Tim Cowan and I are both passionate fans of the football teams at our respective alma maters. I'm a Georgia grad (Go Dawgs!) and he went to Clemson. Our rivalry is a friendly one where neither takes themselves too seriously and I believe that carries over into our professional lives. Tim and I are both dedicated to taking care of our clients and treat our businesses with professionalism, but we also know how to have a good time and can dish it as well as we can take it. 

One of my passions is making homemade ice cream. This skill is becoming a lost art and I aim to keep it alive. Standing around the ice cream churn is not unlike standing around a camp fire. People are drawn to it and it has a hypnotic rhythm about it that has a way of taking you back in time. Store-bought ice cream doesn't hold a candle to the real thing. My youngest daughter turned six yesterday so I'm making strawberry with chocolate sprinkles this weekend!

Three to my right was Bruce Sanders.  Bruce and I both have passion for golf, coach and protecting our clients.  We both are in an industry where what we sell is something you can't touch.  We both understand the services we offer and the value we add to are to our clients.  

I have personally met four Presidents of the United States.  Nixon, Ford, Regan and Bush.  

Doug Ross and I are both from Flint, Michigan.  David Citrin and Mark Hutchins also make regular family trips back to "the place of snow." (Earliest I've ever seen snow: October 3. Latest: 4th of July.)

My parent's goal for me was to be a professional muscian. Organ was their instrument of choice. (I played for church and choir).  I added flute (for the band), string bass (for the orchestra), and accoustic guitar (for the trips). 

Scott Orr and I both spent a significant amount during our 20's out in Colorado! The allure of the fresh powder and the mountian views could not hold us, however. He and his wife moved back to GA to be close to family. I came back to GA where I met my wife and we both have family. Ironically, his wife and my wife were in middleschool together, though Scott and I had never met prior to PowerCore. 

Most people do not know that I was an avid snowboarder. For my 21st birthday, spent 2 weeks in Beaver Creek Colorado participating in multiple downhill races. I never got into the tricks and flips, but I could beat nearly anyone to the finish line. I'm still holding out hope that I can go heli-boarding before my knees get too out of shape. 

JB Kitts and I have a couple things in common. We both have wives who celebrate birthdays in May. We both have 2 sons who are now grown and probably the most important, we both prefer Dunkin over Starbucks coffee! As JB alwas says, "Friends don't let friends drink Starbucks".

Something unique: I lived on a barge out in the middle of the gulf in Louisiana while working for a company cleaning up after the BP oil spill. 

Stefan Delay and I have weeds, feeds, and seeds in common! Stefan brings nutrition and healing to lawns and plants, and I do the same with my patients, I weed out bad bacteria and feed in good to have a healthy microbe diversity in the gut we call bacteria. We both weed, feed/fertilize, & seed (herbs & lawn seed)!

What's unique about me is that I enjoy playing golf in any kind of weather. 

Although David Van Vurst is from Michigan...I'm not!  However, he was wise enough to move south as a young man, so we do have in common that we both married southern girls!  My wife, Tammi, is from Georgia, Maria is from Florida!

Have you ever seen the Gideon Bible in the drawer in your hotel room?  I am President of the Cherokee South Camp of The Gideons International; placing Bibles in the hotel rooms is just one way we spread God's Word.  You probably didn't know that about me!

It's been a pleasure getting to know David Breeden. Although our businesses are vastly different, we do share a commonality and that is the desire for excellence in serving our clients. David enjoys trimming and cutting trees for his clients to beautify their landscape and I enjoy trimming and cutting the costs my clients spend on essential services in the home so that they can keep more money in their pocket. 

Something that many do not know is that I play the trumpet and enjoy listening to acclaimed musicians who play the trumpet such as Wynton Marsalis and Phil Driscoll. 

Linzy Parsons (Personal Property and Casualty) both share an intense focus on client service. In our first coffee together, she mentioned her strength is taking care of her clients and being there for them when they have issues - it is why they refer! I share a similar passion in my business and use the phrase "clsoe the loop" with my staff to ensure my clients are always informed of what is going on. Becase I lead a team of advisors as well, I am uniquely positioned to be more of a mentor in my business and pass on the lessons I have learned, particularly regarding how to speak to groups in referral language!

The culture of a PowerCore Team is very important. The best Teams continually work on the things together that can help find comonalities among Teammates. I believe important components are Socials, non-traditional coffees and excellent IntroMinutes. One thing that I find true and common with any of the people I spend every Friday morning with is trust. I have had several occasions to remind Team Whitlock Members with this simple greeting: "Thank you for being in my circle, but also in my corner."  I strive and work to reciprocate that statement and intention.

To be honest, at this stage of my career, my goal is just to share energy and make a positive impact on everyone I meet. And oh, I like to take pictures of old barns to remind me to slow down sometimes.

JB Kitts's grandmother's maiden name is Robinette and my maiden name is Robinette so we both share a very unique name in our family tree! Neither one of us had met many (if any) Robinettes before learning of this so it's fun to think we might somehow be related:)

Well I had a sub last week so I am just going to pick someone I know I have a lot in common with, Linzy Parsons. She may or may not be my favorite member as well haha :)
Linzy has 2 girls who are around the same age as my 2 kids. She is a soccer mom and understands the struggle of running kids ALL OVER THE PLACE! However, like me, she wouldn't trade it for the world!!

Something unique about me: I am an only child so I always knew I wanted more than 1 kiddo :) God blessed me with a boy and a girl and they fight like cats and dogs! 

  The third person to my right is the Amazing Susan Honea.   One of the most ovious things we have in common is the amount of focus, drive and simply the amount of devotion we both put into what ever we do.   We put 100 percent into what ever we do.   When its time to relax and chill, we chill....... It make it so easy to refer Susan, she is very approachable  and super easy to talk to. A great listener!!

One thing about me, Im about 60 percent right handed, and 40 percent  left.  That really helps me in my trade.

The third person to my right is Susan Vanhemert of Harmony Group Atlanta. Susan and I actually have a lot in common; we regularly hike and run, we've both lived in Michigan, we love dogs, and we enjoy implementing our knowledge of color and psychology to strengthen branding.

Something that is fairly unique about me is that I frequently visualize things immediately and my brain makes up little music videos while I'm listening to music.

Who knew so many of us have lived in Michigan?

Kenny Cox! What a great man! While Kenny and I have many things in common such as our faith, our eagerness to grow our businesses, and our love for our families, the thing that we have most in common is we love doing the right thing for a customer. Kenny and I have traded numerous stories about times where we could have upsold a client, but instead we chose to do the simple solution that was best for the client. The real value here is that when Kenny says 'It's time for a new door' my clients know they're getting a 100% honest and well thought out solution. 

Something that is unique about me is that I spent my high school years preparing to enter into an intense jazz guitar college program. 

Susan Van Hemert and I have much in common - we both work in the marketing space, focus obn branding, and endeavor to do highest-quality work.

We particularly have dog adoption in common!

Unique about me:  My company colors are the same colors as my family coat of arms.

Ken DeRose-Broeckert both have a love of cycling.  I prefer the self-propelled variety but he enjoys both motored and self-propelled.  Also, we each have a son who married on the same day a year apart.

Something unique about myself is that for the past two years, I have swam over 100 miles in the local YMCA pool.

Nathan was sitting 3 to my right this morning.  While I have not had a chance to meet with Nathan yet, I extended a coffee request referral slip because of this trigger.  Nathan and I visibally have a similarity of brown hair, that does not equate referrals and I will have more information after our coffee to stimulate referrals!  A fun fact about me ... I do not take no as an answer very well.  I didn't as a child (God bless my mother) and I don't now in my career.  While the answer can sometimes ultimately be no, I want to verify that I have tried every possible solution before accepting this.

Three from my right this morning was Mr. Bruce Sanders, saying that we have something in common would be like me comparing myself to Elvis! Mr. Bruce is an absolute legend, when he walks into a room you immediately feel his energy and charisma. I could only hope someone would regard me in the same way I regard him.

Nothing unique about me but something different about Georgia Tree Masters is that we just hired a new account manager named Derek Ferwerda(google him) he is a professional musician and has an impressive resume, one of the many cool things he's done includes being a band member of the Spin Doctors back in the late 80's and early 90's!

I had Len Nelms and I have found through our coffee at DD we actually have alot in common. The first being adversity! We have both been kicked and came back fighting as only entrepenuers do. Len is a family man and takes that job serious as well. I have enjoyed my time getting to know Len even though he is an Alabama fan! P.S. we both like college football, Go Blue

  Three to my right is my friend Randy Beck, who I have several things in common. He had a career and is retirecd from the Navy (14 years). I wasn't in the military myself but I grew up on Air Force Bases as my father was a career Air Force Pilot, so I know what its like to be transferred every few years to a new military facility and the experiences that go with traveling around the world. He has a second career in video show casing clients like home builders, my second career was as a Residential and Commercial General Contractor who would have loved to have hired Randy to show case my building projects.

  Something unique about me, I went to College on a Golf Scholarship, turned professional after graduation and played five years as a PGA pro golfer before becoming the Men's Golf Coach at California State University, Fresno.

Andreas Wilder and I unfortunately haven't had a 1-on-1 yet (that will change soon!). However, from a business perspective, both IT and investing tend to draw some clients that can to be set in their ways. Instead of letting them persuade us to something that is not in their best interest, finding a way to do it our way while letting them think it's their way is difficult but helpful.

Something that is unique about me is that I played professional baseball for 8 years and retired in July of 2022.

Shawn Livingston and I have served on the Whitlock team together for a number of years. One quality of Shawn's that stands out is his dedication to doing the right thing. He and I have consulted each other over the years to do just that! I can personally attest that Shawn will go well out of his way to ensure that the material is a perfect match. He also is constantly researching, making sure his install methods are the most current, effective and cost efficient.  I am PROUD that he and I have this in common!!

While not entirely unheard of, something unique that I possess is that I am ambidextrous. While in grade school in California, I was placed in a special program that enhanced that ability. When I participate in sports I find this skill to be an advantage. Oddly enough, I swing a hammer better with my left hand than I do with my right. My signature looks practically identical, whether I sign it left or right handed.

Paul Shimek and I have lots of things in common, including our love for cats. We also both believe that we need to be available to our clients. Paul has an answering service that takes calls on his behalf 24 hours a day (if you're interested in learning more about this service, reach out to Richard Rehme on the North Point team!), and I do coaching calls and offer text-based support well outside of "regular" business hours.

Something unique about me is that I am an accomplished musician. I paid my way through college as a vocal performer, and while I “retired” from this part of my life a long time ago, I still enjoy practicing piano and singing along to Spotify (as long as no one can hear me!).

Last week three to my right was a guest, so I'll pick Nathan Bates - the thing we have in common is height :-) and we both wanted to play a professional sport (Nathan - baseball, me - basketball).  The thing we don't have in common is Nathan was actually good enough for the pros!  The discipline it takes to get good at any sport probably translates to many aspects of of business though.  

Unique about me:  I'm currently trying to learn about 20 new songs on guitar; led my college basketball team in fouls; have had a conversation with Sting; once did a run from Yosemite Valley to the top of Half Dome; and I metamorphosize into a shutterbug when travelling. 

Melissa Graham sat three to my right today. As a newbie, I'm still working my way through meeting all the team members! While I've not yet had the pleasure of sitting down with Melissa, I do believe we both enjoy hiking and being outdoors. We are both dedicated to managing our professional lives with honesty, integrity, and a joyful sense of humor!

Something unique about me is that I'm a huge fan of fitness, health, and nutrition and yet while I have completed two half-marathons in my adult life, I'm actually not a great runner. Slow and steady "finishes" the race in my case!

• My second time visit to Powercore and I immediately decided that I belong to Whitlock team.

• How is this possible?

• I sat at the same table with Paul Shimek and after two minutes conversation, he shared with me he visited my town Uzbekistan city Tashkent, almost 7,000 miles from Atlanta Georgia and we meet in same table, on PowerCore team.
How cool is that?

• I'm also live in Michigan 6 years.

•I studied in Russian music school for 5 years to play on Accordion, almost 40 years ago.

• One of my passion is cooking.

• My dream is to open a restaurant to cook shish kebabs, marinated chicken on the grill and Uzbek plov.

• Something unique about me, I got a tattoo on my left hand with my name in Russian army.

• When I came home to see my family for 10 days, after one year in army, my father saw my tattoo and he said I have to remove it. 

• I ended up removing it with acid which left a mark on my hand for rest of my life.