Name:  Mike Weathers

Where were you born and raised?
I was born on Williams Air Force Base, AZ (where my father was in pilot training) and was raised outside of Nashville, TN.

What’s a short story around the biggest transition you’ve faced in life?
I retired from the Army in 2015 with no real preparation or plan. To say it wasn’t easy is an understatement, it was practically terrifying. I was extremely fortunate that a small group of friends made helping me transition their personal priority. Through them I was ultimately connected with a small business owner willing to take a chance on me. Those men didn’t simply help me find a job, they literally set me on a path that was genuinely life changing. The mark those efforts left on me led me to volunteer as a coach at THF many years later. THF has taken what, for me, was an ad hoc experience and made it professional, repeatable, and scalable.

What’s the one piece of advice you’d give a younger you?
Hard times pass quicker than you think, but so do great times – so be just as present and intentional in one as you are in the other.

Your Personal Why?
To help those around me be successful, however they define it.

How does your Why drive you to be a part of the THF Ecosystem?
My why is rooted in a quote my first commander included in my in-brief – “Make your boss successful and make your subordinates successful, and you will have been successful.” The best organizations and best leaders I have ever been around, in the military and in the business world, all embraced some version of this same philosophy. THF lives it, organizationally and individually, every day – who doesn’t want to be a part of that kind of team.

Military Connection or Why do you respect Special Operators?
Military service runs deep in my family, including grandparents, uncles, and cousins. My father was a career C-130 pilot. I spent 20 years in Army Special Forces and had family in other Army Special Operations career fields as well. Over a third of my Army career was spent in joint Special Operations units where I was able to work with fantastic teammates from across every SOF tribe and all manner of critical SOF support personnel.

Favorite THF Value, and why?
“Fierce Empathy” – This, to me, means not just caring enough about someone to understand their burdens, but to lean in and help them manage them until they can do it on their own. We all need some of this grace at some point in our lives, so we all should give it when we are able.

Area/Industry of expertise:
Defense contracting, IT industry, Sales, Sales Management, P&L ownership

Contact Mike directly at mike.weathers@honor.org.