Meet Michael Hingson

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Michael Hingson. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Michael, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?
It began with my parents. I was born two months premature in February of 1950. At about 4 months of age it was discovered that I was blind due to a condition associated with premature births and children being put into an incubator with a pure Oxygen environment. Contrary to popular belief even too much Oxygen can cause difficulties. My retenas did not develop properly and I became blind.

When it was determined that I was blind the doctors told my parents to send me to a home as no blind child could ever grow up to contribute to society and accomplish anything. My parents told the doctors that of course I could grow up to do whatever I set my mind to do and they were going to bring me up with a positive attitude. That is exactly what they did.

I know that blindness is NOT the problem I face. Instead it is the poor attitudes and lack of substantive education about blindness that is the real problem. Blindness does not hold me back nor should it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
On September 11, 2001 I was the MidAtlantic Region Sales Manager for Quantum Corporation, a Fortune 500 company. I was hired to open and lead a New York office for the company. I opened the office on the 78th floor of Tower One of the World Trade Center on August 1, 2001. Unlike most leaders and WTC occupents, rather than relying on signs to tell me where to go and what to do I took many hours to learn all I could about the complex including learning all I could about emergency-related things.

On Sept. 11, when the building was attacked my emergency mindset clicked in and I was able not only to escape, but also to help others. Again, this was due to my absolute knowledge learned and gained over time.

After September 11, the media learned of my story and I also began receiving requests to speak to organizations about the lessons I learned concerning September 11. I also was asked to talk about leadership, trustand teamwork, resilience, the human-animal bond and emergency preparedness. I and my wife decided that selling life and philosophy was much more satisfying and rewarding than managing a computer hardware sales team and selling hardware. I have been a keynote public speaker now for over 23 years as a result. In 2021 I was invited to also join a company, accessiBe, that creates products that help make the internet and websites more inclusive for persons with disabilities. Today, only about %3 of all websites actually have on them items that make them accessible. accessiBe is making a significant difference in this regard. I also, at the request of accessiBe, host a podcast entitled “Unstoppable Mindset: where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet”.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
First, pay attention to details. I learned this in college while attaining my Master’s Degree in Physics and a 2ndary teaching cradential. Second, be open to trust. This does not mean that you should absolutely trust right out of the box. However, be more like a guide dog, as I discuss in my new book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”. Be open to developing trusting relationships.
Finally, don’t worry about what you can’t control, focus on what you can and the rest will take care of itself. Live this way and you will be much less fearful about what is around you. I discuss this concept in my NY Times Bestselling book, “Thunder Dog”.

Who is your ideal client or what sort of characteristics would make someone an ideal client for you?
In August of 2020 Tyndale House published my latest book, “Live Like A Guide Dog; true stories from a man and his dogs about being brave, overcoming adversity and moving forward in faith”. I and a colleague, Keri Wyatt Kent wrote this book because I realized that ever since I began speaking publicly I discussed how I escaped from the World Trade Center including staying calm. What I have not done over the past 23 years is work to teach others how they can learn to control their fears and, instead of being “blinded or overwhelmed by fear”, they can learn to control fear and use it as a powerful tool to help them especially in unexpceted and emergency situations. I look for audiences interested in learning how to reduce and control their own fears. My clients and/or audiences go across many boundaries. I travel and speak world-wide and am happy to talk with anyone seeking a motivational and inspirational speaker. More information can be found at https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/q8uxu9u7pap4puj5de7rg/h?rlkey=22bziy0wmghf8111kad73685y&dl=0. Here is a video of a talk I gave earlier this year, ,<https://youtu.be/YpDJwlcVySs?si=tVfJ6OcPm5qgr0RP>. I can be contacted via email at [email protected]. My website is https://www.michaelhingson.com.

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