I’ve always heard the bird in my breast sing and I’ve followed it!
- Herman Hesse
- Herman Hesse
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OWN EVERY MOMENT
MY STORY
I feel rich in love and friendship, with abundant work now, but a start with much hard knocks and confusion. My extended family saved me from what could have been a very lonely listless existence mired in poverty and self pity. At 20 years old, teetering on the edge, someone gave me some Tony Robbins and Les Brown audio cassettes and I started to devour these tapes, I started believing what they were saying; I could also live the life of my dreams and I have! |
SKI INDUSTRY
With nothing to lose, my first move was to attend a men’s retreat. There, I had a lucky chance encounter with Skiing Hall of Fame member Dan Egan, and I approached him about work. I used my new-found insight and asked him about jobs in the ski world. He saw that I was hungry for adventure, and he put me in charge of the logistics of a four-day ski writers convention in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I skied over 100 days that winter. This led me to the Rocky Mountains and a position with the Vail Ski Racing department helping produce World Cup Ski races and supporting the Olympic team members in their training.
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TEACHER & FACILITATOR
But, snow melts and I needed a summer job! I was hired to be a facilitator and outdoor trip leader for the American Youth Foundation. I taught students and teachers the power of team-work and self-reliance in the outdoors. I led thirty-day backpacking trips and six-week biking tours, and I ran high- and low-rope courses. Each new adventure led to new skills and more insight. I also gained confidence that I could do whatever I put my mind to without a formal college degree and without large sums in the bank. I also realized that people trusted me more than I had trusted myself growing up.
Years later, I had the opportunity to work as an Education Director for the World Ocean School aboard the Roseway, a historic tall Ship, educating the children of St. Croix about sailing, team work, and self-confidence. |
COMMUNITY LEADER
In my mid-twenties, I wanted to reconnect with my mother, so I moved to the seaside city of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. My ski event job helped land me a position as the Executive Director of Pro Portsmouth, a non-profit whose mission was to support the downtown business community by producing major festivals, such as Market Square Day, which brought over 100,000 people to the city center. In turn, I was hired as the President of the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce, the second largest business advocacy organization in New Hampshire. I was voted as one of the top 40 leaders under the age of 40 in the state.
I left that position to purchase, renovate and reopen one of the most storied music venues in the Northeast. The Stone Church had fallen in to a state of disrepair and on the verge of bankruptcy. A team was assembled to "save the church" and after a close to 1 million dollar investment and a 9 month renovation it was re-opened to huge community applause, hosting musicians and music fans from all over the world. |
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SELF DEVELOPMENT
Music venue ownership was a wild ride for which I will be forever grateful, but I was feeling spiritually empty after year four in the business.
I sold my shares and took time to go inside myself. I traveled to India and Nepal where I sought a quiet mind and answers to all the age-old questions. Returning from India, my goal was to travel and explore more of the world, so I took a job on an educational tall ship. The ship’s goal was to teach children from St. Croix to sail and be more powerful in their own bodies and minds. I then spent a year traveling the back roads of America visiting small towns, mid-west cities, and up and down the west coast. I met people from all walks of life and all backgrounds, and I learned about happiness and hard work while living low to the ground. When I was 35, I made another bold move that was empowered by my inner gut and my inner voice: I moved to a silent mediation center where I once again quieted my mind, this time while mowing lawns, fixing toilets, and being silent. |
HELPING CREATIVES
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While at the silent retreat center, I missed music and the company of creative souls. Another chance meeting with a musician helped me see that one of my true gifts was promoting music, supporting musicians, and helping them grow their careers. I started a management company for developing artists. This brings me up to current times where I sit comfortably within the music industry. I worked with the President of Signature Sounds record label to develop and run a live music department. We opened the extremely popular Parlor Room and bought the Green River Festival, started the Arcadia Folk Festival and the Back Porch Festival, and we now produce hundreds of shows annually at venues all over central and Western Massachusetts . and southern Vermont. I find myself distilling my many past roles, my leadership positions, my varied skills and gifts, and what I see clearly is that I am really good at connecting people. Whether it’s through a business venture, a music festival, or a father’s support group, I see the “big ideas” and connections that need to be made. I work with creatives and entrepreneurs, folks like me who follow their heart, feel a passion deep inside, and find the courage to go for it to live their best life!
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MY BIGGEST ACHIEVEMENT YET!
I gratefully live in a community immersed with creative and spiritual energy, which I long to keep tapping into as I strive to listen better and more carefully than ever before. With my wife, our two adventurous boys and our pooch Conrad! I offer my experience and wisdom to other individuals looking for to wake up and own every moment!
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