Román Baca – Co-founder and Artistic Director Exit12 Dance Company. He is a ballet dancer, award-winning choreographer and entrepreneur who created his own dance company. Román is also a Marine and served time in Iraq as a machine-gunner and fire-team leader in Fallujah during the Iraq war. And now he uses dance as a positive outlet for veterans dealing with PTSD. 2:50 Keira welcomes Román and opens the discussion by asking him about what drove him to become a classically trained ballet dancer and choreographer. 7:08 As a follow up to Román’s life experience, Keira shares insight into her experience as a dancer and actress. 8:10 Keira transitions the conversation to… “dancing is not an easy career and so few people ever become professionals. For our many young people listening like myself who are thinking about a career in the performing arts - how did you do it? What obstacles did you overcome?” 10:35 Serita queries Román about the complete 180 that he took - a professional and award-winning dancer and choreographer and he walks away from it all to join the Marines in a time of war. Why? 13:30 Serita follows up with a question asking Román to take a deeper dive into what he really took away with him from his time in Iraq. 15:15 Serita continues to probe… “Can you tell us a bit more about the good and the bad experiences?” 18:45 Keira picks up the conversation and asks Román to talk about returning from war and opening the unique Exit12 Dance Company - tell us about what it is, who does it serve, outlet for veterans suffering from PTSD), etc. 23:30 Keira expands on this topic moving the conversation to Foster youth also suffering from PTSD. Some studies suggest that former foster youth are twice as likely as US war veterans to experience PTSD in adulthood. “How have you found dance, and even more broadly, art can help sufferers deal with PTSD and other issues related to the trauma they suffered?” 30:15 Serita, Keira and Román wrap up the program with some final thoughts and resources. “Román you have so perfectly weaved together your talent with your desire to be of service to your fellow man.”