I fell into training. Then it became the point.
Training was never the plan — but it produced a profound passion for leadership, learning and development in service of other people reaching their potential. Which, conveniently, is also how companies hit their objectives.
University education.
Master of Business Administration
Indiana Wesleyan University · Marion, Indiana · December 2013
BA, Telecommunications
Ball State University · Muncie, Indiana · December 1999
Five credentials, earned and taught.
Sales methodology, management systems and spirits education — several of which I went on to teach across a national organisation.
Achieve Global
Certified educator. Used across Southern Glazer's management and sales training programmes.
Priority Management
Workflow, time and priority systems for management teams.
Certified Specialist of Spirits
Society of Wine Educators. The technical foundation behind the Academy of Spirits.
WSET Level 2
Wine & Spirit Education Trust.
Counselor Sales Person
Wilson Learning. Consultative sales methodology, certified to teach.
Diageo World Class
Regional judge — global bartending competition.
Classes I ran.
Certified to teach these across a national sales organisation.
- Behavioral Interviewing
- Real Time Coaching
- Core Management Skills
- Core Selling Skills
- Meetings Under Control
- Academy of Spirits & Fine Service curriculum
Programmes created from scratch.
Built locally, adopted nationally
Designed the company-wide onboarding programme from nothing. It became the national standard, deployed across 48 states.
48 states · adopted as the national programme
Beverage certifications before the national programme existed
Launched beverage certification pathways ahead of any national equivalent, alongside the Academy of Spirits and the Advanced Academy.
First-mover on internal beverage credentialing
Area Manager Summits and the Executive Retreat
Two Area Manager Summits a year focused on skills and development, plus the 2015 Executive Retreat that moved the organisation toward its "OneSouthern" initiative.
Recurring leadership development cadence
The receipts.
Full transcripts and certification records, available on request or in the archive.
Training was never the plan. It became the advantage.
Teams that learn faster than their market compound in a way campaigns cannot.
