Climbing for a Cause

I had the pleasure of spending time with two of my favorite people, Dylan Bates and Matt Smith, recently as not only podcast guests, but we christened the first Facebook Live version of the Living a Life in Full show.

Dylan is the CEO of ATI Physical Therapy, the largest, single brand physical therapy/sports medicine/rehabilitation company in the world with clinics coast to coast. Matt is the Senior Vice President of Growth and Development for ATI’s Western Region and they both are embarking on a two-pronged challenge: 1) Summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain on the African continent/one of the “Seven Summits” and 2) They are using this challenge as a fund and awareness raiser for the ATI Foundation, with a $1M donation target!

The ATI Foundation works to make a day-to-day impact on the lives of children with physical impairments and their families. The Foundation works under the leadership of Terry Williams, Vice President and Executive Director, to meet various needs, such as providing financial assistance for medical expenses, purchasing medical equipment not covered by insurance, donating adaptive bicycles for recreation and therapy, funding therapeutic horseback riding lessons, or covering travel and lodging expenses for families requiring out-of-state care.

They coined the term “Klimb4Kids” as the campaign’s call to action. Matt and Dylan came up with this sizable double challenge by way of Matt’s tradition to have especially unique birthdays on the ones that are “5s” and “10s.” No donated funds will be going toward expenses related to participation in the climb.

In this episode, we do a deep dive into their origin stories, why Kilimanjaro, their training, their passions and the very special children and families the ATI Foundation works with. We also discuss healthcare, leadership, teamwork, and their vision for making a difference.

Kilimanjaro is no easy feat. As noted it is one of the “Seven Summits” as well as the tallest mountain on the entirety of the African continent. I climbed it in 1992 and during our expedition, a skilled French expedition team member fell sick with Acute Mountain Sickness and needed to be emergency evacuated 2000 feet below the summit. So we wish Dylan and Matt all the best with their expedition and applaud their humanitarian ethos.

They are two great gentlemen living their lives in full, and to the benefit of others.

Show Notes:

1.     (0:43) The ATI Foundation, a 501 C (3) charitable organization that gives help and hope to children with physical impairments.

2.     (16:02) Summits for Others, a climbing/fundraising initiative.

3.     (16:08) Klimb4Kids, a climbing campaign with the goal of raising $1 million for the ATI Foundation.

4.     (26:28) The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization that supports climbers.

5.      (52:15) Contact info: klimb4kids.com, ATI’s Twitter account,

Listen on iTunes (Please subscribe, leave a rating, and help us make “New & Noteworthy”) or download here. You can also listen on Overcast, SoundCloud or Stitcher, as well.

The “Living a Life in Full” podcast is the conversation you always wanted to have with that person who gave an amazing TED talk, or the author of one your favorite books, or that inspirational Olympian you always wanted to know more about.

This show is for the intellectually curious. You want to not just know more about the interesting and the innovative, but also what makes them tick, and maybe even what makes them laugh. It’s graduate-level conversations with those making a difference in the world and the lives of others.

This show brings you new ideas and approaches so you can live a life in full.

The show is equal parts information and inspiration, but without the aphorisms and Pablum. We cover a wide range of topics in an engaging way—from Burning Man to The Renaissance Weekend, from the United Nations to top universities, Nobel Laureates to astronauts—we have an amazing Rolodex.

Interviewees are a who’s who of high performance athletes, bestselling authors, high-caliber leaders, world changing humanitarians, innovative researchers, amazing start-up founders, clever life-hackers, paradigm busting thought-leaders and global innovators.

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If you'd like to learn more or connect, please do at https://DrChrisStout.com. You can follow me on LinkedIn, or find my Tweets as well. And goodies and tools are available via https://ALifeInFull.org. If you liked this article, you may also like:

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