LEADERSHIP & LEGACY 

The Interview 

 

Raw conversation between father and son about entrepreneurship, failure, blue-collar roots, and what really matters 

By Marty Priest 

This morning was different. For 45 minutes, Marty Priest wasn’t leading a team, running a business, or working a deal. He was being interviewed by his son, Jonathan, for an entrepreneurship course at Western Carolina University. What unfolded was one of the most meaningful conversations he’s had in a long time. 

Jonathan asked about everything, career decisions, risk, failure, leadership, work ethic, and even the hard parts. The moments where things were uncertain, uncomfortable, or didn’t go as planned. What emerged wasn’t a polished business narrative, but something far more valuable: a raw, honest look at what shapes a leader, where resilience comes from, and what happens when you refuse to let circumstance define your ceiling. 

Marty decided to be vulnerable and share direct quotes from the interview. What follows is a collection of hard-earned wisdom from someone who knows that the view from the top only makes sense when you remember where you started. 

 

Blue-Collar Roots 

Before diving into the lessons on leadership and entrepreneurship, Marty wanted to establish context. Because of everything he’s built, every decision he’s made, every risk he’s taken, all traces back to where he came from. 

I grew up around blue-collar people. My grandfather cut trees down for a living—a real-life lumberjack. My father spent 50 years in factories as a mechanic—paper mills and steel mills doing hard, physical work. 

That matters. Because the life Marty has now was built on the backs of people who did work, that was far harder than his. People who risked their bodies, not just their capital. People who built America through backbreaking labor that most of us will never have to endure. 

I am not concerned about being injured at work. There is nothing going to fall on me here or put me in harm’s way versus my grandfather or father or father-in-law who did backbreaking work. That is backbreaking hard work that built America to be what it is. 

This perspective isn’t just nostalgic reverence. It’s the foundation of everything else. When you know what real hard looks like, when you’ve seen people, you love to sacrifice their bodies so you could have opportunities they never had; it changes how you define struggle. 

I was surrounded by people who worked hard so others could have a better life. Your mom and I always wanted to make sure you guys had the greatest opportunities possible. 

 

The only true end is dying. If you’re still alive, still breathing, and still mentally capable, you still have a path forward. 

 

 

The Wisdom: In His Own Words 

 

What Jonathan received wasn’t a sanitized version of success. It was the unfiltered truth about what it takes to build something, to lead people, to fail spectacularly and keep going anyway. Here are the lessons organized by theme, exactly as Marty shared them. 

 

 

 

On Family & Responsibility 

 

  • There is nothing more uncomfortable than realizing you are responsible for someone else’s life. 
  • The most important things in my life are my family; everything else comes after that. 

 

 

 

On Work Ethic & Growth 

 

  • There is no shortcut, you must work really hard, fail a lot, and learn. 
  • You must be focused, but you also have to be intentional. 
  • Every day I am preparing for the next meeting. It is never just-in-time. 

 

 

 

On Failure & Resilience 

 

  • Failure is inevitable, just because you try does not mean you will succeed. 
  • No is just a step on the way to yes. 
  • The only true end is when you are no longer able to keep going. (death) 

 

 

 

On Risk & Decisions 

 

  • I have taken steps back to take multiple steps forward. 
  • The hardest decisions are going from the known to the unknown. 
  • I have become comfortable being uncomfortable. 

 

 

 

On Career & Perspective 

 

  • Careers are not a straight line, they go up, down, around, and forward. 
  • I do not regret decisions; I would regret not taking the risk. 
  • We are all in sales; we are all trying to convince someone of something. 

 

 

 

On Leadership 

 

  • Bad news is not red wine; it does not get better with age. 
  • I am not for everyone, and everyone is not for me, and that is okay. 
  • Authenticity matters more than anything else. 

 

 

 

On Work & Life 

 

  • I do not believe in work-life balance; I believe they are fully integrated. 
  • I love to work, but I have had to learn when to pull back. 
  • Sometimes I am physically present, but not mentally present, and that matters. 

 

 

 

On Mindset 

 

  • You have to be almost ignorantly optimistic. 
  • Control what you can, because that list is very small. 
  • If you are still here, you still have a path forward. 

 

 

 

The Raw Parts 

 

The conversation kept pulling Marty back to something more foundational than business tactics or leadership frameworks. It returned to honesty, the kind that makes you uncomfortable because it doesn’t fit neatly into inspirational platitudes. 

I am not good at work-life balance. I do not believe there is a balance between work and life. I believe they are fully integrated. Sometimes I am physically present, but certainly not mentally present. 

That’s hard to say out loud. But it’s true. And maybe that honesty is more valuable than any polished answer could ever be. 

The conversation also touched on perspective, what “hard” really means in context. When Marty talks about burnout, about long stretches on planes and in hotels, about working without balance, he’s not comparing his struggle to yours or mine. He’s comparing it to his grandfather’s, his father’s, and his father-in-law’s. 

I am certainly not risking my life like our great American soldiers do to establish the freedoms we have. There are soldiers and first responders out there every day keeping our freedom. There are people working in construction and factories doing super, super physically taxing things. I do not do those things, and I have great respect for those that do. 

That perspective matters. A lot. It’s the difference between entitlement and gratitude, between complaining and recognizing privilege, between thinking you’re special and knowing you’re fortunate. 

 

 

We have had times when we had to pawn things to provide dinner. That was real. And it still was not the end. 

 

 

 

The Real End 

 

Perhaps the rawest moment came when Jonathan asked: “Do you think there’s a time when failure is just an end or is it never?” 

Marty’s answer was unequivocal: 

We have had times when we had to pawn things to provide dinner. That was real. And it still was not the end. The only true end is dying. If you are still alive, still breathing, and still mentally capable, you still have a path forward. 

 

That’s probably the lesson Marty hoped would land most with his son: 

 

 

Hard times are real. Pressure is real. Burnout is real. Failure is real. 

 

But none of those have to be final. 

 

 

 

What Matters 

 

At the end of the conversation, Marty reflected on what made it meaningful. It wasn’t the performance. It wasn’t the LinkedIn engagement or the thought leadership points. It was the reminder of exactly who he is, where he came from, and what he owes to the people who made his path possible. 

I have been fortunate, but hard work carried me from there. 

Blue-collar roots. Respect for service. Gratitude for freedom. And there is a deep belief that hard work still matters. 

Jonathan received more than entrepreneurship advice. He received a map of values, drawn from three generations of men who understood that success is measured not by what you accumulate, but by what you remember to honor and what you choose to pass down. 

Sometimes the most meaningful interviews are the ones that don’t feel like interviews at all. They feel like what they actually are: conversations between people who love each other, trying to figure out how to live well, work hard, and stay human while doing both. 

Follow Marty on LinkedIn and check out www.congruentX.com