John is a builder and mentor who believes leadership is a responsibility, trust is sacred, and the greatest measure of success is helping others rise.
brand-strategy
Southwest Airlines ended its 54-year "bags fly free" policy on May 28th, 2025, trading a vision that inspired loyalty for a business model that generates revenue and in doing so, committed the fastest way to ruin a historic brand: betrayal.
breakthrough
We wear our habits as surely as we wear our skin. Understanding the connection between identity and behavior is the key to lasting change.
luxury-hospitality
Modern luxury has nothing to do with price tags and velvet ropes. It's about designing spaces where people finally feel allowed to be themselves.
Community
On loneliness, belonging, and the quiet rebellion of spaces that remember what it means to be alive together
We live and die by our people, yet built an industry on their instability. Time to pay living wages and let sincere generosity breed generosity.
breakthrough
Most brand experiences are forgotten within hours. Some stick for decades. What makes the difference?
breakthrough
We confuse easy (familiar, low effort) with simple (few moving parts). This creates complexity debt that compounds. True simplicity requires ruthless subtraction.
Why we can't see our own blind spots (and what to do about it)
physics
Each hammer blow transmits energy into the stone's molecular structure, accumulating in an invisible reservoir. The breakthrough isn't caused by the final blow; it's the inevitable release of all that stored energy reaching critical mass.
This is the most expensive thing you'll never see on a balance sheet: the moment someone decides you don't understand them or their world. The most expensive mistake you can make is failing to recognize the person in front of you as the hero of their own story.
Leadership
The smallest change in perspective can transform entire outcomes. Someone once said, 'If you don't have leverage, create it.' That's the ultimate perspective shift; refusing to accept apparent limitations and instead asking what you're missing.
Leadership
Great leaders do more than analyze data. They connect patterns others miss. With curiosity and genuine care, they anticipate change, build trust, and guide teams through complexity with clarity and resilience.