My first real leadership lesson came on September 11, 2001. I was a young manager in Salt Lake City with a team of about 25 people, many of them older than me. I didn't have answers that morning. What I learned was that my team didn't need answers. They needed someone steady who would stay in the room and help them through the uncertainty.
Over the past 25 years, I've led a group of businesses in roadside assistance, battery distribution, customer service, and real estate. That included growing Pop-A-Lock operations from a single location into six major metros (San Francisco, Seattle, Las Vegas, Phoenix, Dallas–Fort Worth, and Charlotte), doubling the book of business, and becoming one of the largest franchisees in the system. At their peak, the businesses I led generated more than $25 million in annual revenue with more than 160 employees.
That chapter has largely closed, and today my focus is advising owners. I'm still involved in running a business, so when you tell me about a key employee who just quit, a slow month, or a decision that's keeping you up at night, I'm not remembering what that felt like. I'm living it too.
Today I lead TRC Success Partners, where I advise owners one on one and facilitate peer advisory groups as a Certified Licensed Partner with LXCouncil. I'm a connector at heart, shaped by books like The Go-Giver and Never Eat Alone. Most of all, I'm a dad to three boys. Like every leader, I'm still working to practice what I preach, and I know firsthand how much easier that is when someone is holding you accountable.