David Cohen talks with Rob La Gesse about taking chances and helping people over his long career. Rob has reinvented himself over and over as a combat medic, neonatal respiratory therapist, programmer, and more — including helping to develop Wi-Fi. 

Rob La Gesse has had an interesting career. After high school, he joined the Navy and worked both as a combat medic and a neonatal respiratory therapist. He was a mayor in Hawaii. He taught himself programming and went into tech, just in time to help develop Wi-Fi. 

On this episode of the Give First podcast, David Cohen talks with Rob about how helping people has guided him at every turn. 

Rob tells the story of hiring a bartender at his tech company. Why this bartender? Because he was so helpful, and Rob saw potential there. “I can’t teach empathy. I can’t teach compassion,” Rob says — but he can recognize them when he finds them, and he can reward caring people with opportunities and assistance. 

Follow Rob on Twitter @kr8tr