The Puget Sound Business Journal has awarded Don Riling, president of Olympic Hot Tub in Seattle, with the Outstanding Voices award at the journal’s 2022 Business of Pride event.
Through this program, Puget Sound Business Journal honors LGBTQ business leaders, advocates and allies whose work has made this a more inclusive and welcoming business community, all while driving this region’s economy.
Riling says he was shocked and surprised to receive the award. “When I bought the company, I made a conscious effort to raise the company’s overall philanthropic profile in every community in which we do business,” he adds. “I’m just working to lead our company the best I can every day. To have others recognize my effort is quite humbling. But I am very proud of their recognition.”
Several years ago, Olympic Hot Tub created a scholarship program awarding $5,000 to a student in the LGBTQ+ community to help students and young adults who may have been displaced from their homes due to coming out, resulting in an interruption at a chance for collegiate education. The scholarship’s purpose is to help the recipient regain confidence and have an opportunity to continue educational pursuits.
“The world we live in today is full of individuals who seem to feel it’s important to marginalize segments of our population,” Riling says. “I understand that people come from different backgrounds and have different points of view, but I’ve never understood the need to infringe upon others’ rights to live their own lives. I’m lucky enough to be in a place where I can give back and do what I feel is right for others.”