Coffee & Conversations is an interactive sit-down event hosted by CSOFT. Every episode features honorary guests and experts from a diverse range of industries and fields to lightly discuss topical themes important to the life sciences and language services industry.
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| Marko Antic: | Good morning and good afternoon and good evening to everybody joining us from around the world, this is Coffee and Conversations. My name is Marko, and my co-host is Loren, and we'll be taking you on quite a journey today along with our guests. Coffee and Conversations is an interactive sit-down event hosted by CSOFT where we feature honorary guests and experts from a diverse range of industries and fields to lightly discuss topical themes important to the life sciences and the language services industry. |
| Marko Antic: | So, with that, sit down, relax, pour yourself some coffee or tea, and enjoy. In honor of Mental Health Month, this episode of Coffee and Conversations will discuss the art of maintaining motivation in the face of adversity. Today's special guest is someone whose career has taken many unexpected turns. Yet he has found a way to adapt each time. Today, he offers his wisdom to people facing the unique hardship that is uncertainty in the light of today's global crisis and supports us in finding our own way to adapt to our personal and professional journeys.
Without further ado, I would like to introduce our special guests, Ruben Payan Junior. Ruben is an American fitness entrepreneur, who motivates athletes, coaches, and top business professionals to reach their full potential as an elite coach and motivational speaker. Ruben frequently taps into his experience conquering the seven summits to inspire others to dream big, take action and live life to the fullest. |
| Marko Antic: | In 2007, Ruben moved to China and established Human in Motion, the nation's first functional training performance center. He quickly became one of China's top fitness educators, collaborating with international brands such as the Westin, Nike, the North Face, GQ and Men's Health magazine. In 2019, Ruben solidified his professional career by coaching mixed martial arts fighter Zhang Wei Li to become a UFC world champion. Since then, Ruben has returned home to the U.S. and is currently mapping out his next big adventure. We are also joined by Ms. Shunee Yee, the president and CEO of CSOFT International and CSOFT Health Sciences, leaders in medical translations for all phases of the product’s lifecycle, as well as market access consulting, medical writing and CTD and eCTD submissions with the FDA, EMA and NMPA. |
| Marko Antic: | In her 25 plus years of industry experience, Ms. Yee has been featured in numerous publications, including the Economist, Fortune Magazine, Forbes Asia and IDG journals. She’s also Fortune selected Top Ten Most Powerful Women Entrepreneurs in 2012 and was identified by CNN Money as one of technologies 36 most powerful disruptors. In June 2016, Ms. Yee helped launch the Shenzhen 100 research group utilizing qualitative indicators to support global market strategies. Her many contributions in the sphere of education include the Johns Hopkins Nanjing U.S. China Center, Michelle Obama's Let Girls Learn Initiative and her work on the Board of Trustees at Dexter Southfield School. Additionally, Ms. Yee serves as a co-chair for the Joslin Diabetes Center’s A Taste of Ginger 2022 committee supporting American Asian Diabetes Initiative, or AADI for short. |
| Marko Antic: | Welcome Ms. Shunee Yee and Mr. Ruben Payan. The floor is all yours. |
| Shunee Yee: | Thank you so much, Marko, for your kind introduction, and good morning, Ruben.! |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | Hey, good morning – Thank you for having me. |
| Shunee Yee: | Thank you for joining us today. So, I'm sure you are having your coffee - I have my coffee. Ruben, I’ve known you for well over a decade. You and I had many different conversations over the years. Either on the same stage for the same conference, or during a training in the gym, or attending the same party. So, I thought today is quite unique and interesting because today, as you know, we’re having this conversation virtually.
So I want to ask my first question, Ruben, to you. You are someone, I know, you are always onto something, something new or a new venture. Marko just gave a fantastic introduction for you to your background just for those meeting you for the first time in our audience today. And I want to ask you to give me one summary. What's truly inside you? Mountain climbing, fitness, educator, entrepreneur, inventor, Inspirational speaker. Tell us what's inside you that, you know, makes your heart sing most. |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | Well, you know, to uncover that answer, I really have to go back to when I was a child, and I was I was sent to live with my grandparents at the young age of six months. I was raised with my aunts and my uncles. So, I was raised in a really authentic Hispanic family. My grandmother was a woman of faith. She's responsible for opening the doors to my spirituality. So who I am today is I'm a spiritual person because of her. My grandfather was an extremely hard-working man. He was the sole provider for the family. Now, mind you, there were nine mouths to feed in the family. So, he was a busy guy, but he was dedicated to his family. And he was committed to teaching us a strong work ethic. So along with my spirituality, I'm really passionate about working hard, setting goals and really, really seeing them through. |
| Shunee Yee: | Ruben, if you remember in 2013, when you came down from Mt. Everest, you were joining me and CSOFTers at Sanya and on the stage, you told our CSOFTers, our colleagues from the industry, your story on the top of Mount Everest and really, kind of for us to understand why mountains – what motivates you to climb. So, for today's audience,tell us what happened on the top of the Mt. Everest. |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | Well fortunately I've had some time to digest and I'm not so emotional like I was in 2013, so I've been able to put the story in perspective. I'd like to share the story with you and CSOFT and really kind of look at it from both perspectives, look at it as being part of it, and then also look at it as someone that is just looking in as an observer.
And so, I think it's important that you kind of understand that being raised in that kind of household, I had to develop some really thick skin. We weren't really allowed to express a lot of emotions and all of those things. It was kind of looked down upon in the household. It was kind of looked at as being weak. Right. You know, and then 17 years of age, I went to the Marine Corps, I served in the Marine Corps, and that only added on to that belief system that, hey, if you show vulnerability or if you act like you are in distress and you need help, it was almost like weak. You know, you suck it up push forward, and deal with it internally. |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | So, I kind of carried this. I kind of carried this with me and I've worked on it. I've gone to leadership programs, I've gone to personal development programs, I've read self-help books. But, you know, it's sometimes really deep, especially when it's embedded in your childhood. And so, I'll share my story of Everest with you. I call it the greatest personal development program I ever put myself through. |
| Shunee Yee: | So, Ruben, that that moment you just talked about - your belief system, how you grew up - you know, you hold this inside. So, tell us, the audience, and then finally you summit to the top of the Mount Everest. |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | Right. |
| Shunee Yee: | And then you found yourself snow blinded, so it's impossible to come down with the one Sherpa with you. Tell us that in detail, that whole process. |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | OK, yeah, so let me explain to you, and I wrote a little story, so I'd like to share the story with you. I spent some time and really looked at all the different parts of my climb. And I'd like to share that with CSOFT this morning with our coffee. It was 9:30 p.m. at high camp, 8,300 meters on the north side of Mount Everest.
The wind was blistering cold, and our tent was shaking violently I had just woken up from a power nap and I immediately began eating this high calorie Sherpa porridge that Lakpa had just made. Now, Lakpa Gelu Sherpa is one of the most respected climbers in the world. He holds the Guinness Book of World Record for ascending Everest in 10 hours, 56 minutes and 46 seconds. He's a super Sherpa. He claimed that this porridge gives you superpowers on the mountains and it will make you stronger. So, I finished two bowls this was in our final preparation before our summit push. We would start at 10 p.m. and we would climb throughout the night into the early morning racing the clock. So, we would hit the summit just past sunrise, somewhere between 5:30 a.m. and 7 a.m.; 9 a.m. is the cutoff so as you are kind of going up, if you don't make it before 9 a.m., you know, you've got to get down. You're limited with oxygen. And the time window, so you got to go down. So, time is of the essence. Pressure's on. I was pumped. My altitude sickness had cleared the eight days of vomiting were over, and I was ready to conquer the world. The countless hours of preparation had come down to this: "Put up, Ruben, or shut up.” We were off. Lakpa and I were towards the front of the line, and he told me that we would have to maintain a faster pace to avoid the traffic jam. I remember reading about traffic jams, the National Geographic articles where dozens of climbers would get caught into the death zone waiting to summit due to overcrowding on the fixed line. It just takes one person to create a traffic jam, and the domino effect which could kill people. But there is no way that I was going to be the cause of a traffic jam. I assured him I was ready for the challenge, and I had no problem keeping up. He patted me on his shoulder in approval. I was killing it. My body was running like a finely tuned Italian sports car, one step after another, timed perfect with my breath. It was almost trance like it almost felt like I was levitating up the mountain. A few hours passed and the wind started picking up. It was coming down from my right side, so I pulled over my down suit to protect my face. I could feel the wind blasting into my eyes. I blinked rapidly to try to moisten them. My headlamp was directed about three feet in front of my boots, and this allowed this allowed me to see the heels of the person in front of me. That was a way to gauge if you're keeping pace. If I could keep up with this pace, I knew I was good. We pressed on. A couple hours passed, and the climber in front of me slowed down to a standstill. I stopped. I saw that he was navigating towards what appeared to be a climber lying on the ground. I asked myself, who is that? And then it hit me. This was the body of a climber that had died years prior. His body had never been rescued, and his remains were partially preserved from the cold. As I passed him, I saw the skin purplish of color. I remember asking myself, What happened to this guy? We continued climbing and the wind showed no signs of slowing down. Still a blast in my face. I could feel my eyes starting to become sticky, almost like they were bonding together. I did my very best to shield them, but with no luck I sucked it up and kept going. Another 3 hours had passed, and I could see the snow was starting to change colors. It was starting to lighten. The darkness was starting to fade, and the sun was on its way up. Awesome. We were close to the summit. It was at this moment I asked Lakpa if we could stop so I could put my goggles on. My eyes had been blasted for 7 hours and they needed relief. He said, “No problem.” We stopped and I put my goggles over my eyes and secured them to my head. I remember thinking, it's only a matter of time before my eyes would adjust to the sunlight and my visibility would be clear. It never happened. My eyes never adjusted to the sun. It was at this moment I realized I had a big problem. I took off my goggles, rubbed my eyes in another attempt to moisten them. I put them back, but it seemed like my vision got worse. What was going on with my eyes? I thought to myself. I knew the sun was out because of the warmth on my skin, but everything was so blurry. I tried to keep walking in a straight path, but I couldn't. Lakpa immediately stopped me and asked me, What's wrong with you? He clearly knew something wasn't right. I replied, “I can't see, something's wrong with my eyes.” He was very quiet. I asked him, "How much further do we have to the summit?” And he replied, "We have about 20 minutes.” My eyes were getting worse by the second, and the more I strained to see, the worse they became. Imagine looking through a triple frosted beer mug. That's how it was 20 minutes before I reached the summit. That's how distorted my vision was. Lakpa suggested that we continue forward, get to the summit, and try to figure it out from there. I didn't have much of a choice in the conversation. I needed him to help me. We reached the summit about 30 minutes later. I could hear the cheers and the joy and the laughter coming from the other climbers. This was the moment we had all been waiting for, a time to celebrate, time to be with one of the greatest accomplishments of our lives. But not for me. All I could think about was how the profanity am I going to get, am I my going to get down from there? Lakpa sat me down and I listened to the climbers in disbelief. I was shocked. I was scared. I was confused. And most of all, I was angry. Hundreds of thoughts racing through my head why me? Why here? Why now? And what kind of cruel joke is this? Lakpa pulled out my water bottle so I could hydrate. I reached in front of me, in my front pocket, and I pulled out the banner and pulled out the CSOFT banner and I pulled out my Powerful Human banner. I wanted to make sure that no matter what happened, it was actual proof that I had made it to the top. He agreed and captured a few photos for me. I asked him, what do you think we should do? He replied, "I don't know. I've never performed a rescue from the summit of Mount Everest for someone that is blind." That's not good news. I asked him if he could find other Sherpas that could possibly help bring me down to high camp. I told them I would pay them a premium. He agreed to try to find someone, but there was nobody available. Now I'm freaking out. A rush of questions passed through my mind. Was this guy going to leave me here? Is this where I'm going to die? Was I just going to be like that dead climber that I had seen earlier as we were making our summit push? What do I tell my family? What do I say to my son? I few moments passed. I was actually afraid to ask him, but I figured I'd better get it over with. I said, Lakpa what do you want to do? He said, “Let's try now.” I knew the risk of him attempting to get me down by himself. One slip on my part, and we were both dead. He has children, a beautiful family. I had met them in Seattle about six months prior. He would lock his harness in close with mine, and this was a game of centimeters if I screwed up. It was over. I told him, “I will follow your instructions. 100%. Exactly. You tell me how much to move and I'll move that distance.” It was terrifying, CSOFTers. It was terrifying. Every step that I took, I felt like it was my last. This fight went on for a couple of hours, and then we stopped to take our first break. I asked him, "How much longer do we have to High Camp.” He said, “I'm not going to tell you.” That was a very clear sign that it was still a long way. We have to just keep going while on break, I could hear him talking to someone else. I kind of recognized the voice. It was Rupert, an Austrian climber that I had met three weeks prior at Camp One. Now, Rupert was attempting to climb Mount Everest. He was on his way up and he was only about 45 minutes to reach the summit. He was making his attempt without supplemental oxygen, and so he was in the death zone with no additional support. He was by himself. He came over to me and he said, “Ruben, what's going on?” I said, “Rupert, I'm blind. I can't see.” And at that moment, Lakpa said to him, “Rupert, will you help me bring him down?” Now Imagine this. You have this stranger that you've met three weeks ago. He's on his way up to summit and accomplish one of the greatest moments of his life. He’s 45 minutes away, he's not using supplemental oxygen, and someone is in in in pain. Someone needs help. When Lakpa asked him, will you help me bring him down? There was no way that this guy in my mind would turn around and help me. He spent thousands of dollars in preparation, is less than an hour away from the summit. He's not using supplemental oxygen. If he turned around to save me, he would lose his chance to summit this season and he would expose himself to possible death. CSOFT family, I'm here. |
| Shunee Yee: | So, tell us again, the ultra-mountain climber who really gave up the summiting himself. |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | Yeah. So that's Rupert Howard. And that's Lakpa Gelu Sherpa. [Showing picture.] |
| Shunee Yee: | Right. So, when you ended at the top, when you three agreed, or two of them agreed to join to help you come down, tell me exactly the moment. What you were thinking when, I remember, you were talking about how he locked himself with you?
So, it's almost every step, each move. You have to be so precise because if you missed one step you'd be completely, I mean, all three of you. |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | Yeah. Yes, there was there was moments where if I made a mistake, I would pull both of them down with me. And so, yeah. |
| Shunee Yee: | I remember Ruben when you come down, that was 2013 at Sanya, our summit, we were talking about how this is not in your belief system: asking for help, accepting that fact. Your life is completely in somebody else's hands, and you have to 100% follow their instructions. So that whole experience, how did that impact you in the years after? |
| Shunee Yee: | Remember we were talking about the power of vulnerability. Can you elaborate on that a little bit, how that experience transformed you? |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | Yeah, you know, I always, growing up, you look at vulnerability as being a weakness and yet being vulnerable doesn't mean you're weak. There's a lot of power involved, and it means you’re willing to accept help, whether that’s to learn something new, or whether that's, in my case, to save my life. So being vulnerable in my eyes is a is a form of power.
It's just the way that I was raised. It was a form of weakness. And so, my whole view in my whole world, I got turned upside down in how I look at other people and how I can help other people and how I can be open to receiving help when I need it. |
| Shunee Yee: | So, it’s interesting, your big American dream was realized in China in your twenties. I still remember you and I were talking about how you were arriving in Beijing with two pieces of luggage. And then later on lost those two pieces of luggage. From that moment on, you built your business empire. You became the face of China in the fitness industry and really inspired the younger generation, thousands of them, and gained so much of this success. And now you moved back to the US, back to your town in Seattle. So, you remember you and I had a conversation about having that culture shock in your own country and feeling lost and knowing you have to restart again. How are you coping with that, and what still motivates you to get up each morning? |
| Ruben Payan Jr.: | You know, it's a different kind of mountain climbing because, you know, the physical act of climbing the physical preparation is just putting in the hard work physically. This is the new mountain journey that I'm on. It's the journey of business where you take all of your life experience and your knowledge, and you create products, and you create education here at home from Ground Zero because nobody really knows about me here in the U.S. So, I'll tell you, when I first arrived, and I've been back about 18 months. The first eight or nine months was really difficult for me. I was going through some kind of identity crisis but then I realized I had to go back to my roots, and I went back to what my grandparents instilled in me.
I looked all the wonderful relationships that I have and still maintain in China. And I said, you know what? I can create something ama |
