Both of my parents were farm kids and each were the first members of their families to go on to post-secondary education. My mother pursued a nursing career where she rose to senior leadership. My father pursued engineering where he discovered his passion for managing complex construction projects (the national virology lab in Winnipeg will always be his favorite). Raised in this environment along with my younger sister, I was unaware of the complex challenges facing business families until 2012 when I was recruited to become a non-family president of a family-owned business. Although the opportunity didn't work out as either party hoped, I now realize what an incredible learning opportunity it was. To this day I draw upon the experience acquired while I navigated issues from that vantage point.

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I have always tried hard to conclude career chapters with grace. When the opportunity with the family business I was recruited to lead didn't work out, I went for coffee with the previous CEO I reported to only 18 months prior. He knew me well, both my strengths and my many weaknesses, and he believed I would enjoy meeting Patrick O'Connor. Pat and I started working together in 2014 and he quickly became a great mentor and friend. In Fall 2021 after considerable deep thinking that COVID created space for us all to do, I decided to launch this solo practice with the goal of narrowing my focus and going even deeper in pursuit of my mission to help enterprising families thrive across generations. To this day it remains an incredible honor each time a family invites me to come alongside them to listen, sort through/make sense of their challenges and identify their opportunities before guiding the process to discover common values and develop a new common vision that everyone will support. - I thoroughly enjoy the work and I wake up every morning with a hunger to become significantly better at it than I was the day before.

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In short, thank you to the mentors I've been fortunate to work with, the client families that continue to place their trust in me, and the advisors I've been fortunate to collaborate with. I am proud of what we have already accomplished and know the best is yet to come in this journey we are on together.

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Chris