I was asked to provide some thoughts about The IT Nation Evolve as it celebrates 25 years. Here is what I provided:
When your job offer comes in a super quick, two-sentence note on hotel stationery, delivered by the CEO himself while he’s walking out of a conference room, you know you’re in for an exciting adventure.
I met Arlin Sorensen at an industry event back in the mid-2000s. We knew each other, but not really. I asked if I could spend 15 minutes with him, and he was happy to chat. We talked about mistakes to avoid as we grew our fast-growing MSP. After that, he invited me to join him and some other “peers” for dinner. Little did I know those peers were part of one of the first HTG peer groups meeting in the same city.
A few years later, at a Microsoft conference in California, I convinced the leadership team at my current company to go to dinner with Arlin and some other HTG members. The other three leaders quickly realized the value of peer support, and we joined the newly formed HTG 50 group. That group had some of the biggest MSPs at the time, and it also included some future industry leaders like Eric Dosal of Brightgauge, Michael Williams of MSP+, Luca Jacobellis, and the Marco Technologies team that was making multiple acquisitions every quarter. It was a really powerful group and we made each other better.
It was at a conference in Omaha in the summer of 2013 that I told Arlin and Peter Sorensen that I was looking to change things up. Soon after, the note arrived on the table in front of me. After convincing Arlin that I didn’t need to move my family to Harlan, Iowa, to be effective, I was thrilled to join the team.
From 2014 to 2019, I had the incredible privilege of working with some of the most brilliant, innovative, and incredibly humble leaders I’ve ever known. Arlin, Pete, Laurie Sorensen, Brad Schow, Scott Scrogin, Hardin Byars, (Iowa) Rich Anderson, Andre Gilmore, Brad DeSent, Connie Arentson, Becky Teal, and so many more.
You know what made this group so special? We genuinely cared for each other. We cared for our members, both MSP Owners and Vendors. Every day, we woke up thinking about how we could help our members make the most of their lives and businesses.
In 2019, I made a tough decision to leave ConnectWise. I wanted to challenge myself and see if I could become the kind of leader that Arlin, Brad Schow, and the rest of the team modeled for me. I wanted to continue to make a difference in some young leaders that the company I was joining needed to develop. I wanted to carry on the legacy that Arlin and HTG started in the MSP industry. Be a Go Giver, Lead with Authenticity and Humility, don’t sacrifice your life and your most important relationships for business success, learn to live with the work-life tension, and so many other important lessons.
I will always be grateful for those five years, the 15 years I spent with HTG/Evolve, and the over 20 years I’ve known Arlin.
