The Road Not Taken — a semi-short bio
Another possible title for my bio might be “Long Strange Trip.”
I guess the choice of title depends on whether you’re a fan of Robert Frost or the Grateful Dead.
I appreciate both for different reasons.
I Didn’t Set Out to Be Where I Am Today
The road not taken was avoided by design. I never had the desire to be a fall-in-line follower.
However, the road taken has most decidedly led me on a long, strange trip — a trip I wouldn’t trade for anything despite its unanticipated twists and turns.
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.-Robert Frost
A Wonder-filled Childhood
My childhood was filled with love, laughter, and wonder.
Sure, I had my struggles and often felt like no one understood me. I can only imagine that’s part of the childhood journey for all of us.
I was supported, fed, housed, looked after, and given opportunities to grow. I am grateful for parents, teachers, neighbors, and others who cared about me and showed that care in ways I won’t take time to enumerate here.
Thank you all for your influence, patience, kindness, and love!
The Beginning of My Career
Depending on how one chooses to define “career,” we can say I began mine in 1971 as a shop boy at one of my father’s service stations (followed by a number of jobs and early entrepreneurial pursuits in photography, home improvement sales, and towing) or in 1987 when I started my first “real” business.
Formal Education
While I pursued a traditional education — beginning my college studies in 1980 in the newly developed Electrical Engineering Technology degree offered by the Bell & Howell Institute in Arizona, only to shift gears to study English in Idaho and at the University of Utah, ultimately landing in a Business Administration program — my most valuable education has always taken place in the classroom of life.
Family
The wisest choice I’ve ever made was to follow the inspiration I felt to ask my best friend, Lisa, to be my wife. We had known each other for a whopping three weeks at the time. Three months later, we made it official.
After a few short months of being young, wild, and free as a newly married couple, we felt the desire to add to our family. Eighteen months into our journey together as a family, our first child came into the picture. One by one, we added to the crew over the ensuing 20 years to end up with 10 friends we also call our kids. I can’t imagine life without Lisa or any one of our amazing children. While I’ve fallen short of being the dad I would like to believe I could be if I had it all to do again, my kids have delivered in a big way on being everything a parent could hope for.
Since 1988, we’ve been going strong. Lisa has been my rock, advocate, cheerleader, and best friend through highs and lows I never could have (or would have wanted to) imagine. Thank you, Lisa. I owe you everything!
Every time I hear “I’ll Stand By You” by the Pretenders, I cry like a baby as I imagine you saying those words to me. Thank you for standing by me, not letting anyone hurt me, and coming along with me when I didn’t know which path to choose — even when I was wrong.
Into the Business World
I leveraged my experience of living in Southeast Asia for a couple of years, beginning in 1985, by starting a licensed manufacturing brokerage and trade development agency in 1987. Identifying a strong suit in the creative space, I launched a design and marketing agency in 1992, which proved to be the catalyst for the development of The 7 Pillars of Successful Marketing, the framework I developed and traveled the U.S. teaching to business owners for a decade or so.
Mixed into the ‘90s and 2000s were a number of turnaround projects, including a failing company I purchased in the chemical and petroleum space which I transformed to become the most profitable company in the U.S. in our sector of the industry.
My ‘secret sauce’ for leading uncommonly effective turnarounds was my approach to culture development, which was (and still is) vastly different from the norms taught at academic institutions or “best practices” adopted by many who pursue the badge of positive culture for their organizations.
Beyond the many smaller wins that followed my industry-leading turnaround mentioned above, I had another significant win following the 2008-09 recession when I led the pivot of a struggling, multi-regional company to become a top 1% revenue producer nationally among its thousands of peers.
A Wild Ride
Along with some significant wins, I’ve also had a number of stumbles and falls — and one monumental crash-and-burn. I won’t take the time to share the details here, but if you’d like to ask sometime, I’ll tell you about my eight-year, slow-motion trainwreck that left me deep in debt, emotionally decimated, and not so sure that attempting to carry on even made sense.
In summary, I’ll share that getting outside myself, discovering a new view on life, and becoming people-centric and intentionally service-oriented was (and is) the best therapy and medicine I could have found to cure an ailment I didn’t even know I had.
An Uncommon Journey Produces an Uncommon Skill Set
With a unique inventory of tools and abilities, including:
• untethered creativity (I was named one of the “Best and Brightest” by Communication Arts magazine in 1995),
• world-class writing abilities (ConstantContact recognized me as a top 10% direct-response copywriter globally in 2012),
• the VEVA culture creation framework I developed that has sat at the center of every success I’ve enjoyed in business and beyond, and
• finding a place of truly unconditional peace in which to live and help others discover,
I began to be actively invited by organizational leaders to join them in their journeys to bring my uncommon skill set to the table for their benefit.
Today
I continue to provide my unique mix of non-traditional thinking and applications to leaders who understand that:
• following “best practices” limits us to being no better than the current “best,”
• when people come first in our decision-making processes, we are the catalyst for life-changing miracles to happen every day,
• extraordinary results require the belief in and application of counter-intuitive principles and practices,
• unparalleled clarity in communication sets trailblazers and trendsetters apart from the crowd,
• pure human connection is at the core of every game-changing innovation and story-worthy victory.
I also host regular events focused on communication, connection, collaboration, and creation. Subscribe (below) to make sure you are in the loop on all of the events and other opportunities we provide.
When You’re Ready
When intentional difference makers are ready to leave the well-beaten path and discover the wonder that reveals itself along the road less traveled, they invite me to join them in their journeys as a guide who helps them see what others miss.
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
Gratitude for the Journey — and the Destination(s)
I didn’t set out to be where I am today.
At that point, years ago, in the woods of my journey where the roads diverged, they looked similar to me — just as those in Robert Frost’s world looked to him. I could never have imagined how different they were or the journey that awaited.
I am sincerely grateful I took the one less traveled by.
I look forward to walking your unique path with you when you’re ready.
Here’s to wonder, discovery, and your unparalleled success!