I Was Dead for 41 Minutes. And Then I Came Back with a Mission. April 7th, 2024.

One year ago today, I died.

Not metaphorically. Not symbolically.

I was pulled unconscious from the Atlantic Ocean—lifeless, without a pulse. For 41 minutes. Then, somehow, without medical explanation, I came back.

And that moment changed everything.

I had been attending a leadership retreat, deep in reflection, dreaming about the future. That night, I found myself in the open ocean in complete darkness. I’m the strongest swimmer I know. I’ve taught countless people how to swim. But that night, my body went numb. I couldn’t stay upright. I knew it was over.

As I slipped under, I thought of my wife. My two boys. And whether all the sacrifices I’d made to create impact had really been worth it.

I prayed that if I lived, I would live boldly, love more deeply, and never again take a single moment for granted.

I was unconscious in the water for 41 minutes.

When the coast guard finally recovered my body, something unexplainable happened. I just... woke up. I can still see the look of shock on his face. He told me he felt strangely pulled to his route that day, a path he’d never taken before. It was his first day on that vessel. There were screams for help, but when he arrived, no one else was in sight.

That experience didn’t just give me a second chance. It gave me clarity.

In the year since, I’ve had the honor of leading implementation along with the most brilliant minds in one of the most significant economic vehicles in our region’s history: GroundBreak Coalition, a commitment to move over a billion dollars into the hands of wealth builders in entrepreneurship, homeownership, and commercial development.

I led the development and structure of the Bloomington Economic Partnership, a bold vehicle to drive job creation, innovation, and investment in Bloomington.

I was named a Twin Cities Business Top 100 leader and recognized nationally as one of the People to Know in Economics. But those titles are just markers on the road. What matters more is the direction we’re heading.

Because here’s what I know now: we are standing at a critical crossroads in this country.

Our roads, bridges, and ports are aging and falling apart. Housing is increasingly unaffordable for everyday Americans. Artificial Intelligence is set to disrupt the very jobs families have depended on for decades. And access to capital for startups, small businesses, and innovators is harder to come by than it’s been in over a decade.

Over the next ten years, America faces a five trillion dollar opportunity to rebuild its economy through workforce development and infrastructure renewal.

This isn’t a policy preference. This is a national imperative.

That’s why I launched Betting On US, a platform for leaders who are ready to bet on themselves and each other. It’s for those who understand that we must unlock new financial tools, tap into underutilized capital, and act with urgency to meet this moment.

Transforming the economy that underpins our infrastructure and workforce is not a nice-to-have. It’s a must. If we don’t act now, we risk leaving an entire generation behind.

You don’t need a near-death experience to start living with boldness and purpose.

So I ask you:

What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail? And what’s stopping you from setting that vision in motion right now?

April 7th will always be a sacred day for me. Not because it was the day I died. But because it was the day I started truly living.

And I’m inviting you to do the same.