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Pulse : Your book , Fight for the Forgotten , has resonated with many people who want to help enhance the life experience of those less fortunate . Can you share how your book ’ s themes of resilience and overcoming challenges might inspire those in the spa industry , who often emphasize mental and physical well-being ?? JW : For me , ice baths have been a key to my mental health . So , I have to give that gift to myself every day . Resilience and overcoming challenges is part of every human ’ s life . You can ’ t escape tough times , challenges , obstacles and adversity . Sometimes we get to choose our adversity . I ’ ve chosen a line of work that oftentimes you can see hard and difficult circumstances in people ’ s lives . You can grieve loss , and there can be times things just really aren ’ t fair . Yet the people we serve , my second family , teach me about not needing the materialistic things in life that can often consume us in our culture , when we are busy chasing things outside of ourselves .

Pulse : The title of your podcast ,“ Overcome ,” suggests a focus on surmounting obstacles . How do you think the stories shared on your podcast can offer insights for dealing with the challenges of business and personal leadership ? JW : We can all learn from each other ’ s stories . Stories give us hope . Stories give us the needed encouragement to take courage and overcome , to rise up and win this fight called life . We can all take both personal and business lessons on leadership through how people led themselves through the wilderness and were able to overcome whatever mountain they were facing . So many times , we think people are an overnight success , and that ’ s never the case . Most of the time , it took people years , even decades , to get where they are . And I ’ m guessing that no matter what business or life point someone is at , we can all relate to that . n

Favorite spa treatment ? A Korean Spa , where you can try out all the different saunas and all the different cold plunges and all the different water massages and you can spend a full day there .

Best advice for a positive habit to prioritize ? Start your day with gratitude ! Then get in a cold plunge . Get in nature . Put your feet on the ground . Watch a sunset . Be grateful for it .

Lifelong dream you ’ re pursuing ? Impacting the Pygmy people group as a whole in all eight or nine African nations , the Mbuti , the Efe , the Batwa , the Twa , the Bambuti , the Baka , the Aka , the Bakola . And it might take my entire life to do that , but hopefully Fight for the Forgotten will outlive me . Another lifelong dream I ’ m pursuing is my love with my partner , Amy . And it will always be there and forward and deepen . There ’ s always more love . Always .

Something fun you ’ ll do while you ’ re in Phoenix ? Probably visit every booth with Amy , and get to know everybody and connect with this amazing community !

Most inspiring leader ? I like both Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius . The leader and the philosopher . If there wasn ’ t Pius , there wouldn ’ t have been Aurelius . The mentor and the mentee . Everyone knows the mentee and very few know of the forgotten mentor . I wear them around my neck on a pendant . It ’ s a Roman Denarius with one of them on each side , and Pius is over my heart , with Aurelius facing outward for everyone to see . I keep those inspirations close to me .

Mindset shift that made the most positive effect for your own life ? Appreciating the breath in my lungs and the beating heart in my chest , every day . Being a two-time suicide survivor , I ’ m literally living in the bonus rounds now , and every day is a gift .

22 PULSE n MARCH 2024