When I was a kid, my dad had two jobs: managing mainframe computers, and cleaning office buildings. Occasionally, he’d ask me to tag along and lend him a hand. It was my job to clean the toilets. If my effort didn’t meet his standards, I’d hear about it. “How hard you work reflects who you are,” he’d say. “How you do one thing is how you do everything." The message stuck. When I left my hometown of Honolulu, Hawaii to attend Bowdoin College in Maine, I embraced my new life with passion and conviction. Whatever I was studying—be it religion, art, science or sociology—I wanted to learn as much as I could. It was that enduring curiosity that sparked my interest in business. From the beginning, I knew that any company I started had to reflect certain core values: Authenticity, Creativity, Dynamism, Growth. In 2001, I launched my first business—Apex Marketing—in a converted chicken coop in Litchfield, Maine. It might have been small, but we felt like anything was possible, and we quickly won a Telly Award for one of our 60-second product spots. If Apex showed me what was possible, my next venture—Novaya Mortgage, started in 2005—introduced me to the harsh realities of business. By 2007, we’d grown from a handful of staffers to a team of more than 150 employees. You can probably guess what happened next. The housing market collapsed, credit stalled, and the company had to shut its doors for good. But I didn’t stop creating. In 2008, I founded Bull Run Media. Our niche was custom media—empowering people to tell their stories in a way that strengthens their relationships (and their business). Our first publication, U.S. Developers Journal, quickly took off. We were onto something. Launched in 2010 and now headquartered in Portland, Maine, Trueline represents the evolution of that model: an independent, full-service marketing and consulting business that provides strategy, content and design for clients across industries—both in Maine and around the world. At Trueline, I like to call us “The Eternal Startup”: a place where creativity and innovation never cease; where people are encouraged to be authentic and create their own roles; and where everyone has a stake in the company’s success. Oh, and there’s a sweet ping-pong table in the breakroom. My goal is to bring those values and knowledge to you. It’s a job that I—that We—take seriously. “How you do one thing is how you do everything," I say. And then share it with the world.