I was at the neighborhood block party over the 4th of July and somebody asked me what I do, and I said I fill niches in industries I know.

I've worked in three industries: Farm, Folio (publishing) and Food. On the farm side, I grew up in a farm family in Northern Illinois. We lived out the whole German farm immigrant saga from giddy success to increasing irrelevance. My family came from Germany in the 1840s with two goals. First they wanted to acquire farmland they could own and pass on, and second they wanted to avoid having their sons drafted into the German army. At our heyday, , my family farmed almost a thousand acres--which in the 70s was a lot. But like many small farms families the combined total effect of  a radically changed farm economy, a few deaths and a couple bad deals, put us on the path to increasing irrelevance in the 80s and 90s.

When I inherited my small part of the farm I started looking for possibilities for a small farm in a big global economy. So I asked myself where it and I fit in. I knew production ag wasn't my destiny and I knew a small farm wasn't going to dominate global grain markets. However I knew a few things for sure. On the law side I had represented international food/ag companies so based on my experience with that  I asked myself what areas of real opportunity existed for small farms in an integrated global food system? And, I came up with 3 ideas: organics, direct food sales to consumers and ag tourism.  Along the way I had joined The Chicago Farmers, and I wrote an article for them and then another and a speech and then wrote a legal guide for Illinois food entrepreneurs, and went on to teach a course in Law For Illinois Food and Ag Entrepreneurs. As part of this by dint of hard work, deep industry knowledge and the fact that I was  from sufficiently out of town to be considered an expert, I developed a speaking portfolio.

On the law side, I worked in legal publishing and helped co found The Law Offices of Kurt Wagner--an international law firm with offices in Illinois and Central Europe, After founding it I served and still serve as Of Counsel to the firm. Of Counsel is a vague term meaning you represent clients but also do other things. In my case, I worked in legal publishing and then worked to transition the family farm to organic and helped develop a consultancy in ag entrepreneurship. I probably would have been a more traditional lawyer but the fourth time the client told me, what I really want from you is business consulting and risk management, the light bulb went off.  As I told them, this might be a good fit because I've farmed, put together deals for Africa, sold mausoleums and been part of software launches, so I think I may be able to contribute an strategic insight or two.  One thing I always tell them is that entrepreneurship is really very simple--it's a race to see if you can run into someone else's money before you run out of your own.

On the folio side, I've also developed a law practice/consultancy in publishing because books and farms will also be my first loves. I was hired by Callaghan and Company to be a legal editor, and went on to do most of the job functions of a managing editor for their successor Thomson West.  I've scheduled book runs, projected revenues, written and edited law books, developed business cases and recruited authors. Makes me tired just thinking of it. After they downsized, I went on to write my own book Quick Cash published by Sourcebooks and broker deals for a slew of books on immigration written by my wife Debbie Schell and my colleague Kurt Wagner. Like farming, I knew the folio world so I slipped right into representing and consulting with publishing start ups, authors, and the like. In publishing I've signed publishing contracts, sent them out to authors and drafted them for clients---it's like farming for me--familiar ground. As a traditionally published author, I also did media promo for the book which was a hoot--TV print and call in shows. For a time I was spinning talk radio interview at the same time, the presidential candidates were, and after I got some really good media training for it, I kept thinking is this really a good idea, teaching a lawyer/consultant how to spin better...........