the consultant

If life is like a box of chocolates, then these are the chocolate mints.

There was a phase early on when I wanted to be a consultant. I dreamed of working for one of the big three firms—thought it would be so cool to solve business problems for a living. I never got the chance, so I built my own practice instead.

When I was laid off in 2017, I launched Huval Consulting Group. The idea seemed clear enough—at least in my head. I’d “sell” my oilfield experience, the knowledge I’d accumulated over a career, and continue working in Latin America.

But in eight years of running my practice, I landed only one oil & gas engagement.

When the field has talent stacked ten deep, you learn quickly: if you want to survive, you’d better pivot.

Pivot one. I took on my first construction-related engagement in 2018. That project lasted a little over four years. During that time, I learned the art of construction. I wasn’t sitting behind a computer full-time; I was out there slogging through everything from restoration to custom home building.

Now, the two images you see mark the beginning of my latest engagement.

The task?

Anything but simple.

I’ve got 35 days to “fix it.”

Over the next few weeks, I’ll take you along for the ride.

Hold tight—I have no idea what we’ll uncover in this one.

Sometimes, you can learn a lot if you look at the world through Forrest Gump glasses