Business Person + Writer
I'm a voracious reader and wrote Nancy Drew-type mysteries on the junior high school bus. My parents, like most, encouraged me to go into a field that paid real money.
I got a business degree.
I spent a decade in sales management and business development roles with financial services firms LendingTree, First Union (now Wachovia), The Hartford and Allstate Insurance. Sales is a great boot camp for learning persuasive communication techniques.
I went to business school at Duke in my late 30's where I learned to analyze complex business situations involving operations, finance, marketing, management and accounting through hundreds of case studies. My teammates always turned to me for the final writeup.
After B-school I ran a privately-held consulting and software company before opening my own industrial services company. I raised capital, forged business partnerships, filed a trademark, priced products and services and sued deadbeats. Small business owners, I've felt your pleasures and your pains.
In a moment of mid-life clarity I decided to harvest my rich business background and combine it with my love for language as a business writer.
Life has come full circle.
