 Broadcasting live from Honolulu, Hawaii, welcome to think tech Hawaii's newest show, top of the line. I'm your host Ben Lau Aloha and thank you for tuning in. I open our show with the quote used by author Robert Green and the opening of his book entitled mastery quote, everyone holds his fortune in his own hands. Like a sculptor, he will fashion his own figure, the skill to mold the material into what we want must be learned and attentively cultivated end quote. Our guest today is someone who has molded his life and pursuits with great skill, tremendous inspiration and perspiration and in his own fashion with non stop cultivation and he's achieved mastery across a gamut of endeavors. Our guest is my friend, former teammate and college swim team captain Wilfred Stephen utensu fondly known as Fred. And those of us he got naked with Freddie. Fred has accomplished many things across many areas, business tycoon CEO chairman of the board team builder team leader team owner chairman of the league philanthropist mentor. He's an architect and master sculptor of self and of others individually and his teams. Born in Cebu city, Philippines. Fred resides in Manila with his wife and partner in life of 40 years carry. He's one of three children of Wilfred utensu senior and Bonnie Mary Brooks, but he is in fact, indeed, a devoted and beloved member of two families, the utensu clan and the University of Southern California. Fred began his career as an age group swimmer developing into a national and international level fish from the Philippines before relocating to the US for school. He chose, chose USC to one study and two to swim, not necessarily in that order. Fred wish to swim under legendary coach Peter Dalen and train with some of the best swimmers in the world. A born leader and chair leader and someone everyone looked up to Fred was elected our team captain. After graduating Fred returned to the Philippines to help his dad run a family business. He was in the task of milk corporation succeeding his dad, Fred grew the business took it public and molded it into a leading food conglomerate. Not one to waste time resting on his morals. Fred started other businesses and devoted himself to training for triathlon. He's competed in over 50 of them, and he's since achieved world class status as an elite member of Iron Man. As a team leader and cheerleader Fred built teams of great employees and great athletes and led them to successes. As a professional sports team owner he built a Philippines basketball dynasty, the Alaska aces, a 14 time national championship team. And then Fred has earned recognition as a widely admired business executive team owner, athlete leader and as a major contributor to his country, fame and acclaim and seemingly every aspect and walk and swim of life. Fred returned to Los Angeles reports are that he took a plane, rather than swim bike and run the distance on his own, and he dropped in on his other second extended family at USC. One of the best universities in the world. One, some parents will risk breaking the law and jail time to try and send their kids to. I don't mean to make light, but rather to shine a bright light upon Fred's character by contrast. Fred and Carrie both SC alums have other family who attended their eldest daughter Ashton is also a USC alum always one for doing things his own way, the right way. And Fred's approach was of course unique, rather than law breaking or making a big donation to help with Ashton's admission they allowed her to get in on her own merits. Then they waited till she graduated before making a record setting donation, the largest ever by a former student athlete. They helped build USC a new complex, the utensu aquatics center at USC will be seeing a lot of this beautiful complex in the 2028 summer Olympics in LA be playing a starring role as part of the swimming venue. Now, let's see Fred. Hello Fred, a big thank you for joining me today. Thanks Ben good to see you and thank you for the very kind and generous introduction. Fred, it's, you're simply a marvel. To know you, your story. It's, it's awe inspiring, maybe also a bit tiring, watching an action, listening to me attempt to summarize it. How are you. Good, good to be here and I'm actually here in the islands in Kona Hawaii so just just across the channel. Well, on screen right now. We're showing a picture of how you looked around the front time we first met. I was 16 on a college campus tour. I took this picture of you. Same beautiful girl on your arms today your sweetheart Carrie. You two haven't changed. You haven't changed. I called you up about my new show this show. And your first words to me were, how can I help them. You've always been about promoting and helping others achieve in our team photo book the team voted you the USC team spirit leader, Dr. all you remember that. I do is very, very special. And I was flattered to have the opportunity to lead the USC men's swimming team as a spirit leader and and as team captain, but tremendous privilege. I mean, if this amazing complex you help build Fred, it's, it says it all it's all a dedication and commemoration of other athletes, swimmers divers water polo players coaches, you and your family have built a shrine. You've also erected a beautiful backdrop and training facility for future Trojan swimmers and student body at large. Here's my question. All about lifting up others. Where does that come from what motivated and inspired you to do this. How did you get your start what was your first big break. Well, I think my first break was going to USC and being allowed to join the swim team because I was not a heavily recruited summer coming from the Philippines. And then Coach Dalin said, look, you can walk on. If you do the workouts will let you have a spot on the team. And I actually broke my leg my senior year in high school and I got to campus with my leg in a five glass cast. So not wanting to risk my place on the team I actually swam it with a cast on my leg and a pull boy for the first three months, just to be sure that I would not get get kicked off the team. And you know I look at that coach Dalin said, you know, if you're willing to put in the work will have you on the team and that meant heaps to me because I think in life, when I see a work ethic when I see that dedication. I take a second look at that that person. And assuming at his sport, it's a team event. And so, having that opportunity I wanted the chance to celebrate this with generations of Trojans to come to have this opportunity to train in a world class facility to have access to world class coaches. And let's face it, we individually are only as good as some of our parts and not I'm talking our individual parts I'm talking about those that surround us. I want to celebrate the great Trojans who've come before us and those who follow, and those who will follow for generations to come. There's a lot to come. I'm bummed we have such limited time. News of this show has been trending on social media a little bit not in the viral sort of way but at least, you know as relates to me. We have some questions in advance from some of our audience members who are on today. One of the questions from Michael Stricker of New York is, you talked about this a little bit but what skills did you learn as a student athlete that translated to your professional success. Well, whether you're a swimmer or a football player basketball player I think every student athlete first has to put their academics first. And so if you're training 2025 30 hours a week and then you have a full course load on top of that to me first of all is work ethic. You know, if you just going to school alone and trying to do well in your classes is hard, you add 30 hours of training and competing on top of that that molded me and it's something I learned from my father, who exhibited an amazing work ethic. Then on top of that you have the components of dedication teamwork camaraderie. These all serve me very well in life when I immediately graduated from college, working at a bank, and then when I came back to join the family business. I took those values and those characteristics and use them the way I formed our leadership teams. And that is something that I look for today and I try and inculcate with the people I interact whether I'm advising them or mentoring them. It's something I wouldn't trade for the world. It was a tremendous opportunity. What is American Filipino you have a multi ethnic background, and with your wife Carrie, your family has a large number of the world's ethnicities covered. What culture or cultures most resonate with you. Well my father's Filipino Chinese my mother's American, my wife is American but was raised in Mexico City so we do touch many parts of the of the continent. You know I look at ourselves as as global citizens. I resonate with all of them and I'm comfortable in many different parts of the world. Obviously the Philippines has been my home for the majority of my life. But whether I'm in Los Angeles, or in here in Hawaii, or down in Mexico, I'm comfortable wherever we are. And I guess home is where my wife is, you know, in a cheesy sense of the word but I'm really comfortable in any culture and I think being multi cultural myself makes me more understanding of the place I'm in, it may be different than what I'm used to, but it's not supposed to be the same, and I think that's what we have to learn about when we visit other places when we have to be culturally and racially tall. COVID-19. How's the pandemic impacted your life you mentioned where you live and whatnot. My question then I came to Los Angeles my wife and I did February 29 of last year, thinking we were coming to the States for two weeks to actually watch a James Taylor concert, and the lockdown happened in in the US and Philippines as well. And so we couldn't travel. And the case has been the cases have been very bad in the Philippines has been very difficult dealing with the pandemic there, and still is today. So for us, you know, we've been in the US since February 29 of last year, and probably unlikely to return home until after after the new year. So that's been the difficult part. I've been able to manage business, everything from this side while still trying to help our, our people in the Philippines as much as possible, whether it's on the PPE in the early stages of the pandemic, or now trying to find sources of vaccines, because the country is less than 20% vaccinated. But the silver lining and all this is our children are all in the United States they're actually all in California. And it gave us a chance to spend a lot of time with our children and our grandchildren, and we had two grandchildren born during the pandemic so I really blessed that we have this opportunity and the time to spend it with them. And you know what we're alive. You've shared he's lost a lot of people. I know of many who've lost a lot of people. You're about to celebrate another birthday very soon so happy birthday just days in advance. Thank you. So, living in California with your family, you must have to go outside from time to time. What's happened like what if you is life different from how you know it in the Philippines I mean it's truly a terrible dire situation over there but parts of California where where your kids are have had a rough time of it at times as well. You know, I look at that question in two parts is one, how has it been living in California or Hawaii during the pandemic versus the extreme lockdowns in the Philippines. And of course, you know we've been fortunate to have more freedom in in the US, where you know regardless of the state, even with mask mandates and all of that. That has been a good situation for for us personally. It's been very difficult for colleagues and friends and family that are still in the Philippines. But to me the biggest epiphany that I have observed during the pandemic is it's been 40 year close to 40 years since I lived in the in the US for any extended period of time. At the beginning of the pandemic, I saw what I thought was a kinder gentler, more understanding people, and it's probably the way people were concerned for one another during the early stages of the pandemic. Unfortunately, my observation, whether it's an anthropological study is that as this is worn on and maybe people have been fatigued by the situation. I feel that I feel people have become less tolerant and understanding, and whether it's a politicized situation, whether it's anti vaxxers or anti mask mandate or or the like. It's to me bothersome because it's not the way I think society should behave that we can agree to disagree, and we should do it professionally, we should do it with humility. I see that and I you know I turn on the news, whichever channel you watch and there's a lot of talking over one another. And that concerns me because I don't think that's an example for our youth. That's not the way we settle our differences. It's been an expert, you know, I open her for me, and then I do hope that leaders, whether they're heads of state business leaders, professors of ethics. I find different ways to teach our youth on how to handle our differences. The youth are important. It doesn't end there it begins there for certain. I don't know how we get the message to the ones who are a little bit taller and bigger than that should know a little bit better. We need leaders across the board you are one. I want to ask you when you're running for president of your country. I hope you do, or even our country I think you're qualified but we need all the good will and well oriented people to be in those positions of leadership that we can get. Your presentation is willpower personify, and more than a handful of the press have referred to you as a man of iron will, and even a real life Tony Stark. You have some big secret identity or alter ego. Are you really going to run for president. I am not cut out for for politics at all I mean that the joke I say is that I speak my mind because it hurts too much to bite my tongue. And I perhaps don't exhibit all the diplomacy that's necessary to be a politician. But the iron well, I think comes from observing my father as a young boy and seeing how hard he worked, and knowing his story about having lost everything during World War two, and then having to rebuild from scratch. And that I began to understand more as a young adult, and then when I started to to work with him. And the other part is, as you know, Ben, we were, we were division one collegiate swimmers. And that takes a lot of work. And so that that willpower started there in the pool looking at the black line, six days a week, you know, 50 weeks a year, year after year. And it's what allowed me to persevere in Ironman, because as you know, you're, you know, you're in the ocean for 2.4 miles when you're biking 112 miles and you're running a full marathon after that. And people say, is it physically challenging. And I said it is physically challenging, but I've always felt the toughest part of Ironman is the mental part. And your mind will quit before your body quits in most cases. So it's just, I think we, many people have the fortitude, the mental fortitude to do it. It's the training, you know, it's a swim training, it's the work training, the professional training that's allowed us to do that. And people who have participated in the sport who didn't think they had it in them after a period of time they developed that willpower that's not something I think you're necessarily born with. I believe there's a component of that. But I also think it's something that's learned as his leadership. You think in terms of, well, leadership, we can go on on that a lot. I want to touch on the Ironman contest. Another question from one of the audience members, Aisha Holcomb of Honolulu Life. She wants to know how you do it, how you keep your body fit, 50 triathlons, multiple Ironman competitions. How do you do it? How do you still do it? Well, first of all, I'm retired from Ironman competition. It was 17 years doing it. It was wonderful. It's also about cross training because you have to pace yourself, especially as we get older. My last time at Ironman World Championships, I was 50 and so you train differently when you're 50 than you do when you're 30 or 35 years old. So it's about pacing yourself, giving yourself a lot of time to recover and rest up before you go and hammer the next workout. And it's also about managing the loads of training. I had a great coach in Lance Watson who coached Olympic gold medalist and world champions. And so he kind of gave me the type of training that my body could accommodate while still pushing myself. And there are times where you also have to say, look, this is a rest day. But the reality is it's really, it is hard on the body. I've had several surgeries from overuse and work on the shoulders and feet. And so I've gone back into the pool, Ben. I'm back in master swimming where it's a little bit, I would say easier on the body, but it's still hard and it doesn't get any easier as we age. Back into swimming. Are you still doing Ironman or I mean you're credited with bringing Ironman and a whole host of other triathlons and other sports to Southeast Asia, as well as building that championship professional basketball team. Why? First with Ironman, I got involved in doing shorter distance triathlons and then I did my first Ironman abroad. I went down and I raced in Australia. I did Honu several times here on the Big Island, but I really wanted the chance for Filipinos to have that experience. It really is magical, Ben. I mean, I know it sounds hard and it is hard, but the experience and the journey, your body and your mind go through. Training first and then racing one of these events is really special. And so I wanted to bring Ironman to the Philippines, which we did back in 2009. We did it with about 400 or 500 athletes. And now the database of Ironman in the Philippines is over 20,000 people. And several, you know, several hundred go abroad to race around the world. So it's to me about sharing that experience with with other people, giving them the opportunity to challenge themselves in a way that they probably had never thought of before. I recently sold the franchise back to Ironman as they were getting ready to take their company private again, but it was a fantastic opportunity to work with the Ironman organization. And I still stay on as an ambassador for them. I didn't realize those behind the scenes mechanics of Ironman that you had to buy something or own something, but it was just it was the only way to really make it happen. I just, we needed to be in control and and understand the, you know, the way of of doing things in the Philippines. It was a great experience and still feel very close to the organization. I mean, you know, knowing you and how you set goals for yourself and for others, it may look like you've achieved all your goals. But for example, you chose USC. I mean, John neighbor, for NAS brothers, the bottom brothers, our own teammates, you know, Olympic gold, Jeff Flo, Chris Kavanaugh, the other Olympians, you know, Rony Bear, you know, Fitzpatrick, Frischnack, not to mention our many five rings women of Troy. I imagine you once dreamt those dreams, Olympic gold, maybe had such goals. Have you achieved all your goals. Well, I didn't get to go to Olympics. So that to me is is one of the regrets in life. But, you know, I had the opportunity, but my father felt it was important I start working, and I said if you want to go off and train for the Olympics, you're on your own. And so I got my first job in banking during the 1984 Olympics. Looking back on that, if I had really forced myself, I could have gone I could have picked up a job flipping burgers somewhere and live in an apartment for five other people and do it. So that that's really on me at the at the end of the day. But it's something I wish I'd had the the opportunity. But in terms of success, Ben, I really think success is a continuing journey when you feel that you've accomplished everything in life, it's probably time to meet your maker. And success doesn't necessarily come in the boardroom or in the pocketbook. I think it's a state of mind. You know, I look at now, where, where do I derive my greatest pleasure, a little bit in philanthropy, a little bit about working with young adults, whether these are students that are getting ready to go into college, or getting ready to graduate from college, or our early stage entrepreneurs getting ready to get their business ready for their first series a or taking their company public. I think I'm at a stage in my life personally where it's really enjoyable to watch other people do their stuff and try and teach them some of the things I learned. And if I can impart some of that knowledge and wisdom to them earlier than then later, it'll serve them better. And it's very rewarding to see other people be successful. You know, you're known for saying this. We are measured by what we accomplish, but we are defined by what we attempt. Tell me more, please. Well, when I say people are measured by what they accomplish. So we remember that the gold medalists right, we might remember the silver and bronze medalist, or who won the US Open. But we don't remember the hundreds and the thousands of other athletes who were just trying to get to the starting line. And that's why we are measured, we are defined by what we attempt. We are attempting to do these things and that's where I look at willpower, fortitude, you know, the will to do, and then I don't think those people are celebrated, where media only covers the winners, but they don't cover, take an Ironman. And you know who the world champion is. But what's really special in Ironman is that they also celebrate the last person to cross the finish line before it turns midnight, and which says that the race is officially over. For me is a very important celebration, a celebration of effort of willpower of fortitude. And I, you know, I just have had that quote in my mind because I don't think we recognize the people who are trying, we always recognize just the winners. So really, very important point that has something to do with your iron kids and all the other stuff you do for the teens and the Philippines and elsewhere. Well, you know, iron kids basically came from the children of Ironman athletes who are watching mom and dad going out there and doing it said, Hey, I want to be like mom and dad. You know, it's also a very short distance race, but it's also for us about creating healthy lifestyles for the youth, you know, you look at today's youth and they're on, they're on their phones they're on their PlayStation. They're on some kind of electronic device, and they're not out there running biking or swimming, and they've lost the pension for going out and having a great time perspiring. And I really think if we're not careful that we're going to see the health of our youth be compromised if they're not active at the early stages. You know, they're going to you're going to see heart disease starting in their 40s and 30s, not the 50s and 60s because they have not been active as as young people. You remind me of our former governor of California and fitness. On the subject of kids I don't remember reading or learning about Ashton or Sean or Kayla taking up Ironman or becoming national level swimmers. Listen, they were all great athletes in their own sports, all our children participated in in high school sports. And they were very good, they didn't go on to compete at the D one level, although our youngest daughter did represent the Philippines at the World Touch rugby championships about five years ago. So, to me, again, that's about being defined by what they attempt. They went out there they're good athletes they're still active today. You know, they live active healthy lifestyles. But, you know, being a being a committed summer or being a committed Ironman is something that you have to want from within your parent can't push it or a loved one can't push that. It's what drives you from inside. Fred, I wish we had more time. There's so much I want to explore and share with our audience members but we're running out of time. You have to wrap this up. The title or episode would be way too long if we were to do credit to you and your multitude of careers. You know, accomplished talent that you are with all the many accolades builder and leader of amazing winning teams, builder and provider of the headquarters for future team members, including a cinematic picture perfect existence, always surrounded by beautiful women. In this case, your wife and daughters, a man of style, one who can wear a suit and deliver a speech. As I said at the groundbreaking ceremony, people are measured by what they accomplish, but they are defined by what they attempt. Today, we see what we have attempted, but we should be proud of what we have accomplished. Thank you and fight on. Viewers, please stay tuned for this. This is where we won some credits of our own, but please wait for it. I trust you, viewers, you will see this for yourselves too now after spending a little bit of time with Fred and I'm sorry I took so much of it up trying to summarize your amazing career. Thank you. Mahalo for joining me today, Mr. Iron Man, Mr. Tony Stark, and viewers. Great catching up with YouTube and thank you. Thank you Fred. Viewers from my home to yours from me and my family to you and yours. Mahalo and Aloha. Best. See you Fred.