About Me

My Story

I have never experienced the world from a single place.

Over the course of my life, I have travelled to more than eighty countries and lived and worked across Canada, the United States, China, Vietnam, Namibia, Saudi Arabia, and now Indonesia. Each place has carried its own political realities, religious traditions, and cultural norms. None of them were interchangeable. All of them shaped who I am. Living internationally taught me early that context matters. What works in one system can fail entirely in another. What feels normal in one culture can feel confusing or even disrespectful in the next. That understanding now sits at the core of my thinking about leadership and strategy. There is no such thing as a universal solution. There is only thoughtful adaptation. One of the most formative experiences of my life happened in China, not in a classroom, but on the ice. I was coaching hockey, responsible for a team where none of the players spoke English. If I wanted them to succeed and if I wanted to eat, I had to adapt. I was not fluent in Chinese, but I learned enough to communicate, to connect, and to lead. That experience taught me something that has stayed with me ever since. Leadership is not about being understood. It is about doing the work required to understand others so they can succeed. I have learned some of my most important lessons far from formal leadership settings. I know I have made a good impression when someone invites me into their home, shares their food, their stories, and a piece of their everyday life, and makes me feel welcome. Across cultures, languages, and belief systems, that moment of shared humanity has always mattered more to me than titles or recognition. I am a very proud Canadian, and wherever I live in the world, I carry the values my family, friends, community, and country have instilled in me. Respect for others. Curiosity before judgment. Fairness. Humility. A belief that everyone deserves dignity and opportunity. These values guide how I lead, how I listen, and how I build trust in unfamiliar places. Movement has always been part of my life. I read. I write. I play softball and ice hockey. I race endurance cycling events and run a small fitness company. I travel the world with my bicycles, and it still amazes me where my pedals have taken me. Remote roads. Busy cities. Quiet conversations. Unexpected friendships. Cycling has taught me that progress is rarely linear, that endurance matters more than bursts of effort, and that drafting behind others requires trust while leading from the front requires responsibility. What stays with me most are the people. Students who challenged my assumptions. Teachers who trusted me when change felt uncomfortable. Leaders who modeled courage and humility. Communities that welcomed me as an outsider and taught me that belonging is never assumed. It is earned. Today, as an educational leader and author, my work focuses on helping schools and organizations move from reaction to intention. From plans to purpose. From data collection to wisdom. From strategy as an idea to strategy as lived experience. I believe deeply that leadership is not about control, but about clarity. Not about certainty, but about coherence. I am a nomad, always searching for the place that tells me I am home. Until then, I continue to learn, adapt, and reinvent myself, guided by the belief that real impact only happens when leaders are willing to meet people where they are and do the work required to help them succeed.