Experience First and Foremost
I've been an entrepreneur all my life, beginning with finding a way to pay for college and law school. Hard work, necessity and learning from my mistakes ... all these made me better each time around the block.
I paid for my own education, which required me to work while attending college and law school. While at the University of Puget Sound, I cleaned the factory at a nationally-recognized manufacturing company in Tacoma. After six years of promotions, I ultimately became the company's CEO, overseeing record-breaking profitability. The early lessons of hard work, hard choices, and seeking team buy-in no matter the consequences have stuck with me ever since.
I graduated from University of Puget Sound magna cum laude with a B.S. in Finance. My law degree was earned from the University of Notre Dame, where I was an honors student and the Articles Editor of the Notre Dame Journal of Legislation while working 20 hours a week at a local law firm.
Since then, I have counseled hundreds of companies, from small start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. I have negotiated and closed hundreds of transactions, including equity and debt financings of all types and sizes, totaling more than a billion dollars. And I have successfully led litigation teams in both national and local disputes where everything is on the line.
I am an active entrepreneur and a partner in dozens of businesses in nearly every industry, including tech, motion pictures, medicine, agriculture, viniculture, real property, manufacturing, apparel, service and defense.
I am married with four kids (one daughter and triplet boys). I live in Gig Harbor and I enjoy golf, tennis, football, baseball, writing and woodworking.