What are the most challenging and rewarding aspects of your job and why?
Right now, the most challenging aspect of my role is getting momentum. We are a startup company and I was recently brought on to build partnerships with schools, nonprofits, and good corporate citizens. We are literally starting from zero and building from the ground up.
The most rewarding part is enjoying the journey, creating a success story from scratch, and seeing how we are having a profound impact on our communities. Altruize is the Fitbit for your altruism. If you want to be better at something, you must be intentional about it. You want to be a better runner, you run more; a better cook, you cook more. You want to be a better person, you need to also be intentional about your altruism and Altruize helps you track that. Our children are our future, so seeing this grow with them has been incredible. The blood, sweat, and tears will be that much more worth it.
Who do you look up to or admire in business and why?
I think our world is lacking leaders but the one person who I really admire locally and recently is Mr. Michael Johnson of the Boys & Girls Club. He not only sees a problem, he is providing real-world solutions. He is a person you can look at and get behind. As a whole, people will never agree on everything — that is impossible — but to see him step up and put his ideas into action is incredible. There is a lot to learn from him and I hope others are taking note. He is Madison to me.
Nationally, I look at Jocko Willink with his views on extreme ownership. Plus, I was also in the military so I can relate to him very well. Bob Burg and John David Mann put together a beautiful book called The Go-Giver. It has provided a lot of principles I follow and truly believe in like helping others and not expecting anything in return but allowing yourself to be open to receiving when the opportunities arise. You do a disservice when someone reaches out to help you and you deny them. You are taking that gratitude away from them.
What has been the high point of your career so far?
My singular high point was being a part of a hostage rescue mission in Iraq where four people were freed uninjured. It is not every day you get the chance to rescue someone, as it is hard to find out the location in the first place before they are moved to prevent capture. Knowing they were returning home to their families and I was a small part of that is hard to top.
Overall, I think every day is a high point. The journey has been awesome so far and it just keeps getting better. I have had the experience of hard labor, working at the state Capitol, failing at starting up a business, and turning one profitable. As a partner in Altruize, I am more aligned with my true vision and mission in life. It is something bigger than myself and that brings meaning to my life.
Thinking back on your career, what advice would you give your 21-year-old self?
Be nicer to my body. On a serious note, tell myself to keep that same mentality I had when I was 21 years old, but be better prepared mentally for what the world is going to throw at you and not cower from failure.
After four years in the Army and getting out before my 22nd birthday, I felt there was a lot to conquer. I was hungrier than ever before. It was a new, fresh start. Everything I had done prior to that did not matter anymore, so it was time to lay down the groundwork. I did well for several years, then everything fell apart and so did I. I let failure in my relationships and professional life really eat at me, which I was not prepared for mentally. I became afraid of failure and was not used to it. I started to chip away at things slowly again and realized it is OK to fail, but when you do, fail forward. Fail quick, learn, and keep moving forward.
What would you say are the best things about living and working in Dane County?
My family moved down here three years ago from the Wausau area and purposely to the Middleton-Cross Plains School District because of having three children and their academic track record. The Madison area is beautiful and there is so much to do. If you are bored, that is on you. Parks, the Henry Vilas Zoo, the state Capitol, and breweries are just a few things we enjoy. There are a lot more opportunities for our kids and we’re still close to our family up north. I guess the breweries are more for me. Even in Wisconsin, they are not quite ready for that yet.
Workwise, there are so many intelligent minds and so much innovation going on. You do not find this in other places like you do here at this scale. You must travel to bigger cities and farther away. We have the university, state government, a great mix of small, big, industrial, health care businesses, and StartingBlock, an entrepreneurial startup hub. My team recently completed a Gener8tor gALPHA social justice cohort sponsored by American Family Insurance, and I am excited to see some of those business ideas come to fruition, especially now more than ever with everything going on. No excuses!
Do you have any secret talents or abilities that people would be surprised to discover?
Good question. I do not think so. I have a knack for networking and starting a conversation with anybody. Everybody has a story, so I like to hear it. I say hi to everybody when I am walking past because it never hurts to acknowledge a person’s existence and give them a smile. My belief is every interaction we make could possibly be what makes that person’s day and it only takes a second.
What are your guilty pleasures?
I do not want to admit this, but I sometimes sing Bon Jovi’s Livin’ on a Prayer. It’s bad enough I sing, as I have a voice of a punk rock singer, as one friend put it, but there has always been a feud between Bon Jovi and Metallica, especially in the late 80s and early 90s. Fans are supposed to be extremely opposed to the other, as Metallica is known for their metal image and Bon Jovi for all the die-hard love throbs. Quite a contrast! I fall on the Metallica side of fandom, so my image as a hard rock guy is all but ruined now. Hopefully, they let me in at their next concert.
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