Why Am I Here?

I really enjoy solving problems. It is very therapeutic to fully immerse in a problem, and then extremely rewarding to find a solution.

I worked with my Grandfather for several years in my early career. He was a Navy trained Electronic Engineer. He could fix anything and he loved puzzles. I believe he loved more than anything stumping me with a puzzle, especially when the solution was easy and I “over-thought” it. I do that sometimes. However, I also believe these teasing challenges developed my love for logical, problem solving, and I am forever grateful.

I have worked in retail for 25 years. I have had a rewarding career helping the world’s largest retailer better serve their customers. I have always been able to solve big problems with “scrappy” tools and processes, but that is changing. Data is getting bigger and customers are getting more complicated. Today’s shoppers grew up in a tech enabled world. They aren’t confined to “brick and mortar” stores. They expect their goods and shopping experience to be customized for them. Everything is changing very fast, and small scrappy tools aren’t keeping up.

So, Why am I Here?

• I need to continue to sharpen my skills and evolve, to continue to exceed our customer’s expectations, and stay out in front of consumer trends and insight mining.
• I want to eventually evolve into a teaching role. I enjoy this work and want to be able to share my experiences. I hope to challenge others to “think and solve” as I was taught by my Grandfather.

I am writing this blog to share my educational journey as I pursue a MS in Business Analytics at Wake Forest University. I expect this to be an interesting journey as I finished my undergrad degree 28 years ago. I am counting on being able to learn some new tricks.

Over the next two years, I hope to share my thoughts, struggles, accomplishments and feelings of an old guy going back to school. I promise to be honest about my experience, so you can either laugh at me, cry with me, or decide if a “late career reboot” would be something you might be interested in as well.