Chris Busch
I love business. And I love to help other people succeed.
My background is pretty diverse, which has granted me many unique experiences.
My undergraduate degree is in Math, with minors in Physics and Business. I didn't like math that well. But I was good at it in high school. I discovered how much I liked business during my junior year in college. I could have switched majors, but that would have extended my graduation date by at least six months to a year. So I gutted it out in math. Then I went back after graduation and finished the biz courses I needed to get into grad school and went on to get my MBA at the University of Tulsa.
My first seven years were spent working at my undergraduate alma mater, Oral Roberts University. I eventually became Vice President of Business Affairs (at the tender age of 26) and got some great management, financial and even some good direct marketing experience there during my tenure. And I got to be involved quite a bit in television production and organized live multi-day events for over 3,000 attendees from distant locations.
After a brief tenure handling real estate and stock investments for my ex-boss I hung out my shingle as a business consultant. I worked with several different businesses and even a large church and enjoyed the diversity and the interesting problems that had to be solved.
I went into partnership with one of my clients and together we built a string of companies that at peak employed 100+ workers. We duplicated high volumes of audio cassettes, manufactured and marketed pickup truck bed liners, duplicated high volumes of floppy disks (remember those?) and sold a lot of products through direct response television advertising and direct mail.
I learned a lot during the growth years with those ventures, but I think I learned more during the down years which ultimately ended in bankruptcy for me. I hung out a shingle again and began my consulting practice. I spent the next two years working mostly with a direct mail company which also resulted in my running a nice commercial printing operation in Dallas for a year.
But the kids were young and the travel was causing me to miss more of their lives than I could bear. So I came off the road and got a job locally. Actually three jobs. I taught school at a local Christian high school, coached basketball for another school, and served as the associate pastor of a small church.
I'm so thankful for those years because I got to be at home with my wife and children. I also learned a lot. Teaching high school showed me how out of touch I was with the younger generation. My students taught me far more than I taught them. Coaching reminded me of how much fun it can be to help other people succeed and reach their goals. Pastoring gave me insights into people and human behavior I could have gained no other way.
Then about five years ago I joined an advertising agency, and I found that work there provided a unique platform for me to synthesize all that had preceded, even my going door-to-door selling greeting cards. In the course of my work I happened upon a seminar in Austin, TX taught by the Wizard of Ads, Roy Williams. His effect on my life since has been profound.
As I write this, Linda and I are celebrating our 34th wedding anniversary. I have two daughters and one son, a son-in-law and two grandsons who together multiply joy and meaning for my life.