Strange History

“Big Fish” is not my nickname, but maybe it should be?

Since my last name is Fisher and I’m about thirty pounds heavier than I would prefer to be, having a nickname of Big Fish isn’t that much of a stretch. However, I am referring to the 2003 Tim Burton film starring Ewan McGregor and Albert Finney. For those that are too young to have seen it or need a refresher course, it’s a story about a father’s stories to his son that are believed to be tall tales or outright lies. After the father has passed, the stories are revealed to be strongly steeped in truth and actual events. If you’re reading this, you are completely unfamiliar with my life. And as you discover more things about me, you’ll be sure to have some serious skepticism that all these events could have happened to one person. But they did, and I’m completely bewildered how my life has been as amazing as it has been.

Several life lessons have helped shape the person that I am today. The first one is that I shouldn’t even be writing this. I was born 6,816 miles away in Seongnam, South Korea. Some tragic situations resulted in my brother and I being adopted and coming to the US. Statistically speaking, the chance of a six year old boy being adopted with his biological brother are astoundingly low. And yet it occurred. The lesson learned from this is that some of the most awful experiences a human can go through were already ticked off at an early age. As Nietzsche said, “that which does not kill you makes you stronger.” Resiliency was learned at an early age in order to survive the time on the streets and the orphanage while taking care of my younger brother. Do I think resiliency is an important attribute to have in business? I challenge you to find one person who believes otherwise.

I came to the US in May of 1980, and by September, I was in first grade. That might not sound like a big deal, but keep in mind that just a few months earlier, I knew no English at all. I could speak Korean and read and write in Hangul. Hangul has no similarity to the Roman letters used in the English language. Later in that year of first grade, I took my standardized tests and got the results. I was reading at a 12th grade level despite being in the US for less than a year. What advantage does being a fast learner offer? Well, it’s allowed me, as an adult student again at Penn State, to get two majors in less than two years starting from scratch with a 3.90 GPA.

All I ever wanted to be when I grew up was an Army Ranger Captain. I was destined to go to West Point and serve my country. I was unfortunately medically disqualified from armed service due to an elbow broken in the orphanage that never healed correctly. What this meant is that the only job that I had ever desired was permanently denied to me. I’m quite used to not getting my way. I am very experienced in having my dreams crushed. Why is this valuable in business? Because when dreams die, when goals fall short, when outcomes are the worst possible ones imagined, I’m going to do what I’ve been doing since I was 17. Picking myself up, dusting myself off, and finding a different path.

Continuing on would just start sounding like boasting, and that is the absolute opposite message that I want to communicate here. What I hope that you are starting to realize is that the skills I have honed my entire life are ones that are becoming exceedingly rare in business. The miles under my belt are not ones that have been spent carelessly, but invaluable moments to add value to organizations that genuinely are looking for the best candidates in whatever capacity that I have to contribute. I’ve had an amazing career doing some truly wonderful things. But I’m only halfway done, and I feel that the version of me today is an even better model than the ones that were so successful previously. Why is that? Well, because I’ve been able to work on the biggest weakness that the earlier versions of me had. I wasn’t a very good team player. I expected everyone to follow me. How foolish I was. Now, my biggest desire is to cross finish lines together. It just feels so much better and natural. And trust me, nobody looks cool high-fiving themselves after success!