How Did You Get Your Start?

I was obsessed with Jacques Cousteau as a kid.

At 15, my dad took me to the Smithsonian where I heard Dr. Eugenie Clark, the “Shark Lady,” talk about her adventures with Cousteau.

I told her my dreams of being a marine biologist, and she asked me to write her a letter. That letter led to a research expedition to the Egyptian Red Sea, which led to years of working with her in the lab and field.

At UVA, I studied Environmental Science, but wanted more business exposure, so I took a job in financial research in D.C. My wife, going to UVA grad school, brought me back to Charlottesville, not knowing what to do.

A friend (and fellow Hoo) connected me with someone working for Musictoday, an e-commerce company that grew out of Dave Matthews Band. I spent 6 years there and eventually becoming Executive Vice President of Business Development and Sales – working with artists from Madonna to Metallica.

I moved back to NOVA after having our first child, and decided to explore entrepreneurship with my friend Philippe Cousteau, Jr. (grandson of Jaques Cousteau), who was my roommate during an expedition I did with the Shark Lady in my 3rd year at UVA.

I had already been advising his family on their non-profit, EarthEcho International, and we began pursuing the intersection of environmental stories and the built space.

We landed our first project in Costa Rica with Steve Case (founder of AOL) designing and planning a high-end eco-resort. That project pulled me into real estate, sustainability, and hospitality – which has defined my career for the last 20 years (including many partnerships with UVA).