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Executive: Scott Franklin, president and CEO of Lanier Upshaw, a Lakeland insurance firm. Franklin, 51, was named president of the firm in 2003 and CEO in 2005. A Naval Academy graduate who retired from the military after serving 14 years of active duty and 12 in the Reserves as a carrier jet pilot, Franklin has been with the company since 2000. Lanier Upshaw had about $10 million in revenues in 2014.
Diversion: Mountain climbing. Franklin started the extreme pastime about seven years ago, after a friend mentioned he had just returned from a climb. Franklin has since made six climbs in locations worldwide. That includes two in the Seven Summits, the highest mountains in each of the seven continents.
Worlds collide: Franklin says just like work, climbing is an exercise in risk management. He prepares a climb like working with his clients: What do I need to do to make sure they and I am successful? “We are risk guides for our clients. We investigate the hazards and understand the risks but know there are things we can't always control,” he says. “That's much like climbing.”
New heights: The Lakeland resident is a self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie and says he climbs because, “they won't let me fly to those altitudes anymore.” He still flies but a little more safely than in the military. He and a friend are co-owners of a Cirrus SR-22, a plane with a parachute.
Mission accomplished: Franklin loves the views and majesty of a climb, and it clears his head. “I come back refreshed,” he says. “It gives me a lot of time to think.” At the summit, he says, it's a sense of personal satisfaction along with an emotional and spiritual sense of fulfillment.
Heavy lifting: Franklin, seeking a way to distribute weight evenly, trains with a 40-pound bag of dog food in his pack. At the gym, he hits the stair climber with his pack of dog food and climbing boots. He does a lot of cardiovascular exercise out of the gym, too. “I run the stairwells at the Lakeland Electric parking garage and in the hotels of wherever I'm staying on business trips,” he says. Once a climb is on the calendar — usually about six months out — Franklin begins training. “I do so much, I get tired of it,” he says.
Like father, like son: One of Franklin's favorite climbs was with his then-16-year-old son, Will, up Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa, which has an elevation of nearly 20,000 feet. Franklin wasn't worried about taking his son with him, but his wife was. Will has the climbing bug now and has even passed it on to his two sisters.
High costs: Climbs can get expensive, running from $10,000 to $40,000. That includes a professional guide and everything needed during the expedition. Franklin has become an expert at making sure he only takes what he absolutely needs because even an extra ounce can make a difference.
Best of the best: Franklin says his most interesting climb was the Grand Canyon Death March. Known as a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim crossing, it must be completed in 24 hours or less. The climb is 48 miles of trail with 26,100 feet of elevation change and temperatures that vary from freezing on the rims to triple digit heat on the canyon floor. Just to make sure he was ready, the risk management executive walked Lake Hollingsworth in Lakeland for 20 hours for a total of 62 miles prior to his Death March.
The training helped: Franklin finished his Death March in only 21 hours - three hours to spare.
Safety first: Franklin hasn't been injured during a climb, though in Argentina a group in front of Franklin and his team experienced some injuries while ascending. Sometimes climbs are conducted at night, when avalanches are less likely. “The conditions can be pretty harsh and there is an inherent risk,” Franklin says. “I made a commitment to myself that I wouldn't climb until I could do it safely with the needed time and resources.”
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