“That's the whole reason I do this work.”
I built a retail company from nothing to $10M+ and 30 employees. I'm still there — CFO and COO, twelve years in, still closing the month and still dealing with whatever broke overnight.
Before this I spent 25 years getting ready without knowing that's what I was doing: investments and institutional client work at State Street, product management and marketing at Lucent, finance and then Unix infrastructure at Intuit's Eclipse division, offshore team leadership in telecom. Before all of that — commercial fisherman, carpenter, general contractor. I still hold an active license.
I finished a private equity certificate through Wharton Online this year — not for the credential, but because most owners I work with will eventually face a buyer, whether that's a strategic acquirer, a search fund, or a PE firm rolling up their industry. Better to know how that buyer builds his model three years early than three weeks late.
I run on three things: passion, integrity, and excellence. My faith is where those come from, and it shapes how I deal with people.
