Always a good time for change

**** What do you do now?

Until recently I was a "corporate climber", I left a Fortune 40 company in April. I could have stayed, and with all that was going on in the economy that may have been the smart (looking) move, but I felt compelled to leave. I had some living to do, so with a little more courage than money I took a leap of faith. Since then, I have been traveling and spending some time on a business my friends and I started. My travels started with trips to New York, Seattle, Vegas, LA, Dallas, Chicago and Colorado. I learned to snowboard, hiked, wakeboarded and generally enjoyed life.

Then for my first overseas venture I headed off to Egypt (where my grandfather was born), Paris (where my grandmother was born) and Haiti (for my first missions trip). Each was truly amazing and inspiring in its own way. I have been blessed to be able to be "on the road" exploring for better than three months put together. Traveling by yourself has this great side benefit of a lot of introspection and a chance to really see how related and connected we all are.

After my travels, I came home to spend some more dedicated time on the BBQ sauce business I started with two great friends...We have been having fun, developing new products for our line-up, selling sauce at several events and overall growing our business one retail outlet at a time.

I have also started volunteering my time and expertise to C3 Missions (www.c3missions.org), the group I traveled to Haiti with, by helping them with re-design their web site, manage a little content and helping them understand the power of a well used social network.

**** Why do you do it?

I travel because I love new experiences and meeting new people.

I am in the BBQ business because I love the product, wanted to be CEO of my own company and wanted to work with people I care about.

I am helping C3 because, having seen poverty first hand while in Haiti, I wanted to make a difference. This organization is REALLY making an impact and it gives me a way to help that is more than just giving money.

**** What are you hoping to learn?

I would love to learn some new ways to really make an impact, new ways of approaching the same challenges that many businesses and causes face today.

I would love to learn of a few more outlets for my passion and energy to be used, while being a part of a group of people who can make a big impact.

**** After you learn it, what are you going to do with it?

Change the game, take action, help the non-profit (perhaps C3) reach more people, start a new business, improve the way we run our sauce business, take a job with a company that I can really fit into, encourage others to make some change as well....could be one of the above, maybe I can make it all of the above!

**** Tell me a true story about making a change in the world.

One of the things I wanted to do when I left Sprint was to go on a Missions trip, I had never been on one and felt like it would be a nice thing to do. Through a friend of a friend I was introduced to a guy from C3 Missions. Looking back, I really believe that coincidence is really more divine intervention. The way this unfolded provides a great illustration as to why...

Initially, I was thinking this would just be a "good thing" and I could come back and say that I did it, check one more box off my list. Little did I know that it would have such an impact.

I was in Haiti for only 3 days but witnessed poverty in that short time unlike anything I've ever seen, smelled, sweated or felt. C3 Missions International (www.c3missions.org) a small non-profit based in Kansas City focuses on what they call "High-Impact Orphan Care" and that is exactly what they deliver. Every dollar of donations (administrative costs are covered by two of the founders, Mike and Beth Fox) goes toward building villages and caring for orphans in third world countries like Haiti.

C3 calls it a "vision trip." Our charge was simply to go to visit the villages they build, take supplies, see for ourselves what the need is and how C3 is filling that need and then tell our story to others.

The villages consist of a school, clinic, orphanage and a church; its really amazing to see what they are accomplishing there. In addition C3 is starting to make some economic impact as well by administering some micro lending.

It was truly a life-changing experience. Unless you have been there, seen and smelled it, its a struggle to really understand. I came back and had a difficult time reconciling what I took for granted each and every day. We, as Americans, have thousands of choices available to us and yet for each Haitian, the choices really and truly are limited.

I really struggled with where to go from there...so I kept in touch with several of the people from my group that went to Haiti as well as the folks at C3 in order to see what they may need. All those connections led me to be involved in helping them re-design their website, manage some online content and really have a plan of action around a well managed social network program for C3.

I am excited to be helping not just in a monetary way but by actually putting my hands to use for them. It feels good to know that I am helping make a real change for others by using what I know. For me it's changed my life's direction and is impacting the lives of others here and the lives of the orphans around the world.

**** Have you overcome a Dip?

I think of my Dip as a double Dip! Ever since I was a little guy I have been focused on my career and little else...So my health wasn't really a concern. I had always been a heavy kid and a fairly hefty adult, however, with the encouragement of my wife and a good friend who was put on meds for his blood pressure, I decided that if I could manage a career, household finances and a fairly large sales force I could manage my own health. So I went about the business of getting healthy...in the process lost about 85 pounds, found a new interest in cycling and exercise and haven't looked back in the last 2 years!

The double Dip came as a complete surprise as my wife of 6 years left suddenly. We were High School sweethearts, and, in my opinion pretty happy. There's nothing like a significant change in your life to help you really consider the course you are on. I was "successful" looking to many people but my passion wasn't being used the way I had always hoped. So in a lot of ways my divorce has helped me understand a great deal about me, the person I was, the person I have always wanted to be and the kind of work I should be doing. I owe a lot to my friends, family and God for showing me how to move forward, how to seize the time we have been given today and a new understanding of how connected we all really are.

**** What astonishing thing did you do before you did what you do now.

I guess that what I thought was astonishing or noteworthy when I was a bit younger like becoming a manager in an organization at 20, becoming a director at 25, helping launch a new software product at 26, running major sales groups for some pretty reputable telecommunications companies and so on really wasn't that important. Not to diminish my experience at all, it was great, but basing goals on money and titles isn't what I would call astonishing now.

I think getting out of that "climb" is fairly astonishing at least for me personally. It has allowed me to focus my efforts a bit more on others. Being more available, more open to what life's path offers I have learned that trying to change the world even in a small way, is really worthwhile and astonishing.

**** Make a wish.

I wish is that every orphan had a home, that divorce was a thing of the past and that at some point I have the chance to return the help that my friends and family have shown me.

**** What else should I know.

I love to debate and hate to lose.
I am fond of cycling and really dislike running.
I never stay in a job that isn't challenging but still find myself pained to leave.
I love goals and despise rules.
I openly communicate and hate to waste time.
I escape in music and never leave angry.
I love change and look for new ways to keep life interesting all the time!

A few side notes: I am a proud Wichita, Kansas (the air capital of the world) native...until a move to Kansas City, three years ago. I am an avid reader and regularly suggest Paulo Coelho's "The Alchemist" to anyone who will read it. I am the only one in my family who did not go into education, my father, mother, sister, grandfather, grandmother and countless aunts and uncles are educators...so I am a bit of an oddity being a sales/entrepreneur type. Seth, I am really looking forward to the opportunity to spend six months in a really crappy apartment, eating like I am in college again and not going out much in order to have a chance to do something truly unique, different and game changing! Thanks for giving me a chance.