Selected Projects

Starting in the garage

I started the business that became Ravenox in my garage in 2012. Amazon gave me a way to reach customers, but I still had to choose products, keep them in stock and make sure orders arrived as promised.

Running the business behind the listings

As founder and CEO, I managed the connection between sales and the operation. I worked on product information, advertising and Fulfillment by Amazon, while building our brand and customer-service team. Customer feedback helped us decide what to improve and what to make next.

Keeping up with demand

As the catalog grew, I had to pay closer attention to suppliers, replenishment and buying patterns. Amazon Business opened another route to commercial and government customers, alongside our marketplace and direct sales. Those buyers still needed the same basics: accurate information, reliable availability and a product that did its job.

Growing demand eventually led me to acquire our rope manufacturer. I wanted the people making our products closer to the customers using them. That became the next chapter of Ravenox.

Results and the next chapter

By 2017, Amazon reported that our twisted cotton rope had been its category bestseller for two years. By 2019, Ravenox had reached the top 1% of Amazon's third-party sellers and was one of six U.S. Small Business of the Year finalists in Amazon's Small Business Spotlight Awards.

I later shared that experience through Amazon Accelerate, Seller Stories, This Is Small Business and the Small Business Academy. What I talk about is the work behind the listing. Getting an order matters; being ready to fulfill the next one matters too.

From buying rope to making it

We originally bought rope from a manufacturer and sold it through Ravenox. As demand grew, I wanted greater control over quality, supply and product development. Acquiring the manufacturing operation brought those decisions into the business.

Taking responsibility for production

As founder and CEO, I led the acquisition and the work of connecting manufacturing with our sales operation. I was taking responsibility for equipment, inventory and an American workforce. The manufacturing team knew how to make the products. I worked with them to connect that knowledge with what customers needed.

Making the factory and sales work together

We brought production planning, inventory and ecommerce closer together. Inventory software helped us coordinate availability across channels, while hands-on quality checks remained part of the work. Customer feedback could now reach the people making the rope directly.

Product development also meant making decisions about materials, including recycled and upcycled options in our rope range. I had to consider how those materials performed and how we could manufacture a consistent product. Training and employee benefits, including health insurance, were part of building the team around that work.

What ownership changed

Ravenox became a business that could develop, manufacture and sell its own products. Greater control also meant owning the problems when production or supply needed attention.

The business's community relationships grew alongside it, including support for Operation Freedom Paws and rope for Saving A Hero's Place Honor Chairs. Running a factory keeps the work tangible: there are people making the product, customers relying on it and decisions that affect both.

Understanding the operation

Nordic Naturals brought me in during 2017 to help build greater control over its ecommerce business. I started with the existing operation: listings, inventory, advertising, systems and the people responsible for them. Then I developed a roadmap that put the work in an order the team could realistically execute.

Putting the plan to work

I worked with the team on Amazon Seller Central, FBA and Brand Registry, along with content, SEO, imagery, advertising and replenishment. Behind the listings, I helped with ChannelAdvisor product data and integrations, customer-service workflows and brand control, including unauthorized-seller and minimum-advertised-price issues.

We also evaluated other marketplaces and international opportunities. Those were decisions to work through, not a reason to launch everything at once.

Making the knowledge useful to the team

I documented the work, explained the decisions and helped the internal team take on more of the day-to-day operation. Training happened alongside implementation. The people using the systems needed to understand why they worked that way.

Carrie Phair summed up that part of my approach with two words: “he teaches.” That's the result I care about here. I want the team to become more capable, rather than depend on me to make every decision.

Solving immediate needs in Afghanistan

My experience with government procurement started in Afghanistan, alongside my duties as a Marine Special Operations Element Leader and combat advisor. When normal requisitions weren't meeting our needs quickly enough, I worked with the higher-headquarters financial officer and local contractors to get mission-support projects built.

As Pay Agent, I managed more than $1 million in projects and supervised a local workforce that grew to nearly 100 people. The work included a bakery, barracks, a helicopter landing zone and sanitation facilities. I was responsible for government funds within the program's authorities; I was not a Contracting Officer.

Working from the supplier side

Years later, I read solicitations as a business owner. I sourced products, developed pricing, prepared offers and coordinated suppliers. Our customers included the U.S. Navy through NAVSUP, NOAA, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, DLA and an Air National Guard customer. Repeat orders meant returning to the same practical question: could we deliver what the customer needed?

Following the order through

I managed work beyond the award, including production coordination, inspection, shipping, acceptance documentation and final payment. Extensive Defense Acquisition University coursework later gave me a more formal understanding of the processes I'd encountered.

Today, I help organizations assess opportunities and plan how they would perform. Winning an order is only the beginning. The proposal has to hold up when it's time to deliver.

Getting useful information to people

CERV needed an online presence and a dependable way to stay in touch with supporters. I took on its digital communications and marketing work, building the website and organizing the tools the nonprofit used to reach people.

Building CERV's communications

I established branded social channels and connected email outreach and contact management through Mailchimp. I worked on preparedness resources, search visibility and communications procedures so people could find information and the organization could keep it current.

As of September 2026, I serve as Treasurer on CERV's Board of Directors. That adds financial responsibilities to my earlier communications work.

Keeping volunteers ready

My municipal CERT work was a separate role. From October 2013 through April 2017, I served as City of Monterey CERT Logistics Section Chief and Neighborhood Zone Captain. I managed equipment and inventories, coordinated procurement and supported training materials.

As Zone Captain, I recruited members, maintained rosters, led meetings and training, and worked on communications readiness. I collaborated with volunteers and public agencies across programs involving Monterey, Pacific Grove and Carmel. The work depended on people keeping each other informed.

The everyday work of readiness

CERV gained a website, public communications channels and email outreach it could use together. In CERT, my focus was knowing what equipment was available and helping volunteers organize around it.

Preparedness takes upkeep. A roster needs updating, equipment needs checking and someone needs to own the next step. That's the kind of work I tried to make easier.

Starting with the operating problem

When I talk with policymakers, I start with decisions I've had to make as a business owner. A tariff affects what a product costs. A delayed payment affects whether I can pay a supplier. Those are the consequences I want people to understand.

Showing up over time

I served on Washington Retail Association's board from 2018 through 2024, including as Vice Chairman, Chairman in 2021 and Immediate Past Chairman. I've also participated in NRF's Small Business Retail Council and served on the Intuit Small Business Council since March 2023. Amazon-supported advocacy and my Association of Washington Business involvement have provided other places to bring that experience.

Making the discussion practical

Through those groups, I've discussed trade, taxation, workforce needs, organized retail crime and regulatory predictability. At Amazon Accelerate in 2022, I joined a panel on how business owners can participate in advocacy.

With Intuit, the work has progressed from digital inclusion in 2023 to responsible AI in 2024 and payments modernization in 2025. In May 2026, I returned to Capitol Hill to discuss the PACE Act and joined a White House small-business AI roundtable. I brought examples from using AI in Ravenox's everyday operations.

Why I keep participating

NRF recognized me as a finalist in 2018, and Washington Retail Association presented its service award in February 2022 for my 2021 chairmanship. I appreciate that recognition, but the work is in the conversations that continue between events.

I keep it nonpartisan: explain the problem, listen to other owners and offer something practical. I can contribute firsthand experience without pretending that one business has every answer.