In my 25 plus years in business, the best lessons I’ve learned have come from business owners generous enough to share their stories of success and struggle. My work with Ready for Next is fulfilling precisely because it is fundamentally human – puzzling, complex and deeply interpersonal.

As a business value growth and transition expert, I speak with owners and professional advisors across the USA daily, offering insights and guidance informed by my experiences as an entrepreneur and family business heir.

I’ve founded five companies, all of them with partners, some more successful than others and led a fast-growing global company which became the largest firm of its kind in the world. Most importantly though, I’m the third-generation heir to my family’s 67-year-old custom millwork manufacturing business. The longer I spend learning about and untangling the intricacies of American family businesses, the more I’m reminded of how much I love being part of one.

I possess a master’s degree from Miami University of Ohio, am a Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA), and a Certified Merger and Acquisition Advisor (CMAA). I also serve on the Board of Directors for three private companies, including my family’s business.
When I am not consulting or assisting in the creation of multi-media educational content for business owners and advisors, I am collaborating with insightful people and seeking out new ideas and opportunities to connect with others. Or golfing or fighting for animal welfare – ideally, a little bit of everything.

My experience as an owner and entrepreneur in the private business world spans more than 35 years over three different industries, including business wealth and value acceleration, personal financial planning and executive search.

As the founder and CEO of a financial planning firm, I developed programs and accumulated in-depth experience in personal wealth accumulation, risk reduction, estate planning and tax advantaged income replacement strategies to harvest wealth for retirement. If there’s one thing this industry has shown me, it’s that helping others realize their dreams and achieve financial independence in ways they feel good about, makes this work worthwhile.

Earlier in my career, I established and ran one of the most successful executive search firms in Florida , serving the hiring needs of Fortune 500 companies. I have worked closely with company executives and been exposed to a wide spectrum of business-related disciplines, including manufacturing and distribution, sales and marketing, finance, human resources and organizational leadership.

As one of the founding partners of RFN Advisory Group, I help guide owners through a unique and proprietary process of transforming their business into one of the most valuable and competitive “transition ready” companies in their industry.

Besides raising a close-knit, virtuous family, continuous education is my passion. I received my BBA from the University of Miami, graduated from FAU’s College for Financial Planning and have earned several professional designations, including Certified Financial Planner (CFP), Certified Exit Planning Advisor (CEPA) and Certified Business Exit Consultant.

Happiness is a state of being, not a point in time. Currently, the happiest moments of my journey are when I am positively impacting the lives of my grandchildren.

As an RFN Global founder and senior advisor at RFN Cities, I help empower communities to design and implement local business retention and entrepreneurial support programs that help unlock, enable and accelerate economic growth and business resiliency in their locations.

The gamut of my experience includes developing go-to-market corporate strategies, building high-impact economic development programs, training municipal and private sector champions how to put their locations on the proverbial map for business, teaching new university curriculum and currently serving as President of the Americas for, Wavteq, the fastest-growing Economic Development Technology and Consulting Services firm in the world.

From Paris to Portland and Dubai to Detroit I’ve worked with, trained and consulted over 15,000 government and city, state and country leaders to create programs to drive economic growth and competitiveness.

My career has spanned the sub-prime housing crisis to the great recession and now COVID-19, all of which have taught me that the challenges in workforce availability, small business readiness, corporate growth/expansion and inequality have gotten exponentially more complex.

My work is rooted in the belief that the companies, communities and the people who live and work in them have a tremendous capacity to innovate. I’m on a mission to infuse outside-of-the-box thinking and creative models to show them how.
I’m a passionate Phoenician and curious globetrotter and although I travel the world speaking, training and consulting, my greatest treasures are my four kids and wife who help balance my life by injecting it with tons of messiness and meaning.

What talent would I most like to have? The ability to fly, obviously.