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Scott MacGregor

Grit and Determination

By 29029 Everesting

October 28^th, 2019

We're in it together

I'm proud to say that I have been to every 29029 event. My wife, Meg, and I have fallen in love with the community. It's all about the people. Some of my closest friends and people that I would do anything for are my football and baseball teammates from 30 years ago. These lifelong connections exist because we went through the same shared experiences to reach a collective goal.

I have the same feeling about 29029. It's like a lifetime condensed into 36 hours. I find that Incredible bonds are formed in moments of vulnerability and struggle. This event and this weekend foster that in a way I've never seen before.

It's such an eclectic mix of people. Olympians, world record holders, pro athletes, bestselling authors, and regular folks like me. You get on the mountain, and we're all human beings sharing a common struggle to reach a shared goal. The mountain doesn't care about your physical stature or how successful you are. We're all on a level playing field, and we're all in it together.

The great equalizer

Growing up, I ate, drank, and slept sports. For me, it was the great equalizer.

I grew up poor, in an affluent town. My friends had things we couldn't afford and they went on exotic trips while we went to a local campground. Sports and being on the team made me feel normal. I was able to escape the stress of our financial circumstances, and I loved everything about it. The competition, the camaraderie with my teammates, and the hard work.

Everything I had to do to be successful, I enjoyed. I was the stereotypical kid. I spent hours outside with my glove and ball and a football, throwing to myself and practicing. It instilled a work ethic in me that I carry today.

My coaches were legends, both of them are Hall of Famers. Larry Ciotti, who later coached football at Yale, said many things that stuck with me. He would say, "if you quit here, you're going to quit on everything in your life." That sentiment is branded in my brain. I released a book called Standing O! last year for charity. In that book, I gave a standing ovation to my coaches. They had such a positive impact on my work ethic and discipline.

I earned a scholarship to play D1 baseball in college. As happens to many people, my sporting life came to a screeching halt. I herniated a disc in my back and was no longer able to play. Luckily, my school transferred my athletic scholarship to an academic one. I was able to channel everything I learned in sports into success as a student and later in my business life.

Take the leap

I love building real relationships with interesting and smart people. I've been a serial networker forever, and I'm proud that I can now put my passion and skills to good use.

For 20 years, I worked in sales leadership. I was able to grow a national sales and marketing force from startup to the largest and most successful tech company in our industry.

During that period, I tried outsourcing logical parts of our business, like recruiting to save time. Unfortunately, I was constantly disappointed in the process and outcomes. Because of these lackluster experiences, I put together a plan to solve my own problems. I sat on the business plan for 10 years. I think I was afraid to walk away from the security because of the limited financial resources I experienced in my childhood. The work I was doing and the industry I was in we're not satisfying, yet I was scared to take the leap.

With Meg's consistent support and encouragement I finally started my company, SomethingNew LLC. We use a data-driven approach to recruiting and talent strategy and offer support and guidance to hyper-growth startups all over the country. We also have more than 50 international clients that we help to grow in the US market. We focus on talent acquisition, onboarding, and retention. It's definitely rewarding, and we play an integral part in the success of these businesses.

We've been in business for almost 5 years, and we've been fortunate to win the American Business Award for Innovation every single year. We truly have built a better mousetrap!

Meg

I am sure every town has an 'it' girl who everybody was infatuated with. In my town, that girl was Meg. She was a year ahead of me in school, and had signed with Elite Modeling during her junior year and spent Summers in NYC working as a model. Needless to say, Meg got a lot of attention.

After high school and college, I had no idea where Meg lived, but occasionally I would see her jogging around town. My friends and I would talk about another Meg sighting, she was that kind of girl!

About 10 years ago, I was in Planet Fitness, riding a bike to cool down after finishing a workout. In walks Meg, she gets on the stair stepper and starts her workout. I decided to wait for her to finish so I could talk to her. Little did I know that Meg is a maniac, and she was on that thing for well over an hour! Who knows how many extra miles I put in waiting for her to finish?! The whole time I was thinking about what I was going to say to her. The only thing I could come up with was to pretend that she was her sister. So she comes by me to grab a towel to wipe down her machine, and I say, "Hey Deeg" (her sister is Deidre). She says, "no, it's Meg!" We had a quick conversation and went our separate ways.

I saw her again about a week later at Starbucks, I said hi, and she said hi back, but I could tell she had no clue who this guy in a suit was. My bubble was burst, and my ego bruised, but I got to my office and called her sister to see what the deal was with Meg. Deidre told me she wasn't dating anyone and that I should call her. Our first call lasted about three hours, and the rest is history. We got married seven years ago, and I've continued chasing her. Only now it's up mountains!

grit and determination

Meg and I came back to the second 29029 event in Utah last year. We were worried about the heat and altitude. The conditions were so different from what we'd experienced in Vermont the year prior. We came in intending to do 9 hikes to complete the vertical height of Mt Denali. We ended up doing 10. While proud of doing more than we'd planned for, it was the second time in a row that I didn't make it to 29,029 feet. No Red Bib, and I'd missed Everest, again.

The next 29029, we decided to volunteer in Vermont, and I saw first-hand how meaningful it was for regular folks, like me, to finish. I saw people's lives changing right in front of my eyes. I made the commitment then and there to try again in Utah. This time would be different, there was no possible way that I wasn't going to finish.

I wrote the name of someone special to me on thirteen different rocks, one for each summit. I carried each of those rocks with me. I chose people who've had a meaningful impact on my life, to honor them as I went through this challenge. It was a big motivator for me, and I thought about that person, what they meant to me, and how grateful I was for them. It kept me focused on each summit and gave me an extra push when I needed it.

On the first day, we planned to get 9 summits, to give ourselves a shot to complete 29,029 feet in the 36 hours. We continued all day, until around 11pm. There were times when I wasn't sure I could keep going, I had to dig in and find another level of mental strength. I wasn't the most prepared, so I knew that if I was going to get the Red Bib, that I'd need to get by on grit and determination.

29,029 Feet

It was emotional and rewarding for me to get to finally conquer 29,029 feet. And to complete it with Meg was terrific. She is a beast and makes it look so easy on the mountain, she puts me to shame with her strength and tenacity. I am so grateful to have the opportunity to do this with her by my side. It's one of the most memorable things I've ever done. And most certainly the number one thing Meg and I reminisce about. We talk about 29029 and our experience, 100 times more than our wedding or honeymoon in Bora Bora.

This community and this event change lives, and it certainly has changed mine, I can't wait to climb again and make new memories in 2020 and beyond.

Footnotes

Words by Scott MacGregor, Cover Photo by Travis McKenzie, Photos by Matt Clark (Stirl and Rae Media Haus) and courtesy of 29029, Published by Travis McKenzie

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FootNotes

Words by Scott MacGregor, Cover Photo by Travis McKenzie, Photos by Matt Clark (Stirl and Rae Media Haus) and courtesy of 29029, Published by Travis McKenzie

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