I’ve spent my life helping people and organizations grow, but that didn’t start with a title or a company. It started early. I went through my first goal-setting program at four years old and gave my first speech at seven. Long before I understood leadership theory, I was learning that growth is intentional and that people matter.

At 21, I founded SOS Leadership. At 22, I published my first book. Since then, my work has taken many forms, but the core belief has never changed: people are the solution to every problem worth solving. When leaders are aligned internally, organizations move forward with clarity, trust, and purpose. When they’re not, even success can feel upside down.

Over the years, I’ve trained and coached thousands of leaders across industries and around the world. I’ve served as an interim CEO and COO for organizations in transition and helped leadership teams navigate growth, uncertainty, and change. I also pioneered SOS Leadership’s fractional Chief People Officer program, one of the first of its kind in the country, which remains central to our work today.

I’ve founded more than a dozen companies, including SOS Publishing, which helps first-time authors bring meaningful stories into the world, and the SOS Coaching Network, now made up of more than 30 coaches across the U.S. and internationally. Most recently, I co-founded Odie Technologies, an all-in-one marketing command center for multi-location businesses, where I serve as Chief Revenue Officer.

Speaking and teaching have always been part of my path. Over the past three decades, I’ve delivered more than 1,500 presentations on leadership, goal-setting, collaboration, and culture. I’ve co-authored several books, including Seeds of Success, Retreat to Success, The Turnaround, and Beware of Alligators and Ugly Stuff. That body of work ultimately led to The Upside Down Leader, a book shaped by real conversations with real leaders who were doing “everything right” on the outside but felt misaligned on the inside. The book explores the shadow side of leadership and the work required to return to clarity, service, and daylight.

Community impact is not separate from my leadership work. It’s part of it. I serve on the board of Texas Homeless Network, focused on ending homelessness across Texas. I previously served as board chair of the Austin Young Chamber, helping guide the organization through a critical season of transition, and I founded the Concordia University Texas Emerging Leaders Board to support the development of its MBA program. I also serve as a facilitator with New Politics Leadership Academy, working alongside servant leaders who feel called to public service.

At the end of the day, I’m not interested in leadership as performance. I’m interested in leadership as practice. The kind that asks hard questions, stays grounded in service, and keeps returning to what matters most, especially when things get hard. That’s the work I do, and it’s the path I’m still walking myself.