Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 528 is my conversation with Geoff Arias, a commercial construction professional in Fort Lauderdale who was diagnosed with ALL leukemia his senior year of high school and beat the disease after years of chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant. Geoff lives by a simple idea: tough times can refine you or define you. He chose to be refined. We talk about his diagnosis, the Make-A-Wish fishing trip he took with me to the Florida Keys, his construction career, and the values he is passing to his three kids.
It means you can choose whether adversity makes you stronger or becomes your permanent limitation. Geoff Arias, who beat ALL leukemia as a teenager, chose to let his cancer experience refine him, using it to build resilience, perspective, and the ability to push through challenges in his career and his family life.
Geoff Arias is a commercial construction professional based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with more than ten years in the industry. He was diagnosed with ALL leukemia at age 17 during his senior year of high school and underwent rigorous chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant before beating the disease. He is a father of three and co-hosts the Business Unusual podcast.
Geoff Arias was diagnosed with ALL leukemia, acute lymphoblastic leukemia, at 17 years old during his senior year of high school. He went through roughly two and a half to three years of intense treatment, including chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant, before beating the disease.
Geoff used his Make-A-Wish to go on a fishing trip to the Florida Keys with Tom Rowland. He describes it as one of his fondest memories and a moment of normalcy and adventure during an incredibly difficult time in his treatment.
Geoff says the hardest part was not the physical pain or the treatments themselves, but the uncertainty of not knowing if he would make it, not knowing when he would feel better, and not knowing what his future held. His parents became his rock, showing up every single day.
Tom Rowland Podcast Episode 528 with Geoff Arias is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, and wherever you get your podcasts. The video version is embedded at the top of this page.
I have known Geoff for years, and what strikes me every time we talk is how he leans into his story instead of hiding from it. He was a high school senior when he got the diagnosis, and he chose to spend his Make-A-Wish fishing with me in the Keys. I wanted him on because he does not share his story for sympathy. He shares it to help other people who might be going through something hard. That is rare, and I wanted listeners facing their own tough times to hear it.
Press play in the player above to hear it.
Geoff was a normal senior thinking about graduation when he got the diagnosis that changed everything. He walks through the years of chemotherapy, the bone marrow transplant, and the weeks at a time in the hospital. What he says was hardest is not what you would expect. Hear it in the episode.
When you are granted a wish, you can choose almost anything, and Geoff chose fishing in the Florida Keys with me. I remember his energy and gratitude despite everything he was facing. He describes what that trip meant during treatment. Watch the YouTube player above.
Geoff has spent more than ten years in commercial construction in a brutally competitive South Florida market. He explains how his cancer experience gave him perspective most competitors do not have, and how communication and flexibility saved a project that doubled in length. Listen to that section.
Geoff is raising three kids, and the values he wants them to carry, resilience, work ethic, and gratitude, come straight from facing death as a teenager. He explains why everyday stresses no longer seem as big. Hear his parenting philosophy in the full conversation.
The day after talking with Geoff, what stayed with me was the phrase that frames his whole life: tough times can refine you or define you. He chose refinement, and you can feel it in how he carries himself.
He was fighting for his life, and he chose to spend that Make-A-Wish fishing with me. That meant the world then, and it still does. If you are going through something tough, or you know someone who is, this conversation is for you.
The Tom Rowland Podcast brings you long-form conversations with the most accomplished anglers, hunters, conservationists, and outdoor professionals in the game. Listen to every full-length Tom Rowland Podcast interview.
Geoff Arias is a commercial construction professional based in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with more than ten years in the industry. He was diagnosed with ALL leukemia at age 17 during his senior year of high school and underwent rigorous chemotherapy and a bone marrow transplant before beating the disease. He used his Make-A-Wish to go fishing with Tom Rowland in the Florida Keys. A devoted father of three, he co-hosts the Business Unusual podcast, where he shares stories of people overcoming challenges, and lives by the belief that tough times can refine you or define you.
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