My Story

Crying over my lunch while on a trip to Hawaii wasn’t where I expected to end up a decade ago. I was so disappointed in who I’d become.

I’d grown a very successful business in the brain injury space and given it every ounce of attention and time I had. Professionally, I was flourishing. Personally, I was floundering, and I hadn’t even noticed.

That was, until the day I arrived home to my partner standing with her luggage outside our apartment door. 

No, she wasn’t whisking me off to Hawaii on a whim – she was waiting for her mom to pick her up. She was leaving me. 

While I was busy growing my business and unconsciously/subconsciously trying to prove myself to a man I hadn’t spoken to in seven years – my dad, that is – my relationship with my partner was starving for my attention. 

Suddenly, I could see how obsessed I was with work and oblivious to the way I was hurting the woman I loved and harming myself in the process as well. 

I had to get away from it all. 

I hopped on a plane to Hawaii to escape. 

When I got there, I was too embarrassed to even go down to the beach – I was 50 pounds overweight and refused to take off my shirt. I was rich on paper, but poor in life. I had no close friends, no healthset, and no immaterial wealth to speak of. I had turned into the person I had promised myself I would never become.

You see, what got me into my first business in the brain injury space was breaking my neck and back playing sports at 16 years old. My own dad wouldn’t even come to the hospital to see me – he told me he was too busy working to come. At that moment, I swore him off and had no interest in ever speaking with him again. I also promised myself that I would never turn into him. I’d show him how I could be the better man. I’d be successful in my career and I’d always be there for those I loved when it mattered most.

Crying over said lunch in Hawaii I realized it was time to forgive my dad and stop ruthlessly pursuing material success out of spite for him. Even though I didn’t like the guy, I had been fighting for a connection with him for several years of my life.

I also needed to sell my business.

I wanted so badly to begin again. 

Away from work, distractions, and demands on my time I found solitude, something I’d been a stranger to for years. 

I began to notice things about myself, my choices, and my behaviors that I had been avoiding, ignoring, and just not acknowledging.

At the root of it all was that I was attaching my sense of worth to my net worth. I had no idea what a rich life you could build with non-traditional currencies. 

I shifted my career and began consulting in the corporate innovation space. I loved working with big companies as they built their next businesses. The strategy was always strong, priorities were clear, and everyone was invested in their team’s success. 

Through my work with a handful of B corporations I discovered that there were companies out there with a fresh approach to success and leadership. They were using a ‘triple bottom line’ and values based approach to manage their business. They focused on growing their profit, serving people, and taking care of the planet. This triple bottom line of profit, people, and the planet inspired me to look at how I could manage my own life, relationships, and family according to my values, too. 

When I would wrap up a few days working with a team, I started to ask the company leaders, “When was the last time you created time to think about your most important enterprise - your family?”

I got more than a few wide eye stares in response to that question. People would tell me they’d never done that and quietly actually, they were working so much to avoid their personal life. They didn’t have their health, wealth, or relationships figured out and they knew it was hurting their business. Over and over I heard how these leaders and executives felt like they were wearing a pair of golden handcuffs they couldn’t find the key to get out of.

Before long, I was being asked to stick around for an extra day to guide leaders through creating life strategies that would provide these leaders with just that key. The work we did was as powerful as the innovative business strategies we were implementing…just in a new realm.

As I applied principles of running a really great business – something I’ve always done really well and quite easily – I saw the potential at the intersection of life and business to create massive, meaningful change. 

Many of us have a direction we think we want to go, yet somewhere along the way we got off course by just a bit…and we end up becoming someone nearly unrecognizable to ourselves. This is why creating space to be alone and begin again is at the crux of my work in my 2-Day Strategic Solitude experiences where leaders re-orient to their authentic selves. 

It’s my honor to support leaders with families and purposeful priorities as they take an intentional and strategic approach to the intersection of life and business through their own triple bottom line – their health, wealth, and relationships. 

Here’s to seeing ourselves, our lives, and our businesses through the eyes of strategy and compassion.

Dave Inglis