The Outworker
The relationship with oneself is the most important to develop, but the easiest to neglect. These conversations will hopefully allow you to develop that relationship.
The Outworker
#022 - Austin Hatch - From Surviving 2 Plane Crashes To Inspiring Thousands
Austin Hatch survived two plane crashes that claimed the lives of all his immediate family members. Austin shares his journey from tragedy to triumph, discussing how he overcame unimaginable loss to play basketball at the University of Michigan and then become an inspiring speaker. We explore his relationship with pain, his philosophy on personal growth, and how he's turned his experiences into a force for good. Austin's insights on acceptance, maximizing potential, and finding purpose in adversity offer valuable lessons for making the most out of the challenges life gives us.
Timestamps:
00:00 Overcoming the Odds
02:51 First Plane Crash
10:39 Second Plane Crash
17:55 Aligning With Greater Purpose
27:40 Constant Growth and Maximizing Potential
33:02 Better Mindset Over Setting Goals
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What’s up Outworkers. Austin Hatch survived two plane crashes that claimed the lives of all his immediate family members. Austin shares his journey from tragedy to triumph, discussing how he overcame unimaginable loss to play basketball at the University of Michigan and then become an inspiring speaker. We explore his relationship with pain, his philosophy on personal growth, and how he's turned his experiences into a force for good. Austin's insights on acceptance, maximizing potential, and finding purpose in adversity offer valuable lessons for making the most out of the challenges life gives us.
Tim (00:04.004)
Surviving any type of traumatic life or death incident will obviously shift the way you view your life, but just to put things into perspective for what you have overcome, the odds of surviving two separate plane crashes where there's been a fatality is one in 11 quadrillion and that's 15 zeros. So strictly just by looking at the numbers, you should not
be here right now. And on the surface, you could say that you're just incredibly blessed and lucky to still be living. But is there a deeper reason that you believe you survived what you've gone
Austin Hatch (00:49.198)
Yeah, well, think it's a multitude of reasons. But I think the first one is to be a great husband and father to that dad to our 20 month old son.
Him Hudson have a baby girl coming in November, so I think that's the biggest reason personally, you because my dad was my hero. He's one of the greatest men of all time, the greatest dad of all time. Learned so much from him and my mom, obviously. But yeah, I think I think that's that's the there's that reason obviously be to be a great husband to my wife is a bit is a big reason and. Ultimately to know.
leave the world better than I found it. I try to make a positive impact everywhere I go. Maybe it's big, so maybe it's speaking to 25 ,000 people or maybe it's speaking to 50 or maybe it's just holding the door for somebody at the grocery store. An elderly woman with a walker who's 80 and can't, just doing little things. I just try to literally make my goal, everywhere I go, whoever I work with, whoever
interact with, talk to, whatever. My goal is to leave them better than I found them. And so, I can say I always do that, but I think if I consistently make the effort to do that over a long period of time, good things are going to happen.
Tim (02:13.988)
Walk me through that first crash on September 1st, 2003.
Austin Hatch (02:18.83)
Yeah, so my grandparents had a home in northern Michigan. In Potoskey on Walden Lake and. Labor day weekend 2003 we were flying home. My dad was a doctor was also a pilot. A small family plane that fly. And yeah, tragically as you're preparing to land in Fort Wayne. They're playing crashed and took left my my mom Julie. She was 38 at the time. Dad's high school sweetheart. My sister Lindsey was 11.
About the turn 12 the next week and a little bit of Ian was only five. So obviously devastating loss, devastating loss.
Tim (02:59.576)
How did basketball after that act as therapy for you and not just about pursuing your goals, but also just from a healing process?
Austin Hatch (03:09.006)
Yeah, I think, you know, my dad and I really bonded over sports, over basketball, and he a, he played, he was a really good athlete, you know, in high school and college. And I was a pretty good athlete too. And I was, was really young at that time, but I mean, I loved, I love sports. My dad and I went to basketball camp together and spent a week in the dorms together every summer from probably when I was about eight until maybe 12 or 13.
and it was awesome. You know, some of the greatest members of my life, right? I can't put that with dad and, yeah, but you know, we just, we just find a way to, to press on and keep living our life. And, know, obviously you, you don't, can't hardly just look past the loss, right? But, and we didn't just push it aside, like, but obviously we dealt with it every single day, but, we tried to keep living our life and tried
on our family and having about how we we responded and how we kept living, how we grew even closer.
Tim (04:13.154)
When was the first time that you really realized that you could take your basketball game to the next level?
Austin Hatch (04:21.582)
Well, I think maybe in like middle school, I mean, I was always pretty good. You he started when I was, you know, 10 years old. So I was pretty good and started going to work out before school, starting when I was like 12. Go to the Y workout with the guy a couple of days a week before school.
I was, I and then I stood in AAU, you know, playing in the trout and the summer league and stuff and start to start to get pretty good. mean, was, had a long way to go, but, well, I guess maybe you never, you don't really know you're actually good enough to play at that level until you start getting recruited by coaches. So yeah, maybe eighth grade. I think I got my first offer from a, from a small division one school, in Fort Wayne
So then, okay, well, this is really cool, but my dreams are played for Michigan. So I gotta keep working, keep getting after it, because Michigan is, I'm not gonna say a step up from every other school. Obviously the program is, we're some challenging times now, but hopefully Coach Dusty May can rebuild it back to what it was with Coach Beline. But yeah, think, yeah, as soon as I started, as soon as I got a glimpse of the college that I had the opportunity to go play in college, I wanted to go to Michigan, so.
Tim (05:49.956)
Yeah, you mentioned John Beeline, legendary Michigan coach. He was the coach of Michigan. And at the time when you were there in high school, he offers you a scholarship and you commit on June 15th, 2011. In that moment as a teenager and reflecting back on your childhood, what was that experience like?
Austin Hatch (06:11.534)
was a dream come true. was a dream come true. Coach B is obviously one of the, I think I would say, so Coach B, never won a national championship, but of course he got to two national championship games, but didn't win either of them. I think he's the greatest coach to not win a national championship. That hasn't won one. And obviously a great coach, but a 10 times better man.
Just an amazing human being and I'm so grateful for him and his life and the impact he's made on mine and my family's. But yeah, you know, I think. The nice thing is about Michigan, you know from at least for me and a lot of people, not everybody, but a lot of people. Like on my recruiting visit when I was getting recruited, you know it was you go visit these other schools. You know Purdue, Indiana, Notre Dame, University of Virginia.
All great schools, obviously. But you're comparing them all to Michigan, right? Michigan's got this and this school doesn't. These schools are great, but they don't have what Michigan does. I think, yeah, it's just an amazing place. It changed my life, obviously, forever. And my wife there. yeah, Michigan's an incredible place. Incredible place.
Tim (07:31.822)
So the second plane crash that you survived happened just nine days after you committed to Michigan. But before talking about that, what did life feel like for you on those eight days between June 15th and June
Austin Hatch (07:49.322)
Yeah, well, you know, I am. To be completely honest, I don't really remember much of those days. But I'm sure it was sure was awesome, super fun, super celebratory. I had achieved my lifelong dream. Well, my lifelong dream was not just to go to Michigan. My lifelong dream was to be a great player and help the team win championships at Michigan. But you got to get the scholarship offer is the first step in achieving that goal. So yeah, I'm sure it was a lot of fun and often think back to, you know, man, like how.
Good those days must have been, you know, celebrating with my family and yeah, you know, it a, it was a amazing chapter. I'll tell you this, it was the start of an amazing chapter. An amazing, you could say that, maybe you could even say it's a book, you know, from my chapter, Committing to Michigan is chapter one.
We'll talk about chapter two in a second, think. then, you know, chapter three, four and five are my recovery. then chapters six, seven, eight, nine and ten were at Michigan and where all the great amazing things happened for me. So, yeah, it was a I'm just so I'm so grateful. And I've often talked to my there's a lot of people that get recruited. They get offered a scholarship and then they sit on it for a couple of weeks or a month even or even.
Longer than that, some people. What if I didn't accept on the spot? What if I didn't commit to coach that day? How difficult would my life be now?
Tim (09:28.548)
Walk me through June 24th, 2011.
Austin Hatch (09:32.098)
Yeah, so, no, that no summer day. think my dad and I, we played golf. I don't, I don't remember this person, but my, my, my friend told me this a couple years ago. We played golf with my best friend and his dad that morning. and then we're flying and flew to Northern Michigan in the evening. on, I think it was a, I think it's a Friday. think it was Friday, June 24th. And,
Yeah, so we're just, so the airport we usually flew to, we had to go to a different one because there was some, some bad weather. So I had to divert to another one. And, as you're preparing to land, airplane tried to have it crashed again. Took the life of my dad, Steve, my second mom, Kim and I, not, not, I took the life of my dad, Steve, second mom, should have killed me too. put me to coma. I had really bad injuries, really bad.
five broken ribs, broken hips, fractured clavicles, split my head open. You know, I was in bad shape. And so I thought probably the worst of those injuries though was the, was the brain injury. It was a traumatic brain injury. And I was in a coma for about two months. And yeah, again, by the grace of God, I came out of it and had a long road to recovery. But yeah, man.
Coach B came to visit me in the hospital and I couldn't walk. I was in a wheelchair. Might never walk ever again. He didn't know. He said, Austin, I can't wait to have it on my team someday. Whenever you're able to come to Michigan, man, I can't wait to coach you. And this is a big part of my message now to companies and organizations, right? But actually what I know about Coach B, the night of the crash, June 24th, 2011, Coach B called the athletic director out of Michigan.
at the time was a guy named Dave Brandon, he really good friend of mine. And I Dave, not sure what Austin, kind of, know, state Austin is gonna be in, but if he can get to Michigan, he's coming to see, he's part of our team, he's coming on a full ride. He's coming on a full ride to play for me at Michigan. Whatever capacity he's in, he's coming to Michigan to play for me and be a part of my team.
Austin Hatch (11:56.428)
He didn't even know if I was going to survive. But, and this is one big thing that one big thing I talk about is, you know, following through on our commitments, even when the circumstances change, or I should say, especially when they change, right? Like coach B, he offered me a scholarship and I was playing at a high level. June 15th, he thought I'd be able to help his team to win championships on the court. We committed to each other. He made me a promise. I commit to him, right? The circumstances drastically changed nine days later. I almost died. I wasn't going to be able to like.
Give hit like follow through. I was going to be able to fulfill my side of the deal and be able to help his team to win on the court. Probably not. He didn't know, but dads were pretty unlikely. But his father on his commitment to me didn't waiver even though the circumstances change, right? So it's pretty amazing thing. And yeah, I'm just so grateful for coach and you know, I think there's three greatest men in my life. Three most impactful men in my life. My Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Of course, my dad, my hero.
And the third one's Coach B in that order. Three most impactful men in my life, bar none. All three drastically changed the course of my life forever.
Tim (13:08.95)
Everyone always talks about how a sports team is a brotherhood, but I'd imagine for you, you could even take one giant step forward and say that sports with you and being on the Michigan team was a large part of your family dynamic. What was it like finally getting to Michigan and being a member of the men's basketball team?
Austin Hatch (13:31.362)
Yeah, it was amazing. know, it's a big family and it's, you know, my teammates all included me in everything, even though I couldn't play. wasn't like playing with them on the court, but it never made me feel like I was, you know, not one of them. I mean, obviously I was part of the team, but like, I mean, it's different. Like when you can't play, like when you're sitting on the bench for four years, right. And it's fine. and they would have loved to go to play, but yeah, it was just awesome. It was a brotherhood
You know, I'm just really grateful for all of them. Yeah, I mean, it's just, I think Michigan's a special place for a lot of reasons. But, you know, I think it starts with Coach Beeline though, because he sets the standard, he sets the model for the program. At least when we were there and everybody else kind of followed suit after him. So, no, it's just amazing. I'm so grateful for Michigan and Coach Beeline and you know,
If say, we have a one and half year old son and if he wants to play college sports, I don't care if he does, but if he does, even if it's Ohio State, Like if there's a coach at Ohio State or Michigan State like Coach Beeline, that's where I want him to go. I want him to be involved in a program that's led by a man like Coach Beeline who has such incredible character and integrity and who really makes it.
I believe a really a lasting impact on everybody that comes through the program.
Tim (15:05.73)
You've said that you're still learning from your dad to this day, even though he's not here. What do you think you've learned from
Austin Hatch (15:13.666)
What have I learned from my dad? Well, think it's obviously taking on this this fatherly role is is is new. I mean, it's not new. I mean, I'm almost two years into it, but it's what you're learning every day. Right. And I think back to, you know, what my dad and my mom, obviously what they did for me when I was young and even as I got older with my dad. And yeah, I I mean, I'm just so grateful. And I try to make my dad proud every single day.
You know, how I, the dad I am to Hudson and our daughter who I will be to our daughter who's coming in November. The husband I am to my wife, Abby. You know, I just try to honor him every single day and out of my whole family, obviously, but you know, especially with my dad because, you know, our relationship, we were super close and yeah, I believe I'll see him again someday. I believe I'll see him, whole family again someday. And you know, I hope that whenever the good Lord calls me home to heaven.
I hope when I see my dad someday, you know, I hope they they hope they're proud of me. and say that I found ways to honor them and honor God and take care of my family. I would say go back to your question about my dad, the big, I would say the three biggest things, honor God with your life, respect everybody, especially your family, love them, serve them, honor them.
And do your best to set the example that you want that you want to see in your kids someday.
Tim (16:47.908)
Two other things that your dad used to tell you, go big or go home and your success when you consistently use your talents constructively to improve civilization and you interned and then work full time at the Domino's headquarters in Michigan. What was the process like of shifting your career at the end of 2019 and aligning with your greater purpose and going all in on your speaking career?
Austin Hatch (17:16.246)
Yeah, well, think Domino's is obviously a great company. But I felt like I was meant to do more and meant to impact people in a different way and impact more people through my story. And yeah, you so my dad said, you know, go bigger, go home. And that's just what I did. What I did on my recovery, you know, getting trying to find a way to make Michigan. That's what I did, you know, during my time at Michigan, trying to be the best teammate that I could be. It's what I've done.
in speaking business. So I'm trying to go as big as I possibly can. I could probably go bigger, of course, but you know, just doing my best to go big and leave, leave people better than a family member. I go and impact as many people as I can, as many companies as I possibly can. But yeah, back to that, what you said about my dad. Yeah, I got the quote right here. You probably can't really read it. But yeah, it says what you said is I believe I'm a success because I'm loved by my family and friends, admired by my peers.
Because I consistently use my God -given talents constructively to improve civilization, right? And I'm like, you know, what more can I ask you? Kind of going back to what you asked about my dad, the things that I learned from him. That right there. If you live your life in a way where your family and friends love you, you and do your best to, you know, leave the world a better place.
You know, don't obviously you don't set the goal of gaining admiration of your peers but if you live in a way that other people respect and admire Like you're gonna you're gonna win in life. However, you choose to define winning, you know I mean, it's like there's almost no way you can't if you if you live in a way where your family and your friends love you your peers respect you and admire the the way you live you go about your Family life and your business life
And if you do your best to leave things better than they found, but in the family, I'm like, I don't think you're gonna say anything more of yourself. I think you're gonna win in life.
Tim (19:15.458)
I've heard you say that when you speak, feels like you're working for the audience and there to serve them. But on the flip side of that, how was speaking and allowing yourself to continue to talk through your experiences allowed you to serve yourself?
Austin Hatch (19:33.292)
Yeah, well, think it's definitely mutually beneficial. know, obviously I'm there. When a company hires me to speak, I'm there to serve them. I'm there to add value to their team, to their business, to their, you know, their culture. That's what I'm there to do. I'm not there for myself, but you know, for me, it's gratifying for me personally. And I think it...
I think it honors my family in heaven. I don't know how heaven works obviously, but I think maybe they know, they can see what I'm doing. They know that I'm on this speaking circle and traveling around sharing my story and message, trying to inspire people. Yeah, and I think that, yeah, I think it's gratifying for me and I'm not a super emotional guy. I mean, I am.
But like, not like, I don't wear my heart on my sleeve, not showing the world how I'm feeling all the time. But it's like, there's that, know, obviously I miss my family every single day. But it's cool because when I talk about, when I talk to companies, I'm not sharing my whole, you know, emotional side, but you know, for me, it feels good because it's like, man, you know, I get to talk about my family and celebrate them. And even though they're gone, I get to just talk about how amazing they were, you know?
And what a great family I had and have. So yeah, it definitely helps me. I don't speak for me. I speak for companies, right? But it's definitely gratifying for me too.
Tim (21:08.814)
getting into your relationship with pain. Something else that I heard you say is that you have this understanding that the pain to a large extent is never going to go away. It's just going to be something that you live with and going to have to deal with it. And like you said, it's not, not like you wear that openly or talk about that openly, but it's just a part of who you are now. And I've never,
I've never gone through anything close to what you've experienced, but just from my own specific experiences when dealing with pain, I feel like I learned that accepting pain rather than trying to fight against it or numb it is probably the healthiest way that you can deal with it. How have you been able to accept your pain to a certain extent?
Austin Hatch (21:59.938)
Yeah, well, I think think acceptance is very important. The ability to accept things. And I think it's also very important to to be able to accept things that you can't understand. Right. I can never understand why my family was taken from me. I'll never understand. I hope and pray that I never do. I hope and pray that, you know, there's never a reason like, yep, these these these two things, this is why your family died. Like there's there will never be
A logical reason that I can understand at least. But I think like, part of turning a negative into a positive is accepting the. The, the reality of the situation, whatever it is and. Acknowledging the fact that this is this is terrible. Too bad this happened. I can't do anything about it.
But I know I have complete control of how I choose to respond and how I can choose to use this for good, right? And obviously there's no good from, I never want to say there's good that comes from my family dying. No good comes from that. But I think if you can separate the events
what we've been able to do because of it, you know, and inspire people. I'm like, like I said, like I'm so glad I've been able to inspire thousands of people. know, I've spoken to probably over the past five years, I've probably spoken to a few hundred thousand people. Like obviously in, you know, 300 different events, probably averages a few hundred each event, maybe three or 400 each event, right?
And so if you do that math, that's, that's a hot, like, you know, whatever a hundred thousand people or a lot of people, whatever, that's inspiring those people. It's not worth losing my family, but if losing my family is what it is, I can't change that. I could inspire no one. And my family would still, would still be gone or I could inspire a hundred thousand people. And my, and my family is still gone, but if I can take some positives from that, right.
Austin Hatch (24:07.522)
So yeah, I just, I I just look at one thing I've kind of trained myself to do is always look for the opportunity. Where's the opportunity in this? How can I do this better? How can I add more value to this company? How can I honor my family more? How can I be a better husband? How can I be a better dad? How can I get in better shape? How can I write like, how can I, how can I, how can I do better? How can I do this better? That's like the kind of the way I'm wired.
You know, like there's people in life that that when what are they doing? What I don't need to do exactly everything they're doing. But what's one thing I could take from them? If I see it's like, you know, I'm obviously I'm a decent speaker, but I'm not that great. I mean, I got a long way to go. I'm never going to be Tony Robbins. Probably never. That's fine. But what what's one thing that I can take? I can watch his presentation, man. He does a really good job using his body language. He does a really good
Annunciating his voice or raising and lowering his voice based on the cadence of his of his message at that particular part He does a really good job interacting with the audience Okay, this person does a really good job You know if it using their hands you and like walking around and being act and move like so there's always things you can take away from people and situations, right always I just look at every situation as an opportunity where's or Okay. Well this person maybe they give a great presentation
Yeah, they really didn't do this well. they, they, they talk, they spoke really fast for this minute during their speech. Okay. Well, I talk fast sometimes too. I got to make sure I'm aware of my cadence and find ways to like, hold myself, like to check myself, even when I'm speaking, just to slow down. And, you know, even in this interview, I hear myself talking too fast. Right. So it's like, you have like, I'll watch this interview after we're done here. Okay. I was, I was good. It was a great interview, but how can, what can I do better?
when I'm on podcasts in the future. You know, so I'm just kind of wired to always look for the opportunity. you know, if you I'm not saying that's a great way to live life, but I'm like, man, you know what, if you're if you're always striving.
Austin Hatch (26:21.474)
find ways to get better, there's a pretty good chance you're gonna get to where you wanna be.
Tim (26:27.106)
you've got the mindset of an athlete and everything that you've spoke about just there. It's almost like your post athletic life is just a different type of game in a way
Like you said, if you listen to this interview, it's like you're breaking down game tape of like, what could I have done? What could I have done better? Like what plays could I have done better in a sense? One thing.
Austin Hatch (26:53.164)
Yeah. Yeah. That's, that's just real quick. was going to say, it's kind of how I approach my recovery too. Like, right. Like obviously as athletes, you're trying, you probably played sports when you young. I'm sure like you're trying to get to be, you're trying to maximize your potential, right? Like I was never going to be LeBron James. I never would have been, but I think I could have been pretty good. I think I would have been good, but I'm pretty good at Michigan. I probably could have played a few years after college, not long, but maybe I could have played a couple. I mean, I think I could, how could, how could I maximize my potential?
And like in life, that's just kind of how I'm wired to like, you know, we all have different levels of potential, but like, I think the great thing will be is that someday whenever the good Lord calls us home, if you can look back and say, yeah, I gave it everything I had to make the most of the tools that I had in my toolbox, so to speak, I wasn't, I wasn't given, I didn't have the same tools as Michael Jordan or Jeff Bezos or right. But we don't all have the same tools as them. But
And maybe your tool is, literally or metaphorically speaking, is just the equivalent of a really good high school basketball player, or really good high school athlete, really good high school football player. You could be a very solid businessman. You're never going to be the crazy inventors of the world. I'm never going to be either. I just want to be able to look back on my life and say, yeah, you know what? I did everything I could to make the most of the abilities that God gave me.
and maximize my potential. that's what I'm trying to do. That's what you try to do as an athlete. it's like, know, sports and business are pretty much the same, right? It's you're just trying to max out and try to be, be the best you can be. So.
Tim (28:34.904)
I was watching your wedding video and one line that stuck out to me is one of your wife's bridesmaids said you're a living miracle and have such a story to share, but you are so much more than that. And you've also said that you've really only had two bad days in your life. And I know I was listening to another podcast interview that you had. and when you were talking about the ESPN documentary that came out on you,
You kind of struggled with it a little bit because it put you and your story more on the map and more in the public eye where your story is relatable from the sense of, okay, overcoming adversity and overcoming challenges. But when you talk about the specifics of the story, I mean, you are a one of one story and I could, see how that could potentially be isolating at times where you can't really relate to people with what they've gone through.
How do you think you've shown that you're more than just a story and especially getting into what you want to do with your future?
Austin Hatch (29:44.034)
Yeah, well, think, you I'm not gonna lie. You know, I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing now if I didn't have my story, right? But I'm not doing what I'm doing now because of my story. If that makes sense. Like my story didn't open this door for, didn't put me in this position to speak to, you know, of people all over the country.
Haven't gone internationally yet, but I hope to in 2025. My goal is to go do something international next year. like my story sort of opened the door for the, for the, for the opportunity to speak around the country. but it's kind of like in sports, like just cause you're talented, doesn't guarantee you're going to go play in college. Like you got to work at it. The talent helps for sure. Being talented helps no doubt,
Like you couldn't get to Michigan or couldn't get to any college if you didn't have some level of ability, but your ability alone didn't get you there. Like my story definitely opened this door for me. It gave me the opportunity to do this, you know, starting when I was in college, started speaking a little bit and kind of built it from there. But yeah, you know, I think
Yeah, I always want to be known as I don't want people to think of me as the as the kid that survived two plane crashes. I want them to think of me as, you know, the kid that yeah, maybe, you know, it's obviously going to be maybe part of how people identify me. it part of my story? I guess it's part of who I am. Right. But I think I want them to think of me more as, he was a great speaker. He had a lot, you know, definitely made an impact on our organization. He left us better than he found us.
He's definitely honoring his family in heaven. This happened to him and he couldn't control it, but he found a way to use it for good and find a way to turn this negative into a positive. So yeah, think, I don't know if that answers your question.
Tim (31:46.946)
No, it definitely does. And I like what you said about how the story unlocked the path for you, but you have to put in the work to go down this path. Just because you have this experience doesn't mean that you don't have to work at becoming a better speaker and making an impact. Like the story isn't just going to speak for itself. Like you have to bring the story and the benefits of it to life.
My last question for you, you've said, I don't experience negatives. Everything I experienced contributes to my growth. What does growth look like for you moving
Austin Hatch (32:29.014)
becoming a better husband, becoming a better dad, becoming a better speaker, becoming a better member of the community, becoming a better, just be, just literally be better. know this is, people say you should have like specific, you know, like the smart goal framework, right? The specific and measurable and actionable goals. That's good. I mean, and that's obviously, obviously very important, but I'm, I'm just trying to be better at everything and every way. Like I've got so much room to grow as a speaker.
as a business person, you know, there are things that are very much in my control that I don't do. Like I just be going through some emails today with some, with some companies that had asked me, I talked to them in April and they said, it's kind of a crazy time. Let's, let's, let's follow up the week after Memorial Day. So early June, I was going through my emails and I'm two months late and following up with them. That's a growth opportunity, right? I gotta be better
Setting reminders for myself. Okay, you talk to these these companies said to follow up here. I'm pretty good about it Usually I have really good notes most of the time, but I miss these two That's a that's a growth option. I'm not gonna say I lost deals because I think this is for 2025 So hopefully there's still time to work something out. But you know, it's just like me. Okay, okay develop a more Specific cadence for the follow -up or know, or just when someone tells you to follow up that here like they say follow up with
the week after memorial day, okay, just type an email right then, schedule send it for the week after memorial day. So you don't miss that opportunity. So I think there's always ways to grow, always ways to get better. And I don't know exactly how I need to get better as a dad. I I definitely have a lot of ways. not saying that it's, you'll learn more as you experience more as a dad. like, and I'm sure those, ways I need to improve will become clear to me in the very near future.
but I need to be better as a dad. I know I need to be, need to be a better husband. think, I think I'm pretty solid for the most part, but I definitely have a lot of room to grow. so I just, I hope if we have another conversation in a year from now, I can, we can talk again. I definitely grew in this last year in the ways that I knew and the areas that I thought I needed to definitely took, took, made some progress as a dad, as a business person, as a husband. So.
Austin Hatch (34:56.268)
Yeah, just trying to literally level up in every area of life.
Tim (35:03.532)
I'm with you on the mindset of not necessarily needing goals. I think as long as your mindset, like you were saying is if I'm just trying to get better compared to what I was doing yesterday, that's going to naturally lead me in the right direction. Austin, where can people go to connect with
Austin Hatch (35:21.934)
So I'm on LinkedIn. My email is Austin. It's all lowercase. Austin at Austin hyphen hatch .com. There's a website, Austin, www .austin -hatch .com. So if you go on there on the website, there's a contact form. You can submit an inquiry about having me speak or if you just want to get in touch with me and talk about anything else, that's great. We'd love to connect with anybody. So yeah, it'd be great
Great to discuss ways we can do some business together, discuss some ways that we can add some value. That's my goal. My goal is to add value to every situation I'm a part of, add value to every person I interact with. Hopefully I added value to you today. Hopefully I added value to your listeners. And I'd love to explore more ways to add value with anybody who's interested in the future.
Tim (36:12.662)
Austin, appreciate you for coming on the show.
Austin Hatch (36:15.362)
Thank you. Appreciate having me, Tim. Make it a great day. I look forward to staying in touch. All the best to your family, brother. Appreciate you.
