From 1987 to 2009, I had the honor of serving in leadership roles for California Closets, a company that sold, designed, and installed custom closet and storage solutions. Hired initially as General Counsel, I became the majority owner in 1994 and served as CEO from that point to 2009. Over those 22 years, together with my team, the company grew to $300 million in annual revenue.

In my tenure, the company, which was initially privately held, was sold twice. The second time was in 1999 when my partner and I sold our majority stake to a public company, and I remained on for another 10 years as CEO and a minority owner. Because of those transactions, we would not have met the Private criteria to be considered an Evergreen® company today, had the term been coined at that point. That said, from what I now know of Tugboat Institute®, I firmly believe that our success was the result of my aligning naturally with the Evergreen 7Ps® principles, which set us apart from other franchise businesses.