The website is currently
under maintenance for
a redesign and relaunch
with new content like
videos and articles.
Meanwhile, check out the latest:
connect with James on LinkedIn,
schedule a free consultation
reach out to set up a coffee chat or discuss podcast appearances
check out the RUGGED OPTIMIST
2025-2026 Flipbook:
Testimonials.
MALLORIE HURST
Vice President of Operations
I would work with James
again in a heartbeat.
James is a very natural
leader and people-person,
and was responsible for a lot of
our important business components.
James solves problems quickly
and provides clear guidance,
time and time again.
Working with him has
been a highlight
of my career.”
ERIN BARLOW
Manager of Client Success
The first time I saw James speak
at a conference, he modeled what
a dogged belief in achievement
should look & feel like.
He listened to business owners’ struggles
and fortified their connection to
what they do and why they do it.
James did what
James does best:
He learns what drives people,
understands their personal why,
and invests himself
in their success."
RUGGED OPTIMISM
does not require or provide
rose-colored glasses.
Good? Bad? Ugly?
“Perfect.”
RUGGED
OPTIMISTS
know how to
find & act
on the hidden capacity
for good stuff in the bad stuff.
The Rugged Optimist
Methodology
extracts rational hope
from things as they
truly exist.
THE RUGGED OPTIMIST
CORE FOUR
Our core values put
the foundational truths of
THE RUGGED OPTIMIST
METHODOLOGY
into action.
These four guideposts define
who we are, how we work,
& what we share with our clients—
For business. For life. For good.
A RUGGED OPTIMIST navigates the world knowing that nothing consists of just one thing and all things are in motion. This creates inherent opportunity in every situation when we know what to look for and how to look for it. Lacking hope is typically a consequence of lacking clarity.
-
Speaking
No snooze fests. No rose-colored glasses. No problem.
The speaker at your next corporate or private event shouldn’t leave people thinking, “This could have been an email.”
Constellating his success in crisis intervention, hiring consultation, partnership management, and living with multiple sclerosis, James provides systematic approaches that are applicably to any situation, configured to your company’s goals. Your audience gets insight with energy, depth with dynamism, and a renewed and rational sense of hope.
James has been invited to events for companies like CareerPlug, PostNet, Window World, Pathful: Connect, Shine Window Care, and others, and high schools in North Carolina and California. -
Training
Clichés are condescending. Give your teams something better.
Our training sessions introduce battle-tested tools from the Rugged Optimist framework - developed through helping hundreds of organizations transform hiring challenges and team dynamics. Improve your team’s problem-solving, resilience, and creative capacity.
James has led trainings for franchises like EverLine Coatings, Window Hero, State Farm, Pink Zebra Moving, TruBlue Home Service Ally, Big Blue Swim School, and others.(virtual, or on-site with traveling expenses):
• Half-day
• Full-day -
Lunch & Learn
Give your employees something they’ll want to take home with them.
Boost morale secure tools for intentional resilience. Expand creative capacities in tumultuous situations. Transform problems into new frontiers.
It’s a win/win for companies and their employees.
Not just frilly words but realistic results for individuals and companies using the tools from the R.O. CORE FOUR toolkit. An L&L with James orients towards your organization’s goals and focus, ensuring attendees leave with at least one relevant tool from the Rugged Optimist toolkit to begin immediately applying to their work and lives. -
Coaching
For professional and personal development.
Strengthen resilience. Improve problem-solving. Feel “in control” amid anything without controlling everything. It’s not a mystery; it’s mastery.
These weekly sessions develop your deftness using universal methods for happening to the world, rather than fearing it. We’ll focus on practical tools, tested approaches, brain-training, and the real-world philosophy that create lasting, compounding results. See more, solve more, do more.
Weekly, hour-long sessions for mastering rugged optimism:•3 months (in-person/virtual)
•6 months (in-person/virtual)
BOOKING REQUEST
