Name: Woody Waters

Family:  Wife Olivia plus kids Ellie (27, NYC), Woody (25, Dallas), Gill (22, Nashville), all are UGA grads.  Dad Charlie (UGA ’65) and mom Gwen still going strong which is cool.

Hometown: Marietta, Georgia

Current Town: Newnan and Lake Burton (every chance we get)

What Years at UGA: 1986-1992

School/Degree: BBA Risk Management, MBA Marketing & Real Estate

Profession: Consultant, Health Benefits  — company Founder and Executive

Accolades: I’m having a career that’s all I could hope for – I can retire when I want.  I have an even better life and a family who’s better still.  Beyond that, I try not to take things too seriously.

What life lessons did you learn while at UGA? The vital importance of time management – which still sometimes slips away from me.  Also the ability to separate character from characters in dealing with people and choosing friends.

What professor did you most admire? All the Business Law / Legal Studies professors.  There’s a high degree of Contract Law in both Insurance & Real Estate, so I took several of these classes.  All the Profs were lawyers by trade, comfortable with an audience and very engaging with the students.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Personally, I’m only half-kidding and it’s certainly a shared success… our family got 3-kids into UGA and all three graduated.  That’s a bit tougher than it was in my day.  Professionally, I co-founded our company w/ 3-employees.  Today we have 1,500+.  That’s not bad.

Which historical figure do you most identify with? History wasn’t & isn’t my #1 subject, but I like people who are best-in-class yet handle it with humility.  They just do their jobs.  So George Washington, Abe Lincoln, and for all who are reading – Nick Chubb.

Who are your heroes in real life? All those who have put themselves in harm’s way to serve our country.  My brother, Chris, specifically.  He served 27-yrs in the US Army with over half of those as a decorated member of Special Forces.  He retired as a Colonel.  He made more trips to the Middle East than he can share, plus others to all corners of the globe for conflicts that don’t even make The News.  I could go on but I’ll boil it down… 1) there are way too few Americans serving in this capacity; 2) the rest of us just don’t get it or even appreciate it to the level that we should.

Quote to live by:  That old prayer … “Lord please grant me the courage to change the things I can, the serenity to accept those I cannot, and the wisdom to know the difference.”  Especially that last part.

What is your idea of perfect happiness? That myself and those who matter to me are in good health.  That’s about all you can ask for.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Dupe of above.

What is your most marked characteristic? I’m extremely competitive.  My default switch is “on” and that’s great in a lot of situations and not so much in others.  I hope I’ve gotten better over the years at recognizing when to try to turn it off.

What do you most value in your friends? Shooting straight and a genuine sense of humor.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be? Not much.  I’m pretty comfortable in my own skin but my honest opinion is… you can burn a lot of energy trying to change and you likely won’t pull that off.  I think you’re better served to try to be self-aware of your strengths and then live & work for those.  As for your downsides and weaknesses, try to avoid putting yourself in situations where they might hurt you or others.

Who are your favorite writers? WSJ if you need a serious answer, because it’s reliably “just the facts” and little to no spin.  If I can have some fun, then Dan Jenkins, because his books were hilarious at all of society’s expense – much like Richard Pryor’s stand-up.

Fave social media and who to follow? Other than LinkedIn for business, I’m not on any social media, and I sometimes daydream about skipping my phone across Lake Burton.  But I do catch “SEC Shorts” and “Club Pro Guy” on YouTube when I think about it, usually 5-6 at a time.