Over the last twenty years, I’ve worked with hundreds of small to mid-size businesses, thousands of leaders and teams, driving hundreds of millions in profit and growth.
Then in 2022, a past client broke my heart…
She called to tell me her business was shutting down. After decades of work, she was losing everything. No savings. No exit plan. No way out.
She said, “I wish I’d focused on building a business that could sell—one that could thrive without me.”
That phone call hit me hard…
So I started reaching out to other old clients. Same story. Over and over. Good people worked hard all their lives. Now, they face regret for not creating a sellable business.
Then I looked at the research….
Baby boomers own 12 million businesses. Yet, only 30% have a clear exit strategy. Worse still, only 20% of businesses listed for sale actually sell. This means that more than 8 million businesses are at risk of shutting down without selling.
That’s when it hit me…
I was part of the problem.
As a consultant, I came in to make things look better.
We’d sharpen the story. Fix the messaging. Tweak the funnel.
And it worked—more leads, more revenue.
But you can only claim to be better than the market for so long. Eventually, they’ll copy your promotion. Start saying the same thing. Putting you back on the treadmill, trying to find NEW messaging to drive leads.
That’s when it dawned on me…
Marketers do not build great brands—leaders do. Because a strong and enduring brand is more SHOW than TELL. It relies on having a great product, an amazing experience, and a community that cares. These traits help a brand stand out and be different. Leading to customers who love them. And as importantly, competitors that can’t copy them.
I realized then that I was treating symptoms, not the disease.
So I left my consulting company. Shut down for two years. Vanished from social media, and did only the bare minimum work. Then, in 2025, I launched Chiefs of Story (COS) as the solution.
We offer two paths (BUY or BUILD).
For hardworking owners looking to sell, we offer a simple and fast exit. It’s a win for everyone. Owners get to exit and transition with dignity. Their team and legacy live on. And we get to do what we love – the work of building an exit-ready brand.
If the owner is ready to BUILD. We partner to help them grow their small business into a profitable, scalable, exit-ready brand.