Your Legacy Is What’s Said About You When You Leave the Room with Dr. Hoby Wedler
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:00:08
That’s an interesting perspective. I haven’t. I haven’t thought about that. But it’s, it’s interesting. Well did,
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:00:13
did your family all of a sudden, start calling you Dr. Wedler when you graduated?
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:00:19
No, no. And I I’m very particular about that I like to go by my first name, and just do that’s, that’s who I am.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:00:26
Yeah, no, well, I agree. But outside of professional, I agree. 100%. But it’s important, do you You worked hard to earn that credential. So it’s important that you put it out there, you know, when you’re when you’re dealing with things professionally. But that’s true. Let me let me as we start to transition towards the end of our conversation here, you have done so many interesting and and unconventional things. I’m wondering what else is on the list for you is there sort of a bucket list item, or we’re not even a bucket list item, but just something that you have that you feel is on your path, your your evolution, your growth, that that you want to see happen in the next, you know, whether it’s year or five years or 10 years, whatever it might be, what what sort of thing is still out there for you that that you’d like to see happen.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:01:16
In the next several years, my goal is to I really want to bring ease and and, and more ability to people’s lives. And I do have a passion for drink, a lot of my work has been done in that industry. And I also have a huge passion for teaching. So I am in the midst right now of starting a brand of basically ingredients that that enhance flavor in your kitchen that you can use to cook foods with to add more flavor and add more excitement. So whether they be rums or spices or sauces or salad dressings, things that add flavor. So not selling, you know, done foods like already for you, but like, how can we how can you add your in your home, add more flavor and make food and beverage even more exciting. So that’s the midst of doing now, I really do in the next in the next five to 10 years have a dream of starting my own wine label. I’m just a total entrepreneur, I you know, even an entrepreneur, let me tell anyone who’s thinking about about giving it a go, is a lot of work. And you have to be really, you have to just be so patient as an entrepreneur, I think my life growing up as a blind person in a sighted world has really taught me a lot of that patience. Sometimes even then it’s hard to hard to keep my cool but you know, it’s, it’s about it’s about starting things and rolling with them and, and getting people excited about them, you know, and marketing them well. So I just want to teach people how they can make things in their kitchen right now taste even better, and pop even more. And then in the future, you will hopefully within the next 10 years see a wine brand out there that that I curated, I really have a goal of doing that and really being in the thick of straddling that intersection between art and science, all the while, you know, keeping going with the with the branding companies and really maintaining that and, and also you mentioned at the beginning of our conversation, Accessible Science, which is the nonprofit that I co-founded back in 2012, designed to teach chemistry to blind or visually impaired high school and early college students. Now the point there is not to create a bunch of chemists who are blind, the point there is to use chemistry and science in general as a lens to show these students that no matter how visual science seems, they don’t have to let that that nature that visual nature, hold them back right from pursuing their dreams with the utmost confidence and happiness. So giving back as a huge part of my life, I serve on the boards of two nonprofits right now with the Earle Baum Center of the Blind, which is a training center and the Petaluma Educational Foundation, which is a very local educational foundation funding grants and scholarships to students, to students where I live, you know, the whole goal, I just I want to give back on I want to allow people to be their best selves and what this is sort of part of the coaching program that I’m starting I really want people to, to just be able to understand the good in themselves and see the good in themselves and, and take that and run with it. You know, and that’s that’s what the world is all about is showing people that hey, we’re all good people, you know, and just be be aware of your surroundings, be aware of yourself and, and really see that good in yourself and use that to unlock so much potential. So I’m always going to be somebody who wants to get back and does get back on my career, and I want to create, you know, business opportunities that allow me to give back even more than I Now,
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:05:00
I feel like we’re kindred spirits. They’re the main reason. I mean, I could work with people in a variety of ways, doing variety of different things. The reason why I chose Dissertation Done is because I’ve seen so many doctoral students that had this, really this coin flip, but they face is a 50/50 prospect of being able to graduate when you go into a doctoral degree program, and being able to get them over the hump and get them out there into the world, so that they can share their gifts, and shine their light and make the world a better place is the satisfaction I get out of the work that I do there. I think that that notion, getting people out there, so that they can use their gifts and abilities and their kind of mission in life to make this world a better place, and might sound hokey or corny. But I think that that’s, you know, when you, when you boil it down, I think that you should have something where you can say in your life, this is what I did. And this is what I was good at. And I did it because I enjoyed it. But ultimately, what’s the legacy there? How does it make the world a better place, and that legacy could be geographically small, it could be geographically dispersed, it could be short periods of time, or it could be very long windows of time. But you should always be thinking about whatever you’re doing for your career. How is it making the world a better place? And it’s true for everybody. I really, truly believe in career. Yeah, the The, the, you know, the guy that that sweeps the floors, or the person that takes the trash out in the curb, they really are making the world a better place. And if you think they aren’t just trying to get along without thinking again. Yeah, absolutely.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:06:34
Yeah. You know, you get your mail delivered every every day, you know, and we take that for granted this person who is dedicating their life to making sure that we have materials that people want to give us. That’s right. You know, it’s so significant, how much of the like how everybody, every profession, everything we do is about is about giving back and making this world a better place. And I really think that, to me, legacy, is what is said about you, when you leave a table at a cocktail party, what you can decide, you know, what is your legacy, you you, you will create an impression. And I think that impression is your legacy.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:07:14
And I like that it’s not about that, I think that that gives gives it a little bit more immediacy, that is not about what do people say about you when you die? But what do people say about you, when you leave the room? Like right now you leave this room? What are people going to say about you? That’s a really cool way of thinking about it.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:07:33
And I love what your Thank you, and I love what you’re saying about about what you do with Dissertation Done, it’s really a way to give back. It’s really a way to help students succeed. And, you know, you said at the beginning of the podcast, you know, you you fast track students in a in a really in a really big and positive way. So I think that’s, that’s awesome. We both have our ways of giving back. And let’s just keep doing that.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:07:56
Yeah. But for me, again, it’s not just that level, it’s what those students what I know they’re going to do, because I’ve heard from them so many times about what they are doing after the after they graduated. And that’s what I think is the real reward is that second step legacy, yeah, help them reduce stress and get things done quicker, but they’re going out in the world and making it a better place. That’s what I really think it’s cool.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:08:20
When you’re that you’re that mentor, you know, this is another thing that I love doing is mentoring and you’re doing it like, you’re gonna have students that you hear from 10 years after they graduate, they’re gonna write to you and say, Dr. Strickland, what you did for me is amazing. It got me to the next level and how good does that make you feel? Positive you know, I got a I got an email from from one of my sort of inaugural chemistry camp students from Accessible Science, totally blind guy, or very, very low vision, he’s got just a little bit of vision can’t doesn’t really read print. And he just said, Hey, I just got my PhD in physics, and I’m going to get my postdoc, and it’s really count on your camp that I’ve realized I could do this. And say, you know what, that’s why we do this work. I mean, we that’s not why but it’s such a, it’s the cherry on top, if you will, of the of the work that we’re doing.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:09:08
Well, it is in a very real sense why you do it is because you know, you go out there and you works it is you work hard for a lot of people and they and and you make various degrees of impact on all the people that you interact with, but occasionally you get a home run and what does that do? For for our society? It’s true. I mean, who knows that this kid’s not going to go out there and figure out, you know, how are we going to link gravity to all the other forces which, you know, if you’re not a physics geek, that might not sound like much, but that’s the big thing. I love it. Um, so who knows, but I know you’d rather go by Hoby I’m going to still say Dr. Wedler, if someone wants to reach out to you and get get in touch with you, later on after this podcast, what’s the best way for them to do that?
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:09:56
Go ahead and visit me at at www.hobywedler.com That site leads you to the Senspoint site, which is my company with a couple of other co founders couple other partners. But I’m building up www.hobywedler.com, which has all my online, you know, doctoral work as well as you know, some of some of these insights that we’re talking about here today, there’s going to be a there’s a contact page there, you can easily get ahold of me there, or you can you can email me at hoby@hobywedler.com.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:10:33
right, keep it very reachable,
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:10:35
I’ll make super clear that I am very reachable. I want anyone and everyone to reach out, I’m always up for a great conversation. And I just love getting to know new people. And by all means, feel free to add me on LinkedIn, if you do that. Just Just let me know that you that you found me through this podcast, and I’m excited. I’m excited to meet all of you.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:10:57
So I want to know, I want to hear back from you when we start getting these these different rubs and spices and things that you talked about because Absolutely, I like to cook, I’m not a chef. I’m not trained. And, and I’m also I, when I cook, I there’s science to it, you got to cook things kind of the right way in order for them to get done. But I like to I’m going to cook something, I’ll go onto YouTube. And I’ll watch a few videos where they talk about how to get it done. And then I say okay, that’s the basics. they’ll teach you how to do it all the way. But I just want the basics, then I’m going to go and riff off of that and do what I want to do and add things I want to add to it. So I can’t wait to see some of this stuff. Because that might add a few you know, brushes to my palette so to speak. I’m Oh man.
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:11:43
No, I’m excited about that. I’m excited for you to try this stuff. It’s, it’s my passion. It’s a lot of fun. I put a lot of r&d into it. So I’m excited to continue chatting with you. And for all the listeners all it is basically an e commerce, you know, food company and all the information there all the useful information there will be up on www.hobywedler.com.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:12:02
So we’ll we will get that to you guys. It may be there by the time that you you watch these podcasts or listen to podcasts,
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:12:08
maybe, maybe, let’s hope so.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:12:11
So I want to thank Dr. Wedler. For for being here. I want to also just remind everybody that this episode has been brought to you by Dissertation Done and you can reach out to us, there’s really two ways that we that we would like to be able to help you. And one is if you’re a doctoral student, you’re beginning to work on your dissertation, you’re struggling through the middle of it. Or even if you think you’re almost done, reach out to us at www.dissertationdone.com/done. And we’ll see what we can do to help you get there that much quicker, and with a little less frustration. And again, if you’re out there living your unconventional life right now, and you really want to expand that authority, so you can help more people, your dissertation doesn’t get read by anybody after you graduate. For the most part, there are a few exceptions. But when you write your book, and you get it out there in the popular press, that’s what most people actually connect with. And it’s a great way to expand your authority, so that you can help people through coaching or speaking or whatever it might be. So if you’ve got a message that you’d like to get out to the world, we can help you with that as well go to www.dissertationdone.com/book, and we’ll help you out there. So Hoby, Dr. Wedler, Thank you so much for for joining me we’ve talked on just so many different things and I know that people are gonna find this a fascinating episode, or they’re going to reach out to you at at wwww.hobywedler.com. To get more information and to keep abreast of all these new and exciting things you’re doing and do please let me know when the the food stuffs out when the wine labels out. I want to hear about these things. I’m excited for
Dr. Hoby Wedler 1:13:51
I’m going to keep you and your guests posted and Dr. Strickland it’s a huge the honors all mine and let’s keep in touch.
Dr. Russell Strickland 1:13:58
Awesome. Thank you so much Hoby, and for everybody else, go out there and live your unconventional life.
Outro 1:14:10
This has been An Unconventional Life. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, subscribe now to keep getting inspirational stories of unconventional lives as soon as they’re released. Until then go out and live your best unconventional life.
