Meet Sean Degnan

 

We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Sean Degnan a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Sean, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Confidence is a funny thing. If you have too much of it, you may come off cocky, but if you don’t have enough of it, you may come off as weak. These labels that get attached to a character trait are just that…a label. When you truly have confidence and high self-esteem, you do not pay any mind to those labels or opinions given from those who talk too much.

Confidence is built through showing up for yourself. Repeatedly showing up in the world with a can-do attitude. No matter how many times you are knocked down, it is about how many times you get back up. Do you have the resilience and grit to continuously show up for yourself? I sure as hell do. I’ve put myself in awful situations before, I have mad countless mistakes in my life. But I don’t regret anything. I choose to look at my life as a gift and an opportunity to get better on a daily basis. Am I perfect? Not a chance. But am I someone you can count on? You can bet the house on that.

Sports and athletics are something that fundamentally taught me right and wrong, hard work vs. slacking off, to take one of my buddy Dave Reggina’s lines: discipline over distractions. My family is also a major key in all of this as well. I grew up in a middle-class household where my parents always juggled multiple jobs. We weren’t poor by any means, but we worked for everything that we had. My father would wait tables and bartend on the side for 30+ years, my mother coaching sports teams on top of being a special education teacher during the day. This mindset and work ethic was engrained in my siblings and I from a very young age. It’s something I am forever grateful to my parents for. I feel as though it’s a separating factor in my life today, something that puts me that much further ahead than the next person.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I am a full-time nut-job. I am someone who LOVES having multiple irons in the fire at all times. I suppose I can attribute my scatter brain to that quality I have. I consider myself an active wellness & lifestyle enthusiast, working out is a nonnegotiable in my life. I am currently training for the upcoming HYROX fitness event in Las Vegas taking place in February of 2025.

My days are filled with problem solving. I have ownership in three separate companies: The Sailhouse, a waterfront restaurant located in Tarrytown, New York. Action Cultivate Excellence (A.C.E.) a men’s personal development company that hosts monthly events and two bi-annual weekend retreat style summits. Finally my oldest company of the three, All in 1 Commercial Cleaning, a business I co-founded with a former college football teammate back in 2017.

Although the three companies do not seem to have anything in common with each other, I somehow look at them all as so similar. When you are in business, no matter if you are cleaning toilets, selling cheeseburgers or teaching personal and professional development, it all comes down to leading people. How well can you steer the ship? Can you cast a vision and follow it up by aggressive action? In my 10+ years of business “management” I have learned on a daily basis that what got you here, won’t get you there. You must continually improve and commit to a lifetime of growth in order to be the best leader you can be. That is my goal, to be the best leader I can be for my companies I am involved with, the best fiancé and future husband to my beautiful life partner Jackie, and the best sibling, son and role model to those around me.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?

Three qualities or life lessons I committed to over the years that has had the greatest impact on me are the following:

Everything worthwhile is uphill. John Maxwell is one of my greatest influences on my life journey. When I first heard him say that, I was in a packed 35,000 person stadium at the 10x Growth Conference and he was on stage with his arm in the air pointing up. I had tears in my eyes for some reason. Every single thing that is going to be worthwhile in your life, is going to be something you will have to work for. The great things don’t come easy.

Trust in a higher power. For me, it’s God… I am a strong man of faith. For others it may be the universe, karma, whatever you choose to believe in or call it…believe in something. Trust that in those moments of doubt, those times where you ask why me, that there is a plan. When you are able to submit to the greater plan of life, when you trust the journey and the process rather than attaching yourself to every outcome, that is when the flow of life will start to work in your favor.

Take massive action. I have a company with one of my best friend’s, Dave Reggina literally called ACTION cultivates excellence. I am a firm believer in that most individuals don’t push themselves to the point of where they can truly see the fruits of their labor. People stop short and miss out on the beauty of what consistent and calculated action can really achieve. Is life all about wins? No. But the process of challenging yourself, the parts of you within that are revealed in those difficult journeys on your road to achievement are some of the most incredible sides of yourself that only those willing to push will be fortunate enough to see.

All the wisdom you’ve shared today is sincerely appreciated. Before we go, can you tell us about the main challenge you are currently facing?

I recently and unexpectedly lost my father in November of 2023. There’s those cliche quotes of “life is precious”, “don’t take life for granted”, “you don’t know what you have until it’s gone”. And while I don’t subscribe to all of those things, I do resonate with the beauty of life. It’s something all of us must cherish. There are people in your life right now that have impacted you in certain ways, there are loved ones that have laid it all out on the line for YOU to achieve more and to become better, honor those people. For me, my Dad is that man. Such a kind soul that was quite literally loved by all. His passing has been a hurdle in life I didn’t expect to encounter until 20-30 years from now. I miss him.

I pray daily and I say good morning to him during that time of peace and quiet time. I feel as though it’s my duty to make him proud, to try and live life to the fullest the way he did, to care for others and not pass judgement, to be a leader for those I’m fortunate enough to impact. When I speak to him and god in my prayers daily, I pray to impact millions of lives. Let ME be an outlet for others to use to become better, to bounce ideas off of, to be an ear for those in need of one. Death is something I don’t want to see for a very long time. We have a limited amount of time on this earth. My father’s passing was a harsh reminder of that for me. I choose daily to show up in the world with a positive attitude. It’s a choice. That doesn’t mean you don’t feel the hurt. I know I’ll battle the void of him for years to come in my heart. But what I can do is live life to the fullest, the way he would love to see me doing.

Contact Info:

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
Beating Burnout

Often the key to having massive impact is the ability to keep going when others

Leadership Development
Finding Your Why

Not knowing why you are going wherever it is that you are going sounds silly,