Thomas Phillips, a college athletics professional and doctorate candidate, argues that readers become leaders and that lifelong learning drives success. He recommends Grit, Mindset, and Start With Why, and credits Theodore Roosevelt's "Man in the Arena" speech for teaching him to embrace risk and criticism. His core advice: be patient, do the unglamorous work, and stay humble.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Wags Media. Wags Media provides you with everything you need to generate more customers and grow your brand. Head on over to wagsmedia.com, W-A-G-S-M-E-D-I-A dot com, to enter a contest where you can win a free done-for-you custom website valued at $2,500 for a limited time only. 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. Today I have Thomas Phillips with us. He is in higher education in college athletics and is going for his doctorate. And is also an adjunct professor. So welcome to the show, man.
Yes, sir. Thank you for having me.
Of course, man. Grateful to have you here. Um, we'll dive right into the first one. The first one I have for you, Thomas, is what is the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Uh, from a professional standpoint, it would probably be, um, I took a job right out of college that was not necessarily a job that I wanted, um, and it was a struggle for me I didn't understand what the expectations were for me. They weren't communicated very clearly. I felt in a lot of ways like I was failing. And I think that was honestly a good thing for me because it humbled me and it taught me that sometimes you can put your best foot forward and still fail, and that's not necessarily a bad thing. You need to learn from the failure. Mm-hmm.
And what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that's within your expertise or industry?
Well, being that I work in higher education and specifically college athletics, I think that being a lifelong learner is vital. Not necessarily just from obviously being in higher education, they encourage you to get as many degrees as possible. But having a passion for learning, I think, really takes you to the next step, no matter what your specific title is. The whole adage goes, readers are leaders. And people that are constantly trying to learn and adapt are the people that typically seem to rise to the top. I think, especially in higher education, but really in all industries, having a passion for learning may take you a long way.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry-specific.
I think sometimes you have to be willing to be patient. At least this has been in my life. You have to be willing to do the dirty work and be at the bottom of the organization. And that's not necessarily an easy thing to do. It's not very flashy. It's not all those things that you think coming out of college, man, I'm just gonna step right into this great gig. And often that's not really the case. So I think you have to be willing to put your best foot forward, to be patient, and to be willing to put in the work so you can get to where you want to go.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Kind of the same thing. I would tell myself, again, be patient, man. You're gonna have to wait. Much longer to get your break than you probably ever thought you would. And you're gonna have to do some dirty work. You know, I started off my professional career as an equipment manager washing laundry, and that's not necessarily a fun job. And so I've had to work and claw and scratch and try to make something of myself professionally. And so I think I would tell myself to be patient, and at the same time, Be humble. Realize that I'm not the greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm not the smartest person in the room. And to know that and to accept it and to be willing to learn and grow.
And in your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
I think finding a purpose. To me, purpose is when you find whatever your passion is, and you find a way to take your passion and help others do it. So for me, I've always been passionate about athletics, specifically college athletics for the last almost 10 years now. And really just recently I've started to figure out my purpose is, hey, I love athletics and I've worked in it a long time, but how can I use that love of athletics to help others? I think happiness and emotions are fleeting emotions. So I think, you know, what you have to do if you really want to find happiness is to try to be fulfilled. And I think you do that by serving and helping others.
And what is the best book that you've read and what was the number one thing you learned from that?
That's a trick question for me. I love books. I'm going to go with some kind of cliché answers. And these are just three that I've read in the last since January, but Grit by Angela Duckworth, I think is a fantastic book. She talks about stick-to-it-ness and finding ways to really delve past adversities and things, and that oftentimes grit is the difference in somebody being successful versus somebody not being successful. Another book I read this year that I really loved was Mindset by Carol Dweck. She talks about growth versus fixed mindset, how people that, again, are growing and they're leading and they're changing are ones that, again, see failure as an opportunity for learning and growth. And then lastly, one of my favorite books I've read this year is Start With Why by Simon Sinek. And I think it's absolutely vital to anybody to understand again what my purpose is. What is my why? Why am I here? And to put that first above everything else. If you're a business, you know, what is your company's reason for existing more so than just making money? And so the golden circle, so start with your why, and my why is this, and how do I do that? And lastly, this is the product that we provides. So those are the three that I really love this year.
Yeah, I love Simon Sinek. He's awesome.
He's fantastic.
And what's your favorite quote and why?
I actually have this one written down because I can't memorize it, but one of my favorite, or really my favorite president ever, is Teddy Roosevelt. He's a man's man and scholar. Dude did anything and everything, but I love his little excerpt from the Man in the Arena speech. Which says, it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in worthy cause, who at best knows the end-time of high achievement, who at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. I love that quote because I think it reminds us that, hey, you know, sometimes you have to, again, you have to be willing to fail, you have to be willing to try. My high school football coach used to tell us, if you're gonna make a mistake, make it at 120 miles an hour. And that's something that I've tried to live my life by. I like to be all out at whatever it is, and if I mess up, I mess up, and then we'll readjust. And I think that often, especially in the social media climate, we let the critics speak louder, but I think there's A lot to be said for those that are actually in the arena getting dirty or doing whatever it is, not necessarily the armchair quarterback, so to speak.
Dude, thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where is the best place for people to find you online?
Yeah, you can look me up on LinkedIn, and then probably the best place would be my Twitter. My handle is @TLPhillips. 7-12-90. Um, and you can find me either of those places.
Perfect, man. Have a great rest of your day.
Yes, sir. You too. Thank you.
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