BRIAN SHARP
I'm a husband, a dad of 3, and a life-long entrepreneur. For the past 27 years I've been building teams and companies. From start ups to $100M companies, it has been an amazing journey and a learning experience I'm truly grateful for.
However, my most important and challenging work has been, and continues to be, effectively managing my mindset - finding the balance between high performance and happiness.
It's this journey that finds us here together. I hope sharing my path and perspective can help you and your teams in a meaningful way.
ABOUT ME
I'm a husband to my bride of nearly 20 years, and a dad to 3 (17 and 15 year old boys, 11 year old girl). Oh and we have a lot of animals - a lot (latest score: Cats - 4, Dogs - 1). I'm a native Northern Californian, born in San Francisco, and reside in Northern California in the foothills about an hour from Tahoe - my happy place.
I'm a die hard SF sports fan and love anything to do with board sports or water. I need music on - always. I'm an aspiring blogger and podcaster. I'm a terrible cook. I've not had fast food in over 20 years, but I have a weakness for pizza and chocolate. I firmly believe Halloween is the best holiday of the year. I have trouble sitting still, but my Peloton bike is still my nemesis. I'm also a sucker for sunsets and Fall foliage.
When I'm not working hard building teams and companies, you’ll find me playing hard with my family - on a mountain bike, on a hike, paddling or snowboarding at our favorite place - Lake Tahoe. Or simply winding down with my wife and a nice glass of red wine.
MY EXPERIENCE
For the last 27 years I've been building businesses and teams in roles that included President, CEO, CMO & COO. During that time I've hired, managed and mentored nearly 1,000 employees and contractors while leading companies ranging from boot-strapped start-ups and turnarounds to my latest company now valued over $100 Million where I serve as President & COO.
I started my first company at 22 (unless you count my DJ company at age 14, "Sharp Sounds" 😁) and since them have been a solopreneur, small business owner, partner, and executive. I've started, closed, bought, sold, raised capital for and partnered with companies at virtually every stage.
I’ve worked with investors, partners, family, friends, in-laws and even my wife. I built businesses through the dot.com bust of 2000, the attacks of September 11th, the Great Recession of 2008 and most recently the COVID-19 outbreak. So by this point I've seen, experienced and learned from quite a journey that continues to be a great teacher about everything from strategy and management to people and most certainly myself.
Along my entire journey I’ve been fortunate to have been (and continue to be) mentored, supported, loved and coached by some of the best and smartest humans ever. Most notably, my amazingly patient, wise and supportive bride of nearly 20 years.
Throughout it all, what's kept me in the game and able to achieve some level of success is an ability to apply an innovative, passionate and resourceful approach to growing revenue and building value for SMB companies. I essentially built my career on being known for an ability to quickly and strategically scale SMBs while remaining scrappy.
MY PHILOSOPHY
I believe building a "Help & Hustle" culture is key to building any successful company. I believe in hard work but value work/life balance - and getting better at it myself. I believe in mentors and learning from them while celebrating the success of others. I believe in giving back when and how you can. I believe in trusting your teams and that employees are as important as customers. And I believe in having some fun on the crazy, wild ride of building a company.
MY MISSION
My most important and challenging work has been, and continues to be, effectively managing my mindset - finding the balance between high performance and happiness.
It took me a long time to understand this, too long. I paid a steep price for a great portion of my career as I tried to battle through and white-knuckle my way to success. For far too long, I battled stress, anxiety, depression, fatigue and burnout as I didn't understand, or frankly, even consider the concept of balance in my life.
I want both high performance and happiness - and have learned you don't have to compromise. You can have both. I believe there is a way to build a great business, life, marriage family and community - without sacrificing your health or happiness. There is a way to build a great team and company without burnout. There is a way to create balance in your life and business. It's possible to deliver your best results and feel your best.
My blog is a small way of sharing my own journey as I work to better understand that ever illusive work-life balance that so many of us seek. And while I'm still on this journey, I want to help others do it faster and better than I did. I hope in some small way I can untangle the connection between High Performance and Happiness.
Simply put: I want to improve the quality of lives of business leaders.
It's time to get better, together.