Taylor Smith

Date: September 26, 2016

Name: ManTalks – Rebuild

Presenters: Jan Kasparec, Taylor Smith, Kelly Jablonski

There are moments when leaders feel they are broken down in their lives. Moreover, these individuals need to overcome the odds, battled failure and defeat. ManTalks invites Jan Kasparec, the Visual Artist in Vancouver, Taylor Smith, the co-Founder of Chasing Sunrise, and Kelly Jablonski, the CEO of Ultimate Skateboard Distributors, to discuss their life experience from bottom to top. Many leaders could not find the answer and they are stuck in survival mode. These leaders will show their vulnerability in this presentation to inspire people their valuable life lessons. This is a conversation everyone is looking for.

“The more you look into it, it appears not a problem after all”

“Until you are broken, you do not know what you made of”

Life journey from Jan Kasparec

Jan Kasparec was born in Czech Republic. He started to explore painting in 2004 and discovered his art talent. He opened his studio to the public showcase in 2012. His paintings inspire many young local artists and he is a mentor to many young talents in Vancouver.

Kasparec is good at art because his art creates abundance of what he loves in life. However, he discovered this life mission later in life. When Kasparec was young, he loved adventure. He describes his personality as “the baddest boy in school”. He had the burning love in nature and art. Kasparec had a dream of saving the Amazon when he was a kid.

Things started to change when he experienced a life incident that made him hatred. The hatred forced him to get revenged, so he began to lift weights and became the leader of a guys. The dark side made him fight every day. He thought he had no fear, but in fact, fear was all he had.

In the age of 17, he got arrested. He sworn to his mother he would change. People hunted him down and labeled him as traitor. He unleashed once again; however, this time he was sentenced to prison. He escaped to France without looking back.

Within the next 5 years, Kasparec faced many deaths. There was no shoulder to cry on. He could not go back home because he was listed as wanted criminal. He ego became pain. Finally, he hit rock bottom in military.

Kasparec discovered the true meaning of struggle when he had the opportunity to visit Africa in military. He cried and remembered his childhood. He worked his way up and got his life back until he was wiped out from the criminal status.

Kasparec realized his limits were further than he expected, and the pain could be dropped if shame and ego were gone. He decided to attend university. In the age of 28, Kasparec took a vacation to Argentina. He shifted his life style and discovered he needed to find himself once again. He travelled for 2 years and finally stopped at Vancouver. He believed he could rebuild his life in Vancouver.

Kasparec shares he stopped caring about title. He is full time as artists and has the passion to work hard in the field of art. After 3 years in Vancouver, he burned all his saving and started to ask himself an important fundamental question: “should I still paint?”.

The joy from art gave Kasparec the realization that he should continue. His vision of feeling positive from people starts to burn. His income and social media start to go up. He is now focus on creation.

“When I tap into joy, external stuff goes away”

Kasparec paints for people to have the feeling of who they really are. Kasparec wants leaders to remember that art is also a language that can touch people’s core. Kasparec only wants to become who he wants to be. Without discipline, leaders will not go anywhere. The power in mind is the only enemy leaders have and nothing can break down leaders when they discover the wisdom of love.

Life journey from Taylor Smith

Taylor Smith is the co-Founder of Chasing Sunrise. He has the ability to help people to push their body and mind to their limits. He creates a community that supports many leaders to chase what they desire and want. In addition, he is also the Project Coordinator for Brymark Installations Group.

Taylor Smith is the oldest of 4 in the family. He had a typical childhood and played sports all his life. He joined a Water Polo team and involved in many activities in his school years. He felt he was set and everything in life was going good.

In 2007, he got T-boned from a car accident. There was a pain in his back that changed his life. The doctor diagnosed he had 2 injured discs in his back. He quickly started the physio to recover the incident.

He went to Victoria for post-secondary education. His life started to fell apart. He failed everything and felt he was a failure to everyone. The emotional pain made him unwilling to attend classes and he began to start drinking. Smith moved back home after the first year of college. He could not know what he needed to do. He started to work and regained his passion of life back.

He moved back to Victoria again to complete his education, but he was still living in the life of lies. When people started to notice, he hid and retreat. He could not let others know he was down.

In 2010, Smith escaped to Calgary to start fresh. He started over and began to return to Water Polo. However, he felt the emptiness in his life from the wall he built. In 2012, he chose to end his life. He could not admit his failure, so he drove back and reconnected with his mother. He let all out to his mother. He started to feel the pain from the crack he could not repair once again. With the encouragement, he finally tackled the problem by going to therapy. He then tackled his stress.

He returned to work and found the thrive with purpose. He looked at himself in the mirror and began to tackle one by one. He regained his confidence by going to gym. The energy kept him going and he started to fill his calendar with activities. He felt he is in control in his life because he stripped things down and rebuild with the true meaning of why.

Smith hit the restart button in his life and now he lives every moment. He is now knowing who he is and he is grateful of everything.

Smith suggests leaders to get out there and live. Do things they want. He found the Chasing Sunrise to help people define life by figuring out what they want to do.

“It is ok to be broken or fail”

“Where you going in life, it is ok to succeed or fail. We can all rebuild”

Journey of Kelly Jablonski

Kelly Jablonski is the CEO of Ultimate Skateboard Distributors. He is also the Founder of Just Giver 4PD Cycling Club. Kelly Jablonski was also the Board of Director for International Association of Skateboard Companies for over 3 years. He was the recipient for 2010 Business in Vancouver Forty under 40. Moreover, his experience and journey inspire many new cycling members.

Kelly Jablonski shares a life experience that changed his life in 2011. He was on his way to Mexico until there was an oil patch leaking out of engine. The plane was forced to do emergency landing and that 15 minutes changed Jablonski’s life.

Jablonski was a boxer. He took up the interest of becoming a skateboard professional when he met his idol. He also went into motor cross racing. In the eyes of Jablonski, everything seems to go under control. In 2000, he broke his vertebrae and he needed to rebuilt his life. He wanted a change. He transitioned his career to cycling and founded 4PD Cycling Club. He believed big things start with small ideas. The charity raised over $315,000 with many priceless photo memories.

“Money is great, but awareness is priceless”

In 2011, Jablonski was the recipient of Business in Vancouver Forty under 40 award. He continued to cycle and create awareness. He signed up for the Schwalbe Tour and stepped into the plane to Mexico. The plane had an incident and it was forced to land.

In that 15 minutes, Jablonski shares he felt calm at first until the last 315 feet. He was scared. The plane hit the ground at 192 Kilometer per hour. He felt the flame burning in the plane, he thought he was about to die and everything was over. He was rescued by firefighters. The plane was crashed 2 Kilometer away from his home.

Jablonski had spinal surgery. His lung was burned and he could not speak. He managed to stand up after 4 days, but all his ribs on his left side were broken. With friends’ support, he was able to leave the hospital.

The recovery was painful. It was not easy for Jablonski to get back in shape. He weight was down to 130 pounds. He visited the remaining of plane crash and felt emotional.

In March of that year, he could ride his bike. He started to keep track everything. He would not let the past to be his present condition. He signed up a race in Europe for 7 days. He rode for 900 Km. Instead of competing, he stopped and enjoyed the ride. The experience was incredible.

“You can get support, but you have to do all the heavy lifting first”

“Do not quit, suffer now and live the rest of your life as champion”

Jablonski mentions the plane crash killed 2 pilots. Without them, he would not survive. The accident did not change the course of Jablonski’s life; instead, it is the course of his life.

Leaders must remember the future is now. Time waits for nobody. Age wrinkles the body, but quitting winkles the soul. Things do not define leaders, only experience can define leaders. The difference leaders make and the experience they create for others will never take away from them.

Jablonski wants leaders to ask themselves a simple question: “what is your purpose?”