Building While the House is Still on Fire
Notes from a founder who's hiring, serving coffee, parenting, and (trying to) breathe.
I don’t spend much time talking about balance. I just do the work—running two businesses, raising three kids, garage workouts, wife back rubs, building a house, launching a creator community.
It’s not clean or calm. But it’s forward motion.
At Ramp Talent, we’re deep in the trenches placing execs in messy situations—companies mid-pivot, post-layoffs, or scaling too fast for their own good. It’s intense, but it’s the kind of work I live for.
At Sumato Coffee, we’re doing more than just roasting to order. We’re exploring mushroom coffee (lion’s mane, chaga, cordyceps) and testing keto-friendly brews that actually taste good. Still early, but the experiments are promising—and energizing.
Big thanks to my team:
Nathan, for helping keep Ramp Talent sharp and responsive. We met in office on Thursdays with our intermittent fast game strong.
Marian, for driving sourcing and recruiting efforts at Ramp—your instincts and hustle are making a real impact.
Peter and Carson—you two have been crushing it on the Sumato side. Whether it’s customer service, website tweaks or branding ideas, you make it happen. I’m grateful.
Also—huge thanks to our Ramp Ambassadors who continue to send in amazing referrals for both candidates and clients. We see you, we appreciate you, and yes—the referral checks are going out.
This week, here’s what’s hitting me the hardest:
Hiring isn’t broken. Leadership is. Fix that first.
Mushroom coffee + black coffee = clean energy with fewer crashes.
Great brands are built by showing up consistently—not just with content, but with care.
Most resumes are noise. The real signal comes in conversation.
Being a present dad and a good founder is possible—but only if I stop pretending it’s easy.
If you’re hiring, here’s what’s coming down the pipeline right now:
Remote CMO (Confidential search, marketing leadership)
Director of Customer Service (Utah-based, growth-stage eComm)
SVP of Sales (Confidential, still active)
Senior Software Engineers for Affiniti Finance (Series A, Manhattan, onsite)
Construction Leaders (field, managerial and professional roles across the Utah)
The Creator’s Club is for anyone building—businesses, careers, families, products, whatever. It's not polished. It's real. And you're invited.
Pour a cup. Let’s build.
ps - for an easy outlet, get outside and pull weeds. I find it therapeutic. You can see the progress and it makes you feel like you accomplished something.