Hey, I'm Tyler!
I'm a business strategist and advisor based in Columbia, South Carolina. I work with founders, small business owners, and nonprofit leaders to figure out what their business actually needs, and then help them get there.
How I can help
No two businesses need the same thing. Sometimes it's getting the numbers right. Sometimes it's building a better system, working through a big decision, or getting connected to the right people. My job is to see how all the pieces fit together.
I bring experience from both sides of business: finance and entrepreneurship. I've served as a CFO, built my own business from the ground up, and worked with founders from day one through a Start-Up Incubator.
Think of me as part of your team, not a consultant on the sidelines. I care about your business like it's my own, but the decisions are always yours.
If you're starting something, growing your business, or stuck on a decision you can't quite figure out, let's talk.
Book a free 30-minute call or send me a message. No pitch, just a real conversation about where your business is and where you want it to go.
He works like an insider, not a vendor.
So, how did I get here?
I thought I'd be a youth pastor.
For a long time, that was the plan. Looking back, what I loved most was the relational side: coaching people, walking with them through real life, and connecting faith to everyday decisions. That never left me. It just found a different home.Then the math clicked.
Accounting and finance classes just made sense to me. Finance shows you where you've been and where you're going, and it helps you build a plan to get there. Whether I was working in restaurants, at a small printing business, or in student life at a university, I kept drifting toward the same questions: How do we make this run better? What system would help us reach more people?The hardest lessons came from the inside.
As CFO of my family's manufacturing-focused private equity firm, I got deep into every part of running a business: HR, IT, insurance, legal, risk, accounting, and finance. I also learned from our mistakes. The biggest lesson was that hoping for the best is not the same as planning for it. Now I stay optimistic about what a business can do, but I plan around what it's most likely to do, with conservative budgets, a real cushion, and good data to check the plan along the way.Then I saw what clean numbers could do, so I built my own business.
I helped small businesses and nonprofits get their books in order. But I quickly saw that clean books were only the beginning. Owners didn't just need accurate numbers; they needed someone to help them use those numbers to make real decisions about pricing, hiring, growth, and what comes next. So my work grew from bookkeeping into strategy, and from strategy into a seat at the table. One of my proudest projects has been helping a nonprofit rebuild how it looks at its business ventures, so each one stands on its own and supports the mission instead of draining it.Then I started helping founders build theirs.
At CIU's Business & Career Development Center, I directed the Start-Up Incubator, working with founders from their very first idea. Alongside, I taught undergraduate business courses in Business Finance, Managerial Economics, Financial Reporting and Analysis, and more. Working with students taught me to lead people, not just manage numbers: to build systems that help a team reach the people it serves, and to explain complicated ideas simply enough that anyone can act on them.Today, I help businesses see the whole picture.
I bring finance and entrepreneurship together to help founders and owners figure out what they actually need, whether that's a clearer plan, a better system, or the right connection. That's why I merged my practice into Ledge Strategy this year: so clients get finance, operations, marketing, and HR support under one roof. But the way I work hasn't changed. I'm right alongside people while they figure things out, and nothing beats hearing a client say, "I enjoy my business again."
What I believe about business
I believe business is one of the most powerful tools for community transformation. Profit keeps the doors open, but the real mission is what your business and its profit make possible for your people and your community.
The challenge is that a lot of businesses have a mission that's aspirational, not actual. That's why my favorite work is helping close that gap, so the numbers you track are the ones that show your impact.
And it's also why I believe a budget is a guide and a plan, not a dictator. It should help you move toward your purpose, not hold you back from it. The goal is for the plan to get a little more accurate every year.
Those beliefs come down to a few values that shape how I work:
Relational equity.
Trust comes first, and then the numbers.
Honest numbers.
Realistic plans, optimistic people, and data behind the decisions.
Purpose you can see.
Impact you can actually measure, not just talk about.
Using our gifts.
I lean into what I'm wired for so you can lean into what you're wired for.
Nobody does this alone.
Running a business or a nonprofit can feel isolating. I'd rather work alongside you than leave you figuring it out by yourself.
Where I can help
Fractional CFO Partnership
A CFO on your team, without the full-time cost.
I step in as your finance partner, sitting at the table for big decisions, connecting the numbers to your pricing, hiring, and growth, and helping you see where the business is headed.
Budgeting & Cash Flow Planning
Budgets that guide your decisions instead of dictating them.
Realistic forecasts, conservative plans, and a cash cushion that gives you room to act when opportunities come up. The plan gets more accurate every year.
Nonprofit Finance
Finances that fund the mission, not drain it.
From restricted gifts and program reporting to earned-revenue ventures, I help nonprofit leaders build finances donors can trust and a model that relies less on fundraising.
Purpose-Driven Strategy
Turning your mission from aspirational to actual.
I help owners define what impact looks like for their business and track the numbers that prove it, so purpose shows up in real decisions, not just on the wall.
Financial Systems & Tools
Clear numbers, built into tools you'll actually use.
From clean books to custom dashboards and portals, I build the systems that make your numbers easy to see and act on.
Coaching & Leadership
Helping owners lead with clarity and confidence.
I coach owners and leaders through the decisions that keep them up at night: growth, hiring, and what comes next. The goal isn’t just a healthier business. It’s hearing someone say, "I enjoy my business again."
Industries I've worked with
Every industry has its own numbers story. Here are some of the ones I know from the inside.
My two areas are nonprofit finance and manufacturing and construction. With nonprofits, I help leaders separate program, administration, and fundraising, keep restricted gifts traceable to the donor who gave them, and set up earned-revenue ventures so they fund the mission instead of draining it. One nonprofit I work with runs several revenue-generating lines of business. We rebuilt the analysis so each one stands on its own, with rent covering maintenance and salaries and still contributing to the mission, so they can fundraise less. Last year, more than half of their revenue came from earned income rather than donations.
With builders and makers, it's about knowing which jobs, products, and decisions actually make money, and having the data to back up the gut call.
Day to day, I'm in client meetings listening for what's frustrating people, and I'm in spreadsheets building the tools and systems that make the answers easier to see. Today I do this work through Ledge Strategy Group, where finance, operations, marketing, and HR sit under one roof, so clients get one connected experience instead of being referred back and forth.
Outside of work
You'll find me with friends (I'll do just about anything to spend time with them), on a golf course, or playing soccer or pickleball. And if there's an aquarium nearby, I'm going. It's one of my favorite things in the world. I'm still amazed by how much life is under the water that we never think about. Honestly, I think businesses are like that too: full of opportunities hiding just below the surface.
Let's talk about your numbers!
No pitch, just a real conversation about where your business is and where you want it to go.
Grab a free 30-minute call and we'll find a time that works.
Booking opens soon. Send me a message and I'll reach out to set a time.