I grew up just south of Lincoln, Nebraska on a small family farm, always interested in business and fatherhood. As a 12 year old, when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up I would proudly respond with "a dad and a business owner". I met my wife in high school and we began dating soon after I graduated. That same year I was working at my parent's business, a gas station on the west side of town, learning to hire, to fire, and to manage the books (a bit). One day my dad looked over at me after finding out that a competitor was going to build a big, fancy, new gas station across the street, and asked me if I would want to try and open any kind of business in the space leftover from the sandwich shop they used to run out of the gas station.
My then fiancé, now wife, loves coffee and at the time I was learning to love it too. We had talked about someday opening a coffee shop and took this as an opportunity to do so! So I began digging into everything. First, form an LLC with an attorney and my dad as majority owner. Second, finance the thing - get a loan from the bank. Third, what equipment do we need? How about how to make a good coffee? How do we set up the bar so it flows well? ... I loved it. So many problems to solve, so many things I didn't know. So much to learn. This was my first real adventure into business after running a produce stand with my brother as a teenager, and I was loving it. We opened about 9 months later.
After about 10 more months, we knew the shop was not going to replace the gas station (revenue was too low). I was about to be married and would not be able to sustain my family and the 80 hours a week which I was working would not be healthy for a first year of marriage. We closed the shop the day before my wedding and did not reopen. The coffee shop also became my first experience in business failure.
After the coffee shop I worked in a warehouse, laid wood floors, was an electrician, and then an insurance agent. During those 5 years I had dreams of starting a business again. We would talk about the espresso machine we still had in the barn and how fun it would be to start a coffee shop again, we would talk about restarting the family farm, starting a photography business, photography studio, wedding venue, and on and on it went.
In 2023 I read a few books that really were egging me on with the whole dream of business ownership again. At the time I was an insurance agent and was making good money but not loving my job. We had kept the espresso machine from the coffee shop and after finding a couple of friends to run it with us, we reopened as a mobile coffee bar 5 years after we closed the shop. That same year we also restarted the family farm as Still Pastures Farm and produced chicken, eggs, and garden veggies for sale direct to consumer. Dreaming of healing the land that six generations of my family has called home and building a business that was life giving and deeply meaningful.
In 2024 I was given the opportunity to help Mike Scheffert, my boss at the insurance job and mentor, with the data entry and bookkeeping for a couple of clients that he had at a budding fractional CFO business. Over the course of that year I fully transitioned from insurance to fractional finance. In 2025 I became a co-owner of Finance Catalyst and we have been growing that business together ever since!
Today (1/2/2026) I am a fractional CFO for Finance Catalyst and am also on staff with Carlson Projects as their CFO and head of marketing. I have two kids, Jovi (3) and George (1). I have been married to my wife, Analise, for seven years. I live on the family farm where we are planning to build a home this year. I have grown more and more passionate in my desire to build something that lasts, something that will impact my children and their children. My desire to preserve and steward the land we live on well grows stronger and stronger as I see my children play in the woods that my grandpa tells stories of playing in with his brothers.
I see every day the incredibly positive impact that can be had on a business by providing clear finances and a system with which to manage the business. At Carlson Projects, I am excited to help the team build spaces for families to create their most cherished memories, I hope that we can create spaces that feel as real and peaceful as the woods on the farm. I am excited to help more clients gain insight into their finances this year and develop sound business management systems. I have come to realize that I enjoy consulting and fractional CFO work so much because it has incredible impact on people, people who work on businesses and people who work in businesses. A business that is fulfilling, purposeful, and sustainable (financially and physically) is stewarding its resources well and can provide a job of the same for its employees. We help leaders create that in their businesses with Finance Catalyst and Leadership Catalyst, and at home with Extraordinary Design. I am excited to meet new friends, clients, and business leaders who are building something for their children's children, and to elevate them in any way I can.