There are two types of entrepreneurs: Those who can launch a business and take it into the stratosphere (Jeff Bezos, for example), and those who can launch a business but take it only so far.

The latter is vastly more common than the former.

Among the latter, there are also two types: Those who aren’t self-aware enough to know they’ve taken their business as far as they can, and those who are smart enough to recognize when they’re reached their managerial limit.

I would like to think I’m among the latter of the latter: Able to take my business so far and humble enough to recognize when it’s time to hand over control to someone who can take the business beyond my limit.

Today is the 17^th anniversary of the day I founded what would become RPE Origin, then known as Red Pill Email. Today is also a good day to announce I’m passing operational control over to our managing director Ryan Phelan.

When Ryan joined our team in 2020, he made two key appointments: Kelly Stephens, director of account management and Patrick Green, vice president of strategy.

The RPE Origin team has since spearheaded a more-than 30 percent growth in business. And largely due to Ryan’s leadership, we are poised for another blowout year in 2022.

My relationship with Ryan began long before we were in business together. For more than a decade, Ryan and I sailed together. Sailing a boat requires 100 percent teamwork and trust. If the person captaining the boat gives an order, the person on the receiving end of the command must trust it’s the right decision and execute it without question. Otherwise, the boat might end up on a sand bar.

I captained the boat for a number of years until I grew confident Ryan could take the helm. And such is the case with RPE Origin. I had the helm for 17 years, and now I am confident Ryan can steer this boat where it needs to go.

I will be in the background occasionally voicing an opinion or two, but the captain’s hat is firmly on Ryan’s head.

Throughout his career, Ryan has focused on driving strategy and high growth SaaS software companies and advancing winning digital strategies. In working for companies like Adestra, Acxiom, Responsys, Sears & Kmart, BlueHornet and infoUSA, Ryan’s experience and history in the industry is unequaled.

With Ryan leading RPE Origin I’ll have more time to focus on a soap company that we’re creating for my special needs son, Alan.  At Alan’s Artisan Soap Co., most of our processing and packaging can be done by people with special needs, giving us the ability to provide workplace opportunities to one of the most underserved and vulnerable segments of our population.

Please drop in at https://AlansSoaps.com and say, “Hello”, sometime.  Maybe I can find an email marketing agency that can help…