John didn’t start by seeking to become an expert in new projects and endeavors. That’s just where life has taken him, as he has repeatedly answered the call to help organize people and solve problems of interest to him.

In college John tutored and mentored young people in underserved communities. Seeing the need for good teachers, John pursued a master’s degree in teaching and taught math in the public schools. Subsequently, his family needed him to revive the struggling family business – the Willard Motel in Duluth, Minnesota. John started new business enterprises, re-branded the motel as the Willard Munger Inn, re-financed, and launched a new advertising campaign to bring in new business. 

A few years later John went on to law school in Minneapolis. He emerged as a litigator, practicing business, malpractice, and municipal law. 

John had always been an avid cross country skier and was bothered when the local municipal ski area did not live up to the promise of what John thought it could be – thriving ski and bike trails, a community and event center, and a center of gravity for youth development. When the new mayor called a meeting to talk about this very topic, John jumped at the chance to attend. Afterwards, he began to organize those in attendance, and before he knew it he had started a new organization – the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation. The organization leaned on John’s expertise in municipal law to work with the parks, it leaned on John’s organizational skills to start new community events like the City of Lakes Loppet, and it leaned on John’s experience as a teacher to start programming designed to encourage outdoor activity among underserved youth.   

John found himself the leader of this new organization and eventually left the practice of law to devote himself full time to the Foundation. Over the next fifteen years John built the organization with new endeavor after new endeavor – always with the goal of building enough scale and appeal that the organization could become sustainable for the long-term. To this end, the Foundation added year-round events. It added more and more programmatic efforts – for both youth and adults. It partnered with the parks, the City, and the public schools to build new trails and add new programming. As the organization grew and changed into a year-round organization, it re-branded as the Loppet Foundation. John led the efforts to craft an agreement and raise the funds for a groundbreaking public-private partnership that resulted in a $12 Million community center and trails project in the park. After the completion of this project, John created new business structures and brought in national and international events, ultimately creating a sustainable organization that continues to have a major impact on the Minneapolis community. 

The advent of COVID coincided with the maturation of the Loppet Foundation, and John decided it was time to step away. John continues to love new challenges, but his focus now is on using his skills – his creativity in business, partnership and entrepreneurial endeavors, his legal background, his storytelling and writing skills, his network, his teaching, and his organization and communication skills – to help individuals and organizations realize their potential.  

Or, the short way of putting it, John helps organizations with new initiatives. He started consulting because he loves working with great organizations and great people in order to help them unlock their potential and maximize their impact on the world.