Most people think you can incentivize performance and loyalty with money alone. John has spent nearly a decade proving that's only part of the equation.

He began his career designing the financial architecture of employee incentive programs: compensation structures, bonus frameworks, and reward systems built to drive top performers. What he discovered along the way was that the programs that actually moved the needle were rarely the ones with the biggest payouts. They were the ones that left people changed.

That insight led him to found Trident Experiential, a global event agency that builds brands, momentum, and connection through shared experiences. Trident consults on, designs, and delivers programs that create change across meetings, sales kickoffs, employee recognition, incentive travel, and experiential marketing for some of the world's most demanding brands. The agency's differentiators are defining, designing, and executing in terms of change and applying the strategic discipline to treat every event as a touchpoint in a larger, interconnected performance system.

The mission reflects a return to his roots, where family gatherings were the thing. The cause for celebration, the room, the energy, and the people around the table mattered more than anything on it. And you left more fulfilled than you came: happier, wiser, more connected, and closer (most of the time—it's an Irish family). It was an early, immersive masterclass in seeing experiences as change vehicles.

One of a handful of professionals around the world to hold both the Certified Event Designer (CED) and Certified Meeting Management (CMM) designations, John bridges the gap between human-centric design and business strategy—in other words, converting change into NPV. He leads workshops on behavioral design and ROI measurement globally, is a speaker and panelist across the industry, and has appeared on/in industry podcasts and publications, and media outlets including Crain's Business and ABC News.

He keeps Trident's work concentrated where the event stakes are highest: event portfolio management, organizational and cultural transformation initiatives, retaining high performers, and other experiential engagements where success is critical and quantifiable outcomes are subject to CFO or Board review.

Outside the office, he is a grateful son, slow-to-learn husband, proud older brother, and pot-stirring uncle to two dozen nieces and nephews and one great nephew. He's also an avid history reader, enthusiastic golfer, unapologetic home chef, restless sailor, playlist maestro, and, like most other lifelong Notre Dame fans, a self-appointed college football expert.