The path to becoming an entrepreneur is never straightforward nor uniform to anyone else’s experience. When growing up, I knew that the family business would eventually fall to me and my brothers. But until that inevitable day, I was perfectly content with pursuing my interests and passions. I sought out a path that I found interesting and knew would offer me a good living: engineering.

I had always been fond of math and science, and when I went to an engineering camp the summer between my junior and senior years of high school, I knew I would pursue chemical engineering in college. After I graduated with my Bachelor of Science in chemical engineering, I worked at a local plant in Maine. My career eventually took me to West Virginia, where I began my MBA to further my career and education, and later, Arkansas, Colorado, and Kansas.

Eventually, there was a natural break in my career as am executive leading continuous improvement and I decided to pursue the idea that had been kicking around in my brain for some time: opening an independent consulting business. There was never a moment in my childhood where I thought to myself, “hey, I should open up a consulting business!”. That idea came much later in my life, and I was able to see it to fruition because I had a lot of examples in my family and professional orbit that showed me that starting a business was possible. When I saw an opportunity to leave corporate life, I realized that if I don’t bet on myself now, when will I? So I took that leap of faith and began Lakehurst Consulting.

I liked that this change in career paths would allow me to have more flexibility in schedule and location. It has now been three and a half years since I took the chance and began Lakehurst Consulting. Since then, I have worked in many different industries, including aerospace, defense, insurance, and hospitality. I enjoy the challenge of working in different industries and learning new things, while also applying my practical and academic knowledge.

I grew up helping around Lakehurst Properties in whatever way I could. This included helping clean up after large events, as well as helping care for the pigs and chickens that were on the property and tending to the large garden. During this time I was able to observe how the family business was being run. These observations were extremely helpful when I bought into Lakehurst Properties in 2016, because I had a guide of what I wanted to emulate as well as what I wanted to change.

My children are as involved in the family business just as I was at their age. When my family visits the property, my children know to help out in whatever way they can. They know the importance of showing up when help is needed and lending a hand. Growing up in a family that has a 100-year-old legacy family business can surely be daunting, but much like my parents did for me, I am supporting my children in whatever career path they are passionate about and hope that whenever it is time for them to come into the business as partners, they can take the lessons they have learned throughout their life and apply it to continuing the Lakehurst legacy.