Howard "Quiggly" Chang from Teen Age Mutant Ninja Turtles to Designing Bible Focused Toys/ Back Channel with Foth
On this episode of the podcast we connect with Howard Chang, an accomplished toy designer and creator of the "Ancient" line, whose journey illustrates the profound intersection of faith, creativity, and purpose. As we delve into these discussions, we aim to inspire our listeners to reflect on their own leadership styles and the narratives they wish to convey within their communities. Dick Foth joins for Back Channel with Foth and discusses Clarity and certainty and how they represent two distinct yet intertwined concepts that significantly impact leadership and communication, a theme thoroughly examined in this podcast episode. . Through various illustrative examples and biblical references, we explore how leaders must embody both clarity and certainty to effectively guide their followers. Additionally,
Takeaways:
- The podcast episode features a dialogue on the distinction between clarity and certainty, emphasizing that clarity involves simplifying complex ideas for better understanding.
- Dick Foth articulates that certainty relates to firm convictions, whereas clarity seeks to elucidate these convictions for others.
- Howard Chang discusses his journey from a toy artist to a creator of faith-based figurines, illustrating how personal experiences shaped his current mission.
- The conversation touches on the importance of providing both clarity and certainty as leaders, suggesting that leaders must communicate effectively to guide their teams.
- Listeners are encouraged to support Howard Chang's new project, 'Ancientz', which aims to engage children with biblical stories through innovative toy designs.
- The episode concludes with a prayer for the success of the 'Ancient' project, reflecting a commitment to spreading faith-based narratives in a contemporary context.
Transcript
Greetings and welcome back to the Clarity podcast.
Speaker A:So excited to be here with our friend of the podcast, Dick Foth, on another session of Back Channel with Foeth.
Speaker A:And then we're going to jump into our interview with Howard Chang.
Speaker A:Dick, welcome back to the podcast.
Speaker B:My joy.
Speaker B:Good to be here, Dick.
Speaker A:Since the last time we recorded, we had an opportunity to hang out in Springfield, Missouri, the grand metropolis.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker A:And it was fun being together.
Speaker A:And it was great.
Speaker A:It was great.
Speaker A:So, Dick, I got a few questions for you today.
Speaker A:The first one I got for you is in your mind.
Speaker A:What is the difference between clarity and certainty?
Speaker B:You know, when I saw that question, because you send these to me.
Speaker D:I.
Speaker B:Thought, man, that's a good.
Speaker B:That's a good question.
Speaker B:I'm going to start with certainty, okay?
Speaker B:And these are just definitions anybody could get by looking at a dictionary.
Speaker B:But certainty by definition is the firm conviction that something is the case.
Speaker B:I'm sure about it.
Speaker B:For example, using Jesus words as an example, when he says, I am the resurrection and the life, that's point certain, right?
Speaker B:Or Paul himself saying, I know whom I believed, and I'm persuaded that he is able to keep that which I've committed to him against that day.
Speaker B:That's called certainty.
Speaker B:That, that's like light or gravity or water.
Speaker B:Water for sure, is not H240.
Speaker B:I mean, as a science guy, you know all this stuff, right?
Speaker B:So that certainty, clarity has to do with bringing coherence to what you say is certain, or making something more simple or plain, or to make it easier to understand, often by providing more detail or explanation or taking away ambiguity.
Speaker B:Okay, so you have certainty.
Speaker B:This is who I am or what I believe.
Speaker B:And let me.
Speaker B:You know this, this phrase.
Speaker B:Sometimes you're going back and forth in a conversation and somebody says, okay, let me be clear.
Speaker B:Right?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so I, I would, I would see this, for example, by use of questions.
Speaker B:Okay, here's.
Speaker B:Here's a clarifying question from Jesus.
Speaker B:What shall it profit a person?
Speaker B:He gains the whole world and loses his soul.
Speaker B:He says, I'm here.
Speaker B:I'm here to show you what the kingdom of my Father looks like.
Speaker B:And it's bigger than what you can touch or feel or see, right?
Speaker B:That's a clarifying question.
Speaker B:Or Paul in Romans, the second chapter fourth, where he's talking to the Romans because they're messing around, doing something, whatever, and he says, do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that it's God kindness that is intended to lead you to repentance.
Speaker B:Let me be clear.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:This is not just a judgmental God.
Speaker B:You can be judged, but he doesn't want to do that, or he has judged you and said, I'll make up the difference.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:So one of my favorite quotes, and I shared it on this, on this time before, had a dean when I was president of small college that was a Ph.D. in business management.
Speaker B:And one day he said, dick, a business letter should not be written so it can be understood.
Speaker B:And I said, what?
Speaker B:He said, no, it should be written so it cannot possibly be misunderstood.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker B:That's called clarity.
Speaker B:That's nobody.
Speaker B:As Ted Koppel, I think the ABC broadcaster once, I think this was at a commencement at Harvard where he said, the Ten Commandments are not the ten suggestions.
Speaker B:Is there something unclear about the Ten Commandments?
Speaker B:No, I don't think so.
Speaker C:Very, very cool.
Speaker A:Very, very cool, Dick.
Speaker A:The listeners sent in these two questions together.
Speaker A:So the first one was the difference between clarity and certainty.
Speaker A:Their question is, as a leader, am I responsible to provide both?
Speaker B:So the answer I just gave was a pretty long answer to a very straightforward question.
Speaker B:That's going to be the shortest answer?
Speaker B:Absolutely, 100%.
Speaker D:Hmm.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker B:Do you have any questions about that?
Speaker B:Because I.
Speaker A:No, I don't have any questions that answers.
Speaker A:That's their question.
Speaker A:It wasn't mine, so I didn't.
Speaker A:I don't want to add to it.
Speaker B:Let me be clear.
Speaker B:Which would be, let me clarify by saying, yes, absolutely, 100%.
Speaker B:I think the challenge is, is, is that, is that certainty has to do with what is and what direction oftentimes for a leader.
Speaker B:And clarity has to do.
Speaker B:So how are we going to do that and when are we going to do that and where are the resources do that.
Speaker B:First Corinthians 14, 8, when it talks about how gifts work and so forth, says, and if the bugler, if the trumpeter doesn't sound a clear call, how will the soldiers know they're being called to battle?
Speaker B:Back in the day, when you use that trumpets to give direction.
Speaker D:Right?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker B:And so anyway, good word.
Speaker A:Good word, Dick.
Speaker A:Always enjoy spending time with you on Back Channel with foth.
Speaker A:We're going to go ahead and jump into our interview with Howard Chang, one of the creators of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and his story of a spiritual awakening and what God is doing in his life today.
Speaker A:Well, there's no time better than now to get started.
Speaker A:So here we go.
Speaker A:Greetings and welcome back to the Clarity podcast.
Speaker A:So excited to have a new guest, a new friend on the podcast with us today.
Speaker A:Howard.
Speaker A:Howard, welcome to the podcast.
Speaker C:Hey, thanks for having me.
Speaker C:Good to be here, Howard.
Speaker A:One of the joys of being a podcast host is you get to do a lot of research on somebody before you get to meet them face to face on.
Speaker A:On Zoom, at least.
Speaker A:So I've had that opportunity.
Speaker A:But could you take a few minutes just to share a little bit about yourself and before I jump in and start asking you a bunch of questions?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Was a lot to say, but I live in Southern California.
Speaker C:I grew up here.
Speaker C:Born in Korea, lived here since I was 6 years old.
Speaker C:So native Californian.
Speaker C:Right out of high school, my mom wanted me to get a summer job, and so I had a position at Blockbuster Video ready to go.
Speaker C:But somehow my mom knew I love to draw, so she found an ad in the newspaper, and somehow I landed a job at Foreigner Studios, where they were the ones who created the look and feel.
Speaker C:The first Ninja Turtles.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker C:Steve Varner, my old boss.
Speaker C:We're still good friends after all these years.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:It was the guy who sculpted the original Turtles, the look and feel.
Speaker C:And, well, long story short, did that for eight years.
Speaker C:Went through businesses and all this.
Speaker C:And I had a spiritual.
Speaker C:Just a annoying.
Speaker C:A moment 12 years ago while going through a divorce with three small kids, that's when I really had an encounter with God.
Speaker C:I knew about him.
Speaker C:I thought I knew him, but that's when I truly saw him.
Speaker C:And through that moment, somehow my old profession as a toy artist came back.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I felt God through these visions in my head about these figurines, toys.
Speaker C:Because I looked at the Christmas tree as a father, single father, then what can I buy my kids for Christmas that went to God?
Speaker C:There was nothing.
Speaker C:Well, there was Veggie Tales.
Speaker C:They did a great job.
Speaker C:But at that point in their lives, they would have cried if I gave them the Veggie Tales when they wanted Pokemon.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:There was nothing.
Speaker C:I looked online and I saw David and Goliath toys, but there were just characters wearing loincloths, throwing a stone.
Speaker C:I could have bought that, but my kids would have stopped talking to me.
Speaker C:So what I did was I started praying, and I saw these images of robots.
Speaker C:I love drawing robots, and I've done a lot for the Ninja Turtles, for other brands.
Speaker C:When I was a toy designer, I go, you know what?
Speaker C:I could make some amazing toys kids would love, and they would have Bible stories that follow them because they are actual Bible spirits that come today, and they're operating in robots.
Speaker C:So instead of man operating is spirit Driven.
Speaker C:So that idea came to me 12 years ago.
Speaker C:But being a single dad, I had to raise kids, provide for the kids, so it was really hard to just commit myself.
Speaker C:About six months ago, I got remarried.
Speaker C:Gloria Lee, my wife.
Speaker C:And when she first heard the story, she's also a devout Christian, she loved it.
Speaker C:And this is the time.
Speaker C:Now's the time.
Speaker C:You waited long enough.
Speaker C:You spent your time in the wilderness.
Speaker C:It's been hanging on the wall on the shelf for so long.
Speaker C:I did some paintings of it.
Speaker C:Long.
Speaker C:These are visions I really feel God put into me.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And, you know, she gave me the confidence to do it.
Speaker C:And I started, we started to, we, we, we made a pact to each other, this marriage tour.
Speaker C:We need to pray at six in the morning every day.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker D:Hey.
Speaker C:The first ones didn't work, but maybe God will put us in the right direction and give us the strength to get through everything.
Speaker C:And you know, for six months we, we said, we promised three days a week.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Except Sundays.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:But then we did it six days a week for six months straight.
Speaker C:And it's now become a part of our lives just to get up early.
Speaker C:Nobody likes to get up at 5:30, but we do.
Speaker C:It's now become part of our habit, which I'm, I feel so blessed.
Speaker C:And it's part of our, how our muscles work.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:You just study, script and pray for about 30 minutes plus.
Speaker C:It's really done some amazing things to, for us and for ancients.
Speaker C:I was getting visuals and God was showing me this is how the feet look, this is how the eyes look.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I just started putting that on paper and you know, it's hard to get something like this launched in six months.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Like to say 12 years, but really wasn't because I really didn't do much.
Speaker C:But in six months, we finished the designs, we got on 3D, the sculpted 3D, printed, painted, and we made it to ComicCon.
Speaker A:Wow.
Speaker C:And there were about, I don't know, a dozen miracles that even the name Ancients, it wasn't ancient first, but through prayer it came.
Speaker C:And it's, it's based on the book of Hebrews, chapter 11, verse 1 and 2 says, you know, if you have to have confidence in what you don't see.
Speaker C:And, and so, so, and these are, this is why we commend our ancients and all of the characters that through weakness and through faith have conquered.
Speaker C:And it just was so perfect for a line because, oh, ours is more like Robotech meets Pokemon.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Bible characters or David fighting Goliath Deborah.
Speaker C:With Sisera, we have Noah, but they don't fight with weapons.
Speaker C:They fight with fai, and they have their weapons, but, you know, people love them.
Speaker C:And I feel like this is something that beyond just Christian families in the secular world.
Speaker C:And people came to Comic Con, they were first upset that I put Hebrews 11 in our booth, and he was saying, are you trying to push the Bible on us?
Speaker C:But he wouldn't leave for a whole hour.
Speaker C:He was there asking questions.
Speaker C:And I feel like this is my mission.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:Like you, I didn't go to Africa.
Speaker C:I didn't take my family there and spend years and, you know, just push.
Speaker C:Delivering the word of God everywhere.
Speaker C:I wish I had that capacity.
Speaker C:But this is our mission.
Speaker C:Maybe we can get the Bible stories into every household, and kids will say, mom, I want Gideon.
Speaker C:I want Noah.
Speaker C:And, you know, what a.
Speaker C:What a blessing it would be if we could put the Bible stories as something very cool.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:For families all over the world.
Speaker A:Amazing, amazing, amazing, amazing.
Speaker A:So you shared that you were one of the lead artists behind Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Speaker A:How did that prepare you for where you're at today?
Speaker C:Like I said, it was a job that I was not expecting.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:It was a summer job.
Speaker C:And somehow when I went in, I was a mold maker.
Speaker C:They.
Speaker C:And one day, one thing led to another.
Speaker C:They saw how I sketched.
Speaker C:I started designing.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:In the.
Speaker C:In the eight years, almost eight years I was there, I pretty much designed over a hundred Ninja Turtle toys, enemies and everything.
Speaker C:So I was a toy designer.
Speaker A:Okay.
Speaker C:I didn't think much of it.
Speaker C:There was.
Speaker C:I did Happy Meal toys, Star Trek, and everything else.
Speaker C:But many years later, I realized that these were iconic toys, and there's still movies coming out.
Speaker C:And this is one of the toy lines that, you know, it's not like Star wars, where the stories come and the toys sell.
Speaker D:Right.
Speaker C:The story was great for Ninja Turtles.
Speaker C:They had a comic book, but the toys really made the ip.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I just happened to be one of them.
Speaker C:And I guess four years ago, a book came out with a lot of my old sketchings, and I went to Comic Con to do some signings, and I didn't know that so many people were super fans.
Speaker C:A lot of super fans out there.
Speaker C:Like, I love.
Speaker C:I love the Jaguar.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Hey, a lot of people love the Jaguars, and they're fans, but there's fans who know who designed them.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And those are the fans that are at Comic Con.
Speaker C:True fans.
Speaker C:And I felt a lot of people just connect, and I felt this might Be the opportunity, you know.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Very, very cool.
Speaker C:Very cool.
Speaker A:And so you talked a little bit about Hebrews chapter 11 and you.
Speaker A:Was that something that God just kind of revealed to you that this is.
Speaker A:You wanted this to be the basis of.
Speaker A:Of ancients.
Speaker D:And.
Speaker A:And what are some reasons that's so relevant to us today?
Speaker A:Hebrews chapter 11.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So it's funny.
Speaker C:The first name that I had 12 years ago, and for the, for.
Speaker C:For 12 years, it was called profits.
Speaker C:And then when we started doing with our.
Speaker C:With our trademark team trail, Lord, they said, no, there was.
Speaker C:We can't get through this.
Speaker C:So we were praying and.
Speaker C:And my wife Gloria, she heard a Tim Keller sermon.
Speaker C:Then this is what the ancients were commended for their faith.
Speaker C:Courage based on.
Speaker C:On faith.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:So she loved it.
Speaker C:I loved it.
Speaker C:So we looked up Hebrews 11 and from there, you know, for our figurines.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Not like today they fight with guns and strength.
Speaker C:They fight through their weakness because God shows his power through our weakness, not our strength.
Speaker C:And this is something that really struck a chord in us.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Like, great.
Speaker C:But, you know, we've been going to this.
Speaker C:This church, this Korean church, real close to our house.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:For the last three months before we decided to do that.
Speaker C:And we never knew that there was a poster that's on the front of the church next to the pew the whole time it was there.
Speaker C:And then when we were filming our Kickstarter a few months ago, it was a.
Speaker C:It was based on Hebrews 11.
Speaker C:The whole time it was there in front of us.
Speaker C:We had to go through the whole trademark issue and all this.
Speaker C:God had it in front of us.
Speaker C:And we feel that God on this name.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Put it on us.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And we're not afraid of what might happen.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker A:What a blessing.
Speaker A:What a blessing that he's had.
Speaker A:Had it for you all the time.
Speaker A:One of the other things I thought was fascinating to me.
Speaker D:You'Re.
Speaker A:You're focusing on.
Speaker A:You talk about faith and fighting through weakness, but a lot of the things we see in the world are focused on heroes rooted in money, fame and power.
Speaker A:How does.
Speaker A:How do you.
Speaker A:This is important.
Speaker A:You think for the current generation to see that you don'.
Speaker A:Hero is.
Speaker C:Be a hero.
Speaker A:Doesn't mean you have.
Speaker A:You're rich, you're famous, and you have a bunch of power, but you're kind of given an antithesis to that and focusing on the people of faith.
Speaker A:Can you share a little bit about that?
Speaker C:Yeah, that's a tough question.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:So, you know, for me, growing up in America, Yeah.
Speaker C:For us as a child.
Speaker C:And we always see heroes as Superman.
Speaker C:Yeah, he's the strongest man out there.
Speaker C:Batman, he could fight crime.
Speaker C:There's heroes out there.
Speaker C:Basketball.
Speaker C:Michael Jordan, man.
Speaker C:He's like the best.
Speaker C:They call Tiger Wood the goat.
Speaker C:You know, these are people that we just keep looking up to, you know, and especially in America, it's all about.
Speaker C:It's hard to say, but it's all about entertainment, you know, it's based on entertainment.
Speaker C:I look at other countries.
Speaker C:I haven't lived in China, but from what I've heard.
Speaker C:Yeah, there's a lot of respect for people who have studies or who.
Speaker C:Who can improve humanity.
Speaker C:And there's a Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaker C:I have no idea who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaker C:I have no.
Speaker C:I know who won the, the PGH championship.
Speaker C:I know the football of Super Bowl.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:But we have no idea of anything else except entertainment.
Speaker C:Who won the Academy Awards.
Speaker C:So it's all about who's stronger, who, who's.
Speaker C:Who's gonna win.
Speaker C:But the Bible's to me is opposite.
Speaker C:He use.
Speaker C:God uses the weakest of us.
Speaker C:And I figure even me being here, trying to get out there and using all our marketing and talking to you and again, ancients out there, you know, I. I don't know why God chose me.
Speaker C:I'm the pretty much not the right guy.
Speaker C:So let's say something great happens.
Speaker C:God really makes this an item that's in every household.
Speaker C:And we're able to go to Africa.
Speaker C:And I've heard.
Speaker C:I don't know, you know, but I've heard a lot of people in Africa, they're so poor they have a hard time eating.
Speaker C:But they all have phones.
Speaker D:Yeah, it's.
Speaker C:It's very.
Speaker A:Phones are everywhere.
Speaker D:Phones.
Speaker C:So we want to be able to have people look up or maybe even type your phone on Joshua.
Speaker C:And you'll go to the chapter where he's really known for and there will be this entire story.
Speaker C:So we would love to.
Speaker C:My mission at least is to get the Bible stories more prominent out there.
Speaker C:God could do the rest.
Speaker D:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:And you know, if he uses the weakest of us and something great happens and all glory goes to God.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker C:I know I can't do it on my own power.
Speaker C:Yeah, right.
Speaker A:Well.
Speaker A:But God's given you some unique talents, I can tell you that.
Speaker A:Aaron Santa Mar cannot be doing what you're doing.
Speaker A:And he's guided and direct your life, that's for sure.
Speaker A:And in this journey, as you shared through the toy industry, something you thought a summer Job that you weren't expecting, it wasn't, you didn't see it working that way.
Speaker A:But just how God has brought you along on this journey to where you are today, to me is, is very, very exciting.
Speaker A:So are the, are each of the care.
Speaker A:Their characters or the robots, are they, are they named after a biblical hero or share a little bit more about that?
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:So they all, they're all like.
Speaker C:The Bible has, I don't know, thousands of characters and names.
Speaker C:I, I don't even know all the names.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker C:One of the blessings I have is I've read the Bible through multiple times, but there's so many things I miss.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And so every one of them, they're all based on characters.
Speaker C:This is David.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker C:They all have the eyes light up and the hair strand lights up.
Speaker C:These are robots with hair strands because it lights up and that's where the spirit operates.
Speaker A:Interesting.
Speaker C:So David has his name up on top.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Kind of put it with biblical Hebrew with his name David.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker C:I actually put his Bible verse 1st Samuel 17 chapter.
Speaker C:Very, very cool.
Speaker C:So, and I, I'm trying to kind of feature the heroes, the legends, but there's also these notable characters in there that probably shows up in a few, few verses.
Speaker C:I gotta figure out how they show up.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:And I, I also want to work on Samuel.
Speaker C:He's not a warrior, but he's a prophet.
Speaker C:So the prophets will have different body shapes and I want to come out with the angels eventually.
Speaker C:Angel Gabriel.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:And so it's, it's a, it's a war.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:But using faith, trying to, trying to fight against this world today, which is run on AI.
Speaker C:AI's taking over and to try to bring God back into our lives.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, it's good word.
Speaker A:And that kind of leads me to my next question I have for you is, you know, the, the media that's out there today, a lot of it's dark.
Speaker A:And you, the things that our kids are exposed to and honestly, what we're exposed to on tv, a lot of it's dark.
Speaker A:It doesn't obviously draw us closer to God or closer to a relationship with Christ.
Speaker A:So how can the faith driven stories and the ones that you're putting in front of us, how can that help the next generation to not be focused on dark media, but actually something that's drawn them closer to Christ?
Speaker A:Is that a fair question?
Speaker C:That's another hard question, but it's a great question.
Speaker C:I'll answer that from.
Speaker C:You know, I just had a conversation recently.
Speaker C:You know I have three kids Gloria has together.
Speaker C:We have five kids between the ages of 23 and 16.
Speaker C:And they're at that age where they're watching everything and they're on social media.
Speaker C:And I feel like entertainment people get bored so easily, you know, and it's about just a quick fix.
Speaker C:And all the movies out there, video games, Grand Theft Auto, it's all about how far can you go, how far can you push the boundaries?
Speaker C:And there's no limit.
Speaker C:The amount of just sex on regular tv.
Speaker C:When I was a kid, you know, wow.
Speaker C:People kiss on the screen and it was like, wow, I can't believe they did that.
Speaker C:Now they don't.
Speaker C:There's no parental guidance or anything.
Speaker C:We can see how the world is turning.
Speaker C:I don't.
Speaker C:I don't have to explain to you.
Speaker C:Sure, sure.
Speaker C:It's a scary world.
Speaker C:And you can see that it is turning into a. Sodom and Gomorrah is.
Speaker C:I don't know.
Speaker C:I live in Southern California, Aaron, so I see it more and more.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I see what's being pushed into the schools, into the education system.
Speaker C:I feel like I do live in Sodom and Gomorrah here.
Speaker C:Right on Earth and more than others.
Speaker C:And it's kind of.
Speaker C:I don't want to use that word.
Speaker C:It's sickening to me.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And it bothers me even talking to people walking the streets.
Speaker C:And I kind of always go back and remember when I used to watch TV as a kid, it was.
Speaker C:They had a lot of Christian content.
Speaker C:Davey and Goliath was a claymation thing going on.
Speaker C:And even the.
Speaker C:The TV shows had a lot of Christian values in it.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:What happened to that?
Speaker C:I mean, it's like that is now old.
Speaker C:Nothing's that hasn't evolved in any way.
Speaker C:You know, like.
Speaker C:Like the Brady Box didn't evolve.
Speaker C:Is now.
Speaker C:You know, people.
Speaker C:Divorce is a normal thing.
Speaker C:Drugs is like normal.
Speaker C:Everyone does it.
Speaker C:And.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So it's.
Speaker C:It's the marketing aspect of Hollywood, where I live.
Speaker C:And video games, entertainment is all to me so, so wrong.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I feel like this is maybe a first step to come in.
Speaker C:It's kind of like, okay, so if we listen to the hymns from the ancient times.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker C:And try to push that to the kids, they'll hate it.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:I mean, how do we fix that?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:How do we make it so.
Speaker C:So that it would be cool?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I can't make the hymns into a rap song or anything, but we got to come up with new things that they evolve.
Speaker C:And I just want to you know, put, put a little dent on that effort, maybe.
Speaker D:I don't know.
Speaker D:I love it.
Speaker A:And, and, and I think that God is, as I shared, you know, earlier, you know, you, you have the, we would say, street cred.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:You've worked with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so you've, you've demonstrated you have the skills and talents and abilities to do that.
Speaker A:And God's given you the opportunity to be a voice of light in media, where it's been a lot of darkness currently in place.
Speaker A:So as you've rolled this out, Ancients has come out and the goal and desires for it to impact young people and impact families.
Speaker A:Is there anybody that you've been able to talk to that have interacted with it that said?
Speaker A:Yeah, this is an impact it had on me or maybe any stories you would share.
Speaker C:Well, Aaron, we're at below ground zero.
Speaker C:We haven't even launched anything, so nobody has.
Speaker C:So this is pre revenue.
Speaker C:This is an idea.
Speaker C:Our Kickstarter is launching.
Speaker C:I was up late last night trying to get all the stuff ready for Kickstarter.
Speaker C:It takes time for them to approve it.
Speaker C:We're hoping to launch it on August 19th.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:The Kickstarter will be our first effort.
Speaker C:Well, we did Comic Con at Comic Con.
Speaker C:We weren't even selling anything.
Speaker C:We're just showing our prototypes and just incredible.
Speaker C:We touched lives at Comic Con when people came by.
Speaker C:Sure.
Speaker A:So share those.
Speaker A:And that's what I mean.
Speaker A:You are touching lives even before.
Speaker A:It's in the.
Speaker A:It's in the genesis stages of development, and it's already having an impact on people's lives.
Speaker A:I'm not sharing stories or names, but when people saw you at Comic Con and they interacted with it, how.
Speaker A:How did they.
Speaker A:How did it impact them?
Speaker C:Well, okay.
Speaker C: to Comic Con on and off since: Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker C:30 years.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:Since I've been an artist for the turtles.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker C:So I go on.
Speaker C:And I. I usually don't like it.
Speaker C:There's a million people in there you can't even walk through.
Speaker C:But then as the first time, having a booth and showing Ancients.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I.
Speaker C:We didn't know what to expect, so we went over there and we met a group called the Christian Comics Association.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker A:I didn't even know they existed.
Speaker C:I didn't know they existed.
Speaker C:It's.
Speaker C:This is in the middle of the.
Speaker C:The biggest comic book convention in the world, Comic Con in San Diego, this original one.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:So everywhere you look, you see everything's secular.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:The people that Walked by.
Speaker C:The most recurring thing I heard was, you know, they've been coming for 20 years.
Speaker C:How many different Batmans can we see?
Speaker C:How many spider movies are we going to watch?
Speaker C:Nothing new came out, Nothing extravagant, nothing exciting has ever happened.
Speaker C:And they're not believers.
Speaker C:They're just looking at my stuff.
Speaker C:This is.
Speaker C:This is great.
Speaker C:I really hope you become the next X Men or next something I go, you know, I hope so.
Speaker C:You know, and.
Speaker C:But the biggest thing, when I was there, the entire community of the Christian Comics association, man, they.
Speaker C:They really supported me.
Speaker C:I felt like God showed up at Comic.
Speaker C:There was people from video game companies that loved it.
Speaker C:They put our.
Speaker C:They put our video in the middle of downtown San Diego for hours in the.
Speaker C:On the billboard.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker C:For free.
Speaker C:They didn't even ask for.
Speaker C:They just.
Speaker C:They loved it.
Speaker C:We had the whole Christian group.
Speaker C:I met the guy who illustrated the entire action Bible, which I showed my kids when they were a kid.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker C:He took three years to draw it.
Speaker C:He really loved what I was doing.
Speaker C:And that.
Speaker C:That community invited me to talk.
Speaker C:Speak on their panel, like in, like.
Speaker C:Okay, can you speak today?
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker C:I'll go up.
Speaker C:And when I was talking about ancients, I saw eyes light up.
Speaker C:And the next day, everyone showed up.
Speaker C:They were praying at our booth.
Speaker D:Wow.
Speaker C:And one of the.
Speaker C:There was a pastor that came up.
Speaker C:His name is Jordan Wong.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:He's a pastor at Alma Almeidan Neighborhood church in San Jose.
Speaker C:And he was just.
Speaker C:He was in a cosplay outfit and he was talking to me for a while, and he.
Speaker C:I guess he remembered everything I told him.
Speaker C:And Sunday after Comic Con, he sent me a sermon video, and he actually talked about ancients and about me and about marvelous faith.
Speaker C:And I mean, I put that on our.
Speaker C:Our YouTube video.
Speaker C:YouTube channel, because I was very touched and blessed by that.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I hope.
Speaker C:I hope this goes everywhere.
Speaker C:I'm not.
Speaker C:I'm not like a public figure.
Speaker C:I'm not comfortable speaking in front of people even.
Speaker C:This is not normal for me.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:But I have to do what I have to do, right?
Speaker A:No, you're.
Speaker A:And you're.
Speaker A:And you're communicating.
Speaker A:Would you speak of your passion and the.
Speaker A:What God's placed in your heart?
Speaker A:I think it.
Speaker A:It come.
Speaker A:It comes through, and it comes through very, very clear, Howard.
Speaker A:You know, there's people that live in.
Speaker A:Listen to this podcast.
Speaker A:They're.
Speaker A:They're creatives.
Speaker A:You know, it takes a lot of energy for me to be a creative person.
Speaker A:You know, I mean, I'm a scientist by background, you know, My mom wanted me to be a musician.
Speaker A:I couldn't do it.
Speaker A:You know, I was never getting any awards for, you know, design or artistry.
Speaker A:It was just, I was more a numbers and a, you know, science guy.
Speaker A:But there are many people that listen, that are listening into this, that they're creatives.
Speaker A:God's placed something in their heart and maybe they feel like it's too late.
Speaker A:You know, God put a burden in my heart or desire my heart, but it's too late.
Speaker A:I can't move forward through it.
Speaker A:Any words of encouragement because you've shared this was something that God birthed in you 12 years ago.
Speaker A:He's walked you.
Speaker A:He's been faithful to walk through that season of divorce and raising your kids and now remarried and God's brought you to this season.
Speaker A:Do you have any words of encouragement for people that maybe they have God's birth something in their heart and they're thinking, nah, I can't do it because I'm, you know, I've waited too long or I'm too old or.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Any words, encouragement for them?
Speaker C:That's a great question.
Speaker C:That's a great topic because I have a lot to say about that question that you had today.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I'll share with you that I'm 54 years old.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:So I, after eight years of, of Designing Ninja Turtles and toys, at that point, I was like 26 years old.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:There was no money in art.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I left to do business.
Speaker C:I started the long story.
Speaker C:I've started 25 different businesses and failed.
Speaker C:Okay.
Speaker C:Well, not all of them.
Speaker C:The hat business that was in with my, my, My friend, it did really well.
Speaker C:And then I left for another reason.
Speaker C:I was a computer programmer doing SQL Server, transact SQL programming with C for 6 years.
Speaker C:Try to launch a app.
Speaker C:Multiple apps.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:All these businesses, I can't even remember all of them.
Speaker C:Okay, but businesses where we went and started a bank account, you know, registered a business, and went for half a year, a couple years and so forth.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:So do I give up?
Speaker C:Yeah, it was, it was, it was disheartening.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And you know, the divorce, you know, and all that, you know, you have all these hopes and things happen in life, and then somehow I felt like at that moment, I felt like Joe.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:But, you know, I just kept going.
Speaker C:And as a creative, I felt like the moment that God really gave me a lot of inspiration or, or things as a creative from what I do, it's all about visions.
Speaker C:And to me, at least, you know, it's hard to pray.
Speaker C:Praying for me is like going to the gym.
Speaker C:And man, like when I told Gloria we have to pray every morning, it's like I'd rather go to the gym at 5:30 and work out for an hour than sit there and read the Bible.
Speaker C:It's like studying and praying.
Speaker C:But you know, just like if, if you keep doing it, you get used to it.
Speaker C:And that was a huge blessing in my life.
Speaker D:Ye.
Speaker C:And through that I would see visions.
Speaker C:I mean, I haven't come out.
Speaker C:I have eight characters right now, but I'm afraid I'm gonna have hundreds next year because I, I get visions of how Pharaoh should look, how, how Samuel is gonna have long hair, Samson's gonna have long hair, Delilah, the bell.
Speaker C:And I'm just, It's exciting to me at least is through prayer.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I don't care how old you are.
Speaker C:I was a colonel.
Speaker C:Sanders became successful at 60 or you know, well, look at Abraham.
Speaker C:So it's not age.
Speaker C:I feel younger than ever because I have all these visions and I'm ex.
Speaker C:I feel excited.
Speaker C:And that's my word of encouragement prayer.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:From this point of view.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Howard, when you say you have visions, is that this something that God brings to your mind?
Speaker A:Somebody's listening in, they're wondering what, when you mean visions, is it just something is.
Speaker A:As you're praying, God places in your mind and you, you see, see things.
Speaker A:What for.
Speaker A:For a guy who's not a creative.
Speaker A:That would be.
Speaker A:Aaron, what do, what do you mean by that?
Speaker C:Okay, so.
Speaker C:All right, so I would, I was going to a church when I really encountered God.
Speaker C:There was a church in Anaheim.
Speaker C:I actually went there to try to save our marriage.
Speaker C:Ended up encountering God.
Speaker C:So, you know, it worked out that way.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker C:And church was very charismatic.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And I've never really went to a charismatic church where they speak in tongue and they put your hand on you to pray.
Speaker C:It felt very uncomfortable at first.
Speaker C:But then when I started getting involved, I remember the old pastor, Pastor Eddie, he is no longer with us.
Speaker C:Very young guy.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:But he actually did an inner healing, healing for me for weeks.
Speaker C:He told me something like, you know, God uses, you know, he's not going to just hit you.
Speaker C:He uses imagination.
Speaker C:He uses your, your, your, your, your thoughts.
Speaker C:It gives you impressions.
Speaker C:Well, how do I know?
Speaker C:I'm just like not just sitting there imagining it.
Speaker C:Right.
Speaker C:Well, it's up to you.
Speaker C:You have to, you know, discern which, how you would, should put it.
Speaker C:But once you kind of confirm that, yeah, this is it, you'll, you'll.
Speaker C:Through scripture or through other people, you'll find confirmation that this could be what God sent you.
Speaker C:So I kept trying, trying it and moving in that direction.
Speaker C:And man, my, My imagination opened up.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And sometimes when you least expect it, it came in like a lot of the characters.
Speaker C:One of the reasons why it took 12 years is because I wanted everything perfect.
Speaker C:It wasn't the way I wanted to look.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And as a creative, if it isn't perfect, it's not it.
Speaker C:And you micromanaging, you're trying to be perfect, which is what's driving me to not take the next step.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:And what.
Speaker C:Gloria was the one that really got me to move forward on this and gave me confidence.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:She said something.
Speaker C:It doesn't have to be perfect.
Speaker C:Okay, great.
Speaker C:And as soon as that happened, all these visions I've been having, I come back and I start drying it up.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Hey, God showed me something.
Speaker C:I drew it.
Speaker C:And some people it could be, could be words, it could be music, it could be scripture, it could be named, whatever.
Speaker C:And for the longest time, my confirmation came through radio.
Speaker C:I. I love to listen to, you know, Greg, Laurie every day to, you know, K Wave.
Speaker C:And sure.
Speaker C:It's funny how I would like think of something and what he would say would match up.
Speaker C:I go, oh, my gosh.
Speaker C:Was you guys.
Speaker D:Or.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:One time, like I had to go somewhere.
Speaker C:I had to go to Vietnam, but I, I lost my.
Speaker C:I left my passport, I missed a plane and I came back and I took some days off since I was supposed to be over there anyways.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker C:And on the radio, Pastor Grace, as soon as I turned it on.
Speaker C:Renew your passport and get ready.
Speaker C:That was a different conference.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:I guess my confirmation that I hear mine is from radio or maybe scripture or so or somebody else.
Speaker C:But.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:That's how I see impressions.
Speaker D:Awesome.
Speaker A:Awesome.
Speaker A:Howard, is there a question I should have asked you?
Speaker A:You know, we're going to wrap up and ask you to pray for us, but is there something that.
Speaker A:How can people access ancients?
Speaker A:What can they expect in the coming days?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker A:Any thoughts on that?
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I, number one, need everyone's prayer.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I want this to really take, you know, put an impact on the world.
Speaker C:It's not just for kids.
Speaker C:A lot of the characters kind of expensive.
Speaker C:They're collectibles.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:$300 up to $1,500 for this big Goliath.
Speaker C:These are expense expensive to produce.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:As a 20 in Goliath figure is heavy.
Speaker C:But I feel Like, I want these everywhere.
Speaker C:I want people to go to somebody's house, say, oh, my gosh, you have an agent.
Speaker C:Which one do you have?
Speaker C:Yeah, I have the little ones that you can be a.
Speaker C:A keychain.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:More affordable.
Speaker C:$35.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:I feel like people are saying there's so much better than Labubus right now, so we're taking that route.
Speaker C:We need everyone's prayers, your support.
Speaker C:Help, please help spread the word.
Speaker C:Our website is Ancients is with the Z at the end, ancients.com.
Speaker C:okay.
Speaker C:Please, if you support us on Instagram is Ancients with the Z again, underscore official.
Speaker D:Okay.
Speaker C:We have our.
Speaker C:We have our YouTube channel and everything else, but most importantly, we're launching our Kickstarter.
Speaker C:We're aiming for August 19th.
Speaker C:It's going to go over 45 days.
Speaker C:Please support us, spread the news if you can, you know, support us financially.
Speaker C:There.
Speaker C:We need.
Speaker C:We're.
Speaker C:We.
Speaker C:We're down to almost nothing now.
Speaker C:Yeah, we're going through faith.
Speaker C:We use money, and it's very scary to see that.
Speaker C:Okay, what if my kids can't go to college year?
Speaker C:But we're hoping that the community will come in, and already it's a miracle.
Speaker C:But people are asking for investment opportunities as well.
Speaker C:They see it.
Speaker C:They see the vision.
Speaker C:Hopefully you all see the vision with us.
Speaker D:Yeah.
Speaker C:Awesome.
Speaker A:Howard, you pray for us.
Speaker C:Oh, yes, I would love to.
Speaker C:Father, we thank you for this show, for Aaron to have me today to speak about your project, not ours.
Speaker C:We pray that, you know, you'll guide us, guide this business.
Speaker C:We pray that it will touch lives throughout the world, globally.
Speaker C:We pray that Bible stories can be just illustrated all throughout the world through homes, through children, through adults, that this would be something that can encourage people to give faith and hope, you know, we pray for you to come into the world again powerfully through Jesus name.
Speaker C:And we pray all this in Jesus name.
Speaker D:Amen.
Speaker D:Amen.
