The Ed Doherty Story: How Persistence, Accountability, and Disappointment Forge a Remarkable Life

The Ed Doherty Story: How Persistence, Accountability, and Disappointment Forge a Remarkable Life | 6 October 2025

David Pasqualone: Hello, friend. Welcome to this week’s episode of The Remarkable People Podcast, the Ed Doherty story. This week it’s one of the intros. It’s so hard for me to make, because I experienced this episode already and you haven’t yet, but you’re going to, we’re going to talk about Ed’s childhood. We’re going to talk about athletics.

We’re going to talk about lessons he learned from school, from a paper route. We’re going to talk about how that translated into his professional life. But man, we’re going to talk about his personal life and persistence and organizations and how it was, you know, his experience was 10 times because of difficult situations he was put in.

But how he was able to rise to the top and you can too. And then, right when you think, okay, I got this guy figured out, he talks about how. He has a disabled son who was born with spine and bifida and many physical problems, [00:01:00] but yet they live a full life together. And how he just never gave up and how you shouldn’t either.

And then he also talks about how at 70 he runs his first marathon, and at 72 he writes his first book. So if you think I’m giving you what do they call it, that warning, I’m giving everything away at the beginning. No, there’s so many good clips. There’s so many good quotes. There’s so much information that if you just listen and apply it to your life, you will be a better human and prosper.

So I’m David Pasqualone. This is our Remarkable friend, Ed Doherty. Check out his episode now.

Welcome to the Remarkable People Podcast!: The Remarkable People Podcast, check it out,

the Remarkable People Podcast. Listen, do [00:02:00] Repeat for Life,

the Remarkable People Podcast.

David Pasqualone: Hey Ed. How are you today, brother?

Ed Doherty: I’m optimistic. How are you man?

David Pasqualone: I am excited. I just told our listeners a small bit about what to expect in this episode, but right from the source, if we have a Remarkable listener that’s been us for seven years, or if this is their very first episode, I want them to understand we’re going to not just hear about your life story and what you overcame or achieved, but we’re going to break it down to the practical steps of how you did it.

So our listeners can too, and I can, but if you were to guarantee them one thing, you’ll give ’em a ton of gold during this episode. But if there was one promise you make them that, Hey, if you stick with my episode, I guarantee you’re going to learn this and be able to apply it to your life and be a better human.

[00:03:00] What would that message be?

Ed Doherty: Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

David Pasqualone: Amen. I agree with that. That is a huge fundamental truth we all need to know and apply to life. So ladies and gentlemen, we’re going to talk about the importance of persistence, Ed’s life journey, how this became so not just important to him, but how he mastered it.

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David Pasqualone: Ladies and gentlemen, let’s do this. Ed, everything that happens to us, good, [00:05:00] bad, ugly, pretty, pretty ugly. It makes us, the men and women we are for you and I, the men. So what happened in your life?

Take us through your childhood, through your teens. Bring us through to today as little as or as deep as you want to go. So we can see, you know, kind of what framed, you have the commonalities connect with us, but then also we’ll stop along the way and break down your successes so we can all hopefully at least have a catalyst to start.

So where did Ed’s life begin? My friend?

Ed Doherty: Well, I would I would tell you that I was born at Chelsea Naval Hospital. My dad was in the service in Germany. I didn’t see him till I was about 18 months old. We moved to Germany. And I guess I had a rather unremarkable life. I was the oldest of eight children, so I had a built-in mentoring responsibility, if you know what I mean.

The [00:06:00] first lesson, yes, sir. And I take with eight kids, military I Irish Catholic background. Yes. Yeah. What was your guess? Oh, I don’t know. I grew up in that area. You’re either a missionary or Irish Catholic. I have eight kids or more, so. Mm-hmm. All right. The first thing I remember that kinda stuck with me is I, at 10 years old, I became a paper boy.

And I did the route with the guy who was re the kid who was retiring and there were about 40 papers over three miles. And he showed me which one got this paper, which one got that paper. You know, in those days there were four Boston dailies and you know, local papers. And so my first day alone on the job, I wasn’t as fast.

It got dark, I couldn’t see the numbers. I delivered the wrong papers to the wrong houses and missed some houses. And the next [00:07:00] day I heard about it and I got home that night and told my father, and he had me write a statement to give to every. Customer that said, my name is Ed Doherty. I’m your paper boy.

I guarantee you’ll get your paper on time and dry. And I had to drop that off when I collected for the first time. And, and, and the sense of responsibility that, that drilled into me, I knew I was accountable then, has really stayed with me my whole life. And I, I can’t tell you how many times I think of that, that paper route and what it did for me at 10 years old.

Yes. And today, the persistence, the accountability. Most adults struggle [00:08:00] with being accountable. You know, people in their twenties and thirties are still treated like children, you know? Oh, they need a timeout from life.

I supervised for 50 years. I wish everybody. Had a sense of accountability and responsibility.

Yes. And I’m sure your dad and your customers didn’t fluffy, you know, pat you in the back. It’s okay. You probably had people yelling at you, right? Yeah.

You’re correct. I

David Pasqualone: did. Yeah. Yeah. And I remember having a paper out myself, and there are no paper routes anymore. And I mean, maybe in rural America deep down, but on the average there’s not paper routes.

People don’t read newspapers in the print. So it, it was like the first job that you could have. Mm-hmm. And people fought for those jobs. They were proud to have those jobs. They work hard. So I really feel like that was like a core. Area of childhood, you know, whether you mowed lawns, whether you raked, whether you shoveled.

I feel like that’s missing in our generation today. And you saying how that impacted you [00:09:00] so much and your dad. Well,

Ed Doherty: think, think about it. Would you let a 10-year-old get on a bike ride two miles to pick up newspapers and then drive through strange neighborhoods dropping them off six days a week? I, I just don’t know that a 10-year-old would do that today was No.

And

David Pasqualone: it wouldn’t be safe. And the other thing too is like you said, your route was late at night. Some of the routes were first thing in the morning before this came up, I used to have a route that I did and during the winter, my mom would drive me. So I gotta be really thankful to her for that. But the sun wouldn’t be up and it wasn’t safe.

So she’d actually drive me in the morning to take the papers. Mm-hmm. So today though, yeah, you couldn’t, there’s too many freaks and weirdos and too much danger. Kids would get abducted. So it’s sad the world has deteriorated that way. Changed, but, but going back to you talk again, what that taught you, like that lesson has [00:10:00] sat with you, stayed with you for life.

Ed Doherty: Well, one of the things that I think everybody loves is someone who is authentic. And the definition of authentic is doing what you say you’ll do and, and having a commitment to that. You know, and you see in the business world, someone promises to get something done by the end of the day, but it’s five o’clock and it’s time to go home and they leave it for tomorrow.

And then there’s the other kind that gets it done because they told somebody they would get it done. And I just grew up with that kind of embedded in me. I, I, if my dad hadn’t done that. And, and he ordered me to do it. You know, it wasn’t a negotiated deal if he taught me to do it. And I don’t know where I would be if that didn’t happen that way.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, I can tell you, you probably won’t be on the podcast. Right. That’s a good point. Gosh. All right, so keep going from there. You [00:11:00] learn this fundamental truth about hard work, persistence keeping your word. Where did things go from there, ed?

Ed Doherty: Well, the next, the next time I remember like learning a giant life lesson was in seventh grade.

I tried out for the junior varsity baseball team at Junior high because of course I was going to be a catcher for the Boston Red Sox. That was my aspiration.

David Pasqualone: All right. I love it. And,

Ed Doherty: I tried out for the team and I had just graduated from Little League and in junior high, they used the full 90 foot bases instead of 60 feet.

So the fact that I couldn’t reach second base to throw someone out in the air didn’t bother me. I, I love the sport. I plowed ahead. And then I had one of those scenes out of the movie where the list of kids who have made the team is posted on the bulletin board near the gym. [00:12:00] And I read that list over and over and over and I couldn’t find my name on it.

And I, I walked home and I think I cried the entire way home. I was so crushed. And then I said, well. The Red Sox send some people down for seasoning. That’s just what they’re doing for me. They’re just sending me down. I’ll be back next year so that by the time I get home, I knew I was going to try out again.

Well, it was right before April vacation and my first class after April vacation was an art class, and the art teacher was the JV baseball coach, the one who had cut me. I walked into the room and I said, Mr. Cauley, how’s the team doing? [00:13:00] And, and he was a little startled and I took my seat and at the end of the class he said, ed, could you stop up front for a minute on your way out?

And I said, sure. And I stopped at the front and he says to me, ed, one of our catchers can’t continue. I wonder if you’d reconsider joining the team. And I did. And to this day, I am convinced that my reaction to that disappointment changed my life. So I, I, I joined the JV baseball team and I played a grand total of two thirds of an inning the entire year in left field.

I didn’t get up. I went to every practice. When I tried out in the eighth grade for the JV baseball team, I was [00:14:00] elected captain. And then in the ninth grade, I made the varsity team. And my claim to fame is there was this pitcher for the Milwaukee. Baseball team that pitched for a high school that we played against and he pitched the one hitter against us, bill Travers and I got the only hit.

David Pasqualone: So

Ed Doherty: that was my claim to fame

and just to continue my sports career because sports is a great analogy for life. I I got sick in my sophomore year and I couldn’t try out for baseball, so I tried out for the hockey team, and our hockey team was spectacularly bad.

David Pasqualone: We

Ed Doherty: were oh and 18. Oh wow. Most hockey clubs [00:15:00] have four lines. I was on the fifth line of an oh and 18 team.

David Pasqualone: Man, that’s wrong.

Ed Doherty: By the, by the time I was a senior, I had made the league All-Star team because I just put my nose down and pounded into it. So of course I wanted to go to college and play hockey. Who wouldn’t? Yeah. I went to the University of Massachusetts and I had played some soccer in high school.

So I tried out for the soccer team and I flunked the physical. I, I have limited vision in my right eye, and I remember saying to the doctor, I, I won’t, I won’t hurt myself. I’ve been doing this a while, and he said, we’re concerned about you hurting other people, not you. So there was some negotiation.

Eventually he let me play soccer, but he said you could never play hockey. [00:16:00]

David Pasqualone: Hmm.

Ed Doherty: Four years later, guess who was the co-captain of the varsity soccer team?

David Pasqualone: Hello. Now let’s go back to that because when you’re part of a terrible team or a situation or company, it’s so easy to make excuses and just be part of the majority that probably put the company in that situation, right?

Mm-hmm. So what were the things you did that our listeners can do to safeguard themselves from that negative mindset and to become the exception, not just of your team, you know, you weren’t just a fast guy in the slow reading group. Yeah. You were the all star of the whole area. So what were the things you did?

Especially there is a reality too. Obviously you practice, you play how you practice, right? So if you’re playing and practicing with people who are mediocre. To become excellent. That, that’s, that’s a [00:17:00] real persistence and determination. So what were the things you did and recommend to people to push past the mediocrity to excellence?

Ed Doherty: I’ll tell you two things. We rely too much on others to set challenging goals for us, but we are the best equipped to set challenging goals for ourselves. And so I’ve always challenged myself to be better, to try harder. You know, I, I realized years ago, there’s one thing I can guarantee that I can do better than anybody else.

You know what that is? Try, try,

David Pasqualone: say that again.

Ed Doherty: I can try, I can try harder than anybody else. And that’s kind of that what that focus was. The other thing is. If you stop and think about it, every experience, good or [00:18:00] bad has a lesson in it. And when bad things happen to me, I maybe I whined about ’em for a little while, but I, I spent the rest of my time trying to figure out how this was going to benefit me in the future.

What lesson am I going to learn from this? So I’ve had, I’ve had jobs that were terrible, they were brutal. But in looking back, I learned so much that helped me in the next wave. So, set challenging goals for yourself, and you can learn from almost every experience.

David Pasqualone: I think that’s the whole point of it all.

I mean, God never causes pain or hardship, but he sometimes allows it because he knows it’s going to ultimately make us better even when we don’t understand, or it doesn’t seem that way in this earth. Right. Long term through return, it’s going to be better. So when you’re in these roles, like you said, I’ve had careers where there are, wow, what is going on?[00:19:00]

And you’ve had those too, but it really does just bring you to that next level when God does bring you to the next position or the next organization.

Ed Doherty: Yeah, I think, I think a lot of people don’t realize that when things are tough, you learn a lot more faster, you know? So I had a job that lasted only two years, but I got 10 years worth of experience out of that job.

’cause so many curve balls came at me that I had to react to. So,

David Pasqualone: man, so now you. Keep continuously working and any, anybody on any sport, with any team in any area to be a freshman on the varsity. That’s impressive. And so you were able to succeed in high school, you were able to succeed in college. Where does your life go from there?

Ed Doherty: Well I got married right outta school and I, I didn’t have a job, [00:20:00] my wife did. And one day I dropped her off at work and I walked across the street to the McDonald’s and I got a burger, a fry, and an application. I had worked fast food in high school and I just wanted something to do rather than sit around and watch game shows and soap operas.

So a couple of weeks into that, they offered me a position as a manager trainee. I accepted the job. Three weeks later, I went to Burlington, Vermont to help them open a store. And on the way back I was in a car accident. The doctor in the emergency room took a pencil and did this and says, this is what happened to your arm.

So I broke my arm. I was laid up for almost four months. The night of the accident, the supervisor for the restaurants [00:21:00] contacted my wife and said, we’ll, take care of everything. Don’t worry about it. I had worked for them for less than a month, and they paid me every week for the next four months so that I would be okay.

Wow. And that was, I, I was, I stayed with them for seven years. I learned a lot, but there was an undercurrent of loyalty associated with that. And I think that’s when I learned what loyalty is. Loyalty isn’t being loyal when it’s easy. Loyalty is being loyal when it’s hard.

David Pasqualone: Yes. And that’s, man, to me, what you said is incredibly true and it applies more in our home lives than it does even in our work lives. ’cause we have [00:22:00] divorce rates soaring off the chart. Mm-hmm. And people make vows to God, you know, and sickness and health are better for worse. And there’s so little loyalty and honor left in the world it seems.

But you were able to see that from a corporation, which is fantastic, and it taught you the importance of it. So how hard was it to eventually have to leave, like the struggle between being loyal and moving on to the next best thing For our family,

Ed Doherty: it was very difficult. It was very difficult. But I had aspirations and I moved from that into national chain restaurants.

I moved to California and was fairly successful with large numbers of restaurants, a lot of employees, millions of dollars in revenue, a lot of western states. And I realized that [00:23:00] I was a better leader. The. Higher up. Somebody was, so, someone had told me when I was a restaurant manager that I would be a vet, better vice president than manager because of my style or whatever.

And it, it turned out to be true. I was, I was in California for about five years. My son was born there. I eventually moved to Memphis and I became the Chief Human Resource officer of an 11,000 employee company with no formal human resource training, just train. I was a trainer, you know what I mean?

And training was part of the HR department. So they hired me ’cause they wanted the training and I, I learned it on the fly.

David Pasqualone: Now did they approach you or did you see [00:24:00] opportunity and apply for it?

Ed Doherty: I had been a volunteer and their CEO was a volunteer as well. And so in that volunteer space, we got connected and he said, and I said, and we talked and we met, and eventually I went to work for them.

David Pasqualone: Nice. Very good. Okay. And then from there, where does your life go? Your family’s growing, you’ve got a new career, and HR is a whole different world. Trust me. Yeah. If anybody doesn’t know, and we have listeners from all over the world, but within America, how would you describe HR and the average HR professional?

It, it’s different than your sales or your accounting or your operations. How, how would you

Ed Doherty: describe anybody? Anybody in HR doesn’t have gray hair’s color in their hair. ‘Cause it, it turns you gray in a hurry. Let me just tell you this quick story. I got I was in place [00:25:00] for less than three months and the federal government filed a class action lawsuit against the company for discriminating against minority employees.

David Pasqualone: And you’re in Memphis at this time? Yep.

Ed Doherty: And that’s a majority minority town. You know what I mean? There’s more.

David Pasqualone: So yeah, that’s why I just wanna set this up for our listeners. ’cause again, we have listeners from all over the world, but even within America, I wanna make sure they are getting the picture here.

Ed Doherty: Yep. So I did some investigation and the government was correct that there was, discrimination was taking place. We were guilty of sin. And of course they hired these high powered attorneys from New York City to come in and. You know, figure things out. And one day at a meeting, I said, based on my experience, here’s what’s going to happen.

We’re going to be told we’re [00:26:00] going to be found guilty, and then they’re going to give us a laundry list of things to do to correct it. We’re going to have targets, we’re going to have to contribute to this. We’re going to have to do nonprofit work. They’re going to give us this whole list. Why don’t we start that right now?

Why don’t we start the things they’re going to force us to do? When this thing was settled, it was a $700,000 lawsuit.

David Pasqualone: And this was what year? Hmm? This was in the eighties. Okay. So that’s at least 5 million today, correct?

Ed Doherty: Yes. So we, we did aggressive recruiting. We worked with historically black colleges.

We did all kinds of mentoring activities, and it took three years to wind through the process. When the process [00:27:00] was over, the 700,000 was reduced to 70,000, and the Justice Department applauded us for our efforts. We had turned into a model citizen in the community.

David Pasqualone: And that was because you did the right thing and you were proactive. You, you personally didn’t know there was a problem. When you saw it, that was blindsided.

Ed Doherty: Yeah, I found it in the newspaper. I opened the newspaper one morning, you know, on my driveway and it, we were on the front page.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And so, ladies and gentlemen, listen to what Ed’s saying.

So there’s many times in life we’re going to be blindsided, but the first thing he did is he researched the facts, then he took ownership of it, even though he wasn’t involved. Then he went through the reasonable process of what do we need to do to make this right? And then he said, okay, forget what even is [00:28:00] required of us.

We know what’s coming. Let’s do this the right way. Set the stage, went for it. And then even the government, which is, you know, one of the most useless entities on the planet, they came back and said, good job. Is that pretty much a summary?

Ed Doherty: Yeah. In fact, the it kind of became a case study. The EEOC was bragging about how effective the company was in.

Treating people equally.

David Pasqualone: That’s fantastic. So

Ed Doherty: I was, I was, I was very proud of that because it was a tough situation and I had to really, I wouldn’t say convince people to do the right thing, but I, I definitely had to advocate for doing the right thing.

David Pasqualone: Mm-hmm. And Memphis is, in America, I would say it’s a more polarized city.

Correct. Like you have very high wealth [00:29:00] and a lot of poverty and Correct. It doesn’t matter the color of your skin, it matters your culture and the mindset of that. Just, you grew up in New England. I grew up in New England, sir. There’s not a lot of bigotry. There’s nationalism and there’s pride in your, your heritage.

But I didn’t grow up around, like living down south now. Every once in a while I’ll still, still see people. Yeah. Be an absolute bigot. I call ’em out on it, and I don’t care what color they are. Bigotry. Bigotry. And it keeps the hate going. So when you were in Memphis, that’s a polarizing area. You’re in the eighties where it’s still almost accepted in the south.

So how did you go about having that vision and implementing the change where people bought in?

Ed Doherty: Well, I think that, I think those above me bought in because they recognized the economic benefit of accelerating the [00:30:00] process. And you know, if, if I gave you, if I told you you could be done with this work in three years or six years, which would you take?

You’d take three.

David Pasqualone: Three. Yeah. ’cause time’s more. Yeah. You

Ed Doherty: know, and so. So, you know, it, it sounds silly, but when we were done, there was a bow on it, you know, that, that it was a, and, and the interesting thing was that the people who initially were reluctant were very enthusiastic once they saw the benefits of what we were doing.

You know, I am still in touch with some of the people from those, the back in the day that I interacted with over that period. Some of the, some of the guys who benefited from it too.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And then now that took time, took energy. But when you’re done, you feel like, man, I’m, [00:31:00] I’m proud of this. I accomplished something.

It was worth it.

Ed Doherty: It was worth it.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. So where does your life go from there? ’cause again. You just bonded with these people. You grew together. There’s loyalty. You could have like, Hey, you guys are doing this. I’m outta here. You could have fled and popped smoke. So where did your career go next in your life, not just your career, it’s intertwined.

Ed Doherty: Yep. So I had I kind of a two step dance, if you will. And if you know, there’s only two facts about the restaurant business. Two, there’s only two kinds of people, those that wanna get into the restaurant business and those that wanna get out. And so companies are bought and sold all the time. So I went across town to a national franchisor of bakery, restaurant and bakeries.

I took over their training department and some other responsibility. I was there for three or four years. [00:32:00] Then the franchisee of that company in Cincinnati was retiring and they tapped me to take over the company as the president.

And so I moved to Cincinnati and I, we had 22 franchise restaurants in northern Kentucky, Cincinnati, and Columbus. And I ran those for almost eight years, and then we sold them to the franchisee in Pennsylvania.

David Pasqualone: All right. And then when you’re doing this, your family’s growing, they’re getting older. Did you feel that?

I’m where I’m supposed to be. Was it just, Hey, this is fun. And now that the, you know, the job’s done, the thrill of the hunt, you [00:33:00] caught the lion, you lost interest. Where, where did you decide to go after this?

Ed Doherty: I’m going to answer that in a indirect way.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, that’s fine.

Ed Doherty: So I, I was gone from my New England roots for 25 years and one of the truisms is people who leave their home area and travel around or live around.

Don’t wonder what it’s like back there, but people back there wonder what it’s like traveling and living around. And me and my wife and I have one son, we were aspires. California was exciting. And then we went to Memphis. We loved Memphis. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been to Graceland. And then we had the opportunity to go to Cincinnati and it was for a, a big deal job, a big boy job, if you will. And it was very exciting. So I was volunteering for the March [00:34:00] of Dimes.

I was an active volunteer for altogether 25 years, but when I was eight years old, my mother was a volunteer for the March of Dimes and I collected door to door in my neighborhood for the mother’s march. So I had a, a long history of volunteering and when the party was over in Cincinnati, they approached me because they had an opening for an executive director in Massachusetts, new England, and both of our parents were still alive.

And to be honest with you, that’s the reason that we came back to Massachusetts is, you know, our parents were late eighties and. We got to see ’em a couple of times a year, but we wanted to see them more. And so I moved back, I left my fast lane [00:35:00] position and I became the executive director in Massachusetts and eventually all of New England.

David Pasqualone: Okay. And then what was the transition like? ’cause coming home sometimes can be awkward. Was it? I just went right back in. We enjoyed being home, our friends and family. Did you make a whole new friend circle? How was the transition?

Ed Doherty: Well, the one thing I was grateful for is my ability to drive in Boston was still the same.

I was still at level

David Pasqualone: triple

Ed Doherty: parking all day. And and I knew the shark. I, I just knew my way around. So that was, that was a good thing. It was, it was. Great to be around brothers and sisters and cousins and nieces and family because we had been solo for most of that 25 years. I had a brother and sister who moved to Cincinnati while we were out there, so, you know, we had some family around, [00:36:00] but it was, it was great to be around.

It was great to see mom at Christmas with all the brothers and sisters. So that was, that was the biggest benefit for me personally. One of the interesting things was because I had, let’s call it C-Suite experience, in my role as executive director, I was calling on C-Suite people either for sponsorship or volunteers or, you know, some kind of programming.

And so I was totally comfortable in that environment. And I made a lot of friends, you know, over the years on, because I had a board of dire, a very robust board of directors. I had been a member of the board of directors of the March of Dimes in both Cincinnati and Memphis. So I, I knew what it was like on the other side and so I was [00:37:00] focused on the volunteer experience and it worked.

I enjoyed my time.

David Pasqualone: So now you’re in New England, you’re in your groove, you’re helping people. Like you said earlier, there is a huge difference in who God made us to be and who we’re managing or dealing with. Like a lot of people, if you even think about your childhood, some people get along great with their peers.

Some people, they get along great with the older students. Mm-hmm. Some people get along great with the younger students, so God makes us all differently. And you’re sitting there and you’re seeing with these C-Suite executives. That’s your a game that your training and, and working and collaborating. So at that point, ed, you’ve already achieved a lot in life.

You got your wife, your son, you’re back at home with your family and friends. Where does life go to through today?

Ed Doherty: Well I think I wanted that stop to be the last one for me, but something [00:38:00] called COVID-19 showed up and really devastated a lot of nonprofits and I was one of the hundreds of people who was furloughed.

So I did what anybody would do. I started applying for positions. I think I sent out 160 resumes and got four interviews. I realized that at the time I was 69 years old, that a 69-year-old guy was either overqualified for this list or underqualified for that list. And so I said, well, let’s try this consulting gig, if you will.

And so I formed an LLC, became a consultant, and I didn’t know my ass from my elbow. So what I [00:39:00] did was I reached out to some of the volunteer board members I had at the March of Dimes, and these were CEOs, company owners. I said, look, I said I’m going to become a consultant, but I need some experience. Could I do some pro bono work for you?

To say thank you for everything that you did for me over the past 15 years, and I’ll get the experience that I need to go out and sell my services. Half a dozen of them took me up on them on that, and several of those turned into paying gigs. And I haven’t looked back, I haven’t advertised. I, it’s just been word of mouth people that I knew people think I’m smart ’cause of the color of my hair and I don’t disillusion them at all on that.

And I love my boss. Oh, he’s a wonderful guy. I am a one person shop.

David Pasqualone: That’s fantastic. And yeah, I know for [00:40:00] myself, when I transitioned into the world of consulting, I’m not un confident with my ability to see things and turn it around. But I don’t have an Ivy League degree and I don’t know all the technical terms. Mm-hmm. I just know that’s broken. This is how you fix it.

Let’s do it. So when you said you didn’t know your ass from your elbow, is that what you were feeling like, you know, man, like I know I’m qualified. I know if these people let me in, I can help them. I can probably do a better job than somebody who has all that Ivy League education, but I’m intimidated mentally from it ’cause there’s so many people out there.

Ed Doherty: Two things I, I realized shortly that I had been consulting almost my whole life. I was, you know, I was an internal consultant and early on, I don’t know what possessed me to do this, but I [00:41:00] refused to do anything that I hadn’t already done. So, you know, one of the things I tell people is. I have a relatively stress-free life when it comes to consulting because I’m not doing anything for the first time and I’m, I’m sharing my experience and I say, when I did this, or when I did that, or, I remember that I did this, that, or the other thing, and I just adjust it for the situation that I’m in.

And so it’s, it’s interesting that now I’m fully committed to this. I’m not going to tell anybody anything unless I feel super confident in what I’m doing. But one of the things I found as a consultant is that I play a role that I call a validator. And what that means is the CEO says to me, [00:42:00] this is, this is what I want to do if I roll my eyes.

It doesn’t mean they’re not going to do it, it just means they’re going to think it through again. On the other hand, if I start clapping, they go right away and implement it. And so that is that validator CEOs need to talk to somebody outside their company because there’s so many things they can’t talk to people inside their company about

David Pasqualone: a hundred percent.

So yes,

Ed Doherty: that’s, that’s where I’m sitting now.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And you probably, actually, I bet there’s a huge overlap in the personal, I know 80% of the consulting I do, it’s the, the internal psychology or even the home life is what’s holding up the business. Is that what you’ve seen in your experience?

Ed Doherty: Yep. Yeah. I’m, I am a I’m an expert in identifying self-inflicted glass [00:43:00] ceilings.

Most of the glass ceilings are self created.

David Pasqualone: Yes. And that’s just it. Whether people call it the what are the sabotage? Self-sabotaging or imposter syndrome.

Ed Doherty: Imposter syndrome, yeah.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. There’s so many times that you have the most talented, qualified people in the world, but they put that glass ceiling up and they just don’t, they don’t know how to go higher.

They are afraid to go higher. They’re convinced they can’t go higher. They’re intimidated, like, oh, I don’t have that resume. But the truth is they can do it. What are some steps to break free from the imposter syndrome?

Ed Doherty: . I would tell you that feedback is a gift and that a lot of people’s development and success and overcoming obstacles. Is based on their willingness to not only accept feedback, but solicit feedback.

One of the stories I tell had to do with my experience in [00:44:00] California. I had 68 restaurants in the Los Angeles area, and the regional vice president was going to tour some stores with me. So I picked him up at the office. We drove around LA for a day. We maybe went to 10 or 12 stores on the way back, because I had done so much driving.

I, my office was a hundred miles from la. I stopped at the same Texaco station. I went to the same pump. I had my credit card ready, I had a receipt envelope. I did it all, got back on the road, and the regional vice president says to me, ed, the thing that you do best about your job is get gas. You are proficient at getting gas, but unless you get good at a bunch of other stuff, you’re not going to make it.

And so what I did is I listened and my weekly meetings with him, instead of turning into beat downs, I [00:45:00] solicited advice. I tried it, I reported back. And on his next tour, he was very impressed. In fact, he continued to be impressed at my response to his feedback. So that about 18 months later, he needed a regional vice president himself ’cause he had got promoted and I got promoted to the San Francisco office, all because I was thirsty for feedback.

And as a, as a lifelong mentor, the people who get feedback. Just grow faster. It’s just easier. But the defensive people, they just, they, they put that glass ceiling over their head and they just can’t, can’t get beyond it.

David Pasqualone: And, and there’s two lessons I want to talk about, if you don’t mind with that. Is not only do you need to ask for the feedback, not only do you need to receive [00:46:00] it well, but you need to apply it.

You

Ed Doherty: need to prove it. You need to prove it.

David Pasqualone: Yes. And the other thing is, on the flip side, if people are asking you for feedback eight outta 10 times, they’re really just looking for praise, right? Like, it’s like, oh, how great am I? But the two out of 10 that are truly sincere, like what Ed’s describing. Man, give them feedback.

Don’t just BS them. Don’t just be like, oh, everything’s fine. If there’s an issue, talk about it. But how do you find the balance ed? Between, because giving someone feedback where, you know, eight outta 10 times, they’re going to reject it. Mm-hmm. They might get mad at you, right? Yep. It’s like, oh, read this paper I wrote in college, and you think it’s your opus, and then they’re like, oh, you did this wrong, did this wrong, did this wrong.

And like, gimme that back. You know, people get upset. Yep. But when you’re giving people genuine feedback, how do you, how do you recommend you receive the feedback and how do you recommend you give the feedback?

Ed Doherty: Well, first there’s a [00:47:00] bunch of feedback that everybody accepts. So if I say you have something on your mouth, you don’t take that as personal.

You, you, you take that as helpful. I actually ask for permission if I’m going to give substantial feedback because going back to what you said. Everybody gives you permission, whether they say they have it or not, they give you this much permission or this much permission. And so rather than guess at how much permission I have to give them feedback, I ask them directly.

And sometimes I say, ’cause I can be snarky. I said, do you want the in-depth feedback or the superficial feedback you pick? But you gotta, you gotta convince me that you won it.

David Pasqualone: Yes. Now let me do this. I, I’ve been doing the podcast for seven years. Let’s do a live role play. Okay? At the end of every podcast, people don’t see this, but I always ask the [00:48:00] guest, Hey, how was your experience?

How was that for you? And even though our experience right now is over, how can I be a better host for future guests? So number one, am I approaching that the right way? Or the, you know, is there an even better way? And number two, how would you reply to that?

Ed Doherty: So let me reply to that. First of all, I have been very impressed at how you’ve taken words that I’ve said and translated them into lessons.

That’s, that’s been very, very impressive to me so far. ’cause I haven’t seen that on other podcasts either that I’ve been on or that I listen to. The second thing is, I think that we,

our sincerity is vital to soliciting feedback and absorbing feedback. Like, you could be bullshitting me that you want [00:49:00] feedback, but I don’t think so. So I, I’ve given, I give you high sincerity ranks and so I would be more likely to give you feedback. And I think that, I think that wanting to get better is a core principle of getting better.

Show me someone who got better that didn’t wanna get better. You know, whether it’s that major league baseball player who’s in the batting cage for two hours ’cause he is in a slump. You know what I mean? Or this, or, or Larry Bird shooting 3000 shots a day before the game. I mean, the people who wanna get better have a much better chance of getting better.

And if you kind of go back to my trajectory, I want to get better. Yeah. I, I could see no reason to not get better.

David Pasqualone: And so if you’re listening and you’re listening to [00:50:00] Ed, if it’s not genuine. Don’t ask. Right. ’cause you’re wasting their time. You’re wasting their time. Right, right. I mean, is that safe to say, ed?

Ed Doherty: I would agree completely.

David Pasqualone: Yeah.

Ed Doherty: The other thing is there’s, there’s some specificity that makes it easier. So if we’re talking about you getting feedback, let’s pretend that we’re both reading the same book I finished and you haven’t. And then you say to me,

David Pasqualone: that’s probably likely I’m a slow reader. But Yeah.

But

Ed Doherty: you say, does Sally marry Ralph? Well, I know exactly where you are in the book when you say that if I’ve finished it. And when someone is mentoring you or giving you feedback, they’ve already been over that ground that you’re at. And so the question you ask how specific you are, really helps improve the quality of the feedback because.

The feedback backer, if that’s what they’re called, can zone in on that [00:51:00] particular thing instead of wasting time with stuff you already know or you know, whatever the case may be.

David Pasqualone: Yeah, that’s good advice. That’s very good advice. Okay. And then when you, now let’s go back to your story. So you’re consulting, you’ve had a great career, you’re helping people grow, not just the organizations, but also on the personal level.

Where are you today at, actually, before I say that, is there anything between your birth and today that we missed or any other comments you wanna make? And then we’ll transition to where’s at today? Where are you heading next, and how can we as a Remarkable community help you get there?

Ed Doherty: When we lived in California, my son was born with multiple birth defects.

Significant spina bifida, hydrocephalus, scoliosis, bilateral club feet,[00:52:00]

and I in the delivery room when he was born, the nurse screamed out, oh shit, welcome to the world. Joseph Edward Doherty. So he required surgery. He was born with an open spine. His spinal cord was open. He required surgery within 24 hours to stuff his spinal membrane or whatever it’s called, back in and have the skin sewed up and there was no guarantee he was going to survive.

I get my wife out of the hospital. Because she didn’t have her baby. I remember sitting kind of in like in the movies at the end of a hall in a [00:53:00] full leather chair near the payphone, all by myself. ’cause we didn’t know anybody. And I sat there for hours while he was in surgery. And then just like in the movies, the doors at the other end of the hall opened up.

I could see the surgeon coming down with his, you know, mask falling off. And he, he approaches me and says, so far so good. I’ll see you back here tomorrow for brain surgery. Went back the next day, sat in the same chair, same payphone, four hours. Had no idea if I was ever going to see my son again. The door open, he walks in and he [00:54:00] says he did fine.

And I said, boy, he’s gotta be tough. And he looked me right in the eye and he said, just like his old man. And that started our adventure altogether. My son’s been in the operating room more than three dozen times. He currently uses a wheelchair. He lived his full capacity. He was able to walk for a while, so he played baseball and basketball and he was in Cub Scouts and golf.

Not exactly like a normal child would, but he, we call him the toughest doty. And he’s 41 now, and a procedure that saved his life is called an IVP shunt. He had it installed in his head to drain the excess cerebral [00:55:00] fluid. And we had him after we’d been married 10 years, if he had been born when we first got married, he wouldn’t be around because that shunt was invented between the time he we were married and the time he was born.

And so there’s no life expectancy for him because there aren’t, there’s nobody around older than him, you know, by, by 10 or 15 years. So that has formed the backdrop to everything that we talked about, and it’s one of the reasons that. I’ve been in some nasty situations at work, but the not, nothing compared to what I had already been through.

You know what I mean? I was I’m not exactly steel, but I’ve been, I’ve been tested. [00:56:00]

David Pasqualone: Yeah. And that’s something that when your child’s sick and there’s nothing you can do,

Ed Doherty: I can’t tell you the number of times I wish that I could. I was on that gurney going into the operating room.

David Pasqualone: Yeah. Yeah. So let me, I’m getting emotional here, but what do you recommend to parents?

You’ve been there, you’ve done that, you’ve, you know, traveled the gambit so far. What do you, what’s your encouragement to parents going through that right now? Ed,

Ed Doherty: don’t give up. Don’t give up. That persistence, that determination, the

don’t quit.

David Pasqualone: And the daily practical aspect of that, you know, we don’t quit. But you know, you get to a point where you’re saying, I [00:57:00] don’t have any more energy. I don’t anymore money. I don’t know what to do. All the news we’re getting from the doctors is negative. We’re like, I trust God. I truly believe in God. I don’t know if you do or not, you don’t have to.

But I believe in God, and I don’t believe he’s vindictive. I know that if he’s allowed something, it will ultimately benefit us all. I just don’t understand it. Okay. Yeah. And I’ve been critically ill twice in my life personally, like make out your will. And it wasn’t just weeks, it was years. Hmm. So I’m really thankful, but it wasn’t my child.

So for the parents who are just exhausted and that affects your relationship with your spouse, what are some things you guys did to practically stay together equally yoked to stay positive, you know, what did you believe that got you through the hard times?

Ed Doherty: I believe God put me here for this role. It’s, it’s my real job, it’s my priority.

It, [00:58:00] my assignment is to be strong in the face of adversity. And I started, when he was in the hospital, he had to be transferred to a neonatal intensive care unit. And the ambulance driver says, sign this form to transfer him. And I said, I wanna see your driver’s license. And he looked at me, I said, no one’s taken my son unless they have a valid driver’s license.

’cause I knew right away I had to be the toughest. Mother in the world, and I haven’t, I I haven’t changed that at all. Let me, let me just tell you, I’m not answering your question, but my son is a giant country music fan. Giant. We’ve been to the Country Music festival in Nashville 28 times. We go to see live country music acts all the time [00:59:00] this year.

So far we’ve been to 114 live country music acts. Wow. This year.

David Pasqualone: That’s awesome.

Ed Doherty: We only had three this past weekend, the weekend before we had five. Because when your kid’s happy, what, what, what else are you supposed to do? Mm-hmm. So when he’s. In that environment. He’s happy, he’s smiling, he’s having a good time.

It’s my job. That’s what I’m here for. I was picked, if I didn’t have the balls to do it, someone else would’ve been picked. And just FYII taught third grade catechism for 17 years

David Pasqualone: years. Yeah. That’s awesome. So thank you for sharing that, ed, and sincerely, where are you today? I mean, we kind of heard a lot of it, but where are you [01:00:00] today?

Where are you heading next? If somebody wanted to continue the conversation with you, learn more about what you do, what’s the best way to reach you?

Ed Doherty: So I have I have a website. My company is ambrose landon.com. The best way to find out about me is. I have I published a book last year called Observations at the Speed of Life.

And some of the stories I’ve told today are included in that book. I am on the verge of releasing the audio version of the book and I recorded it myself, so I’m not a professional narrator and there’s all kinds of warts in it and so on and so forth. But people say I write like I talk, so I figured I’m going to narrate the book.

I do a Wednesday web weblog. Every [01:01:00] Wednesday I publish a different story. The book is a compilation of 60 of those stories. For example, this week the story was entitled I Kick because I can. It’s the story. I went back to UMass a couple of weeks ago and I played in the alumni soccer game at 74 years old.

I played in the alumni soccer game.

David Pasqualone: That’s fta. And which UMass was it? Which which? Amherst? Amherst. UMass

Ed Doherty: Amherst.

David Pasqualone: UMass Amherst. Okay. Yep.

Ed Doherty: So that’s, I write about things that I observe. I’ve told some of the stories, you know, about my son and a lot of the, I told the feedback is a gift story about getting gas.

Those are all stories that are, that are in the book. My next step is I would [01:02:00] like to be a keynote speaker someplace. And. My rationale for that, and we didn’t talk about it, but I ran my first marathon when I was 70. And if we go back to set your own challenging goals, no one’s going to walk up to a 70-year-old and say, Hey, you should run a marathon.

I had to set that goal for myself.

So if I, if I knew someone who ran a marathon at 70 and published a book at 72, I might wanna hear what that person has to say.

David Pasqualone: Absolutely. And let’s do this. It’s been a, a honor to spend today with you. And on that note, what thought, what truth, what just words of wisdom do you want to leave with our audience as we wrap this up today?

Ed Doherty: Can I [01:03:00] quote Calvin Coolidge?

David Pasqualone: You can do whatever you want as long as it’s true.

Ed Doherty: Okay. Calvin Coolidge had a famous quote. It goes like this. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men, than women with talent. Genius will not.

Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

David Pasqualone: Ladies and gentlemen, you can pause this, you can rewind it, you can look it up yourself. You can print it out and put it on your wall. That is great information. To not just hear, but to make sure you’re [01:04:00] applying and meditating on. So, ed, oh, look at that. You got it in front of you too. Ladies and gentlemen, go ahead, ed, say something and show that one more time so the camera switches to you for those lists of watching.

Ed Doherty: So here’s, I keep this in my office. I look at, I read it every morning. I still can’t memorize it completely, but I do read it every morning.

David Pasqualone: Yes, yes, I do that too. I print out quotes that really speak to me, not just proofy stuff, ’cause it sounds cool. Mm-hmm. Like the stuff that usually actually answer me this, I don’t, I don’t know if you’ll agree or not, but the quotes and the statements and the wisdom that people share with me, that actually changes my life for the better.

Oh man, they heard it first. The first time you hear it. They’re painful. And they’re, they’re, they call you to accountability. Is that how you feel, why you read that? Yeah,

Ed Doherty: I would. I would agree with [01:05:00] that. But growth is painful sometimes, you know, it’s, if it was easy, stop and think about it. If it was easy, everybody would do it, you know?

David Pasqualone: Yeah, exactly. Like eating donuts, that’s fun. But you look like a beast afterwards. Right. And you feel like worse.

Ed Doherty: Yep.

David Pasqualone: So, yeah. All right. Well it was great and it is true. So ladies and gentlemen, you know, our slogan is listened to Repeat for life. Don’t just listen to what Ed said, don’t just listen to the Bible, but do it.

Repeat those good habits each day so you can have a great life in this world, but more importantly, an attorney to come. So this is our Remarkable friend, ed, is thank you again for being here, brother.

Ed Doherty: My pleasure.

David Pasqualone: Alright, ladies and gentlemen, we love you. Please share this with your friends and family.

Reach out to edit. I tell us how you benefited from this episode. If you have any questions, if you couldn’t stand [01:06:00] something, I said, reach out. How can we be better? How can we help you more? But again, please share this with your friends and family so we can help as many people as possible and make the world a better place.

Thanks for watching The Remarkable People Podcast, and we’ll see you in the next episode. Ciao. ​

Ladies and gentlemen, I sincerely hope this show has inspired you. The whole purpose of The Remarkable People Podcast is to inspire you, to motivate you into action, to help you have an even better life, to overcome things you’ve not yet been able to overcome or to grow to the next level that you never thought possible.

And all of this, not just to benefit you in this world, but to have you come to a relationship with God where it grows every day stronger. And not just this world is blessed, but your eternity is blessed. And we sincerely want to do just that, and to glorify [01:07:00] God. And we hope with this episode we accomplish that.

If we did. Please let me know. It’s great to be encouraged and to spread the word to our Remarkable guests that it helped in your life. If we didn’t, let me know. Write me an email. You can go to DavidPasqualone.com . Go to our contact us page and let me know what you think. I got tough skin. Let it rip.

Anything you can think of to make this a better podcast to help you grow and to glorify, God, I’m in. So that’s it. Thank you for listening to the podcast. Thank you for sending us feedback. If we can help you in any way, let us know. And if you can spread the word about the Remarkable People Podcast, share the episode to your friends, your family on social media.

It would be a huge honor and blessing. Again, I’m not trying to be the most famous podcast in the world for my benefit, I truly want a [01:08:00] podcast that’s the best podcast in the world to help as many people as we can to have a better life, come to know Christ, to grow in the Lord, and to have that salvation so they can be with God and peace and joy in eternity.

And right now we’re together on this earth, so let’s do everything we can to work together and help each other grow. Like the Bible says, love the Lord thy God as a first commandment. And the next command is to love thy neighbor as thyself. So let’s do it together. I’m David Pasqualone. I love you. Not as much as God loves you, but if I can help you in any way, just ask.

And again, please share this with your friends and family so we can help them too. Ciao and see you in the next episode.

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