After earning a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering at the US Military Academy at West Point and an MBA in Finance at Washington University in St Louis, I have spent the past 30 years in a wide variety of business types and industries. I started my corporate career as an institutional equity trader, moved into portfolio and pension management, and ultimately landed in an M&A department of a multi-billion-dollar consumer products company. In 2008, I became an owner of a multi-million-dollar business in the beauty industry and helped grow that business to twice its size before exiting after ten years. In 2013, I became an owner of a smoothie franchisee and helped develop a suite of five stores in 14 months before that business was acquired by a larger portfolio of stores. In 2019, I became an owner of a precision machine shop with large, international, world-class customers in the aerospace, defense and space-related industries. After exiting that company in 2020, I formalized the coaching business that I had been operating as a side hustle for nearly a decade.

Acquisitions: I have acquired, operated and exited several companies in the past 15 years. I follow a very specific process in my coaching program that includes developing a Target Statement, reviewing potential deals, negotiating offer terms, assisting in Due Diligence efforts and helping with financing through SBA Programs, conventional bank loans or private investment. I have found that the small business acquisition process can be a lonely venture – having an experienced guide for the journey can be very helpful.

Business Operating Systems: I strongly believe that you need to implement an operating system in your business.  That operating system needs to consist of a plan, a meeting cadence and the use of scoreboards, at a minimum. Creating annual and quarterly goals and reviewing them on a regular basis is also important. I’m somewhat agnostic to the actual operating system – I have worked with EOS, Scaling Up, Great Game of Business, and I believe that all of them are effective if implemented well and followed with pig-headed discipline.