I started working at the age of 11 as a dishwasher at Cranberry Golf course in Collingwood, ON. I made $6.20 an hour, and I washed dishes like no one had ever done. Why? I wanted a bike. My mom had no money and that was one of the first lessons I recall her teaching me as a kid - If you want something in this world, you will have to work for it. Well I damn well wanted it, and I got it. But I didn't stop there. After getting my degree in International Business Management (BBA with Honours), I realized the need to get even greater results was paramount.

Everything takes more time and money than expected. The feeling of greater demand on time, money, and effort is only added to by the type of taste in lifestyle one dreams of when they grow up poor. It doesn't take long to realize that if you want your martinis shaken, not stirred, you're in for a hell of a ride.

The "entrepreneurial rollercoaster", as so eloquently put by Darren Hardy, is exactly what it sounds to be; that is to say, if you want the martinis, you must first get through the cocktail of excitement, fear, elation, suffering, happiness, joy, anger, and frustration that is building a business that you truly care about. So how is it done, and why bother?

I have found over the years that the one thing that keeps me going is the drive to add value. This is only possible with a commitment to getting results and a strict adherence to immutable core values and integrity. Should we ever get a chance to work together, consider it my promise to you that you will get just that. Together, we will chose profits over problems. We will seek solutions. We will improve continuously, create deep relationships, operate with high performance, default aggressively for agility, and add value to the communities around us.