Tommy Thompson
Thompson Coaching and Consulting is the result of thirty years of lessons learned from a seasoned entrepreneur, father, and Christ-follower. Listen in as founder Tommy Thompson walks co-hosts Bart Simpson and Matthew Nutt through his journey of integrating personal and business aspects into a philosophy that has abandoned the belief that life can be reduced to a formula.
<<<TUNE IN NOW>>>
Tommy Thompson’s trail through the world of entrepreneurism has been tested and proved. Being a business owner in a wide range of industries from owning a chain of surf shops to real estate development, Thompson has seen both the extreme highs and lows that follow anyone taking this path.
After graduating seminary, he joined his brother in the business world, green and with no knowledge of what he was doing. Up until this point he had zero interest in business and did not really have a family history of being an entrepreneur. However, numbers and managing and dealing with people came easily to Tommy and he always loved the creative thought of building something. He began to derive a lot of satisfaction from creating an environment where people felt cared about and enjoyed what they were doing. The businesses he ventured into were ones that offered him a challenge and that he found particularly interesting. Tommy has been a part of communications (cell phones etc.), screen printing, real estate, video production, retail, vending, and land development. He admits his professional resume seems a bit schizophrenic but he loves the challenge of building things.
Today, however, Tommy has a more narrowed focus, culminating from his years of experience and life lessons. Beyond business, he has faced insurmountable tragedy within his personal life. This unique combination has offered him an authentic perspective which has become invaluable to those that have sought Thompson’s advice and mentoring.
Tommy’s heart lies in teaching others. Over the course of his adulthood, he has done this in business and in a church environment. Having practiced what it means to merge one’s faith with the other aspects of their life, his mission now, is to help others move ahead and create a life that is integrated and holistic. He hopes to offer “practical wisdom for everyday living,” to those who need a mentor who has truly lived. Most of the greatest lessons he has learned have been the result of some of the more difficult situations he has undergone in his life. After a handful of promising business opportunities that turned sour, Thompson began to understand that doing the right things, pushing the right buttons, and acting with integrity did not guarantee a certain result.
“The world’s a lot bigger than just me doing the right things-life doesn’t work by formulas!!! You work as hard as you can but in the end you have to trust God to be bigger than the circumstances. ”
All of his experience has led him to be passionate about teaching people how to create space in their lives to breathe and grow. Thompson credits the best moments/things in his life have come because he has learned to create space for good things to happen. In a culture that is wired for speed and noise it is all too easy to become unbalanced. The lie is projected that we don’t have any option except to run 100 mph with our phones always on and ready. But Thompson shouts loudly that it is possible to live with space to breathe.
As a young entrepreneur in the 90’s, Thompson’s business was imploding and he realized that he was choking from trying to do too much. He was doing so many great things but too much of a good thing is still too much. So, he began to carve out intentional space into his life and soon found that not only was it possible to thrive, but he became better in many areas.
Tommy's List of 5 Practical Ways to Create Space in Your Life
- Get up early and take time in the morning to spend with God and thinking through the day. This serves as a foundation that starts his day off correctly.
- Arrive to all appointments 5-15 minutes early. This eliminates the need for rushing allowing you to operate at a more relaxed pace and state of mind.
- Keep technology in the right perspective. While it’s helpful and fun, phones/social media can quickly become addicting and monopolize time.
- Practice the Sabbath. On Saturday night completely disconnect from work (conversations/emails etc.) and allow time to focus on the Lord and the rest He offers.
- Drive without the radio. Noise in our lives is constant but driving in silence creates space for God to speak and us to hear. We don’t hear Him because we don’t position ourselves to listen.
Thompson admits that these things do not necessarily come naturally to him and that it does require training and discipline. However, implementing intentional space has allowed him to become a better version of himself in fatherhood, as a Christ-follower, and as a business owner.
This concept was put to the test in the 2010 when Thompson got a call from his wife sharing the news that his daughter, a college student at Furman University, had been diagnosed with cancer. His beautiful, healthy, and full of faith child, was now in the fight of her life with Stage 4 kidney cancer that had metastasized to her spine. After seven years of miracles and hardships, Perrin was freed from her sickness and made complete in Christ Jesus as she entered heaven. It was the discipline of making space that allowed Tommy the room to fight with his daughter and be present during this journey.
He understands first-hand that God is not obligated to give you things like an easy blessed life, just because you do what’s right. Life, nor business, work that way. The trials you endure can either “push you to the edge of despair, or to the forefront of faith.” Even in the midst of life’s hardest circumstances, God can still show Himself faithful and good. With his daughter, and then in different ways in business, Tommy’s battles have been excruciating and stressful. However, he endured them all while walking with God. God’s presence didn’t always result in peace or comfort in the moment, but the fact remained that He was present. And in certain times, that was enough.
These hard seasons of life have changed Tommy. He knows God’s reality in a way that is much deeper than he had ever experienced. God’s faithfulness has sent his faith into deeper depths than he knew existed and he is an utterly different man today. It is for these very reasons he feels so passionate about what he is doing now. He has lived a full, blessed, deep, rich, and tragic life that he knows God can use to help others. At the same time, Tommy doesn’t want people to look for the other shoe to drop. The next person’s story does not have to be filled with hardship. There is simply no guarantee one way or the other. What is promised is that God is always present.
For Tommy, greatness is not in his job description. “My call is not to be successful but to be faithful. No matter how hard I try, I cannot guarantee success but I can be faithful. To the Lord, to my wife and children, and in my integrity in business. But the greatness is up to God.”
To hear more of Tommy’s story or to contact him for a speaking engagement or mentorship, visit tommythompson.org.
The purpose of our Flywheel podcast is to bring about wisdom and growth, to help our listeners, become better and more effective leaders. We are a brand-marketing company, but we believe we can reach beyond that and impact each other’s lives.
Subscribe Now
Stay in-the-know! Follow @FlywheelBrands on Facebook or Instagram, or check out our YouTube Channel for entertaining (and helpful) videos. You can also visit our website at FlywheelBrands.com, peruse our eStore at FlywheelPromotions.com, or book an appointment with Bart to chat about your brand marketing needs.
