Last month marked the first anniversary of the founding of Grace Camp® Consulting, LLC. Over the past year, some of you have asked about the name. Why did you choose that for your company name? Why not your own name? (Don't people know Johnson & Johnson is already taken?!)

I could give you the obvious answer, the definition approach. Grace means poise, finesse, agility. Camp is a place you go to learn and build skills. Or I could go the Latin origin route.  Gratia means pleasing and campus means level ground. Either approach works, because Grace Camp offers services (training, speaking, coaching) to build skills in order to develop the best version of you.

So you can better lead yourself, your family, your community, and your company (with poise and agility to a pleasing level ground).

If I stopped there, while consistent to the company mission, it wouldn't be the whole story.  The name grace camp actually originated with a small group of friends who wanted to do a study on grace.  We met Saturday mornings in Cincinnati to learn about grace, support one another and build our skills and our faith! 

But the main reason I chose it was to acknowledge two foundational pillars that significantly influenced me and my success in corporate America for 30 years:  my faith (represented by Grace) and my sports background (represented by Camp). 

Grace is such a beautiful space. Unmerited favor freely given by God in a merit-filled world. What a gift. I am used to a merit-filled world and even thrived in it...both as a college athlete and also as a corporate athlete.  But it's not always easy to find grace in a merit driven world, which is one reason why it is a core foundation of my company, as I believe you can have both!

Camp is such a special place. I was a camp counselor for many years, mainly at basketball camps (where the pay was sparse and accommodations even sparser!) But we played a lot of hoops, coached a lot of kids, worked hard, competed as a team, learned to win, lose and have fun. We became better players and leaders both on and off the court, a key outcome you can expect when working with my company.

So there you have it. Grace Camp®. It is a reflection of who I am, what I believe and what I plan to accomplish with those of you who want to take this ride with me.  For those of you who inquired about the company name, thanks for asking. 

And thanks to all of you for your support over the first year!