A Little History…

Part 1: My Story

Born in Edinburgh, I emigrated to Canada at twenty-two, where I spent eighteen years with the Toronto Dominion Bank - ten of those years as a hands-on branch manager visiting local business owners right at their shops and offices.

Working at that scale taught me exactly how a large business becomes large - what works and doesn’t work in a business - and how to spot the hidden pitfalls that cause smaller operations to stumble.

Following my time in banking, I spent 20 years in Southern California, including a decade running my own business consulting practice – starting as a financial coach before transitioning into full business consulting.

During those same years, my wife Stephanie, and I also owned and operated a vegan bakery in Ocean Beach. This gave us first-hand experience of the dedication it takes to run a small business from the ground up.

For the five years leading up to my retirement, I served as a general manager, in a small manufacturing company in Washington State.

While there, I modernised their operations - standardised the assembly process to speed up production, introduced powder-coating to improve the product’s finish, created a customer manual, and upgraded their financial tracking by introducing Quick Books.

After returning home to Scotland in 2012, I settled in a quiet village in the East Neuk of Fife and enjoyed fourteen years of retirement.

However, my passion for business never truly left. I am stepping back into coaching because I genuinely love helping people succeed. I want to see local owners get real joy and reward out of their businesses, instead of feeling overwhelmed by daily demands.

Part 2: My Approach &
Commitment

I’ve developed a strong intuition for spotting the simple things that easily get missed in daily operations. Sometimes a business doesn’t need a complex overhaul - it just needs an outside perspective to uncover a hidden or missed opportunity.

When I take on a client, I treat your business challenges as my own. I have a natural persistence: I don’t give up easily, and I don’t walk away when a problem gets tough. If there is a  friction point holding you back, I will stick with you and keep digging until we find a practical solution that works.