Hokie 100 · class of 2026Stale Chips

You just met
John Hawley.

Husband. Father. Coach. Facilitator. In that order. Hokie: at all times, in all rooms, on at least one warship.

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Hokie 100 Celebration · Tue Sept 2 · 4:00–6:30 PM · VT Innovation Campus, Alexandria
He is the one in the mullet. The mullet is not currently on his head. Probably.

actual photo.
actual hair.*
John Hawley in a blond mullet wig, pink blazer, 80s pants and gold light-up sneakers
*wig. we checked.
Gobble, gobble · Ut Prosim · 600+ workshops · 11 years Navy · 3 dead Hokie trees, 1 living legend · husband, father, coach, facilitator · Gobble, gobble · Ut Prosim · 600+ workshops · 11 years Navy · 3 dead Hokie trees, 1 living legend · husband, father, coach, facilitator ·
The 30-second version

For the person who just got handed this phone.

He's talking to someone else already. Here is who he is, in three swipes, so you can nod knowingly when he comes back.

1 Young John Hawley in Navy coveralls and a maroon Virginia Tech cap aboard USS McCampbell The Hokie

Corps of Cadets. Navy ROTC. Building Construction '09.

Maroon powder-coated mailbox. "VT" etched in the driveway. Living-room chairs in Hokie fabric. A walkway of Hokie Stone that was, quote, "procured."

"I have an obsession with my alma mater."John, LinkedIn, 2021 · understatement

2 John Hawley grinning while making a sand angel in slacks, polo, and pink flamingo socks The Sailor

11 years, U.S. Navy nuclear surface warfare officer.

Aboard USS McCampbell off Japan, he got a 9,200-ton destroyer to change course and speed so the VT flag would fly straight for a photo. It did. The Navy survived.

"I think I blacked out for the whole thing, but it worked."on the first meeting he ever facilitated

3 John Hawley headshot in a striped polo in front of a pegboard wall The Facilitator

600+ workshops. Co-founder, Stale Chips.

Co-created the Navy's illuminate Thinkshops, now NavalX curriculum. Co-author of Your Meetings Are Stale Chips. Teaches facilitation for Virginia Tech.

"The average facilitator does 175 workshops in 10 years. By that standard, we're well into our 70s."John, LinkedIn, 2025

Interactive · No. 1tap to play

Plant your own Hokie tree.

Virginia Tech mails alumni a two-year-old War Memorial oak as a wedding gift. John killed three. Garage. Drought. Lawn company. The fourth email reached the dean of Agriculture and Life Sciences, who found a six-foot tree, a Hokie with a truck, and a neighbor to water it while John was at sea.

That tree is thirty feet tall and was a negotiated clause in the sale of his house. Yours starts as an acorn. Tap the yard to water it.

"I have since made it my mission to plant a Hokie tree at every house I own."John, Corps Review, 2020

Stage 0 · acornA War Memorial oak acorn, in a yard in Virginia Beach. Tap to water. John is watching. John is nervous.
🌳 trees planted on this phone: 0
Interactive · No. 2Not your Momma's brainstorming

Idea explosion, featuring John as the supermodel.

Stale Chips runs ideation the way John runs a birthday: fully committed, slightly too loud, and somebody ends up with a hundred post-its. Hit the button. He'll pose. Ideas will happen to you.

📸 st. pete → blacksburg fashion week
John Hawley striking a pose in a mullet wig
ideas generated: 0 · usable: TBD · vibes: immaculate
The Hokie résumé

Numbers that don't fit on LinkedIn.

Swipe through. Tap a card for the story behind the number.

600+
workshops facilitated
tap ↻
Kindergarteners to four-star admirals. Same process. He's checked.the story
11
years, U.S. Navy
tap ↻
Nuclear-trained surface warfare officer. Knows what a reactor does. Will not tell you at parties. Will tell you at parties.the story
3
Hokie trees killed
tap ↻
Garage, drought, lawn company. "Must have been a Virginia alumnus."verbatim
30ft
Hokie tree, alive
tap ↻
Came with a first-right-of-refusal clause when he sold the house. Not a joke. Sort of a joke.the story
1
destroyer redirected
tap ↻
USS McCampbell, 9,200 tons, changed course and speed so the VT flag would fly straight for a photo.true story
2
ovens for one mailbox
tap ↻
"The mailbox was larger than my toaster oven." So: Craigslist oven, a dolly, and a new 220-volt outlet.verbatim
1
Naval Academy grad, married
tap ↻
Carissa. A mixed marriage. "The Virginia Tech blanket is on the other chair."verbatim
5.0★
the book, on Amazon
tap ↻
Your Meetings Are Stale Chips. One reviewer: "two of the best facilitators on the planet."amazon review
John, Carissa and Madelyn Hawley with their dog Django in front of their War Memorial oak
Carissa, Madelyn, John, and Django (German Shepherd, maroon bandana, no choice in the matter) in front of the tree that lived. Corps Review, Spring 2020.
In that order

Husband. Father. Coach.
Then the rest.

If business cards still existed, his would say exactly that, in exactly that order. Everything on this page is item four.

"As a Naval Academy grad, my wife is not too fond of brainwashing our child into becoming a Hokie."John, Corps Review, 2020

"We will pay for my daughter's college as long as she goes to Virginia Tech. I always say it jokingly, but she must know that I mean it."same essay · the dad-joke that is not a joke

The company on the Hokie 100 list

Stale Chips. Because your meetings are.

An innovation, strategy and facilitation firm founded by John and Johnny Saye, two people who have run more workshops than is medically advisable. Teams leave with the right problem, real ideas, a decision, and action items that survive contact with Monday.

IBM · Home Depot · Amazon · Google · Citibank · Walmart · Edward Jones · Shell · U.S. Navy · U.S. Air Force · Virginia Tech

Johnny Saye and John Hawley laughing with bags of chips

Left: Johnny Saye, the co-founder, the beard. Right: the Hokie.

Johnny Saye and John Hawley laughing with bags of chips

Left: Johnny Saye, the co-founder, the beard, the one who steps on toes during Whitney Houston songs (John's words). Right: the Hokie.

Three ways to take John home

🍩

Hire the room.

A one-day workshop is "a bite of the best bits of a cinnamon roll." The three-day teaches your team to bake their own. His metaphor. He stands by it.

✉️ Book a workshop
📖

Read the book.

Your Meetings Are Stale Chips. Eight chapters, one crunchy meeting template, zero filler. Five stars on Amazon, and not all from his mom.

Get the book
🎲

Take the course.

Nine of them, including Don't Take it Persona-ly, "America's favorite gameshow on facilitating who's in the room."

stalechips.com →
🌳

Or just say hi.

Tell him you planted a tree on his website. He will have feelings about it. Then he'll tell you a joke about atoms.

hawley@stalechips.com
QR code for hokiehawley.pages.dev
scan · tap · plant a tree
Pass it on

Send this to someone who needs a better meeting.

Tap once and it lands in their pocket. Then go tell John you planted a tree. He will have feelings about it.

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