The Story of Culture Craft

Hi there!

Before I launch into blogs about what I specifically do, my thoughts on a random business topic, or post articles and videos from the people I admire and learn from, I want to take some time and tell a story, specifically the story of how Culture Craft Consulting came to be.

I'll level with you. I've wanted to be a consultant for the better part of a decade. Something in me glamorized the life of a consultant going into businesses and working with teams, leaders, departments, and executives to solve problems and go from one place to the next. I'm a fan of consistent change, I get pretty bored sitting still for too long, which is probably why I loved working in restaurants for so many years. Between that and church work, I kept myself wonderfully busy and distracted for years, and then it all just... changed.

The work I was doing started to feel monotonous, the drive started to evaporate, and I felt myself stagnating at a job that was draining the life out of me. All I could think about were the things that frustrated me about my job, the lack of leadership I was experiencing, the politics I played witness to, the... well all of it actually. I would come home from work, lie down on the bed, and vent my frustrations to my wife (an angel of graciousness who helped me process the stress of the job every day) and then wake up the next day to do it all again.

Then one day, after a particularly rough day... no wait week.... no wait month, my wife turned to me and said the magic words:

"You should quit."

She was right, as she often is. This job had been killing me, in fact the past few jobs had been killing me if I was honest with myself. And what ever happened to that dream of consulting...

I put my notice in that week and for the first time in what must have been years, I began to dream about what I wanted to do.

I'm sure many of us have heard the phrase "Find what you're passionate about and then figure out how to get paid to do it" and that phrase was a guidepost as I set about planning what to do next. My wife and I have talked about consulting for restaurants on and off for a few years and that was a great starting point as I laid plans. Exclusively working with restaurants sounded fun, but not quiiiiite in line with my passions and purpose.

Enter The Great Resignation.

There it was, sitting there offering up my dream on a golden platter.

I have always loved crafting welcoming environments, coaching people to work well together, and helping leaders become their best selves and when I looked at the state of affairs as the Great Resignation began it became abundantly clear that I could do something about it all.

I could help.

All those years of working in restaurants, ministry, marketing and sales, all of it molded me into a man that is obsessed with crafting a culture that people love and never want to leave. I'd spent years listening to Simon Sinek, Patrick Lencioni, and I mean quite frankly a loooong list of incredible thought leaders talk about the importance of organizational health and effective teams. What was stopping me from doing what they do?

Nothing. Literally, nothing.

Now, a few months later, here I am. An organizational health specialist working with small-businesses and NPOs who can't usually afford a consultant, even though they're the ones who probably need one the most. I decided to charge less than I could because money is less important than mission and my mission was to help businesses that can't afford a big-name consultant get the services they need to craft an irresistible workplace. I'm working with small teams and leaders to keep their employees happy and the organization healthy from the top down and I have to say...

I love where I work.

Which is what I hope everyone gets to say someday in the future.

It's why I started this business and I will work my butt off to make that dream a reality, as long as it takes.