Even as I begin to write this, I know that I may make a new business partner of mine, Mike, a little uncomfortable.  Mike does not overly enjoy extreme contact with the public or too much attention drawn to him.  This makes us a great balance in business.  I do not overly enjoy creating power point presentations, and discussing and implementing every minute detail of the work we have taken on together.  But, I have benefitted greatly from it.

With Mike, I have learned so much.  Formerly, Mike was a consultant with such organizations as GM, Warner Brothers Studios, Sony, and others.  He retired in his early 40's, built his own house in the Hollywood Hills and leads a very productive life.  He's smart with money and I call him a walking Google, with the exception that I don't have to type anything to search for the answers I'm looking for.  I can ask Mike about almost any subject and a wealth of information and facts come spewing forth from his brilliant mind.  These are great things to admire, but mostly I am inspired by Mike's sense of business integrity.  His very forward focused take on the changing landscape of the business world and the vitally important belief that business SHOULD NOT be separate from personal integrity, lights me up.  For so long we've often heard, "it's just business."  Mike does not believe this.  His take is that you should have the same sense of honesty, integrity and care in both your business and personal dealings.  I believe this same thing.  I don't come from a business background and have always thought that maybe I missed the boat on this huge separation of business and personal in our western society.  

My father was an extremely honest and fair man in business, but his business was always on a small, "country" scale.  I thought perhaps he didn't really know about big business and, therefore, I missed out on that lesson.  To be associated and working with Mike, and to hear his philosophy of full personal integration in matters both personal and business, is truly inspiring to me.  I look forward to the work that we have created together, and the businesses and organizations that we have the potential to affect in a powerfully positive way.