I've spent the last 40+ years building companies, advising business owners on wealth management and transitions, and learning the hard way that success in business doesn't automatically translate to success in life.

Here's what nobody tells you when you're building something: the skills that make you a great business owner can absolutely wreck your family relationships. The drive that builds million-dollar companies can leave you staring at an empty calendar after you sell, wondering who the hell you are without a business card. I learned this by living it.

These days, I'm less interested in being the expert who has all the answers and more interested in being a fellow traveler asking better questions. That's what led me to create A Long Strange Trip: Business to Retirement to Death – a space where we can have honest conversations about the three massive transitions we all face but rarely discuss openly.

I'm navigating my own health challenges that have forced me to face mortality head-on. I'm watching friends and clients struggle with retirement transitions that nobody prepared them for. And I'm convinced there's got to be a better way than the default path most of us stumble down – working ourselves to death, panicking about retirement, and avoiding any real thought about our mortality until it's too late.

I live in Vermont with my spouse, Suzanne, and our two dogs, Cassady and Barlow. When I'm not writing or working with clients, you'll find me biking, skiing (when my health allows), or at a jam band concert. I've seen over 100 Grateful Dead shows, which probably tells you something about my approach to life – sometimes you just have to embrace the journey, even when you don't know exactly where it's headed.

This project isn't about having everything figured out. It's about figuring it out together, with honesty, humor, and a healthy dose of "let's try something different than what everyone else is doing."

Because life's too short – and too long – to keep following a script that isn't working.