If I can be an encouragement to one or two others, then that is enough.
I am a small-town kid who loves the big-town flair. I was a shy and uncertain boy who has grown to love adventure, adrenaline, and challenge. I am slowly but surely embracing the emphasis on the journey over the destination, although I've always wanted to arrive at places I haven't quite reached.
CHILDHOOD
Growing up in Hutchinson, KS was an idyllic childhood. From sleepovers with friends to long days on the golf course, to exploring all the exciting and undiscovered nooks and crannies the Midwest has to offer. I grew up loving sports and being active. I always wanted to be doing whatever it was I was watching. Being an observer simply wasn't good enough for me, I wanted to be a participant.
I was also incredibly competitive, aka - I hated losing. I would do ANYTHING to not be beaten at something (other than cheating that is). This was the early fuel that drove me to practice whatever it was I wanted to win (which included hours spent practicing shuffling cards at one point). This drive led me to an increased focus on the game of golf. Not only did we live a mile away from one of the best golf courses in the world, but I also had a natural knack for the game that was somewhat uncanny. The cherry on top was: I didn't have to rely on anyone else for the results I could achieve. As a kid, this was the perfect setup! Yet, as I grew older, I began to realize that you have to take ownership not only of the good results but, more importantly, of the bad outcomes as well ... and in golf there are always ample examples of that.
COLLEGE
After a successful junior golf career in Kansas, I took my talents to a small, Christian college in southern California: The Master's University. This was a choice based on faith more than it was on golf, yet in spite of this, the golf coach became an instrumental mentor in my game's development and even in life.
Though it was a windy road during the four years of college, my trajectory continued to be up and to the right, which led me to choose the path of pursuing professional golf after graduation.
PROFESSIONAL GOLF
My journey in professional golf was both brutal and privileged, both exciting and miserable. It's quite the juxtaposition to live through, to be honest.
As an aspiring professional golfer working my way up the ranks, life was not glamorous in any way. Typically, we stayed in cheap hotels, Airbnb's, or other family’s homes, saving as much money as we could in order to spend the remaining amounts on entry fees that were basically self-funding the purses we played for. When pairing these small-town, mediocre golf courses with the reality of scraping by on a meager budget while competing in pressure-filled tournaments with a field of good golfers who know that if they don't make the cut, they just lost $2-3K for the week — it all leads to a demoralizing experience for the vast majority of golfers who face it.
While my four-year career didn't hold too many success stories, I was able to get status on the OneAsia tour for a season and compete a number of times overseas in 2015, which was an incredible experience on so many levels. On the other hand, one of the hardest experiences came a year later when I faced a recurring muscle strain in my back that wouldn't go away for the greater part of my last few years competing.
Here’s more on the story from my golf career:
FOLLOWING NEW DREAMS
WRITING
When I decided to transition out of the world of golf and move into a new career path, I began the journey of writing my first book: From Here To There. This 18-month journey was instrumental in helping me capture and process the many learnings from the wide-ranging journey of pro-golf, and it also helped me move into what was next with greater confidence, clarity, and self-awareness.
Writing has allowed me to distill lived experiences into ideas and principles that we can apply to daily life. It’s a discipline I plan on exercising my entire life, and I hope you’ll share the benefits of it with me.
SPEAKING
As I began finding my voice in my writing, I started to unearth a passion for speaking: for sharing and engaging, in real-time and with a live audience. Not only was I speaking at events and joining other podcasters as a guest, but I launched The Up and Comers Show with a focus on the process of “becoming,” of having intention in the tension, and learning how to live a good life.
THE LEADERSHIP MAJORS
TLM came together as my love for the game of golf intertwined with my newfound passion for learning, growing, and developing.
Through this venture, I’ve created an outlet where leaders and business people can compete alongside their peers at world-class destinations while learning leadership lessons that apply to both the boardroom and the golf game.
APPELLO PARTNERS
My entrepreneurial journey has been a windy road ever since my professional golf career. Yet each piece of that puzzle has contributed to the overall focus and emphasis of my work today.
Being able to come alongside leaders, teams, and businesses to help them with vital leadership skills such as communication, self-awareness, and strategic planning through Appello Partners is an incredible honor I don't take lightly.
I know that I am only human, which means there will be plenty of days I feel less attached to that calling and less motivated to show up fully liberated to do the work. Yet, there is grace even in our shared shortcomings, and I am grateful for the empathy that allows us to relate to one another in the struggle of living with intention and compassion.
ALIGNING WITH PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES AND PARTNERS
In my journey to empower myself, as well as others, I’ve discovered many resources, tools, assessments, leaders, and organizations that have been pivotal to my journey and could be for you as well. These should not be kept a secret.
One of the things I've realized about my life thus far is that I really enjoy thinking, writing, and speaking about the journey I am on, from the current place in that journey. What gives this meaning to me is knowing that there are so many others like me who are experiencing their own version of this reality walking alongside me. A motivating force is the idea that if I can do a good job of capturing what that process is like, and communicate it in a way that is understandable and relatable to others, then maybe we all can become just a little bit better at taking that next step.
The compounding effect of this incremental improvement over time has the potential to create a massive shift in our culture and collective reality for the better. Now THAT is an inspiring idea.