119: Scott Hoppe pedals his way to better work connections [podcast]

Scott Hoppe got into cycling when he was a student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He bought an $800 bike and began riding it everywhere he went as a way to exercise and lose some weight. This eventually led to him entering both crit races, which are shorter, “crash happy” tight circles, and road races, which are much longer distances. He finished in 6th Place in the most difficult road race he’s competed in was in Boonfield, CA, a very mountainous part of the Pacific Coast Highway. When he’s not racing, he’s been known to ride his bike to some CPE events and even across the Golden Gate Bridge to work.

In this episode, Scott and I talk about how his cycling allowed him to learn that his limits were greater than he thought. He can now see through the “hurt locker moments” in order to dig deeper and stay focused longer. Scott is big believer in finding common ground to develop stronger relationships. When he was with larger firms, he often started “biggest loser” challenges or Wednesday night runs. He feels that if you’re at a larger firm, you shouldn’t wait to ask for permission but rather take it on yourself to create the culture you want. "Don’t be scared of failure, so fail forward and fail fast."