"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm." — Publilius Syrus
You’ve worked hard. You’ve put in the time. You’ve invested in developing your capabilities – whether by gaining hard-won experience, working your butt off, or obtaining a degree. Perhaps it was a combination of the three?
It wasn’t easy, but you finally have earned a ‘Seat at the Table.’
Now what?
They say it’s lonely at the top – but that’s an understatement. As a Senior Leader, you’re expected to have all the answers. You’re the one your people look to when ‘it’ hits the fan. Making hard decisions is part of your everyday life. And of course, there’s the inevitable palace intrigue and everyday bullshit you have to contend with.
To make matters worse, you occasionally have the nagging feeling that you may not fully deserve to be where you are – and it’s only a matter of time before “they find out.” What if the Peter Principle proves to be true? And will the same capabilities that brought you to where you are take you to where you need to go?
Take comfort in knowing that you’re not alone – and you don’t have to go it alone.
As your advisor, I will be your trusted partner, counselor, and confidant. I will provide guidance, strategic insights, and high-level direction based on my experience – when and if you want it. Primarily, however, I will act as a sounding board for your ideas and help you think things through. I will also be the only person who is completely in your corner, with no other obligations or agenda.
Over the past twenty-five years, I have advised CXOs, Executives, and Senior Leaders in privately and publicly held companies, nonprofits, and government agencies, including in the Fortune 500 and US Intelligence, Defense, and Security agencies – and, for his 2016 Reelection Campaign, President Barack Obama.
I think of Coaching and Mentoring as a partnership in which we work together to unlock your potential and help you achieve your goals.
Mentoring means I’ll be there for you every step of the way. When you fall, I’ll help you get back up. When you win, I’ll be beside you, cheering you on from the sidelines. When you need to hear hard truths, I’ll be the one who whispers them in your ear.
As your Coach, I’ll provide expertise based on my experience, insights, and training. I’ll help you set goals for yourself – and exceed them. I’ll help you keep yourself accountable. I’ll be there for you. I’ll be the Sherpa who shows you an easier route to the top of the mountain – but you’ll have to “Do the Work.”
Positive Psychology: Focusing on your strengths and leveraging your talents to help you overcome any obstacles.
Solution-Focused Brief Counseling (SFBC): Capitalizing on your current capabilities to develop actionable strategies for success.
Logotherapy: Helping you identify and articulate the meaning and purpose of your life – and developing a plan to ensure you are living a life aligned with your values.
Mindfulness Practices: Cultivate awareness, presence, and self-regulation. You will learn to “turn down the noise” of your chattering monkey mind – and how to focus, calm your emotions, and conduct yourself like a true warrior.
Motivational Interviewing (MI): A research-based methodology that helps you overcome the biggest challenges to change: ambivalence and inertia.
Hard-Earned Experiences & Good Old-Fashioned Common Sense (GOFCS): Applying practical wisdom to everyday challenges.
Building a business is exhilarating—until it isn’t. You’ve poured your heart, soul, and every waking minute into bringing your idea to life, and while there are moments of triumph, there are also moments when it feels like the weight of the world is on your shoulders.
You’ve got investors breathing down your neck, a team that relies on you, and competition that never sleeps. Oh, and that gnawing feeling in the back of your mind that maybe, just maybe, this whole thing could implode at any moment? Yeah, that’s real, too.
Being an entrepreneur can be the loneliest gig there is—but it doesn’t have to be. You need someone in your corner who’s been there, who gets it, and who can help you navigate the highs, the lows, and everything in between.
As your Advisor, I’ll be your sounding board, offering high-level guidance and insights based on decades of experience founding, scaling, and investing in businesses. I’ll help you make strategic decisions, avoid common pitfalls, and challenge your assumptions—because sometimes the biggest roadblock is your own thinking.
As your Coach, I’ll push you to be better than you were yesterday. Together, we’ll set ambitious yet attainable goals, and I’ll keep you accountable in the process. I’ll help you stay focused on what really matters while tuning out the distractions that can derail even the best-laid plans.
And as your Mentor, I’ll be your guide through the unpredictable journey of entrepreneurship. Whether you’re facing tough decisions, celebrating milestones, or questioning whether you’ve got what it takes, I’ll be right there with you. Not just as an advisor, but as someone who’s in your corner, rooting for you every step of the way.
I’ve helped build startups that have been recognized globally, and I’ve worked with founders who’ve gone on to create billion-dollar enterprises. Let’s make sure yours is next.
I began my journey as a homeless kid living alone on the streets of New York. After graduating from the School of Hard Knocks, I went on to a rollercoaster career as an EMT, Paramedic, Police Officer, and Deep-Sea Rescue Diver. Then, when the First Gulf War began, I enlisted – and ended up as Team Leader of an elite Scout/Sniper Reconnaissance Team with the U.S. Army Special Forces.
After being badly injured, I was discharged as a Disabled Veteran. My injuries left me unable to walk or stand for more than a few minutes at a time. The only job I could find was stocking shelves on the graveyard shift at our local CVS Pharmacy. As I was learning how to walk again and cope with the constant pain, my remarkable wife and I forged ahead – trying to make a life for ourselves and our two very young kids.
I climbed off the floor of that miserable drugstore and put myself through school, eventually going from a GED to a PhD in Psychology with post-doctoral work in Mathematics. Since then, I’ve established myself as a world-renowned AI Scientist and Cyberpsychologist, working at the cutting edge of Technology and Psychology.
My teams and I have developed leading-edge capabilities for U.S. Intelligence, Defense, and Security agencies. I’ve served as a Senior Strategic Consultant and Research Director for The Gallup Organization and held C-level positions with two of the world's biggest companies: Chief Data Scientist for Samsung and Chief Data Officer for Time Inc. I have also served as a Board Member for a large VC/PE fund and have mentored dozens of aspiring entrepreneurs and startups.
Over the past few decades, I’ve also taught Strategy, Organizational Change, and Leadership in the MBA program at the City University of New York (CUNY), for the Mini-MBA program at Rutgers, and as a university guest lecturer and keynote speaker at hundreds of conferences worldwide. I've coached, mentored, and advised scores of entrepreneurs and executives in organizations ranging from the Federal Reserve Bank to the Fortune 500 and from startups to President Barack Obama.
Rounding out my resume, in 2019, my business partner and I co-founded CodeLock, which TechCrunch has recognized as one of the Top 200 Tech Startups in the world.
In short, I went from living on the Street to the C-suite – from having nothing to having it all.
So why am I telling you this?
Because there is absolutely nothing special about me!
I simply figured out how to create an extraordinary life and achieve things I never thought would be possible – and I guarantee, if we work together, you can, too.
“All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, awake to find that it was vanity; but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes to make it possible.” ~ T.E. Lawrence
