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My Story so far…
If you were to ask me where I’m from, I’d have a hard time answering you. I’m not an army brat, but my family did move quite a bit during my adolescent and young adult years. My parents’ adventurous spirit and ability to make each place home has left a strong impression. I carry this spirit and the unique perspectives I have gained from the people I have met at each point along the way.
My years began living across from Farmer Maggot in Clyde, a small farming community in northern Ohio. Not only was Clyde a refuge for Al Capone, it was also the model town for Sherwood Anderson’s collection of fictional short stories Winesburg, Ohio. Despite Anderson’s portrayal of the townspeople as “grotesques”, I have very fond memories of early childhood.
At age four, my family moved to Louisville, KY where my sailing experiences shifted away from Lake Erie to the Ohio River, which required lots of tacking and jibing. Two years later, we moved to Everett, WA, a suburb of Seattle, where I developed most of my values and personality. Here I met my childhood friends and participated in sports and activities including soccer, baseball, football, sailing, skiing, and mountain biking. Seattle is where I would say I’m “from” and where I would like to live again someday.
During high school my family moved to Cleveland where my brother and I received a challenging education at St. Ignatius High School…Go Wild Cats! Here I expanded my team participation beyond soccer to include crew and spent the early mornings rowing on the Cuyahoga River, a river that repeatedly caught fire during the height of industry. In the early morning hours, the river assumed a pungent smell of what seemed a mix of sulfur and petroleum. Though I still would not recommend having an open flame near the river, I can say that I did not see any three-eyed fish while rowing there–of course the only fish I did see were those floating at the surface.
After high school, I moved east and continued my education in the Jesuit tradition. I entered my undergraduate experience at Boston College with initial aspirations to be an entrepreneur in China. This dream was postponed after trying to learn the Chinese language, though I still have hopes of conquering it. My most life-altering event occurred at BC–meeting the woman I would later marry. In 2001 I graduated with a B.S. in both Finance and Operations & Strategic Management.
After graduating from BC, I remained in Boston working for Investors Bank & Trust (IBT). As a Senior Analyst in its International Custody Department, I was fortunate to work with a young, team-oriented group and for a boss that allowed me autonomy and provided me with leadership opportunities that fostered innovation. This, I felt, was unique not only in the company but also in the industry, which is tightly governed by a vertical and relatively non-progressive framework.
I left IBT a couple of years later in search of a more entrepreneurial and innovative climate. I found the perfect fit at The Healthcare Management Council, Inc. (HMC), a healthcare performance management consulting company that has successfully fostered a collegial, fun and extremely bright group of individuals. Fortunate to work in such an environment, I have been able to maintain the intellectual freedom necessary to help push the boundaries of the industry and myself.
You won’t find much use for me in a conversation about professional sports. I rarely follow sports news, and I’m very much a bandwagon fan…Go Patriots! I do, however, love to participate in competitive team activities; if there is a pick-up game, I’ll be there. I still love to ski, mountain bike and sail and also enjoy camping and photography…in short, I like the outdoors.
I enjoy all things scientific; some of my favorite television programming includes Nova, the Discovery Channel, and the Science Channel. I also enjoy reading about and observing the convergences of technologies, companies, and industries, as well as the strategies behind them and the competitive advantages that are always evolving or dissolving as a result — this is the stuff that really gets me going. This past year clean energy (particularly solar) has captured my interest due to the sheer challenge of energy sustainability and potential magnitude of solutions this field can have on the globe. I’m also interested in nanotube technology and its diverse applications.
My wife, Kelly, and I are currently living, with our fish Arthur Gilman, in a small apartment in the Back Bay of Boston and loving life.
That’s me in a nutshell for now.
Please use the contact page to contact me directly.