Meet Sean Underhill

We recently connected with Sean Underhill and have shared our conversation below.

Sean, thanks so much for taking the time to share your insights and lessons with us today. We’re particularly interested in hearing about how you became such a resilient person. Where do you get your resilience from?

I learned resilience early on in life. I was raised by a single parent and witnessed the fortitude of my mom working multiple jobs to support me and my older siblings. Our economic difficulties effected the way I view things now and fostered a creativity that has served me greatly throughout my adult life. This resilience has helped me navigate many of life’s struggles, such as the loss of my best friend in a car accident at the onset of High School. My wife is an inspiration of resiliency as we have navigated many life altering events together, beginning with the injuring my back during an Army deployment. I was in constant pain and barely able to walk for years. Through the constant loving support of my Wife and family I never doubted I would overcome these life obstacles.

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

My family moved to Prescott, AZ in 2017. I was a Stay-at-home dad for those first 5 years and enjoyed exploring our natural areas with my wife and kids. It became disheartening to see so much trash and ecological damage as my kids played outdoors. I had a chance to affect change by creating the Prescott Junior Ranger Guidebook and becoming the State Advocate for Leave No Trace. My goal is to improve our open spaces for my family and others by exemplifying and teaching these seven principles: Plan ahead & prepare, stick to trails, trash your trash, leave what you find, be careful with fire, respect wildlife, and share the outdoors. This program continues to grow and improve the health of our community as an extension of our Prescott Nature Niños outreach, which is supported by the City of Prescott Recreation Services, Yavapai County Community Health Services, and multiple family focused community partners. For my actions I was awarded national recognition as the Leave No Trace State Advocate of the Year. The guidebook is free to download online or get in person and earn a Prescott Junior Ranger Badge. We provide printed copies of the Guidebook to the public for free with generous donations from organizations like The Lookout, and the Kiwanis Club of Prescott. We need your help to continue providing this program to our community. Please contact me at AZadvocate@lnt.org if you would like to sponsor a printing of our guidebook with your organization logo on the cover.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Use your position, whatever it may be, to better your community and those around you. This will help you build positive relationships, earn promotions, and live in a better world.

Be true to your word. If you say you will do something, then get it done. Reliability goes a long way in life.

Communication. You can’t expect others to understand your needs if you don’t communicate them. This also goes into being honest about what your needs, abilities and emotions are to yourself and others. Good communication involves active listening to understand the needs of others as well. This will help in not overextending yourself and create healthier supportive relationships.

Do you think it’s better to go all in on our strengths or to try to be more well-rounded by investing effort on improving areas you aren’t as strong in?

I was very shy as a kid and coming out of my shell was not always the easiest thing to do. My artistic abilities showed early, but I never wanted to monetize that side of life. I used my creativity to enhance whatever job I was doing, such as I did with the Junior Ranger Guidebook. My brother had joined the Army after high school, so I followed suit in doing ROTC at the University of Arizona. Being trained to lead others into combat or emergency situations took me out of my comfort zone, but as I continued in my Army and Law Enforcement careers, I found that my form of leadership was respected. I would listen to those below me and give their thoughts valued consideration. Even if I chose a different action, knowing that they were heard led to the loyalty needed for a successful mission. Had I stayed in my comfort zone, I would not have developed the foundation needed to build the necessary connections to affect positive changes in life.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All photographs and artwork by Sean Underhill. Images of Wife, Jillian Bachman-Underhill. Son, Quinn Underhill. Daughter, Lucy Underhill.

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