High School

As our nation celebrates Juneteenth today, I reflected on a personal story from High School and a friend's journey. As probably everyone can relate, high school can be tough, but the story of Tommy Watson may put our own “tough” experience into perspective. 

I went to Mullen High School, a Catholic School in Denver, Colorado, where Tommy was one of my classmates that I looked up to. He was one of the kindest and friendliest guys in the school, and he was a star football player. Tommy was the glue for our class - the guy everybody looked up to; the guy everybody loved. 

What we didn’t know at the time, and only found out 10 years ago when he shared his story on Facebook, was how tough Tommy’s life was outside of school. Tommy’s parents had been arrested 121 times before he graduated, his family moved from one motel room to another, and for the last 6 months of high school Tommy was homeless. I didn’t know it at the time, and it breaks my heart today realizing how much Tommy shouldered. 

Tommy was awarded a full athletic scholarship to the University of Minnesota for football, and was on track for the NFL, until he had a career ending injury. But that didn’t stop Tommy. He went on to earn 4 degrees to include a doctorate, published several books on leadership, and recently his story was made into a movie. Today, Tommy speaks across the country to organizations on the power of Resilience, using his own experiences as a way to inspire, and coach people through tough times.

I spoke with Tommy last week and asked him to speak with Potrero during one of our upcoming Lunch and Learns, and he will be our VIP zoom guest next Thursday. I am personally excited for our team to hear Tommy’s story and truly realize the power of Resilience.

With all that we are facing in our world today, I know many are looking for inspiration and ways to become more resilient. If you would like for me to put you in touch with Tommy to speak with your company or group, please comment below or visit https://www.tawatson.com/ 

Have a great day, and take a moment to reflect on Juneteenth on how we can all be agents of change. By the way, Tommy should have been pictured in my yearbook row in the picture above, but he didn't have the money for senior pictures...Tommy's reply today when he texted these over "thank goodness for sports, otherwise I wouldn't have made the yearbook". That shouldn't ever happen - Tommy your resilience is an example for us all.

Check out Tommy's incredible story in the video link below.