Name: Greg A. Pestinger

Title: Founder, Chief Vision Officer

Company: FocalPoint Business Coaching and Kykeon Coaching

How long have you been a GLI Ambassador?:  5 years

What is your favorite part about being a GLI Ambassador? What I like most about GLI is the incredible people that I get to meet and work with; Louisville’s top business performers and civic leaders who have chosen to give back to share their talents and treasure to make Louisville a great place to work and play.

 

A fun fact about me is… I am insanely curious; I read a lot, try new things and always look for the next thing. I find this outlet in outdoor sports, hiking, occasionally racing sports cars, and shooting trap.  This curious approach has it’s wins and challenges but in the end an opportunity to grow. My book, The Road to Purpose, is a story of one such experience of experiencing the lowest of lows and finding out that life on the other side is even more amazing.

 

What is the best career advice you’ve received? The best ever career advice I ever received was from my dad. The company he founded is now well into its third generation and his words ring true today. He is by far the best business man I have ever known and as a kid working for him, one of the toughest bosses I have ever had. The first one was to protect your name and your credit. My simple interpretation of this one translates to protect your brand, it takes a lifetime to build a personal brand and only a few seconds to completely destroy it. In family business, business really, honoring your word especially when it comes to leveraging other people’s money can make or break a business, not to mention your name and reputation. The final advice was to “treat others as THEY want to be treated”. I later learned this to be the platinum rule and it has become the foundation for my approach to customer service.

 

What does being a GLI investor mean to you? First and foremost, we believe that life has meaning and purpose. That we are here for a reason and have the capacity to achieve our greatest dreams . . . to realize our full potential. GLI allows me to bring that purpose to life, to: “Aspire to inspire greatness. To transform the lives of people so that they can be more, give more and have more.”

GLI also allows me to work with very, very talented businesses, high performing owners, teams and incredible young people who know that they have what it takes to truly be great. High performers that utilize outside help to navigate their challenges, sometimes simply get out of their own way, in order to realize their goals faster than they could on their own. The really awesome thing is that when businesses go from very good to great, those around them; their families, their employees and their communities all grow as well. By participating in GLI networking events, providing workshops, sponsoring events and acting as an Ambassador, I get the privilege to do what I do best every single day. That is an awesome thing, being able to make a living, doing what you love and helping people have better lives along the way.

 

What is your favorite thing to do in Louisville? The great thing about Louisville is that there is so much to do. What I find myself doing most is mentoring young adults. So much potential, so much talent, so much passion and often empty inside.  We live in a society today that is more connected than it has ever been in the history of mankind, yet our young people often find themselves lonely, empty and in extreme cases anxious and depressed. So often finding meaning and purpose and a plan to take their God given talents and put them to work in service to others is all it takes. There is no greater feeling than seeing a young person find their true self and go to work sharing that with the world. It’s amazing for them, amazing for those around them and so very amazing for the world.

 

What do you do to make greater Louisville GREATER?  I currently volunteer my time with young adults with my fraternity, the University of Louisville and other young professional organizations. Statistics today are alarming, especially in the 18-24 year segment. Recent CDC data found that 25.5% of this age group has considered suicide as a solution for their lives. 63% suffer from axienty or depression and 75% have had one or more mental health episodes. For young men, suicide is up as much as 70% and is overtaking accidents as the leading cause of death in this segment. This is unacceptable, breaks my heart and is an epidemic in our country. We can and must address this head on. We must end suicide in young people in our lifetime and we are committed to making that a priority for our company.

For me, there is nothing more rewarding than helping a young person navigate the challenges of early adult life, helping them discover inside themselves their own amazing talents and putting those talents to work in service to others. Our programs are geared to utilize the 90% of time they are out of the classroom to build the leadership skills that will prepare them for a productive and fulfilling adult life. We are committed to up our game in this area and are bringing that to life in a new start up company we have launched called Kykeon Coaching. This program is focused directly on the young adult who needs that little extra help to truly know themselves, the inspiration and skills they need to be confident in being their authentic self and most importantly to truly love themselves for who they are.  We see an opportunity to help young people find success, however they define that to be, create belonging and build much needed resiliency. We have high hopes for Kykeon and look forward to seeing just where we can take this new model that serves young people where they are and gets them to who they want to be.