The Early Years
1963 – 1986
I was born in South Chicago in 1963. My father had just left his job as a corporate lawyer in the USA to become the founder of McDonald’s in Canada – which meant packing our bags and moving my mom and his American-born sons to Toronto.
Although I didn’t know it at the time, that was the first small step in what would turn out to be a lifelong career of international adventure…
High School & University
I loved living in Canada playing rugby and the saxophone (something that I still haven’t put down to this day) – and when I finished school, I attended The University of Western Ontario where I was the Students’ Council Vice President of Communications. The lessons I learned about the issues facing universities would later translate to the issues of a global company, a village in India and conducting business in Russia.
Operation Raleigh
After graduating In 1985, and a short stint as a courier driver, I embarked on an expedition with Operation Raleigh into the jungles of Chile to conduct a road survey for the extension of the Pan American highway.
Breaking Out
When I emerged from the jungle, the first thing I saw was a Coca-Cola sign and the irony is not lost on me that it became the company I ended up working for the next fourteen years.
