We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tim Washington a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, so we’re so thrilled to have Tim with us today – welcome and maybe we can jump right into it with a question about one of your qualities that we most admire. How did you develop your work ethic? Where do you think you get it from?
My parents are the foundation to my work ethic. My father was a disciplined military leader that served in Vietnam. Since day one of knowing my father, work was a primary focus in my eyes. He knew to provide for his family a solid work ethic and background is what secures this for a middle class family. My mother along side of my father was hyper focused on being able to keep the family stable by having the same strong work ethic.
Both my mother and father started from families with not much and realized opportunity was available for those that made the most from it. Both smart people with a focus for details alongside adversity as both were what I consider to be the best of their families. And came from families that saw the color of ones skin as something to be concerned about. They both broke those molds and fell in love in the Army.
Also in dealing with the adversity of racism not only from society but from both families, taught me that I needed to ensure that I did more than others to be seen, or be noticed and even be acknowledged.
Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?
The history of what has led to who I am now, summarized.
I served in the U.S. Navy and was other than honorably discharged in 2001, something very few people until now know. I challenged a Senior chief that came to my squadron as a new supervisor and made this statement “Whoever I deem not fit to be in MY Navy, I will kick them out of MY Navy.” This resonated, and like the warble sound from Kill Bill, he was a direct threat to those working in and to the department I had been working in for a year. I was a top line captain well respected for my abilities and I made a crucial mistake, that I would repeat if I had to. I pulled this Senior chief aside and told him that his statement makes me only respect the uniform he wore and that he will need to earn my respect from that day on. His statement was out of line, as it was his first introduction statement to people that were to welcome his first day with.
From the day of my discharge and the entire drive from Pax River Maryland, back home to Lafayette, Louisiana, my will and determination to do things better than anyone was ignited brighter than a star at it’s peak.
I then exceled at every job I had. In retail, instantly being placed in Assistant Store Manager roles, because my ability to resolve customer issues and keep employees on task in ways that did not cause disruptions in operation.
I then pivoted to the oilfield where without a college degree, my drive and work ethic got me to the second highest position that was respected not only for operations but for new builds, Drilling Systems Engineer. All done within 6 years. My work ethic got me there. It sounds so egotistical but I don’t think anyone I know has the work ethic I have. No one would walk away from a six figure position to start a business that barely brought a salary above 20k a year.
I then built a local business in my hometown that won over 10 awards in the 11 years of business, separating me from the competition and putting me at the top of my industry for a 50 mile radius. I closed this business in August 2023 to focus fully on MOOD Social & Dating.
MOOD Social & Dating is a company I started in 2022 and it’s a new dating app that solves misaligned expectations in online dating by allowing users to connect based on their current desire. MOOD targets diverse subsets via 15 unique mood selections, each catering to specific desires and demographics. This versatility eliminates the need for multiple dating apps, making MOOD a one-stop solution for various connection preferences. Another thing about MOOD Social & Dating is it uses a unique offer/counter/icebreaker game feature that better connects people throughout the MOODs, ultimately eliminating ambiguity between all the users at all times.
I would like to announce that MOOD Social & Dating beta testing starts September 16th for iOS and Android!
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
Communication – Adaptability – Leading by example
I truly believe communication is vital in any and everything that we do. This not only means you yourself communicating but also allowing others to communicate, even if it means facilitating questions that lead to them fully explaining things that they originally clearly failed to. Across anything from work, to relationships to even directions to the coffeeshop lol.
Adaptability is something that always put me in a position where I gained more results that landed in my favor. Nothing happens overnight and with so many different people from different backgrounds, being able to get to know them, figure out how they work and then mold what you do around how or what they do makes the journey such a smooth one. With adaptability, knowing things will never always go the way you want is something we must know, and learn if not known.
And for those of us that choose to take on roles that put you in charge of products and people, leading by example is important. No one wants to do things that they know their boss is just NOT WANTING TO DO because they are the boss. When you lead, you take ownership of whats at task, be the example, show your peers, show your employees that the task can be completed and how we all can complete it. With this, you get to show how and why you became the boss or why something works best, etc. Plus, I feel that you never ask someone to do something that you would not do yourself. Because if that person was absent, it would still fall on you.
None of these are more important than the other, they all are important to me and have been impactful at various positions in my past.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
I’ve pivoted from a business owner to a tech startup founder, at the age of 45. While both are similar, the environments and lingo are worlds apart.
I feel out of place when I compare myself to my peers. Where they have careers and stability and families and seem to be at a point in life where they have found what makes them feel whole. I feel out of place, I still feel like I don’t belong, and now I feel like I don’t belong in the tech industry EVEN with the amount of experience, my product and expertise.
I just think I am struggling at this never-ending need to be successful. I’ve battled with not belonging anywhere since I was a kid. A reason I have a strong work ethic and a reason I work so hard. I’ve found myself only getting validation from my hard work with the reward of instant results.
Unsure if this is a form of imposter syndrome ?
If you knew you only had a decade of life left, how would you spend that decade?
I do treat life as if the next few days are not guarantee’d. A reason I have no savings, have no booked trips or planned out vacations. I live for now and try to make each day a happy one that I don’t regret and I live them as they are presented to me. Now, if I knew I only had this amount of time for whatever reason, I would put more effort than I do now into saving Siberian Huskies that are abandoned and neglected. I have a non-profit now, Louisiana Husky Rescue, but it’s something I do; when I am not busy with building MOOD Social & Dating.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://moodsocial.us
- Instagram: socialmoodapp
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/socialmooddating/
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mood-social-dating
- Twitter: socialmoodapp
Image Credits
All photos have been taken by myself and artwork from our company.
