56. The Gifts of Going Blind with Chad Foster: International Motivational Speaker

05/26/21 • 43 min

“I wasn't responsible for my blindness, but I had to be accountable for my life and its outcomes. It's my life. I have to own it. It's your life. You have to own it.” - Chad Foster

Failed it! Fam, on today’s episode we have inspirational speaker, Chad Foster with us! He truly took lemons and made lemonade with the visual impairment he acquired in college. With his blindness, he has done so much more than thought possible – a Harvard Business School Leadership Program graduate who climbed the corporate ladder and only wants to share his story so people don’t have to go through what he’s gone through to learn what he’s learned. Please give a warm welcome to Chad Foster!

In today’s episode, Chad talks to us about:

Living life blind
Overcoming challenges through resilience
“Ambitionitis”
#SargeTheGuideDog

Links from show discussions:

About the Guest: Chad Foster is a husband, a father, and an avid snow skier who is not just competing with his condition, he is competing with the world's most successful people. Chad believes he is not successful in spite of being blind, but rather he is successful because he is blind. He embraced his problem and turned it in to a solution. Can you imagine going blind as a teenager? When most people were preparing for the adventure of adult life, Chad Foster was watching the world he grew up in fade to black, but that didn't stop him from becoming the first blind person to graduate from the Harvard Business School Leadership Program and climbing the corporate ladder as a successful sales executive throughout his career. His financial strategies and decisions have resulted in the creation of countless jobs. Billions of dollars in revenue industry leading growth and best in class margins. He works at Red Hat, one of the most innovative tech companies and the world's largest open source software company, which was recently purchased by IBM for 34 billion. With determination, ambition and drive, he created what Oracle said would be impossible. He gave millions of people the ability to earn a living by becoming the first to create customer relationship software for the visually impaired. While with speaking invites from London to Beijing and the Atlanta Opera commissioning an opera inspired by his life story, Chad inspires people to overcome their own blind spots.

About the Host: Erin Diehl is the founder and Chief “Yes, And” officer of improve it! and host of the failed it! Podcast. She’s a performer, facilitator and professional risk-taker who lives by the mantra, “get comfortable with the uncomfortable.” Through a series of unrelated dares, Erin has created improve it!, a unique professional development company that pushes others to laugh, learn and grow. Her work with clients such as United Airlines, PepsiCo, Groupon, Deloitte, Motorola, Walgreens, and The Obama Foundation earned her the 2014 Chicago RedEye Big Idea Award and has nominated her for the 2015-2019 Chicago Innovations Award.

This graduate from Clemson University is a former experiential marketing and recruiting professional as well as a veteran improviser from the top improvisational training programs in Chicago, including The Second City, i.O. Theater, and The Annoyance Theatre.

When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.

You can follow the failed it! podcast on Instagram @learntoimproveit and facebook, and you can follow Erin personally on Instagram @keepinitrealdiehl here. You can also check out improve it! and how we can help your organization at www.learntoimproveit.com. We can’t wait to connect with you online!

“I wasn't responsible for my blindness, but I had to be accountable for my life and its outcomes. It's my life. I have to own it. It's your life. You have to own it.” - Chad Foster

In today’s episode, Chad talks to us about:

Living life blind
Overcoming challenges through resilience
“Ambitionitis”
#SargeTheGuideDog

Links from show discussions:

When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.

Previous Episode

55. 5 Tips on How to Lead Remote or Hybrid Teams

“Celebrating is so good for the soul. Celebrating the fails reminds everyone that they're human, that they're trying, and that they can come up with solutions to make the place they work, a place that they want to come to for years to come.” - Erin Diehl

Do you lead a team at work and are prepping to go hybrid? In this episode, Erin reflects back from when the pandemic started to now and how much change we’ve endured. Listen in as she provides tips on how to lead rock star remote or hybrid teams!

In today’s episode, Erin talks to us about:

improve it!’s evolution
Helpful tips for leaders during this time
The importance of celebrating wins and losses

Links from show discussions:

When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.

Next Episode

57. Imperfections in Perseverance: How to Never Give Up with Casting Director, Lisa Stokes

“Failure is not for the weak at heart. It's not, you have to own your failures in persevere through it because they allow you to grow.” - Lisa Stokes

Failed it! Fam, on today’s episode we have a sports and entertainment expert with us, Lisa Stokes! Listen in as she tells us stories of overcoming setbacks in her career, how 2020 was the hardest year of her professional and personal life, and how hardships can lead to some of your greatest gifts.

In today’s episode, Lisa talks to us about:

A day in the life of a sports business professional
When life throws you unexpected hardships
Resilience and perseverance

Links from show discussions:

F Words at Work with improve it!
Instagram & Twitter: @LisaAStokes
NeverLoseYourCape.com

About the Guest: Lisa Stokes has been in the sports and entertainment world for over 15 years as a Director of Casting, Talent Booking and Athlete Marketing. With two years in non-profit public relations and 13 years at ESPN, she has extensive experience within all areas of television and film talent procurement, celebrity and athlete booking, as well as influencer castings. Through her career, Lisa has built a large team and managed many areas of the sports business world. Lisa works with agents, PR firms, publicists, production companies and movie studio clients on a regular basis. You can see her work in commercials for Sony Pictures, Netflix, Land Rover, Universal Pictures, Warner Brothers, Paramount, Kellogg and other major national companies and brands (campaigns can be seen in the “My Portfolio” tab). Negotiating and executing all talent contracts and strategies is also one of her seasoned skills. Lisa also was the casting director and booker for ESPN’s high acclaimed annual espnW Women + Sports Summit. In Lisa’s previous roles, she ran the talent content booking department for seven years, securing guests for all ESPN television shows. This also included visitors to ESPN who go through the “Bristol Car Wash,” the somewhat tongue-in-cheek term for the often-hectic schedule sports and entertainment celebrities undertake in appearing all over ESPN family of digital, social and linear networks. Lisa also worked for the Women’s Sports Foundation in public relations, managing logistics of events such as press conferences, satellite media tours and professional and Olympic athlete appearances. She also wrote stories for and edited publications, was a ghost writer for the CEO, president and founder, and worked with the media on increasing the foundation’s profile.Lisa graduated summa cum laude from Georgetown University with a graduate degree in Sports Business Management and Boston’s Suffolk University with a bachelor’s degree in communications and journalism. Lisa is also graduate school professor at NYU and Georgetown University. The former college hooper also coached basketball at every level for 15 years. She resides in the Boston area with her husband and three young children.

When she is not playing pretend or facilitating, she enjoys running and beach dates with her husband and son, and their eight pound toy poodle, BIGG Diehl.