Chad Foster is a motivational keynote speaker, sales/finance leader, and inspirational change agent who works at Red Hat/IBM. He was the first blind executive to graduate from Harvard Business School’s Program for Leadership Development and has been featured with NBC, CBS, Forbes, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, USA Today, and Chief Executive Magazine.

After losing his eyesight while attending college in his early twenties, Chad started at a top consulting firm and has built a career in the technology industry, directing financial strategies and decisions resulting in more than $45 billion in contracts.

Determination, ambition, and resilience are the key drivers of his incredible journey. The Atlanta Opera has commissioned an opera inspired by his life story and his first book, Blind Ambition: How to Go from Victim to Visionary. Today, Chad speaks to corporate audiences and professional athletes, helping them develop resilience and overcome their own blind spots.

In this episode, Jason and Chad discuss:

• Overcoming blindness to build a billion-dollar tech career
• Power of gratitude in rewiring the brain and finding happiness
• Misconceptions about blindness and fostering patience and comfort
• Role of family support and resilience in facing adversity
• Pursuing ambitious goals through discomfort and incremental growth

Key Takeaways: 

• Gratitude emerges as a powerful tool for rewiring the brain and fostering a deeper appreciation for life's blessings, emphasizing the importance of daily practice.
• Resilience and discipline are highlighted as vital in overcoming hardships, with loved ones playing a pivotal role in providing support and encouragement.
• Embracing discomfort and viewing failure as a stepping stone reflect the transformative potential of continuous growth and incremental progress.
• An ambitious vision is essential, encouraging bold actions even without certainty, while failure is a natural aspect of innovation and exploration.
• The pursuit of purpose is framed as finding meaning through service to others, cultivating empathy, and inspiring intentionality and happiness in their lives.

“So, blindness taught me how to live a happier life. It taught me that success, similarly, is not some sort of destination that we arrive at. It's a way of thinking, it's a way of being. You know, it's not an event. It's a mindset.”

 - Chad Foster

Connect with Chad Foster:

Website: https://chadefoster.com/ | https://chadefoster.com/insightinterviews/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/chadfoster/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FindChadEFoster 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/FindChadEFoster 

Twitter: https://x.com/ChadEFoster 

Chad’s Book: https://chadefoster.com/book/blind-ambition/

Connect with Steve and Jason:

LinkedIn: Jason or Steve

Website: Rewire, Inc.: Transformed Thinking 

Email: [email protected]

Show notes by: Angelo Paul Tagama

Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.