Charlie Chen & Ultra Wellness Gear on Reclaiming Agency Through Mindset

Charlie Chen & Ultra Wellness Gear on Reclaiming Agency Through Mindset

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Alright, welcome back to The Daily Mastermind and the Authority Formula Podcast. My name’s George Wright III. I am your host and I’m here with an incredible guest today. I’m really excited to have you on with us. Charlie Chen, how are you?

I’m doing great. Thanks. How are you, George?

Good, good. I’m glad that we’re able to coordinate. A lot of times busy entrepreneurs, it’s difficult, but we are going to get into some really good stuff today. It goes along the lines with several conversations I’ve been having with some of my mentoring clients lately.

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Charlie’s Background and Early Life

But I want to give everyone an intro real quick to your background. So for those of you that don’t know Charlie, he’s the founder of Ultra Wellness Gear and he’s a serial entrepreneur. He’s really been doing a lot of things over the years. He’s currently focused on wellness tools and mindset coaching that help people get their lives, agencies, and businesses in line. He was recently featured in Valiant CEO, which is where I met him, and we’re excited to have him on. He was born in Taiwan, moved to California at five, and actually spent part of his childhood in a Buddhist monastery. He was a monk from nine to fourteen. We’re going to talk a little about that as well. But he studied graphic design and art at UC Davis.

He worked across different industries—from life insurance and timeshare to telecommunications and sales support—but made some major breakthroughs in personal development, where he uncovered a framework that we’re going to talk about today. Charlie, I’m excited to have you, but I’d love for you to start us out by giving us a little bit of background as to why you were living in a monastery for some of your early years.

Yeah, thanks for asking that, George. So interestingly enough, my mom had decided unanimously to become a Buddhist nun after listening to a lecture by our Buddhist master. Even though my dad had begged her to stay, once she makes up her mind—it’s made. The funny thing is, she asked her friend to take care of my dad, meaning be his wife. That’s a whole other story, but wow, that lady did end up becoming my stepmom—not right away, though. It was crazy, unheard of.

When she decided to become a nun, our master’s main headquarters was in northern California in a small city called Ukiah, a couple of hours north of the Bay Area. When she moved there, she brought me, my older brother, her mom (my grandma), and a cousin as well. So it was quite interesting that my mom, my grandma, and my cousin all became Buddhist nuns right there and then when I was five years old. That’s how we got started on that journey.

Wow. And it’s come full circle because that really gave you this whole foundation of mindset and awareness. Tell me how that shaped your career as you went into adulthood. Give me a little bit of that background.

Yeah. So growing up in the monastery, living among monks and nuns, it was quite different. It was all about detaching from worldly desires and living a simple life—no internet, no shopping, no distractions. It was almost like an Amish community.

Coming into the real world, as they say, was a culture shock. But at the same time, it gave me, like you said, that mindfulness—the ability not to get caught up in “keeping up with the Joneses.” The other part of it was also a mindset shift because within certain cultures, we’re taught that money is evil. But how does that work if we’re trying to get ahead? That’s conflicting, right? I had to make mindset shifts around that to overcome it.

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Transition to Business and Personal Development

It’s interesting though that even with that background, you went right into business. You’ve had a lot of success in several industries—from telecom to sales and support—and you’ve been featured in Valiant CEO because of a major pivot you made. I’d like to know what your perspective is on overall wellness and mindset, both physical and mental. What was the reason you decided to go down that path?

Yeah, so interestingly enough, the whole mindset thing was born out of my first entrepreneurial endeavor in the life insurance industry straight out of college. Through that, I learned about personal development and leadership. I was introduced to Landmark Education, and I love to give credit where credit is due. It didn’t teach me something new—it put into words the teachings I grew up with in the monastery.

It gave me language to unpack the things that were “running the show,” if you will. Everything that happens—human beings are meaning-making machines—we make a story out of it. Sometimes we don’t let go of those stories, and they end up driving our lives without us realizing it.

Making that discovery was a huge breakthrough. I was able to get complete with whatever past was holding me back and invent new possibilities. For me, it goes back to the Buddhist concept of the Bodhisattva path—an enlightened being who serves others before reaching Nirvana. Once I found that for myself, it was a natural next step to empower others with that same discovery.

“We may be through with our past, but our past may not be through with us. Once you realize that, you can finally create something new.”

And it’s interesting because I’m sure this applies broadly—but who do you think in business benefits most from these principles and teachings?

Yeah, I would say businesses focused on developing their people into leaders. Some business owners still maintain that top-down, command-and-control structure—they just want employees to follow orders. That’s not who I serve. I work with business owners who want to develop people and leaders—both in themselves and in their teams.

“Leadership isn’t about control—it’s about creating more leaders. Empowered people create empowered results.”

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Mindset and Wellness Journey

Yeah, I think that’s a good distinction because people work in all kinds of environments—some are founders, CEOs, or business owners themselves. What would you say is one of the differentiating factors in achieving success? I think this goes straight to what you do differently, because you’ve combined physical wellness products with mindset and systems. What do you do differently that has made a bigger impact for people and created more significant change in their development?

Yeah, I would say start at the root level. But before dealing with the root, you want to begin with the end in mind, which is one of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership by John Maxwell.

When we talk about what we want our lives to look like, it’s about designing from imagination—not memory. Don’t base it on what’s “realistic” from your past experiences, because that’s limiting. Once you have that vision, you need to look at the root—what’s actually getting in the way of fulfilling that?

Because if that’s what we want, why haven’t we achieved it yet? So, I look deeper into those layers—like peeling an onion—until we get to the core. Everyone has access to the same information in this digital age; the only real difference is mindset. That’s the distinction between someone like you, George, and someone with the same talents but who isn’t applying themselves to make an impact.

Would you agree that distinction makes all the difference?

Yeah, I do. And I think there’s both the motivation to do it and also uncovering those internal battles or obstacles that hold you back. It comes back to awareness. So, when you’re working with people, you’ve talked about this three-step transformation process. I know we’ve touched on it, but maybe walk me through that process for our listeners.

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Three-Step Transformation Process

Yeah, absolutely. I’ll share my own story to demonstrate how those three steps played out for me.

The first step is uncovering your story. There’s always a story we believe about ourselves—whether we’re aware of it or not. Sometimes it’s buried deep in the subconscious, that “blind spot” of things we don’t even know we don’t know. The scary part is, that story is often what’s running the show—pulling the strings behind our reactions to circumstances.

For me, I realized I had a pattern of procrastination—constantly waiting until the last minute. I’d justify it, telling myself I was just making the most of my time.

Yeah, we rationalize it, huh?

Exactly—we rationalize it. During a Landmark Education seminar, my seminar leader finally called me out on it. That’s another aspect of leadership—accountability. Being willing to do the right thing for others, even if it means not being popular.

She called me out, and we unpacked it. I discovered that story came from when I was twelve years old, living as a Buddhist monk. We were visiting the headquarters monastery in Ukiah, California, and during an evening lecture with hundreds of people, one of the monks asked if someone from our novice group would come on stage to recite a Sanskrit mantra from memory. I volunteered.

Halfway through, I forgot a few lines. I don’t remember if I finished—I just remember running out of the hall, crying. In that moment, though I didn’t speak it aloud, I told myself: “I’m a failure. No matter what I do or how hard I try, I’ll always be a failure.”

Once I uncovered that story, it was a huge lightbulb moment. That led to the next step: getting complete with the past. Because as I often say, we may be through with our past, but our past may not be through with us.

What was happening was like tripping over the same chair I kept placing in front of myself.

Exactly. Most people don’t even recognize that themselves. That’s why mentors help so much. Okay, so you’re uncovering your story—keep going.

Getting complete with the past is a process. In my case, my seminar leader helped me unpack each meaning and story I had attached to those negative experiences. The truth is: what happened, happened. We can’t change the past. But if we keep operating as if those old meanings are still real, we render ourselves powerless.

Getting complete means letting go of those old meanings—freeing yourself to start fresh.

Then comes the final step: inventing new possibilities.

We use the word invent because we’re not talking about wishful thinking like “I want to be rich.” That comes from lack—from effect, not cause. Instead, we become the cause. That aligns with the natural law of be, do, have.

Society often teaches the reverse—have, do, be: “If I have money, then I can do what I want, and then I’ll be happy.” But the truth is the opposite. Be the person first. Do the work that person would do. Then, naturally, you’ll have what aligns with that identity.

Look at innovators like Thomas Edison—he didn’t see his early failures as mistakes. He said, “I found a thousand ways not to make a light bulb.”

Yeah. It sounds subtle, but it’s not. It makes a huge difference in your performance.

Absolutely. When you become the person first—embody that mindset—it dictates your actions and effectiveness. The results naturally follow. There’s no shortage of money in the world, only a shortage of ideas. If you want to elevate your wealth, elevate your thinking and your mindset.

Yeah, I love that. So let me get this right—it’s uncover your story, get complete with your past, and invent new possibilities. And I like that it ties to identity, because most people operate from their past. But even in the present, it’s hard to do the things you want unless you first become the person you want to be. When I give myself permission to be that person, I act differently. If you don’t feel you’re there yet, you hesitate. I’m sure a lot of this mindset work ties into consistency too.

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Daily Rituals and Consistency

Do you have particular daily rituals or protocols you use to stay consistent personally?

Yeah, absolutely. For those who haven’t read The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod, definitely read it. He even has an app called The Miracle Morning. That’s what I use. It tracks what he calls the “SAVERS.” I won’t go into the whole acronym, but it’s a powerful morning framework that sets you up for success each day.

Starting your morning that way elevates your mindset before you even begin your day.

Yeah, I think winning the morning is key to winning the day. I’ve learned that too. And if you don’t create consistency, even after breakthrough moments, you can slip back into complacency or false productivity. Just being busy isn’t the same as being productive. That’s great advice, and that book suggestion is solid. I really appreciate you spending time here.

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Final Thoughts and Contact Information

You have a lot of ways to tie physical well-being to mental well-being. I’d love to have another conversation in the future, but what’s the best way for people to get in touch with you or connect?

First, LinkedIn. I’m pretty active there—you can find me by typing Charlie Chen or LinkedIn.com/in/MrCharisma.

Mr. Charisma, nice! What’s the story behind that?

Funny story—I was attending a Les Brown live event early in my personal development journey. At the end, I went to meet him. I was wearing a tan suit, and when I shook his hand, he said, “How you doing, Mr. Charisma?” It stuck ever since!

That’s awesome—from the master himself! I’ve had Les speak for me many times, and I love that phrase: “You have greatness inside of you.” It sticks. You’ve got so many great things going on, Charlie. Before we wrap up, do you have any last bits of advice or strategies for our listeners?

Yeah. What I’d say is: find inner peace before trying to figure out what to do externally. The outside world reflects the inner world. If you don’t have it figured out inside, everything outside will feel chaotic.

There’s something called SWOT analysis—Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. Identify those first. Then, address them with the four languages of leadership: vision casting, storytelling, assignments, and challenge.

Start with vision—cast that first. Then storytelling: uncover the story limiting you now, and invent the story you want to tell the world. Next, assignments—give yourself action steps to pursue opportunities. Lastly, challenge yourself to face threats head-on.

Because what you resist, persists. The more you avoid it, the more it controls you. Face your weaknesses, and turn them into your strengths.

Yeah, that’s great advice. Most of our listeners are leaders, and that’s exactly what they need to be hearing. This has been an amazing conversation, Charlie. For everyone listening, I’ll put the links to connect with Charlie in the show notes. I encourage you to reach out.

One thing I always say—no matter where you are or what you’re doing—it’s never too late to start living the life you’re meant to live. Sometimes it’s just one connection away. One strategy away. One decision away.

Charlie, thank you again for joining us, and to our listeners, we appreciate you tuning in. Don’t forget to share this show—it might change someone’s life. Have a great day, everyone.

That’s awesome.

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About Guest:

Charlie Chen is an entrepreneur and mindset/wellness coach who focuses on practical tools for peak performance and recovery. He leads Ultra Wellness Gear, a brand offering at-home cold plunges and saunas, and blends Eastern mindfulness principles with modern leadership coaching to help founders and teams improve clarity, energy, and execution.

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Resources:

Company: https://ultrawellnessgear.com/

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/mrcharisma

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