I love watching people do amazing things.

For years I served as senior vice president of sales and operations for a company whose owners lived overseas. We grew it from roughly six million dollars to more than one hundred million in annual revenue, from thirty-two people to more than five hundred, and from six locations to sixty-five. We finished in the national top four for eight straight years, and at one point ranked third in the country.

I found the acquisition targets, evaluated the deals, and negotiated them. Then came the real work: systems, training, compensation, data, referral processes, and standards. In a lot of cases the same doors produced about thirty percent more once we implemented.

Along the way I logged thousands of hours of live training, produced more than two hundred episodes of a weekly internal show, and recorded well over a hundred hours of podcasts and interviews. I also hold a Guinness World Record and have hit bowling trick shots in front of thousands of people. That last part isn't a flex. It's proof that practice can turn something that looks impossible into something you can do under pressure.

My dad was a gifted mechanic and a custom-furniture craftsman. After a heart attack on his forty-eighth birthday, his life turned in a different direction. He took on the government over Agent Orange exposure and helped force the declassification of information about its use inside the United States.

Then he spent years helping thousands of veterans pursue the benefits they were owed, and he never charged a dime. Some of them kept their farms and their homes because of his work. I recorded an episode of the Charge Forward Podcast with him before his health declined. It is one of the most meaningful things I own.