“From Gangs to First Responders: A Story of Transformation” The Story of Dr. Reynolds Kairus

Dr. Brad Miller 0:00

Our guest today is Reynolds Kairus. He's a medical doctor with quite a fascinating story to tell about his background and about what has led him to his situation in life right now. Reynolds, welcome to welcome to our podcast interview.

Reynolds Kairus 0:17

Thank you, sir, I appreciate you having me. And I appreciate everybody listening. Thank you for your time so much, I'd greatly appreciate it.

Dr. Brad Miller 0:24

Absolutely. Well, Reynolds, tell me a little about your situation, what moved you from your, you had some pivotal points in your life where you had some challenges in your life. And this led you eventually become an EMT than an MD. So give us a synopsis of your story.

Reynolds Kairus 0:40

So I was basically born and raised in a poverty stricken area in New York City by a single mother. And I was left without a father figure. So my father figure ended up being the negative ones, which was the neighborhood guys, my cousins who are in and out of the incarceration, and gangsta rap and gangster movies, eventually, I started to emulate them. And my past is very different from my present. I mean, I've been arrested I've been shot at. But thankfully, God put his hands on me, I changed my life around and now I went ahead and became a medical doctor, I hold a doctorate degree in medicine, I run a successful business. And I've been able to reach over 4 million people worldwide. So the gist of my story, the whole reason why I'm here is that throughout this trajectory in life, I've been able to acquire some wisdom, I've been able to acquire some information that I feel it's my duty to pay it forward. So every chance I get, I pay forward the blessings that I've received, because I've come to realize, and it used to happen to me, where I used to suffer in silence, like I would just stay quiet suffer suffer, when I went from having like suicidal thoughts and addiction problems, and really, really bad situations to now living an optimal existence. So whenever I don't, have you ever seen the movie Avatar, but they got this thing where they say I see you wearing a kind of, so when I see someone suffering, I see through them, I guess you can say because I was once in their shoes. So once again, my whole thing is now just paying forward what works or what has worked for me.

Dr. Brad Miller 2:23

And so part of that pain forward process is you have your you have your background here. And then you have a process to get people through and ready good into your process for in a second year. But give us just kind of you said you know, you had this situation where you had really difficult upbringing and an early your your youth. Give us one example of what life was like you first of all, where are you based at? Tell us where you are located? And where were you worried? Where were you brought up?

Reynolds Kairus 2:54

I was brought up in Queens, New York, New York City to be exact.

Dr. Brad Miller 2:59

Okay. So give us kind of an example, you mentioned that you had your rough upbringing here. Give us some example of what life might have been like or one episode or story from that part of your life.

Reynolds Kairus 3:12

So there was a time when I eventually transitioned off the yellow school bus. And I was given the liberty to walk home to school. And I remember vividly in the 90s, this was like, in the mid in the midst or at the end of the crack epidemic here in New York City. I remember seeing like chalk, chalk signs and like sheets covering dead bodies from the night before this was your money on a Monday. Yeah, this was usually on a Monday morning. And I would be walking to school and the violence, the addiction, these type of things that was going on in the neighborhood were regular for me. So the point where I started partaking in it, and I ended up in a gang and I ended up going down that path. So one of the things that sticks out to me the most was how we normalize devilish behavior, how we normalize doing negative things amongst each others. So once I got into school, that the same thing continued on, but one of the things that sticks out to me the most is what I used to go to school. Not every single time I walked to school, but I remember there were there were a few occasions where you will see like just like police activity, the street corner, it's a dog by yellow tape, and it was like the fresh crime scene.

Dr. Brad Miller 4:28

So seeing a crime situation, and I take it you even saw Dan, I understand you to say you saw some bodies is that right? Did I understand that? You say that?

Reynolds Kairus 4:38

Or yeah, they were covered. They were covered in I didn't see their their faces but they were covered with the white sheet.

Dr. Brad Miller 4:44

But you but there were people there there was somebody under the sheet. Oh my goodness Wow. What you're what you're what you're describing is a shocking, profound thing for almost anybody but you're saying that was kind of the norm that was not unusual in your experience. And so yeah, unfortunately Leave. So the idea that it was there something then that kind of flipped a switch for you or an experience for you said, Okay, I've had enough of this, I've got to do something different. I've got to make a change myself. Was there an episode like that?

Reynolds Kairus 5:15

Well, like I mentioned, I ended up in a game, but I was always the good guy. Like, I don't want to come off, I don't want to come off like I was the guy shooting at people or getting incarcerated. Because I was with the people that was doing the work. But if you ever give you were there, and you look at me from a bird's eye view, oh, that's the good guy. Because what I used to do while they were doing things that weren't all that legal, or weren't safe for the people, they were doing it to I used to always say, Hey, guys, the cops are coming, the cops are coming, let's go, let's go. The cops were never coming. But it was my conscious was just trying to, like startle them, because that's the only thing they would react to. So they can stop doing what they were doing. But there was a point in my life where I was shot at. Someone, someone tried to kill me. And I eventually found out who it was. I was on my high horse gang member, I was thinking to myself, What does this person think he is doing? How dare he saw I was starting to plan to pay back. And we found out where he lived. And the payback was, we were assembling the team. And then it hit me. I got this thought to myself, one that I always heard in junior high school, one that I always heard of my upbringing, if you continue down that path, you're gonna end up dead or in jail. And no one said it to me at that time. But I heard it echoed in my brain while I was planning this revenge. And then it hit me like, Yeah, I'm gonna end up dead or in jail if I go ahead and follow this, like, follow the same path I'm on now. And that's what my that's, that's the first step where my life where my where my life made a different trajectory. And then I go on ahead and thought to myself, well, I need to keep myself busy. Because last time, I wasn't busy, I used to do boxing, I used to get ready for the police academy league. And the first time the first time I got arrested was because they closed the police academy League. Long story short, I ended up becoming a first responder.

Dr. Brad Miller 7:20

Yeah, I think you've made some really interesting observation there. And an aha moment of your life, you had a choice between to basically take revenge or to go on a different trajectory is the term that you used. And that's why you're here talking to me today and sharing some good things to other people. And you ended up going paramedic, MD, which we'll talk about here in a minute, I share with you one story out of my life that what's your story reminds me so much of I went to college at a small small college in Indiana, but one of the I roommate, my first roommate was a was a young guy from from the urban area of St. Louis. And anyhow, long story short, he showed me a picture of all his high school buddies he hung around with. And he said, you know, he, there was about six of them. And he said, pointed to him, he gave the name of the guy, you know, this guy is Mike and he's in jail. This guy is Ted and he's dead. This guy is so and so when he strung on drugs, this guy's in the Navy. And I'm the only one in college. Everybody in his group. Of the six or eight people in his group, everybody was dead, or in jail or struggling on drugs, except for one guy in the Navy and Him who was in college. And he had a tough time in college, given his not because when smart, but because he had such a background or just your story reminds me that so much because he made it. But he had to work like crazy to get out of it. And he felt his life. And each had, you know, he'd been shot that he and his life had been shot and stabbed. I know that because he had the scars on his body to prove that. But let's get back to your story here now, in my story, but my friend Reggie is a memorable one, your story is a memorable one too, because of the changes that you've made. And so let's talk about some of the specific actions that you took that you were shot at. And you went on this track to become a paramedic. So what were some of the things that you did both mentally and then you know, kind of action, your physical actions that you took to change your trajectory, what are some things that you did?

Reynolds Kairus 9:27

So the first thing I started to realize was that my conscience was talking to me, my conscience It was either I mean, I call it a divine intervention. Okay, and it was just basically a guide, I was being guided towards what I should do. And the first thing I did was I listened to that guy. I was like, should I be? I was like, I want to be a first responder. Should I be a police officer? No, at that time, they were not my best friends. But I'd be a firefighter. I wasn't crazy about jumping into burning buildings, but I remember that My grandmother was obese. And I remember the paramedics every time we called them, they fixed it. I'm like, so I'm going to be, I'm going to be an EMT, I'm going to work as an EMT. So one of the things I did was that I immediately acted upon something that had a correlation with something I learned in the past. So what I'm trying to tell you is things a lot of times our destiny is not a coincidence, you have hints, like you should do this, you should do that. And I had numerous hints that I should go ahead and answer healthcare. So once I got the final hint, I guess you can say, I went ahead and follow that path. So my action was immediately. I went ahead and started working, I started practicing as an EMT when I was 17 years old. So it's that was in 2003. Mr. Miller, that's been 20 years now. 20 years since I, since I went ahead and started to be a healthcare provider.

Dr. Brad Miller: 11:00

You think you had this leading or this inner voice was talking to you do you tripped out to any kind of a one of the things that I think when people do change, sometimes they have a sense of a feeling of something greater than self? It might be a spiritual thing, it might be a religious thing, or it might be some sort of an inner, inner voice? Do you think that was any part of your process, any kind of a sense of connecting to some power greater than self?

Reynolds Kairus: 11:27

Yes, most definitely, I take zero credit for anything that I've accomplished. Because at the end of the day, like just the timeline, I went from being shot out in 2001, to becoming an EMT in 2003, a paramedic in 2007, and a medical doctor in 2017. And every single step of the way, there's been tools that's been put in my path. tools, like books, like self improvement books. I know a lot of people that listen to this podcast might remember Barnes and Noble. Sure, Barnes and Noble,

Dr. Brad Miller: 12:01

one of my favorite places to go still. Yeah,

Reynolds Kairus: 12:04

yeah, it's hard to find one here in New York City. But, you know, the self improvement section of that bookstore was like my oasis. And I started reading these books. And I'm like, wait, I went from like, wanting to be arrested to realizing my potential. And then I started just, I started like, like, wow, I can, this person could do it. I can do it. So it was the books and mentors.

Dr. Brad Miller: 12:32

Yeah. Well, let's talk about there. Any particular books that you remember has been particularly influential on you, in your Barnes and Nobles time or even now?

Reynolds Kairus: 12:41

Yeah, the very, very first book I ever picked up that had to do with self improvement was titled become who you were born to be? By Bob Zaragoza?

Dr. Brad Miller: 12:52

Not familiar with that one. Go ahead. Yes. So this

Reynolds Kairus: 12:55

book, basically, each chapter is a rags to riches story of some of the world's most influential people. Okay. He would just go on and explain how that person went from rags to riches, how this person transformed their life. He goes over, like the owners, they went over the owner of Starbucks, Sylvester Stallone, Oprah Winfrey, football players, I people that have reached the pinnacle of success. And I noticed that they all had some, they had a few things in common, but the ones that stuck out to me the most was, they were human. You know, wow, this human being was able to do this. I'm a human being obviously. Yeah. And then secondly, the

Dr. Brad Miller: 13:38

as opposed to being superhuman. What I mean by that is sometimes we see somebody who's in the successful place in life. And if we're not, we sometimes think, okay, they were, you know, born with a silver spoon in their mouth or something like that, or they had some unfair advantages. What you're sharing with me is most people overcome some adversity of some sort to achieve success. And then what you learned. I'm sorry, sorry, your mentors. Did you have mentors during this process?

Reynolds Kairus: 14:03

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. So I've had different mentors in different in different phases of my life. So my first my very first mentors were like related to the things I was doing in the street. Then when I became an EMT, and when I started as an EMT, all I wanted was job security. Like where I'm from. If you have job security, like a city job and a big screen TV, with health insurance, you made it that's it. That's like the epitome of success. But so I just looked at it like, like, like a job, but I met someone that survived 911. Remember, I started in 2003. And then I met someone that like served the falling of the towers, because I became an EMT. Kinda like almost immediately after. And I met someone I met someone who survived it, and

Dr. Brad Miller: 14:51

I'm sorry to back up on it, but just timeline. But how old were you when 911 happened? I'm curious.

Reynolds Kairus: 14:56

I was 15 to 16 years old

Dr. Brad Miller: 15:00

Very formative time for you. Okay. Thank you. Go ahead. So you met some people who were EMTs or involved with the actual aftermath of 911, right?

Reynolds Kairus: 15:10

Yes, sir. And I came to realize that first responders are very selfless men and women. And they're doing God's work. And it's an awesome job, but it's a commendable job. So I started taking the job more seriously. I went ahead and I rose through the ranks. And what did I do, I started teaching EMTs. I started my own CPR and CPR, first aid training business. Then I went ahead, and I went further my education, I became a paramedic. After becoming a paramedic, I started going into hospitals. And I started realizing, once again, the same thing. If they can do it, I can do it. Like you're looking at the doctors, you know, and I used to see like African doctors, Indian doctors, really thick accents. I'm like, wow, these people are so I'm impressed. They came from the country they came from, they learned English as a second language, and they are still here helping people. So then that led me to another mentor, who had a lot in common with me. And he also told me, Hey, if I'm a doctor, you can be a doctor, too. And he took me, he took me under the wing, as well. And I ended up entering medical school and the rest was history.

Dr. Brad Miller: 16:21

So he helped build you up there before that, did you see becoming an MD as a realistic possibility for you? Or is that some sort of a out there a dream that seemed a little out of reach for you? Give me a sense of your mental context at that time.

Reynolds Kairus: 16:37

My context, my mental context, during that time was that it sounded like a good idea. And although I had, like the self improvement knowledge starting to seep into my brain, I looked at it like something that was far fetched. I didn't really see it as something that was obtainable, because I was a high school dropout. And every doctor that I ever saw was like Asian. Yeah. They were like, they were not from the same background as me. So it made it harder for me to imagine it. Until I met someone that had a lot in common with me. And then I wish it was further along.

Dr. Brad Miller: 17:15

Was your mentor you had who encouraged you was you from a somewhat assembler background is you was that what I'm hearing?

Reynolds Kairus: 17:21

Yeah, he was he was his name is Dr. Udolpho. Alvino, is now a pretty big deal in emergency medicine. And he had a similar background and me like, you know, born and raised in New York City, under the same circumstances, and he basically, you know, he spoke my language he got through to me, and he helped me very much.

Dr. Brad Miller: 17:44

You can sort of see yourself in a way in his success, you could least see a pathway for something beyond self. That's awesome. So I share with you a quick story, you know, you mentioned about the, the powerful impact the 911 head on the whole country, the whole world with fit to carry people there in New York City. And in 2015, the community I lived in and in a small city in Indiana was hit by a terrible tornado that killed a whole bunch of people and wiped out a bunch of it was bad, not nearly as bad as as bad in a different way as natural disaster. But anyway, my point is, I was off the team rebuilding a church and some other houses. And a group of people came in from all group of people came from all over the world. And there was a group of firefighters, and EMTs, from New York City who came to small town, Indiana to help rebuild the church there. And I got to meet them and spend some time with him. They were there. They made that part of their mission. What they said was, people came all over the world to New York City and 911 to help them and now every year they've spent their summers going around the country to help other disasters that were happening. And I was impressed by that and how that became an ongoing thing. It wasn't just a emergency cleanup at the moment became an ongoing process of, of their lives. And it's interesting how when we have drama and trauma, if we allow it to it can transform us completely and totally for the long term. Sound like that's part of what has happened to you. Reynolds said, You've been transformed. For the long term. It was just a momentary thing for you. You're a change, man. Is that right?

Reynolds Kairus: 19:24

Yes, sir. I've seen the damage. Like some of the things that cause trauma to me is, for example, alcohol, alcohol addiction, a fatherless home. I know it all too well. All too well, like alcohol literally, has ruined the lives of some of the people that are closest to me. I'm a product of a fatherless home. So whenever that trauma is that means I don't use the trauma as a reason as a reason to go cry in the corner and practice the victim mindset. I tap into emotional motivation. And it's something I highly recommend to anyone who's going through anything. That pain you're going through, that's as hard as it may sound, that's your gift, right? That's your gift to keep pushing. Because the only men who are truly respected are the ones that go through something and come out stronger on the other side. So if you're resonating with anything, I'm saying, it's because you're like, wow, this guy has been through this. He's been through that. And you haven't even mentioned the stuff I've seen on the ambulance, like the 20 years of experience I have as a healthcare provider, have not been in the safest neighborhoods. It's been in the busiest 911 system in the world, the South Bronx. So what I'm trying to say is that trauma, that trauma, if you leverage it, it could do a lot of good.

Dr. Brad Miller: 21:07

Because I'm sure you see on the other side, too, at least I'm, I'm assuming here, but you tell me where the trauma can bring people down, it can bring people it can mess you up, and put you in a place of debilitation. Whereas you chose to use it, as you said, motivational leverage to help you get through that. So let's talk about that for a second. Why don't you use this motivational leverage you have well, how does it lead you kind of what is your process then? I'm interested the process then that you then have learned in your life? And then what you teach others? What is the discipline? What are the habits? What are the things you do differently now than you did before when you were kind of stuck in a dead end lifestyle? What are some things you could do now differently or you teach others?

Reynolds Kairus: 21:55

So when we're stuck, we we feel desperation, we kind of feel claustrophobic. It's hard for us to breathe, quote unquote, right? Because we don't we don't we're looking for answers. We don't have any clarity. And in times of despair, will people look for us comfort, we look for pleasure, we try to feel good some way somehow being that we feel so bad. So a lot of times we lean towards things that break us down. We lean towards things that are not good for us. We need to what is the difference between then and now because then when I felt down when I felt depressed when I felt the adverse effects of the trauma I lived and went through, I would go smoke a cigarette. I would go use pornography, I will go use pastries and tasty foods or have an adulterous relationship. That was my scapegoat. Anger was my escape. Now now my escape goal now, or what I use as a venting mechanisms is weightlifting, I use weightlifting, I use martial arts, I use selfless acts, I use drinking more water, I fast, I just stay very, very active and leave a very small window to low window to entertain any negative self talk. Because as you guys may have heard, boredom is the devil's playground.

Dr. Brad Miller: 23:25

Well, what I'm hearing is at least three or four or five things that you do now that you may not have done differently. The things you mentioned before, were all short term kind of dopamine fixes, you know, whether it be alcohol or overeating, or the donuts or pornography, whatever. You're those are short term hits. And what you're talking about now as the things you do now is, you know, you talked about reading and mentors, you know, fill your mind with good stuff. You talk about mindset stuff, you talk about physical activity, weightlifting, your diet, fasting, and so one. Those are more long term things or more lasting effect things that that you do and you so do you feel it sounds like you've overall feel pretty. You're in a good place. Would you say that's a fair thing to say? Reynolds? You're in a good place?

Reynolds Kairus: 24:11

Yes. Yes, sir. I feel that right now. I'm living an optimal existence with optimal health. I went, I got I was divorced. I overcame the addiction. I got remarried. I just had a baby. Three weeks about a month ago now a brand new baby girl and I'm feeling on top of the world. Literally, I wake up and of course I have my everyone has their stressors and their things trying to get to them, but now I'm equipped with the tools to fend them off. So what would help me what will make someone else relapse or what used to make me relapse? on things that break me down now is like an indication. My mentor used to say it all the time. He's like, anxiety and depression is an indication for self preservation. Question. So if you're feeling down, maybe that's an indication that you should get up. Yeah. Because you got to think about if you're living, if you're living a sedentary life, or you're lethargic, it's very hard to feel energized, because you're not giving your body what it needs. And you gotta get motion.

Dr. Brad Miller: 25:17

Well, let's talk about that. Yeah, you've chosen then also to not only do this for yourself, but you feel like you've got something to share with others as I take it here. And so I run this podcast, among other reasons, what have you learned that you can share with others? And what kind of tools or processes do you offer to folks? So what are things you if someone wants to come to you for some help? What are some ways that you can help them?

Reynolds Kairus: 25:45

Well, the first thing I want to let them understand is that we're all the same. Like even in genetics class, we went ahead and realize, through the teacher and through the books that were 99.9% identical. The only difference is that were 0.01% difference in genetic variability, which will makes us an individual. So my solution is your solution, you just need to extrapolate it to your current situation. And what I mean by that is, if I eat in a calorie deficit, and I watch what I eat, that will work for you as well. If moving my body and increasing oxygenation, helps me, it will help you as well. For example, one of the pillars of disease is lack of oxygen. You need to have oxygen.

Dr. Brad Miller: 26:37

So you advocate breathing exercises, or deep breathing these types of things.

Reynolds Kairus: 26:41

Well, I not that I advocate against them. But I advocate on people under needing to understand that there's pillars to optimal health. So the mistake a lot of people make is that they lean on one thing, right. And what I mean by that is, let's say they only do deep breathing, they only do meditation, or they'll only go vegan, like for a person to reach optimal health. You need to lift weights or do some kind of resistance training. You need to watch what you eat and eat in the calorie deficit because the person who's laid off his feet will receive more information, they're enlightened. Right. And then you need to have a stoic can do positive mental attitude. When you combine those three things. And there's scientific reasons for everything I'm saying, like I could break it down and go in deeper if you like. But once you have these three things working synergistically in tandem, then they'll go ahead and extrapolate into your spiritual and financial health as well.

Dr. Brad Miller: 27:40

So you teach the integration of these various lifestyle aspects of physical health and mental health, spiritual emotional relationship, you advocate that so? So do you have any stories Reynolds of people who you've been able to be helpful to some sort of a testimony of someone you've been able to share your, your lifestyle and your teaching with outside came back to

Reynolds Kairus: 28:03

you, of course, so I have a YouTube channel for anyone who wants to dig deeper into it. There's a mentorship playlist in the YouTube channel where you will see few of the people I've worked with, they put it into their own words, how I helped them, and why I help them and all the things of the effects of the help. But one of the people that sticks out the most was when I first started working with people on this, I've I've been mentoring people for over 20 years, but it has been two years since I actually like, opened it up formally. And this young man, he had depression. Yeah, he was overweight. He was he was selling drugs. He was taking drugs. He was an alcoholic. He was lost. And he had no father figure. After just a few phone calls and daily check ins and just little tweaks here and there. He's now like single digit BIFA, which is something that's highly coveted. He's entering a sales job, he's making more money, he looks more handsome, he's sober. He doesn't. He doesn't like consume anything and he doesn't have to deal with any of the things that he was dealing with before. So his one of the people one of the people that sticks out to me the most is him because you even the picture you see it like he's all docile, and overweight. And then the second picture he just like, look at me, look at what I accomplished.

Dr. Brad Miller: 29:34

The transformation is evident both his physique and how he carries himself and so on.

Reynolds Kairus: 29:40

There's something there's something we need to really hone in on which is the mind body connection. This is not so much about aesthetics, with the mind body connection once you have them work together. This is when you really really see what living is Well, you're like feeling energized, and feeling confident, and etc.

Dr. Brad Miller: 30:04

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, how can folks learn more about you, Reynolds if they want to see your YouTube channel and so on? Or how can people find out more about you if they want to be influenced by what you are about?

Reynolds Kairus: 30:16

Oh, thank you so much. I appreciate that. Something as simple as a Google search, you could type in Reynolds Kairus. And you'll see that I'm on Instagram, I'm on YouTube, I'm basically leveraging the strongest tool known to mankind right now, which is the internet. And my handle is NYC Streets MD. So New York City, that's where I'm from streets. That's where I was. That's where I still am, because I'm still a first responder, and MD, because I'm a medical doctor. New York City streets MD.

Dr. Brad Miller: 30:51

And we'll put connections to that on our website in our show notes at Dr. Brad miller.com. Fascinating story. I love your story, Reynolds because it gives us we haven't talked about this too much. But it gives a sense of hope. Because so many people get stuck and what they sense as hopelessness, or meaning less and less, and they're searching for meaningfulness, and they need to have some hope and your story gives some hope, and a sense of sense of progress that, Hey, you did it. Others can do it too. Right. That's an awesome story. We thank you for being with us and we'll offer opportunities for people to get connected to you at our website, Dr. Brad miller.com. Our guest today on Beyond Adversity Dr. Reynolds Kairus