Turning Your Past Into Purpose: Arthur & Gabby Soriano on Family, Forgiveness, and Youth Empowerment

Welcome back to the Parent Whisperer podcast. I'm Richard Ramos, your host, and today I have some special guests, friend, good friends of mine that I've known for years, and I want to introduce them, uh, to you. But before I do that, let me thank all of you who are subscribing to the podcast. I really, really appreciate that because I know that people watch YouTubes. I mean, I do this sometimes myself. I'll watch a YouTube, but I don't subscribe. So I understand that happens. But if you are willing to do that, I really appreciate that. And if you will leave a review, that YouTube loves the review for whatever reason. That's what builds their algorithm, and that helps me reach more people. So if you would leave a review, and if you will share the video with any friends or family, usually it's the content. If you hear the content and you say, "Wow, I know somebody who needs to hear that," then share it with them. And those are the kind of things that help build. My platform, and why do I want to do that? Because I want to reach more people. Families are the key; they're the foundation to communities, and I believe that parents are in a place—the best place—to influence their children, and then it just grows from there. That's what Parents on a Mission is all about. So think about. subscription, think about sharing, think about leaving a review. Um, and besides that, I think we'll just go ahead. I today have with me, uh, Gabby and Arthur Soriano. They are the co-founders of an organization, nonprofit, in the San Diego area called Youth Empowerment. So you guys, thank you so much for your time and welcome to the program.

Thank you. Thank you, Richard. And I'll begin. And so my name's Arthur Soriano. Arturo Soriano. Funny story. My mother seen that name on a billboard, Arthur. So that's why she gave me the name. But to this day she calls me Arturo. Arturo. Arturo. And so either or is good.

And so I want to call you Arturo, but I think most people call you Arthur.

So, and that either one is, is great. Arthur, Arturo, all good. English, Spanish. So connected to both worlds. So I'm a co-founder of Youth Empowerment.

I am Gabby Soriano, and I am also co-founder of Youth Empowerment.

And I just want to give some context on how we began. And that's going on 12 years already, over a decade. And so we've been married going on 12 years. 12 years?

No, 12 years.

12 years, right? And 12 years and together.

About 15.

Born on 15.

Yeah.

But with that being said, that's context to the work and The the why youth empowerment began, and so we were not in a healthy place when we first began. It was more of a toxic toxic relationship, and so and that's because you know we grew up in the same neighborhood, and I was up to no good, and she was up to no good, and that's how. we connected. And, but during that time, we used to have conversations of personal development, of personal growth, of wanting to achieve something, wanting to be a part of something, having a foundation. And what connected us both is family values. I remember we actually did a survey. And that survey was, what do we have in common? Right? And so loving mothers, parents, praying mothers, praying mothers. And so we were like, okay, this, this is what we have, like, in connection besides that other world. And so we strive to, to better ourselves. And I mean, quite honestly, the last time that I was in We were together, and so we both went into the county jail together. And so I've done a total of 23 years of incarceration through juvenile, through adult, and now in the community for the last 13 years.

2013.

Yeah, 13 years and giving back. But that's some background and context of why, like, it first began, right? This first time I went in, you know, we had a conversation. I was in the county jail and we're like, okay, what are we going to do different? And we both made an agreement and she went to her mother's and I did 16 months and I went back to the Corcoran SHU. Like, that's where I did a lot of my time was like in high institutions and Just level 4 yards. That's where I spent my— all my time. And so we started that plan then. And then we reentered— I reentered back into the community. She had her own apartment and she was doing well. She was working and she lived about 5 blocks away from her mama's house. And then they knew who I was. And we start building a relationship and really building trust with them that, that we were going to start something different, including with, with my mother. And so you want to give some context on that?

Yeah, on that, like, because we had to rebuild that trust because we had, we had, you know, like brought the parents in and we were like, okay, we're gonna do good. And we had a little, a little fallback, you know. And so when he went away, he came back home, we had to rebuild that trust with both of our parents, you know.

Yeah, and, and so, so I, I came into this as a— inherited 2 other older kids, uh, through marriage.

Okay.

Right, so I, I didn't know how to be a stepdad, a dad. Like, I didn't have any tools to that whatsoever. Like, no tools on what that looked like, that experience. Never experienced it in my life. I experienced as a kid when my mother married Eddie Wells, right? And I was a rebellious little 17-year-old kid, like, during my mama's life, right? And so I'm just giving some, some context and background into our process. But the reality is like, okay, once we got our stuff together, I was off paper record time, 8 months. How do we give back to the community that once we did harm to? And that's the community that we both were raised in. And so going to Toronto Park, that was our office space, engaging with the community there, building relationships with them with no funding attached, nothing connected, and just giving back. And I had a— we had to like earn the respect and relationships from our parents, but even the community, like they were like, okay, who are these guys? Who's this? Okay.

Are you really? Isn't it? Isn't that that guy?

I was gonna say, like, there was a handful of them that were like, um, are you sure you guys changed? Are you sure you're doing well? Like, so yeah.

Yeah. Well, let me, let me say that, um, I met you years ago. I mean, we've known each other for a long time, and I met your dad, uh, I know passed away not a few— not so long ago, but I met you guys, um, Gosh, I don't even remember how many years ago, but I would— I was introduced to you by Greg, um, the banker. What was it?

That's true.

Matthews. I was talking to him and he said, well, do you know Arthur down here in San Diego? Arthur Soriano? And I said, no, I, I, I don't. He said, well, you need to meet him. All right. And that's how we met. And then I ended up coming down and doing a Parents on a Mission training. So what But what I want to say is, and to everybody out there that's listening, these are 2 people who have been through a lot. And I know they shared a little bit about it, but here's the point. And for all of you out there, whatever has happened, we can overcome it and turn it around. And now they are, through Youth Empowerment, they are reaching so many people. And I've been watching them from the outside. I'm here in Santa Barbara, as you know. They're in San Diego, but we've been friends for a long time. Uh, they are really good about doing Parents on a Mission, which we'll talk about. But what I want to say is that their programs and their organization has grown, and they're making tremendous impact in San Diego. So congratulations to you guys, and I hope that would be an encouragement— all of you that are listening— that will be encouragement to you. Don't let your past, uh, rob you of your future.

That's right.

That is true. And we used our past to build our future. We used our lived experience to direct our future. And so that is what we are all about, our experiences. And we have no shame and guilt, like, expressing it, being honest, being vulnerable, because there is a lot of individuals in the community, it is hard for them to express that.

Right.

But that is the foundation of our organization. which is credible messengers, individuals with lived experience, our same shared lived experience, the cultural proficiency, the being able to connect, de-escalating violence, being able to connect with parents because we have similar backgrounds as the parents that we're serving. So now we're serving youth, individuals, and families that have been impacted through the justice system through a lived experience lens. That's our core. That's what we concentrate. And so we work with the juvenile justice population, kids in juvenile hall. We have mentors that go in there and facilitate healing circles. I train probation officers on restorative practices, creating a foundation, a bridge from juveniles to staff so that when all the violence is happening up in there, we could scale that down so that they could create relationships and work with one another, right? Like that foundation. And so we also have an after-school program. We have our adult program, individuals that are returning back into the community, our Parents on a Mission program. And so our biggest initiative lately, which has been one of our hardest challenges, but it's going to be most like one of our most rewarding is that Medi-Cal process, CalAIM, that now allows us to work with the community and know sometimes programs and budgets of state and county, they're very specific and it prevents you from stopping to working with the population. Yes, they are. But now this gives us access to I mean, because 90% of our population has Medi-Cal, and so now we're able to tap into that. And so, and our main purpose is to bring resources but dismantle that school-to-prison pipeline and make families strong. That's what—

Yes.

That's what this is all about, making families strong. You want to give some feedback on that?

Well, you know, Gabby, now you, you have been, uh, I think— well, you guys, you could correct me if I'm wrong, but you've been— have you, or have you been, I should say, the main facilitator of Parents on a Mission?

Yeah, I have.

How many— I know, how many sessions have you taught, would you say?

I don't know. I can't even— I couldn't even tell you. I've been doing it for years now, you know, and it's, and it's to be quite honest with you, is my favorite thing to do here in the organization, you know.

Yeah.

And, um, why? Because I'm a mom, you know, because I'm a mom. Um, why? Because the moment that, that we took the training to begin with, you know, I was like, oh my God, so much that you think you know but you don't know, you know. And, and so much that, um, just our, our communities and our, and our, and our families, our parents, our ancestors, all that's been like instilled for so long that that you, you just continue to pass it on to your kids and their kids and, and so forth. And like, I saw that, like, I saw, I saw that just that need for, for me to be able to like give that to our community, you know, so that they could know what I know now, you know. So it just kind of just drove me just to just connect not just with our Spanish folk, because the majority of my facilitations have been in Spanish, you know, and, um, Right. That just, that just fills my heart to be able to give that to our people, to give that to, to the community as a whole, you know, not just, not just our people, but just everybody around here that just, gosh, everybody could benefit from it. I don't care who you are, you know. So yeah.

I, um, saw recently, saw a picture of you guys when you had completed the original training I did with you guys. I looked at that picture and I said, oh my God, like, you guys, uh, you know, you look the same, by the way. But yeah, I'm excited. Just thought about, you know, how, um, long it's been. You know, it's been a while. And, uh, I don't even remember, like I said, I don't remember the year. But talk about how did that impact you at first as parents and, and, and Arthur as a stepparent?

So quite honestly, it gave me more tools. And each time after I took the training and facilitated as a facilitator, it always gives me more tools. The foundational part for me is always the personal development component to Parents on a Mission.

Right.

Because ultimately, that's, that's, in my opinion, the meat of it. Because, like, the more that you work on yourself, the more that you role model is how your kids are going to gravitate to the lifestyle and the future.

Mm-hmm.

And so beginning with our, our, you know, 2 older kids and learning that and engaging in our trials and tribulations, uh, with them, because the reality is that background that we gave earlier They experience that, right?

Right.

So they know what it is like when mom's gone, when stepdaddy is gone, and they're living with grandma, right? And so they've been through that traumatic experience and all these complex traumas to where what we learned out of it is we just need to be consistent, like We have to like move forward, pave the way, and you know when they want to like point fingers and well this this and that right well now you have this year completed you have two years completed and three four five years completed and they start seeing the progress they can't throw that card no more right like one of our things is I mean if I Being honest. It's time to grow up, get, get over that trauma, like, because we're moving forward, right?

Yeah, yeah, that's a big part. That's a big part of it. I mean, Gabby, you know, you, you've taught a lot too. You know, one of them, as you, Arthur, as you, the first part of it, the personal growth, one of the biggest parts is the forgiveness piece.

That was about— yeah, I'll talk about that. Yeah.

The forgiveness piece and We, we can't hold the, the, the guilt and shame over our heads, because then that's going to consume us. Now we not— we need to lead the way and be strong for them. And I mean, we've experienced it. I don't even want to get into the list of the trials and tribulations with 2 older ones. But guess what? Now the older one, I mean, he's married. Gave us our first grandson. He has his like 10 bonus ones. Yeah, and 2 bonus ones, right?

Is that right?

Right? Yeah, he's, uh, I mean, I used to criticize him all the time about his tattoo work and like I would never get a tattoo that— and now, I mean, the other day I was like, damn, man, I'm proud of you. Like, he's doing some great work. And so he has that skill. And he went from, from, you know, you ain't my daddy.

Yeah, yeah, you ain't my daddy, right?

I know, I know that one. I've not— I've heard that one too.

It's so funny. So, uh, he's, uh, he just put a nonprofit together too, right? Just got the acceptance of it. And he's, he's, uh, he wants to bring in like tattoo removals and all that and how like some So he's, he's building on that, and he has his family and he has his foundation. And so, and then our 19-year-old—

20 now.

Oh yeah, she just turned 20. What's, what's, uh, what's unique about her is it's been hard, difficult living at the home, but we happen to live in a family compound. We have our own house. Mom's in a guest house and my sisters have their own home in the back. But everything that we've taught her, because she moved in with her tías in the back and they don't play.

Yeah.

They have a structure, like you gotta clean, you gotta do this, you got— if you want to live here. And so everything we've taught her, like, she's putting into action over there. So sometimes when it comes from a parent It's not going to be received as like— children rebel, right? That's the realities. But as long as we put in that, that foundation, so when they do land somewhere else, they start doing that structural work, is what the growth has been. So we're proud of her too. She got her first, uh, prime-time job working with kids.

Yeah.

And so, but now it's the Now our, our responsibility is the 2 younger ones, our 10-year-old and, and 7-year-old.

She's 8 now.

Oh yeah, 8 years old.

They just had a birthday, both the girls, you know.

Yeah, so now that's like our, uh, our concentration, focus, our focus of building them up. And fortunately for them, they don't know nothing about the background, the history we talked about.

Get a better version.

I mean, the first time that my son found out that, like, about incarceration on my book, The Resilience Blueprint, I was taking—

He read the back of it.

I was taking him to soccer practice and he was reading the back of it. And I was like, do I let him finish reading or not? And I was like, okay, I'm gonna let him finish. And then he was like, Dad, you were a gang member? Dad, you went into jail for violence? Like, Like, I thought you were the red light because I always used to tell him it was a red light. And he's like, I thought you were a good guy. And I was like, you are. I am a good guy.

Yeah.

I am a good guy. And so now they know, they're aware. Like, I haven't let them read it from, you know, point A to point Z just yet, but they They know, they, they, because they see Daddy talking to people in jail, visiting people in jail. They know the community, they're in the office space, they're seeing the work. So that's our, that's our main concentration is breaking generational curses.

Yeah.

I mean, that's, I mean, you know, we talked about like our life, but her family and gangs, curses, Spiritual curses, forces, you know, we need to like break all that. That's just within our family, but not in the community. This warfare that, that's happening, and these young kids, especially now with all this technology and the phones and the mental health. And so it needs to start with families.

And until, like, I think it's Like in the, in the second chapter, in the personal growth, like, um, what was delivered, you know, what's delivered to the families, you know, and like, and, and, and the fact, the forgiveness part, going back to that, the forgiveness part, that's so big. That's so big. That was my, like, that was like, sometimes I'm not gonna lie, I would go into 2 weeks for that same chapter because it was just so intense, so powerful for a lot of a lot of the people that, that, you know, that we serve here in, and just that whole process that they didn't even know.

Yeah.

That they were just like, oh my God, like, you know, and, and just the growth that comes from it and just like the, the gratefulness after it. Like, man, like, I didn't know that I could be better, you know, or like even for myself, like, just as, as he's sitting here talking about the little ones and all of that, like Just the constant refreshers, the constant reminders for ourselves, or for myself rather, because I'm mainly out there doing it. And just, you know, just hearing again, and then about the, you know, hey, let's write them a letter, you know, hey, let's make it special for, you know, like just the constant stuff that you could do to, to just, you know, just be a better parent, a better person, a better, you know, whatever it is that, that fits to your life. You know, that, that you're lacking in, you know. So yeah, yeah.

And, uh, I'm sorry, go ahead, Arthur.

And it's something that I recommend even if you don't have a kid. Yeah, I mean, yeah, like Rachel, my sister, took the course, she fell in love with it, and she's like— she was— and then she facilitated it, and she was feeling, uh, very like grateful for it and excited about it. And guess what? 2 years later, she ended up adopting the kid.

Wow.

So, like, so you never know, like, you may not have kids, and, but you might make a decision in the future that these tools are going to be, uh, something that, that works for you. And, and it builds up in the end leadership. And that's what this is about— leadership, personal development in the home.

Yeah, that, that's one of the things I always used to stress, that you don't have to be a parent to go through Parents on a Mission. As a matter of fact, it's better if you don't have kids, right? Because, you know, we have to be trained to get a certificate for everything else, a driver's license, whatever. But parenting, parenting, you just have a kid and, you know, and figure it out.

Yeah.

Figure it out. And we know that there's so many broken families. You know, I was raised in a broken family. You guys Stuff. It's just the norm almost. I, I think we could say that there's so many— I mean, that's why I wrote the, my other book, The Art of Step Parenting, because it's the norm, you know. And I've been a stepparent my whole parenting life, and it's— that's even tougher, as you guys know, you know, having your own kids. Well, okay, well, you're the biological parents, and that's a challenge, of course, in itself. But when you're raising somebody else's kids, and then all the dynamics of the other parents and the other in-laws and all of those things. So that was the whole goal of Parents on a Mission because of the work I was doing with At Risk Youth way back in the '90s. And I saw all the dysfunction. But it is about leadership. And for those of you that don't know anything about Parents on a Mission, although if you're listening to the Parent Whisperer podcast, you've heard a lot, but I'll just remind you this. Most parenting classes are teaching parents to focus on their kids' behavior and trying to fix their kids. Parents on a Mission teaches us to focus on ourselves as parents and to deal with our own issues. And as Gabby said, when you learn that, oh, I can forgive other people and I can forgive myself and I can grow out of this, you know, life that I thought I had to live. People are set free. So do you have a— maybe, maybe a story of— does somebody come to mind, somebody that really like either broke down or just really like, you know, you saw them really change, I guess you could say?

Yeah, actually, one of my favorite like stories is there's there's a lady that works a lot in this community, in our community. You know that that she's she's been around and and doing the community work with like you know with like helping at the schools, putting together little carnivals and stuff like that. Like always for Dia de los Muertos. Like she's always like you know first like and she's older. Like I'm talking like this lady's in her eighties. And she, she's coming done. Um, she's coming done the class like about three different times, you know. But one of the the first time that she came, um, she told me, you know, and I'm not gonna share her name, you know. But she told she told the class, you know, because we're talking about the forgiveness letter. That was that was like the thing, you know, was forgiveness. And um, she said that when she was a little girl in Mexico, that um she was with her mom. And that they were in their house, and one of the little neighbors like that from down the way, he was like a teenager or something. He came, he was running from the cops or running from something. I don't remember exactly, no, but he was running to get out. It was from the cops. Yeah, he was running from the cops, and he came to their door, and she, she opened the door, the mom, you know, she opened the door and she, she let him in. She's like, come in here, you know, honey, whatever, you know. helping the kid, you know, because she's like, it's a kid. So I guess one of the other neighbors saw that and she told the cops, that lady's hiding him over there.

Oh.

So she's like, and you know what, after all these years, she said, I was only like about 10, 11 years old at the time, she said, but after all these years, I did not realize that I've held so much resentment against this lady. And she was crying, and I'm like, I'm like, wow! Like everybody was just like, oh, I get chills just even talking about it. But she was like literally like, I didn't know that because that I guess what ended up happening they took the mom too. They took you know they took them both. So it caused a lot of trauma for her to see that, you know. Yeah. And she held on to that, you know. She held on to that all these years. And I'm telling you the lady like mijita, you know, like little old lady like. And she's telling this story and she's like, thank you. She's like, thank you, I didn't know that I can do that, you know. And, and just like thinking about her, the little lady right there, Rosa Parks, on the little, you know. But yeah, it was just—

Wow, that's, that's a powerful story.

Yeah, like just to see that, like she, she let that out, that— and she stood up in front of— and I'm talking about this class had like 30, 35 like participants in there, you know, that were just, you know, that were engaged. I'm talking about I had a Spanish translator, English translator. I had a Vietnamese translator. Like, oh, it was a big class, right? So she got up and she, she spoke her truth, you know, she spoke her truth and, and she felt so much better. And then every time she would come again, like, she was just like, I love this class. She was always talking it up, you know. So that was, that was just an amazing story to me that, that she could, she could find that, you know, that she needed to forgive after all these years. So yeah.

Yeah. No, that's powerful, man. It's powerful. And I've heard this so many times. I can't tell you how many times we've heard from all the different classes that are being done by people like you all over wherever they're at.

Yeah.

It's just— yeah. And but you know why? It's because human beings, we're all— we're human beings. We all have the same needs. We've all been hurt. We've been let down. We've been burned. One way or another, something like that. Lied to. Yeah. Deceived. You know, whatever. Uh, and we all have that need, but sometimes people need to be reminded and guided to how to get there.

Yeah. Yeah. Exactly.

And, and unknown, like, in a lot of our culture, uh, Mexican culture, Latino culture, uh, Africano culture, Black culture, even white culture. Like, trauma has no skin color, right? And no background.

That's right.

And so the— we're taught to not say nothing, not communicate, not express our feelings, not express what we're going through. In particular, men, the machismo, right? You keep that inside. And, and when you do it it stirs something, right? And so I know for me to this day, and she knows, like, when I can't, right, like, I, I need to let it out. Like, it just, it just, like, me letting it out, like, is a form for relief for me, a coping skill for me to do that. And so we need to teach, uh, men, men how to be men, how to be Parents, how to be dads, how to be stepdads. Because the reality is that we're not in the picture.

That's right.

In the picture. And there's a lot of fatherless homes, and there's a lot of mothers taking that role as a mama and a daddy. And, uh, boys and girls need some type of, uh, some type of father figure in their lives. And that's not to say that they can't be successful without a dad, but they need that. They need that support. So having 2 families in the, in the household is, is extremely important.

Yes.

And so, you know, at the end of the day, like, you know what, our, our relationship and, uh, sometimes we, we get into like our little squabbles, right? Like, right? She wants to like Knocked me out.

No. Hey, uh, I understand. We don't live like that no more.

Yeah, it's, uh, physically, but maybe just in your mind.

Yeah, it's part of relationships. Yes, but like, uh, and, and the kids, they need to see that when that does happen, like, there's like effective mediation. reconciliation, effective communication, so that like they understand that and, and growing up. And so I'm a big advocate of love. When I see the men in the parents are in, in space, I love that the ones that are there, they're like—

They're low percentage, but they're there. They're there. Oh, I love it. That's always the thing.

There's always more women than men usually.

It is. But we've had like, man, it's It's turned up a little bit, like, like in the latest ones. It's like you see more men lately, like, huh? Yeah, I'll be like, I get so excited. I'm like, there's dads in my class.

Yeah, oh man, that, you know what, that is— I love hearing that because a lot of times, like, like Arthur said, you know, the machismo, you know, they're just like, I don't want to go to that, you know. When they get there and they go through it, they're always glad at the end. They, they can't say enough. I mean, I've received letters and emails from fathers and dads who, you know, the beginning it was like, well, what am I doing here? But at the end, they're, they're, they're glad. Really glad.

Yeah, they're glad.

Uh, so listen, you guys, you guys are doing great work, man, and I want to congratulate you. I mean that with all my heart. I love what you're doing. I love when I've been down there. The last time I was there To see your progress and you know that, Arthur. What again? What is the name of your book? I have it back here somewhere. It's in that pile over there on this bookshelf over here.

Yeah, the the the resilience blueprint. Okay, good, good, good. So yeah, you could find it in Amazon. Just look up Arthur Soriano, the resilience blueprint. And you know, the first seven chapters are rough and uncut, and then the next seven are the Thank you. The healing journey and the process to, to my life. And so yeah, like, if you want to get involved, our website is youthempowermentsd.org. We have a big event coming up September 17th from 4 to 6 at Hoover High School. If you're in the area, registration is free, but the impact that We've had at that school has been amazing. I mean, what— this is the school that I went to high school at. This is the school that I went down the pipeline at. A month after being in the 9th grade, I went down the pipeline. I was caught for stealing a bike. It's very easy to get into the system and very hard to get out. And me getting out, that was that 23 years of incarceration that I'm talking about. But to come back to that school and work with that school for the last 3 years and have an after-school program, restorative practices, parents on a mission, all connected to this process to where there was 100 incidents happening on a— I mean, gang fights out in the community, gang fights within the schools, to decrease of the next year down to 50% to now the third year, no gang fight whatsoever. The last school year, this continuing school year, no gang fight whatsoever. And the attendance is up, the behavioral is up, and the most importantly is that the youth are now creating the culture. Because I, like, I'm not gonna lie, there was 2 big sides, 30 kids on this side and 30 kids on this side. that don't like each other. But I'm gonna give one example, one story.

Yeah.

This kid goes in to disrupt and, well, I'm not going to be a part of this, and right, like, this doesn't— this ain't happening. So the own kids, the youth, told that one kid, you're not going to come here and disrupt this, right? So when it comes from the youth leadership in that process, That's the important part. And it's been done by working with youth and their families. That's the most important part.

So I remember the last time I was there during the Youth on a Mission training, your sister, I don't remember if it was Michelle or Rachel, they and Alexis, they talked about that, which is exactly what you said, the impact that you guys were having on that school where they were having all the incidents like you said, and then it was now down to zero. Yeah, so again, Arthur, give the— give your website, and if people want to get involved or want to know more about your, your organization.

For sure. So the website, youthempowermentsd.com, uh, .com I believe, or .org, um, one of the two.

I think it's .org.

But here's our email, Arthur. Yeah, Arthur at youthempowermentsd.org. Arthur@youthempowermentsd.org.

Or Gabby.

Or Gabby@youthempowermentsd.org. You'll see us on Facebook too, LinkedIn, Instagram, Youth Empowerment, or Arthur Soriano, Flor Soriano, Flor Gabby Soriano. So if you want to get engaged in whatever capacity, I mean, if you're here in San Diego, come Come be a part of the impact.

All right, listen, you guys, thank you so much for your time. And all of you, you've been listening to the Parent Whisperer podcast. Thank you again for your time. Thank you for listening. Please leave a review, uh, share the video with anybody that you think it's going to help. If you have questions, I'm always happy to read those and always glad to answer any questions you might have about Parents on a Mission. Any guests that we've had about Arthur and Gabby Soriano, their organization in San Diego, Youth Empowerment. And also, I want to give you a heads up on my website. Now, on my website, richardrramos.com, you're going to notice there's a change because I have been really focused on the Parents on a Mission for a long time. But I also have a background of executive leadership. Founding nonprofit organizations, funding other nonprofit organizations, developing leaders, and organizational development. So I want to spread my wings and get my message out to more organizations. So I'm remaking my website. So if you go to my website, you'll notice that, but all those free resources for parents are still there. My books are there. The Parent on a Mission online course is there if you wanted to. You say, Richard, Where's a parent non-admission class in my city? There may not be a parent non-admission class in your city, but on my website, for only $97— and I say only because you're not going to find— I have to say it myself— you're not going to find this material that they've talked about. That's a 15-video course. You can take it at your own leisure, take your time. You can invite other people to watch it with you. But you're not going to find a course of 15 videos with the material that we're presenting for $97. That's like a $200 discount from what other people are going to charge you. So I'm not afraid to say it's only $97. So those resources are there for you if you, you know, want to learn more about Parents on a Mission and you want to take the courses by yourself. So again, thank you for listening. Uh, to the Parent Whisperer podcast and mom and dad. As I always say, Parents on a Mission is not for bad parents. It's for good parents who want to get better. See you next time.

Bye.