The story of my business –
I am a retired hospital CEO. Retired meaning a board dismissed me in 2015 when I was 61. Fortunately, I didn’t need to find a new job, and it accelerated the plans my wife and I had to move to Nashville, where two of our three children lived.
The question then became: what was I going to do? I’m not the retirement type. I don’t play golf, hunt, or fish. I’ve always been interested in what makes people tick. Throughout my career, I learned a lot about tools like Gallup StrengthsFinder, various personality tests, and similar assessments. My son-in-law suggested I explore something in this area, providing information about a company offering training in assessments.
In 2016, I pursued training in DISC and emotional intelligence. This met my need for intellectual stimulation, but the more I studied these assessments, the more shallow they seemed. Then, in late 2016, I encountered a Chattanooga-based company called Judgment Index. After taking their assessment, I was hooked and got trained and certified by them in early 2017.
It’s an incredible tool, with links available on this website. It’s not personality or IQ-based; it assesses values, rooted in axiology, examining how we determine what we find valuable.
My sales instincts kicked in, and I saw potential for the Index in areas like pre-hire assessments and performance improvement. I worked with a variety of clients, including contractors, law firms, manufacturers, and social media influencers. The diversity of businesses I interact with is highly stimulating.
I also thought it would be useful in sports, and since college football is my passion, I reached out to Coach Nick Saban at Alabama. In January 2017, I published a column about a major decision he made, which appeared in the Nashville Business Journal. I sent him the article and additional materials, boldly suggesting I could add value to the winningest coach in college football.
In a testament to his greatness, Coach Saban read my materials and had a staff member call me. Out of the blue, Coach Scott Cochran, Saban’s strength coach and longtime right-hand man, called and said, “Coach Saban told me to call you and see if what you do can help our program get better.” Amazing.
In early 2018, after a year of scrutiny from Cochran and others, I began working for Alabama. This continued through 2019, and I also worked with Coach Oats and the men’s basketball team, as well as Coach Curry and the women’s basketball team.
Over the years, I’ve worked with a solid roster of basketball and football programs, and you’ll see banners on this site showcasing my clients. I still work actively with Coach Curry’s team, as well as with Maryland football under Head Coach Mike Locksley and Head Strength Coach Ryan Davis.
Through this journey, I built a friendship with Scott Cochran, which continues to this day. In summer 2023, he introduced me to Coach Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss. Saban’s abrupt firing of Kiffin in January 2017 had inspired my business journal article, so this felt like a full-circle moment. I drove to Oxford the next day to meet Coach Kiffin, and we connected instantly. I was soon hired.
During the season, I go to Oxford weekly for two days and visit 4-5 days a month in the offseason. I conduct Judgment Index assessments on staff and players and act as an in-house executive coach. I’m not a clinician, nor do I provide psychological testing or counseling; the school has resources for those needs.
Being so involved with a high-profile coach and team is an unbelievable experience. Witnessing the ups and downs of a team from the inside is something else. As I told a group of Ole Miss fans recently, no matter how much fans think they know, the truth is they know nothing. There’s so much happening that affects game outcomes, and outsiders have no concept of it. Often, it can’t be shared publicly, so the coach and team bear the social media consequences in silence.
I have the greatest retirement job in the world.
- The story of my business
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