Aun que no le veais. Si podriera levantaros en la cama, sentaros. Aun que solo podreis estar sentaditas. Os levantais. Si podreis dar un respiro. Eso tiene que decir que tienes vida. Esa vida es la que el Señor quiere que tengais. Os levantais y funcionar en ese dia. Señoritas Quiero que os levantéis. El amor de Dios está con vosotras. Recordad su amor. Recordad que estáis aquí solo por él. La gracia que él nos da, nos da las fuerzas para levantarnos cada día. Así que os quiero mucho y un bendito mensaje para vosotras.
I love you girls. Bye.
Dorothy: Tell me what she said.
Alicia: The same thing. Basically.
All the same things. If you have breath, just get up in the morning and Stay in your feet.
Dorothy: Alicia. Uh, your husband’s been here this entire time and I can see when I’m asking a [00:30:00] question He says shakes his head. Are you and does something different?
So I’d love to have a chance to talk with him Is that okay with you?
Alicia: Yeah, that would be great.
Dorothy: Okay. So hi, so We are just amazed at what you’ve been able to do and how much money you’ve raised it And so tell us what happens on that day.
Aaron: Yeah it’s a very humble moment for me to, um, whole process how we are doing it.
We are talking about kids age of four years old, five, six, seven, twelve, uh, all the way to adult student that we have. Uh, the student, um, we talk about, Become a black belt is not only kicking and punching. And one of the example is, you know, where can you find all those good kickers and punchers? You go to jail and they are really good at fighting.
You have to have a life skill first before you become an expert. One of the things that we do is we are teaching our students to become a leader. Leaders. [00:31:00] need to help others. Others gonna follow him and follow them. And that’s how you become a leader. That’s what our, one of our principle that we are teaching our students.
Now, this is great opportunity for us to help, knowing the roles How really we are the experts. We experienced the real thing and we experience how much change our life opening the source of getting healed and attending the medical treatment whenever we didn’t have even insurance. So it was really great opportunity for me to teach.
My experience, my testimony to our students at the same time, and they are going to be part of it. What we do is we are going to, uh, offer them, uh, ball breaking. That’s demo, demo, and then whenever, every time, every time they go to the next rank, they need to break the certain, thickness of the board. It’s getting thicker and thicker.
And now they can purchase [00:32:00] for five dollars, six dollars, or whatever we come up with that year. And they purchase as much as they can. So some parents, and I’m going to go through the breaking, and then they, they purchase, uh, more, or it could be piece to one piece or to all the way to 10 or 20 pieces in even and we are so encouraging some parents to go out there with a letter and invitation and they go out there and their families, friends and neighbors and they are going to collecting money and to help the roast the cost that we are.
We are doing that at event and Um, looking at, uh, that date of the board breaking one day, we are going to, uh, give some record, and then we are going to share with you guys. Um, it’s really humbling moment, because we see, uh, all students line up, we do demo team, our demo team comes, and they do their breaking, they also, whatever they are breaking, they, they donating.
Um, we, we break, I break the boards, and [00:33:00] we all do that, but especially when I see those four, five, six years old kids are breaking for cause. And that’s what we call kicking for a miracle. That’s a really humbling moment. At the same time, feeling really good and proud of all of them that they are doing. I, I explained to them with the Shannon, uh, uh, we, the last speech that I was sharing.
Kids. Whatever you’re doing today is making changes. You are doing somebody because of your little donations and we are going to make some, some difference in this society. We are living crazy world now, but There is hope there is this is the hope that I’m watching witnessing right now.
Dorothy: Oh, absolutely.
Aaron: It was fun thing today.
The last thing that I remember We raised this this time $6,700 something and second year and And some [00:34:00] parents, last minute I’m going to announce, she ran to the front desk and she said, you know what, hold on, I’m going to match to $7,000. So she matched the one in the last minute and then they ran to me and then we have to change the check and then we just pull out and wipe out and then we change it to $7,000.
Dorothy: Oh, what a great story. Yeah. So you get all the family involved.
Aaron: Yes. Yes.
Dorothy: Yes. And, and, uh, this breaking of the boards, they’ve had training, they know how to do this, or is this?
Aaron: This is what we trained to them. Every rank change there. They knew they are. They have to break certain different techniques. So everybody has different, uh, favorite breaking.
So this is a time that we encourage them to, Break your board with favorite technique kicking punching or spin kicks or whatever you want to do. Let’s do it.
Dorothy: Oh, I see. And how many students do you have now?
Aaron: A little over. Close to six uh six [00:35:00] hundred students. We are opening our third school and our goal is expanding and then giving this Right principle to our next generations and my calling.
We feel Alicia and I we feel like our calling is changing next generations and I’m not missionary to go out there and then frontline. But what I can do from here is doing things that we every day, see the transformation. Kids that who struggle with ADHD, kids who comes in the beginning, I was thinking that our business is going to be, uh, competition, go to Olympics and pursuing all that kind of fancy stuff.
And I changed because and revelation came to me. And then one day realized instead of 10 best athlete going to Olympic, I rather helping 99 student athletes. Who is struggling with ADHD or focus or confidence issues and heartbroken with other sports and we start helping. We see the [00:36:00] differences in trust from transformation every day.
So it’s just really great experience in part of the this journey is also helping others and helping organizations like Real organization. That’s what I say to my student. This is a real thing. We experienced the real thing and I hope that more people can have them and because I see a lot of people working with some causes so important and A lot of people don’t know about this.
Dorothy: I know and you’re spreading that word for sure And I can’t tell you how much we appreciate this, but what a great philosophy Just think you’re really changing the world for this next generation I loved what you said about leadership. About how this, this practice really builds leadership. That, that is something few of the sports focus on.
You know, it’s all about team, team, team, team.
Aaron: Or about winning or about, you know, beating other teams. But it is important [00:37:00] for their, the most important thing in life. If you don’t have something that you cannot give, if I don’t have no dime, I cannot give. One dime to other people and it is important for them to build that right principles so they have so much confidence, so much to share so that others can get benefit and they become a leader.
So that’s the—
Dorothy: fascinating idea. Yes. I’ve never heard of that. That is so fascinating. So one of your favorite stories, tell us that again.
Aaron: Yes. Um. It was last year fundraising moment, and this year was 3. I mean 3. There is 1 story and 3 story, but one of our student, he was like six years old, and he came and we had this little box that also we not selling the board.
Somebody just want to put some extra money. We do that. And this little boy come and then A “master, all I have is 1” and he just put the money in the box. [00:38:00] And I said to my, my staff members, take a picture, take a picture. We’re going to just share this, this experience with everybody else. And, and end of the Shannon was there last year and I say, uh, I highlight him.
And he put the 1, but that moment I couldn’t, it just came to emotions and I start crying because I couldn’t, I couldn’t hold it that, that, that 1 means a lot for everything changes, 1 changes for everybody’s life. So, and that’s how we start everything, right? So this, this year, somebody came with the 3 bill and then this is another 3 bill experience.
Dorothy: Oh, great story. Great stories. What would you say to husbands in your own language who are helping their wives through this time?
Aaron: Alright.
남편 남편의 입장으로서 어떤 와이프가 있을 때, 우리는 남자들은, 자기네 muscle 보려니까, 우리의 힘으로 모든걸 해결 하려고 하는데, 그걸 하지 못할때 내가 내 사랑하는 사람한테 주지 못 [00:39:00] 할 때 내가 그것을 해결 하지 못 할 때 남자들은 힘듭니다.
이럴때일수록 하나님을 믿어야 되고 우리가 갖고 있는 우리의 믿음으로 이겨나가야 합니다 everyday. 매일 아침, 매일 저녁. 우리가 할 수 있는 일은 기도와. 그리고 사랑하는 사람을 우리가 위로하고, 기다려 주고, 참아 주고 할 수 있는 것을 우리가 할 수 있는 것을 힘이라고 생각합니다.
Dorothy: And what did you say?
Aaron: I said to, we as men, uh, we try to use our muscles, especially I’m a martial artist and I love taking actions.
Right. But, um, sometimes this beyond my muscle, beyond if when my, when my wife had went through the difficult time, I was frustrated so much of not being able to help her. And I, I, I cannot cure her. I cannot change, make, make changes our future. I just have to completely surrender before [00:40:00] someone greater than me, which was my God.
And that was the only resources that I had, and that’s the only solution that I had, is takes patience, and prayers, and support. And especially it’s a matter of your loved one. So that’s what I, what I say.
Dorothy: Wow, great advice.
Aaron: And when One is going through that situation, nobody knows what, what, what is that feel like.
And, uh, when we went through that difficult time, like my wife was saying, because of God’s presence was, we, we got born again right before for a reason. And if we didn’t have God, I don’t know how we went through this, uh, survive through this difficult time. And I’m truly believing that people Since we got this experience, and when I go to some, uh, family who lost somebody, or tragedies.
Uh, I’m not taking this lightly. I cannot just say, I [00:41:00] understand what you’re going through. Sometimes we don’t. Sometimes we truly don’t understand what they are going through. Uh, but the most important thing is being with them, right? And, and being silent. Sometimes you don’t have to say anything, but being with them is very encouraging for someone who, who is going through a difficult time.
I think it’s some, same way, the humble way of, uh, little donation from $1 – $5 that we are collecting money and, and there was, I saw a big number of check downstairs. Somebody donated, uh, but, uh, for me, this little help, little things that we do is making moves. I truly believe that it’s making some differences.
Dorothy: Well, I’m going to tell you that’s got a little bit of help. That’s a lot of help. And, and you’re also being here today. My gosh, you’re helping us to share the story of The Rose, to share success story of survivorship. And, and you know, for you to have lost everything. And now you’re in the work of your [00:42:00] dreams.
I mean, this is, this is magical work.
Aaron: Yes.
Dorothy: Yes.
Aaron: Yes, there’s no greater feeling that you do something that you love and you see the result positive way, especially it’s a matter of our next generation. And they are the ones who are going to carry this country. They are the ones who are going to change someone’s life by helping others. So, that’s awesome.
Dorothy: Great, great advice. Thank you so much for being with us.
Post-Credits: Thank you for joining us today on Let’s Talk About Your Breasts. This podcast is produced by Speke Podcasting and brought to you by The Rose. Visit therose.org to learn more about our organization. Subscribe to our podcast. Share episodes with friends and join the conversation on social media using hashtag #Let’sTalkAboutYourBreasts. We welcome your feedback and suggestions. Consider supporting The Rose. Your gift can make the difference to a person in need. Remember self care is not selfish. It’s essential.[00:43:00]
