Feb 13, 2018
I had the pleasure of spending time with two of my favorite people, Dylan Bates and Matt Smith, recently as not only podcast guests, but we christened the first Facebook Live version of the Living a Life in Full show.
Dylan is the CEO of ATI Physical Therapy, the largest, single brand physical therapy/sports medicine/rehabilitation company in the world with clinics coast to coast. Matt is the Senior Vice President of Growth and Development for ATI’s Western Region and they both are embarking on a two-pronged challenge: 1) Summit Mt. Kilimanjaro, the tallest mountain on the African continent/one of the “Seven Summits” and 2) They are using this challenge as a fund and awareness raiser for the ATI Foundation, with a $1M donation target!
The ATI Foundation works to make a day-to-day impact on the lives of children with physical impairments and their families. The Foundation works under the leadership of Terry Williams, Vice President and Executive Director, to meet various needs, such as providing financial assistance for medical expenses, purchasing medical equipment not covered by insurance, donating adaptive bicycles for recreation and therapy, funding therapeutic horseback riding lessons, or covering travel and lodging expenses for families requiring out-of-state care.
They coined the term “Klimb4Kids” as the campaign’s call to action. Matt and Dylan came up with this sizable double challenge by way of Matt’s tradition to have especially unique birthdays on the ones that are “5s” and “10s.” No donated funds will be going toward expenses related to participation in the climb.
In this episode, we do a deep dive into their origin stories, why Kilimanjaro, their training, their passions and the very special children and families the ATI Foundation works with. We also discuss healthcare, leadership, teamwork, and their vision for making a difference.
Kilimanjaro is no easy feat. As noted it is one of the “Seven Summits” as well as the tallest mountain on the entirety of the African continent. I climbed it in 1992 and during our expedition, a skilled French expedition team member fell sick with Acute Mountain Sickness and needed to be emergency evacuated 2000 feet below the summit. So we wish Dylan and Matt all the best with their expedition and applaud their humanitarian ethos.
They are two great gentlemen living their lives in full, and to the benefit of others.