Most CEOs didn’t start out feeling stuck. But the weight of leading builds quietly until one day you realize you’re carrying too much alone. The decisions get harder. The conversations get safer. And the people who used to challenge you now just wait for direction.

I know that place. I lived it for years.

I founded and led Applied Educational Systems for 36 years. Built it. Scaled it. Made mistakes that cost me. Had wins that taught me even more. And for too long, I thought I had to figure it all out myself.

That changed in 2003 when I joined Vistage. The group didn’t let me hide. They asked the questions I was avoiding. Gave me the accountability I didn’t know I needed. That shift helped me lead differently. We earned five straight years on the Inc. 5000, and I exited on my terms in 2022.

Now I privately coach business owners and chair a private Vistage group for CEOs and business owners in Central Pennsylvania.

I don’t coach strategy alone. I coach the whole person, because the business only grows as far as the leader does. I ask the questions no one else will ask—the ones that get below the surface, the ones that make you stop and rethink what you thought you knew.

This isn’t for everyone. It’s for CEOs who know they’re the most important hire in their company. Who are willing to invest in themselves. Who want real feedback, not validation. Who are curious, open-minded, and brave enough to be vulnerable in a room of peers who get it.

I limit my coaching clients and my Vistage group to the right fit. It has to be right for you and for the group.

Married 40 years. Five kids. Still asking better questions every day.

Jim Schultz

She was one of our best. Then I promoted her.

Reliable. Sharp. Got things done.

A few months in, she was floundering. One of her direct reports wasn't engaged and she knew she had to address it.

When we talked about the conversation she needed to have, I saw it. Fear.
That's when I realized I didn't promote her. I set her up to fail.

I never prepared her for what the role actually demanded. I saw an opening, she was capable, and I made the move.

That was my mistake.

Great individual contributors and great managers require very different skills. Execution isn't leadership. Getting things done isn't holding people accountable.

I've made this mistake more than once. Talented people lost confidence in roles I put them in without giving them what they needed to succeed.

If you're a CEO or founder, ask yourself: When you promoted your last manager, did you set them up to win or just fill the seat?

#Leadership #CentralPA #BusinessGrowth

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12.31.25

'I'll start Monday' is rarely about Monday. It's about avoiding the hard thing. We tell ourselves we need more time, more information, more readiness. Usually we just need to start.

1.2.26

One question worth asking yourself: Do the people closest to you get your full attention or what's left after work takes its share?

Inbound

Helping Business Owners and CEOs Lead with Clarity, Purpose, and Courage

After founding and leading Applied Educational Systems (AES) for over three decades — and guiding it through a successful acquisition by a global private equity firm — I started Felix Enterprises to focus on the work I find most meaningful: helping CEOs and business owners grow through honest reflection, intentional leadership, and deep personal insight.

At Felix, I work exclusively with CEOs and owners of companies ranging from $5M to $500M in revenue, primarily in Lancaster and the surrounding region. My approach is rooted in one-on-one coaching — no groups, no noise — just focused, candid conversations that lead to real clarity and deliberate action.

This work is not about offering quick fixes or recycled advice. It’s about asking the right questions — the ones no one else dares to — and creating space for leaders to think more clearly, act more intentionally, and grow with greater confidence.

The lessons I bring to this work were forged over 36 years of real-world leadership — scaling AES, earning a place on the Inc. 5000 list five years in a row, and navigating everything from growth and complexity to succession and exit. Much of that journey was shaped by my 19-year membership in Vistage, which provided me with a peer group and framework that profoundly impacted both my business and personal growth.

Now, through Felix Enterprises, I aim to pay that forward — helping growth-minded leaders thrive in their business and in life.

Founder & President

Everything we do at AES is about believing in life-long learning. We believe that life-long learning sets people free.  We empower lifelong learners by developing digital curriculum systems that easily saves time for a teacher, promotes interaction, is simple to use and current. We make great interactive eLearning curriculum systems that give teachers the time to develop relationships with students.

AES achieved the Inc 5000 list for five years (2018-2022). In addition, AES was honored as one of the Best Places to work in PA.

In October 2022, The Riverside Company, a global private investor, acquired Applied Educational Systems (AES), a digital career and technical education content provider for K-12 schools and career centers. AES is an add-on to Riverside’s iCEV platform, a leading developer of SaaS-based digital curriculum, instructional materials, and industry certifications.  Read more here:  https://www.riversidecompany.com/currents/aes-news-release/

After the acquisition in October 2022, I helped with the integration of AES and iCEV as a consultant.

Founder & CEO 

I served as an advisor and, since 2013, as a Board of Director member. Cargas offers a rare and unique employee ownership culture called Shared Success. Creating a winning environment for owners, employees, customers, partners, and the community is simple.

My contribution from experience focused on sales, marketing, strategic development & planning, and process improvements.

During that time, Cargas, an employee-owned company, accomplished the following:

Sales Grew - 5x
Profits Grew - 20x
FTE Growth - 4x
Best Places to Work in PA - 10x
Inc 5000 list - 4x
Private Company "Board of the Year" Award

Member Board of Directors

Vistage brings together business leaders from diverse businesses and backgrounds to coach and advise each other to drive better decisions and achieve better results.  I was a member of Rick Oppenheimer's, then Shaun Balani Central PA Vistage Executive group 349.

Member of CEO Group

Member of the Board of Advisors

I was responsible for executing an annual sales plan within the United States by working with independent sales representatives to help open, manage and close sales opportunities in the career education and technical training market.  I provided outside sales support for independent sales reps as needed, including making sales presentations to potential customers, using selling techniques to assist the independent sales reps in negotiating sales, exhibiting and presenting at shows and conferences, and training new and current independent sales reps on Link's Simulation Systems products and sales processes.  The work also included developing close working relationships with independent sales reps.

Vocational Sales

Entrepreneur & Exited Founder | Supporting CEOs Who Scale Smarter, Build Legacy, and Create Life Beyond Business

2019 Entrepreneur of the Year 

Association Career and Technical Education

Exited Founder | Guiding Business Owners Through Growth, Transition, and the Hard Calls In Between

Thirty years as a founder. Thirty years of doubt. Then someone nominated me for Entrepreneur of the Year.

My first thought? Who the hell nominated me?

Turns out it was Jen Strobel, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, MSOCL. Barely knew her. She said she'd watched me coach her son's youth wrestling team.

That's it. She saw me coaching kids. And nominated me for Entrepreneur of the Year.

She wasn't watching me run a company. She was watching me get down on one knee with a nervous 8-year-old. Apparently, that's where she saw leadership.

The Lancaster Chamber interviewed me. I sat there thinking: Maybe it was one bad year and I just repeated it 30 times.

During the interview, I broke down and cried.

Michael DeBerdine was on the committee. I knew Mike. Embarrassing. But later he told me that's just who I am.

I told them about pivoting our business and watching sales go from $10 million to zero. Losing $3 million over two years. Going from 35 employees down to four.

Things got so bad, our HVAC broke and we got rejected for a $15,000 line of credit. Too much debt.

So I called my oldest son. Fresh out of college. Working in New York City.

"Alex, can you lend us $15,000?"

My son loaned his parents money to fix the heat.

Our two younger sons went to West Point. I think they knew the financial burden college was going to be for us.

I won the award. That night, they played my interview video for 2,000 people. There I was on the big screen, breaking down talking about my sons.

Not some slick entrepreneur telling a polished success story. Just me. Crying.

Afterward, everyone wanted my advice.

I kept thinking: You want my advice? I've been grinding for 30 years. No magic formula. No hack. No playbook. Grit.

The outside never matches the inside.

People see the award. The stage. The success.

They don't see the rejection letters. The phone call to your kid asking for money. The nights wondering if you should just shut it down and get a job.

We're all more broken than we let on. And that's okay.

What would it take for you to stop discounting the hard thing you built?

PS: My wife and two of my kids at the Lancaster Chamber award night. They knew the real story.

No alternative text description for this image

Our fourth grandchild arrived last week.

Our first girl.

Three grandsons prepared us for chaos and energy. Now a granddaughter adds something new to the mix.

Watching our family grow makes me think more about the future. About what we're building. About what lasts.

What makes you pause and appreciate the generations ahead?

Tracy Schultz

Retired- Human Resources at Applied Educational Systems

We'd been running EOS for about a year when somebody on my leadership team said in a meeting, "I think I'd be a better person to run the L10 than Jim. Let's discuss."

I shut them down.

Didn't ask questions. Didn't try to understand where they were coming from. I got defensive, pulled rank, and killed the conversation.

"No, we're not making that change."

Internally, I was thinking: I'm the founder and CEO. I can do this.

Six months later, I handed them the meeting.

For the next four years, they ran it at a level I never could have. It played to their strengths. We gained real momentum from that one change.

But here's what still bothers me.

I was running a meeting literally designed to surface issues. And when someone surfaced an issue about me, I couldn't hear it.

That's the trap. You think you're open to feedback because you've built systems for it. But the moment feedback threatens your identity as the leader, you stop listening.

So here's my question.

When's the last time you shut someone down because the feedback threatened how you see yourself?

#CentralPA #Leadership

Your leadership team is waiting for you to leave. They won't say it. No one will. So I will.

Seneca wrote of the lawyer who dies at court, still seeking approval from strangers in old age. He called it disgraceful.

We all know a version of this person.

The legend in your industry. The founder still running things in their 80s. Everyone is too polite to say what needs to be said.

They're not brave. They're scared.

Their business became their identity. The only thing they have. So they hold on because letting go means facing a question they've been avoiding for years: Who am I without this?

Here's what it costs. They stop building and become caretakers. They don't have the energy they had in their 40s or 50s. And worse, they're stunting their people. Their leadership team can't grow because there's no room.

I decided early I was building something that didn't need me. I knew at some point my value in scaling and growing the business would diminish. I didn't want to be a caretaker for 20 years.

But that required reflection. Preparation. And letting people hold up a mirror to me and ask the hard questions.

Most business owners won't do that. Fear stops them. We get together and make excuses for each other instead of challenging each other.

So here's the question: Are you still building... or just protecting what you built?

"Son, you need to understand the first rule of holes. Stop digging."

A business owner told me this story this week.

When he was in middle school, he'd done something wrong. He didn't think his dad knew yet.

His dad sat him down and delivered that line.

His dad was an entrepreneur. He wasn't just talking about whatever dumb thing a 13-year-old did.

I broke this rule many times as a founder.

I held onto a wrong-fit leader for two years. I kept a product line that produced great revenue but dragged down our margins. I defended decisions long after the evidence said otherwise.

Founders dig a lot of holes:
➡️ Bad hires we keep defending
➡️ Strategies that aren't working
➡️ Difficult relationships we tolerate
➡️ Customers who don't fit

The problem? We often can't see we're digging.

That's what peer groups and coaches are for. Not to hand out advice or solutions. To point out the obvious blind spots you're too close to see.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗴?

I was a terrible CEO for years.

Skipped lunch to finish proposals.
Took calls on vacation because "it'll just be five minutes."
Worked "one quick hour" after dinner that ended at 2am.
Never set up coverage when I traveled.

"You're so dedicated." - Everyone said it like a compliment.

Meanwhile, I wasn't dedicated. I was trapped.

I'd designed a company that couldn't run without me. And I called it success.

Now I work with founders and business owners of companies between $5M and $300M. The exhausted ones aren't lacking discipline. They've designed their lives to guarantee exhaustion.

One client told me, "I'm playing defense. I just can't control it."

He hadn't been in his office for two weeks. Handling fires from his phone while traveling. His team waiting on decisions only he could make.

But he could control it. Not the fires. The structure.

Everyone is out there relying on willpower.

Grinding through.
Pushing harder.
Staying later.
Answering faster.

But I learned something different.

The shift didn't come from more discipline. It came from building systems that removed future decisions from my plate.

Structure beats willpower. Every time.

Here's my challenge: Pick one structural change this month. Make it small. Not some grand plan. Not something that takes hours. Just one thing you can control.

Name someone who can actually make decisions when you're out. Put your phone in another room after 9pm. Block Friday afternoons and protect it like a client meeting.

What's one small structural change you could make?

Your business network isn't your friendship network. Or is it?

We flew to Florida last week.

Not for the beach. For friends who've known each other 35 years.

We met when our kids were in diapers. Same neighborhood. Young families figuring it out together. Then life scattered us. Midwest. East Coast. All over.

No "how's business?" No career updates. No shop talk.

We talked about our kids becoming parents. About faith. About the hard seasons we've walked through together. We laughed.

Thirty-five years of trust buys you something rare: friends who don't care what you do. They care who you are.

Are all your close friends connected to your work?

Do you have people in your life who couldn't care less about your business and love you anyway?

"Every time you solve a problem your team could have solved, you rob them of growth."

In my 20s, 30s, and 40s as a founder, I didn't understand this.

I was intense. Grinding. Willing to do anything to get stuff done. When an employee had a problem, I jumped in with solutions. I told them what to do.

It took years of coaching and hundreds of reps to change. To stay calm. To ask questions instead of answering them.

The last five years at Applied Educational Systems were the most enjoyable of my 36 years.

Less stress. I finally worked ON the business. And I got to watch people grow.

A-players started coming to me with options they'd already evaluated and the one they were picking. We built a framework that gave them clarity on which decisions were theirs to make.

Some people got frustrated with my questions. A few self-selected out. That was okay.

Now, coaching CEOs and sitting in a #Vistage CEO group for 21 years, I see the pattern everywhere. The itch to solve is strong. Especially for founders under $20M still in the doing phase.

It takes practice to sit with the discomfort. To ask instead of answer.

How much growth are you stealing from your people by being the one with all the answers?

I made three successful leadership hires over five years. Then I got a little too big for my britches.

The next hire didn't work. And it was my fault.

Peter Drucker once wrote that one of the most important questions an employee can ask is: "How will I know I've done a great job?"

I never gave them the chance to ask it.

I never clearly described what great work looked like in that role. I expected them to guess. How can someone do great work if they don't know what great work looks like?

I knew I had to make a decision to honor the company and our customers. I let them go.

That failure reinforced something I now believe deeply: get the work in the role correct before any interviews. No more generic job descriptions that say nothing. Describe the work in detail. Make it safe to ask Drucker's question.

Now, as a CEO coach, I see this pattern constantly. A business owner gets frustrated with a leadership hire. The anger is directed at the person. But when we hold up a mirror, it almost always comes back to the same place.

Lack of clarity. Not the employee's fault.

When's the last time you asked yourself: Does this person actually know what great work looks like in their role?

I used to have conversations FOR my employees. The ones they were avoiding.

A deadline at risk? I'd work into the night to solve it myself.

I told myself I was helping.

I wasn't.

I chose fixing instead of solving the core issue.

Here's what made it worse. When you rescue someone:

They don't understand what just happened.

And you never ask the questions to understand where they're actually struggling.

That second part is the hard work. You have to dig in. The first thing they're going to do is get defensive. So how do you create safety while also getting to the truth about what's not working?

Most of us skip that. We fix instead.

I've learned this coaching CEOs and business owners: The leaders who love fixing problems often struggle with confrontation and accountability. Not because they don't care. Because they care too much about being helpful.

But rescuing isn't helping. It's robbing your people of the reps they need to grow.

Clear is kind.

The conversation you're avoiding? It's usually a relief for both of you.

What problem are you solving that's actually a conversation you need to have?

Nobody's coming to save you on the mat.

I was 10 when I watched Dan Gable dominate the 1972 Olympics. Years later, I learned it myself.

No teammates to hide behind. No excuses. Just you. Own every outcome.

Entrepreneurs need that same grit. If you don't bring it, you're in trouble.

What early experience built your grit?

P.S. Met Dan Gable in 2008 with two of my sons. Still one of my favorite memories.

Two months. Four funerals. All people I know who were active and healthy. Two in their sixties. Two were business owners.

Here's the irony.

Business owners fear the exit. What comes next? Who will I be without my company?

But death doesn't ask permission. It doesn't wait for your succession plan.

We tie our identity to our business. We tell ourselves we'll figure out "life after" later.

What if later never comes?

The Stoics called this memento mori. Remember you will die.

Not to be morbid. To be awake.

If you never think about what matters beyond your business, how can you plan for it?

What would change if you got a diagnosis tomorrow?

Six years into building my company, I was 31 years old. Raw. Intense. Convinced I had all the answers.

I was still doing all the sales work myself.

Some years I traveled 200,000 miles. Spent over 125 nights on the road. My wife was home alone raising three kids under six.

I missed first steps. Missed bedtimes. Missed so much.

And for what? Because I told myself I was the best at sales. That I cared about customers the most. That no one could close like me.

The truth? I was young and dumb. Too proud to admit I was drowning. Too scared to spend money on someone who might be better than me.

Then I finally hired a really capable salesperson. Someone who cost real money. Someone I wasn't sure I could afford.

Within months, I realized he was 10 times better than I ever was.

All those nights away from my family. All that grinding. And this guy walks in and outperforms me without breaking a sweat.

My first thought? Why didn't I do this three years ago? How stupid was I?

I see this same fear in business owners now. We keep saying "we just need a little bit more, then we'll hire that person."

That's not strategy. That's fear dressed up as patience. And it costs us more than money.

What capable person are you putting off hiring right now? And what's it really costing you?

"Can you say that again? I wasn't listening."

Tracy Schultz heard that from me more times than I want to admit. I was at the dinner table but solving a cash flow problem. At the soccer game but drafting an email in my head. Physically present. Mentally gone.

She's a patient woman. Thirty-nine years of marriage patient.

Recently I sat in a peer group of business owners and CEOs. The topic came up: at what point does professional success stop being the priority and life success take over?

The room got quiet. Heads nodded.

Most of us spent our 20s, 30s, and 40s telling ourselves "later." Once we fix this. Once we hit this number. Once we get through this year.

Then somewhere around 55, you realize "later" has a shelf life.

I've talked to enough founders to know I'm not alone in this. The business becomes your baby. You pour everything into it. And one day you look up and wonder what you missed while you were building.

What are you telling yourself you'll get to "later"?

What would your spouse say if you asked: "Am I present enough?"

He had decades of experience. He didn't ask a single question.

Fourteen years ago, I was in trouble. We'd gone from $10 million to almost zero. Eighteen months of free fall.

I'd bet everything on a pivot - ditching our legacy solution for 100% recurring subscriptions. Everyone thought I was crazy.

So I sat down with someone I respected. A coaching legend. I figured he'd help me think it through.

He listened for a few minutes. Then gave his verdict: "No prayer."

That was it. No questions. No curiosity. Just dismissal.

Here's what I didn't realize until years later: he never asked me a single question. Not about our customers. Our runway. My conviction. Nothing.

He just told me what he thought.

Ultimately, I proved him wrong. The pivot worked.

Now that I coach business owners and CEOs myself, I think about that conversation. It taught me what not to do.

The best coaches don't have answers. They don't give clichés. They don't give advice. They have questions. They listen. They dig to the bedrock.

When's the last time you asked instead of told?

"This year, I'm going to delegate more."

I've heard this from dozens of business owners and CEOs over the years. I've said it myself.

It sounds decisive. But here's the problem:

It means nothing.

What are you delegating? To whom? By when? What does success look like?
Without answers, "I'm going to delegate more" is just noise. An emotional release disguised as a decision.

I see this every January. Business owners return from the holidays with bold declarations:

"I need to work ON the business, not IN it." 
"I'm going to hold my team more accountable." 
"This is the year I get my life back."

The feeling is real. But feelings aren't plans. And goals aren't systems.

James Clear nailed it in Atomic Habits: we don't rise to the level of our goals. We fall to the level of our systems.

When a CEO tells me they want more accountability, I ask: what's the system?

Weekly check-ins? A structure for feedback? A habit of addressing issues within 48 hours instead of letting them fester?

If the system doesn't exist, the goal won't either. It'll just be a declaration you make again next January.

Business owners and CEOs who actually change don't just set goals. They build systems that make those goals inevitable.

What system is missing from your biggest goal this year?

"Life success over professional success."

A member said this in our #Vistage CEO peer group this week.

He is not even 50 yet.

But he is already asking the question most founders never ask until it is too late.

Here is the formula most of us live by:

Professional success leads to life success.

Work hard. Build the company. Hit the numbers.

Life will follow.

Somewhere between 50 and 55, the formula flips.

And nobody warns you how disorienting that flip will be.

I sold AES in 2022 after 36 years.

I wish I had a coach who asked deeper questions.

I wish I had peers who talked openly about what comes after.

Most peer groups slap you on the back after you sell.

Nobody asks the harder question.

What is your purpose now?

Not playing golf.

Not staying busy with hobbies.

Purpose.

Why did you start this business?

What will matter when you are on that porch at 75?

When the company is no longer there, you will be adrift.

And if your identity is tied to your business, you will not even see it coming.

Nobody questions successful founders and business owners.

They just celebrate your wins.

But what actually happens when you are alone and thinking about things?

You can tell yourself this will come later.

If you are younger, that is true.

The earlier you start reflecting, the more time you have to learn and adjust.

Or you can decide to work and die at your desk.

The choice is yours.

What is the one thing that will matter to you when the company is no longer there?

Are you building a life or just a business?

Most coaches warm people up. I skip straight to the hard part.

"If you had to choose right now, what would you do?"

Sounds harsh. But it works.

If you have aging parents, you've lived this. Mom or Dad hits their 80s. Living alone. The family wants them closer. But they're terrified of becoming a burden. And terrified of being alone if they stay.

Two fears. Both feel real. Neither wins. So nothing happens.

Tracy and I have had these conversations in our own family. Gut-wrenching.

I see the same paralysis in business owners.

Scared to let go of control. Scared to hold on tighter. Same issue circles back week after week. Month after month. No decision. No progress. Just spinning.

That's the real cost. Not the wrong decision. The no decision.

After three years coaching business owners, I've learned to skip the surface questions. I call them bedrock questions. They get past the excuses. Past the "I need more information." Straight to what you already know but won't say out loud.

Clarity creates decisions. Decisions create momentum. Momentum builds on itself.

Sometimes the answer is "not now." That's fine. Park it and move forward. But you have to move.

What decision keeps circling back because you're afraid both options might be wrong?

Two options. Both feel dangerous. So we do nothing.

A client shared something about his mom that made this real. She's at a crossroads. Move closer to family? She fears becoming a burden. Stay independent? She fears being alone.

I was a business owner. I've been there. We all have if we're honest.

Scared to let go of control. Scared to keep holding on. Same result: stuck.

Here's what works. One question that cuts through:

"If you had to choose, what would you do?"

One CEO was paralyzed between promoting internally or hiring from outside. Instead of topsoil questions, I went right to bedrock.

"If you had to decide by Friday, what would you choose?"

He knew instantly. He'd known all along.

Bedrock questions create clarity. Clarity creates momentum. Sometimes the answer is "not now." Park it and move on. But you have to move.

What decision are you avoiding by pretending you need more information?

Moser Roofing Solutions, LLC

Business Development & Commercial Roofing Consultant

The Hanko Family

It's one of my greatest honors to create experiences and memories in our family.  These are of greater value than any material item we can possess or own.  I love our family and cherish the 18 summers I will have raising our girls.  Always a dad and husband first.

CMM - Chief Memory Maker

LeaderUP

COACH 45+ CLIENTS CONCURRENTLY | STREAMLINE CLIENT TRACKING | BUILD MANAGEMENT DOCS

I coach mid & senior corporate executives to discover or create their next career role.  Harnessing the power of mindset, tech, networking and individual practice to empower and equip leaders in discovering career opportunities. Create automation and client milestone management systems to monitor and support 45+ simultaneous clients. Lead bi-weekly group calls and individual 1:1s while creating video trainings and producing new original content.

▪ Managed a 200% increase of clients during the first 90 days from the initial onboarding to client set up and personalized support, including assessment of needs, delivered via 1:1 meetings and group coaching. 
▪ Authored 5 full-scope internal document rewrites to ensure easy navigation, allowing clients to self-direct their progress supporting asynchronous coaching feedback.
▪ Created 75% efficiency in client tracking system providing real-time progress data for clients allowing coaching interactions to identify needs and place services ahead of challenges  
▪ Increased onboarding efficiency 60% thereby improving client retention ultimately leading to clients experiencing rapid success in securing new roles
▪ Reduced client readiness from 45+ days to 14 by creating new personalized documents allowing asynchronous feedback and guidance along with streamlining their readiness for outreach

Lead Coach & Customer Success Manager

The Patuxent School

ESTABLISHED LEARNER-DRIVEN SCHOOL IN MD | 2X VELA GRANT AWARDEE | MSDE CERTIFICATION PROCESS

Founded an Acton Academy affiliate; a school placing children in the driver’s seat of their education. Launched to increase school choice for our family and community desiring to reimagine education in a long underserved community. Hired and trained staff aligned with our mission, ‘to help every child find a calling to change the world’. Led each day Socratically and mentored other owners within the 300+ affiliate locations.

▪  Orchestrated one of the 1st learner-driven schools in Maryland navigating state certification, recruiting families, sourcing grant funding, hiring aligned staff and fulfilling the role of Head of School and Lead Guide. 
▪  Managed digital ads receiving initial 6.5% CTR by crafting socials, print and email campaigns increasing email open rates averaging +50% and building organic growth with personalized messaging.
▪  Implemented Google admin network supporting all devices school-wide along with 7 online educational platforms leading to the autonomy students required to be self-driven and creating independent learners.
▪  Hosted 3 Children’s Business Fairs with 120+ children vendors managing the event, vetting applications, donors, judges and marketing culminating in one-day events at the AAA Bowie Baysox baseball stadium.

Founder & Head of School

Acton Children's Business Fair

I hosted 3 Children's Business Fairs in Prince George's County, Maryland. These one-day events were first held in a church parking lot and grew in size to fill the concourse of the Bowie Baysox baseball game day events.  50+ children operated and profited from their own creations in selling and negotiating with customers. I sourced donations, site selection, business entry applications, awarded 3 age based categories of skills, and directed the event.

Founder & Host

Fairfax County Government

I was responsible as a team member for the full life-cycle of hiring and onboarding civilian & police hires for an 1800+ personnel police department.  I actively worked 15+ backgrounds while meeting stringent deadlines to ensure talent was not lost to other agencies.  I managed the department wide college intern program placing 25 interns per year in various sections of the department.  These placements often yielded future police applicants after their graduation.

Detective - Applicant Backgrounds & Recuiter

I was selected from a competitive process to work in the Organized Crime & Narcotics Bureau.  I worked undercover positions to include an over year long investigation resulting in federal prosecution while being deputized by the FBI.  I trained extensively in tactical vehicle takedowns and building entries.  I was responsible for officer safety, conducting extensive investigations, and managing confidential informants.  I performed hundreds of interviews and interrogations and successfully prosecuted hundreds of criminal cases.

Detective - Street Crimes Unit

Through a selective process I was chosen to join the neighborhood patrol unit.  We utilized bicycles and unmarked vehicles to address longer term issues within communities.  During the holiday season we conducted select enforcement in plainclothes at retail establishments deterring thefts and fraud.

Neighborhood Patrol Unit

As a police officer with the Fairfax County Police Department, I covered a patrol area and was responsible for criminal and traffic enforcement as well as providing community engagement.  Responded to thousands of calls for service working a variety of shifts to include overnight and daytime. I was selected as Officer of the Month, chosen for a selective fugitive enforcement team, and participated in the Study with an Officer program at local schools.  I trained new hires after their graduation from the academy as a Field Training Instructor.

Police Officer

Beltway Homebuyer

CLOSED 100+ OFF-MARKET PROPERTIES | LED 8 PERSON TEAM | 6-FIGURE+ PROFIT YEARS PART-TIME

Founded Beltway Homebuyer, a strategic part-time residential real estate investment business. Leveraged advanced marketing strategies and technological innovations to streamline operations and maximize profitability. Led business partnerships, managing extensive marketing campaigns, and negotiating contracts.

▪  Closed 100+ off market properties developing a cross-functional team sourced with call takers, sales reps, closing attorneys, lenders, appraisers, title attorneys all working to ensure client needs were paramount.
▪  Created 15k in-house direct-mail pieces personalized by handwriting machine mailed monthly.
▪  Reduced lead time 93% from 2 weeks to instantaneous by leading the design of a proprietary web scraper.

I specialized in sourcing off-market residential investments in Prince George's County, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.  I produced 15k pieces of individualized direct-mail monthly from curated niche lists. I negotiated directly with sellers handling contract presentation and managing the lead to closure.  Repeatedly responsible for 6-figure annual returns working one day per week as a side business. Maryland real estate license certified.

Founder & Head of Sales

Washington Wizards

I prepared the players' area for all home games for the Washington Wizards.  I reset the locker room after each game in preparation for the next day.  Real life translation: I wiped up sweat on the playing floor, passed out Gatorade, & folded laundry.  It was a college kid & NBA fan’s dream job and gave me tons of fun stories & experiences!

Team Attendant & Ball Boy

My journey to servant leadership began in my teen years. I had wonderful mentors growing up and was supported in earning the Eagle Scout rank in high school and running my first business mowing lawns around our neighborhood. Through this guidance, I was fortunate enough to work my way through college and graduate debt free. Later, I spent 21 years as a detective uncovering facts, solving problems, and delivering solutions that mattered. After retiring, I founded a school, a thriving real estate business, and a life dedicated to doing hard things outside my comfort zone and helping others discover their passions.

Today, I bring that same passion for problem-solving, trust-building, and service to commercial roofing. At Moser Roofing Solutions, I specialize in eliminating the headaches that business owners and property managers face with their roofs:

1️⃣ Ongoing or persistent leaks.
2️⃣ Unreliable, unresponsive contractors.
3️⃣ Uncertainty about roof conditions, lifespan, & repairs.

With hundreds of clients served and 130+ Google reviews, we’ve earned a reputation for reliability, relationships, and delivering results.

Outside of work, I thrive on challenges—whether it’s completing a 35-mile ruck from DC to Annapolis, running a quarantine marathon, or tackling 1 million pushups (currently at 517,850 as of December 2024). Every step of my journey has been about one thing: SERVICE with integrity and intention.

Ready to Eliminate Roofing Stress?
Let’s connect. Book an appointment using the button above or send me a message to explore how we can protect your business and simplify your roofing needs.

Ed Hanko

I keep asking where the ‘expert ladder holders’ link up.

Grateful to have a real ‘roofing’ team behind me at Moser Roofing Solutions, LLC.

Sweet side perk to have some R&R with my beautiful bride.

I passed a police officer driving the opposite way today.

I waved at her.

She probably thought...why's that guy acting suspicious.

Old work habits die hard.

Today I also felt some kindred energy over a coffee with a true public servant.  

Happy to finally link up in real life and talk everything public service and community service with Suzi Sutton.

Bonus: having the chance to drop some 'hose dragger' jokes (police & fire love each other but tease like siblings)

Make sure you're linked up with Suzi - she's doing some very cool things in Conestoga Valley and not only building community, but serving community with her role at Lafayette Fire Company.

You Oughta Know…
It’s Ironic…

I’m trying to Walk the Line, stuck in a personal Ring of Fire… 

Telling myself Keep Ya Head Up.

🎶🎶🎶

LinkedIn is a connection platform.
It shrinks the world.

Still, it can feel scary to post here. 

What if nobody likes it.
Or no one comments. 

Post it anyways. 

Find what works for you and post once a week or whatever suits you. Because nobody just wants Ed on repeat.  Share your ideas.

Or start easy, with commenting. Build that muscle and before you know it you’ll ship a post without hesitation.  

But, make sure your comments are meaningful. Aim to add more value than, ‘Congratulations Kim’.  Or at least follow up with a DM to Kim. Connect well.

Let’s practice and keep it fun…

If this whole LinkedIn game is connections, music is an easy cheat code.

Some of you may never partner with me for your commercial roof needs after seeing my list of 3, but that’s okay. You aren’t supposed to be everyone’s cuppa tea.

Let’s learn a little bit about each other.

3 artists I never skip or change the station on:

Alanis Morissette 
Johnny Cash
2Pac

Your turn.

Tell me what 3 artists you aren’t skipping in the comments.

PS for some reason 📷 August Burns Red is getting more plays lately.  

PPS anything with a banjo soothes my soul

🔴⚪️ Lancaster Loop Profile

She grew up in Lancaster City. 
But she never came downtown.

Not once.

Downtown just…wasn’t for her. It wasn’t even on her radar. As she put it..."This wasn't a place my people came."

Today, she’s creating right in the center of Downtown Lancaster.

Tatiana Tisdale is a resident artist at the Lancaster Art Vault. (next to Binns Park on N Queen)

And now that she's here, Tatiana is asking a better question than I ever could...

“How do I lift kids’ eyes, the one's who were like me, to the horizon?”

Because if she almost missed downtown…how many other kids are missing what’s possible here?

She’s self-taught.
Always been creative.
Talented across a bunch of mediums.
Right now, abstract painting is her conduit.

Her Instagram? A full-on secondary creative playground.
https://lnkd.in/e2srcC-m

We talked about her process and journey.
The grind of creating beauty and then hoping it's seen.
Her hoodie is so covered in paint people ask,
“Where’d you buy that, I want one”
(even your mistakes are art...I pointed out)

She’s filled walls at Denim Coffee.
Done commissions and had gallery shows.
She’s a connector and a people person.
Spotlights other artists every chance she gets.

And now she has a question for you and I...

“Know any businesses or friends who’d showcase my work locally?”

If that’s you (or someone you know),
Link with her here, on Instagram on her site.
https://lnkd.in/eSMQcaVg

She’d never even heard of LinkedIn.
(She has now...you know I nerded out a bit)

This week, I'm proud to highlight Tatiana as the Lancaster Loop cover image artist.  Wait til you see how she photographed her work, in a special spot in Lancaster.

Her piece Exhalation is for sale (between us in the pic)

Giveaway: Blood Moon Falling (another original) will go to one lucky winner in Tuesday’s newsletter.

The winner also gets a 20-minute consult with Tatiana + 30% off a newly commissioned piece.

The Lancaster Loop goes out Tuesday at 7:17 AM.
It’s the anti-algorithm.
Skips the doom scroll.
Delivers the good stuff in Lancaster.
Food. Events. Orgs. Humans… like Tatiana.

🔴⚪️ Join 6,000+ Lancastrians reading the Lancaster Loop free every week... lancloop.com/subscribe

PS Sneak peek...this week, you’ll also hear how to meet Tatiana (and other neighbors doing amazing things) at the soon-to-launch Lancaster Loop Dinner Club.

Nothing gets me in my feels more than an owner walking me through a tour of the “baby” they’ve built.

Their home that pays their bills. Puts food on their family's plate. 
The extension of them they’ve nurtured to life. 
Their business.

I can feel it in my bones.

The tears. The long days.
The missed dinners.
The “I’ll catch up next time” texts.

Business ownership often comes with a steep cost.

Yesterday I walked a shop that’s been 30+ years in the making.

Machines being built. 
Customers orders being shipped.
Products that'll last a lifetime in service to others.

My invitation was simple.
Help protect all of that.

Operations.
People.
Products.

Keep. It. Dry.

Your roof protects your business.
We protect your roof.

If you’ve poured yourself into a place like that and you’re not sure what’s happening over your head let's chat.

Any guesses on what type of machine I'm standing with?

From sad, saggy, lumpy blobs... 

To crunchy, crackly, yummy loaves.

First shot at French baguettes yesterday.

Ready, Fire, Aim.

I was certain the 'befores' on the left would barely sop up our stew.

Turns out tossing ice into a 475° cast iron under the loaves causes a steam bath that makes'em pop!

One loaf disappeared before the stew even made it to our bowls.

Where will Massive Imperfect Action take you this week?

5 reasons working with Ed (and the Moser Roofing safety first approach) beats 'cheap & fast' up there on your commercial roof… 

1. No one gets hurt while your roof work is completed...761 days & counting.

2. I'm known to deliver round circles of joy...of the donut & apple variety.

3. Your roof protects everyyyyyyyything.

4. OSHA ❤️s you.

5. Zero gate-keeping..what we see up there is delivered straight to your eyes with photos & gps tagged locations.

(ps don’t worry, we still move fast… we just keep our crews tied off, flagged off, and walking off the roof at the end of the day)

Don't ignore the call, your roof needs ya!

One of the sweeter remote work spaces I’ve ever been so grateful to experience…

In Nashville for a Moser Roofing Solutions, LLC work conference and putting together next week’s newsletter for the Lancaster Loop.

Anybody on Linkyland in Nashville?

Gonna find our way downtown later tonight and chase down some steel guitars & banjo pickin…

taplio

The Battle

Jim Schultz

Ed Hanko

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taplio

The Battle

Jim Schultz

Ed Hanko

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jim Schultz's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreJim Schultz's LinkedIn Performance