You founded MKS2 Technologies, an Information Technology and Cyber Security consultancy firm, in 2008. When did you know you wanted to start your own business?
For me, my journey as an entrepreneur began in elementary school selling Blow Pop lollipops from my backpack to classmates, but it progressed when my dad put me to work at his lumber yard in South Bend, Indiana.
A former Special Forces Green Beret Officer, my dad had me mowing lawns, counting screws, nails, and nuts and bolts during inventory, as well as clearing trash and litter along the fence line during the early morning hours.
Eventually, my responsibility and my meager hourly rate grew and my dad assigned me to work closely with some of his long-term teammates – Darwin, Ed, and Bob. They were part of the Teamsters Local 364 and they professionally ran the lumber yard and all the deliveries in North Central Indiana.
Darwin, Ed, and Bob worked alongside my father for 30+ years, and with hesitation, my most valuable education as a young man, and eventually, as a small business owner came from the experiences working with them.
Delivering sheet rock and two-by-fours, and sandwiched in the cab of the delivery truck, listening to their stories and absorbing all invaluable insights about life, love, challenges, parenthood, and business was the best education I could have ever dreamt.
Years later, after serving in the US Army, I found myself yearning to build something meaningful and special, similar to my father, and that’s when I decided to launch my own business, MKS2, LLC, with a $250 check.
In fifteen years, your company has grown substantially. For seven consecutive years, you’ve been named to Inc. Magazine’s fastest-growing companies list. You also recently won a $221M five-year contract with the US Army. How have you successfully scaled your business and how has your leadership style evolved as the company has grown?
Serenity now! For all the Seinfeld fans, you know what I’m talking about.
It’s been a crazy and rewarding journey.
For the first eight years of our 15-year existence, I was the only employee, and today, we have 732 full-time teammates in all 50 states, including teammates in Germany, Italy, Japan, and Korea.
In the early stages, I was deeply involved in day-to-day operations. Anything that needed to be done, from selling, filing annual reports, finding new insurance, recruiting, onboarding, running AR and collecting AP. If something was going to happen, it fell on my shoulders. As the company grew, we had to transition and delegate tasks to individuals and teams if MKS2 would continue to mature. It was very hard for me to shift my focus and energy from tactical decision-making to more strategic planning and adopting a big-picture strategic implementation plan vision for the company.
As I’ve loosened my grip on all the roles in the business, I’ve tried to be more of a servant leader – I have high expectations for the team, but to be remotely successful, I have to support them by doing my best for them (not the other way around). Whatever they need to get the job done, I want to give them, including giving them space to take risks). Our company can only continue to grow if we continue to evolve and modify how we do things.
But lastly, and most importantly, without feedback from your leaders and your teammates, there’s zero chance that a vision is realized without team-wide understanding and assigning ownership down from the longest-tenured teammate to the newest-tenured teammate.
You began your career as a Combat Engineer officer in the United States Army. How do you think your military service has influenced or impacted your entrepreneurial journey?
One of the most impactful lessons I learned during my military service was the immense value of diversity
In the Army, I had the privilege of working alongside individuals from countless walks of life, with diverse backgrounds, beliefs, and perspectives. This diversity of thought, experiences, and backgrounds is one of the defining reasons that the US Army is the most powerful militaries on earth.
The melting pot of personalities and thoughts only serves to enrich our collective knowledge and decision-making and it taught me that embracing this diversity can lead to more innovative solutions, foster creativity, and ultimately drive positive outcomes in any organization.
In the military, we were united by a shared purpose and mission. We worked tirelessly for the soldier next to us, understanding that our collective efforts were vital to achieving our common goals. This sense of camaraderie and dedication to a shared mission has had a lasting impact on my approach to entrepreneurship. In the business world, just as in the military, success often hinges on the ability of a diverse team to come together, work cohesively, and relentlessly pursue a common goal.
Moreover, the military instilled in me a strong work ethic, personal accountability, resilience, and the determination to overcome challenges. These qualities have been invaluable in my entrepreneurial journey, where setbacks are quite common, and the ability to persevere and fight is essential.
Proudly, over 37% of MKS2’s workforce served in the military.
Entrepreneurship has its fair share of challenges. What trait or characteristic do you think has benefitted you the most in your entrepreneurial journey and helped you weather those storms?
No matter the phase of growth a company sits within, there will always be storms and if a company can withstand the storms and move through the crises – then, congratulations, you’ve survived!
However, there’s no time to rest on your laurels, because you’ve now moved into a new phase of growth that shares new challenges and storms. Resilience is key to meeting the new challenges that arise – and it’s the only way to get to the next phase of business growth.
In 1972, 50 years ago, Larry Greiner wrote a seminal piece in Harvard Business Review called, “Evolution and Revolution as Businesses Grow,” and for the last 7 years, it’s the only PDF that always remains saved on my desktop.
Though decades old, this article perfectly aligns with every stage and crisis that MKS2 has faced and I use the article as my own personal framework to validate where we are within our lifecycle, but also, to help me and the team acknowledge future challenges so we are far more proactive versus reactive. As part of our company values, we acknowledge prioritizing resilience and evolution are the only ways to remain relevant and to ensure a sustainable business.
As a business founder and owner, how has being part of the Texas entrepreneurial eco-system benefited you?
Being part of the Texas entrepreneurial ecosystem has been fantastic and being an alum of TBHF is beyond an honor. Texas, and especially Austin, is unlike any other business community I’ve operated in. It’s a very collaborative environment, both professionally and personally. If you are a good person, and practice the Golden Rule people will bend over backwards in support of you and your team.