Andy Robin Interview: Savoring Life to the Fullest
Diana Landau | September 28, 2021
This week Carl interviews Andy Robin, former President and CEO of Ascenium, who has written a unique post-retirement book, Tapas Life. After his many accomplishments as an executive in the high-tech corporate world and raising a family, Andy has learned a lot. He wrote the book to share what he’s learned, including some missteps along the way, and as he says, “I want to help people get on the path to the life they want sooner.”
As a child, Andy’s family moved from Chicago to Mexico City, his father was in the computer business. He says it gave him a different cultural perspective. Andy dropped out of college after one year and went to work with his father. Knowing then what he truly wanted, he went back to college, eventually earning his MBA.
Andy and his wife were working their way up the corporate ladder when they made a life-changing decision: They would always put family first, and they would share the raising of their children. So, Andy kept his job but did not work more than 45 hours a week so he could be home for dinner. His wife earned her PhD and when the children were teens, she re-launched her career and Andy traded in overseeinghis hi tech exec job to become a house dad.
“It was trial by baptism!” Andy added.
Another unique decision was when Andy and his wife recognized they were financially comfortable, so they decided to freeze their standard of life vs continuing to strive for more promotions and longer hours. It was another life decision guided by determining their own quality of life.
Andy found the teen years very rewarding and then the kids went to college. “I felt adrift,” Andy tells us. After some trial and error, he wanted to share with others what he learned about charting a rich and rewarding life in unretirement. His book is different from the others in that he urges people to find their “Tapas Life.” Often people think, “This is my retirement life, I’ll just add a sport or hobby to it to keep myself busy.” The “Tapas Life” is so much more than that. It’s about creating a path for your new stage of life by exploring all the wonderful options out there. As for Andy--he is now an author, speaker and life coach, enjoying his Tapas Life to the fullest.
Andy’s advice on living life to the fullest:
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“Don’t talk yourself out of trying anything and everything. That’s leaving so much on the table.”
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“Pay attention to how you eat and exercise. The object of the game is quality of life. Take care of yourself!”
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“Have a meaningful conversation with your spouse specifically about what your lives will look like going forward. What do we still have in common? Are there things we both enjoy that we could do together? Should we explore some things we have never tried?” (Andy’s book has great suggestions for this.)
Diana Landau is the Content Wrangler for Pickleball Media. After 15 years in corporate marketing, in 2012 she pivoted to write and wrangle content for Niche Media's weekly blog. She now manages the “I Used to Be Somebody” weekly blog.
