A decade on, Randy estimates he’s taught more than 3,000 professionals to negotiate in complex, often high-stakes situations. His classroom success could be chalked up to 30 years’ experience in business, marketing, and leadership. Then again, this is Randy — a Marine vet, a former Congressional chief of staff, a guy who knows his way around all sorts of trenches. “I’ve always been a creative problem solver,” he says. “My people skills were refined as I had to navigate the deep waters of the political world, as well as dicey office politics, all while maintaining a professional decorum.”

Married nearly 30 years, with three grown kids and two grandkids, Randy lives at Phoenix’s White Tank Mountain foothills, where he took up hobby farming to grow and raise their own food. “Working with the nature of the animal or the earth, we can produce great things. Working against their nature, not so much,” he says, drawing a parallel to working with people in negotiation situations. “Nurturing them according to how they’re wired can produce amazing results. Fighting their nature, not so much.”