I was born in Albuquerque New Mexico in 1947. Shortly afterwards my family moved to Tacoma Washington, seven year later we move to San Diego California where I did all of my schooling. After high school I completed a degree in the social sciences where I studied Psychology and Sociology after that I did a degree in Education. While working on my masters in education I had the opportunity to move to Australia to teach primary school.
After teaching for 7 years I was taken into head office to head up a consulting arm where we taught teacher co-operative teaching practices. After doing that for 3 years I left the field of education and to pursue a career in the business world. I joined the multinational multi-billion dollar company Dun & Bradstreet. I began my career as a sales person then became the sales manager then was elevated to a position territory manager (in America we probably call it a Regional Vice President). I was running the State of Queensland (a state 3 times the size of Texas).
While at D&B I was then offered the position as the Asia Pacific Regional training director. Trish said “if they think you’re that good why don’t you set up your own training company. I quite the next day and for 31 years I have been writing and conducting workshops in: sales, Leadership, customer service and personal development. For the last 20 years I have been working with high school students with a program called “THE TOOLS OF LIFE AND LEADERSHIP” and to date I have worked with just over 93,000 students on two continents and in 3 countries.
I enjoy going to the movies and prefer true stories or movies that are based on a true story. I read mostly non-fiction though years ago I read a plethora fiction. Hope to one day go back to that.
My biggest business decision was leaving the security of a big corporation and striking out on my own. But without a doubt the best business decision I ever made.
Hardest decision was moving back to the USA………..it took me 10 years to finally make the decision and return to the States. The jury is out as to whether or not it was the right decision.
I am blessed to be married to Trish now going on 41 years. We have two children Cory is 24 and lives with us, Cory as most of you know has multiple disabilities, Down Syndrome, he is legally blind, has a speech impediment and a hearing loss (his mother says it is not as bad as mine!!) We also have Bethany who is about to graduate with a double major is Spanish and Psychology and will continue on to grad school to get her PHD in Psychology. So I sort of have both ends of the spectrum.
Best business lesson….. without a doubt was to never give up.
My biggest accomplishment is the work I do with high school students.
Favorite words and words I share with students is “when the WHY is big enough the facts don’t count”
One of the people that I would say has been an invaluable mentor is Dave Jackson others you would not know as they live in Australia. But without a doubt the man that has the greatest influence on my life was my dad. He was the best teacher, friend and confidante and when I had to choose a Best Man for my wedding there was never a doubt who that would be. I miss him every day and would do anything to spend an afternoon with him.
A highlight of my college years was when I was president of my fraternity, as president I attended our national conclave, while at the conclave I was invited to have lunch with Astronaut Edgar Mitchell which was very cool and I found out that he carried the Kappa Sigma badge of order on a flight to the moon.
My most memorable Rotary moment was serving Thanks Giving Dinner to all of the participants at Running Rebels and their families.