Shownotes
What do you do when the door is closed?
Do you keep pushing against it? Walk away? Or look for another way in?
For LT Lu, the answer is simple:
When the door is closed, go in through the window.
On this episode of The Cool Grandpa Podcast, I talk with LT Lu, author of In Through the Window: On Forging Your Own Path to Success, about resilience, overcoming obstacles, finding your own path, and helping the next generation develop the confidence to solve problems for themselves.
LT’s story is remarkable.
Born in China in the 1960s during the Cultural Revolution, LT grew up in circumstances where higher education was largely unavailable. He became the first student from his village to attend college, eventually making his way to the United States and building a career as a global business leader.
He later faced another major “closed door” in his mid-50s when he lost his executive position after GE Appliances was acquired.
Instead of simply looking for another executive job, LT saw an opportunity.
He started his own company, NAVAC, which he describes as becoming an industry leader in HVAC tools.
That experience became one of the real-life examples behind his philosophy:
A closed door is not a closed future.
From Snowplow to Lighthouse
One of the most powerful parts of this conversation is LT’s advice for grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles.
He believes we can sometimes love young people so much that we remove too many of the obstacles from their path.
He calls this being a snowplow.
A snowplow clears everything out of a child’s way.
But LT believes adults should instead become a lighthouse.
A lighthouse doesn’t remove the rocks.
It illuminates them.
It provides direction, purpose, confidence, and unconditional love—but allows the young person to navigate the storm.
As LT puts it, our job isn’t necessarily to tell young people exactly how we did things. It’s to give them the skills and confidence to find their own way.
Experience Creates Wisdom
LT also challenges the idea that young people can simply be taught resilience through lectures.
Some lessons have to be experienced.
He explains that we can read books, hear advice, and listen to other people’s stories, but sometimes a lesson doesn’t become wisdom until we experience it, reflect on it, and digest it ourselves.
That doesn’t mean grandparents should manufacture hardship.
Instead, LT believes life will provide enough challenges on its own.
Our job is to trust young people enough to let them encounter some of those challenges.
What Is Success?
LT has also changed the way he defines success.
For him, success isn’t simply money, status, or accomplishments.
He defines success as becoming the best human being he can be.
That might mean raising a loving family. It might mean serving a community. It might mean overcoming extraordinary hardship.
Ultimately, success is personal.
And LT hopes the next generation doesn’t simply become smarter or more accomplished, but becomes more fully human.
The Story We Leave Behind
LT and I also talk about the importance of grandparents and older adults telling their stories.
LT shares one of his favorite childhood stories.
When he was ten years old, he was selected to speak at a large county gathering. His mother couldn’t afford new clothes, so she bought fabric and stayed up through the night sewing him a new shirt.
For LT, that shirt represented much more than clothing.
It taught him a lesson he still carries:
“Poverty is a condition. Dignity is a choice.”
That’s the kind of story LT believes families should preserve, not simply because it happened, but because it carries a lesson for the next generation.
In This Episode
LT and I discuss:
- Growing up during China’s Cultural Revolution
- Becoming one of the first students from his village to attend college
- Why LT wrote In Through the Window
- Why he believes a closed door isn’t a closed future
- Turning constraints into opportunities
- Why human potential is limitless
- Why grandparents can sometimes be too eager to help
- The difference between being a snowplow and a lighthouse
- How to develop resilience without manufacturing hardship
- Why young people need opportunities to experience and reflect
- How AI is changing the way young people learn
- Why knowledge is more than simply finding an answer
- LT’s changing definition of success
- Losing his executive position in his mid-50s
- How that closed door led to starting NAVAC
- Why grandparents should tell their stories
- How to tell family stories in ways young people will actually hear
- Why character creates destiny
- The importance of hope and transformation
Resources
Learn More About LT Lu
Get LT’s Book
In Through the Window: On Forging Your Own Path to Success is available through major booksellers.
Learn More About The Cool Grandpa Podcast
You can also watch this conversation on YouTube. Remember to like and subscribe to the YouTube Channel while you are watching our conversation: https://youtu.be/88i8HfQVspM
More Than Grand 
Grandfathers have a unique and meaningful role to play in grandchildren’s development, yet they often find themselves behind the scenes, on the sidelines, or less engaged than they’d like to be. This masterclass delivers a playbook for helping grandfathers level up their influence and impact. Listeners to The Cool Grandpa Podcast can receive 40% off this course by using Cool40 at checkout.
Founded in 2011 by Aaron Larsen as a way to honor his grandparents, GrandparentsAcademy.com is the world’s first and only online academy dedicated to helping grandparents grow meaningful relationships and rich legacies with their loved ones.
