My Journey Brief

Serial Entrepreneur

Over the past 20 years I have started and built 3 companies in the global business services industry:

• GPSLink provided software as a service to manage expatriate administration for multinational corporations.
• Celergo is a global payroll provider (sold to ADP).
• The ITOS Group provides PEO services in Latin America.

These experiences have provided the opportunity to travel the world and gain a much greater understanding of many different cultures. In addition to opening offices in London and Budapest, I took my family to Singapore when getting that office started.

Celergo was named twice to the INC 500 (and multiple times to the INC 5000) as one of the fastest growing companies in the US and recognized multiple times as one of Chicago’s “101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For” as well one of the “National Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.”

Additionally, I’ve developed several other businesses. MBA Capital Group was an internet based platform to connect MBAs from top business schools with companies for short term project work. And Lionshare Capital is an investment company. (One of those projects was VeggieBucks, a website to help vegetarians and vegans find restaurants while traveling.)

And I’ve had the pleasure of coaching/mentoring/advising a number of entrepreneurs and small business owners. The learning for me from talking with fellow entrepreneurs has been tremendous.

Endurance Sports

My wife has been a huge influence on getting me active. She’s a physical therapist and I was just awed when she and her twin sister ran a marathon while in college. 26.2 miles by foot? Two years after we got married I ran my first marathon with her.

Since then (over a period of 23 years) I’ve run dozens of marathons. While many of those have been the Chicago Marathon, I’ve also been trying to add more destination marathons: Las Vegas, New York, Marine Corps, Milwaukee.

In between the long races, I’ve also done even more shorter races – half marathons to 5Ks. At this point, the half marathon is probably the sweet spot. Marathons do not feel like they are simply double the distance of the half marathon. There is an exponential feeling the longer you go.

Wanting to add more variety (ie cross training), my wife then got us involved in triathlons. Triathlons are made up of swimming, biking, and running. First, we did short team triathlons. Then we moved to individual triathlons. And ever the challenge oneself personality, I started increasing the distances in the triathlon. It’s been over 20 years doing these tri races all the way up to a full Ironman distance.

An Ironman race starts off with a 2.4 mile swim in an open body of water, usually salty, cold, and with waves, and surrounded by other competitors kicking and swinging their arms. When you get out of the water, you hop on your bike and ride for 112 miles. After the bike ride, you end your day with a 26.2 mile run (a full marathon).

It sounds crazy.

And it is pretty crazy. When I started out, I could not even imagine doing something like an Ironman. But I’m not the same person as I was back then – in terms of how my mind has evolved.

Each summer I go on a “Boys Adventure” with my boys, one of my brothers and his son. We head out to Colorado and climb mountains (14ers – mountains over 14,000 feet). That’s the endurance part (long treks at altitude), but we also enjoy many other activities such as white water rafting, camping, zip lining, hot springs, canoeing, etc.

Travel

Because of my companies, I have been able to travel to a number of countries (almost 50). This also allowed our family to live in Singapore for a little while as I established an office there – which was an incredible growth experience for the four of us.

For the past 12 years I have been involved in a global organization called EO (Entrepreneurs Organization). EO has events that take place all over the world such as the Global Universities and Global Leadership Conferences.

When I think of travel, I usually think about the incredible experiences and how they have changed my world view. Just a few that come to mind, in no particular order:

• Climbing to the very top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge
• Learning to scuba dive in Cartagena
• Camel riding in Wadi Rum, Jordan
• Bungee jumping in Queenstown, New Zealand
• Hunting the big 5 (elephant, lion, leopard, rhino, Cape buffalo) in Kruger National Park with an ecologist
• Tango lessons in Buenos Aries
• Experiencing Rio de Janeiro’s Carnival Sambadome
• Exploring James Bond Island near Phuket in Thailand
• Visiting a centuries old Turkish bath house in Istanbul
• Bike tour of the hill towns in Tuscany
• Meditating in an Ashram in Mysore India

At some point I would like to get these life experiences and as many others as I can remember written down and reflected upon. I have started a project with my Mom documenting all our extended family adventures – a project still in work.

Family

I’ve been married over 25 years and live in the Chicago suburbs. We have 2 teenage boys and a black lab mix. We usually have a variation of tacos on Tuesday and pizza on Fridays.

At this point in my journey my priorities are now: 1) me, 2) family, and 3) projects. I do not use the term ‘work’ anymore. While I used to identify myself by the work I was doing, I no longer attach myself to the job or the outcome.

And I highly encourage people to prioritize themselves first. This is not selfish. When you take care of yourself first, you are able to contribute so much more to those around you.

The journey continues . . .