A career built through
reinvention, curiosity,
and growth.
Three careers. Fifteen industries. One continuing conversation about growth, reinvention, systems, relationships, and meaningful work.
Nine Career Reinventions.
I've spent much of my career crossing boundaries.
From the building trades to sports media, digital strategy, healthcare, education, financial services, local government, golf, and technology, each transition offered a different perspective on growth, people, systems, and change.
The common thread was never the industry. It was understanding how organizations grow, how relationships create opportunity, and how individuals navigate change.
Today, that perspective shapes everything I do—from strategic advisory and audience development to Chicago Golf Report and my work exploring reinvention and meaningful work.
Foundation
Before the boardroom, the building trades.
My career didn't begin in a startup incubator. It began with tools in hand, working as an electrician. That experience shaped how I think to this day: solve problems methodically, build things that last, and understand that every complex system is ultimately made up of connected parts.
That mindset became the foundation for everything that followed.
Late 2000s
Learning how audiences are built.
My transition into media happened through sports — and it taught me how audiences are actually built. At STATS LLC, I helped shape the visual identity, marketing strategy, and digital positioning of a company serving ESPN, FOX Sports, WGN Sports, and sports media platforms worldwide. The work was a close-up education in large-scale information systems, storytelling, and the mechanics of human attention.
At the Chicago Tribune and TribLocal, I helped lead marketing initiatives across 88 hyperlocal websites and 21 weekly newspapers during a transformative period for local media.
2010 – Present
Discovering that growth is a systems problem.
Over time I became less interested in campaigns alone and more interested in the systems beneath them: operational clarity, CRM architecture, workflow design, and the places where friction quietly prevents growth. I learned that growth is rarely a marketing problem. More often, it's a systems problem.
Over two decades, I've helped organizations in financial services, healthcare, SaaS, education, government, and technology implement HubSpot, build CRM architecture, create lead generation systems, and align marketing with business growth. But the real value was never just the software — it was understanding how organizations grow, and where friction prevents it.
2010 – Present
The power of long-term relationships.
In 2010, I launched Chicago Golf Report. What started as a local golf publication gradually evolved into one of the leading independent golf media platforms in the Midwest — reaching hundreds of thousands of Chicagoland golfers and covering courses, architecture, tournaments, travel, operators, and industry trends.
Over time, I realized the real long-term value of CGR was never the content. It was the relationships. The golf industry is ultimately an ecosystem — operators, investors, brands, media, architects, technology firms, and communities — and trust accumulated across it compounds over years. Today, I view Chicago Golf Report not just as a media platform, but as a long-term relationship and intelligence platform within the Chicago golf market.
Evolving
Still building. Still learning. Still evolving.
Today, my work spans strategic advisory, HubSpot and CRM systems, media and audience development, Chicago Golf Report, podcast conversations, and an ongoing exploration of reinvention and meaningful work.
I'm especially interested in how AI, automation, and changing economic realities are reshaping careers, industries, and human connection — a curiosity that increasingly shapes my work on career reinvention and how people navigate change toward more meaningful growth.
What I believe about growth.
The older I get, the more I value perspective, balance, emotional intelligence, curiosity, humility, resilience, and long-term thinking. Much of my work now sits at the intersection of systems, strategy, relationships, and growth.
"Reinvention isn't something I study. It's something I've lived."Walter Lis
Let's continue the conversation.
Whether you're interested in strategic advisory, Chicago Golf Report, career reinvention, or simply exchanging ideas, I'd be happy to connect.