My first management class in college was taught by the dean of the school of business. One day in class, he played an audio recording of Tom Peters talking about his book In Search of Excellence. From then until now, I have been fascinated with management and leadership. In 2010, I added Behavioral Economics and, subsequently, Behavioral Science. I’ve read over 500 books and thousands of articles and listened to hundreds of podcast episodes on every aspect of management, leadership, and behavioral science. I’m kind of obsessed.

I’m not an academic. I have tons of practical experience from holding leadership position in companies large and small. From a small, struggling family business called Adams Produce, to a multi-billion-dollar conglomerate called Agway, to volunteer leadership positions at a Chamber, a. large church, and several non-profits, including the Atlanta Produce Dealers Association and the Aerotropolis Atlanta Alliance, I led in many battles and boardrooms even before the biggest challenges of my career.

In 2004, I launched my own startup. I convinced investors to invest, great people to become employees, customers to buy from us and vendor to sell to us. In just a few years, it grew from an idea to $21 million in annual revenue, with 64 employees and 80,000 square feet of cold storage and packing facilities. We sourced, packed, sold, and shipped 1.2 million pounds of produce each week, across the Southeastern United States and the Caribbean. I successfully sold the company in its 11th year.

I left the produce industry to make a larger positive impact on more people, through executive coaching, executive group facilitation, corporate training, and as the Executive in Residence at Clayton State University’s College of Business.

One of my coaching clients was the CEO of Heritage Bank, which led to me doing coaching and training as an employee of the bank and, after a merger, becoming Chief People Officer and serving on the executive teach of Heritage Southeast Bank (a $1.7 billion bank in Georgia).

In 2020, I left HSB and founded Engaged Banker eXperience to deliver behavioral science-based tools and ways of thinking specifically designed to help community bankers thrive. Since then, I’ve done hundreds of executive coaching sessions, dozens of corporate training classes, and taught at Georgia Banking School and the North Carolina School of Banking.

Engaged Banker eXperience is the best job I’ve ever had. It’s incredibly fulfilling to help people become happier, healthier, wiser, and more successful.

Lon