The following information is offered so you
can understand the qualifications and experience that I bring, and the
areas of counsel I can provide.
Spiritual Gifts
I believe that God designed us with
particular capabilities, propensities and skills. As we yield our
life to the Holy Spirit, these spiritual gifts are redeemed for His use.
He made me a teacher - one who loves
to study and explain truth. Secondarily, a perceiver
(prophecy) - one who discerns and operates boldly on spiritual principles.
And thirdly, He made me an administrator and exhorter -
someone who values organization and encourages others.
Business Consulting
During my formative years (high school,
college and early career), my father operated a ministry in the greater
Seattle area called Christian Perspectives. This was a ministry that
challenged professionals to bring Christ into their work, and I was
greatly influenced by those principles.
I have been an entrepreneur since 1980,
during which time I have built businesses as a sole proprietor,
self-employed, in partnerships and corporations. The common thread
in each of these businesses was that they provided intangible services.
My business experience ranges from working independently to running a
sales organization with three employees and thirty-three self employed
sales representatives.
During the past five years I have provided
business consulting services to a wide range of companies, from retail
sales to manufacturing, and from professional services to health care.
Personal Coaching
The first time someone asked me to be their
mentor was in 1999. I have not been without a mentoring relationship
since that time. My great joy is to discover spiritual truths
together and brainstorm methods to apply those truths in real life.
The results are miraculous when God frees someone from sin and then
releases them in His service. Personal coaching is my primary area
of continuing education at this time.
Marketing Consulting
The web design and internet consulting
industry was fairly young in 1995 when I began to build a service business
in that arena. The internet has had a huge impact on marketing, and
properly used can be a very cost effective tool for communicating with
customers and prospects. As my business grew, I felt that business
owners needed to know how to apply the technology or their web site would
soon become useless. I began to teach them how to grow their
business, to use the power of the internet for their marketing, and how to
expand into new markets. This consulting benefits a company in two
ways; it reduces costs and increases revenue from sales.
Financial Planning
I spent sixteen years doing personal
financial planning. During this time I was a Certified Financial
Planner (CFP), Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), licensed for
securities (Series 7, 24, 63 and 65), and licensed for life and health
insurance as an agent and broker. My practice included everything
from stewardship planning (budgets and savings), to retirement and estate
planning. I counseled individuals regarding their financial goals
and risk management, did income tax preparation, and established and
maintained investment portfolios for them.
Many of my clients during this time were
business owners, because those are the people that are most likely to have
financial decisions to make. Since, in many cases, their business
was their single largest asset, it was vital that their financial plan
include topics such as business valuations, business continuation plans,
and business risk management. That initiated my development of
business consulting.
Passions
Teachers love to study and research, so one
of my passions is to read. There are so many great books available,
I rarely take time to read fiction. I also enjoy cycling (I ride a
Cannondale R500 with Ultegra components and have ridden the 200 mile
Seattle to Portland Classic seven times). My two other hobbies are bird
watching and fly fishing.
My wife and I are active in ministry through
Master's Mind Ministry. Our three children are grown and
doing well. Family time is important to us, for our immediate
family, our extended family, and our spiritual family. Our family verse
is Psalm 16:6 - "The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places,
surely I have a delightful inheritance."
If you are interested in finding out more
about my qualifications, core values and statement of faith, please
contact me to schedule a time for an
introductory interview. Feel free to call at (360) 891-4490.
