in Danville, California from his home-base in Salt Lake City. “When I do, I fly myself,” he says. “It’s an absolute joy of a flight. En route, I have some of the most beautiful, if not surreal sights outside of my windows –everything from abandoned solar generators in the middle of the Nevada desert (that look like something out of science fiction), to a birds eye view of Half Dome. “I fly over the barren west desert of Utah and desert of Nevada. Then, it turns into the Sierra Nevada and eventually, I’m over Yosemite. It’s truly breathtaking the contrast of the topography I’m flying over. Then, I meet up with the incredibly talented and passionate team here in NorCal, and it fuels me.” Anderson says his insatiable appetite for new information and new experiences is what initially fed his passion for flying. This appetite continues to rev his engine. “It enables me to relate to more people,” he says. “That, to me, is the goal of my life—to add as much value as I possibly can, and uplift as many people as possible along the way. Ultimately, I want those relationships to lead both of us to places that we otherwise wouldn’t have arrived.” Especially now, Anderson says the successful must have an insatiable appetite for new information. “They are not too worried about what made them successful yesterday. They’re worried about what’s changed in themeantime and what it is that’s going to be necessary in terms of adjustments or new strategies and tactics to ensure success in today’s mission,” he says. “It’s not all that dissimilar froman important lesson every pilot learns at some point in her or his flying: Just because the forecast said the weather was going to be clear and sunny, you need to be ready to adapt to unexpected changes in your environment at any time. The best pilots—or businesspeople— are those who see the world around them for it is, rather than what they wish it to be. Anderson joined the promo industry in 2002 with supplier HandStands, became president of the company in 2009 and CEO in 2010. Under his leadership, HandStands expanded its distribution into 138 countries and closed multiple strategic acquisitions, including the eventual sale of the HandStands promotional business to HPG in 2018. In 2019, Anderson became CEO of HPG. Today, he oversees nine facilities with over 1,000 employees in multiple countries. He says his growth over the years has been an exercise in persistence. Anderson says, “I pride myself on not being afraid to fail. At any point in my career or with the businesses I’ve been affiliated with, we’ve either been winning or we were learning. That willingness to invest and either learn or win, has really marked the inflection points of my career.” Anderson says his insatiable appetite for new information and newexperiences iswhat initially fedhis passion for flying. This appetite continues to fuel his life. | JULY 2022 | 51 GROW
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