Paul Goetz, Ph.D. has been with Vantage for four years and is one of our Leadership Consultants.
Q: What is the most important room in your home? A: My woodshop. It’s a place where I relax and can really exercise creativity and see ideas come to life. Even when I was growing up, I think my favorite room was the garage. My dad would always be working on something in there, and I loved “helping” him. He taught me how to work with my hands, fix things, and build things. It’s always been a part of me. Now, I focus on building furniture.
Q: What did you want to be when you were small? A: A cowboy or a pilot. I loved the idea of flying a fast jet, but that became much less appealing as I got older. Looking back, I think those aspirations had more to do with wanting to explore and discover new things. I fill that bucket now with travel.
Q: What is the best gift you have been given? A: Our 4-year-old son, Otto. He is such a joy and has taught me so many things already in my role as a father and as a human being. My favorite part of the day is when he comes home from school, and it never fails that he is so excited to see us. I know it won’t always be like that (e.g., teenage years), so I’m soaking it up while I can.
Q: If you could go back in time to change one thing, what would it be? A: I would have kept up with playing the bass guitar more after high school. I played it in jazz band, and my friends and I had a garage band. It was a fun, creative escape, kind of like woodworking.
Q: What’s your favorite family tradition? A: A newer tradition that we’ve created is ordering Indian food over Thanksgiving. It started when my wife and I traveled to Germany about six years ago, and we found a cute little Indian restaurant to have lunch on Thanksgiving Day. My wife’s family is from Sri Lanka, and South Asian cuisine is our comfort food. So now, every Thanksgiving that we’re home, we order in our favorite dishes.
Q: If you had a warning label, what would yours say? A: Do not engage in meaningful conversation with him until he has had his morning coffee
Q: What’s the most fun you’ve had this week? A: I celebrated my birthday with Dil and Otto (wife and son) this past weekend. There was a spontaneous rendition of “Happy Birthday” from Otto. We ate some of my favorite foods, relaxed, went to a park, took naps – it was perfect.
Q: What’s the last movie you went to see? A: I actually can’t remember the last movie I went to in the theater. It was before the big covid lockdown, so it’s been a while. But I think the last movie I watched was probably Paw Patrol or Frozen. It’s what happens when you have a 4-year-old.
Q: What childhood activity do you wish you could still do now? A: Taking off in a dead sprint without stretching first. At 45, there’s too high of a probability that I will pull a hamstring or something.
Q: Would you rather explore a new planet or the deepest parts of the ocean and why? A: Hmmm, both sound intriguing. But I think I would go with a new planet. Even though there would be deep space travel involved and more dangerous to get to another planet, I don’t like the idea of being that far under water.