Thank you so much for being here. A little bit about the title of the book first. Howd you come to get that as the wording that you wanted out there . Keep climbing . Yeah. Well, its very relatable to what you have to do in life to succeed, and relatable because evybody has struggles and issues on a daily basis. And the people who are happy are the ones who keep climbing. When i was battling for my life, i had to keep moving forward to keep moving up. Lets talk about that. What happened to you when you sh a h b rty,me g foay basketball, came down, and my knee buckled and popped. Okay. That injury ended up changing my life forever. I was eventually diagnosed with advanced, fourthstage hodgkins lymphoma, and the doctors gave me roughly three months to live. No other indications, stage four . Nothing. No night sweats, no swollen lymph glands. I had cancer, basically, from what does your mom, how do you who told you what happened, and how do you prepare a child, you know, for Something Like this . Yeah, thats the crazy thing. Young, being old you know, being older now im looking back at my life and thinking, okay, well, first of all, cancers not an individual disease. Right. Im thinking, okay, i pulled my family along this whole trip. When i was 13, i really didnt fully understand what was going on. All i knew was i was sick, and all i knew was i wanted to be better. I wanted to move on with my life and become a normal teenager. But like i said now, im looking back at my life and realizing it was probably more difficult on my parents because theyre sitting there looking at their child who was laying in a hospital bed who was 13 years dying. And they, you know, being a parent you cant take that illness away from the child, you cant really do anything. Its up to that child to pull through. I went through roughly a year of medicine i was on, the predny sewn which is a steroid to, i gained about 60 pounds, lost all the hair on my body, lost everything, lost my friends. My friends were out chasing girls, having a great time x im 60 pounds overweight pulling chunks out of hair out of the drain crying by eyeballs out. But thanks to the miracle of modern medicine, family support, prayer and that inner will, a year and a half later i walked out a happy, hairless young man. Right . Close. Breckenridge, colorado. Breckenridge. So you get through this. 13 becomes 14 and the treatments, you know, im still a little surprised that the teammates didnt stick by you, you had to deal with that on top of everything else. Then you turn 16, and what happened . I was going in for a regular checkup for the first cancer, i was diagnosed with another primary tumor completely unrelated to the hodgkins. In one day they found the tumor on an xray, they did a needle biopsy, they put in a hickman cath they are, they cracked open my ribs, took out the tumor and than 24 hours. The reason they did that was it was a type of cancer, its a neoplasma that affected my upper right lung between my lungs and my ribs. And it was so devastate, it grew from nothing to the size of a golf ball in about three months. And as a 16yearold after they diagnosed what it was, they only gave me 14 days to live. So your family and you go through this again in about three years, you know . Exactly. Yeah. Now you a little bit older. You understood it a little bit more from the first time. How do you process it, what does the family do, and then tell us about the treatment. It, again, its difficult because the first time i really didnt understand what was going on. Was like going through the first treatment. I was, like, i dont want to do this again. Right. Im going to lose my friends, my hair, my life for a while. So i went through three months of intense chemo. One month of intense Radiation Therapy which killed my right lung. I only have one fullyfunctioning lung. Then i went through ten more months of chemo, and the crazy part about it my cycle was monday, tuesday, wednesday, thursday, friday. That was half a cycle. I was in the hospital, i was let out to recover, id go back in friday, saturday, sunday, monday. And the treatments were so harsh, the doctors put me in medicallyinduced coma. I dont remember being 16 years old. How long did you have to undergo the second treatment . About a year and a half. About a year and a half. So youre 17 going on 18, and you make some declarations about your life. Tell us about that. Well, initially i decided, you know, i had my life back again. You know . I was back being, quoteunquote, normal for a teenager. I was normal, and i was living this great life, and i wanted to push the cancer back. I went to college, it turned into a great party for me. I was belushi from animal house, [laughter] i was reliving what i lost when i was in high school. But then my senior year came around, i was like, oh, i should probably start getting serious about my future because when i was sick, i had no hope. There was sometimes i went to sleep, i didnt even know if i morning. So i was literally trying to get as much as i could out of life. So i started realizing, all right, well, theres a future out there somewhere, and i have to go grasp it, and thats when i decided to become a psychologist for Cancer Patients and help people that way. Because i figured id been through a lot and, like i said before, its not an individual disease. I could help the patients, the families, i could see different perspectives and really help them with death. The title of your book suggests mountain climbing, so what . Enough of basketball and, you else. And you picked mountain climbing. Yeah, i know, my friends joke around, one of them says, well, its because i gave him a book to read about mount everest. One says i gave him a cd about music on mountains theyre all trying to lay claim. Right. [laughter] but it was because, honestly, i took a sabbatical from my studies and started looking back at my life and realizing every step i took was a choice to get me to where i am now. And i decided, i had my own baggage to deal with from the cancers, and i also knew that life was too precious and short, and i wanted to make a difference in the lives of people touched by cancer around the world. And i literally wanted the highest platform in the world to scream hope. Well, you chose it, as we look at the video. Everest . A 29,000foot platform for hope. I have a saying that the human body lives for roughly 30 days without food, the human condition can sustain itself for but no human can live for more than 30 seconds without hope, because without hope, what do we have left . You started the cancer climber association. My brother and i founded that, i believe it was 2000, 2001. And the initial idea was to fund research, but there were so Many Organizations doing that, we decided we wanted to do something here, something now. So what we do, and ive done this for the past 12 years, i take a cancer survivor who we distribute a grant to. So were accepting applications right now, go to seanswarner. Com, and you can send me an email telling me how long youve been in survival, what your goal is, you know, how youre going to use climbing everest as your platform to scream hope. So were accepting applications for that. But anybody can do it. So with the cancer climber association, we actually used that as a platform to scream hope, and through other survivors inspire people in the same cancer family. Now, tell us about your connection to the Empire State Building. Empire state building runup okay. And it was, it was an awesome challenge. You didnt think twice about doing this . [laughter] you know . No, i thought twice, i thought three times, i thought four times. But, again, you know, this is the most important muscle in the body, and i think if you picture yourself at the top and make it as real in your mind as humanly possible, those little obstacles that would normally slow you down and make you quit just frustrates you enough to say, screw it, im going to keep going. Sean, i have to ask you this. Inasmuch as you are inspiring people and encouraging people to not accept no and to always reach for yeses, you know, are your doctors onboard with you doing all this, i dont want to say iron man stuff, but making sure you are living your life to the fullest . You have one lung condition, and youre talking about climbing and card owe, you know . Are your doctors signing off . Or have i let the cat out of the bag . [laughter] its i think its getting to the point where people understand that im going to push my body, and im going to push the envelope a lot. And i also think that there are so many people who need to understand this is the most important muscle we have to work out. You have to look in the mirror and be your best friend because all those negative thoughts get in there. You have to get rid of that and focus on the positive. So the reason im doing what im doing, the Empire State Building, you know, the everest, the hawaii iron man, im trekking to the north pole next april here we go. [laughter] take care of yourself. Well, thank you. Come back and see us anytime youre in new york. Leapt us know how youre doing. We love that you have a connection to the Empire State Building and, much more importantly, that youre inspiring other people to think exactly the reason why i do what i do. Nice to meet you, man. [laughter] stay right there. Our look at inspiration and people who inspire continues overcame homelessness to become entrepreneur, when we come back. From living on the streets and in homeless shelters in newark to present day where hes recognized as one of the Top International speakers and advisers, our next guest inspires others with his powerful story. Joining me now is Rahfeal Gordon who is author of sky scraper going beyond your limit to reach greatness. Nice to meet you. We want to talk about the hardships, you know, that you faced. What age were you when you found yourself without a home . This is going back into fifth, sixth grade. Okay. So, you know, before the teenager years. But i look at it as ab opportunity an opportunity, because i feel that i understand and recognize and embrace the experience of what its like to not have, it allows me to be able to be more humble and to be able to appreciative of the things that i have now. Those moments where i was living in the shelters and probably in a car definitely brought some reality to me. So it was you and how many family members are we talking about . Well, at that time my parents had split, so it was just my mother and my three younger brothers. Im the oldest out of four. There were times where i had to step up and be the man of the house, per se. So theres sometimes where i had to spend the whole day bagging groceries at the supermarket making about 30, some people would give me food stamps or what not, and those were the put food on the table when my parents werent around and it was just my brothers and i in those homes and shelters. So were talking 80s, 90s . Early 90s, mid 90s, yeah. Then right before high school i got a chance to stay with my father for about almost a year. You know . But after that i was living from house to house with individual family members and friends of that nature. I always kept to myself, you know, kept a smile on my face because i felt that i could get through it. I dont know where it came from. I always say god, but it just instilled in me just to stay focused and be persistent. I want to ask you about that, because were talking about a young man, a young africanamerican man growing up in newark, you know . Right. In the 90s, you know, a whole lot of avenues, influences, pasts you could have made a left or went down, but you sidestepped all of that. Could have just been friends on the corner that would have out. Right. This is the interesting thing, and i tell these in my seminars is that im a village child. I am a true example. When my mother wasnt there, she couldnt can handle anymore, i had a principal who became my school mother. I had a job working at planned parenthood in the summer as a teen counselor. The woman that was there was my job mother, you know . The mayors aide at the time, mr. Potter, he was the guy that told me every once a week for one hour on a wednesday i want you to walk down to city hall, and i want to see you. I want to see what youre doing, i want to know everything about one hour. And those particular situations kept me going. There were people even on the corner, the drug dealers and those who were in gangs who said to me, you know, i see something in you that, of myself, and, you know, because of that i dont want you out here. Let these other knuckleheads do go to school, and if you think theres something out here thats negative, make it positive. Instead of selling drugs, i sold candy, and i was able to make a lot of money selling candy in school, but that was my way of positive. Was that your First Company . Can we consider that yeah, definitely. [laughter] First Company. And i started it at the age of 15 at Arts High School in newark. So, all right candy, all right. Candy kingpin, right . If you have to be the kingpin of something, candy is the way or alcohol late is probably the safest chocolate is probably the safest thing. Absolutely. How do you transition that at such a young age . What was the next step . You know, i think it was the aspect of the leverage of understanding what network was. Because of the fact of, you know, having this business at a young age, you know, i was able to show individuals or show people that i had some type of determination, i was organized, that i was persistent in and because of those village mothers and fathers and uncles, they were able to help me to be able to find things to leverage that into something else, which was college, you know . Thats what helped me get through the Higher Learning aspect. Whats your mom saying when shes watching all of this go, you know . I mean, she has got to be then, i imagine now right. When youre watching this happening, youre seeing your child whos overcome living in a car, you know, at one particular point to, you know, starting a college. Relationship handle that or process that . Yeah, it was different because it was off and on. It was a solid relationship, but it was also a lot of friction there too. The reason was because of the fact i didnt have my father consistently in my life. But she but to see me now, shes so proud. I think i also give a lot of credit to my grandmother. She played a big deal, her and my grandfather, they played a big deal in my life, you know . They always instilled to me too and to no matter what, to keep god first. So my father, my mother like, my father just text me before i came, and hes so proud. To be able to know that i was able to still overcome and even if some of the things they felt that, you know, they werent good at as parents, i forgave them for that, and that allowed me to take away the burden off my shoulders. I understand that were not perfect, but allow me to not use that as an excuse to not be successful in life. That took a whole lot of maturity and a really big man, i imagine, to do that. So theyre or probably even more proud of just the person, you know . Aside from just all the things the person has achieved. Yeah. Theyre awesome. Lets talk about the book. Okay. Tell me about the book, skyscraper. This is an amazing book. I think this is my 12th published book. I started writing this book when i was taking courses at harvard. Okay. Im a big fan of reginald f. Lewis. And for those who dont know, hes one of the first america. And what happened was i would go to the building which he was, which his name the buildings named after him. And i would sit there, and i would write, and i realized that there was a lack for me personally, i felt there was a lack of superheroes in the world, especially in my community. Were a generation of social media, and i felt that its important to leave a blueprint to do something where it cant be erased off of im sorry gram or social media, facebook. Instagram. I noticed that all the greats created books of written material that other generations in the future would be able to study. So in the book skyscraper i talk about how to achieve your excellence, how to go beyond your limits. I did a case study for six months on great individuals and leaders from around the world and tried to figure out what the similarities were. And one example is they all woke up between four to five oclock in the morning, and thats where they would be able to be at peace, they would pray or would get themself prepared for the whole entire day. And i felt that, you know, that had to be documented. And a lot of the methods that i used to get me from a local leader and local entrepreneur to a Global Leader and entrepreneur, i wanted to document that because i felt it was important. Even if it doesnt get a lot of exposure, its still truth. For those they always say bird of a feather or flock together to, but hawks, theres never many of them. Theres always a few. And i felt the few that are able to lead the masses to a great promised land, i felt i needed to be one of those advisers for those people. Rahfeal gordon, the book is called skyscraper. Stay right there. Coming up, how one man did stand in the way this man knew what he wanted to do at an early age, and he was not going to let anything stand in the way of his passion. Lee elliot joins us now. For those who dont know you, tell us what it is that you do. Okay. I am a jeweler. I design and create my own jewelry. Ive been doing it since i opened the store in 1965 in Greenwich Village. 65 . 1965. You must have been, like, a kid. [laughter] it was the year that i graduated high school. Okay. So, yes. And weve been out in the hamptons for 25 years and in sag harbor, the lee jewelers is in sag harbor been there for 11 years. My shop, a part of my life. I love the bicep. Work bench work. I love the Creative Process, designing. I love dealing with the customers, trying to make them laugh. And, again, the Creative Process of designing and creating jewelry is something that i love. Lee, where did it start . When did it begin for you . Jewelry . When were you drawn to creating and making jewelry . In Greenwich Village we were best friends with a jeweler, and i became a fixture in their store. And eventually they showed me how to make a little bit of jewelry, and ive been doing it ever since. I was born with the right hand and, in fact, when i was in Elementary School, i learned the word ambidextrous. And i said, oh, thats me. Okay. I use my right hand almost as much as i use my left. Hold my torch with it, and i hold a hammer with it. And its definitely a part of who and what i am and who and what is the pro