During my sophomore year in high school, I started selling custom surfboards from my garage. Self-taught, relying on blueprints cut from a 1985 Surfer Magazine, I carefully studied each step of the surfboard-building process and got to work. I sold three — before my mom shut down the operation because the entire house smelled like a chemical factory.

 

That early venture, though short-lived and unsuccessful, sparked a love for entrepreneurship within me. I started my first real business when I was 22, a small industrial service company — leading to the launch of twenty different companies over the years. There isn't a business model, economic cycle, financial scenario, management challenge, or employee situation that I haven't lived through. I've been to the top and back to the bottom many times, and I've got all of the mental, physical, and emotional scars to prove it!

 

Now, for context, I didn't graduate from high school. During my senior year, I left to work and surf in Kona, Hawaii. I didn't attend college. My journey has been unorthodox, while self-education and life experience have been my University. 

 

Raising a young family at the age of 22 while starting new ventures and learning the job of CEO in real-time, I didn't know what I didn't know. I read voraciously and studied anything I could get my hands on. Over the years, I narrowed my research and practical application to four primary topics: human behavior, entrepreneurship, leadership, and productivity. These disciplines reveal the critical actions that create excellence. 

 

Today, I'm the CEO of Volition,  a renewable energy and water provider. Also, I serve as Managing Partner of Authentic Development, an experiential learning company. We teach well-known clients the disciplines I've outlined, including Hewlett-Packard, Walmart, and SAP. As a corporate education faculty member for Duke Corporate Education, I lead executive leadership programs worldwide.

 

So, I'm an entrepreneur who loves the business of building businesses. But that isn't what matters most to me. What matters most to me is this: How can I form impactful relationships with those I have the pleasure of working with, whatever the situation? 

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A California native, I currently live in Provo, UT. My wife and I are working hard to raise seven great kids, the most important of life's work. I surf, snowboard, run, read, and sleep as much as possible.