I've always been interested in two things: one, what makes people do the things they do. And, two, simplifying things.
 
I wasn't what you'd call a great student. My time at University was mostly spent playing sports, socializing and having fun. Somehow I managed to obtain a degree in Mathematics from an exceptional school, the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.
 
Waterloo is a tough school and I was fortunate to enroll in their co-op program. That's where you attend school one term, and then work the next, until you eventually graduate.
 
My first work term would help shape my life. It was with Woods Gordon - who have since become Cap Gemini Ernst & Young, the global IT and consulting powerhouse. Here's me, a 19-year old punk from a small town (pop. 4,400) in Ontario, working for a large, prestigious consulting firm. Apparently ready to give advice to all sorts of CEOs and VPs. Well, that's not quite what happened.
 
I enjoyed consulting. The diversity was brilliant. You were fortunate to see the inner workings of a number of different companies, in a number of different industries. During my time at Ernst & Young I was also able to forge long lasting relationships with a number of people. People that, to this day, I still connect with, discuss ideas with, and would call my friends.
 
During my early consulting days I was somewhat in awe of the firm's talent. I figured that to stay relevant, I'd need to learn. And fast. I became a voracious reader and learner - passions that I'll carry with me forever.
 
After working at E&Y for 8 years, I decided to get some industry experience. I joined National Grocers, to help establish a supply chain group and to improve the supply chain of this multi-billion dollar food retailer. Two years later, I was lured into line management, becoming Inventory Manager for a large electrical and plumbing wholesaler.
 
One day I got a call from a former Ernst & Young colleague. He had accepted a position at Canadian Tire and was mandated to re-engineer its supply chain. His question to me was simple, "Interested?" My answer was yes. Here was a chance to start from a clean sheet of paper, forget everything I'd learned and design something better. Better and simpler.
 
The task was daunting. Changing how a successful, 75-year old company works is no easy task. Our team struggled. What to do? Where to start? What to focus on? Just some of the questions we asked ourselves. I can remember sitting in a meeting, early on, holding up a clean sheet of paper and asking, "OK, what the hell are we going to do?"
 
We had a great team. A team composed of people with supply chain experience, some without, some long time employees and others, like me, newcomers. The team jelled. The design was brilliant. Simple. Elegant.

Problem was, we couldn't implement it - at least not all of it. No technology existed that would allow the process to work as designed. We turned our attention to implementing what we could - seamlessly integrating the supply chain from distribution center to supplier.
 
The implementation was fairly smooth, for one simple reason - we had a well thought out, well documented process. The process design became our bible - shaping education, training, coaching and implementation.
 
The initiative went well. The results were very good - service levels improved significantly, as did inventory turns.
 
Still, I was disappointed. Some people are tough to please and I guess I'm one of those folks. Our vision was to seamlessly integrate the retail supply chain from consumer to supplier. We had described this elegantly on paper. We had implemented a piece of this to prove that the idea worked. But our design has, to this day, not been realized.
 
Shortly after this initiative a few of us were sitting around one night having a few beers when someone asked, "what are we gonna do next?" Good question. One beer led to another and the next thing you know, we'd decided to form a small, focused consulting company aimed at helping retailers do what our team did.
 
You've probably heard the phrase, "full of piss and vinegar". That was us. We left the safe confines of a big, established retailer to form a small consultancy.
 
Leading a project and running a company are two different things. I knew nothing about sales and marketing before starting this company. Reality forced me to learn. I devoured everything I could learn about marketing. Unfortunately, we also had some internal disagreements around philosophy and direction.
 
Ultimately our company failed and ceased operations in its 4th year. It's funny. People love to talk about success and failure, but I'm not really sure there's much between 'em. In either case, they're excellent teachers. The lessons learned will serve me well for the rest of my life.
 
I still have this burning desire to see our vision fulfilled. I can't explain it, but this passion fills my very existence. Passion is my fuel.
 
I love my wife, family and our dogs. I love helping people. I'm extremely passionate about my beloved soccer team, Manchester United - in fact I regularly travel to England to watch them play, and to "sign my heart out for the lads". In my spare time I'm the editor of "Reds United" - the official magazine of the Manchester United Supporters Club Canada.
 
I love sports. Love the Oakland Raiders football team and the Toronto Maple Leafs hockey team. I love to learn and read. My idea of a great time is sitting down in front of the fireplace, with my wife and dogs and engaging in a good book. Hey, that's me.
 
One of my former partners and I have re-formed, chocked full of the learning's from our previous experiences, ready to help people simplify their life. I'm very excited about the chance to fulfill our vision.
 
Sounds like fun, doesn't it?