We started Major Futures really more than anything as a vehicle to liberate talent. There’s a certain kind of savvy, driven, entrepreneurial talent that can thrive in consulting but is held back by the traditional top-down business model of most firms. We think Corporate America is missing an opportunity to create a more equitable, egalitarian way to support and liberate talent in a way that allows the individual to take advantage of every opportunity and fulfill their potential. In the organizational structure of a traditional firm, everything is in service to the top – to the partners or the brand of the firm. We believe that what this savvy, entrepreneurial, driven talent wants is a shared set of services and beliefs that supports and is foundational to the individual hopes, dreams, and vision that they have for themselves.

I have spent my career helping individuals and businesses use clarity and thoughtfulness to solve business challenges. First it was in the entertainment business, helping mostly musicians market and tell their stories. Then for about a decade it was in the agency world, providing brand strategy services to organizations agnostic of industry and size.  Each day was a different challenge: help Fortune 100 manufacturing and health care enterprises, to college prep schools, tech startups, and impactful non-profits. About three years ago I co-founded a new kind of strategy consulting firm now called Major Futures, which helps leaders build major futures for themselves and their companies. Our foundation is a different kind of organizational model that liberates entrepreneurial consulting talent from the limits and stagnation of a traditional top-down firm, allowing for a deeper, more hands-on, advisor to client relationship. I also advise and invest in startups, and have recently started publishing long-form written content at my website Used Thoughts.  And all along the way I’ve been very fortunate to work for and with incredible leaders and mentors.

In my early 20’s I made the decision to transition to working with more corporate clients. I was naive and pretty brash and arrogant, and took out a lease on a Downtown Los Angeles apartment that I couldn’t afford without a job that I was pretty certain I was going to land at an agency I was really excited about joining. I was literally unpacking my bedroom, the day I moved in, when I received the email that the agency was freezing hiring and I was not getting the job I had expected to land. I had very little money, mounting credit card debt, no immediate prospects for a job that would help me pivot my career, and – what was at the time – a big lease that I had just signed. So the next day I immediately got together with a mentor to devise a plan to pivot my career. He helped me set up a quick and dirty freelance agency, and I signed up to drive for ride sharing apps. The new lease actually played to my benefit here, as living in the heart of Downtown LA made it easy to quickly secure early morning rides, and that’s how I spent my days: driving from 5am to noon make as much money as I could, as quickly as possible, and the rest of the day and night trying to secure brand and marketing clients to make a little extra, and build a portfolio that an agency would find attractive. I was very privileged to be in a position where even without savings I could take that risk, but I also worked really, really hard through those years, and it set the course for where I am today, over a decade later.

I find inspiration and wisdom in many places, and curate that as best as possible into my life and my work:

* To keep up on business and entrepreneurial trends: Scott Galloway (The Prof G & Pivot Podcasts, No Mercy / No Malice, etc etc…)

* To keep up with politics: Crooked Media & The Bulwark

* To better understand humans – “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari (and really anything he writes)

* To better understand strategy: “Good Strategy / Bad Strategy” by Richard Rumelt

* To better understand creativity: “The Creative Act” by Rick Rubin

* To better understand mental clarity and focus: Ryan Holiday’s books

* To better understand communication & relationships: Esther Perel

* To be a better question-asker: Howard Stern & Alex Cooper (“Call Her Daddy”)

* To be a well-informed citizen: The New York Times & Bloomberg