Episode Notes

I am determined not to give up on what John Paul Lederach calls our basic social contract. At WeMentor, humanization is honored through respect and having honorable disagreements. We encourage taking responsibility for your actions and outcomes to debilitate blame and diffuse shame. We validate emotions through dialogue, healthy debate, and conversation to replace violence and facilitate self-leadership mastery. On January 21^st, 2021, I am starting a virtual Meaningful Conversations LAB you are invited to join. Let’s bind the social fabric of our world together through our businesses. Click here for details. The first conversation is on me.

 Not every venture works out. Today’s Guest Mentor, Tim Gilk of Wood & Conn Corporation, runs the history tables on himself in a free-flowing conversation about how he became resilient after his 1^st venture failed. Hear how he mustered up the courage to confront the facts and humble himself after his setback. The old saying, when one door closes, another opens is embedded in Tim’s history and his outlook on life.

Tim became the owner of Wood & Conn Corporation in 2006. A wholesale distributor of grain handling (mainly corn and soybeans) and grain storage products. They sell, service, and deliver to dealers all over Minnesota and the Dakotas. Whatever farmers need to store grain, they find at a dealership connected to Wood & Conn Corporation. DOWNLOAD

Additional things to listen for in our enjoyable conversation:

• Five words describing his mother and father.
• Growing up in an entrepreneurial home with two sisters and two children from the foster care system.
• Perspectives on entrepreneurship as a child and from his adult self.
• Accepting a business failure.
• Four different ventures and the lifestyles created from them.
• Happiness and unshakeable calm and confidence; aspects of resiliency.
• Practicing what you are good at and understanding what you aren’t good at.
• The power of a role model in business.
• Being mentored by Dave Wood.
• Upholding core values from one generation to the next at Wood & Conn Corporation.
• Finding stability and fulfillment in an adventurous life.