I thought I knew how to run an operation.
I spent 23 years in software—writing code, leading teams, managing projects, building products. I earned an MBA from BYU, became a Certified Scrum Master, led groups as large as a few hundred people, and partnered in nStar Global Services. I specialized in development process and team leadership.
Then I bought a franchise. And the theory met the truck.
The Conserva years
In 2020 I bought a Conserva Irrigation franchise and ran it myself. No team. No safety net. Just me and a set of systems I had to build from scratch.
Over six years I grew it to 1,500+ homes and a 95%+ customer retention rate. I was proud of it. I was also wearing every hat—sales, operations, scheduling, customer service, accounting. I was the bottleneck.
I knew how to teach delegation. Living it inside a small business with real money on the line is different.
So I started building systems. Documenting processes. Finding tools that could take the repetitive work. Figuring out which tasks actually needed me and which ones just needed clarity.
The business got better. I got time back. I could take a week off without my phone lighting up constantly.
That’s the work I now do with other owners.
What I believe
Systems beat heroics. The owner who works 80-hour weeks isn’t a hero—they’re a single point of failure.
Your business should work without you. Not someday. Now. If you left for a month and the wheels came off, that’s a systems problem.
Balance is possible. I’m an Aikido black belt (20+ years), a science fiction and fantasy writer, a mountain biker, a scuba diver, and a tabletop RPG player. I practice what I preach because I built the systems to make it possible.
Nerd culture is a leadership toolkit. Aikido’s habit of redirecting force. Chess’s habit of thinking several moves ahead. The way a good tabletop campaign actually runs a team. These aren’t decorations. They’re how I explain the work.
A bit more
I grew up as the child of a US Air Force officer, moved constantly, and landed in Utah after a BS in Computer Science from BYU. I’ve been writing science fiction and fantasy since high school. In 2025 I received an Honorable Mention from Writers of the Future.
Current fiction and the MBA Essentials sketchnote project live on the writing page.
Credentials: MBA, BYU (2019, top 10%) · BS Computer Science, BYU (1996) · Certified Scrum Master · Shodan (black belt), Aikido
When I’m not on operations or a draft, I’m usually on a Utah trail, on the mat, or at a table with dice.
Ready to work together?
If you need operations help for the business, I’d like to hear what’s stuck.