I grew up in a modest neighborhood in Roseville, MN with my parents and brother, Brent, who is 3-1/2 years younger than I am. We traveled just about everywhere during long summer vacations: 38 states, 6 Canadian provinces and Mexico, and that was before I was 19! Our family moved to Mendota Heights in 1987, where I went to Henry Sibley High School, graduating seventh in my class in 1991.

I was introduced to Macintosh computers in 1989 while working on the yearbook and school paper. By my sophomore year at the University of Minnesota (1992), I had become a self-taught Mac expert and freelance graphic designer, which led to me working for the Minnesota Student Association (the U student government) as head of public relations, advertising, corporate identity and communications.

In that role, I was charged with equipment recommendation, which amounted to nearly $50,000 in Mac and Mac-related equipment during my tenure. I also handled installation and maintenance of the Macs, file server, and network. Soon, other student orgranizations began to use me for similar tasks within their organizations, and my reputation within the University community grew. So much so, in fact, that in 1994 the prestigious Mithun Center for Advertising approached me to act as an independent technology consultant to help them develop a CD-based curriculum for distribution across the United States. I jumped at the chance.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. In the fall of 1992, Apple Computer's on-campus higher education rep, Eliot Axelrod, visited me to discuss co-marketing opportunities with MSA. During the course of that conversation, he mentioned his need for capable Mac-familiar students to revitalize the Campus Student Representative program, which demonstrates, evangelizes and in any way possible helps sell Macs to staff, students and organizations at the U. I expressed interest in the opportunity, and within two weeks was on board and charged with finding three more Mac zealots to fill out our ranks. This I did, and during the 1993-1994 school year increased Mac sales by 55% year-on-year, the largest increase (by far) of any school. All of a sudden, Apple middle and senior managers were all over my team trying to develop cookie-cutter programs all over the country based on the programs, demos, and expertise we were offering to the U of M community. One such manager sent an email to the entire Apple Higher Ed upper management team that said, "The types of demos Brian is accomplishing are above and beyond what we are having our reps do throughout the country. If we can clone this for other reps, we will certainly raise the bar nationwide."

Eliot also farmed me out to his Apple colleagues to work trade shows, the Newton (remember those?) retail product launch, Macintosh Performa demos in mass market retailers, and other events.

During 1993, while all this Apple stuff was going on, I was developing still other plans at MSA. Specifically, I was pitching the concept of an alternative newspaper promoting student government and student organization activities, something which the Minnesota Daily not only did a really poor job of covering but also made worse by charging student organizations obscene rates (given their tiny budgets) for ad space. Further complicating the planning was the fact that its development spanned three administrations, each with its own agenda, and that the Minnesota Daily felt genuinely threatened by the project. During late 1993, the student government accepted the pitch on my idea and forwarded my budget unaltered to the Student Services Fees Committee, the budgeting body for student organizations at the U. We were granted our entire $20,000 budget, and I set out to develop a staff of four and manage all aspects of this paper, from hiring to distribution to production to vendor selection.

However, not everything was going well. As you might well guess, my schoolwork suffered as my professional efforts progressed and became far more interesting and rewarding than my journalism studies. Worse yet, both of my jobs required continued enrollment at the U as a condition of employment. Nevertheless, my studies began to fall by the wayside completely, and by late 1994 I wasn't even actively registered for classes. Nevertheless, I kept plowing ahead with all of my projects as I attempted to clean up my academic record, which was littered with incompletes. The breaking point began to approach in very late 1994 as I butted heads with the new student body president, with whom I did not see eye to eye on the now-funded MSA newspaper. It was only through sheer willpower, my long term relationships with key contacts and power brokers in the otherwise Greek-controlled student government and my own seniority within the organization that kept the newspaper on track despite a vote to kill the newspaper brought before the student government in November 1994. However, a phenomenal submarine job by the student body president in collusion with the Minnesota Daily put the newspaper out of action for good. I resigned my three-year position as Communications Coordinator January 5, 1995, the day after the paper's first issue hit the stands, and on January 12, by vote of the student government, the newspaper staff was fired. In the weeks following the firings, the Daily began to run articles (13 during the month of January alone) going into all sorts of lurid, incorrect details provided by the student body president, about not only the paper but also me as its manager. These articles and the quotes they contained falsely accused me of virtually everything from bilking the student government out of thousands of dollars to gross mismanagement to misrepresenting timecards. My "mug" was on the front page of the Daily virtually every day of the week for a month, during which time I dreaded walking around campus, recognized on the street by students everywhere. My January 17 threat to MSA of a libel suit and a January 27 retraction placed by MSA were the end of a huge chapter in my life.

1995 was not a banner year: I had dropped out of school a year shy of graduation, lost both MSA jobs, my lucrative consulting gig at the U was ending, and I was transitioning out of my Apple job due to my non-student status. I was also racking up a phenomenal debt for someone my age due to rent, car payments, and the like. I couldn't find a job, and by late summer I was desperate, applying anywhere for positions I wasn't particularly interested in. Then, mid-October, Mike Skoglund (a friend of mine) called with an opportunity at a company called Cybernet which was going through an ownership change and serious financial problems, but which needed talent desperately. Mike said, "My boss asked me if I knew anyone who would make a good Mac tech. You were the first person I thought of." One week later I was in an interview with the new owner of the company. He never once looked at my resume, saying only that it would be a long and difficult road with no promises and no sure success ("we could be out of business tomorrow") but that anything was possible where we were headed and with all the opportunity that was staring us in the face. It would be us against the world (the owner, Mike, and myself, plus one part time employee). He offered what he could afford to pay me, saying "Mike speaks very highly of you. That's all the convincing I need."

Halloween 1995, I arrived for work at Cybernet for the first time. I spent nearly the next 5 years there, helping build a company of (at one point) more than 40 people and building an enviable resume and a deep reserve of skills and experience. The years at Cybernet were enjoyable and provided many of the good things in life - recognition, fun times, and the income to buy a big home in Brooklyn Park (May 1998) and travel all over the country during my vacations. Unfortunately, Cybernet could not weather its early years due to gross mismanagement; it closed its doors in May 2000.

I spent eleven months in a similar position at WAM!NET working for many of the same Cybernet customers, but WAM!NET's precarious finances led to them eliminating my position and those of nearly a dozen former Cyberneters who had been hired en masse shortly after Cybernet's demise. Following that surprise layoff April 27, 2001, I decided to take some time to review my options in light of the big changes going on in the economy and the local Macintosh systems integration marketplace. I spent much of the next year traveling the country riding roller coasters (a favorite pastime; more on that below) and asking: do I go work for someone else, or do I try to incorporate my own business? As it worked out, I chose the latter: Escape, my own Macintosh systems integration company, was incorporated in June 2001, but I did not aggressively pursue it until well into 2002. By that time, I had decided that it would take far too long to ramp up Escape's revenues to support my existing financial commitments (mortgage and so on) -- so I began preparing to sell my home in Brooklyn Park and cut down on expenses. In July 2002, I moved out of the house while $20,000 in remodeling was carried out on seven rooms. By November, the work was complete; by December, the house was tentatively sold; and by barely after New Year's 2003 the sale had closed. I netted about $60,000 more than I paid for the home in 1998, effectively paying off the mortgage, the remodel costs and the extensive debts I had incurred starting up Escape.

A new start...

Sometimes you have to take a step back before you can move forward. Selling the house was a big deal; it seemed at once both a concession to economic realities and a stress release. I didn't want to sell, but at the same time there really were no other options that allowed me to gracefully land on my feet. It was the "adult" thing to do. I arranged a place to temporarily land while I considered living arrangements and continued work on Escape. By May 2003, I had also made a startling choice: to go back to college -- at age 30 -- and finish the journalism degree I had abandoned nine years earlier, while continuing to work on Escape. As much as it thrilled my parents, neither they nor my friends expected it. I put my nose to the grindstone and got a 4.0 GPA in three classes during the summer of 2003, a 3.6 GPA in four classes fall 2003, and a 3.9 GPA in my final four senior capstone courses during the spring of 2004. Am I done, now that I've finally graduated? Who knows. I'd consider going into, perhaps, the Carlson School of Management's MBA graduate program. But not yet.

About me

While I am very much devoted to my work, it is (believe it or not) not my primary goal or interest in life. I actually see work as something I do in between rock concerts, annual roller coaster trips, and traveling. I've ridden more than 300 roller coasters since 1986, and each year I usually pack the car and head off to visit as many amusement parks as I can manage. If there's anything you want to know about roller coasters, I'm your man. I am a certified coaster junkie.

My other true love, as mentioned, is rock music. For 14 years, I've been an enormous fan of good, melodic/progressive hard rock and heavy metal music. I especially enjoy the hair-band era, 1981-1991. While I don't really play an instrument (I've dabbled in piano and guitar), I love being absolutely engrossed and finding deep meaning in the music and lyrics to which I'm listening. I especially love intricately constructed "musicians' music" which often features odd time signatures and bizarre time changes.

I have barely listened to popular music since 1991, when the bottom fell out of the rock music industry and the horror stories known as grunge, hip-hop and rap came out of the depths of hell.

Throughout my years of listening to hard rock music, one band has stood above the rest, a band to which I will probably remain eternally devoted and grateful: Savatage. I don't expect anyone to have heard of them, despite their 15+ albums over a 25-year career. I've seen them play live ten times. In fact, I drove 3,000 miles in September 1998 to see them live four times. I flew out East the year before that to see them play live three times. They are easily the best kept secret in the music world, and at least some part of their music appeals to the entire gamut of music lovers. You may have heard of their alter ego/side project Trans-Siberian Orchestra, whose first two albums are also two of the best selling Christmas albums of all time. Their hit single "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" was a monster crossover hit on adult contemporary, Christian rock radio and even the local classic rock stations.

Embarrassing moments

(note they are all from high school...I've been much more careful since then)

Fired from McDonald's...

I was fired from McDonald's in late 1989 for not showing up for work on a day I had taken off as a holiday but which had somehow slipped through the cracks with our scheduling manager. Since it was well known I had been at a kegger the previous night, it was assumed I was not at work because of a hangover. Despite a pristine employment record, the best drive-through speed record in the store, numerous wins in cash accuracy contests, and Employee of the Month awards, they canned me.

Suspended from high school twice...

To those who live in the Twin Cities metro area, Sibley High has long been notorious for being "the school that was vandalized," but the school was also known for its highly publicized locker break-ins. In early 1990 a student fingered myself and two friends as having not only keys to most of the building but also having the master locker combination book for the school. In return for the information, the student was paid $100. It was no secret to school staff, janitors, and administration that my friends had keys to pretty much the whole building, but I wasn't a party to their activities, nor were they stealing anything. Nevertheless, when the administration needed to look like they were getting the job done catching the thieves, the three of us were suspended for a week each. Thank God we were all 17 at the time (and therefore could not be named in print), because the newspapers were all over the story. None of our teachers cared; in fact, they gave each of us, three pillars of the junior class, all the time we needed to catch up from our one-week vacation. The thefts continued during our absences, incidentally. The suspensions did cost each of us something, though -- none of us were permitted in the National Honor Society because of the review committee's concerns about our "character." The review committee consisted largely of teachers whom we would not have until our senior year and therefore did not know us personally.

Then, in January 1991, I made the colossal mistake of mixing snow daiquiris in the school parking lot during an evening school basketball game. Four friends and I were rung up on MSHSL rules, kicked out of a one-act play contest, suspended from school for a week, sent off for chemical dependency assessments, and then sent to Saturday seminars on "Choices" and "Decisions." Too bad only those who don't really have problems get caught.

What I believe

Knowledge without application is wasted.

The only thing worse than wasting your time is wasting others' time in the process.

It is excellent to have the strength of a giant, but it is tyrannous to use it like one. (Shakespeare)

Hard work will always be rewarded.

People are a company's greatest asset.

Don't underestimate the value of investment: investing in yourself, others, a cause.

Without integrity, you have nothing.

Words are the sharpest knives.

False character attacks are the worst attacks possible. It doesn't matter if they're true, it's the lie that hurts.

The bigger the lie, the more people will believe it. (As much as I'd rather not quote him, Hitler said that.)

These times will not last forever. Enjoy it while it lasts, and don't let it just slip through your fingers. Grab hold of it. Kick, scream and claw. Ride it for all it's worth. Do it all, regardless of the cost. The only true regret one can have is not trying your hardest.