Artist. Servant Leader. Recovering wannabe self-help guru.
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I didn’t take a straight path to becoming an artist. I grew up in a small, blue-collar town in Ohio where sports were a way of life and practicality was the unspoken rule. I stayed out of trouble, got good grades, and earned a business degree from Indiana University.
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Funny enough, the only A+ I got in college was in folk music and piano.
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After school, I followed the expected path—started as an auditor for Price Waterhouse, then spent the next few decades working across finance, startups, partnership management, and personal development. I even became a self-help author for a while. I had big ideas about making an impact.
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But over time, I started to feel the cost of all that ambition. The constant striving, the pressure to build and scale and optimize, it all started pulling me further away from my intuition, my creativity, and my sense of peace.
Returning to Myself
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Eventually, I made the choice to stop chasing more, and start listening for what was real. That meant picking up the guitar again. Painting what I couldn’t quite say. Hosting house concerts. Letting life be artful, not just productive.
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Along the way, I also discovered a love for spaces. I’ve had the experience of building two custom homes, one in Hermosa Beach, California, and one in Perrysburg, Ohio. Each was created in partnership with architects and builders, and always with intention: a focus on balance, proportion, and honoring the surroundings. These weren’t just houses, they were reflections of a deeper desire to live thoughtfully.
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Today, I live in a cozy mid-century ranch in Bloomington, Indiana. I paint in my home studio, write songs, rent out my walkout basement on Airbnb, run a nonprofit that supports parents of premature babies, created in memory of my son, Graham's Foundation and a sustainability project, Pocktie, pocket squares and boutonnieres made from recycled ties.
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What I'm Working On
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Right now, I’m working a one-man show called Confessions of a Failed Wannabe Self-Help Guru.
It’s a little funny, a little raw, and a lot of truth—about the masks we wear, the stories we chase, and what happens when we finally ask ourselves, Who am I without the hustle?
I don’t have a grand plan these days. Just an open heart, a creative impulse, and a deep desire to offer something meaningful.
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If my work moves you, that’s enough.
If it inspires you to slow down, even better.
Who knows what I’ll do next?!?
