I have always loved the outdoors and been a friend and advocate for the environment from an early age. Starting Equinox was my way of earning a living while doing my part to help protect the environment. Prior to my environmental consulting career, I worked for about 10 years as a stonemason. I saw and participated firsthand in the sprawling development patterns that were overrunning farms and forests and damaging rivers and streams. While I enjoyed stonework (and still do an occasional job or two when I feel like it), I did not feel fully satisfied in that career or that I was making full use of my gifts. I felt called to help make the world a better place by being more actively involved in caring for creation.
I am not anti-development or anti-growth. There is great value in creating and in building. I am fascinated with and enjoy business. I just believe in using resources wisely and that some places are best left alone and in their natural state. I believe that you can actually have a healthy economy and a healthy environment, and in fact, that these two are intertwined. You can’t have one without the other – at least over the long term. At Equinox, we try to promote that balance. That’s why our name is Equinox. That’s why our mission is to facilitate both conservation AND sustainable development. That’s why we not only have biologists on our staff to develop conservation solutions but why we also employ designers and planners to help our clients use resources, of course in an environmentally responsible manner.
I have a master of Public Administration degree with a concentration in Environmental Policy and Planning from East Carolina University. I also have a bachelor of arts in Anthropology with a concentration in Appalachian Studies from Appalachian State University. I have 20 years of combined experience as a business owner. I mostly work in the office these days trying to lead and manage the company. Within Equinox and with clients, I focus mostly on strategic planning, marketing and public relations, stakeholder coordination, finance and accounting, and organizational development matters. I also serve as a field technician when needed, and as an analyst, writer and editor. One of my main passions is building bridges between people who might start out in disagreement and creating solutions together that produce wins for everybody. I also like everything about teamwork – building and participating in effective teams and cultivating a team dynamic where individuals and the team can thrive.
I play basketball as often as I can, where as a point guard I take pride in getting my teammates the ball when they need it and in scoring position. I can also score. I like to coach youth basketball. I like to volunteer in social ministries with a particular interest in mental health and homelessness issues. I attend church at First Presbyterian in downtown Asheville. I was recently selected to serve on the Technical Advisory Group for the Mountain Resources Commission, where I hope to be able to contribute to the protection of our mountain environment and a strong and sustainable economy here.
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