An entrepreneur for over 35 years, Gary Mottershead is the founder and president of GCP Industrial Products, the largest U.S. importer of industrial sheet rubber, serving customers across North America. In this episode, he shares the highs and lows of his career, as well as his goals as a Program Coach for The Strategic Coach® Program.

Here’s some of what you’ll learn in this episode:

• What Gary considers to be his most important responsibility.
• How Gary’s entrepreneurial career started with an actual tire fire.
• How he and his team built up their “crisis muscle.” 
• Why reinterpreting your past and protecting your present is crucial to entrepreneurial success. 
• How Strategic Coach® helps entrepreneurs sharpen their vision. 
• Why Gary chose to write a book—and what he learned from the process.
• How entrepreneurs can overcome FOMO. 

Show Notes:

If you’re going to bring children into the world, you should look after them.

Having a support system at home is vital to the success of any entrepreneurial family.

Stability in some areas of your life can give you the energy to handle changes in others.

Sometimes, not making a decision is the greater risk.

There are things entrepreneurs feel compelled to do without knowing why.

Trying to be significant before you’re successful is doing things backwards.

The time isn’t up unless you decide it’s up.

The mark of an entrepreneur is not how often you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up.

You’ll handle a situation more calmly if you’ve experienced something similar before.

Being nimble is a mindset.

Forgiveness means letting go of the hope for a better past.

You can rewrite your own story, keeping only what’s important.

The future isn’t written yet—which means you can still shape it.

Entrepreneurship is a lifestyle, not just a job.

Without intention and direction, too much information can paralyze you.

The hardest thing for an entrepreneur is being honest with themselves.

You can only help those who want to be helped.

Resources:

Kolbe A™ Index

Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Nimble Future: Reinterpret Your Past, Protect Your Present, Engage In Your Future by Gary Mottershead

Unique Ability®

Time Management Strategies For Entrepreneurs (Effective Strategies Only)

The 4 Freedoms That Motivate Successful Entrepreneurs

The Self-Managing Company by Dan Sullivan