What have you been up to?

With my wife, raising three crazy boys. We have a seventeen-year-old and twelve-year-old twins. I don’t feel old enough to have three kids and one who is almost ready to go to college!

After Kearney, I started a software company, Valuad, which we sold to HOLT Value Associates, another Chicago-based firm like Kearney. We sold HOLT to Credit Suisse in 2002 and I spent the next seven years managing all of the advisory businesses in the investment banking division. In 2008, I left Credit Suisse and joined Relational Investors, a $7 billion activist fund, to help improve the firm’s investment process and manage all consumer and healthcare investments. In 2012, I launched my own firm with a group of colleagues. Engaged Capital is a small and mid-cap focused activist investment fund. We have grown to 10 people and $400 million in assets. Also still trying to find time to have fun and stay in shape—although those don’t go hand in hand.

What is the first thing you do when you wake up?

Check my iPhone for emails and texts like everyone else!

What app do you use the most?

Waze. I live in Southern California—finding the best way around traffic is a sport here.

What’s on your playlist?

I am a big fan of lesser-known artists. I’ve been listening to a local singer-songwriter who reminds me of Jack Johnson—his name is Kevin Miso. Someone also recently turned me onto Lake Street Dive, so I’ve been listening to them quite a bit. And, one of my twelve-year-olds loves country—he has me listening to Sugarland and Thompson Square.

What are three of the qualities that got you to where you are today?

Perseverance—never taking no for an answer
Hard work and commitment—doing whatever it takes and to the best of my ability
Humility—never taking myself too seriously and trying to always do what is right

What are you working on now that you’re most excited about?

I’m very fortunate to have found a career that combines my consulting and banking experience to help drive better decision-making within companies on behalf of the shareholders. Right now, I am very excited about Medifast, a food replacement business for people looking to lose weight. The company never reached its potential and I believe it finally will as a result of the changes we are driving.

The company’s weight loss products are some of the best on the market but it has been managed by a family for decades. They had a direct selling division but did not recognize that it was the core of the business and as a result, never brought in executives with direct sales experience to run that business. We have reconstituted the board with directors who have direct selling experience, brought in new executives with similar backgrounds, and focused on establishing a proprietary brand in that division, and the business has just started to take off. It’s a very exciting story and one that should continue to play out over the next several years.

What is the best career advice you’ve received?

In my first performance review in consulting, my manager imparted some advice that I haven’t forgotten and I try to pass it on to every analyst I’ve worked with over the last 25 years.

It was: Try to become an expert in every industry and functional area that you get the opportunity to work in. As consultants, you are very fortunate to be exposed to various industries, people, and functional areas. It is a great opportunity to learn things that will help you the rest of your life.

What impact did Kearney have on your career?

I gained a great appreciation for how to drive operational change in an organization. I was a strategy consultant so spending a few years at Kearney instilled in me a great respect for the more granular decisions that drive value in an organization every day.

I also had the opportunity to travel to almost every office globally. I ran a training program during my last year at the firm and had the pleasure of meeting almost every consultant in the firm at the time. While I don’t see many of the 3,000 people I interacted with that year, it is really cool to come across them every so often.

How did you make your first dollar?

The first dollar I remember was from writing parking tickets to family members who showed up at my house and parked in the driveway when I was a little kid. My first sort-of real job was picking up golf balls from the local golf range when I was about ten years old.

If you had a year to do anything you wanted with unlimited resources, what would you do?

I would take my kids out of school for a year and travel around the world. In that one year, they would be exposed to things that otherwise might take decades to see, if ever. I was fortunate to have lived in Australia for 3 years, some of it while I was with Kearney. International experience is an incredible opportunity.

Your industry

Your needs

About us

Careers

Insights

Your industry

About us

Careers

Insights