CEO of Cafe Rio, Bob Nilsen

Running one of Utah’s most popular restaurant chains (Café Rio) takes a great leader, and Highland Rugby was the perfect training ground to build one.

As a member of the Highland Rugby team from 1975-1977, Bob Nilsen learned early one what a true leader looks like – Coach Larry Gelwix.

“Coach’s leadership was so unique in that his advice was motivational and inspiring in every aspect of life. He encouraged such camaraderie,” Nilsen said. “His attitude was, and still is ‘everyone makes a difference’ and ‘everyone has a role to play.’ I try to execute the same values.”

Nilsen wants to make sure his son is taught those same values. Now, more than 30 years after Nilsen donned a Highland uniform, his son, Josh is a member of the Highland Rugby team.

“We are starving for examples of goodness, success and morality,” Bob Nilsen said. “It can be cool to do the right thing. That’s what Coach did.”

Who Do You Want To Be is a More Important Question than What Do You Want To Be

You know, people ask you when you’re growing up, “What do you want to be?” “Oh, I want to be a doctor..I want to be a lawyer…I want to be a schoolteacher…I want to be an auto mechanic…” You know, whatever it is that’s honorable. I believe that that’s the wrong question. It doesn’t really matter what you want to be as long as it’s honest and honorable. the more important question is WHO do you want to be? And that is who you are as a person, as a member of society, as a father, a husband, a wife or a mother. As a worker in whatever company. that’s the critical question: “WHO do you want to be?” And that’s the message that we try to teach these young men year after year and I’d like to think that we have some success in that. WHO do you want to be is much more important than WHAT you want to be.