KJ Clark, A Celina Texas Warrior With A Servant's Heart

Ron Lyons (00:03):

Would you rather be beautiful and stupid or unattractive and brilliant? Well, I think that's what I am. <Laugh> <laugh>. Welcome to CelinaRadio.com.com. Recorded right here in Celina, Texas, a quiet, little dusty, sleepy town that has absolutely nothing going on. Guys, welcome to CelinaRadio.com.com. End of Celina, Texas, where we've got all kinds of things going on. We've got an amazing guest today, somebody that's got such a servant's heart, somebody that volunteers all the time. Somebody that fell in love with Celina Mo, just moved here and embraced it. And you're gonna love listening to our discussion. Now. His name happens to be KJ Clark.

Ron Lyons (01:05):

But before we get into that interview, I want to talk to you just a little bit about some of the stuff that's coming up right now. And when I say some of the stuff that's coming up, we find ourselves right now on the doorstep of another round of local elections. We've got two city council seats up, we've got the mayor's position up. And you know it's gonna get ugly before it gets pretty again, because everyone's already kind of jockeying for position. Everyone's already kind of, well, gosh, for months and months now, people have already been trying to win this next election. Sometimes you just don't know it unless you know what to look for. But all the photo opportunities and all of the, well, we won't get into all that stuff, but there's a lot. And so we're gonna talk a little bit about what you can expect coming up with all of this political stuff. And we're gonna get into this interview with KJ. We're gonna talk to him why he loves Celina so much. What motivated him to move here. And yes, his absolutely incredible journey through the United States Marine Corps and the Army National Guard.

Ron Lyons (02:25):

So before we get into the politics and before we get into our interview with KJ, let me just address something that keeps coming up quite a lot lately. And that is what in the heck's going on in the Celina real estate market. It was a really aggressive sellers market for a while, and then things changed, interest rates went up, everybody gets scared, and it became more of a buyer's market. And today it seems like you can't really tell if it's a seller's market or a buyer's market because you see signs of both kinds of market right now. You hear stories about homes that go on the market and sell for really, really high prices. And then you see evidence of homes that sit there. You see the sign in the yard for a long time in price reduction after price reduction. It's just an absolutely crazy market right now.

Ron Lyons (03:17):

And it literally depends more today on your particular product, your home, how well it's desired by people who are in the market and what they're willing to pay for it. The whole idea of doing comps and this is what it's really worth and this is what the market's doing. It's not slow enough for that now. You can't do it that way anymore. So it's a case by case basis. One thing that I will tell you I see a lot of people doing is after the fear of the interest rate situation, all the interest rates going up after the fear of that initial hit that we took started to subside, people have started listing their homes for sale more and more in Celina and at very high, more than normal market prices. And there's a lot of price reductions going on. There's a lot of homes that are just sitting there camping.

Ron Lyons (04:17):

Yeah, like I said, others are selling real quick. So here's my little bit of friendly advice, cuz this all sounds so super confusing and I know it does. If you wanna list right now, it's, it's still a little early. Our best time's gonna be as we push closer to spring and summer, let the days get longer, let the days get

warmer, let people get a little happier. Let us get a little bit further away from some of the interest, interest rate stuff that just happened. And people are gonna feel more confident. You'll be able to get a little more for your home. But if you do wanna list it right now, or if you do need to list it right now, my advice would be to be very conscientious of the price point at which you enter the market. You need to look around, make sure that your particular home, not just because it happens to be a, a house with a, an address on the front, therefore it's worth a ton of money.

Ron Lyons (05:11):

Look at all of the features, compare it to everything else out there. Don't worry about the comps. Look at what's out there right now. Look at what the buyers are actually seeing themselves. Price your home accordingly. Be very, very careful. Don't overprice it. The other thing that I can say is don't use a real estate agent that doesn't know this market. I see so many homes listed for sale right now with agents who literally have nothing to do with the Celina market. And we've got some amazing real estate talent right here in Celina, Texas. You don't need to use an agent who specializes in uptown in Celina. You're probably not gonna end up on the better end of the deal when it's all said and done.

Ron Lyons (06:02):

All right, let's get back into this political thing just a little bit and talk about what's coming up. So like I said, mayor seat is up and two council positions are up. And one of the things that you're gonna see, most likely see in this up and coming election is the typical thing that's kicked around so much on the message boards, which is small town versus developer, small town versus development. I'm just gonna tell you right now, don't fall for that fiction. It's what it really is, is you've got two groups of people out there. You've got one group that understands that development is coming, there's nothing we can do to stop that. All of this stuff started back before 2003 when the board of directors of the North Texas Turnpike Authority N T T A, decided that phase four of the North Dallas toy was gonna come up and cross three 80 and go all the way up through Celina to 4 28.

Ron Lyons (07:05):

When that happened many, many years ago, our fate was sealed as far as whether or not growth was coming. Our best option at this point is to manage that growth to ensure that we control it to the best of our abilities, have it developed the way we want it to as a community and to hold onto what makes us so amazing, which is our small town history and our small town feel. Now, the way it's gonna shape up is the group that is anti developer, anti-development. They're gonna make it into two groups. They're gonna polarize the city. They're gonna try and say, Hey, if you're not anti-development, you must be pro-development. You must be in the pockets of the developers and you must be selling out our great city to all of these developers. When in reality it's nothing like that. It's an effort to manage the growth.

Ron Lyons (08:07):

It's an effort to try and develop the city the way we want it to and not let developers come in and just take over with none of our ideas, none of our control features put in place so that they get to do anything they want to do. The people who work with the developers understand this. So what I'm gonna ask you to do is don't fall for the fiction that it's us versus them, the US group being the the small town. We want to keep it that way, build the wall around it and keep everyone out. That's, that's all fiction and fantasy. It's not the way it is. Listen to the candidates, look at their actions, form your own opinions, and I think you'll see through some of the nonsense when people start trying to polarize us and split

KJ Clark (08:58): Us up

Ron Lyons (08:58):

Into two different segments of this community of anti-development and pro-development. Guys, I am here right now with somebody that you may already know. In fact, you would definitely know him if you went to the recent Toys for Tots event on the Downtown Square in Celina, Texas. And sitting in front of me today, I've gotten none other than KJ Clark. KJ, how you doing today,

KJ Clark (09:27):
Man? I'm good. Glad to be here today. Ron,

Ron Lyons (09:29):
Thank you for joining us. And I, I've gotten to know you a little bit over the the past few weeks. We, we

hooked up out there shook hands, dropped off some toys, did some stuff. How was that event?

KJ Clark (09:42):

You know, this year Toys for Tides was bigger than it's ever been in Celina cuz it is the second year. So we started that last year and it was one of these ideas where Rotary just wanted to do something different that had never been done in Celina. And the club just wanted to, to do what they could during the Christmas season to help Colin County children. I was very close to the toys or tos because it was also a Marine Corps project and that's what I liked about it. So we were able to create a joint effort among the Colin County Toyer Toss Marine Corps League, the Celina Rotary Club, and the Celina American Legion

Ron Lyons (10:20):

Post. Absolutely. And it's interesting to me, you say the Marine Corps, I know you served. So give us a little bit of a background. What, what all have you done? You've been a Marine, I know that. I think you may have been in the Army. Give us the quick version of your military history.

KJ Clark (10:34):

Well, the Marine Corps was the short version of my military career cuz it, it only lasted eight years and then I spent the remainder of it in the Texas Army National Guard. I joined the Marine Corps when I was 17 years and three months. So I finished high school early just to join the Marine Corps cuz I thought it sounded fun.

Ron Lyons (10:53):
So you, so you actually joined the Marine Corps when you were 17 years old?

KJ Clark (10:58):
Yes. I grew up watching Gomer Powell and I thought he and Sergeant Carter were having so much fun.

Ron Lyons (11:04):
You just had to go get some of it yourself. I

KJ Clark (11:06):
Wanted to see what it was like.

Ron Lyons (11:08):

<Laugh>. Wow, that's amazing. What a great story. 17 years old. So looking back now at that, do you, I mean, were you old enough to do that? Like did you, were you mature enough, I guess is the right way to ask that?

KJ Clark (11:18):
Oh, absolutely not <laugh> <laugh>, but, but once I got to M MCD San Diego, it just, there's no buyer's

remorse at that point. So you That's right. Couldn't become

Ron Lyons (11:28):
Mature enough and and they will help mature you quickly,

KJ Clark (11:31):
So Yes, yes. You'll learn to conform.

Ron Lyons (11:33):
Absolutely. And how long ago was that? That's been a minute,

KJ Clark (11:38):
Right? That was June of 1993.

Ron Lyons (11:42):

June of 93. So when you decided you wanted to go into the Marine Corps, sometimes, you know, I know a lot of my friends have had these big, grandiose ideas of what they wanted to do. What, what kind of job did you want? What, what did you want your, your job to be, your function to be in the Marine Corps?

KJ Clark (11:58):

Well, going into it, of course I was first started thinking about it when I was 16 and I actually had no idea what the Marine Corps did. I walked into the office and, you know, I was kind of looking for something to do. That's what's, that's, you know, he's one of those ready, fire, aim type of scenarios.

Ron Lyons (12:17):
<Laugh> a little, a little military joke

KJ Clark (12:20):
There. Yeah, yeah. And I just asked him, I said, the, the real question was, well, you guys put me on a

plane so I can travel. And the recruiter agreed to that. And so I was in, Ron Lyons (12:33):

I ha I have a feeling just based on a lot of the stories I've heard, sometimes the recruiters will agree to just pretty much anything. They'll tell you, oh yeah, no, you're gonna get this, this, this, this, and your bootcamp's gonna be easy and all kinds of stuff. Now they didn't, they didn't mislead you

KJ Clark (12:48):

Like that? No, I didn't have, you know what, I'll be honest, I didn't have any of that and I was a quick sell. I, I grew up in a very rural part of Oklahoma and I didn't get to see much of the world, and I grew up with a lot of wonder about things I'd seen on tv and I walked in the office and that was kind of my way. I said, well, so I'll get a leave, right? And they were like, yes, you will. <Laugh>. So at the time I was like, well, that's a great deal. Yeah. Sign me up.

Ron Lyons (13:14):
And so so you walked in 17 years old sign up, probably had to have a little, a parental consent or

parental something, parental consent back then. And that career ended up lasting you how long?

KJ Clark (13:27):
Up until December of 2000, I decided it was time for me to go on and do something else. So

Ron Lyons (13:33):

You, so you see you separated from the military around December of 2000. And where has life taken you since then? Like where have you been since December of 2000? Give me the, bring me up to speed from then until now.

KJ Clark (13:48):

Well, December of 2000, I came back from the Marine Corps. My last duty station was in Sicily, Italy. And I, I repatriated to the USA and I, I had that reverse culture shock after being abroad for three years. I did, I still had trouble driving in, in the usa I was a total foreigner. I landed in Allen, Texas. So right there I got a job at the new at and t data center working in there as an inventory control manager.

Ron Lyons (14:19):
Now, now, did that go back to, were you able to do that kind of work because of training you had in the

military or what, what actually did you end up doing in the military?

KJ Clark (14:29):

Oh in the Marine Corps I worked in logistics and so that gave me the chance to learn about supply chain operations and international logistics. So I had, I had some pretty exciting duty stations. I started out at Camp la, June, North Carolina. I went to Tokyo, Japan, and next I went to Sicily, Italy.

Ron Lyons (14:48):
Wow. So you did get to actually travel?

KJ Clark (14:50):

Yes, and I took some leave when I was in Italy and went up to Pilon, Spain in March of 2000. Wow. And I gotta see something that I'd never heard of. So I thought I would try it. It's called El Correro, the running of the Bulls.

Ron Lyons (15:07): Wow.

KJ Clark (15:07): Don't do it. Yeah.

Ron Lyons (15:09):
So did you actually participate in that or did you just watch it?

KJ Clark (15:13):
Oh, I participated. Who can think You're talking to

Ron Lyons (15:16): <Laugh>

KJ Clark (15:18):
Now. Now a little vino was involved in that heat.

Ron Lyons (15:21):

Right, right, right. You needed a little bravery, you needed a little or impairment, whichever the two have you wanna call it. Right. And so you actually did that? I've seen it before on like television, but I've never, you know, obviously been there and done it. I don't, I don't even think if I was there I wouldn't do it. So tell me about that. What was that like?

KJ Clark (15:39):

Well, we went to watch it because I've been with some of the other guys I'd gone to Spain with and we were gonna watch it. That was the plan. But you gotta remember, we were young guys physically fit and, you know, a few wines talking to some bullfighters and some bars am like, guys, we got this

Ron Lyons (15:59):
Next, next thing I can, you know, you're, you're out there on the street,

KJ Clark (16:02):
<Laugh> in a white suit, <laugh> running. And I said, you know what? I can outrun any one of these

dudes. That's all that matters. I don't have to be fast, just faster than the other guy.

Ron Lyons (16:13):
Right, right. <Laugh>, that's a very, very good point. So, so you get out there and you do it. Is it, is it an

experience you would recommend to someone else?

KJ Clark (16:23):
Oh, absolutely not. <Laugh> <laugh>. I mean, how does it sound?

Ron Lyons (16:27):

No, it not, it sounds really dangerous, but, you know, and that's never really stopped me from some of the crazy things that passed. So, but so, so you end up, you do get some travel time, you get back to the United States based on what you did in the military, it helps you get a job and, and bring us fast forward from there.

KJ Clark (16:46):

So I worked at at and t Data Center in Allen. That was when I first became a Texas resident. And I immediately fell in love with Texas. It was, it's a great place and had a really good time working at at and t. And I wasn't out of the military for not even a full year when nine 11 hit. And it really sent a message to me internally. I didn't want to talk about it with people, but I was completely outta the military. I was not subject to recall. It served all my time. And so I waited it out because I didn't really know what was gonna happen. But I immediately felt a call to serve and I decided to go into the Texas Army National Guard.

Ron Lyons (17:29):
So you, because of nine 11, you basically went back in the military?

KJ Clark (17:35): Yes, I did.

Ron Lyons (17:36):
Wow. So tell me about that. What, so what'd you do? Did you end up staying stateside? Did you end up

going overseas? What, what happened from

KJ Clark (17:45):
That? Well, it's kind of like when I joined the Marine Corps, I was a easy sell <laugh>. I just asked the

recruiter, what do I gotta join to get to, to get sent over to Iraq?

Ron Lyons (17:57):
So you wanted to go to Iraq?

KJ Clark (17:59):
That's what I wanted to do. It was, I, I just felt that I felt the need to serve and that's where it was at. I

didn't care if it was Iraq or Afghanistan. The country had called.

Ron Lyons (18:11):

Wow, what a remarkable thing to do. So that's impressive. That's so impressive. So tell me about that. Did you, you actually did make it overseas then, so did you go to Afghanistan or Iraq or where, where did you go?

KJ Clark (18:25):

So the first place I went when I joined the Texas national Guard, I had to learn about how the army functions. And I got a crash course on it by showing up. They gave me a uniform and said, you're in the Army now, <laugh>. And I went in as an instrument and we trained up at Fort Hood and we got airborne and headed over there and landed in Baghdad.

Ron Lyons (18:45):
I gotcha. And straight to Iraq.

KJ Clark (18:48): Yes, we did.

Ron Lyons (18:49):

And, and tell me about that. I mean, you, you're, you're born and raised in Oklahoma and you've served some time in the military, you're in logistics now. Nine 11 happens, you're right there in Baghdad. Tell me about it. What was it like?

KJ Clark (19:06):

Well, you don't know what's gonna happen. You know, there, there's a lot of trepidation, some level of excitement. You're trying to figure out what you're gonna do, what's gonna happen. You're concerned for the people around you. And that's what keeps you go going every day. You're, you're just really concerned about people around you and doing what, whatever you're tasked to do, that's what matters. From the day, day-to-day operations, I was really nervous about it. We got there and we did what we needed to

Ron Lyons (19:36):

Do. I gotcha. I understand. So give me, gimme an idea. So you're in Baghdad, Iraq, this is gonna sound like a really off the wall question, but what's it like living wise there? If you're, if you're in the US military, you're in Baghdad, Iraq during that time period, what, what's it like, what's the food like, what's the, what's the culture like towards you? What is, what's the whole world like as an American in that situation? During that time period,

KJ Clark (20:00):

The invasion of Iraq was only about two years old at that time. So the entire infrastructure of Baghdad was, was still non-existent. It was terrible. So we landed, and I gotta be be honest, I was lucky to be in Baghdad. We were at what they call camps Laer, which was part of the victory base complex, which is near the Baghdad International Airport. So as far as conditions go, we had it better than a lot of guys, although we lived in a bombed out Republican guard barracks. Wow. So that doesn't sound very good. It didn't have plumbing, but it did have electricity.

Ron Lyons (20:39): That's important

KJ Clark (20:40):

<Laugh>. But as, as austere as that sounds, there is a lot of people who had it a lot worse. So that, so I, I felt lucky actually. So, you know, we would do disman of patrols in the city and, you know, we wanted to establish a good rapport with the people around us because, you know, we always were reminded, and this is what you keep in your mind, is that we were not there to fight a war against the people of Iraq. We were there to help the people of Iraq. These were not bad people. There was an insurgency that did not like the American presence. If you remember, during the initial invasion, everybody wanted to get

rid of Saddam cuz he was a bad guy. But the disagreement came when the coalition forces tried to help build a government.

Ron Lyons (21:30):
So you end up in country, so to speak. How long did you end up spending overseas?

KJ Clark (21:36):
So that tour with 36 Infantry division lasted a year.

Ron Lyons (21:40):
And then you, did you, did you exit the military after that was over? Did you stay in for some time after

that?

KJ Clark (21:46):

That's an interesting question because when I had joined the Texas National Guard, I walked in and I signed up on a one year enlistment. And all I wanted to do was serve my time in league. When I came home, I really, I really liked the organization and I was so proud as a Texan to be a member of it. So I decided to stay in, I became an officer.

Ron Lyons (22:09):

Wow. Believe that. So, so for people that don't understand, you've got non-commissioned and then commissioned people. So kind of break that down for me real quick for people who are listening and they don't quite understand when you say I became an officer, tell us what that means.

KJ Clark (22:22):

Well, the short way they explain is you're enlisted folks. Those are basically your occupational workers and your officers are your management employees. That's, you know, the quickest way to say it. And I chose to take the, the management route.

Ron Lyons (22:35):
So, so what, at what rank in your particular organization with the Texas National Guard, what would that

be? Like a second lieutenant or, or how

KJ Clark (22:43):

Would that work? Yeah, so once I, once I completed Officer Canada's school, I was commissioned as a second lieutenant. And anybody who's in the military knows that a second lieutenant is, that is a management trainee, let's be honest

Ron Lyons (22:56):

Here. <Laugh> <laugh>. But it is the entry level it is of a commission to officer. And, and so you stayed in for some time after that then I assume, because you, you worked hard to get to that particular point? Or did you say, hey, okay, now I'm an officer about

KJ Clark (23:11):

Oh no, I always, I always tell young lieutenants, they think because they've gotten through their commissioning and through college and everything, and then they arrive at their first assignment, there's this idea that, oh, I've arrived. And the the truth about that is no, now the work begins, the first thing a smart lieutenant will do is go talk to his platoon sergeant and learn. Wow. So, yes, so for myself, I was a maintenance officer and as an enlisted soldier and Marine, I did not work in maintenance. I did not know anything about maintenance. So I went to that warrant officer and he taught me what I needed to know.

Ron Lyons (23:47):

That's very, very impressive. I that it's, it's, it's amazing. But if you, if you have a really good balanced, and I, I'm, I'm just gonna say educated approach. If you've been in any sort of hierarchy before, you understand that you can learn so much from the people that are maybe not ranked as high as you, that are actually out doing the job.

KJ Clark (24:07):

Oh, yes. Especially. And, and when you're talking to a warrant officer, that is a person who is deemed a subject matter expert. So, wow. I always leaned on those folks really hard because they literally are experts.

Ron Lyons (24:20):
So, so fast forward now and you're in Celina, Texas. How in the world did you find your way to Celina,

Texas?

KJ Clark (24:30):
You know, oddly enough, I was only a couple of miles from Celina, Texas for many years, but I never

came up here <laugh>.

Ron Lyons (24:37): So you were

KJ Clark (24:38): Frisco.

Ron Lyons (24:39):
Okay. Frisco, yeah. A lot of people came up, myself included from Frisco or have been back and forth

quite a bit. So, so you were in Frisco and then what in the world made you move to Celina?

KJ Clark (24:50):

Well, in in 2019 I was on active duty at Camp Mabry with the Texas National Guards, and I was an acquisitions officer and my wife and I decided that we wanted to move to Austin and we sold our home in 2018. We moved into an apartment in Aubrey, cuz we had one, one of our children still had to graduate high school. So during that time we thought we would get to know Austin and, and look for a home and so forth. And we decided that we just didn't wanna move to Austin. We loved going to concerts, but we just didn't want to buy a house there.

Ron Lyons (25:22):
So you, you liked part of the lifestyle of Austin, but you didn't like Austin maybe? Is that

KJ Clark (25:27):
It just didn't work out, you know, it, it just

Ron Lyons (25:29): Didn't work out.

KJ Clark (25:29):

Yeah, it just didn't work out. We we really love the concerts, the parks. It's, it's a beautiful city. Right. It was just a lot of fun. Sure. So then here, here we are now living in an apartment. So I told my wife, I said, well, let's go find where, where do we want to go now? So we, we drove down 2 99 and we saw Celina, we've driven through it plenty of times. Gone on 4 55, drove through downtown, and we saw the square and I said, this is

Ron Lyons (25:59): Gorgeous.

KJ Clark (26:00):
This is where we're gonna

Ron Lyons (26:01):

Live. So you fell in love with Celina because it's just, it's just kind of overtook you like that and you're like, this is gorgeous, this is great. I love this. And, and what'd you think about the Square when you first pulled up there and saw all that? Did you, did you that, because to me that's kind of one of the center stones of Celina. It's like when it's like the centerpiece, it's like, it's, it's, the city is built out around that, obviously from it's inception until now. But the current city government has done such a fantastic job of continuing to make that such a focal point. But what did you think about it when you first saw it?

KJ Clark (26:36):
I would say love at first sight.

Ron Lyons (26:38):
Wow. That's awesome. I love that. And your wife, what did she think about it?

KJ Clark (26:42):

Oh, she was in love with it too. And we both agreed this is where we wanna live. So I told her, you can find wherever you wanna live, but it must be Slim <laugh> <laugh>. So that was the, that was literally the, the, the end of my, the perimeters I'd

Ron Lyons (26:57):

Given her. That was your only requirement. I'll, wherever you wanna live, you choose everything, but let's make it in Celina, Texas. And that's awesome. And I think that the city of Celina is better off because

you're here, you've got quite the history of being a volunteer here. I know you're very actively involved with the Rotary Club and you've, you've done a lot of other things. But let's talk about the Rotary Club. So for people who don't know, sometimes Rotary's a little bit of a mystery. What tell us about Rotary Club?

KJ Clark (27:27):

Well, the Rotary Club is an international charity organization. That's just the quickest way to explain it. And I've known, I knew about Rotary and I had an uncle who was a Rotarian and I never known never, but I never knew very much about it. And after I moved to Celina, I met a couple of friends here in town and they're Rotarians and they, they invited me to join them at their meetings. And when Ice Hall exactly what they do for the community, I knew that's what I wanted to be a part of.

Ron Lyons (27:58):

So you end up showing up for some meetings. Obviously you've made some great friends there. I know that, you know, some of the same people that I know. Really, really amazing people involved in Rotary. And, and what are some of the different things that Rotary does around Celina? I know they've got the flag thing, I know they do the Toys for Tots, so, so tell me about some of those things.

KJ Clark (28:17):

So the Rotary, you know, we always, you know, our main focus within Celina is we want to do anything that's going to support the community without duplicating efforts or even competing with other efforts. So we had to be very cognizant of that. And I was very interested in serving and I was immediately appointed to be the community service officer in 2021. So, you know, I had a task ahead of me. And the first thing that we decided to do going into December of 21 was the toys for TOS Drive.

Ron Lyons (28:49):

And tell me, tell me all about that. So I, I've, I've, I've attended it twice now, so last year and this year mm-hmm. <Affirmative> and it's, it's a, for me, it's a great thing to do with my family because I, I have a 10 year old, she loves to go to the store and let's just load up on toys and know that they're going for, you know, a good cause They're going for a great purpose. And it's a good experience for her. It's a great experience for us. Do you have any idea what, what kind of impact has that had so far?

KJ Clark (29:18):

You know, whenever we, whenever we take up collections for Collin County, toys are taught, we always remind people that you are literally giving to Colin County. Every donation that you give to us stays in Colin County and it will go to a Colin County child. Nice. And that, that aligns with Rotaries intent, which is to serve their community. And personally, the reason, reason toys are taughts, I mean, there's, there's several reasons. Toys are Tots is close to my heart. I can tell you I served in the Marine Corps and, you know, of course the toys are taught is a function of the Marine Corps Reserve. But my children have been recipients of toys. Were Tots toys before. Wow. You know, there, there was a time when I didn't make much money and, and we actually got gifts from a church that got them from Toys for Tides. I

Ron Lyons (30:09):

Absolutely love that. That's amazing. What a great story. So now you kind of come full circle with this, and you're out there brave in the cold out there with the Marines out there with the American Legion as well. Yep. Rotary Club and collecting toys, and it's such a great event. I I, this year the mayor was out

there. There was there was hot chocolate. It was just a fantastic event. So would you say this year was a success?

KJ Clark (30:37):

Oh, this year was very successful. We collect more toys than we did the previous year, and above all the community involvement. In 2021, it was the first time we ever, we ever did an event. We didn't even know we were doing <laugh>. We were just hoping to get a few toys and we were up, you

Ron Lyons (30:56):
Know, let's go stand on the square and see if anybody shows up. Yeah, they did. But they did. They

KJ Clark (31:00):

They did. They did. And last year in 2021, we had filled up a small U-Haul truck and that exceeded anything we thought we could do. So we knew that moving forward we could make this event vi bigger and we could do more to support Colin County children. And this year, the community involvement just, I was overwhelmed with all the people from the community came out and gave their support.

Ron Lyons (31:26):

I love that. And it's fantastic. And, and one of the things that we like to do is we like to get to know the person who's on CelinaRadio.com.com just a little bit better. So I'm gonna ask you some questions about Celina and what you like and don't like and things like that. So one of the most important questions I can ask you is tell me one of your favorite restaurants and so on. And I think they're all good. We we'll agree that they're all good, but what's one of your favorites?

KJ Clark (31:53):
Well, I will say this, I can attest that I've never had a bad meal in Celina, so, right. Kudos to everybody.

Right. For me, loosies.

Ron Lyons (32:03):

Loosies is it, huh? That's, that's, so that might be kind of the go-to place. And give me an idea. If I walk in on any given day, AJ Clark is sitting there, I walk up, I shake your hands, I'll look on the table. What are you eating?

KJ Clark (32:15):
Punk? Carter Meatloaf. <Laugh>. <Laugh>

Ron Lyons (32:17):

Punk Carter. It happens to be one of my favorites. It's really, really good. And Punk Carter himself is such an icon in the area. Yes. Yes. So, so what are your, I think you get two sides with that. What are your two sides gonna be?

KJ Clark (32:29):
Mashed potatoes and green beans.

Ron Lyons (32:31):

<Laugh>, you're such a, you're such a Texas boy now. I love it. It's awesome. Oh yeah. Okay. What are you gonna be drinking with that

KJ Clark (32:38):
Lone star beard? <Laugh>.

Ron Lyons (32:41):
Okay. Yeah. You're, you're fully in. Yes. You're, you're, yeah. Certified tech. So you, you might as well go

ahead and get you a Texas tattoo now.

KJ Clark (32:47):
It's, I know. It's not my get it.

Ron Lyons (32:49):
Yeah. That's awesome. So I, so that's fantastic. What what kind of music do you like listening to?

KJ Clark (32:55):
You know I get, I, I will say some people poke a little fun at me. If you, if you sit, sit in with me, I've

always got my serious turn to Willie's Roadhouse.

Ron Lyons (33:04):

Willie's Roadhouse. I love it. Love it. Personal favorite of mine as well. Yeah. So, so basically we're, we're, we're two for two here. Punks Meatloaf and Willie's Roadhouse. We're, we're, we're batting a hundred here. I might be able to hang out with you. Yeah, baby. So give me an idea. So you, you like that kind of, that's, that's a little bit of the, that's, that's kind of nostalgic country. That's a little, you know, it's, it's a little older sometimes.

KJ Clark (33:27):
Some, some people call it old man country,

Ron Lyons (33:29):
<Laugh>, old man country. I'll take that.

KJ Clark (33:31):
I like that. But I love it.

Ron Lyons (33:33):

That's right. That's awesome. So do you guys, you and your wife, your family what, what kind of things do you guys like to do for fun? Do you do movies? Do you like to go to some of the places, like with Wooden Penguin here? Do you, what do you do for fun?

KJ Clark (33:46):

Well, my wife and I do like to go see a lot of music venues. We've, when we were in Austin, we used to go to the Broken Spoke all the time. Wow. Now, you know, if you know that, that's a famous country

music venue. Sure. Absolutely. So we also like to go over to the Stockyards. They've got reds, little Longhorns loon over there. Right. They play a lot of the old man country.

Ron Lyons (34:06):
<Laugh>, the old man country. That's what I'm gonna start calling.

KJ Clark (34:09):
That's what it is. But yeah, we like to go watch rodeos. So, you know, we like to go watch rodeos and if

we, if we can catch the fights up in Oklahoma City. I'm a huge boxing fan. Love to

Ron Lyons (34:23):

Watch Box City. Okay. Well, and you know what, in doing my research, I always do a little research on everybody before I bring 'em on the show. I did see a picture of you in the boxing ring. Tell me about that.

KJ Clark (34:34):

<Laugh>. Well, I ca I came to boxing way older than I should have. I was, I was at the age where most fighters are retiring when I first laced up the gloves. Wow. So I was 33 years old. I, as a young man, I'd been an athlete and I was, but I was a power lifter. And at 33, 1 day I just got bored with it. I was in the, in the gym crushing some weights, and I saw a heavy bag over in the corner and I thought, you know, I'm, I'm pretty strong. I bet I could really fight. And then I went hit the bag for a couple minutes. <Laugh>. Well, it didn't last a couple minutes. Yeah.

Ron Lyons (35:09):
It, it might have made it one

KJ Clark (35:10):

Minute. Yeah, I might, I I was exhausted and all the, I was like, okay, I'm gonna do this. So I'd always been a fight fan. And from there I started training. And for me it was just a hobby. And, you know, it, it's, again, it, it goes into something like God's plan where it was something I wanted to do. So I got a, I got a chance to try it. I know I trained off and on for years. I would go to different, different gyms and sparring, and I got good enough so I could walk into any gym and really do well in the ring with, with regular guys. So I stepped up my game a little bit when I was stationed with the Texas National Guard and the rgv. I started training at a boxing gym down there, and I got to become a professional sparring partner with the guy that fought for the world title.

Ron Lyons (35:56): Wow. That's impressive.

KJ Clark (35:58):

Impressive. It was. It was, it was, yeah. It's really cool because you feel like you feel like you get to be a part of everything he's doing, you know? Right on. And for me, that, that's the closest I'd ever get to any big time boxing. Unfortunately I wasn't really good enough to be a pro. I was, I was better than most. But, you know, I really respect the dedication and time that it takes to be a professional fighter. And I just did not have that kind of time

Ron Lyons (36:24):

To live. Well, I mean, and you have to say stepping into something like that in your thirties, that's, you know, that's, that's rough. That's tough. That's not, that's not exactly an easy feat. That's a, that's a challenge.

KJ Clark (36:35):
Oh, yes. When I, when I started training, I was, I don't think any of my sparring partners were my eight.

Were near my

Ron Lyons (36:43):
Eight. You're in there with like 20 something year

KJ Clark (36:45):

Old guys, 21, 22. Exactly. And I'm 35, 36. Yep. Exactly. But that's what, that's what you're gonna experience. And, you know, boxing really helped me better, developed better to better develop my dedication whenever I choose to do something. Right on. And that's really what I took from it. And even if I never, I wasn't the best fighter out there. I had a lot of fun. And most important was the relationships that I made. I made a lot of lifelong friends through that journey.

Ron Lyons (37:16):

I think that's fantastic. I, I personally kind of took a, a parallel route, but all with martial arts mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, and I understand kind of some of the connections, the camaraderie, that sort of thing. I didn't do military, I did law enforcement. So our life's parallel in many, many ways. So I can relate to so much of what you're talking about. So fast forward to today, you're in Celina, Texas, and what do you do now? Like, what is, what do you do for a living? What is your job now? What do you do?

KJ Clark (37:45):
Well, I eventually retired from the Texas National Guard, and now I have a small IT business.

Ron Lyons (37:51):
Okay. Small IT business. Help me understand what what, what would an IT business? What would an IT

business do? Just <laugh>. I was does

KJ Clark (38:01):
It sound like Yeah,

Ron Lyons (38:02):

Yeah, it sounds like, it sounds like it work, but I mean, more specifically, are there, is, is there something you specialize in or is there something that that you're kind of known for? I just don't, I, unfortunately, I always see it and I run the other direction because it's just, it requires too much brain stuff. So here's where we're gonna part ways a hundred percent. Okay. <Laugh>, this is not my thing. If you love math, I'm out. If you love doing things like it, I just can't get there. So, so talk to

KJ Clark (38:30):

Me. Well, I'm, I'm going to, I'm gonna relate this back to God's plan. Okay. Because I'm like you, I didn't think any, I don't think any of that's fun. <Laugh>, right. I accidentally got into it. So in,

Ron Lyons (38:44):
You accidentally got into it

KJ Clark (38:45): Completely on

Ron Lyons (38:47):
Accidents. Wow. I've gotta hear this story.

KJ Clark (38:48):

So in college, in 2000 I was a business major and I thought I, I thought I needed to take c plus plus because it was a business course. Okay. So I signed up and enrolled, and I wondered why on day one it was in the computer lab. I showed up and I found out this was a programming class, <laugh>. Okay.

Ron Lyons (39:09):
So not a business class at all?

KJ Clark (39:11):
No, no, no. Far Cry <laugh>.

Ron Lyons (39:14): Okay.

KJ Clark (39:15):

So once I was in it, I couldn't dis-enroll her, I would've got an F. Right. So I had to do it. So I'm sitting in here learning to write code, and it just kind of grew from there. I realized, Hey, you can do some really cool things with this stuff. So I went, I went from c plus plus I learned how to write Java sql, and got into databases. So it was something that was really outside of anything anybody knows me would think that I ever did. But I literally fell into it on accident. And I con I continued as a side hustle for many years, building websites and working in, doing small IT projects. But about 2010 or so, I realized I did not want to be a techie moving forward. So, but I knew I knew the business, so I decided I would no longer keep up with that, but I would eventually move over and have a full-time tech business.

Ron Lyons (40:15):
Okay. So explain to me, how does that manifest itself? Or how, how did that actually play out for you?

KJ Clark (40:20):
Well, I finally decided when it was time to leave the military, I realized, oh my gosh, did you ever see a

major pain? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, he says, sure, I gotta get a job. <Laugh>, Ron Lyons (40:30):

That was you,

KJ Clark (40:32):

<Laugh>. Exactly. So I, I figured I would take what I could do and start small. SA was able to hire a couple of people doing some, working on some legacy systems for some companies, and we grew it from there. And it's been, it's been quite a journey. We're up to eight employees now, so.

Ron Lyons (40:49):
Well, congratulations. That's awesome. I

KJ Clark (40:51): Hope that

Ron Lyons (40:51):
Is a success story. I like

KJ Clark (40:52):
That. Hey, you know, we, we've stayed in the black every year, so as long as we can do that I think we're

doing

Ron Lyons (40:58):

Pretty good. Sounds good. And, and you keep saying God's plan. So, and, and that always intrigues me. I I really, really love the fact that you attribute much of your success in your journey to God having a plan for your life. Am I, am I, am I characterizing that properly? Is that how you feel about that?

KJ Clark (41:15):

Oh, I definitely feel that weight. I've, you know, throughout my life, I've done some, I've been in some situations where I probably shouldn't have made it starting with the running of the Bulls. <Laugh>. Yeah. <Laugh>. But going on to

Ron Lyons (41:29):
Iraq, God's god's, like, didn't we give this guy a brain, didn't we? Like why is he down, down there

running with those bulls? Didn't he know that? That's not a good idea.

KJ Clark (41:36):
No, no, no. Nobody should do that. You would think, yeah, you would think I was a little smarter than

that,

Ron Lyons (41:41):
But it was a long time ago.

KJ Clark (41:43):

Yeah. Yeah. They, they didn't teach that in college. Right. but, you know, I've been through situations in Iraq, Afghanistan where other people weren't lucky, and whatever it was, I feel like I was blessed. And

that's why, you know, I, I'm a man of faith. I fall back on that all the time and I know that whatever happens, there's a reason for

Ron Lyons (42:05):

It. Absolutely. I love that. So, so we're gonna, we we've covered a lot of, lot of things and you're, you're very, very prevalent in Celina. We see you on the square sometimes. We're gonna see you at events. And I, I know you've got that heart of a volunteer and you love to serve. Obviously you have lived quite the life of service. You served for so many years, you served country, now you're serving your community of Celina. And I, it's clear to me you love Celina. I don't see you going anywhere. You're gonna be doing this for a long time, but we don't, we don't just kind of cover those things on this show. Okay. We actually have a little fun as well. So you have no earthly idea what questions that I've got for you? No idea. But one of the, that you've gotta, I have no idea. I noticed you're backing away from the microphone just a little.

KJ Clark (42:53): Maybe I

Ron Lyons (42:54):

Should exit <laugh>. You're like my alarm just went off and I've gotta leave. But one of the things that we like to do is play the adult version of would you Rather, and if I had told you the questions in advance, you'd be able to prepare for 'em. That's why you didn't get the questions in advance. So I'm just, I'm gonna hop straight into this. You just answer with whatever, whatever comes to your mind, and we'll just

KJ Clark (43:20):
Kinda, you can edit this, right? <Laugh>,

Ron Lyons (43:23):
I can definitely edit this, but I have a feeling I'm not gonna have to, so would, would you rather be 11

feet tall or nine inches tall? The look on your face? <Laugh>.

KJ Clark (43:37):
Well, it's such a contrast.

Ron Lyons (43:38): <Laugh>, it, it is a contrast.

KJ Clark (43:41): <Laugh> 11 feet.

Ron Lyons (43:43):
And why not nine inches tall? <Laugh>.

KJ Clark (43:45):

Well, maybe I would've been a better boxer if I was a little taller.

Ron Lyons (43:48):

Well, there you go. 11 feet tall. I don't think you'd draw too many opponents that quit before you ever got in the ring with them. So yeah. How do you think the running the Bulls would've been if you were 11 feet tall?

KJ Clark (43:58):
Well, I would've ran even faster. I may, I may even tried to be like one of them rodeo clowns and step

over a raging bull.

Ron Lyons (44:04): You could probably

KJ Clark (44:05):
Do it there. There's guys who do that, and I don't know what they do. So, you know, whenever the, the

bar of insane, you know, it's much higher than than <laugh>. I'm willing to go.

Ron Lyons (44:15):

Right, right, right. A hundred percent. I'm with you on that. Would you, and I already know the answer to this one. I don't even have to ask. I've been around you enough to know this. Would you rather always be 10 minutes late or 20 minutes early,

KJ Clark (44:29): Two hours early?

Ron Lyons (44:31):

You are the epitome of a military man. That's right. And it just drives me insane. Literally. I'm always running behind and you're always early. So when I'm looking at my clock and I'm like, well, five minutes till he's probably been there for 15 minutes already. That's just the way it is. Right?

KJ Clark (44:48):
I'm what you would refer to as obnoxiously early

Ron Lyons (44:52):
<Laugh>. You, yeah. Okay. <Laugh>. Would you rather oversleep every day for a week or not get any

sleep for three days?

KJ Clark (45:02):
I could say not get any sleep for three days because I've done it.

Ron Lyons (45:06):

You've been there. You know what that's like and you can already handle it. Would you be, would you rather get trapped in the middle of a food fight or a water balloon? War

KJ Clark (45:18):
Water balloon, war <laugh>, <laugh>. I've never really been on either one, but I just, the food fight just

sounds so messy.

Ron Lyons (45:26):
Well, yeah, no, that makes sense. So would you rather <laugh>, would you rather have an extra finger or

an extra toe?

KJ Clark (45:35):
Well, an extra finger that would come in useful somehow. I, I don't, a lot of ways, I

Ron Lyons (45:40):
Guess. So you're 11 feet tall, you're at the running of the bulls and you've got 11 fingers. <Laugh>.

KJ Clark (45:45):
I don't know what the finger would do in that situation, but it couldn't hurt.

Ron Lyons (45:48):
I think I could find you on the internet like years after that happened. So would you rather be in history

books for something terrible or be forgotten completely after you die

KJ Clark (46:00): Forgotten? Completely.

Ron Lyons (46:02): Wow. I like it. No

KJ Clark (46:03): Doubt.

Ron Lyons (46:04):
I like it. <Laugh>, would you rather be like me and have a mullet for a year?

KJ Clark (46:08): The mullet <laugh>

Ron Lyons (46:11):
You're saying, saying that because I'm sitting here right now with

KJ Clark (46:14):

One <laugh>, but you know, even as an eighties kid, I never had a mullet. And that's one of my progress from my childhood.

Ron Lyons (46:19):
<Laugh>. That's so awesome. Well, you could still do one. They're actually back in style ever since

country music coming took a little shift here just a little while back. And they're apparently trending

KJ Clark (46:32):
Again. Well, people started looking at building Ray Cyrus and decided to, you know, bring it, what, what

did they say? Business in the front party in the back.

Ron Lyons (46:40):
<Laugh>. That's awesome. Would you rather stay the age you are now or stay in your physical condition

that you are now for the rest of your life?

KJ Clark (46:54):
Well, my physical condition is questionable

Ron Lyons (46:58):
<Laugh>. So you'd rather stay this age?

KJ Clark (47:01):
We, yeah, the age. I mean, we've already talked about everything I've done. So you can imagine my

physical condition. Yeah.

Ron Lyons (47:07):
<Laugh>, would you rather give up your cell phone for a month or being able to bathe for a month?

KJ Clark (47:15):
I would have to give up bathing

Ron Lyons (47:17):
<Laugh> <laugh> and that. But you've got your cell phone. You don't need to be

KJ Clark (47:21):
Around anybody. I mean, I can, it's, it's good. Yeah. I can still read jokes on Facebook.

Ron Lyons (47:25):
<Laugh>. That's right. Would you rather be beautiful and stupid or unattractive and brilliant?

KJ Clark (47:32):
Well, I think that's what I am. <Laugh> <laugh>. So God didn't gimme that choice.

Ron Lyons (47:37):
<Laugh> <laugh>. You're living the life right now.

KJ Clark (47:40): I already

Ron Lyons (47:41):
Money there. Oh, that's amazing. Okay, last question. Would you rather fight one horse sized duck

<laugh> or a hundred duck sized horses? <Laugh>.

KJ Clark (47:56):
Wow, that's hard to think about.

Ron Lyons (47:57):
This is a guy who did the running of the Bulls now. Kind of like a professional.

KJ Clark (48:01):
Yeah, the the hundred. Yeah, the a hundred duck sized horses

Ron Lyons (48:05):
<Laugh>. Is that what you do? You'd fight, you'd fight off a a hundred of them. I

KJ Clark (48:08):
Figure I could step on him or something like

Ron Lyons (48:10):
That. Especially if you're 11 feet tall and you have 11 fingers. Yeah,

KJ Clark (48:14):
I'd find a way to get over 'em. But yeah, the big old duck though, he might bite me or something.

<Laugh> swollen me. Ups awesome. Like a Pinocchio situation when you're inside him. That's

Ron Lyons (48:23):

Right. I love it. All right, so I have to ask him sitting here right now, and I am looking, you've got this really beautiful Oh yeah. Big, thick, chunky what is that, like turquoise and silver bracelet on? Tell me about that.

KJ Clark (48:37):

Well, I actually got this about a year ago from a Navajo jeweler in Houston at the International Boaty Convention. And when I saw this piece, I had to have it. I had been actually looking for a piece of native jewelry for about the last two and a half years, and I passed on a lot of pieces because I wanted something that I felt was very true and representative of native culture. I, I did not wanna just buy something that I saw off the shelf. This was actually made by that Navajo jeweler, and that's why I thought it, it was something I wanted to have and wear all the time.

Ron Lyons (49:14):
So what motivated you to look for a piece of like Native American jewelry like that?

KJ Clark (49:20):
Well, for several years I was looking for something that I could wear daily that would truly represent my

native culture.

Ron Lyons (49:28):
Okay. So you've got some Native American culture. Tell me what, that's very interesting. Tell me about

that.

KJ Clark (49:33):
Yes. I'm originally from Oklahoma and my family are all members of the Cherokee Nation.

Ron Lyons (49:39):

Give me just a little bit of an idea. So what does it mean to be a member of the Cherokee Nation? Like for someone who doesn't fully understand what that involves, give me a little bit of a, an understanding of the concept of being a member of the, would you say the Cherokee Nation?

KJ Clark (49:55):

Yes. Well, my family has a very proud history going all the way back to the Trail of Tears. They originated from a town called Cochrane, Georgia. So my great-grandmother that was her family's surname was Cochrane. They came over, or not, not not my great grandparents, but my great-great-great grandparents came, came from Cochrane, Georgia to Oklahoma Indian territory on the Trail of Tears.

Ron Lyons (50:19):

Wow, what a story. Yeah, what a story. So, so now in order to honor that heritage, that that, that lineage, if you will, you wear this and you conduct your life in some ways related to native American lifestyle. What, how does this influence and affect your life today?

KJ Clark (50:40):

Well, I think it's very important to preserve native culture because there's so many distractions with us in our world, and how actually nowadays all of our cultures have melded. But I still think there, there's still a, a need to preserve that and keep an individual. So, you know, my wife and my son and I, we all, we attend Indian powwows as often as we can, and I love to learn more about the Cherokee people in particular. One of the interesting facts is that the Cherokees were the first of the five civilized tribes to have a written alphabet.

Ron Lyons (51:12): Wow. Very

KJ Clark (51:13):

Interesting. So, yeah, that, that's just one of the little facts right there. But they're just such a rich col, you know, history of the culture that I think it's important know only to preserve it, but to share it with new generations. All

Ron Lyons (51:24):

Right, KJ, thank you so very much, sir, for being on the show. Let me ask you this, would you be willing to come back on the show down the road and let's touch bases again and let's, let's see how the world is at that point. Would you come back on?

KJ Clark (51:36): Yeah, it'd be good.

Ron Lyons (51:37): Yeah, it wasn't terrible,

KJ Clark (51:37):
Was it? No, no. You got ask me some really interesting questions. I mean, the, the whole 11 finger thing,

I, I didn't tick coming. See

Ron Lyons (51:44):
That's coming back. I did see half this stuff coming in. That's the beauty of solana radio.com. So guys,

that is KJ Clark.

Ron Lyons (52:02):

So what did you think about KJ Clark? In my opinion, a guy who starts his life of service at 17 and gives very selflessly of himself, commits himself to the Marine Corps, commits himself to the Army, national Guard, goes overseas, does things that most of us would never do, comes back, and then gets involved in the most amazing city on the face of the earth. Celina, Texas as again, a servant, a volunteer, somebody who gets out there and makes a difference. I'll tell you what, I'm impressed by him from the word go. And the fact that he has such a strong heritage with the Cherokee nation and his pride in, in the value he sees in continuing to share the history and the heritage of the Indian and tribal culture with all of society now just speaks volumes for him. So guys, I'm very, very impressed with him. I hope you enjoyed that conversation. I hope you enjoyed this show. We've got a lot of fantastic people coming on this show, and it's just gonna be a great time to be in Celina. We, like I said, we've got this little rough patch we're about to go through with the politics, and it's gonna, you know, be one of those deals. It's typical, it's small town stuff. We're in a state of growth.

Ron Lyons (53:42):

It's gonna be tough for a second, but you know what we're gonna make it to the other side, and we're gonna be better off for it on that other side. We're gonna elect the proper leaders. We're gonna grow the city the right way, and we're all going to benefit from that. So after I sign off here in just a second, I'm gonna play a song from Greece. I don't mean the musical movie with John Travolta and Olivia Newton John, I mean a literal song from Greece. Turn it up. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do, and guys, until the next show, stay safe and God bless.