I graduated from Michigan State with a degree in advertising in the late 80’s and headed back home to the Detroit area to ply my trade.  In a few months I was able to engage with some of the major agencies in town that were working with automotive brands including Chevrolet, Jeep, Lincoln Mercury and Chrysler.  I ultimately landed at an amazing agency called Ross Roy working on Chrysler business.  It was the thrill of a lifetime to be in the automotive industry as a kid from Bloomfield Hills Michigan. Automotive was king in the 80’s and nowhere was that truer than the Motor City.

When I left school the path to success was clear.  Graduate, get a job, work your butt off and move up the ranks.  Looking back, the idea of being an entrepreneur was foreign to me.  I can’t recall anyone that I knew that even remotely had the idea to start their own business.  The internet was nascent, the idea of a startup didn’t really come into focus for about 8 years into my career when companies like Yahoo, Microsoft and Apple began to enter the public consciousness as new companies that were started in the family garage.  A few years and a few jobs later I recall reading an article in Time Magazine about what was taking place in the Bay Area around Dot Com companies. How they were poised to reshape the landscape of commerce and information across a myriad of verticals.  Purchasing books or pet food or clothing was all going to change and the behemoth companies I had been raised to admire would all be replaced as relics of the past.

I was drawn to this new reality and I ultimately left my agency life in advertising to pursue digital.  I joined my first startup in Chicago and eventually moved onto some of the behemoth companies that had been leading the charge in changing the way we worked and lived.  I worked for an early digital media startup called L90 and that experience eventually manifested itself into jobs with Yahoo!, Microsoft and Nokia who were all leaders with the digital landscape.  They were the brands that had managed to become household names and multi billion dollar companies in a short amount of time.  Their market caps rivaled GM, Ford and P&G who had all been around for over 100 years.  By and large the digital companies had only been around for 8 -12 years.  

I grew up in the digital age and I was specifically focused on mobile.  I admired the individuals who started those companies and became successful beyond imagination.  However I was always a cog in the wheel dating back to my time at my first agency job.  I wasn’t a business starter, I was a contributor and a Subject Matter Expert (SME) on all things digital and mobile.  As the clock continued to turn and as innovation consistently brought about changes in the landscape the opportunity to be my own boss became more prescient.  I had the knowledge and the experience to go it alone.  I had closed millions of dollars in business, I had worked and consulted with C-Level executives at some of the biggest companies in the world (Chrysler, Target, Maytag, Molson Coors, General Mills, Kimberly Clark and others).

One day I received a note regarding franchising as a means to achieve business ownership.  I decided to take the call.  I went through the process and landed on a brand that I felt fit my abilities.  At the same time another opportunity came into play.  I was able to explore a path to starting my own business to consult with individuals and families who had an inkling to do exactly what I was doing.  I could use my experience as a solution provider to work with people who were seeking more freedom in life via business ownership.  I had a choice and I made the best decision of my life.  I started my own company and I became a Franchise Consultant with The Perfect Franchise.  

Now I engage with people who may be in transition or they’re entrepreneurs or perhaps they are  in corporate America and they’re yearning to see what’s next. I am passionate about what I do, I wake up happy every morning and I meet amazing people from all over the country.  I loved my career but I realize that what I do now is the most fulfilling “job” I’ve ever had.