Latest / 🎙️ Rebuild & Fulfill Real conversations on burnout, rebuilding, and becoming stronger than before. / More Than the Diagnosis | Jimmy Choi on Rebuilding After Parkinson's | Episode 26 (Part 1)
Transcript
- Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: What happens when life suddenly changes the future you thought you were gonna have? A diagnosis can do that. In a matter of moments, it can challenge your confidence, your independence, your identity, and everything you believed was still possible. Today's guest knows exactly what that feels like. At just 27 years old, Jimmy Choi was diagnosed with young onset Parkinson's disease. For years he struggled to accept what that diagnosis meant and But eventually one frightening moment forced him to confront that direction his life was heading. What followed was a transformation few people could have imagined. Jimmy went on to complete marathons, endurance events, and obstacle course races, compete multiple times on American Ninja Warrior, and earn a Guinness Book World Record, become a leading advocate through the Michael J. Fox Foundation, and serve as a consultant on the Apple TV Plus series Shrinking, helping the Portray Parkinson's with greater honesty and authenticity. But today's conversation is about much more than those accomplishments. It's about the man behind them. It's about denial, decision, movement, identity, and what becomes possible when someone refuses to let a diagnosis have the final word. This is rebuild and fulfill. Welcome back to Rebuild and Fulfill, where we have real conversations about adversity, resilience, and becoming stronger through life's toughest moments. I'm your co-host, Kelsey Dunbar. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: And I'm Mark Rogala. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Today we are honored to be joined by Jimmy Choi. Jimmy is an athlete, speaker, advocate, multiple-time competitor on American Ninja Warrior, Guinness Book World Record holder, and a longtime supporter of Parkinson's awareness and research through the Michael J. Fox Foundation. Jimmy, thank you so much for being here. Welcome to Rebuild and Fulfill. Jimmy Choi: Hey, thank you guys. Thanks for having me. It's an honor and always an honor to be able to share my story, especially with your community and your folks out there, your listeners. So thank you. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: It is our pleasure. Jimmy, before we talk about Parkinson's before the races, before American Ninja Warrior, and before everything that you are known for today, I want to start with who is Jimmy Choi in his twenties? What did your life look like and what did you believe your future was gonna be at that time? Jimmy Choi: Well, I mean, in my 20s, was early 2000s, late 1990s, early 2000s. And that was like at the peak of the dot com boom, right? That was when everything dot com was finally was beginning to fly and take off. And I was right in the trench of that. I was working in technology. I worked for Microsoft and for Google for many years. You know, I spent basically my early career in the tech world. And if you think about it, the pressures and the workload of being in tech during that time wasn't in itself a lifestyle. We spent, what, 15, 16 hours at work. Sometimes we slept at work. Some of the amenities at work were sleeping rooms. snacks, foods, everything, everything revolved around work. But, you know, it was also a time of, you know, us getting, graduating from college and I'd just gotten married, my high school sweetheart. We just basically, just like any other 20 year olds, we had our lives planned out. At least we thought we did at that time, right? The house with the picket fences. kids and the dogs and all that good stuff, right? But those were all things that we were working towards, or so at least we thought we were in the early 20s. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. When you look back at your younger self, Jimmy, what stands out most about the young men that you were back then? Jimmy Choi: Um, I mean, was everything was just just career driven. I think that comes up comes up with with, you know, my my my family background. You know, everything was, you know, I don't I don't want to say like, like chasing the status or anything like that. But there was really, really like chasing the success, What am I what are we doing or what am I doing to to advance in my career? you know, just gotten married. So now what are we doing to build our families and things like that? That was, I think my focus was solely around, you know, unfortunately I will say, you know, back then there was career first because my wife and I said, you know what, let's make sure that we, we, we build our careers and that we are financially set before we start a family and, know, just trying to be responsible. Right. so I think. still at that time in my early 20s, mid 20s, my priorities are still career driven and everything was just go, go, go. And I just remembered spending hours, not only at work, but on airplanes and all that. I I was never home. And my wife traveled as well for her position. And we were like passing ships and passing planes. Just really the focus was advancing our careers, getting as far ahead as we can before we even started thinking about settling down and having kids and all that stuff. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. So then fast forward just a little bit. So then at just twenty-seven years old, you received a diagnosis that you never expected. And when you first heard the words, You have Parkinson's, what do you remember most about that moment? Not only what the doctor told you, but what immediately began happening inside your mind. Jimmy Choi: Well, I was angry. I just remember that was like, you know, I was pissed at the doctor for even telling me that I had Parkinson's. It didn't make any sense because in my head, Parkinson's was a disease for somebody who was much older, right? Someone in their 20s wouldn't even begin to think about Parkinson's with anything that they're feeling in their bodies, right? So I just remember a lot of anger, even screaming at my doctor, I even swore at her. when I was given a diagnosis. And then immediately, like denial hits. You know, this can't be happening. Doctors wrong. There's got to be another explanation for it. It just doesn't make any sense. So I think those are the two that really stand out. And unfortunately, those two emotions I carried for way too long. you know, well into my diagnosis. And I just kind of never got out of that mindset, at least not for the next eight years or so. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah, so sometimes d obviously denial can feel easier than accepting how much your life's changing, but looking back now, what do you think you were trying to protect yourself from during those years where you were in denial? Jimmy Choi: You know, I don't think I was trying to protect myself. I truly believe that I was trying to protect my wife. I was trying to protect an image. I was trying to protect the family name. You know, unfortunately, in many Asian cultures, your own well-being is linked to your family name. So if there is any type of um, any type of illness or any type of quote unquote weakness being shown by one person with, you know, a named and it's, it's a reflection on the whole family, right? Um, and I had built my, my personal image up to that point as a go-getter, as an up and comer, start, you know, a fast starter, even at work. Um, but to have this diagnosis that is surely going to slow me down. Um, or at least I'm told at the time that surely what slowed me down was could be seen as shame or weakness in the family name or in my own personal image. So I was really trying to protect my wife and that. it's really, I guess you could say it's very selfish in the way that I was thinking. I wasn't thinking about people around me. I wasn't thinking about my family. I was not thinking about my wife. I thought I was protecting her, but later on. I would realize that I'm not. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. I mean you looking back at it now, did you understand the seriousness of the diagnosis or were you just trying to think about other things and just try to push through and and not think about it at all? Jimmy Choi: No, I really tried not to think about it at all. And I believed my first, so I had three different opinions and ultimately they all landed in the same spot. But the reason why I seeked other opinions is because I didn't believe the first two doctors, right? And that just kind of tells you the level of denial I was dealing with. And... At the end of it all, once I was told, hey, know what, it's just definitive, Jimmy, you have Parkinson's, here's the medication. This, by the way, this is how I was diagnosed. My neurologist literally saying, people with Parkinson's will react to this medication. And so she gave me the medication, it's Carbidobalivadopa, and she's like, if you feel better, you have Parkinson's. If you don't, we might have to look for something else. And I took the medication and within three days I felt normal. I felt good. Everything that I was feeling in terms of my stiffness and the loss of balance and the rigidity and all that stuff and the small tremors I was feeling all went away. And I'm like, shit. Damn it. She was right. But that's all I did. You know what? I feel normal now taking this medicine, so I'm just going to continue taking this medicine and I can be as normal just like this for the rest of my life. And that's exactly what I did. I didn't even go back for follow ups to, you know, to consult on whether or not I need modifications to that medication, whether or not I need it more over time, whether or not I needed some other kind of medication. So I just took the medicine and I continued about my life as if nothing happened. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. So so people often look at everything someone's accomplished and assume they respond to adversity with strength from the very beginning. But that usually's not how rebuilding works. There can be fear, avoidance, frustration, and a period when we simply do not know how to move forward. So for you there was eventually a moment where avoiding reality was no longer possible. So that's gonna bring me to the next point. So you've shared the story of falling down a flight of stairs while carrying your son. Thankfully, n Jimmy Choi: Yeah. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: neither of you were seriously injured, but emotionally it sounds like that became a moment that made you really come to grips with it. can you take us back to what happened that day and explain why it affected you so deeply? Jimmy Choi: Yeah, know, let's just, first thing that we need to kind of frame is that this is eight years after my initial diagnosis, right? So for eight years, I've ignored my diagnosis of Parkinson's. For eight years, I ignored its progression. Remember, I'm still taking the same dose of medication eight years later than I was the first day I was diagnosed. There's no modifications made, no changes made to my treatment plan. Right? Everything was status quo. Now, what happens with, you know, a progressive disease over time is that it progresses slowly and your body naturally makes adjustments to these slow progressions. So in my mind, nothing was really different because my body is making these micro adjustments every day and nothing really has changed. But someone who hasn't seen me in months or years will look at me and says, Whoa, what the hell is wrong with you? Right? Because they know something is obviously wrong. And I'll tell you this, by that time, eight years in, first of all, I became so inactive. I was very active prior. played a lot of golf and things like that. But I became so inactive because it was just such a chore to move that I gained a lot of weight. I was about 250 pounds for a guy my size, five feet eight. That's pretty chunky. And I kept losing my balance to the point where my wife was like, you should just get a cane so you can walk better. So eight years later, I was walking with a cane, 250 pounds, and my son was just born. He was about 10 months old at the time. And we were upstairs in our house. And I'd just given him a bath. And then I picked him up and we're coming down the stairs. And I'm like, OK, I got my son in my one hand. I've got my cane in the other. But I've got to walk down the stairs. The stairs have railings, so I'm just going to leave my cane. Sure enough, I'd. You know, took my first step right off and my right leg just didn't cooperate. It didn't listen and I thought it had moved, but it didn't. So we basically leaned forward right down the stairs. And as soon as I hit the bottom, I saw my wife and my daughter, two years old at the time, come rushing to us and they had seen the entire fall. It wasn't a small, it wasn't like four or five steps. It was 10 steps. You know, so it was a full flight. And I just remember the look on my wife and my daughter's face. And I think that was the moment I realized, you know, I have to make a decision. Something has to change. Am I going to continue the path that I'm currently on? Is that helping my daughter? Is that helping my wife? Is that helping raise the family that we want to raise? And if so, yeah, I can keep doing it. But if it's not what I'm looking for, if it's not the ideal situation, what can I do to make any change? It doesn't matter because the definition of insanity is just doing the same things over and over again, right? And that's exactly what it is. Nothing is working up to this point. Up to this point, I've landed at the bottom of these stairs, right? So this certainly isn't something that I want to do. So then that was my pivotal moment. That was my deciding moment is, I going to make a change or am I going to do the same things over and over again? Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: So did the change happen immediately after Jimmy Choi: no, no, I didn't know what to do, right? All I knew was that, okay, something has to do, but I didn't know what to do. up to this point, remember same dose I was taking, it never went back to my followups. I only called for refills and things like that. So finally I'm like, okay, maybe it's time to learn about Parkinson's eight years after my diagnosis. Maybe it's time. So that's when I, you know, picked up the phone, called my doctor, says, okay, I need to come in. We need to talk. And for the first time, my wife and I dove into what does Parkinson's mean? Not just for, not just in general, but for a guy my age at that time. So now, remember eight years later, I was in my mid-30s now. So what does that mean for a dad? What does that mean for a working professional? What does that mean for someone as young as I am to be dealing with Parkinson's? So then, you know, what had basically come out of finally educating myself on the disease is finally making adjustments to my medication. And then finally making, you know, trying to just basically like I couldn't, I couldn't, I couldn't find a cure myself, right? And I didn't have enough money to fund the cure because we know now how much, you know, has already been put into it. and we still don't have a cure today. So the next best thing that I was gonna do was be a part of that process to just get involved, raise money or raise awareness or even getting involved in clinical trials. So I signed up for all the clinical trials that I can get my hands on and whoever would accept me. And I just, went and did that. And going through all of these different clinical trials that I was involved in, some were just questionnaires. Some involved treatments, some involved observational studies, like exercise and things like that. And each one I learned a little bit more. And I think just gradually over time, over the next two years, I've really dove my time and my knowledge into understanding the disease and understanding my version of Parkinson's, what I was dealing with. and how I needed, and the changes that I needed to make to put myself in a better spot. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. What what I love about your story and how it resonates with our audience so much is the obviously your transformation didn't begin with a marathon or a television appearance or a world record. It began with much smaller steps than that. And most importantly, it began with the decision to take responsibility for what you could control, as Mark always likes to say, to control the controllables. So what was the first real step that you took after deciding you could no longer continue living the way that you had been in terms of how you started to to get into exercise or looking at your fitness. Jimmy Choi: Well, one of the clinical trials that I got involved in was a forced exercise study. And there was a hypothesis. So earlier, like even before I took the fall down the stairs, Dr. Jay Alberts, he's a researcher in the Parkinson's field, he's neurologist. He was the one that did all the studies on cycling and Parkinson's. So he ran another clinical trial that's around forced exercise. Basically, the question was, what would happen if we forced people with Parkinson's to exercise? And I didn't know what that meant when I signed up. So I just showed up, and it was at a physical therapy office. And they're like, well, welcome to the study. And we went through all the paperwork and all that stuff. And my first real session in this clinical trial. was an observational study of course, was that they would put me onto a powered recumbent bicycle. And they would just say, the first session was, Jimmy, go as hard as you can for as long as you can. So remember I was a big guy, I was out of shape. So I pedaled for like three and a half minutes before I was just wiped out, tired. And it was okay, three and a half minutes, and I forget what pace I was biking at, and let's just say it was... It was 50 RPM for example. Okay, just for example. Then they said, okay, now we're gonna put you back, we're let you catch your breath, you're gonna get some water, and we're gonna put you back on this machine, and it's gonna go at 50 RPM plus 30%. Okay, so now we're at, you know, we're essentially at 65 RPM instead of 50. But the machine is gonna go and you have to keep up. And they, it's kind of like a clip on a bicycle. My feet was... was clipped in, tied into the pedals and this thing just went and it went for five minutes the first time before they stopped it. And I was like, holy crap. And I was forced to keep up. But, you know, and I did that, you know, they did that on and off for a couple of times in that first session. And then the second week I came back, we did it again. And then, you know, we went longer. Now, what I noticed after about two or three weeks is that Every time I did the session, number one, I'd be wiped. Okay. And my symptoms would elevate after we were done. But I noticed that when I got home, I was moving a little bit better. It's like, you know, something was greasing the joints, right? I go figure who knew movement can help a movement disorder. So when I started to correlate the sessions with how I was moving better, I started thinking to myself, maybe this is something that I need to add to my daily routine. Not just every week or every other week when I need to go to the study, I would do this. Maybe I should just do some more on my own at home. And that's what I did. I started adding exercises that I can do. Remember, I was walking with a cane. I was extremely unfit. So I just started walking, you know, with my cane and see how far can I get today on my street, around my block. Like every day I would just try to take a little bit more, one extra step, two extra step, whatever it is. And when I felt comfortable, I would leave my cane at home and see how far I can get without falling over or how far I can get before I started feeling unsafe. And just every day I did that. More and more more and more. So that was like right around 2010. And then, like you said, nothing comes overnight. But by 2012, I remember in April 2012, I ran my first 5K. And I was so ecstatic that I did that, that I just never looked back. And I just kept running 5Ks, 10Ks, 10Ks became 15Ks, and then half marathons, and then I signed up for a marathon. And I just kept going. Never stop. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Amazing. So going back to the beginning, okay, when you started exercising, what do you think was harder? Getting your body moving or getting your brain to think that change was actually possible? Jimmy Choi: Definitely the belief that change was possible. Because it's just so hard. When you're starting with nothing, you feel like nothing. Right? And let's not forget that, you know, Parkinson's, everybody thinks trimmers to Parkinson's, you know. And 30 % of people with Parkinson's will never have trimmers. I I have it, but a lot of my... my friends in the community don't have tremors. So you can't even say that tremors is Parkinson's or Parkinson's is tremors. What people don't realize that Parkinson's is more than just a movement disorder. It affects mood and brain and everything. you know, how I'm thinking and I was dealing with depression early on and I still do today. It's not something that you just get over just like that. But... I'm certainly better, more equipped today to handle that than before. But along with depression, and a lot of people get these two mixed up, is apathy. Right, depression and apathy are two different things. They might feel like the same thing, but they're two different things. So apathy is actually a symptom of Parkinson's that happens in most people with Parkinson's, or more than a majority of people with Parkinson's will have. Apathy and what we're dealing with there is just a lack of it seems like a lack of motivation We just don't want to do anything And you know when it comes to fitness and it comes to like like believing that I can I can do more It's hard to make yourself believe it when you yourself don't want to do anything about it and you put on top of that the depression symptoms that I was dealing with where, you know, you're just nothing is, you're never good enough for anything. And you're just not, there's no motivation to get up. even if you, let's say the depressed Jimmy finally decided I'm going to get up and grab some fresh air. But the apathetic Jimmy will say, no, you don't need to do that. just stay here on this couch. Right? So it's, I didn't realize it back then, but I was fighting, I was fighting multiple barriers in my own brain just to get myself outside. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. I mean and that's something that we talk about a lot is, a lot of people wait for motivation before they begin changing their life, but your Jimmy Choi: Yeah. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: story seems to suggest that action had to come first and then motivation kicked in. So for someone who knows they need to make a change but keeps waiting to feel ready, what would you want to get them to understand? Jimmy Choi: Well, know, motivation and inspiration is not something that you can find every day, every hour, right? It's great when you have it, but I would say that you would use something like something, if you see something online or you see some person that you interacted with and you're motivated to do something or you're inspired to do something, you take that. as the catalyst to do something. But it is the discipline that it takes to come back to do it over and over and over again. That even when there's no motivation, you can still get out there and do whatever you need to do. Like back when I was running, or when I was doing all those marathons and just running, getting out every day. I don't want to go out every day. I don't want to have to step outside every day. remember, I had just fallen down the stairs and every time that I see my son trying to get up and walk, because he was only 10 months old, right, when I fell down the stairs with him, every time I would see him take his first steps, take a couple of steps, every time I would try, I would see my daughter running around, it's a reminder that I need to get up and Right? So I used those as, as motivations to start to get myself moving. But then once I got out there, I remember writing to myself or making a note to myself. How did I feel after I went out? And if I look back at that log today, I stopped taking those logs years ago. But when I look back at the logs, not once did I regret getting out there and moving after I went out and did it. Right? So I think that helped me. develop the discipline that I have today because I can look back at my own personal data and says, and it tells me, Jimmy, not like, I know you don't feel like going out today, but not once have you ever regretted going out. So what's there to lose? Go out there and just do something. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Absolutely. Well said. And things we've talked about on this podcast quite a bit, Kels. So did taking action begin to create hope for you as the action was starting and you're starting to build momentum? Did your hope gain over a period of time? Jimmy Choi: Yeah, absolutely. And I would say confidence over hope. Right. You know, I was hopeful in terms of, okay, the things that I'm doing are helping me. So I was hopeful that I can live well with the disease. I was hopeful I could do that. But ultimately it is It is the building of confidence that allow me to continuously take that next step or to get to that next level. Because if I wasn't confident that I was going to be safe, or if I wasn't confident that I can do certain things, I'm not going to do it. So I think building confidence is a really big key in terms of living well despite any adversity that anybody is dealing with. I think later on in life when I got more involved in the advocacy side and more involved in the research side, then I began feeling more hopeful because I was actually seeing the number of clinical trials that was taking place across not just the country, but all over the world. When in 2012, when I first started fundraising and first started advocating for Parkinson's research, I remember there was a handful of clinical trials out there and none of them were classified as disease modifying. And disease modifying just means that you're able to, a treatment that might be able to slow, stop or reverse progression. I'm not just treating symptoms. Today, I know that there are hundreds of clinical trials. as it relates to symptom treating. And no less than last time I checked, the number was 47 and I know that the number is higher now, but those are the number of clinical trials that are currently classified as disease modifying, right? Now, whether or not it gets to market as a disease modifying treatment, that's another thing. But as far back as 2012, there was zero disease modifying. clinical trial studies to 47 was the last time I looked. then again, I know that that was a few years ago. I know there's more now. That is more hopeful because now research is finally showing hope that we are targeting disease modifying treatments. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. So as you said, you know, we we often assume confidence and hope must come before action, but sometimes we have to move before we can believe. And then that belief begins to grow because we kept moving. So for you, those early steps eventually became races, endurance events, obstacle courses, and challenges that once would have seemed completely impossible. So next I want to talk about how movement became more than just treatment. and how you began redefining what was possible for your life. So Jimmy, when most people hear the word exercise, they think about fitness. But in your case, exercise became something so much bigger, it became part of how you reclaimed your life. At what Jimmy Choi: Yeah. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: point did movement stop feeling like therapy and start feeling like something that you genuinely loved? Jimmy Choi: Well, you know, I think when it comes to like, like fitness, right? I think it became something that I genuinely loved when I began to see the benefits of it as it relates to Parkinson's. And this was early on. Like I said, when I crossed, I think when I crossed the finish line, my first 5k, I just remember seeing all those people out there. And this was the 5k that was benefiting the Parkinson's community. So everybody out there had a connection to Parkinson's. Just the people cheering. I think I, and me crossing the finish line was the first time ever I had run more than a mile at a time, right? So five Ks, three miles, 3.1 miles. And it was the first time and never in my life had I done that. And I think it was that moment when I crossed the finish line that I think I really genuinely fell in love because I'm like, look, just a couple of years ago, remember it was 2012 and just in 2010, I was walking with a cane. I was 250 pounds. And then at this point, when I crossed the finish line, I was like, I was 160 pounds, 155, 160 pounds, I didn't need a cane and I did it in under 30 minutes. So I actually ran the thing and didn't just walk it or whatever, right? So I think in that moment when I crossed the finish line, I think I believe, I genuinely believe that fitness is, you know, became a part of me, right? But. It was still exercise, right? It was just exercise, exercise, exercise. And I just continued to run and I started biking. I started doing triathlons and things like that. I was just kind of leveling up wherever I got along. And then I started swimming. I didn't even know how to swim when I signed up for my first triathlon. So I learned how to swim. And what I was discovering as I added new things is that I was adding new skills to... to my repertoire that I never had before, that I never thought I would even attempt, let alone with Parkinson's, let alone, let's say I was never diagnosed with Parkinson's, I would never learn how to swim. I would be sitting behind a desk, behind a computer somewhere. I never ran a marathon for sure. I've been eating chips and doing whatever. So I started realizing as I... increase the repertoire of the different types of movement that I was making that this was teaching me new skills that I can translate to everyday life. And it wasn't until Ninja Warrior that it finally like just clicked in my head. Because when it comes to Ninja Warrior, all of a sudden all we're training is with our own body weight. Right? We're hanging on obstacles, we're building upper body strength, we are trying to balance on on wobbly stones and tight ropes. And we're trying to run across medicine balls as fast as we possibly can. We're trying to maintain our balance. So we're moving our body weight around in space. And what better way to learn against a movement disorder than to learn how to move your body around in space, especially in a controlled environment like the gym where you've got pads, you've got... You've got foam pits and big giant soft pillows that you can fall on. Why not take the risk of trying something a little bit more sketchy or more dangerous, right? Knowing that you'll fall into something soft. So why not use that control environment to learn how to really master or I don't want to say master because nobody ever masters, but to really improve on how you move your body. And I just realized after when I started training for obstacle courses and American Ninja Warrior competitions and things like that, that my everyday movement, like took off, like just, just changing directions every day and every way. like, you know, catching myself from a, from losing my balance, all of that stuff that I struggled with as a person with Parkinson's now became easier for me to navigate. Right. So. It's in that moment then I realized that movement isn't, or exercise isn't just the sake of exercise. It's not just for the sake of improving your cardiovascular health or your muscle strength. All of that is great, but for me, exercise became training for life. And that's, that continues in today, even though my first time at American Ninja Warrior was years ago. even to the day that is my philosophy is that every time I hit the gym, what is it that I need to work on in my everyday life that this gym session should teach me? Or how can I use this gym session to train for everyday life? Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: So you're not training your muscles, but you're also training your mind as well. Yeah. Jimmy Choi: Absolutely. Yeah. And you know what? with any type of, dealing with life adversities, any type of dealing with life period, any obstacles that life throws at you, and any type of training, it all starts right up here. all of the barriers that you, that you, that are set out in front of you is, are put there by your own mind, you know? and if you can get past that, That's your own barriers. You can get past your own mental barriers. That's a big one. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: People laugh at me because I get up early in the morning and I work out and I always tell them it's my morning therapy session. I mean to me there's Jimmy Choi: Yeah. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: nothing better than waking up early in the morning. I work up by myself. I got some good music in. It's just me and the weights, getting my thoughts straight. Jimmy Choi: Absolutely, think it's interesting you say that because a lot of people ask me, Jimmy, what do you think about yoga or meditation? like, I think those are great tools. And I think people who enjoy that really enjoy it. But I personally, I gave yoga a chance and it just wasn't my thing. They're like, well, what do you do about meditation, about communists? I when I'm like doing a thousand burpees in a row, or not even kidding, 2021, everybody was locked down on New Year's Eve. did 2,021 burpees nonstop. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: my god. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Yeah, yeah, that's a Jimmy Choi: So like I'm just doing this and I'm thinking, I remember as I was going through and I'm like into the thousand already, like 1,100, 1,200, and I'm doing these and I just remember donning out and just doing them. Right? I'm like, this is, this is meditation for me. You know, like when you go to that dark place and you're doing something hard and you go to that dark place and it's just you, yourself and your thoughts. That is meditation. And I remember having that when I was running marathons and ultra marathons and doing triathlons and 100 mile bike rides. I just remember like, you're just trying, you're just always grinding and your mind just kind of goes into the space where it's just you. the task in front of you and your thoughts. And that to me is my meditation. That's my yoga. That's that's my own, you know. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. Jimmy Choi: So I, and you know, Mark, I imagine that's how it is for you in the morning. It's even though you listen to music when you're lifting, you're in that space, you're kind of in that zen like state, you know, in the gym every morning. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: It's funny you describe it your way because people ask me all the time about recovery, like on the mental health and addiction side, you know. And I'm like, listen, some people do yoga, some people meditate. You know, my my idea of meditating is putting on some heavy metal music, go kill my body by myself and get my thoughts straight for the day. That's that's my meditation. Jimmy Choi: That's it. Yeah. Yeah. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: All right, so so it seems like every goal you reached simply opened a door to the next one and the next one. And so you weren't trying to become an inspiration, you were just trying to become a healthier version of yourself. So when did you realize that your personal journey was beginning to inspire other people? Jimmy Choi: Well, you know, I still have to go back to 2012 when I started running. Because my first time really opening up myself and telling my story was when I decided I was going to run my first marathon. And that's the end of, towards the end of 2012. And it was a Chicago marathon. And when I decided I was going to sign up, was a month away, right? And it was sold out. And you can't get in like who knew people would want to pay 400 bucks to run 26 miles in the streets. but it was so that I couldn't get in. And the only way it was, it was a charity bit. And that's kind of, that's when I first interacted with the Michael J Fox foundation and they're like, Hey, Jimmy, we've got, we actually have a bit left as a charity runner. You know, if you want it, it's yours. All you gotta do is raise $2,000 for the foundation and it's all yours. And I'm like, cool, give it to me. so. The first time that I needed to raise money, what do you do? You go to your friends and family when you need to raise money, right? So it's for the first time really after my initial diagnosis, I had to open up and tell my story. Why are you running a marathon, Jimmy? What is it doing for me? What is running or exercise? What kind of impact has that been to me as a person living with Parkinson's? And when I started telling that story, it's when people started reaching out. And I realized that people are reaching out because they were looking for things that I was looking for. I was looking for other people like me. was looking for, we talked about this earlier, right? The motivation or the inspiration. And I was providing that for some other people. I didn't truly believe that I would be, that I am an inspiration. I think people who are driven to move and people who are driven to do things are are always locked and loaded to ultimately be driven to do something, but something had to sort of pull the trigger, so to speak. And if it just happens to me, during that day, because they happen to see my video or see one of my posts, and that triggered them as their inspiration, it could have been a squirrel riding a jet ski. You know what saying? Like in that moment, it could have been any video, right? That's the way I believe it anyways, is that people who are driven to do things are always gonna get there. It's just a matter of when, right? And it just so happens that my message or my video or my posting just happened to be there when it was time for them. But, know, so I go back to 2012 when people started writing to me and says, hey, Jimmy, because of you, I started doing X, Y, Z. Right? And it wasn't like, that's when I started to realize that people are watching what I'm But it wasn't until about four years after that. in like 2016, I get an email from a guy who had written me in 2012 and said, Jimmy, you've inspired me to do something. And then in 2016, he wrote back to me and said, hey, Jimmy, today I'm running my sixth or seventh marathon and I just want to let you know that it is because of you and what you did in 2012 that allowed me to get to where I am today and allow me to live the life that I that I'm able to live despite Parkinson's. Then that's when I realized that, holy crap, like something I said years ago affected this person. I had no idea that this was going on and that this person was making this change and this person was doing that. and for them to come back years later to tell me that's where it hit home. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: I got a question for you on that, if you don't mind me asking. So when you Jimmy Choi: death. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: when you get that email, and you know back then you were just trying to prove something to yourself, right? You were just trying to be better, trying to get better. And then you get that email four or five years later and this guy ran all these marathons, how does that make you feel? Jimmy Choi: you know, like I said, I always go back to that. think this guy was going to always run this kind of, he was always going to run this amount of marathons, right? But it was just a matter of when. So, you know, I remember seeing that and I'm like, I'm happy that when his deciding moment, I was a part of that. But I'm also happy that Even though I may have played a small part in his story, someone else will have read his story. Someone else would have seen what he's doing. And someone to him, years from now, is going to write him that same email. And I think that's true advocacy and true inspiration is when things get passed down the line. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: In the recovery world, we kind of refer to that kinda like the family tree. Like it starts with me to get over, then you help somebody get over, then they help three peop th that person helps three people. But it started with Jimmy Choi: Yeah. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: so you're the top of that that that family tree, Jimmy. Jimmy Choi: Well, I wouldn't say I'm the top of that funny tree because someone inspired me. And I can tell Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Do you know? Jimmy Choi: you the story, even before that first 5K in 2012, remember I was traveling a lot for work. I remember one day, and this was after I had fallen down the stairs with Mason and I was doing the forced exercise study already. And I was already doing my everyday walks and things like that. I was sitting on an airplane and there was a... a magazine that's just sitting in the pocket. Now you know the magazines behind the airplane, it's all about the airline, right? But no, this was different. This was the airline magazine, and then there was another one behind it, and I picked it up. And it was a Runners World magazine. And it was a Runners World magazine, and the first page I flipped it open was an article about a person with Parkinson's running a marathon. Right? Now, back then, I didn't believe that I could do a marathon. But I believe that I can start running because of that article. His name is Alex Flynn. by the way, this gentleman. And I wanna tell you the story about Alex. So he was kinda like the first story that I read, the person with Parkinson's running a marathon, that got, that motivated me to start running on my own. And I reached out to him and he reached back and I told him, after I had run my marathon, that hey, I did it and you were a part of that, thank you very much, right? And I watched him as his progression developed over the years, he never gave up. He kept adding to his repertoire, so to speak. And unfortunately, a few years ago, he passed away. But he passed away climbing Everest. Weather hit, weather hit and he was, and so he would have been, you know, he would have been living with Parkinson's longer than I have because he was one of those people that I found when earlier on in my diagnosis, right? And he continued, like he was, he was, you know, swimming across channels and like all these extreme endurance sports he was doing despite years and years with Parkinson's. And I continued to follow his journey. And then, you know, a few years ago, and I would probably say this is probably four or five years, maybe even more now, but about roughly, let's say four to six years ago, he wanted to summit Everest. So he went out there and he climbed, and he had gotten together with a guide, and weather hit, and they were stuck in the mountains, and unfortunately, they didn't make it back. But, you know, people were saying how tragic it is, and at the same time, I'm like, look. The man went out doing what he loved doing, right? He went out doing this, you know, he never resigned. Mount Everest took him, the Parkinson's didn't. So screw that, screw Parkinson's, right? Screw Parkinson's, it didn't take him. It took something as extreme as Mount Everest to take him. So anyways, I wanted to share that story because, you know, him to me was, you maybe I'm that to someone else and someone else is that to somebody else, you know. But the only difference is my wife will never let me climb Everest now. Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: Yeah. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Exactly. I got a f one more follow up question on that the airplane. So how how do you explain out of all the seats in that airplane, you just happen to sit in that particular seat and there's that extra magazine there and you open it up and there's his story? Kelsey Dunbar Co-Founder S2T: with you Mark. Jimmy Choi: Yeah, I, you can't explain that. You can't explain that. It just happens to be there. Just like how, just like how that, that, that, you know, a sold out marathon, like the Chicago marathon, the Fox foundation had one bib left just ready when I was looking for it. Right. You can't explain that. And then, you know, and I'll give you a full circle moment is that, you know, there's, if you look at, if you look at a runner's world in 2015 and then runner's world again in 2020, um, I was in it twice. I was in Runner's World twice, so maybe I showed up in someone else's airplane seat back pocket. I don't know, but all these things have their full circle moments. Marc Rogala Co-Founder S2T: Absolutely.