A letter to you,

I've always been curious about why the world is the way that it is. I remember running around and asking, "why?" to just about everything, almost to a fault. That curiosity is what drives me to learn more about the world, about people, and to learn what I am ultimately capable of. And, I don't know as there is an end to it, and that's a good thing.

My grandfather was a documentary filmmaker, photographer, and adventurer. I remember when he gave me his Nikon F when I was 15, a camera I still shoot with today. I had no idea what I was doing but something about it encouraged me to look at the world through a different lens, almost as a fly on the wall. I always admired him. He filmed the first documentary of the headhunters in Borneo, he sailed from LA to Hawaii, in 1959 and 1969, and even helped develop the process of how to print color film (he did it in a weekend as a hobby).

I guess that was passed down to my dad too. He has always been one of my heroes. He risked it all from the beginning and did what he always wanted to do, fly. My parents always instilled the belief that I could do anything, something I will always be thankful for. So, I did just that, many things. I started a company while in college, filming mostly for friends, and racing trialthon as well as sailing. After an Ironman, filming at Nike, and sharing a stage with the founder of Adobe, working in specialty coffee, running creative for an agency, and working in design for commercial real estate, I decided to try my hand at building a media company.

It was called Sustainable GOAT, and it was founded as a way to tell the stories of the greatest innovators of our time, continuing down the path of being fascinated by people, innovation, and being inspired by the world. It was the experience of a lifetime. I went on a month long road trip with my girlfiend (now wife) and best friend (my pup) and proved that inspiring people doing good things in the world were things that people cared about. After a few extra trips for some more episodes, the show ran with 12 episodes on the ReachTV netowrk and it is still playing today. I always drempt of making films that millions of people would see. After 500 million impressions and counting, I think I did it.

I spoke on stage at Advertising Week New York, even keynoted at a conference in Nashville in front of 1000 people, before the former Head of Growth at OpenAI. But, the one thing you can't get predict is timing. It just wasn't the time to be a startup in the media space and the company had to close at the end of 2024, a decision that was the most difficult decision of my life but one that fundamentally changed the trajectory of my life.

You see, I believe that we all need to take on our greatest fear, our greatest challenge, and find out what we are made of. Whether we fail or succeed is not the point. It is about taking it head on and risking it all. That is the only way to find out who you are. I risked it all and found out what I was really born to do.

I'm not a filmmaker, I'm not a designer, I'm not even a speaker. I have done those things, continue to do those things, and will probably continue to do those things. But, what I am born to do is to capture that powerful energy in a room, those moments that we all experience where something is truly felt on a deep level. I'm meant to capture those moments and share it with as many people as possible in hopes that our world can become a more beutifully inspiring place. So, now that I know what I am born to do, I am inspired by just about everything. You see, everything and everybody has a story that we can learn from, and those are the threads that hold together the fabric of the universe. I am just here to help shepherd those stories.

I believe that now, more than ever, we need to hone our internal compass, we need to find what we deeply care about as people, and be the best that we can be, every single day. Because, if not, this precious thing we call life, lacks meaning. It lacks fulfillment. The path is different for everybody, but hopefully I can share some of my lessons along the way, and the lessons I've learned from others, to help those that just need a little nudge. But only you can walk the path. Thanks for being here.

till next time,