Ascent Empowerment | Chris Strouthopoulos

MEET CHRIS

MY TRUE PASSION IS HELPING OTHERS OVERCOME THEIR LIMITING BELIEFS AND

CREATE A LIFE WITH ACHIEVEMENT AND FULFILLMENT.

TRAINER/COACH/FOUNDER

Ascent Empowerment Services

I founded Ascent Empowerment in 2017 because I realized that the need for the Empowered Mindset extended far beyond college students. From whole company keynote addresses to intimate workshops for C-suite executives, through Ascent I am able to radically scale the Empowered Mindset's positive impact.

Our Approach

PROFESSOR OF STUDENT SUCCESS

San Juan College

I developed the Empowered Mindset over fourteen years helping literally thousands of students embrace the challenges and change involved with earning a degree. For most students this is the hardest experience of their life. They doubt themselves and their abilities. They blame. They give up. Approximately half of 1st year students in the USA never come back for a 2nd.

Tired of seeing capable students give up on their dreams, I co-created a mandatory first year course at San Juan College focused on self-discovery and personal empowerment. Five years later, we had increased our graduation rate 143%. That felt good.

My other speciality is leadership and group dynamics, which I taught courses in for the School of Business as well as Outdoor Leadership, Education, and Recreation program.

AWARDS

Annabelle Friddle Award for Faculty Excellence
Henderson Teaching Excellence Award
Tarpley Teaching Excellence Award
Distinguished Teaching Chair

HIMALAYAN MOUNTAIN GUIDE

Ian Taylor Trekking

The mountains are my greatest mentor about fear and the power of self-belief.

My first job out of college was teaching for Outward Bound, helping beginners wrestle with the physical and mental challenges of climbing in the Colorado Rockies. This is where I first started developing the Empowered Mindset.

Since then I've helped guided clients through their fears and limiting beliefs in challenging environments ranging from Alaskan glaciers to Utah's deserts to the Mount Everest Region.

The quest to master my inner world has inspired personal adventures across five continents, ranging from first ascents in the Himalaya, first ski descents in Alaska, and climbing the Nose route on Yosemite's El Capitan.

SOLAR PROJECT ORGANIZER

Tibet & Ladakh, India

I believe in helping others. My first exposure to Tibetan Buddhism, at the age of twenty-two during a mountaineering trip to the Himalaya, changed the entire arc of my life. I discovered the truth of a simple premise- the greatest joy in life is contribution.

Since then I have co-organized four solar projects: a village medical clinic, a school, and two ancient monasteries. It is hard to convey the gratitude someone expresses when they can simply flip a switch for light instead of having to rely on dirty and dangerous kerosene lamps.

The western volunteers who participate are just as powerfully impacted. I love helping them confront their own fears and anxieties about traveling to remote parts of the less industrialized world, and seeing their glowing eyes upon discovering the joy of contribution.