Ventures - 20+ years of building businesses that matter

in815 is the app I wanted Rockford to have. Finding out what was happening here meant piecing together a dead events calendar, scattered posts, and national feeds with nothing to do with the 815 — so we built the version we wanted, where the events, the conversations, the clubs, and the video are all actually local.

The app spans six pillars — Discuss, Events, Clubs, Watch, Create, and Book — across 45 towns mapped around Rockford. It runs on iPhone and Android, it is free, and it is invite-only while we open it up a batch at a time.

I built Realms.tv to give creators more than a subscription page. The platform combines live event hosting, engagement tools, and community features into a single experience — and in its first year, it's generating nearly $1M in annual revenue with 25+ active creator realms.

The platform has hosted thousands of live streams including an Avenged Sevenfold album release party, Blue Angels coverage, band competitions, sporting events, and a continuing education conference with 5,000+ concurrent viewers.

I co-founded Umoja.gg as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit built on a simple belief: every young person deserves access to sports, community, and opportunity. The organization runs soccer camps, competitive tournaments, and Rocket League esports programs — reaching youth where they are, whether on the pitch or behind a screen.

Our events regularly bring together 50-100 kids each, and we've donated shoes, gear, and equipment to young athletes in need. Rockford FC Academy operates as a subsidiary, extending our mission into structured year-round youth development.

I founded Audentio in 2007 from a library computer as a teenager and grew it into a full-service digital agency with 15+ team members, 50+ clients, and over $2M in annual revenue. The agency served organizations ranging from early-stage startups to billion-dollar media companies like Ars Technica, IGN, and Yahoo Sports.

After nearly two decades of building the business, I sold Audentio to an investor. The agency continues to operate, a testament to the team, processes, and client relationships I built from the ground up.

Rockford FC Academy is a youth soccer organization I lead as President under the Umoja nonprofit umbrella. The academy offers structured training programs across five distinct age groups and fields a competitive U23 adult team, creating a pathway from youth development to higher-level competition.

Beyond the organizational leadership, I'm hands-on — coaching, driving marketing and growth strategy, and providing operational resources to ensure every young athlete in Rockford has access to quality soccer development.

I founded ThemeHouse in 2016 and grew it from a handful of forum themes into a full-scale digital products marketplace serving WordPress, Shopify, and community platform users worldwide. The marketplace surpassed $3M in total revenue and 50,000 products sold.

I built the business end-to-end — product strategy, marketplace design, e-commerce infrastructure, licensing systems, and the customer experience that earned a reputation for quality and trust across the community platform ecosystem.

Mythos is a talent and media studio I founded to bring together exceptional creative talent with the brands and audiences that need them. The studio operates across three pillars: representation, strategy, and production.

Already working with 10-20 creators across video, photography, and art, with active video production underway including brand videos for Umoja and Audentio.

I built HouseCup to solve a problem every team faces: keeping people engaged, connected, and encouraging each other — especially in remote and hybrid environments. The bot integrates directly into Slack and Discord, turning everyday interactions into opportunities for recognition and friendly competition.

HouseCup brings the concept of house systems to the workplace — teams are sorted into houses and earn points through participation, encouragement, and collaboration. It's a lightweight, fun layer on top of the tools teams already use, designed to build culture without adding friction.

I built LaundryMate to make laundry as easy as ordering a rideshare — schedule a pickup, get it cleaned, and have it delivered back. The app paired a consumer-facing mobile experience with a point-of-sale system I designed specifically for laundromat operators, creating a two-sided marketplace.

LaundryMate taught me how to take a product from zero to one across branding, app design, React Native development, and go-to-market strategy. While the business didn't survive long-term, the experience shaped how I approach product development and startup execution today.

I started Nova Web Design to solve a problem I kept seeing in Rockford: local businesses that needed a web presence but couldn't navigate the maze of designers, hosting providers, and social media platforms. I bundled everything into one affordable monthly package — design, hosting, domain management, and social media.

Nova served 30+ local businesses during its active years and taught me how to sell, deliver, and support a service product. It was my first real experience running a client services business, and the lessons I learned about simplicity, pricing, and customer relationships carried into everything I've built since.