A Little About David

I am THRILLED to say that I was homeschooled through high school by my wonderful mother. During my earlier years of grade school, I started a small business with my sister, in which we were able to make enough money to fully fund an international trip to Ethiopia with our dad where we met with our cousins who ran an NGO, Embracing Hope, focused on supporting single moms by teaching them how to start meaningful and successful businesses, while providing private education for their children. We also met with Belay Gebru of Hope for the Fatherless, an organization working to place orphans in families rather than institutions, in an effort to strengthen the nuclear family in Ethiopia.

In my Junior year of HS, I joined a landscaping company where I was taught a love for nature and a high regard for excellence in all work.

I also began shadowing a video production team at the organization where our church was. This ignited a curiosity for technology and storytelling through media.

In High School I worked a couple of jobs and started my own landscaping business. I was blessed to attend several leadership training programs which instilled in me a deep love for leadership and personal development, as well as encouraging others in all that they set out to do.

OCCUPATION

• Colorado Youth Outdoors; where I worked on a small team in ground maintenance, keeping the 280 acres of outdoor space (including 13 ponds, 5 trap ranges, an archery course, an administration building, etc.) well maintained for the numerous events hosted throughout the year.

• Four Seasons Landscaping; In the summer months before beginning a position at Coffee House 29, I began a small landscaping business acquiring a few maintenance clients from my previous employer (as they were closing their doors), and secured my first install job. While I had never completed an install of this size before, I set to work researching, gaining counsel, and planning for the project, which turned out to be a success. It was my first $10k sale, at 17 years old. As the fall turned to winter, I sought out a consistent job at CH29 (below).

• Coffee House 29; Being a Barista at CH29 offered an incredible opportunity to meet the locals in Windsor, Colorado, and engage with them in unique conversations, learning about their interests and passions. And it certainly allowed me to pursue and enjoy my passion and love for coffee, all while finishing my senior year of high school.

• Video Production at Ellerslie; I was offered the chance to volunteer as a live production assistant for a couple of years, which then morphed into a paid contracted position involving planning the technical coverage of various events.

TRAINING

• TeenPact Leadership School; Throughout high school, I attended TeenPact in Denver where my classmates and I were taught lasting principles about Government, its role in our nation, and our responsibility as Americans to be engaged citizens.
  • TeenPact Staff; After attending TeenPact for two years, I applied to staff in Denver, which I was honored to be accepted for. As a staffer, we led small groups in discussions, tours of our local capitol building, and helped facilitate the program during the week.

• Ellerslie Training; Immediately following my high school graduation, I attended Ellerslie, a Christian discipleship school. We were taught Biblical theory, leadership principles, and ultimately what an authentic and personal relationship with Christ is. It was a life-changing experience in a very positive way.

After graduating from Ellerslie, I reached out to a friend who was a graphic designer in Greeley, Colorado. I was looking for an internship or part-time job, and only knowing video editing yet being interested in media and storytelling, I thought they might have a neat opportunity for me. Turns out they did.

OCCUPATION

• G-Man Graphics; This was what I might call the “best job I ever had”. Working with Shawn and Gary taught me the power of hospitality in the service industry, the power of storytelling in marketing, and how the value of a network FAR SURPASSES net worth.
  • I went from part-time video editor to web design intern and eventually settled into website development while Shawn and Gary focused on the designs.
  • A couple of years in, I began envisioning a team surrounding Shawn and Gary, as they oversaw operations as Art Directors. While we weren’t able to see this realized during this tenure, I would later begin working on developing this concept.
  • We worked on various projects, all extremely enjoyable to partner with Shawn and Gary on. A few of these projects are seen in my portfolio (coming soon), with express permission granted by Shawn, Gary, and G-Man Graphics.

EDUCATION (part 1)

• College Plus | Lumerit; While working full-time at G-Man Graphics, I observed that several of the business owners we worked with had learned skills and gained knowledge over time – trial and error turned trial and triumph. I wanted to learn the knowledge upfront, and then apply it experientially in the field. So I started a Bachelor’s at Lumerit, committing to 6 courses in the beginning.
  • It didn’t take long to realize that this was not for me, as I am a hands-on learner. So after 4 courses completed, I began to make preparations to drop out. This is when I began learning about WGU (below).

COVID-19 was a show-stopper, so to speak. The team at G-Man Graphics changed in it’s structure, as Shawn went on to focus on his entity (Silveractive Design), I began DKC Strategic LLC, and Gary continued under G-Man Graphics. 

OCCUPATION

• DKC Strategic LLC℠; I launched this LLC just before working from home in late 2019. It was intended to be a “catch-all” for my contracting work. I worked as a contractor for 4 main companies during the next 3.5+ years, listed below.
  • G-Man Graphics; Website development continued to come in from G-Man and so I completed as much as I could get my hands on. This would trickle to a stop in late 2020, causing my focus to turn to Mark Sharman CPA.
  • Ellerslie Training; While still contracting with G-Man, Ellerslie solicited my services for video podcast production, studio design, and A/V consulting services. This was overall a very educational experience, and I was honored to meet and work with many talented individuals during this time.
  • Mark Sharman CPA; I spent several months specifically contracting to MSCPA as a marketing consultant while at WGU (see below). This experience taught me about the importance of surrounding oneself with experts in focus areas and delegating & trusting them with strategic, operational goals. This would later lay the groundwork for my developing a Network of Partners™ at DOVITO.
  • Coffee House 29 (The Coffee Collective); In 2022, I reached out to a friend who owned CH29, knowing that a key leadership position had opened up and they were hoping to scale the brand. I contracted as Director of Operations to The Coffee Collective (CH29 was a subsidiary of this corporation) and assisted in the acquisition of Coffee House Ten24 (Later CH29 EATON), which resulted in a nearly 12-month process that taught me more than I could have imagined about the importance of vision, communication, and market research. We later purchased a second roasting company, supported a key owner as he exited, onboarded a new minority owner as he invested in the company, and staged one of our brands for exit and sale.

FAILED STARTUPS

This is a funny thing to list, but I think it’s important. Generally, we boast only in our successes, but I’d like to briefly list a couple of startups I was a part of and why we never launched.

• DKCSD Web Design; This wasn’t the name, but we hadn’t locked that in before deciding to let the idea go. This was a joint effort between myself (DKC Strategic LLC) and Shawn (Silveractive Design) as well as two other men (development and sales). We were attempting to create a simplified website design/hosting/development service that was of higher quality than our competition with faster turnarounds by creating a unique approach to templates and on-demand customization. It was robust, and our motto was “Websites Made Simple” (a spin-off of Donald Miller’s Marketing Made Simple). It failed to launch due to a lack of a clearly defined vision, among other practical reasons. I learned many lessons, all of which helped me develop an understanding of the volatile nature of startups and the need for clarity of message.
• Partior; This was a delayed, detoured, then derailed idea. I had planned to launch a marketing firm under DKC Strategic LLC, utilizing much of what I learned would work from DKCSD Web Design, while attempting to avoid what I learned wouldn’t. A very long story short, I was approached and sold a particular asset, which resulted in an IP application by the other party which was granted, resulting in my pausing on the idea until I learned more about how to navigate forward (See DOVITO).

EDUCATION (part 2)

• Western Governors University; I learned about WGU in 2019 and after investigating if this would be a good option, I pursued (and quickly finished) my Bachelor’s in Business. I had decided to drop out of college in 2019, but after learning about the competency-based approach to learning at WGU, I decided to give it one last shot. They surpassed every expectation, and I enjoyed pursuing and finishing my BBA in General Management in 2.5 years.

Teaching & Training

• Band of Creatives™ (BOC); In 2020, I was approached by Eric Ludy (Ellerslie) and asked if I would lead a group of young adults, focused on camaraderie and developing skills in media production. I thoroughly enjoy challenges, and pushing myself out of my comfort zone, so I accepted and we set off to create what is now a growing program that has maintained the original vision while scaling to international reach.