No matter what John has done over the course of his career, it's always had an aerospace, engineering and manufacturing component to it.

Born and raised in Trenton, New Jersey, John graduated high school and went west (ish) to study aerospace engineering at the University of Michigan. He spent his summers working as an aerospace engineer in Los Angeles to pay his way through college.

“I really liked the West Coast, and after I graduated college decided to move to Los Angeles full-time,” he said.

After 11 years of sunshine, John had the opportunity to move to Seattle and open an office for a Japanese CNC machine tool builder that wanted to grow their aerospace business. He figured it would be a two-year stint, that after he opened up the office and got it running he would end up back in LA.

“We ended up loving it here and staying," said John. "I loved all the outdoor opportunities this area offered in such close proximity to a great city. You had the mountains and the sound. I used to do a lot of sailing and I like being near water – both in liquid and frozen form. I like the change of seasons and just the general vibe.”

That was 22 years ago and he hasn’t looked back.

The Evolution of a Engineer

At the very beginning of his career, John worked as an aerospace engineer but soon went into engineering program management. He decided he wanted to eventually be a CEO, and since sales was the bottom line of any company, he pursued a position in technical sales.

Throughout the years, John's experience became more and more big-picture. At one organization owned by private equity, John focused on strategies that increased revenue and EBITDA growth by more than 30 percent per year. At another manufacturing subsidiary, he increased sales, profitability and marketshare by instituting strategic initiatives he knew would increase efficiency and make them capable of serving the rapid expansion of the aerospace industry.

John's experience over the years equipped him to take a holistic approach to a company that wants to grow sales and profitability, and potentially become more valuable in preparation for a sale. He understands the sales and business development side of things, as well as engineering, manufacturing and R&D. With a strong working knowledge of these various functions, he can look at a company as a whole and decide what they need to do strategically to be more valuable and to grow. Then, he doesn’t just develop a strategy, he helps execute it.

John understands the importance of not just seeing the whole picture, but understanding the various factors at play in order to make the right decisions. Those factors include the motivations and goals of the owners. A privately owned company is driven by different goals than one that is public or owned by private equity.

With all of this in his background, John’s focus today is two-fold. First, he develops the strategy to accomplish the goals of business leaders: growing value, sales, profitability, etc. Second, John can serve as a sort of liaison between the private equity company and the management team of their portfolio company. He’s seen what can happen when owners have a great relationship with their CEO but don't understand the details and inner workings of the business. John is able to go between the two to direct strategy and help with accurate forecasting, business planning and keeping the executors on track.

Outdoor Enthusiast, Racer and Family Man

Had John not pursued aerospace engineering, he would probably be designing the various types of equipment that have made his pursuit of the outdoors possible.

“I was really into competitive sailing and skiing" he said. "I would have loved to be in racing sailboat design or building skis for a living, following some of my outdoor interests."

John trained with an America's Cup sailboat racing team while they were preparing for competition, but stopped when he started his family.

"It was very, very time-consuming and my kids were young at the time. I took them out sailing and they weren’t very interested, and I thought I’d rather spend time with my sons doing things we can enjoy together”.

So his focus shifted to encouraging his three young boys to try anything that caught their interest, which is what led John to many of the hobbies he still enjoys today — backcountry skiing, mountain biking, trail running, hockey, being in the mountains and fly fishing.

In a sense, it was John's boys that got him into OneAccord as well. Some of the kids they grew up around were the children of Dave Parker, who co-founded OneAccord in 2005. But while John has known about OneAccord for years, it wasn't until recently that he thought seriously about joining.

Two years ago, his friend John Steckler joined OneAccord and suggested to John Aiello that it might be a good fit for him. John thought about it, met with co-founder and current chairman Jeff Rogers and decided to join OneAccord.

“I initially told Jeff if I could be useful somewhere as an outside resource, I’d be happy to volunteer my expertise if there’s a way I could be of service” said John.

In November of 2019, John joined Christ Venti and John Steckler on a business assessment, and by January he was a Principal.

John has been married for 31 years to his wife, Cyndy. Their three sons are now adults and two live here in the Pacific Northwest. His oldest son is in human resources management, his middle son is the music director/worship pastor at Gold Greek Community Church and his youngest is currently attending Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana.

You can learn more about John’s professional career and education here. Contact him directly over email or at (425) 478-6916.