Cultivating a High-Performing Team Mindset
Even coming face-to-face with a moose on a wooded trail while out on a winter run in Park City didn’t deter Owen Rice, executive vice president at Hughes Marino, from planning even more challenging and remote adventures.
He’ll soon head to north central Washington to traverse 30 miles, summit two peaks within a 24-hour span and ride 50 miles with a friend to Mt. Timpanogos, for a 12,000-foot climb followed by another 50-mile bike ride home.
Rice is an experienced mountain climber and an ultra-endurance trail runner. He typically places among the top 10 for races like the recent Sawtooth Ridge 50 miler in Washington, where he ran up 16,000 feet of elevation gain in over 90-degree heat.
“It was insanely remote,” notes Rice, who is based in the company’s Seattle office. And he wouldn’t have it any other way. “I don’t listen to music when I run,” he says. “I get out in the mountains—I love being on a trail in the Cascades totally off the grid. That’s where I de-stress.”
For Rice, ultra runs on difficult mountain trails has nothing to do with collecting “likes” on social media or tracking his stats, and everything to do with pushing himself beyond his limits. It is about building his physical and mental resilience so he’s able to withstand any challenge.
It’s a mindset he shares with numerous team members at Hughes Marino, who say that pushing their physical limits makes them a more focused and driven team. In fact, there are so many Hughes Marino super athletes, it has become an intrinsic part of the company’s DNA.
They include among their ranks several world-class skiers; a former pro golfer and football player; several former collegiate baseball, football, basketball and tennis players and an all-American swimmer; ultra marathoners; triathletes and Ironman competitors; and a race car driver.
The Mental Toughness Mindset
“There’s definitely an association,” says Shay Hughes, president and COO of Hughes Marino. “Our team is high performing. They really thrive on extreme challenges and mental toughness.”
“Whenever you’re doing hard things, part of your brain wants to quit,” says Rice. “It’s easy to say ‘I’m done.’ Once you’ve completed it, the feeling of accomplishment transcends to the following weeks, months and years. Anytime you are faced with challenges, you can draw on these experiences, and say ‘I did that 50 miler or 100 miler, I can certainly do this.’”
Enjoying the Journey
John Jarvis, executive vice president in the Hughes Marino San Diego office, recently lived out a lifelong surfing dream with his son—catching a wave that lasted 2km—or 1.2 miles— on a surfing trip in Puerto Malabrigo, Peru, on a famous surf break known as Chicama. Jarvis explains that Chicama is what’s known as a surf point left, which means that he and his son who both ride “goofy foot,” or standing with the left foot back, can face the wave as they ride.
It was the “trip of a lifetime” to experience the ultimate wave with his son, says Jarvis, who adds that surfing also connects him to the broader professional community and offers a way both to unwind and give back.
“The only way to make the kind of hard work we do sustainable is to balance it with an equally intense unplugged experience, which is what surfing does for me,” Jarvis says. “And in Southern California, there are a surprising number of professionals who surf.” He mentions the Luau and Legends of Surfing Invitational benefiting Moores Cancer Center at UC San Diego Health, which brings together life science executives who surf.
While there are a number of athletes looking to test their physical limits at Hughes Marino, there are many others who are just starting their fitness journeys, training for their first 10K race, heading out for their longest bike ride or joining colleagues for a challenging evening mountain hike to see the sunset.
Across the company, colleagues are inspired by their teammates’ stories, and feel supported by a company that celebrates one another for taking steps outside their comfort zone. Regardless of the scale of the physical feat, they feel emboldened to take a risk, to learn something new about themselves and to turn to colleagues for motivation, knowing that it’s not the medal, but the journey and the relationships along the way that really matter.
