About Bill

I was born into a working-class family in northern Indiana and grew up in rural farming and manufacturing community where I attended public schools. I worked hard and was fortunate to do well. While in high school, I remember my father taking me on a tour of the rubber factory where he worked. He told me that I had a choice: either I could devote myself to school and prepare for a professional career of some sort, or he could help me get a labor job in the factory.

I remember looking around at all the grimy machinery, hearing the pounding of the molding machines, and thinking, “there’s no way I want to work here.” So, I did as my father advised. I ultimately graduated near the top of my high school class, and made the Academic All-State football team, as Army Reserve Student-Athlete of the Year.
Those were the initial major accomplishments of my life.

After high school, I attended University and studied Mechanical Engineering. During my freshman year, I distinctly remember warnings from a professor: he told us to look left and right and said that with a 50% failure or drop-out rate in the engineering program, odds were at least one of the folks sitting on either side wouldn’t graduate from it. That warning scared and motivated me – kind of like my father’s tour of the rubber factory had back in high school. I knew that I would have to apply myself to prove worthy of the opportunity. I graduated from University with an engineering degree in 1991, having already served as a co-inventor of two patents.

I began my career at a Diagnostic company, where I had worked in Research and Development while still in college. My experience there gave me a knack for seeing how to improve products and processes. I was a co-inventor on a total of eight patients. I also met my wife, who was working in customer service for the company. We married in 1993. She and I have two daughters, who are 27 and 24.

After a few years, the CEO of a family-owned medical device distributor offered me a middle management position. We’d crossed paths during my tenure at the previous company and he thought I would be a good fit for his company. The hitch was that the job wasn’t in Indiana – it was in Georgia. That offer prompted our family’s move – it was a hard decision to leave home, leave family, but I thought it was the best shot to provide a better life for our kids.

When I began at the distributor, the company employed less than 20 people. During my 14 years there, we grew to a workforce of more than 200 people and turned into a design, development, manufacturing, and distribution company. That experience taught me a great deal about leadership and grooming people to reach their highest potential.

I was eventually promoted to General Manager, then President, and then CEO.

In 2009, I consulted with MiMedx, a relatively new company, that employed about 20 people. Within a few months, the board selected me to serve as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. In that role, I led the growth of the workforce, bringing on more than 30 people who previously worked with me. We expanded the company, eventually creating full-time employment for more than 1,000 employees.

As COO, I led many departments, including Research and Development, Quality Assurance, Regulatory Affairs, Clinical Affairs, Operations, Manufacturing, Warehouse, Facilities, Customer Service, Information Technology, Informatics, Sales, Marketing, and Reimbursement. My chief role was to make sure our company created great products and infrastructure to handle the explosive growth we had.

My tenure with MiMedx felt rewarding. Besides creating jobs, grooming leaders, and contributing to communities, our company played a role in saving and extending lives, by using the natural healing qualities of placental tissue.

I’ve also taken great pride in supporting our extended family and contributing to the building of stronger communities. For years I served as a board member for the Anna Crawford Children’s Center. The charity focused on helping abused children. I also served on the board of advisors for the Institute for Bioscience and Bioengineering at Georgia Tech from 2011 through 2017. I served on the Metro Chamber of Atlanta Business Council as well, where I advocated a focus on retaining companies since many companies left our great city within a few years.

Most importantly, though, I value my family. I cherish the incredible relationship I share with my incredible wife. Our eldest daughter graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in biomedical engineering. Like her old man, she’s engineering in the healthcare space and is currently at Boston Scientific. Our youngest graduated from the University of Georgia a year ago with a major in criminal justice. She currently works as an executive assistant for magistrate judges in a county court. My family is a treasure more valuable than any business success I have achieved.

Life has not always been easy. I have taken each setback as a lesson to rise above the trials and tribulations to achieve success. As I enter this new chapter, I do so counting my blessings and incredible experiences. With my nine operating principles, I am confident that I will Rise Above this challenge and overcome the difficulties associated with it.