Latest / Daily Influence / 751. From Success to Authenticity: Hugo Maynard on Purpose, Influence, and Finding Fulfillment

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751. From Success to Authenticity: Hugo Maynard on Purpose, Influence, and Finding Fulfillment · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence, your daily dose of positive influence.
• 0:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Brian Smith founder of IA Business Advisors and co-author of the Iain team series.
• 0:19
  [SPEAKER_01]: Each day we share stories and insights to help you find be and build your influence in a positive and responsible way.
• 0:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm Greg Clino, partner at IE Business Advisors, and co-host of Daily Influence.
• 0:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share Daily Influence with someone who could use a little extra positivity today.
• 0:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: And make us part of your Daily routine, whether it's during your commute, on a walk, or an quiet momentous for you, because you're influenced matters.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: Welcome to Daily Influence.
• 0:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm Greg Klee now.
• 0:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: Today, we're joined by someone whose life journey challenges the traditional definition of success.
• 0:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hugo Maynard has lived many lives.
• 1:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: Olympian, educator, basketball coach, entrepreneur, world traveler, father, and storyteller.
• 1:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: After rising from poverty to building multiple successful companies, Hugo discovered that achievement alone does a great fulfillment.
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: Through personal transformation, global experiences, and hard-earn lessons, he now helps others think differently about purpose, authenticity, and the influence they have on the people around them.
• 1:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: and reminders that leadership starts long before titles or accomplishments.
• 1:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: Whether you're building a business, leading a family, or trying to reconnect with what matters most, there's something here for you.
• 1:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hugo, welcome to Daily Influence.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
• 1:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: Thank you.
• 1:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hugo, you've gone from poverty to becoming an Olympian educator, entrepreneur, and global traveler.
• 1:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: Looking back, what experiences most shaped the way you define success and influence today?
• 2:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: The experiences that did that was going through all of those external successes and not
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: So at that point, I started to realize that maybe I'm looking at this thing wrong because it doesn't feel the way they told me it should feel.
• 2:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: So it's like a palm tree judging an oak tree by success.
• 2:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: The success of an oak tree is actually within its own seed.
• 2:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: So only the oak tree can actually determine whether it's successful.
• 2:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: then you're able to really think clearly in assess, which most of us will continue to just wear the mask and pretend and keep going for more and more and more, but I stopped.
• 2:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: you've experienced success in several different areas, but what stands out is how intentional you've become about meaning and impact.
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: Can you share a moment when you realize your words, actions, or leadership had a meaningful impact on someone else's life?
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: Maybe in a way you didn't initially expect.
• 3:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: Absolutely.
• 3:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: A young man who I'd lost touch with, I'd known him for years and he didn't have my contact with me anymore.
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Found my number.
• 3:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: I just landed, he called me, I called him back and he was so happy to show me his wife and his child.
• 3:40
  [SPEAKER_00]: He just had a beautiful
• 3:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: eight months old.
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_00]: And when that happened, that shifted in my mind.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_00]: I was like, wow, like, what 30 year old man is going to flag down someone to show them his wife and his child?
• 4:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, probably two of the most beside yourself, the relationships that you can have in this world.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah.
• 4:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: What does that experience teach you about responsible influence in the ripple effect
• 4:14
  [SPEAKER_00]: Had taught me that, there's a real power and authenticity, and it can't be replicated.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can't fake it, you know, and especially,
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_00]: Knowing the background of this young man, this is this is not someone that would trust or you know he'd been through a lot through his life and he had did so much to clean up his life I had no idea that I had told him so much he was quote and stuff and he just you just never know and I think that it teaches us all that the power of being authentic There's a ripple effect
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, authenticity is huge.
• 4:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: You've built businesses, led teams, and navigated personal transformation.
• 5:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: What's one failure setback or difficult season that ended up becoming one of your greatest teachers?
• 5:08
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think the biggest, one of the biggest failures was,
• 5:13
  [SPEAKER_00]: operating outside myself.
• 5:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think you lose twice.
• 5:16
  [SPEAKER_00]: You lose yourself and then you, there's no way to sustain in the machine of external expectations because there's always going to be more and more and more.
• 5:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: And so I think the season of realizing that Hugo, you're good enough.
• 5:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: You are good enough.
• 5:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: be that person honed into that and just live into that.
• 5:43
  [SPEAKER_00]: And whatever happens from that, it just happens.
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: But so that's what I learned in that season, like being in authentic or trying to be something that you're not or following the course of, if you're oak tree, the palm trees, advice, you know, it's, you're gonna lose twice.
• 6:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: For leaders listening today, how can they recognize when a challenge is actually preparing them for growth instead of defeating them?
• 6:11
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that if you listen to your heart, it will never betray you.
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that our hearts always talk to us.
• 6:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think one of the disservices as humans, as men, as women, people tell us not to follow our heart, to follow our mind, which is programmable.
• 6:29
  [SPEAKER_00]: But our heart is our direction in a life and it's something that's been with us and some people can refer to it as the gut.
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I think that following your heart and knowing how you truly feels, being able to sip with yourself, that answers all on answer questions that we don't want to talk about.
• 6:51
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know, it's not popular, it's not cute, but it's real.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, so true.
• 6:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: And, you know, when you talk about authenticity and helping people discover their own voice, we're just something many people struggle with in a noisy world.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: For someone who feels disconnected from purpose or caught chasing external success, what practical steps would you recommend to help them reconnect with what truly matters?
• 7:18
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would say you really have to say what yourself, it's so important, it's the only thing that really truly exist and from sitting with yourself, getting to know yourself, loving yourself, that's the root and then you can grow beautiful trees and branches and off-springs
• 7:48
  [SPEAKER_00]: That's the only way, because I think that a lot of us put on a lot of makeup and we build from lies, we build from stories, we don't need stories.
• 7:58
  [SPEAKER_00]: We are the story and we just got to live it and it comes from truth.
• 8:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: So that's what I would say.
• 8:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that idea connects so deeply.
• 8:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: And you've led an education, athletics, and business.
• 8:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: Across those experiences, what are a few consistent behaviors or leadership habits that build trust and positive influence over time?
• 8:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: Again, it goes back to being authentic.
• 8:26
  [SPEAKER_00]: I think that the people that I've interacted with my life and you end up,
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: leaving them with a residue of you.
• 8:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: And they leave us with it too.
• 8:38
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, that's why I so important our environment that we interact with because we're going to form into that in some way, shape, or form.
• 8:47
  [SPEAKER_00]: So I think just being authentic and just living your truth, then practice in the habits to become the human that you want to be.
• 8:56
  [SPEAKER_00]: is the most important things to get you to where you want to go, because from a lie you always end up where you don't want to be.
• 9:05
  [SPEAKER_00]: It's very consistent.
• 9:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: It is so true.
• 9:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think listeners always connect deeply when guests share what they wish they had understood earlier in their life.
• 9:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: If you could sit down with your younger self before the success, the businesses and the
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: that still feels relevant for people today.
• 9:28
  [SPEAKER_00]: You know what, I would, I would, I would tell that I love you.
• 9:31
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I would say that you're good enough.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I would say follow your heart.
• 9:39
  [SPEAKER_00]: It will never, ever, ever betray you.
• 9:41
  [SPEAKER_00]: You can betray it, but it will never betray you.
• 9:44
  [SPEAKER_00]: So whenever you're ready to come back home, and really the journey of life, I think, is the journey back home.
• 9:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: And this is our home.
• 9:53
  [SPEAKER_00]: where we are at all times, you know, the shelter that protects us from outside is then becomes our secondary homes.
• 10:04
  [SPEAKER_00]: But I would honestly look by self in the eyes and just tell myself, I love you and I'd give myself a hug and encourage myself to go from an authentic real place.
• 10:17
  [SPEAKER_00]: No matter what, just keep going.
• 10:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: is we wrap up, I'd love to leave listeners with something practical and meaningful that they can carry into their own lives immediately.
• 10:29
  [SPEAKER_02]: If every listener committed to making one intentional change this week to positively influence the people around them, what would you challenge them to do and why does that one small action matter?
• 10:42
  [SPEAKER_00]: I would challenge them to be authentic and love themselves.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_00]: That action matters because there's a ripple effect.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_00]: There are so many of us who are buried within the mask of society, who are masking so many different things.
• 10:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: And we need real people to show up.
• 11:00
  [SPEAKER_00]: We don't need the avatars.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_00]: We don't need the facade of what successes.
• 11:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: And I think that if you have that vibration, I think that is the most powerful connector as human beings.
• 11:19
  [SPEAKER_00]: I mean, what else is there out there that we're chasing?
• 11:24
  [SPEAKER_00]: If you look at it, I think that we try to supplement all these things for one small thing and it's love.
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_00]: And that's what I've realized and I've committed my life to that.
• 11:37
  [SPEAKER_00]: because I have children watching and you have people that you're around and I can see the changes in the people that that occupy spaces that I occupy.
• 11:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: That's beautiful Hugo.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you for sharing that.
• 11:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: If our listeners want to get in touch with you, what would be the best way to do so?
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_00]: Well, if you're on Instagram, it would be Hugo X,
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_00]: uh... underscore unfiltered also polar opposite life is uh... our speaking company so just w dot polar opposite life dot com great will add that information to the show notes you go i'm so great for your able to join us thank you for sharing your stories and advice thank you for having me it's been a pleasure
• 12:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: and to our listeners, thank you for joining us for another episode of Daily Influence.
• 12:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: Hugo's story is a powerful reminder that success is not just about what we achieve.
• 12:37
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's about who we become and how we impact others along the way through authenticity and loving ourselves.
• 12:43
  [SPEAKER_02]: As you go through your week, I encourage you to think about one intentional act.
• 12:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: You can take to positively influence someone around you today.
• 12:52
  [SPEAKER_02]: a conversation, an active encouragement, a moment of presence, or a decision rooted in authenticity.
• 12:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: Small actions create ripple effects, and together those ripple shapes stronger teams, businesses, families, and communities.
• 13:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: Until next time, keep leading with purpose and continue to have a positive responsible influence.
• 13:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: Bye-bye.