Halo Advisory Group- President/Managing Partner

2017 – Current

HALO Advisory Group is a management consulting firm serving clients from Start-ups to Fortune 100 companies. The concept for this firm was born out of the desire to share our knowledge of ‘the journey of entrepreneurship’.  We understand that other firms focus on insights delivered through wonderful power point presentations.  We seek to go deeper, because we’ve been there. HALO helps our clients drive, Business efficiency, digital transformation, and the application of technology to improve operating efficiency at scale.

In a short time, we have garnered clients from small start-ups navigating equity financing and structuring their companies for priced financing rounds to Fortune 100 companies who are stuck.  Simply put, we provide the Insider’s perspective with an outsider’s vantage point to help them move forward and grow.

As the managing partner, I’m charged with the role of managing client fulfillment, but also serving as the key engagement officer, leveraging the network I have amassed over thirty years.

Knnected Inc. dba SupplyHive- President/CEO

2021 – 2022

SupplyHive is a B2B SaaS company focusing on improving the relationships between corporate buyers and their suppliers via a platform that allows both groups to rate, review and assess the relationship at scale. I was recruited by the angel investors to help salvage the ailing start-up which was on the brink of insolvency. Taking over for the founder, I sought to turn the company around by stabilizing each of the major operating departments- Sales, Customer Success, Technical product development and finance.

As President and CEO, I lead the development of the mission, vision, values for the company and right sided many of the operational process that had been lacking in the management of the company.  I stabilized the financial platform of the company by extending the sixty days of capital into fourteen months, lead a $2M priced equity financing round that increased the valuation of the company by 71%. I lead the recruitment of diverse venture capital investors with a national profile to invest in the long-term growth potential of the company.  At the end of thirteen months, the company was poised for a six-figure quarter representing the largest quarter increase in revenue for the fledgling company. Brand recognition had improved via a targeted image campaign

Brunswick Corp.- National Director, Business Development

2017–2020

I joined Brunswick Corporation shortly after exiting my business on the recommendation of a mentor. At the time that I joined, the company was undergoing a corporate transformation from a conglomerate with a few business lines that impacted their focus. On the path to disrupt themselves, they decided to create a better connection with their end consumers. The pathway to this connection was going to be digital, IoT. Out of this was born the Connected Vessel project, which later became known as Nautic-ON. The group operated initially inside an independent corporate venture start-up with seed money from the corporate innovation fund. With a six-member multidisciplinary team we were able to fully stand a complete business unit that was later rolled into one of the major divisions for the company.

As the National Director of Business Development, my role was to develop the go-to-market strategy and validate it with key channel partners. During my tenure we were successful in launching version 1.0 of the product and obtain the support of key OEMs to white label the product for their use in improving the customer experience with their specific boat brands.

Karma Yacht Sales, LLC- CEO/President/Founder

2002 – 2017

I originally entered Karma Yacht Sales as a side-venture during my time at OMP as a silent investor when we formed the shell company and purchased the existing dealership Darfin Yachts. When the severance package kicked in, I took the opportunity to go into the operation of the business full time in 2005.

My role as a President/Founder and dealer principal was to manage the sales, marketing, and full operations of the company.  Along with my business partner we grew the business from the bottom third of North America to the Top three dealers in North America. We were perennial recipients of the President’s Award (aka Top Gun) for Sales and Service.  We successfully doubled market share during the period of ownership. We developed excellent brand recognition for the Karma Yacht Sales brand along with the Beneteau brand that we represented.  We outsold competitive brands by a ratio of 4:1.

Our brand and market share growth strategies were simple- Treat others as you chose to be treated.  By applying this ‘golden rule’ of customer service and modernizing the processes of the business, we gained phenomenal customer support and growth that allowed us to weather the 9/11 decline, dot.com bust and the great recession.

Serving on the dealer advisory council, we became influential in the development of product, and other operation synergies between the manufacturing partner and the dealer network.  Personally, I developed a strong personal brand reputation as a subject matter expert. I was nominated to sit on numerous industry boards that shaped the post-recession marine industry. I became an ambassador for the growth of the sport of boating in diverse communities and served as an industry advocate for increasing the reach of boating to under-represented communities.

Johnson & Johnson/Ortho-McNeil- Executive Leadership-Sales

2002 – 2005

Post-Merger, the Alza Senior Care Division that we had started was rolled up into the Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals division of Johnson & Johnson. Our regional alignments were restructured, and I was given responsibility for the entire state of Illinois.

I was now responsible for a team of representatives covering the entire state.  Our product alignment was supplemented with the addition of a pain medication from the OMP portfolio. We were also assigned a product for diabetic foot ulcers that also had utility in the management of chronic bed ulcers. Our team continued to perform well winning the award for the top district in the region. I was given the opportunity to accept a post-merger severance package as part of a restructuring agreement in 2005.

Alza Pharmaceuticals- Executive Sales Management

2000–2002

ALZA Pharmaceutical was a boutique pharmaceutical and novel drug delivery start-up based out of Palo Alto, CA. Their patented drug delivery technology offered significant advantages in the oral and transdermal delivery of novel compounds for urinary incontinence and pain management. I was recruited by the Vice-President of Sales to join the inaugural leadership team and form a specialty salesforce in Long-term care.  I was responsible for the creation of the North Central region which spanned a nine-state area.

Led the recruitment of all first line sales employees and the first line management team. All of this was accomplished in one-hundred twenty days. The region I was responsible for lead the nation in sales performance and were recipients of the Region Business Director’s award for Sales performance and leadership. In 2001, ALZA was acquired by Johnson & Johnson as part of a $10.5B acquisition. The region was rolled up into the Ortho-McNeill division with a transition that spanned twenty-four months.

Bristol-Myers Squibb- Account Management

1998 – 2000

I was recruited by the Region director into a position based in Chicago which covered the key medical district. I had responsibility for the major medical teaching centers , managed care systems, PPOs, IDNS, hospital health systems and regional VA/DoD accounts.

I lead matrixed ,multidisciplinary account teams (MSLs, RNs) to drive formulary acceptance for BMS products on the various formularies. This consisted of contracting and developing pull-through GTM strategies that drove market share. implement clinical initiatives to drive market share growth in anti-infectives, oncology, surgical suite, and cardiovascular.

Abbott Laboratories- Sales, Marketing, Operations Management Various

1989 – 1997

Started my career right out of undergrad with Abbott. Held various positions in operations management as part of a rotational development program for the first two years. I started in North Chicago, IL and held developmental global assignments in Germany, Japan and Puerto Rico.

Transitioned into sales role in Seattle, WA in pharmaceutical sales. After several successful years, I was promoted to a specialty position in Miami, FL.

I was later promoted to a marketing position in- house at Abbott Park.

Wintrust Bank N.A- Independent Board Director | Chair Risk Management Committee| Nominating /Compensation Committee

2015 – Current

Wintrust Bank NA is a financial institution with fifty-two chartered organizations covering the Chicago area and over $45B in holdings highlighted by diverse portfolio of offerings from traditional retail to complex business lending.

I was nominated to the board as the first board member while the bank was transitioning from being a mostly suburban community bank to a larger chartered organization covering the Chicago urban market and surrounding area.

Assignments:

Chair- Risk Management Committee- charged with managing the risk of the bank from complex financial to asset management.

Member- Nominating, Compensation/Governance Committee- tasked with nomination of key members to the boards of the bank as well as ensuring that the DEI plan for the bank was developed and implemented with equity for all members.

K4 Mobility Inc. - Board Advisor

2020 – Current

K4 Mobility is a telecommunications company focusing expanding the use of 5G/SAT/VSAT and LAN systems to key verticals to expand the promise of telecom and IoT.  K4’s current off Grid Solutions benefit four key use cases: Maritime, Commercial marine, and recreational marine.  There is also potential for expansion to other use cases as capacity grows.  The company is the brainchild of telecom veterans Michael Small and Anand Chari who are the founders of GoGo Inflight.

Board Advisor-I serve as an advisor to the Senior Leadership team to help develop and execute the go-to-market plan for the system and identify channel partners to expand usage.  Expansion to identify product market fit in other key verticals is also underway where I am able to assist in the growth with strategic channel partners and market leaders.

Chicago Yacht Club- Commodore | Executive Board | Board | Chairman-Race to Mackinac

2012–2022

The Chicago Yacht Club has been in existence since 1875 when it was chartered by a small group of Chicago businessmen who were primarily interested in competitively racing their sailing boats against each other.  One-hundred and forty-six years later, the club is home to over fourteen hundred members of various membership classes who all share the same passion of extending the nautical arts and sharing those with others who may have similar interests.  Aside from the sports community surrounding sail and power boats, the club is also very engaged in philanthropic ventures through its foundation where is looks to engage youth from underrepresented communities.  The Chicago YC is the proud host of the historic Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac which has been run one-hundred and thirteen times since it was first started in 1898.  At three-hundred thirty-three statute miles, it is the longest running freshwater distance race of its kind in the world.

As a twenty-two-year member of the Chicago Yacht Club, I have volunteered for roughly twenty-one and one-half of the years that I have been a member.  I’ve held positions on various committees from sponsorship and finance to membership and different event committees.  Below are a few of the more notable roles that I have held at the club all on a volunteer basis.

Chair, 104th & 105th Chicago Race to Mackinac- After being on the committee for close to a decade, I was tasked with serving as the vice-chair of the race in 2011.   Tragically, this year we lost the first two racers ever when a storm hit the fleet and their boat capsized killing two of the crew instantaneously.  As incoming chair, I was summarily charged with addressing the aftermath of the accident, reformatting the safety requirements for the race as to not negatively impact participation, but ensure the safety of the over three hundred global participants.   I successfully increased participation in the race by formulating a five-point plan to address the safety of the participants, regain the confidence of the community and maintain the prestige and leadership of the club.

Board of Directors- Nominated to serve in 2012

Rear Commodore- Nominated to serve in 2016 (two-year term).  The Rear commodore oversees all the on-the water operations of the club.  With over eighteen committees reporting to him, the commodore serves as part of the executive committee.  I was one of the few Race to Mackinac chairs to be nominated directly to the Flag (executive committee), mostly due to my leadership, service, and deliverables as Race to Mackinac chair and tenure as a servant leader at the club.

Vice-Commodore- Nominated to Serve in 2018 (two-year term).  The Vice-Commodore is second in command at the club as the effective Chief Operating Officer, he/she is responsible for all the physical plant operations, assets as well as the marine assets of the club.  The Vice-Commodore is also responsible for administering complaints against members- via the judicial board.   During my tenure as Vice-commodore, we uncovered that one of our stations which had been in service almost one-hundred years had sustained wear and tear that required replacement of the asset.   I was responsible for starting the replacement planning process for the asset, which extended beyond my term as Vice.

Commodore – Nominated to Serve in 2019 (two-year term).  The commodore of the club is the Chief Executive officer of the club. He/she presides over the executive committee and serves as the chair of the board of directors.  I had the pleasure of serving as the sixty-ninth commodore of the club and the first ever of Hispanic descent.  During my tenure as commodore, we encountered the unplanned for shutdown of the club due to the great pandemic of 2020.  This led to unplanned financial losses of over eight-hundred fifty thousand dollars by the end of the second quarter due to cancelled events including the Race to Mackinac.  Using an agile approach to re-opening the club with the addition of services and staff as we were allowed to, we received amazing support from the club membership.  Due to this support and a gritty and perseverant planning process- we finished the year in the black financially and curtailed membership losses from existing members to eighteen percent.  In addition, I assisted the Chicago Park District in the re-opening of the lakefront and harbor system which was critical to our operating environment. Despite having to furlough seventy-six employees in the depth of the pandemic, we were able to re-employ seventy-one of them, which was extremely critical as our staff is vital to the delivery of the customer experience at the club.

Epic Academy- Member , Board of Trustees

2022– Current

Epic Academy is an innovative charter High School on the South Side of Chicago in the South Chicago neighborhood. Epic Academy embraces the goal of inspiring students from underserved communities to dream their future, providing belief-altering experiences that broaden their vision of what is possible.

I was nominated to serve on this board in January 2022. It speaks to my desire to bring educational opportunities much like I had during my upbringing for youth in underrepresented communities. Epic Academy is a charter high school of over five hundred students located in the neighborhood that I grew up in -South Chicago. More than 80% of students who attend the school are from Black and Hispanic communities. We are currently in the midst of a $20M capital campaign where I chair the committee tasked with raising those funds.

Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation- Member, Board of Directors

2014 – 2021

RBFF is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to increase participation in recreational angling and boating, thereby protecting and restoring the nation’s aquatic natural resources. RBFF developed the award-winning Take Me Fishing™ campaign to create awareness around boating, fishing and conservation, and educate people about the benefits of participation. Take Me Fishing helps boaters and anglers of all ages and experience levels learn, plan and equip for a day on the water. The campaign website, TakeMeFishing.org, features tips and how-to’s that can be used all over the country, tools to compare different styles of boats, information on how to get a fishing license and boat registration, and an interactive state-by-state map that allows visitors to find local boating and fishing spots

Milestones:
-Served as Industry Spokesperson on pilot Spanish radio campaign in Texas and Florida markets.
-Lead Industry engagement discussions for Diversity and Inclusion at national conferences which included keynote speeches and market segmentation analysis of emerging demographic changes.
- Active Stakeholder in the development and execution of National DEI Strategy that led to 34% growth in Angler participation with Hispanic community.
-Subject matter expert on outreach and market development of emerging markets.
- Lead Retail Partnership Program with twelve major grocery/big box retailers leveraging campaign objectives with key retail influencers.

Sail America- Member, Board of Directors

2015–2020

Sail America is the trade association for the US sailing industry and plays a vital role for all companies that are involved in providing sailing-related products and services. Sail America provides much-needed leadership and a unified voice for the sailing industry.

Established in 1990 by members of the sailing industry, Sail America now has over 200 members representing all segments of the sailing market.

Sail America's mission is to promote the health and growth of SAILING.

Our activities are focused on three goals:

Contribute to the Growth and Success of Member Businesses.
Represent the Sailing Segment of the Recreational Boating industry.
Create Connectivity between Sailors and the Sailing Lifestyle.

Accomplishments:
• Provided board level leadership and strategic direction to organization.
• Refined the mission statement and direction of the organization to better support the Sailing industry and businesses.
• Provided fiscal overview of operating budget and strategic landscape to grow presence.

Yacht Broker’s Association of America- Member, Board of Directors

2013 – 2015

The Yacht Brokers Association of America, Inc. – YBAA - was founded in 1920 and exists to unite Yacht Sales Professionals throughout North America in order to: establish, promote and enforce high standards of professional competence, character and ethical conduct; foster public recognition of, and support for, YBAA and its member brokers; facilitate cooperation among member brokers; and, enhance each member's success.
Elected to a Two-Year Term commencing February 2013.

Milestones:
• Advocated for Issues impacting the National Marine Industry on Capitol Hill as a delegate at the American Boating Congress.
• Served as a Regional delegate for the YBAA Membership Review Committee
• Served on the Industry Relations Sub-committee

Breakwater LLC, Advisory Board

2014 – 2017

Breakwater Chicago's mission is to create an entertainment venue utterly unique to Chicago: a national and international attraction bringing visitors to experience a world-class city in an unprecedented way, by enjoying an extraordinary location that is both luxurious and truly at harmony with its environment.

Breakwater Chicago is currently designing, and will later build and operate, a floating luxury entertainment venue. The venue will operate as a vessel (300’ long by 100’ wide) on Lake Michigan, located off-shore from Chicago’s beautiful shoreline during the summer. Breakwater’s unique entertainment venue will provide guests with a wide variety of amenities (pool, restaurants, and lounge) and offer a service level equivalent to a five-star hotel.

Milestones:
• Served as business development and venture capital funding advisor.
• Provided Leadership and counsel to entrepreneur principals.

Boy Scouts of America- Council Commissioner | Executive Board | VP- Diversity/Inclusion | Board

2009-2016

The Boy Scouts of America is one of the nation's largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations. The BSA provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness.

Founded in Chicago in 1910 by businessman William D. Boyce, the BSA has helped build the future leaders of this country by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun.

Chicago Area Council

The Chicago Area Council serves over 8100 youth, with over 3100 adult volunteers for a combined gross revenue of over $3.4M.

Milestones:

- Key council representative in four council merger for Metro Chicagoland area.

-Elected to Council Commissioner Served 3 consecutive terms-June 2011-December 2014

-Latino Leadership Initiative, Chair (2009-2011); Vice-Chair (2011) Net impact to the council was 30% board diversity in one year. Graduated two-30 person classes of high potential NFP leaders.

Responsibilities:

Lead the creation and implementation of a national scouting pilot program for Latino Diversity and inclusion. Established the strategy and provided specific input on how to best align scouting values within the local Latino Community.

A strategic initiative of the Latino Outreach program was the development of the AGUILA Leadership Program that served to develop high potential Hispanic leaders looking to serve in NFP leadership positions. Graduated two 30 person classes.

-Board of Directors Nominating Committee, Member (2009- 2012)- served as key influencer for the
identification and recruitment of members for the Board of Directors with targeted skill sets to advance the influence and outreach of the BSA program.

-Strategic Planning Committee: Member

Creating a plan for expanding the mission of BSA in the Chicago Area while addressing key demographic changes and adapting the plan to reflect growth objectives for diversity and inclusion.

Lead the merger of four adjoining councils into one to form the Pathway to Adventure Council serving metro Chicago and Northwest Indiana where I served as the inaugural Council Commissioner (Council VP).

Pathway to Adventure Council

The Pathway to Adventure Council spans two states, serves over 26,000 youth, with over 9,000 adult volunteers utilizing 7 camp properties and four service centers. The council has a combined gross revenue of over $8.2M.

Milestones:

- Appointed to Council Commissioner of new Council serving the Greater Chicago /NW Indiana Area.
-Co-Lead the redevelopment of the service and program model inside the newly expanded council. Recruited leadership team to help in the roll-out of the plan and monitored metrics to ensure expansion timelines were met.
-Provided leadership to matrixed organization with over 9,000 adult volunteers to ensure that the implementation of programmatic components drove membership growth and retention.
- Year one Membership Growth (YTD 2015) saw first time in history of the area that growth was positive. (Ranked 1st in region; 4th in the Nation).