WATCH: Meet The British Philanthropist And Entrepreneur Making Waves In Malta
Mark Weingard is a serial entrepreneur, who has been involved in countless businesses including luxury hotels and real estate. Yet, his main objective over the coming years is an entire swing towards philanthropic initiatives.
Known as a man who wants to constantly give back to the community and help people, Weingard stands out most by the size of his heart – not his wallet. He is an easy-going man, who already devotes around 20% of his life to doing good things yet wants to do even more.
Weingard sat down with Lovin Malta as part of our Meet The Boss series, and here are some things we learnt from this CEO with a heart of gold.
1. He Is Filled With Compassion
Anyone in the business industry will be faced with countless difficult decisions to make throughout their career. Whether it is a decision to expand your business, make a new venture or even lay-off employees.
For Weingard, the hardest decision he’s ever had to make is letting go of an employee.
“The hardest decision for me is to let go of an employee who doesn’t do a good job and you really tried to keep them because I’m sorry I’m just not a ruthless person and it just breaks my heart.”
2. His Grandfather Is His Biggest Inspiration
Weingard has risen from the ground up, experienced success and failure – and yet is still going strong. His biggest inspiration is his grandfather.
“He was the man who died with no money in the bank, he lost a couple of kids and he lost one of his wives”, Weingard explains, noting that his grandfather did not have the easiest life. Yet, even in death, his grandfather was remembered fondly by all those around him.
“Everybody just thought well of him because he was a man who was full of love and compassion, he was a person who always gave of himself.”
“In our lives, we do not have to be successful business people, we have to be good people. We have to be loving people and we have to always try to help each other.”
3. Never Fear Trying
In our lives, it is normal to be scared of failing, worrying about the consequences of a risk we take, despite the potential reward. Especially those at a young age, many naturally get anxious about such things – to the point where it may even be paralysing.
Yet, Weingard believes that a healthy dose of fear of failing is alright.
“Have a little fear of failure because if you don’t, you’re going to screw up at some point. But don’t have too much fear because otherwise you won’t actually try to do something and the biggest failure in life is not actually trying to make a difference at all.”
4. Enjoying Life Is Important
Balancing work and life is something that people struggle with properly doing. Weingard is like countless people who have experienced moments where their work is their life, and their life is their work – especially if they are extremely ambitious.
It was when Weingard sold his business that he began to feel a proper change and gained a new perspective though.
“As I get older, I find that it’s very important for me now that I know that the sands of time are running out and I want to do as much as I can with my life.”
“So now I tried to make sure I take regular holidays, see the world, I love travelling and I think it’s very important in life to go out and to enjoy it.”
This is the latest episode of Meet The Boss, a Lovin Malta series in which we sit down with local CEOs to share their vision, business tips and discuss some crucial topics.
What did you think of Mark Weingard’s driving inspiration? Let us know in the comments!