Brett Godwin: High School Teacher And Soccer Coach | The Business Blast Podcast #257

Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.

All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner, and today I have Brett Godwin with us. He is a high school teacher and soccer coach, so welcome to the show, Brett.

Thanks for having me, Tyler.

Of course, thanks for joining us, and we'll dive in. The first question I have for you, Brett, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?

The best story for me would be playing soccer growing up. My senior year, I really had a goal to get a college scholarship, and that was something I pursued for a long time. And during my senior year, I had a really bad knee injury. And during the time, I was talking to a few colleges about playing for them during my next year of school. And as soon as that knee injury happened, a lot of those opportunities went away. And that was something completely unexpected. I had never been hurt before, and I had to grow up a lot in that moment. I never really faced that kind of adversity, and that really made me appreciate some of the opportunities I had been given, and it really made me appreciate hard work. And at the end of the day, it taught me a lot about myself, and I was able to rehab and come out with a scholarship and still achieve my goal. But it really made me kind of think inwards a little bit about myself and kind of my work ethic and what I needed to put forward. So it really taught me a lot about Appreciating opportunities, how you respond to adversity, and things like that.

And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?

I think for me, it's definitely being willing to listen and learn from other people, especially those who have more experience than you. You know, a lot of times we all think that we have the right answer and our way is the only way. And a lot of times people are going to give us advice that might not fit us best, but there are a lot of people that have experience that we don't, and it's good for us to be able to listen to them and really try and take what they know and apply it to our own situation and see how we can grow from their own advice.

And what is your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.

For me, I think it really boils down to networking, and it's not just networking and meeting other people, it's really maintaining those relationships and trying to really nurture and develop them over time. Because the more effort you put into growing them, the better they'll pay off for you in the long run. And you need to continue to not just try and meet as many people, but really establish some very strong connections. That's the best piece of business advice I'd have.

And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?

I would say don't be afraid to take any chances or risks. I mean, definitely I'm someone who is comfortable in certain situations when I get settled somewhere. So my best piece of advice for me would be to Don't be afraid to step out and take a chance that puts you in an uncomfortable situation because that's when we grow the most. And I think that's something that would definitely help my younger self push forward and grow even more than I already have at this point in my life.

And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?

I think surrounding yourself with people who share your goals. I think establishing relationships with them is important, but surrounding yourself with people who really share your vision your passion, the goals, and the things you want to accomplish both professionally and personally. I think that's so huge because you'll be so much happier with the people you spend time with, and that really makes a huge impact on your life.

And what is the best book that you've read, and what was the number one thing you learned from that?

The best book I've ever read was Coming Back Stronger by Drew Brees, the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. The thing I took away from that is that everyone gets adversity. And no matter who you are, how famous you are, how unknown you might be, everyone's going to get adversity. And it's not necessarily a choice of when you get adversity, but the thing I took away is you have a choice of how you respond to that and how you can actually apply what you learn from that adversity towards your own life. I think that is the thing that really defines a lot of us and who we are is how you really decide to respond to those moments when things are going against you.

And what is your favorite quote and why?

My favorite quote actually is by Jim Valvano, the basketball coach for NC State. It's, "Don't give up. Don't ever give up." That really is something I've tried to live my life by, just my personality in my personal life and my work life, just in my free time. And it just really sums up the mentality I like and the people I like to surround myself with, people who are fighters, people who are tenacious, and people who really want to push themselves no matter what the circumstances are. To better themselves and the people around them.

Thank you so much for coming on, man. The last question I have for you before we let you go is, where's the best place for people to find you online?

The best place would be on LinkedIn. You can search me, Brett Godwin, on there. That'd be the best place.

Perfect, man. Thanks again for joining us. We appreciate it.

Thanks for having me, Tyler Wagner. The podcast you just heard was recorded with Anchor. If you want to make your own, download the Android or iOS app completely free from anchor.fm/podcast. That's anchor.fm/podcast.