I was born in the small town of Manistee in Michigan. Population 6,000. As Michiganders do, if you hold up your left hand, Manistee would be on top of your pinky, right on the great lake. It's a wonderful place in the summer. In fact, our First Street Beach was voted best in Michigan this year by USA Today. The winters are a different story, unless you enjoy bitter cold, grey skies and winter sports (I don't.)

Manistee was also a nice place to grow up. My dad was in the tire business, my mom worked in a pharmacy. We're lucky to still have them with us and we see each other often.

Me, my twin sister and my younger sister had a pretty normal childhood. Washington Elementary, and Manistee Junior High and High School where I was a good student, played on the golf team and kept statistics for the football and boy's basketball teams. Later we were blessed with my beautiful niece and nephew who also live with their husband and soon-to-be wife in Michigan.

After high school I attended Kalamazoo College, a small, private liberal arts college, majoring in political science. I have no idea why political science, it just kind of happened. A seemingly useless degree, but doing that work did teach me to think and to write.

After Kalamazoo, and a very enjoyable two year "detour" in East Lansing with friends I'm close with to this day (I won't share the details here other to say that I left there with fewer brain cells), I spent 2 years in West Lafayette, Indiana, earning an MBA at the Daniels School of Business at Purdue University. An excellent school. Surrounded by really smart kids, a terrific basketball team and a lousy football team. Boiler up!

Pursuing my love of sports, following grad school I spent two years in Orlando working in women's professional golf. I really enjoyed sports marketing but going broke (I was making $15,000 annually) wasn't part of my plan so I returned to Michigan in a sales and marketing role at the Ford Motor Company in Detroit. After about 6 months, I was sent to the New York Regional Sales Office, a move that changed my life.

I spent 13 years in the New York office working with some of the most talented - and fun - people I've ever had the luck and pleasure to encounter. Bill Clampet, my mentor. Mark, Rosaria, Phil, Andrew, Bill, Catherine, Ann, Rob, Nancy, the Dealers and so many others. It sounds cliche but we were like a family. We worked hard and we played hard.

At Ford I developed a Midwest work ethic (I believe there really is such a thing) and the skills and philosophies that guide me to this day:

• Keep things simple and therefore actionable. A complex "solution" that can't be executed is useless.

• Make decisions and live with them. There is no such thing as a perfect answer. Making a timely decision is always better. As the saying goes, "perfect is the enemy of good."

• Take reasoned risks. If your action contains no risk, it probably isn't worth the effort.

• Hire good people and let them do their jobs. Let them make mistakes and help them recover. Micromanagement is deadly.

• Have fun. If you dread going to work on Monday, find a new job.

As the Northeast Brand Manager, I also learned the important role non-profit organizations play in our lives. This is how I came to spend 10 years volunteering at God's Love We Deliver, an activity I loved and one that would lead to my "second act".

In 2007 I joined God's Love We Deliver as the Chief Development Officer. I didn't know much about fundraising but I learned quickly and spent the next 16 years raising more than $200 million - with the help of many - to feed New Yorkers who were too sick to shop or cook for themselves. That first year we delivered 670,000 meals. In my final year we delivered 4.2 million. As the only non-profit provider of medically-tailored meals in New York City, I pushed our team - including our amazing volunteers - hard and with great creativity and dedication, they responded. I couldn't be more proud.

I spent the final two years of my 18 years at God's Love as President & CEO. During that time we continued to push the envelope to serve as many of our sick and vulnerable neighbors as our resources would allow. I also served as Vice-Chair of the national Food is Medicine Coalition, learning much about the power of medically-tailored meals. As I move to my "3rd act" I'm excited to share this knowledge with all who will listen.

The other great thing about coming to New York is my partner LaMont. We met 24 years ago - I like to say the old fashioned way - at the Monster Bar in the Village. And we've been together ever since. LaMont was the associate casting director for the soap opera As the World Turns. He's taught me so much about theater, film and television (although it took him a while to share my love of Rockford Files, Kojak, Columbo and Murder She Wrote!) He's also taught me to slow down and to be a kinder, more thoughtful person. We share a great life together, now in West New York, New Jersey after more than 20 years in Chelsea.

In my freetime I enjoy my family. Exploring restaurants and bars, my favorites being Gramercy Tavern and Kettle of Fish. Sports, especially golf and football (Go Pack Go!). Good biographies. Art, design and architecture. 1970s television. And auctions of all sorts - I am obsessed with live auctioneers though we have little room for anything more in our apartment.

So, after 30+ years of working for others, I've decided to work for myself as I launch David Ludwigson Consulting, LLC. My goal is to work with like-minded people helping non-profits thrive. As FDR said "It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something." I couldn't agree more.

Work hard. Have fun. Do good.

David.