I grew up in a tough neighborhood in Philadelphia, but I always knew there was something else out there. There was always something better. I devoured books as a kid. I read everything from comics to Mein Kampf. Anything I could get my hands on to feed my hunger for knowledge. I was the student in the classroom who was easily bored. The one whose teachers told my mother that I was smart, but talked too much (today it’s a sure bet I would have been drugged up with ADHD medication). I have always been a rebel. I failed English in 11th grade because I told the teacher I didn’t want to read any of the books on the list, students should have free choice, and I wanted to know the WHY behind the book decision (my mother made me walk 3 miles every day to summer school because of it).

I joined the Army 2 weeks out of high school to get money for college. They offered to pay for college to become a nurse, and off I went to school to become an ICU nurse. Got a wild hair up my butt and went to law school at Northwestern University in Chicago, and jumped back into the Army as a JAG officer (no it’s not as cool as the TV show. I have yet to fly a plane). During my time as a JAG I was fortunate enough to be selected to serve as the Army’s first JAG company commander. The trick was I had to start the company from scratch. I loved the challenge.

I started CrossFit Prelude with the same vigor. I have always been a student of the process. The end result has no meaning. My passion is the study of the underlying function, analyze it, and make it better. The same principle applies to mentoring others along the way.

What my time as a nurse, lawyer, and Army officer has taught me is that although Darwin proved that nature favors the fittest for survival, no one should be left behind. The fittest, in business and life, have an obligation to help others.

Be patient. Be open. Grow big ideas from small roots, and grow bigger ones. You are not confined to the four corners of your existence. The box, of life and your business, is made of dotted lines, not impenetrable concrete. There is always something better on the other side of the wall.

My goal is to mentor other affiliate owners to enable growth, the same way I have been mentored throughout my personal and professional life. Together we will work through the process, distill the salient information, and develop a well-focused course of action to get you on the path to your “Beginning of Something Better.”