From 1-to-1 coaching and leadership team workshops to curated peer advisory boards—practical, senior-level guidance for where your business wants to grow next.
Most leaders in privately owned companies don't have a board, a mentor, or peers who truly understand what they're dealing with. They make consequential decisions without a trusted room to think out loud in.
Brooklyn Advisors creates that room. Peer advisory groups where experienced leaders challenge your thinking, share what's worked, and hold you accountable — paired with personal coaching that goes deeper than any group session can.
This isn't a training program or a corporate workshop. It's a confidential peer community built for the realities of running a mid-market business in Western New York.
Start where it makes sense for you — private coaching, team-level work, or our flagship OCTET peer advisory board. Every engagement is built on the same standard: practical, CEO-level guidance from someone who has sat in the seat.
Best for: Leaders looking for a private sounding board to gain quick clarity on specific business or leadership challenges.
Best for: Companies experiencing growth friction or preparing for a major strategic transition.
Best for: Operators and P&L owners seeking long-term fellowship, shared wisdom, and honest peer accountability.
Learn more about OCTET →You tell me where you are and what you're working on. I tell you which group fits best. No pressure, no pitch — just an honest conversation about whether this is right for you.
You meet your group — peers at the same level, from non-competing companies, facing similar challenges. The room is curated. Confidentiality is absolute. The conversation is real.
Monthly peer sessions and personal coaching build over time. When you're ready for the next tier, the path is there. Most members find the first honest feedback session changes how they think about their work permanently.
Brooklyn Advisors works alongside the accountants, attorneys, and bankers who are already in your corner. Our quarterly events bring these advisors into the room as subject matter experts — because the best decisions happen when the right people are at the table together.
If you're an advisor who works with mid-market business owners in Western NY, let's talk about partnering.
Present to a curated audience of mid-market leaders as a subject matter expert at quarterly events.
Be the go-to referral within the Brooklyn Advisors network for your specialty.
Attend quarterly social mixers and build relationships with the same leaders you want as clients.
I spent 40 years in C-suite and CEO roles across data networking, telecommunications, and food and beverage distribution — in US and international markets. I've built businesses, sold businesses, led through growth and through difficulty, and managed teams across multiple continents.
When I decided what I wanted to do with the last third of my career, I knew I wanted to do something with genuine impact. Peer advisory and executive coaching is the answer to that — helping leaders who are exactly where I was, make better decisions, grow faster, and build something they're proud of.
This is a vocation for me. Not a corporate job. That means you get someone who shows up fully — and who tells you what you need to hear, not what's comfortable to say.
Book a CallEvery role I've held has been a version of the same challenge: take something new, build the market, deliver commercial results. Data networking. Technology startups. Global telecom. Industrial distribution. The industries change. The fundamentals don't.
That breadth is what makes the peer advisory room work. I can engage credibly with a manufacturer's supply chain problem, a founder's succession question, a nonprofit CEO's board governance challenge, and a PE-backed operator's exit timeline — often in the same morning.
I'm not a specialist. I'm a generalist who's been in the room for every stage of company building — and that's exactly what a peer advisory chair needs to be.
A few words from the founders, investors, and executives who have built businesses, navigated transitions, and sat in the room alongside me.
"John is an extremely talented, intelligent self starter. He has strategic clarity on how to drive value into organisations, big and small — and his performance has always maintained extremely high standards."
"As an investor in QIO Systems, I was highly impressed with the extraordinary energy, commitment and enthusiasm John brought to his role. His involvement was a critical factor in my decision to invest."
"John is a good team leader, down to earth and caring for every team member. He is generous in giving credit to team members who make contributions — a critical incentive to keep the team proactive."
"John is an energetic and resourceful executive with a great deal of vision and ability. He has been the main driver in creating and growing our business on both sides of the Atlantic."
"John is a very motivating leader to work for — he has vision for what a company should do and is extremely driven, while still being approachable. A hard-working, intelligent, demanding yet fun colleague."
"John is a unifier and a collaborator. He's always striving to do the best thing for the company, and for everyone involved."
Hiring an advisor is a real decision, and you should feel completely confident before you make it. That's why every relationship starts the same way — a free 30-minute conversation about where you are and what you're working on. No pitch, no obligation. If it's a fit, we'll talk about next steps. If it's not, you'll know that too.
Send me a note with a brief description of where you are and what you're working on. I'll respond personally — no sales team, no funnel.
