My keynote message is focused on helping all leaders, new, cross-functional and enterprise, navigate the tough times and excel in the good times by learning new, enlightened ways to lead yourself, a team and the enterprise. My keynote is full of stories and examples based on some hard lessons learned over 38+ years in corporate America so you do not have to learn them the hard way.
I held VP/GM level jobs for the past 25 years and lead teams that was responsible for all major customers in North America, including Walmart, Target, all supermarkets, Walgreens, and CVS and lead teams of over 10,000 and 5000 people. I developed several organizations from the ground up including Category Management and Customer Strategy and Planning. I also consulted on most of our international business. In 2016 I started the Amazon business across all Amazon platforms, Amazon.com, Amazon PrimeNow, Amazon Fresh, Amazon Fresh Pick Up, Amazon Go and the Amazon Bookstores. I also developed and lead our competitive intelligence capabilities that lead to significant wins in new business and the retention of existing business.
But, I was a leader with many flaws and made major mistakes. I lost millions of dollars with of business because I was arrogant, was assigned 2 Executive Coaches because I was a bully, and I was a part of a leadership team that was eliminated because of all the drama we created in the organization.
In 2006 my issues caught up with me and I was divorced, living alone, paying 2 college tuitions and alimony and my career was at a cross roads.
My keynote talks about how I climbed out of that pit and and finished by last 10 years with great results and momentum. More importantly, I found a woman who is a great partner, wife and the CEO of her own consulting firm. We have 4 kids, 3 grandkids and they are all on a path to achieving all they desire in life.
In my last 30 days with Hallmark I was awarded the JC Hall award for lifetime achievement. This is an award named after the founder, JC Hall, and has only been awarded a handful of times in 108 years.
This keynote is a story of how I got into a deep hole and how I got out. This presentation can help all leaders avoid some of the mistakes I made along the way so they dont have to learn the hard way, like I did.
