I'm a small Michigan town high school graduate. I finished a BBA at the University of Michigan, which I attended on an academic scholarship. What wasn't covered by scholarship, I paid for by working. From the end of sophomore year until three years after graduating, I created, built, and sold three businesses (nothing lost, little gained but real, never-forgotten life experience). I participated in many college activities, held several campus positions, and joined a fraternity. I've been blessed with an energy that has accompanied me throughout my life.I spent the next ~25 years "fixing" or "changing" public and private corporations as VP, EVP, COO, or CEO--whatever title that gave me the authority to get the job done. During that time, I was able to run domestically-owned businesses in the US, Canada, and Australia. I was involved in a wide variety of industries: consumer paper and giftware, pulp, paper, newsprint, forest products, chemicals, telecommunications, packaging, and significant recycling. In all cases, I dealt with marketing, manufacturing, and general management responsibilities at strategic and operating levels. I spent the next 15 years working as my own boss doing "hands-on consulting" (at least twice as "CEO-for-hire"), building or repairing businesses. Over my career, the sizes of companies that I worked with ranged from $50 million to something shy of $2 billion in sales.Fancy words? I am a very effective operating, cash flow-driven turn-around manager with unusually high strategic discipline. I loved running a business. Though there were tough decisions, turn-around to me never meant financial expediency reasons that usually end up destroying, rather than creating, wealth.I've left out the achievements and company names. I spent 15 busy years consulting, and I never had to use a client as a reference--people just knew. Now I prefer to let my ideas, experience, and practical creativity speak for themselves. If what I write here doesn't make sense to readers or doesn't work in real life, it doesn't matter who I worked for or what fancy awards or titles I've had. Just as in the case of this, my first paper, I know it will work and do what I say it will do. I don't remember ever saying that and eating my words.