In this episode of the Higher Ed AV Podcast, Joe Way welcomes longtime friend, industry leader, AVNation President, and now author Tim Albright for a deeply honest conversation about failure, resilience, and what it takes to build again. Tim’s new book, Building on Ashes, is not a technology manual or another AV industry playbook. It is a practical and personal framework for understanding failure, walking through the emotions that come with it, and finding what remains strong enough to become the foundation for the next chapter.
Joe and Tim explore the vulnerability behind writing a book, the discipline it took to finish it, and the emotional weight of finally completing something that had been decades in the making. Tim shares how the process forced him to revisit personal and professional failures, confront unfinished grief, and discover lessons that could help others move forward with honesty instead of shame.
The conversation also dives into the stages of failure, including anger, blame, reflection, and acceptance, and why failure often mirrors grief. Tim explains that when something fails, whether it is a business, relationship, career goal, or personal dream, we are grieving the loss of what we thought would be. But within that loss, there is almost always something left to learn from and build upon.
Together, Joe and Tim discuss mentorship, community, personal discipline, failure audits, daily habits, and the importance of surrounding yourself with people who will tell you the truth. They also reflect on how personal pain can become a source of service to others, and why none of us are as alone in our struggles as we think we are.
The episode closes with Tim’s reminder that failure is not the end of the story. Everyone fails, everyone carries ashes from something that did not work out, and everyone has the opportunity to take a deep breath, look honestly at what remains, and build again.
Purchase Building on Ashes:
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Building-Ashes-Practical-Framework-Overcoming/dp/B0H2R9YQY9
Connect with Tim Albright:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tdalbright/
Twitter: https://www.x.com/tdalbright
Web: https://timalbright.com
