Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Brock Weatherup. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Brock, thank you so much for joining us. You are such a positive person and it’s something we really admire and so we wanted to start by asking you where you think your optimism comes from?
Optimism is a virus that thrives when well fed and how amazing it was for me. It is my believe that all people have the foundational elements to be strong optimists yet the world isn’t so easy to keep it there and it takes lots of reinforcement for it to become strong which is centered on those around you.
I had the luck and pleasure of being born to two great people who each hadn’t had the easiest of paths until they met one another – that “luck” finding their soulmate in difficult times laid their foundation of being optimistic.
“Take the risk” & “You never get what you don’t ask for” & “We are here when you fail” – were always present in the household through my youth providing a strength of conviction that drove an optimistic foundation. As I took that into life that was full of failings, mistakes, challenges it had me set up to see the silver lining in all of those challenges that were foundational to who I am and then specifically seeking to surround myself with friends and loved ones who supported it further.
I kept asking for opportunities in my career – while only getting “some” of them – they invariably further reinforced if you believe it might happen it can. I went where the risk was high in my career taking on nontraditional business careers and non traditional ways that ended up “working out” …even further cementing the importance and strength of my optimism.
My optimism hit a road block = almost exactly on my 50th birthday I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis – an incurable degenerative neurological autoimmune disease damaging the brain and spinal cord – which in many ways now +3 years later is one of the greatest gifts. While I would very happily enjoyed life without getting MS, it helped me prioritize and focus my life’s day to day efforts on what was most important and what mattered most – supported by my amazing partner and incredibly family & friends all powered by my optimistic core it has been an opportunity to thrive in spite of MS.
Keep looking for the “why it CAN work” and “the art of the possible” and “ask” and “take the risk” = when it doesnt work try again and again and again – it will eventually get you there and thus active & enhance that optimistic gene we all have.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I am proud father, thankful husband, and feel thankful to have an incredible extended family and friends that make my life so rich. Professionally, I have been lucky enough to make my career my hobby and in many ways haven’t felt like I was “working” most of my life (early in my career yes…but then soon onto things I loved doing). My leadership and business building always focused on maximizing human potential combined with great strategy. Great people make great companies – very seldom does just a great idea make for a great company. Specifically I am an entrepreneur/board member/advisor/executive, 4x startup ceo/founder with 3x exits, c-suite leader, and active early stage investor. Current board member/advisor of several consumer companies and executive coach to several startup ceo’s. My focus has been about leveraging technology (digital media, content & ecommerce) to sell a product or service and believer that all great companies are built with great people in the consumer space – with lots of time and business building in the Pet Industry!
I am currently on the board of/Investor/advisor to Wild Society Nutrition, Oowlish Technologies, & PetShopBowl UK, as well as an active angel/seed stage investor in +30 consumer focused startups including. I am a graduate of University of Colorado Boulder Leeds School of Business ’94 and father of two daughters. Proudly an #MSWarrior fighting the good fight every day having been diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in fall of 2021.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Have an Insatiable Appetite for Learning:
Always wanting to know more. Not being satisfied thinking you understand it. Taking the time to ask questions, read information, doing it yourself, and in the end keep asking. If you want to know then you are both interesting and interested.
Invest in & Build Your Personal “TEAM”:
We spend all this time in business focusing on ourselves as leaders, teammates, high performance, etc while investing lots of time doing that. What we dont do that is FAR more important is to spend as much if not more time building and investing in your personal team = ie: that significant other in your life, friends, parents, mentors, community. That is THE group that will help you stay grounded when things are great and pull you up out of deep dark places when it isn’t great. You may not know when you will need them, but if you dont invest time and energy in them now they won’t be there when/if you need them.
Take The Risk:
Say yes when it feels uncomfortable, Dive in when it looks questionable. This doesn’t mean do dangerous things, but it does mean to get yourself out of your comfort zone and experience the new and the maybe better / more rewarding / more enjoyable side.
To close, maybe we can chat about your parents and what they did that was particularly impactful for you?
Giving me an environment and support to “take risks” – them being the backstop should it all not work out I knew with 100% confidence they would be there to pick me up and get me cleaned off and help me get back into the game of life. That knowledge gave me the strength & conviction to go for it without reservation to see if it might work. An incredibly powerful gift!
Contact Info:
Image Credits
MS Society for both the MS related images
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
