Risk & Business Magazine Gillons Insurance Fall 2015 | Page 16

Mountain Climbing with Rob Follows

We All Have
Mountains
to Climb
The Importance of
True Life Planning

BY: NEIL WADHWA, RISK & BUSINESS MAGAZINE

W

hile many people might hesitate when presented
with the opportunity to climb a mountain due to
the sheer level of preparation and commitment needed,
Rob turns to challenges, like climbing Mount Everest, as
opportunities to grow both personally and professionally.
Rather than keep the lessons he learned while climbing
Mount Everest close to his vest, Rob stands at the
mountaintops and shares his advice for everyone to hear.
This is to be expected of the man who founded Altruvest, a
charitable service started by Rob to enhance the governance
skills of charitable sector boards. For Rob, no challenge is
too big when proper preparation and planning is involved.

Rob Follows is an entrepreneur
adventurer. Not even a mountain
can stand in the way of Rob
accomplishing his goals—literally.

Earlier this month, Rob sat down with us to discuss the
challenges he faced while climbing Mount Everest, the lessons
he learned along the way, and the concept of a “death day.”
Neil: Right off the bat, people have described you as an
“entrepreneur adventurer.” What does that mean?
Rob: I think maybe the perception comes from the core of
what you’ll see in my speech: “Everyone Has Their Own
Everest: What is Yours?” Over the years, I’ve articulated
something that I feel passionate about: if people do
proper life planning by taking a step back and look at
the bigger picture, they can fit more into their lives.
They can be several things at once. They can be an
entrepreneur, a volunteer, an adventurer, and more. People
see adventure in all different levels. Some people think
drinking a different type of red wine is adventurous and
some people think that climbing mountains is adventurous.

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RISK & BUSINESS MAGAZINETM FALL 2015