Coach, mentor, entrepreneur.
And proud mistake-maker.

For more than 25 years, I have advised high-growth, middle-market companies. Through my roles as CEO of HireBetter and a Managing Partner of Bee Cave Capital, I have the opportunity to work with hundreds of entrepreneurs and CEOs—challenging and inspiring them to take their companies to that much hyped “next-level.”

But before I got to where I am now, I worked in some challenging roles. I failed in the dotcom bubble and struggled to find my way. My goal in writing is to pull back the curtain on the business world and take you on the real entrepreneurial journey—bumps and all. No one gets to the top overnight without falling down and making mistakes. By telling my stories, I hope to inspire and help others on their path.

So How Did I Get Here?

I was born in Dallas, raised in South Louisiana, went to the University of Arkansas, and have called Austin home since 2002. So I’ve got Redneck, Coonass, and Hillbilly all rolled into one beautiful package!

Like most kids, I was influenced by watching my parents. Growing up, I saw my Dad struggle as an entrepreneur. He always seemed to have a solid grasp of the big picture, but had trouble executing. He excelled at storytelling and made friends wherever he went, but he never translated those skills into business success. Meanwhile, my Mom worked hard to make ends meet for the family. She commuted an hour to work a low-level admin job, then rushed home to drive me and my siblings to whatever activity we had that evening. I learned so much about life from watching my parents.

When it came time for college, I followed a childhood dream and headed up to the University of Arkansas. My Grandad played football and baseball for the Hogs in the 1920s, so I was destined to be a Razorback.

I was an A student in high school, but struggled through college. My excuse was the first real business I ran—selling ads and publishing a fraternity and sorority phonebook. It distracted me from my classwork, but it helped pay for school. I like to joke that when I graduated with my accounting degree, I was only two points shy of a 4.0 GPA!

After graduating, I set out to be an accountant. I worked some temp jobs and passed the CPA exam, and eventually landed a career-making opportunity at Ernst & Young. For most young accountants, this would be a dream—and it was. But I quickly realized that auditing and crunching numbers were not my strengths. I ultimately wanted more.

So I followed the dotcom siren song in late 1998 and joined eFANshop, an online retailer of licensed sports products, as employee No. 3. I discovered something very important during eFANshop’s short run: The demands of a startup required me to take on additional responsibilities, including business development. As it turns out, I love business development and I don’t like accounting. (If I’m being honest, I’m not very good at it anyway!).

The Bad Accountant

Discovering what I was I good at—and what I enjoyed doing—was a game changer. One dotcom bubble burst and a couple of make-ends-meet consulting gigs later, all of a sudden I had the makings of a little business. Which was The Controller Group, a professional-services firm that started out helping companies prepare for their annual audit. This was a novel concept in 2001.

After learning about myself (and what not to do), I knew that I should focus on business development and client relationships, NOT on running the firm or in the details of client projects! In order to keep myself away from the technical accounting or auditing work, I surrounded myself with people smarter than I am—people whose passion and strength were in numbers and auditing. I’ve learned that when everyone is playing to their strengths, they can complement whatever weaknesses you bring to the table as the leader.

Thanks to the hard work of everyone involved (and more than a few breaks along the way), over the next four years TCG was transformed into a $20 million business with more than 100 professionals. I still find it ironic that a bad accountant helped build an accounting services firm into a multimillion-dollar, multi-city success story. What a country!?!

Dragon-Slaying

Our success meant that we attracted suitors; other firms wanted what we had. At first, we politely passed, until Tatum came along. To make a long story short, Tatum was as attractive to us as we were to them, and we sold in 2006. Our charge was to build out Tatum’s national consulting practice.

At Tatum, I was in a challenging position of serving as both an employee and a member of the board of directors. Many of my Tatum stories are best told over a cold beverage. But suffice to say, it was hard to be both the boss of the CEO and his employee at the same time. Things became untenable as TCG was dismantled and remade in the image of Tatum. And Tatum struggled mightily. In fairness, I’m not sure anything would have kept us from struggling during the global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.

After three years with Tatum, I left the company. This happened to be during one of the most difficult times of my life, personally and professionally. The company I had built, which had been my identity, my proverbial baby, was no longer recognizable. Additionally, both of my parents were diagnosed with and succumbed to cancer within nine months of each other, right around the time I was leaving Tatum. To say that I was going through an emotionally challenging time would be an understatement.

I spent more than a year in the desert. Part of that time was spent dealing with my parents’ home and financial affairs, but part was also spent struggling with that particular valley in my life. Professionally, I felt some sort of indescribable pull to prove to myself, prove that I wasn’t a one-hit wonder. I felt like I needed to slay another dragon.

Opportunity Comes Knocking

I went out looking for a company to buy. I kissed a lot of frogs until I met the founder of a small recruiting firm called HireBetter and started unofficially coaching him. He was so inspired (or maybe he was just tired) that he asked me to buy his company. It didn’t take me long to fall in love with the concept. I’m a firm believer that business success is all about having the right people. What better way could there be for me to leverage my skills than to turn a recruiting firm into my vehicle to drive change and grow companies?

Since buying HireBetter, I’ve had the opportunity to work with countless leaders of high-growth, middle-market companies, helping them build great teams to do great things. Part of why I choose to work with these smaller companies is because I have lived their world before; I know the challenges they are facing. The mistakes I’ve made on my journey look much like the ones they have made or perhaps would be making without my help!

While I’ve had a fair amount of success, I’ve had more failures than I used to care to admit. Sure, I have walked on stage as CEO of one of Texas’ fastest-growing companies and best places to work. But I’ve also spent many a sleepless night wondering how we were going to make it. Virtually every "expert" column and business book you see on the bestseller list talks about unicorns and miracles. It seems easy. Most people don't go behind the scenes, and reveal the stumbles and falls that serve as the foundation for every success story.

During my career I have been fortunate to work with hundreds of interesting companies. Along the way, I’ve worked with some amazing people—but I’ve also worked with some knuckleheads, prima donnas and downright a-holes. I plan to share a bit of everything I’ve encountered, with the hope that it will inspire you, challenge you, and entertain you, as you chart your own course, wherever it may take you.