About Darrin
W E L C O M E T O D A R R I N C H A T T E R
I am here to fulfill a purpose, and that purpose is to help as many people as possible. I am sharing my stories and experiences to help you better understand yourself and what you are capable of. One of my favorite quotes sums it up…
“And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.”
— Nelson Mandela
Helping others pursue their own Self Optimization has become my personal crusade.
I believe the privilege of the adversities I have faced in my life have handed me opportunities to grow in ways I never dreamed. From a neck injury in high school which derailed my college scholarship aspirations to surviving a head-on collision with a wrong way drunk driver, adversity is nothing new to me. As the saying goes, “Life is 10% what happens and 90% how you deal with it” and I am living proof of this to be true.
I have also had some amazing experiences in my life as well, including pursuing my dream of being a Professional Racquetball Player, reaching a career-high ranking of number 18 in the world. After this chapter closed, I became the Head Coach of the ASU Racquetball team, spending 15 years in this role. In my time at ASU I helped produce over three dozen Collegiate All Americans, win a Women’s National Championship, and was a two time recipient of the Collegiate Coach of the Year award. Parallel to this, I am the Vice President of Sales for TriageNow, a telephonic nurse triage service, and have a long list of Fortune 500 clients who now use our service to assist their employees with workplace injuries.
As a Professional Speaker…
I am amassing a large client base of recognized trade associations, companies and universities to my credit. I share the stories of my life experiences, from the car crash or my time preparing to play on the Pro Racquetball Tour, in a customized format for each audience. My focus is to be a dynamic and captivating speaker and leave the audience with actionable takeaways to apply to their own lives. I pride myself on connecting with each audience on a deep and personal level to help ensure out time together has as much value as possible.
In my free time I enjoy fly fishing, golf and incessantly writing my blog and producing more content to share with others.
The Car Crash That Changed My Life
It happened so quickly, and I never saw it coming. I saw nothing but headlights coming out of the darkness right at me. A massive impact, screeching tires and twisting metal, and then complete silence in the dark. The only noise I could hear was someone screaming “Oh my God” over and over… until I realized it was me.
It took forty-five minutes for the paramedics to arrive. This head-on collision with a wrong way drunk driver occurred at the midway point between Phoenix and Payson. Thank God I wasn’t wedged in the car with a broken leg or worse. I doubt I would have made it if I was any less fortunate than I was. I walked away from this crash with barely a scratch physically. However, the emotional scars of this were a different story…
“I have taught nearly 70,000 undergraduates during my career. During this time, I have had a number of guest speakers. Darrin Schenck is one of the best guest speakers of them all. He knows how to engage students in classes from small to large. He connects with students in a manner that engages them and makes them want to learn. Darrin prepares in advance to know his audience and his preparation clearly shows during his guest presentations.
In short, Darrin had made my classes better with his presence.”
“I have taught nearly 70,000 undergraduates during my career. During this time, I have had a number of guest speakers. Darrin Schenck is one of the best guest speakers of them all. He knows how to engage students in classes from small to large. He connects with students in a manner that engages them and makes them want to learn. Darrin prepares in advance to know his audience and his preparation clearly shows during his guest presentations.
In short, Darrin had made my classes better with his presence.”
Christopher P. Neck
Associate Professor of Management
Arizona State University
W. P. Carey School of Business
Department of Management
Past Speaking Clients
Recent Articles
Blog #344 – One decision away from a Completely Different Life
I think we all forget just how true this statement is. And I am here to remind you, with examples of the good, the bad, and the ugly. Buckle up... Most of us have probably
Blog #206 – The Darkness Is Coming…
Life does not always go as planned, and sometimes there ain't a damn thing you can do about it. Darkness falls upon us at various times in our lives. None of the general public saw
Blog #199 – Turning our Worst Day into your Best Day
In my usual level of crediting others and disclosing where some of my ideas come from, this is straight from an interview clip I saw of Tony Robbins and Tom Bilyeu. I love both of
Blog #343 – Staring your Dreams in the Face
This may sound funny unless you have been in this situation, but staring your dreams in the face can be very difficult to handle. For example, it is so rare that someone who is in
Blog # 342 – Getting Better ALWAYS Feels Worse…At First
I am sure you are familiar with the fact that anything worth having takes some work. Things that are given to you never have the same feel or meaning as something earned. But no one
Blog #341 – The person most able to afford the beach house…
is typically the person least able to enjoy it. A powerful statement that, for many, will ring very true. I was fortunate that I grew up with a Dad that truly valued time away from
Blog #340 – Flipping the chessboard is NOT the answer
If you have listened to any of the recent interviews with Terry Crews on the Tim Ferriss podcast, Rich Roll's podcast and an accumulating list of others, you'll know what I am referring to. This
Blog #339 – The University of Adversity
EVERYONE has their own set of challenges to deal with, so you might as well embrace it and meet these challenges head on. We are all going to suffer in life, it is part of
Blog #337 – Use Correct Punctuation When Writing Your Story…
I laugh every time I read that stupid phrase, but it is true. But that is not what this blog is about...this is about not putting a period where a comma should be when writing
Blog#336 – Why Are You Afraid To Let Go…
...of something you don't even want? This sounds like a crazy idea when you first look at it, but believe me there are plenty examples of this in the world. We all stay in bad
Blog #335 – An Anniversary I Never Wanted To Celebrate…
...but I am grateful that I can. I woke up this morning and had a strange feeling that took me a moment to place. The back of my left hand started to itch, and then
Blog #333 – Happiness is NOT the Absence of Problems…
...it is the ability to deal with them effectively. I hate to be the one to break this news to you, but it's better that you know now. Ready? Here is a hash truth for
Blog #332 – Use your Downtime the RIGHT Way
Are you using your downtime to escape your current life, or to build the life that you actually want to be living? If you live for the weekends to get liquored up with friends, or
Blog #330 -People Only Notice the Car
I was listening to yet another Tim Ferriss podcast, this time his guest on podcast #576 was Morgan Housel. This was a great listen, and of course I recommend you check it out. There was
Blog #328 – Suck It Up Cupcake
This may be a harsh message for some of you, but before you get offended and do the proverbial swipe left, you should read this. In fact, if you avoid things that make you uncomfortable,
Blog # 326 – Using Friction to your advantage…
I am going to use the term "friction" in this blog as a way to represent the forces that oppose actions you wish to take. As the picture implies, you can start a fire with
Blog #325 – If this was you, what would you eat?
I think the easy answer is: Anything I want to! As an apex predator, the lion basically does have the option to eat anything they wish. But if some lions thought like humans do,
Blog #324 – Be your Own Bouncer…
I heard this idea pitched by a relationship coach on a quick video, and thought the analogy was a great one. The whole point of his video was to help people reframe the idea of
Blog # 321 – There is no Tiger…
It turns out that things like TikTok can actually have some redeeming qualities, and this short video from Neal Foard, Chief Marketing Officer for Within, Inc. is a great example. If you go to TikTok
Blog # 322 – If they knew the whole story, they’d be impressed…
Here is something I want you to consider...each of us shares with the world what we decide we want them to see. In other words, the "representative" version of you is what most of your
Blog # 323 – Barking back at barking dogs…
This picture is the perfect representation of one of the thoughts I had in my head today when I walked into the coffee shop to crank out yet another blog post. For the past week
Blog #320 – Stop the Idolization…
I have lead a privileged life in some ways, one of which is to have had contact with many famous athletes and others of similar social status. Because I got the opportunity to train at
Blog # 319 – Get lost and see what you find…
Here is something for you to consider...Get Lost. And what I mean by that will vary person to person, but getting out of your usual routine is very important for not only growth but self
Blog # 318 – Who are you Becoming?
I listened to the Tim Ferriss podcast #561 with Rich Roll yesterday, and it sparked a couple of different ideas for me. It was a great listen, and I definitely recommend it. The guest du
Blog # 317 – Meta Principals
I did a talk yesterday for a group of franchisees and sales people, and it was an interesting exercise for me. While I have done a lot of sales in different industries, their particular type
