Today, we’re chatting with Javier Santana, a creative entrepreneur and branding expert, who’s all about awakening the soul to live life fully. He’s not just about business; it’s about crafting stories and connections that resonate deeply.

Javier shares his journey of transformation, including how a significant life change sparked a creative awakening that led him to rediscovering himself along the way.

We dive into the importance of being present, embracing vulnerability, and understanding that every moment counts in our lives.

Join us as we explore how to navigate life’s challenges with tenacity and discover the joy of living authentically.

Takeaways:

1. The journey of awakening can lead to profound self-discovery and personal growth, allowing us to reconnect with our true selves.
2. Embracing vulnerability is essential for emotional healing, as it enables us to experience joy and happiness more fully.
3. Living with intention and presence can help us appreciate the small moments in life that often go unnoticed yet hold significant meaning.
4. Building a legacy is about leaving a positive impact on others through our actions and interactions, regardless of their scale.
5. Our past experiences shape us, but they do not define our future; we have the power to reinvent ourselves at any stage of life.
6. Pursuing passions like coffee can serve as a metaphor for life, highlighting the importance of nurturing connections and fostering community.

Links referenced in this episode:

1. vitabbrandlab.com
2. praxis33.com
3. prosperatv.com
4. breakthroughradio.com

You can connect with Javier on his website at: vidabrandlab.com

And on his social platforms at:

FB: facebook.com/ejaviersantana

Instagram: @javiersantana

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/ejaviersantana

A Warrior’s Spirit can be found on all the major platforms at lnk.bio/daryl_praxis33 as well as on ROKU via the ProsperaTV Network app. Be sure to like or subscribe so you never miss an episode!

The music in this video is copyrighted and used with permission from Raquel & The Joshua 1:8 project © 2025 All Rights Reserved. All rights to the music are owned by Raquel & The Joshua 1:8 project © 2025 All Rights Reserved. You can contact Raquel at https://YourGPSForSuccess.Net

I've walked through fire with shadows on my heels Scars turn to stories that taught me to feel lost in the silence found in the flame now wear my battle cry without shame.

This, this.

Isn'T the end it's where I begin A soul that remembers the fire within.

Welcome back to another episode of A Warrior Spirit, brought to you by Praxis33.

I'm your host, Darrol Snow.

Let's dive in.

Every once in a while, you're fortunate enough to meet an individual online, kind of follow their life and then you get the pleasure of meeting them in real life.

And they're just as cool in real life as they are online.

And my guest today was one of those guys I really admire and respect, Javier Santana.

Javier is a marketing and branding sage and a creative Entrepreneur with over 30 years of experience helping businesses and individuals bring clarity, purpose, and life to their message.

And a storyteller at heart, and the founder of Vida Brand Lab.

Javi blends strategy, creativity and soul to spark transformation.

He's on a mission to awaken other souls so they can live their life they're meant to live fully and leave a trail worth following.

And when he's not guiding brands or crafting narratives, you'll find him savoring coffee, watching baseball, or spending time with his three daughters, which are the heartbeat of his why.

And Javi, I paused there for a second because I used, you know, Javier.

But I hesitated like Javi, because I like, we're, you know, sit down.

50 year old friends, you know, sorry.

Nice to have two old guys talking about life and, you know, so, yeah.

One, one extremely much older than you.

I just turned 61.

So I, yeah, I got, I got another decade on you.

And you're coming to us from.

Delaware is obviously not where you were born and raised.

Is, is not.

So Delaware is.

I've been here most of my adult life.

I'm 55 now.

But I grew.

I was born in Puerto Rico and grew up there.

When I was 11 years old, I moved to the United States with my mom and my sister and to the Northern Virginia, D.C. area, Washington.

That's where I grew up in Reston, Virginia.

And then I went to college in Delaware.

I was an aspiring baseball player.

You know, Javier Santana.

You figure, you know, just give me the contract.

I just have to play second base and third base.

You just, you know, so I was on a baseball scholarship at Delaware State in the early 90s, and baseball didn't pan out for my career, but I ended up planting roots in Delaware.

And what Brought your family to the United States?

My mom and my dad divorced early when I was 2 years old.

So she raised my sister and I by.

By herself.

Single mom and her sister, my aunt had worked for the Food and Drug Administration.

Was transferred to D.C. in the early 80s.

So we came to visit one to them for a summer.

And, you know, I think less than a year later, we moved because she's like.

She loved it and.

Oh, come.

You know, her sister was, you know, encouraging her to come, and there we were.

We just picked up.

And it's interesting.

I didn't know any.

Any English.

I was 11.

On Friday, I went to school in Puerto Rico.

Monday I went.

They put me in a school in Virginia, and I never looked back.

And how did you learn the language?

Because you speak really well.

I mean, you've been here for 40 years.

You should.

But still, I guess when you're young.

And resilient, you don't know any better.

You know, the adults is.

So we kind of complicate things.

But, you know, that's.

I just learned quickly.

I was in fifth grade.

My sister was in third grade.

She.

I went to.

I think we moved in March, and I went to school that.

Like summer school after.

After.

It didn't.

I didn't even miss a grade.

My sister was held back a year.

She was a little younger, so she repeated third grade here.

If I throw.

If I dumped you in Italy, you know, and you're, you know, you're.

You gotta figure it out.

You gotta figure it out.

Yeah.

It's funny because a couple weeks ago, I was talking to a lady who, you know, she came here when she was 23.

She came here from Columbia, and she learned the English language by reading the dictionary front to back.

Like, that's.

Yeah.

She's like, I need to know.

And it's funny because she landed in Miami and after six months, she got out of Miami because she said, I'll never learn the English language here.

I got to go somewhere else where I can learn the English language.

So she.

She went to Washington, D.C. and, you know, started reading the dictionary.

So, yeah, I find that hilarious.

What was it like growing up as a.

As an immigrant child in.

In the East?

Oh, it's fine.

I mean, I'm very thankful to my mom that she never allowed let us speak English in the house.

So I'd never.

I'm fluent in Spanish.

I'd never.

You know, obviously my vocabulary, my spelling might be a little off.

There's words now like, you know, that are more modern, that I have to kind of look up, but I'm, you know.

But, you know, being from Puerto Rico is different.

I mean, I was born a u. S. Citizen is.

Because Puerto Rico is a.

It's a territory.

But yeah, with my mom.

My mom was interesting because she just.

A lot of things probably didn't ex.

Was it.

She protected us.

Very, very protective, like, you know, so I was shielded by a lot of things, and I thank her for it.

But yeah, I never had any issues, you know, in the beginning with the Spanish, I remember being made fun of and stuff.

I actually still remember that in the.

In the.

You know, because I didn't know any English.

There was some guy who called me a bad name, and I'm not gonna repeat it here.

And I was like, CC and then I remember, like, six months later, I learned a word, and I'm like, oh, where is he?

I have something to say now.

Yeah.

You know, I've known you for several years now, and.

And you've always been just this gentle, humble soul.

Were you that way as a kid, or were you, you know, did you kind of transform into that as an adult, or were you kind of always that way?

You know, I don't know.

I mean, I don't know how I am.

I mean, people tell me how to perceive me.

I. I'm.

I think I have to again, attribute a lot of things to my mom.

She was very overprotective mother.

I hated.

Not her, but I hated my.

My adolescence, you know, through high school.

She was just like, you got to be home at this time.

Like.

Like, really tough, you know, but the.

I was raised by women too.

Like, you know, my godmother lived with us, and my mom not saying, you know, but my dad wasn't around, you know, so I. I now.

God blessed me with three daughters, so I just kept going.

So, yeah, this guy is not.

You get to know the torment of daughters, man.

That's not age.

That's actually.

Yeah, this.

This was.

This was not salt and pepper until I had my daughter.

It was all pepper.

Now it's all salt, you know.

You know, I do as a.

As a pretty good baseball player.

If you're going, you know, on scholarship.

What was your major besides sports at.

The time it was called.

It doesn't exist anymore because it was.

It was called business art, commercial art.

This pre Internet, pre computers.

This is.

You know, I graduated 93.

I remember.

So it was more like in.

Even the marketing wasn't used.

It was more like, you know, desktop, not desktop publishing.

It was More like commercial art.

So advertising, that kind of that world.

So my, it was a split major.

I took business classes at the same time.

I took like fine art.

So like, nobody knew what was going to happen a few years later with the Internet and the computers and the Macs coming into, into the world.

So I, you know, I, I knew all that stuff and I was going to be in the advertising world.

All of a sudden I graduate college.

Oh crap, I didn't get drafted.

I can't not going to play baseball.

And then they're like, well, do you know Quark Express?

Do you know, you know, do you have a computer?

Do you know, like, like these different software at the time, obviously now it's like Adobe InDesign.

That's not publishing.

And like, I have no idea what this is.

So my, that diploma was worth nothing because what I, what I was trained for was no longer in existence.

So it began a pattern which I, to this day, I am.

It's like, you gotta figure it out and reinvent yourself.

And, you know, so I taught myself everything.

It's fun because I was 35 when I got my bachelor's degree and I had been in sales since I was a young kid.

I mean, you know, Eagle Scout, you know, you learn to sell, you know, as a kid in elementary school or junior high, you learn to sell candles and, you know, Snickers bars and all that stuff, you know, and, and so I, I was really good at sales.

So I never had any interest in graphic design.

And it was getting to that day and age where now you needed a degree in order to get a job.

Whereas before I just needed to know how to speak.

And so I happened to be working for a, a local art school here as an admissions representative.

And I was literally in my house, the first house I had bought, laying on the couch and I just woke up like out of a nap and sat up and go, I think I'm gonna go to school.

I kind of like where I'm working.

I think I'll go there.

And so I went to design school.

Yeah.

And I ended up finishing third in my class.

Not because I was any more talented than those kids, but because I was willing to outwork them.

Like, I busted my ass.

So I learned graphic design and then started my own design company.

What got you into entrepreneurial ship?

I think that was just ingrained in me.

All my family has always been like that.

My grandfather, my uncles, my aunts, and they just had, I always saw people.

I come from a long lineage of artisans in Puerto Rico, like good artists and they would have their own businesses.

And so I, I was exposed to that.

But then as things went on, I got job.

You know, I mean this is early on.

So I was a graphic designer.

I got jobs doing that.

I worked in printing companies as a typesetter.

Learning that world get, you know, prepping files for print.

But I always was.

It's really started coming out and to answer your question, when the Internet really kicked off, I had a, I was working at as a.

This is what like a part time job as a customer service representative for a company that does warranties.

So we just answer the phone but we sitting there waiting for a phone call and we had all the tables.

I remember this guy across from me had this book and it was like web design.

I'm like, oh, what's that?

I'm like this thick.

This is like 90, 394.

And I'm like, I'm asking him, he's like oh, this is kind of the thing, you know, websites and all this.

And I, I was already doing the graphics on for print and that kind of exposed me to that.

And I ended up building a website like a year later the way at the time that we used to do them.

And I ended up applying for a job in, on a Internet service provider called Easy Online.

They're no longer in business in Delaware.

I was living in Virginia.

That's how we actually came back to Delaware because a friend of mine lived in Delaware and they send me the, the job description looking for web designers.

I'm like, I'm not a web designer.

I would love to, but I do graphics.

Like you should apply.

I applied, I sat with them for like five hours and they said look, would you know, I can't teach, but I can teach you this technique because you can apply your artist to do this.

So then I started doing that.

I'm like wait a second.

I could do this on the side and do websites for people.

And then that's when my.

I've always had some client on the side.

Is that when you started Vita Brand Lab?

No, no.

Vita Bandlab is the latest version of my business that I just rebranded not even a year ago.

I, I've had my side business for a long time.

I've had jobs and in two I was working for a gentleman as a marketing director back in.

Covid his company was a construction company and he, he also owned plumbing and H vac So I was the marketing director for him during that time.

And I, my dream was to have my own agency, like full, like full blown.

I've had like, I was more like a freelancer now, you know, side hustle, as they call it now.

And always had business that way.

It was nice to have, like my mom says, icing money and then you have your cake money as your job.

So I always had icing money because that's extra.

But then I started.

I asked my business partner, not my business, my boss at the time, we were good friends.

Hey, this is what I want to do.

I'm already servicing you like I like to start this.

I would love to do it with you.

And he had resources, he had capital, which it's nice when you have partnership.

Here's the advice for everybody.

If you have, if you go into partnership with somebody, make sure that both people are not broke.

Not gonna, that's, that's good advice for whatever the partnership is, business relationship, any part of it.

Right.

So he had capital, he had, you know, in here.

And I, what I, I provided, you know, sweat equity and he provided real equity.

So I said, he said, what do you, what do you.

I love to start my own agency, actually.

Designer logo.

The name of the company was High Ground Creative.

And I had designed that logo, Gosh, a year before.

Yeah, there it is.

See the back?

We're behind Megan.

That's my oldest daughter.

That's High Ground Creative.

And that was the office at the time, by the way.

That's Megan.

We used to have a podcast, Father daughter, entrepreneurs.

And he said, what do you need?

It's like I need to hire two people to get started.

We started servicing his businesses and quickly I grew it and, and it was, it was amazing.

So at my peak, I had eight full time employees, like on staff, like here, physically in Delaware with me.

Were doing very well.

And then a year and a half ago, I, shortly after, like around the time when.

I guess we'll talk about this a little later.

My separation with my wife and there was a lot of clarity in my life during this time and I realized, you know, my marriage is over.

I'm being untethered from a person I never thought I was going to be gave me a lot of clarity about other things that, that weren't serving me.

And one of those was that relationship.

Not a personal thing, it's just directional.

Creatively.

I wanted to do certain things, he wanted to do other things.

It wasn't aligning.

So we kind of shut it down and I went on my own.

So some people scale up.

I scaled up and then I scaled down on purpose.

I had to shut it down.

Every one of my clients came with me.

So it's not like the business wasn't doing well.

So for like a year, I was drowning in these retainer contracts and served my clients.

It was fine.

But it gave me the, the autonomy.

And to me, that's incredibly the most valuable thing, which I still got to work, I still got to make the money.

But I can go left, up, you know, up, down, left, right without having to ask somebody, which is very freeing.

And when we come back from this short commercial break, we're going to dive into just how much freedom that that allowed you.

So we'll be right back.

So when did you realize the noise in your head wasn't actually your voice?

When I noticed every thought sounded borrowed.

Fear, pressure, old scripts just running on repeat.

That's why I listen to breakthrough radio Scripture, truth conversations that actually reset the way you think.

Breakthrough radio.

Because what you hear shapes who you become.

Listen daily.

Hey, welcome back to the show.

We're sitting here with Javi Santana and today we're diving into his creative journey.

And we were talking about your, you mentioned briefly before we went out, your relationship with your, with your wife.

You were married for quite a long time.

How long Were you married?

28 years.

28 years is a long time.

And then to have it dissolve now I'm a little older, so I've seen some marriages and I don't know your relationship or what happened, but what does happen that I see when people have that kind of longevity is that they become empty nesters and then they forgot how to still communicate with each other because a lot of the marriage they were busy raising the kids and businesses and all that.

And so when it just became them again, they forgot, you know, how to keep that going.

Was that similar to your situation or different?

There's some similarity.

Know we were married 28.

We were together almost 32.

Over half your life.

Absolutely.

You know, there's culpability in both ends, so there's nothing.

Her and I still talk.

We co parent, my youngest who's 16 now going on 30, which I see that but be my third one easier this different.

Like my girls are six years apart, so it's just completely different generation.

So anyway, so I'll kind of sum that up in a nice little bow for you.

I think what it was looking back because it's easier looking back, is no regrets because I don't look back at My marriage and go, oh, that was horrible.

No, obviously we all had our ups and downs, some really tough periods.

We birthed three beautiful young ladies.

It was, she was, she was running away from her dad and I was running away from my mother.

That was, we, we were dating and it was like, okay.

And we started this life and decided to start adulting because the alternative was, and again, I, I, my mom is one of my best friends.

I'd love her dearly.

We're very close and so it's not a, a thing now.

But at the time it was like, this is what we need to do.

So I don't think those two young whippersnappers had any business getting married.

But then we had Megan a year later and here we go.

Let's start our life.

I can understand now in your, in your, in your personal situation, it's not often and I'm going to go back to your creative endeavors here with, with high ground creative.

It's not often we get to go into business and do work with our children, which for you I think is amazing.

And I've seen your daughter's work online.

She is an amazing, she's a very talented person.

And so how did it come about that you two decided to, you know, hook up and do this stuff?

No, it's great question.

So.

So her cheat.

She is a prettier version of me.

I mean, I, I, I, obviously she's been married a year and she's been out of the house for a while.

So she's developing her, you know, more her personality.

But when she lived with me like I could, I knew what she was thinking.

Like we, like I, it was me like so creatively she kind of got that and the love for coffee and all that.

So we share a lot of the same interests.

Like so we've always been very close, her and I.

So the, she's unemployable.

An entrepreneur since she's now 28.

Since she was like 20, the only two jobs he's ever had.

One was working for me when I used to be a co owner of a construction company.

But I ran the special projects and marketing.

That's, that didn't last very long, but she worked for us, for us for one year and then she also worked for Chick Fil A for six months after that.

She's been literally self employed the whole time, her whole life.

So there was.

To answer your question, we were asked to be on a podcast together.

Father, daughter, you know, entrepreneurs.

And we went on the podcast and during that Podcast.

I realized something.

The light bulb went on.

It's like, man, we really have.

I kind of knew that.

But, like, in this setting, we have really good chemistry.

And I remember afterwards, we were, like, said to her, hey, let's go get some lunch.

And we went to, like, an IHOP down the street, and she was already thinking this.

And so again, so I'm like, you know, did you like the whole thing?

So I got this, like, you know, she knew she had been helping me to put together a podcast for High Ground.

It was just going to be Javi talking about marketing.

Like, who the heck wants to listen to that?

So I said to her, you know, would you mind, since you've been helping me, what do you think about being in front of the camera with me?

She's like, dad, it would be so awesome.

I was thinking about that.

So we had conversation, and, you know, we started developing it.

We changed the concept, and three months later, we started this together.

Yeah.

And I listened to some of your guys's shows and.

And the dynamic between you is really great.

And it's always nice when you can get the younger person's version and the older person's version of a topic or a subject and see how they are viewed differently and how they blend.

And you guys.

You guys were awesome.

Speaking of blend, anybody who knows Javier Santana.

Anybody who knows Javier Santana knows that a day without coffee is like, Just kidding.

I have no idea.

According to Javi.

And in order to.

In order now, I don't do this often, but in order to, you know, I. I brought my coffee as well.

My, you know, rare second cup of the day.

Now, it is an evening interview, so I did make it a.

An Irish coffee, but coffee nonetheless.

So explain how this passion and love for coffee.

And I'm wondering too, even in this Vita brand lab, is that a coffee bean?

No, no, these are little leaves.

Okay, so.

Okay, we have.

It does look like a coffee bean, though.

It does.

It does.

Let me close the Vita brand loop, because you asked me earlier.

Okay, so High Ground Creative, that was the.

The business that had the employees and.

And, like, full staff, office location.

We had a lot of clients.

Then I shut that down, went on my own.

I changed the name to High Ground Solutions because people knew me as High Ground.

So it could have been High Ground underwater basket weaving for that.

Didn't matter because it was High Ground.

So I created that llc.

But then with Vida, the reason this is there is that a year into it, I started thinking to myself, the where I am in my Heart in my journey is the high ground is kind of connected to an old life, even though it wasn't so long ago.

So I went through this creative process.

It took me like a several months, but like in the morning I woke up and like I need to change this because it's so my messaging and my name lines more of who I am now.

Post divorce, post everything.

And Vida stands for its life in Spanish.

So via Brand Lab it was more of boutique rather than a full fletch agency.

So the concept came out of that.

So I'm more like a lab, a small thing that I work with people one on one.

We, we help people formulate things with their business, we look at things and do experiments and things like that, kind of like that concept.

That's why it's now called vi the Brand Lab rather than high ground.

So then to segue to coffee.

Coffee has always been part of my DNA.

You know, culturally, Puerto Ricans are, you know, coffee in many cultures, Italy, it doesn't matter.

But a lot of cultures, you know, I remember being three years old and drinking coffee.

You know, it's part of my, my, my, my culture.

It's part of our life.

And so I'm a very much a, an aficionado.

I am incredibly passionate about the coffee, everything about it.

And another dream I've always had was to launch a coffee business.

So coffee is again, you know, I can't imagine my life without it.

So, so that's kind of what it is.

So I, I overdo it on purpose because it's fun and, and talk about it all the time.

But the goal is, you know, later this year to launch a coffee business.

I've been working on that for close to two years.

Not in, you know, on and off.

But the vision is there.

This is not like white label stuff.

This is full fledged importing and roasting direct to consumer business.

So I need a lot of capital to do this right.

And I've even made a decision to even open up brick and mortar, you know, as part of it, which I'll roast on location, but have people come in and do that.

So the name of that business is going to be called Vivir Coffee Company.

So Vida is life in Spanish.

Vivir is to live in life.

So what I'd say to everybody is I didn't have a midlife crisis at 50.

50, you know, I had a midlife awakening.

That was the, my divorce was the catalyst for the awakening.

Some people, and I speak to people about this all the time.

It doesn't for me, that's what woke me up.

It doesn't have to take the loss of a long marriage for that to happen.

My mom always said, and she's probably heard it from others, that one of the best gifts you can give anybody was to inspire them.

So I tried to live my life that way and developed a platform where I can talk and inspire others.

But I'm just wrapping my message around coffee bean, which, because coffee promotes life, the lifespan of a bean, it's kind of a metaphor for life.

You have it come out of the plant, some fall off, you have to prune it, you have to nurture it, then you have to apply heat to get all the impurities out.

I mean, that's life.

That's our life journey.

Right?

Is definitely our life journey.

What I love is that you and I are of an age where we can remember when guys our age used to get into like the home microbrew.

They're going to have their own brewery in their house.

Right.

And instead you're going to have your own coffee villa.

You know, coming, coming right up and knowing you, it's going to be wildly and hugely successful and, and in this society.

And I was talking about this with a, a couple of our other guests, everything socially is geared around drinking.

Like, oh, let's go have a drink, let's go have a drink, let's go have happy hour, let's go have a drink.

It's nice that you're going to be able to offer a coffee, you know, let's go have a cup of coffee or a tea or whatever.

Let's go, let's go, you know, the non alcoholic route and still be able to socialize, drink.

You know, we look back at our grandparents and, you know, they would sit around the kitchen table with their friends with a cup of coffee or they would go down to the local, you know, cafe and sit and chat with a cup of coffee.

So I think you're bringing an element back to society that society has been missing.

So I think indirectly you're, you're doing something, you know, fabulous.

And I'm going to circle back to that in a minute.

But something that you also have a passion for that not many people have the passion for Survivor.

You, you wanted to be on Survivor.

And how many times did you apply?

What do you mean, did I still apply?

I think I applied like in January the last time.

So you applied for 51.

I applied for 51 and 52.

Okay.

And so how many times total have you applied for Survivor?

It's Funny because I first time I applied was season two.

I sent a VHS tape.

Oh, my goodness.

And then I didn't for then I watched season.

I didn't get in.

I watched season two.

I'm like, I'm not gonna do that.

They freaking suffered.

So, like, they really suffered.

And the next one was Africa, which they really suffered then.

But then since COVID I've applied twice a year because you're not supposed to overdo it.

They kind of start.

So before every season I send a.

Send a new one.

So basically is probably eight times.

I was so encouraged by the way last season I forget his name.

There was a.

One of the folks that had been trying for eight years and finally got in.

So what.

What has driven this passion to be on Survivor?

You know, it's funny because my wife tells me that I should go beyond Traders.

And you're wanting to be on Survivor.

I'm like, I don't know Traders, you.

Know, you get food, you get a bed in this, right?

Yeah.

Well, I think it's rite of passage I didn't get when I was a young man that I feel I need to go in an island in Fuji for.

For a month.

And you, you could go do the Special Forces one now.

That's.

No, no, no Survivor.

That's.

I keep praying that you get on Survivor.

That's hilarious.

I get so emotional about it.

I don't know what it is.

Daryl.

I.

It's, you know, and I check, you know, I'm the old guy, you know, in every episode in every season, there's the old guy.

I check the old guy box.

Yeah, yeah, you check the old guy box.

And the guy with the wisdom and who also has a good social game.

I have a social game.

I believe that I would do very well in this.

You know, here's the last thing I'll say.

I was a rapper and I even said this in one of my audition tapes.

Not eating, not a problem.

I can go.

No, not an issue.

No coffee.

That's going to get me voted off.

So whenever I find out when I'm speaking into assistance, I'm going to literally that moment, till the moment I'm there, I'm going to little detox and go through my withdrawals here before I get over there.

Because you don't want angry Javi on the island.

Maybe, maybe they'll put you in Colombia and then you guys can just do Colombia.

In your bio we talk about that you're on an emission to wake another soul so that they can live their Life the way they're meant to be.

And what does that look like in your world?

No, it's great question.

Any opportunity I can just through my content, just my connections.

You know, I talk about moments over milestones all the time.

You know, we, we have these big moments in, in on the calendar like we mark every year.

Oh, here's the birthday and here's the graduation and here's this.

And it's a great.

But life really happens between those moments and the little small minutia of everyday life, the mundane moments where we know there's miracles only if it slowed down enough to see it.

So that message, it's simple and it's not something I made up.

But most people are in fifth gear all the time and we need to be reminded to downshift, to be able to slow down, be able to see this.

So the inspire, that's the awakening.

I had it.

But it doesn't have to take the end of a 20 year marriage for you to wake up.

But there's a lot of people awake and numb and in living lives of quiet desperation.

I forget the name of the author said that and I lived that for many years.

And there's more to life just grinding.

So my mission is just to any opportunity I get to do that.

In the, the coffee business, yes, it is a business enterprise.

It's going to be a lifestyle brand.

But I'm going to use that as a way for me to communicate this message.

Coffee promotes connection and promotes, you know, community.

It's more than a morning ritual.

It's a kind of like a daily decision to be present and to embrace passion in life, you know, and, and to, and it fosters connection like you were talking about when you, to drink a cup of coffee with somebody.

So that, that's what I'm trying to build and just building a platform marketing to me, I love and I do very well, but I don't like get jazzed up about doing a website or doing a logo.

I get jazzed up about, you know, wakening somebody to, to see life the way it should be seen and really start living it the way that it should be lived.

Because I, I just experienced it, I'm almost in the middle of it and I was numb for 50 years.

It's like the last two and a half years, you know, have been my own awakening.

And it wasn't a midlife crisis, but it was a healing.

And those of us who, those of us who are grinders by nature, I have found in my own coaching practice and the people that I've talked to and the people I've seen, progress grinders, by nature, are trying to run from some traumatic experience they haven't healed from.

And the busier they are, the more they do, the more they feel some sort of accomplishment and success when the real life, like you said, is lived off of that hamster wheel.

And one of the hardest things is to step off that hamster wheel and have quiet time, downtime, connection time, and learning that life is more than what you do.

And it's funny, if you ask 10 people, Javi, who are you?

First thing they're going to say is their job.

I'm an electrician.

I'm a plumber.

I'm a whatever.

Second thing they'll probably say is a father, husband, or whatever.

You have to get them to really peel back their onion before they tell you who they are without that label of their job or their duty.

And you and I both know, because we both experienced it.

When you can get to the point where you're living life, not existing life, there is peace and joy that is rarely experienced by many.

And I think.

What's that?

It's attainable.

And that's part of the mission to let them know that this is.

This is not out of reach.

Yeah.

And that's what your job is.

But I think you're doing it like.

My goal is to help people connect their purpose and their passion.

And we are gifted something in our heart that is supposed to be birthed, to bring forth not for our benefit, but for those around us and those that need it.

I'm very spiritual.

I'm very connected with God.

I haven't met any spiritual person who was gifted and birthed an idea, a thought, or a passion that was solely for them.

Right.

That's a good point.

You're right.

So connecting people to that and helping them get to that is a very powerful mission.

And I'm glad that you're on.

But it's also done in a fashion that you're very good at, and that's storytelling.

So how did you get great at storytelling?

I mean, being in the marketing world and that.

That you kind of develop that.

But, you know, I.

It's interesting.

I might.

I have a lot of family members who are, you know, my uncle, my mom's brother Jorge.

He lives in Puerto Rico.

Best storytellers.

I know.

I think my.

Everybody in my family, at least on my mom's side, is like that.

So I.

That's just I.

You know, and, you know, biblically, I mean, Jesus spoke in parables.

He told us.

He talked about stories, you know.

You know, people understand things when they see themselves in the.

So you can bring a point home.

And then, like, people make fun of me, like, oh, Javi, you know, you kind of over explain you need to land the plane.

I'm like, you know something.

That's how I communicate.

But, you know, when you're telling a story, you have to prologue and you have to build your characters and do your setting, and then you'll bring it home.

So, like I'm doing right now.

But unfortunately, here we have a long Runway, so you just circle and bring it home whenever you need to.

We got.

We got plenty of Runway here for you, so you just do your thing.

I think the idea is, you know, I'm good at branding and good at messaging because of what I've been doing for a long time.

I know.

And bringing it together.

So I figured that's a gifting I have, so why not apply that obviously to the enterprise that I'm going to do now?

My.

My motivation is.

Is fueled from.

To help others and.

And for my passion and.

But why not?

It's okay to make money doing it, and that's.

That's where I'm going to land and hang my hat.

What a concept.

Loving what you do and when you make money at it, you know, people should try that.

Everyone should try that, because it is, you know, and these people that get this aversion to money or because you're doing something that's transformative to someone else, you shouldn't charge for it or all this stuff.

And I've said this a gazillion times, as magnanimous as I want to be, if I want to go into McDonald's and buy everyone a hamburger, they're not going to let me do it on my good looks.

I have to have money because otherwise they might get a ketchup packet.

I need to have the money.

Right.

So there's no shame in that.

The motivation behind it.

Right.

You know, there's a lot of false humility out there with this, and I don't have it.

I'm not.

Money doesn't drive me, but it's necessary to be able to function.

Absolutely.

So let me ask you a couple deeper questions.

And you've mentioned your awakening.

You know, so marriage issue aside, who are you today versus who you were six years ago?

I'm awake.

I'm clear.

I'm me.

I lost who I was.

I'm back, man.

I like.

I like this guy.

I have a lot of work to do, but I like me and I'm glad that I'm back.

It took this awakening.

I can't take that event out of the equation because if it wasn't for that, it's kind of weird because I'm not now that I'm the other side of this.

I mean, I'm very thankful.

I mean, I never wished for that to happen to me.

I always thought I was going to grow old with this person, but that's not what happened.

So instead of sulking and going in a fetal position and saying, you know, making this an excuse to whatever, I made it a reason to whatever it is.

And what does an awakened Javier look like versus the one who was just kind of walking through life?

I feel and I allow myself to.

Feel.

On all the areas.

And I've said this before, where a lot of us, including me for many years, my.

My drug was driven this like, busy, busy, busy, busy.

And when you slow down, then you have to start feeling.

So what people realize, don't realize, is when you're trying to numb the pain, it's not selective.

It's all or nothing.

So you also numb the joy and the happiness and all that stuff.

So I realized in my awakening that I had to risk betrayal, I had to risk disappointment, I had to risk pain again in order to feel happiness and joy.

When I realized that moment, those thoughts, part of the awakening, I made a decision to allow myself to work through emotions and be like people, the buzz term these days, be vulnerable, where it's just feel like, you know, and, you know, I think God got three daughters or Gen Z's who feel everything and communicated very well.

So I'm like, okay, you know, but now I'm like, you know, it's.

Now it's working through those emotions, but not.

You feel alive.

This sounds weird.

I kid you not.

And I'm gonna share it because we're being.

We had a huge snowstorm up here in Northeast a few weeks ago.

It's still here.

It's been today.

The last.

Yesterday was the first day above freezing, like in two weeks.

And I remember walking around, taking the trash can on trash day and I had to go over ice because I had to go up the front yard.

This happened last week.

I. I ran over my toe because I had my flip flops.

I mean, okay, sure, you know, I have my phone, but I might feel so.

And it hurt.

And I stopped for a second and I.

And instead of like cursing the world, I'm like, man, feels Good to be alive.

I kid you not.

It was just a week ago.

Know that I didn't like it.

I don't try to inflict pain on myself, but I'm like, man, like, I feel that, oh, I'm not gonna do it again.

Yeah.

But there's.

There's a part of that that people don't embrace.

Like you.

You said something I think a lot of people miss.

When you're numbing the pain, you're also numbing the joy and the happiness.

And I can.

I just had this conversation with my wife today.

I can't remember most of my life because most of my life I was running from the trauma.

And so even though I've lived in a lot of places, I can't tell you hardly one thing about any of those places because any of the joy I experienced there was masked over by the trauma I was trying to run from.

And so you're extremely correct.

You numb it all.

So in your awakening, how has this made you a better father?

Well, part of the awakening is self awareness.

So.

And I'll answer your question there.

But the part of that is like, oh, I see why they didn't like that about me.

Ooh, let me fix that.

But as a father, it allows me.

Has.

I've always really, like, that's a.

That's a category and a place where I really.

Regardless of my flaws and my numbness or whatever, I really poured into my daughters.

I think it was a consequence of just not having my dad with me growing up.

So I never wanted.

I saw the impact of not having a father and also what it did to my younger sister, who was a young lady, and not having dad.

So I always, like, I don't know what to do, but I know not what not to do.

Right.

But.

But as a father, I think that I empathy a lot more.

I listen more, I don't react.

And I do that in life more than I did before, but with my daughters, even more.

I just see them, really see them, and I really enjoy them, you know?

So that's been a big thing with me with this awakening.

It's just allowing me to kind of slow down and just kind of.

Oh, it's almost like I'm a kid in the Kenny store.

Like, what's a better analogy?

Oh, okay.

You're like, you.

You.

You remember this.

Some.

Some of the older viewers see this.

Remember those posters where you had to kind of.

Kind of stare at it for a minute and then all of a sudden it kind of popped?

Yeah.

The 3D ones, right, right.

So I love those.

That imagery for me is my life.

Was that poster before, and then now I'm like, oh, oh.

And like a lot of my world is like that, where I'm like, when the numbness goes.

Now I'm feeling all kinds of things and different things.

And now it's a discipline of how to react, what to do.

And I sound like in some kind of robot or something.

But it's that new.

I'm in the middle of this transition the last several years.

How are you adapting to joy?

Because I know when I experienced it, it was hard to accept joy because I hadn't known it for 59 years, other than my wife, you know, how are you accepting joy?

Are you, are you good with it?

Did it, Was it hard?

Was it different?

What's one of the hardest questions I've ever been asked?

I'm, I'm still working on it.

Yeah, that's a tough one.

Enjoying things more.

I, I, I, look, I talk about this whole thing as like I've arrived.

I'm in the middle of it too.

So I've been feeling restless a lot recently and I started looking into it and like, where is that come from?

Coming from?

And it's that like the down times when I've achieved them and there's like, okay, there's.

I could be doing something, but I choose not to.

And then enjoying those moments and when there's something that to be joyful about, to stay in that longer, I, it's hard.

It is very difficult.

But being mindful of that and of that energy is important.

And then it's okay to stay in there and not just suppress it or kind of fold it like people suppress pain or suppress negative emotions, but they also, you know, suppress joy.

But I like to tell you this, that the restlessness is subsiding more and more, and that's when there's room for really enjoying those moments.

So I don't know if I answered the question, but I'm still working on it.

It's a struggle daily.

Yeah, you answered.

And in my own life, I see those moments where I have given myself the grace to be still.

I have to fight the mental part that says you should be doing something, when in reality, when what I'm doing is reconnecting with my spirit and my soul and allowing my joy to return to my body instead of just doing something.

So I think you're doing the right thing.

And it is hard to accept that stillness as a gift to yourself.

I'm taking this with this moment that you just touch me with.

No, I'm literally going to stay in that for a little while for.

Thank you for sharing that with me.

Please do.

I'm going to ask you two variations of.

Of a similar question.

What do you want Javier Santana's legacy to be?

Good Lord, we can.

We're not going to go with Good Lord.

You're not going to be Good Lord.

You're going to be.

You're going to be Javier Santana.

Being a branding guy, I like to name things, so I always, I have this little slogan, like ethos I live by.

Like I say, live now, leave a trail, and live now.

It's more like presence and mindfulness and being in the present moment, you know, and not just being physically present, being here, like in your heart, and you're like engaging.

But leave a trail is the legacy component.

You can choose to leave a trail of destruction or leave a trail of joy and happiness.

So every time we come into contact with somebody, we have a chance to leave crumbs a part of our trail with that interchange, even if we never saw that person ever again.

So in any circumstance, seeing the world in the micro that way is part of legacy.

So that's still legacy slowing.

Like you run into somebody, you say a kind word, might not be remembered by all kinds of people, but that's legacy because you're leaving that in the macro.

My daughters are part of my legacy.

I will let them in my funeral say what it is, but what I can do is I can control today.

And my mission is becoming my purpose, and that's going to be part of my legacy.

So in your answer, you may have answered part of this second half of the question, because I said I was going to ask it to you in two ways.

So that was your legacy.

What do you want to be known?

Because legacy is after, in my opinion, like, after.

Right, but what do you want to be known for in this variation of who you are?

Gosh, that's a hard question.

You know, it's interesting because there, when, when a question is asked like that, immediately there's the voices start, like, don't say that, don't say that, don't say that.

I think but the first thing that came into my, into my heart when you said that, without filtering it was the cliche, is leaving the world better than I let than.

But I would say the people that I came into contact with are better because somehow, because I helped make their life better somehow.

I don't know what that looks like.

You know, people say well, if you don't have enemies, you're not doing something right.

I'm like, I call bs.

I get, I understand when people say that I'm not trying to be liked by everybody.

I'm not.

I used to be that type of person and that's not my goal.

But if I have an opportunity to bless somebody and apply grace even when that's not asked for, that's a better choice of legacy than just revenge or vengeful bringing that down, that doesn't help the world, that doesn't help them.

So when someone comes to you and they're in that their own awakening, they're in their own spiritual warfare and their own spiritual journey, they say, javi, you've started yours.

I see where you're going.

You know, how do I navigate this?

Where do I start?

What do you tell those people?

Well, I would say something that it's very new to me.

But you can't give what you don't have.

So go internally and start working on you because that's the most unselfish thing that anybody can do.

Because then when your cup is full and overflows from that is when you can bless others.

I gave my oxygen to everybody in my life, my entire life, and I suffocated in the process.

So I would say work on you.

Don't ignore the world, but just.

And then you're gonna have.

From that, the, from that you're going to, there's going to be margin to help others.

And I've said this for years, selflessness is not selfish for that exact reason.

You have to be able to give.

If you want to continue to give throughout your life, you have to refill your cup first.

Because if your cup has a constant hole in the bottom and you're just pouring, eventually there's nothing left for you to give.

And you lose yourself, you lose who you are.

Sometimes you lose your health along the way.

Sometimes you lose your joy, your own happiness.

And then what is it that you're giving?

Nothing.

Yeah, Nothing.

My father died by himself of a heart attack in Puerto Rico on Father's Day about six years ago.

Eight years ago.

I don't hate my dad.

We had a fallout.

We never really reconciled.

I, I've, that's been settled.

I, I rec, you know, reconciled that.

But that's not a legacy.

I have somebody, my brother in law passed away three years ago and without getting into much, the only legacy he left was a life insurance policy.

That's nuts.

I mean, fine, but I'd rather leave more than that, you know, but.

But you can't.

If you don't have it in you, there, there's nothing you can do.

So from somebody who grew up with the value system that I don't believe anymore, if you take care of yourself, you're selfish.

You know, you got, you know, die to you.

Your.

I get.

I understand the die to self from the Bible, but that wouldn't.

It doesn't imply that you ignore yourself and.

And neglect yourself.

It just means you in the priority list.

You don't always put yourself first and at the expense of others.

So there's a balance there.

But again, when it comes to taking care of myself, mentally, physically, emotionally, all of it, I can control that.

And from that, I have the better capacity to be a better father and a better boss and a better entrepreneur and a better business person, a better anything.

And eventually it'll make you also a better partner to whomever is next in your life.

When we come to that place where they don't have to try to heal us, we come to the relationship with a much better opportunity for a lasting.

Not that 28 years wasn't lasting, but still, you know what I mean?

For a lasting, soulful relationship.

When you were going through your awakening, I know from my own experience, when I started to heal and I started to find my own joy, some of my friends that I had known for 15, 20, 30 years started to fall off and went away because I realized that they were superficial friendships.

And my changing changed.

They're dynamic and they didn't change, you know, on that same path.

Did any of that occur with you?

No, it actually was the opposite.

That's Alison.

I have two men who literally came back into my life who knew me, and I.

One of them, it's like, he's like my brother.

He lives in Miami and he's actually now a client too.

But he's my brother.

He's like.

He was.

Says, hey, I missed you.

I'm glad you're back.

And it just was nothing against her.

It was just like they saw it and they noticed.

So there's one that I've.

His name is John.

He lives in Virginia.

I've known him since I was like, literally the first friend I had when I moved to United States in 11.

So we're like friend.

We reconnected.

We're.

We've been.

We've done stuff together.

AJ is the same way.

So I've known AJ for 40 plus years and John for 44 years.

And those guys came back.

Oh, and there's another person too.

So I didn't have that.

But because I think the people that I been around, it's not that I don't have old friends in between that, but I. I tend to be friends with a lot of people I do business with.

It just become friends and stuff.

So the last five years, there's that my new communities and circles of influence are fairly new, you know, and.

And, you know, so this.

This transformation and stuff has happened the last three years of that five.

So they just know me, but they've seen what I've kind of gone through.

I mean, you and I, you know, were at an event together for a weekend a few years ago and had a lot of conversations during that time.

And I was just starting to kind of go through that journey back then.

But no, no.

And I got a little emotional because I'm thankful that it didn't happen.

But I think that if.

If it were, I would have been at peace with it because I know who I am and.

And it's.

I understand that people come into my life in seasons and it's okay.

It's not like now they're in an enemy if they're not there anymore.

But, you know, it's funny because you mentioned about things, you know, doing things and whatever.

I was always pretty straight from the perspective of getting in trouble because I always feared the wrath of my mother if I didn't do it based on.

And my mother's wrath, like, kept me in a straight line through college and stuff until I got married.

Then it was my wife at the time, but.

So I really got in trouble because of that.

Well, I'm glad that it worked in reverse and that those people came back to you.

That shows real signs of healing.

One last question for you before we wrap this up.

What does a warrior spirit, or having a warrior spirit mean to Javier Santana?

I think the first word that came into mind was tenacity.

You know, just picking yourself back up, keep going.

That's the warrior spirit, is, yes, we're gonna get hit.

Yes, we're gonna have.

We're gonna bleed.

Yes, we're going to be bruised.

But there's always another moment.

There's always, you know, you can still get up, you can still keep going, you can still work through it.

There's always, always hope.

There's always hope.

We just.

And I believe that's the word spirit, to believe that and live that well.

I believe I'm blessed to know a person like you, and I thank you for coming on and sharing some time.

With us.

And, and, you know, thank you for doing this.

I appreciate you.

Appreciate you.

Thank you so much.

And if you'd like to get in contact with Javi, you can do so at his website, vitabbrandlab.com and on his social platforms, Facebook, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

And as always, thank you for joining us on this edition of A Warrior Spirit.

Be sure to like or subscribe so you catch all the episodes.

You can tune in on all the major platforms, as well as on Roku via the Prospera TV app.

And remember, the journey is sacred.

The warrior is you.

So be inspired, be empowered, and embrace the spirit of the warrior within.

It's not just about the fight.

It's how we rise from it.