Hi, Kind and Beautiful Human Beings!!

Two Years Ago… Everything Changed

On August 15, 2023, All Pride, No Ego: A Queer Executive’s Journey to Living and Leading Authentically stepped into the world.

I thought I was publishing a book.
What I didn’t realize was that I was starting a movement.

In two years, this little labor of love has:

• Earned a spot as a USA TODAY Best Seller

• Taken me on book tours from coast to coast

• Opened doors to corporate trainings and keynotes

• Led me back to Emory University for advanced coaching education

• Sparked deep conversations about leadership, identity, and kindness

• Helped grow an incredible community of leaders, dreamers, and changemakers

I am surprised. I am delighted. And above all, I am deeply grateful.

Grateful to every reader, listener, client, and friend who believed in the power of authentic leadership and radical kindness.

This book was the one that started it all.
And here’s the best part—

I’m just getting started.

Here’s to the next chapter—together.

—Jim

Here are the links if you want to read my book, listen to my recording of the book, or join my book club at Allstora.

Even better, do all 3! Or share them as gifts for people in your life.

I also am available for virtual or in person speaking opportunities and training.

I enjoy all of the unique events and experiences and the opportunity to listen, learn, and laugh.

As a gay man preparing to stand before my family, friends, and community next month to marry the love of my life, the news that the Supreme Court may revisit Obergefell v. Hodges is not abstract—it’s a gut punch. This isn’t theory or politics for me. It’s the possibility that the country I’ve given my talent, taxes, and trust to could decide my marriage is less worthy, less valid, less American than anyone else’s. I’ve spent decades believing that progress, once won, was secure. But here we are—watching hard-fought rights dangled as political bargaining chips.

If Obergefell falls, the impact will reach far beyond wedding licenses. It will fracture families, strip away spousal protections, and signal to every queer person in this country that their love is conditional. We can’t afford to think of this as “someone else’s problem” or assume that history will naturally bend toward justice. Rights survive because people fight for them—loudly, relentlessly, and together. My wedding will still happen next month. But the question is: will my marriage still be protected a year from now? Five years? The answer will depend on how fiercely we defend what’s ours, before it’s gone.

JOIN Me at ATLANTA PRIDE 2025 on October 11th and 12th, 2025

I have secured a wonderful space, conveniently located near the Bar, The Bathroom, and the Performance Space in glorious Piedmont Park for this year’s Pride celebration. I joined Marketplace this year to facilitate connection and community building. I will have my book available to purchase and sign, as well as some other amazing gifts and surprises for all who stop by!!

"Authoritarianism doesn’t arrive with marching bands. It creeps in under the banner of ‘temporary measures’—until local control is gone for good." - Jim Fielding

The Trump Administration’s takeover of the D.C. police force isn’t about crime—it’s about control. Violent crime is down roughly 26% year over year, yet the White House has seized authority from the city’s elected leadership, invoking an obscure clause of the Home Rule Act to install itself as the top cop in the nation’s capital. This isn’t governance; it’s a test run. For 30 days—and likely longer if Congress folds—local democracy is suspended. The precedent is chilling: if a president can strip a city of its autonomy on a political whim, what stops them from doing the same to any jurisdiction that disagrees?

This is how democracy slips into authoritarianism—not with one dramatic coup, but through repeated, “temporary” suspensions of local control, always justified as “emergency” action. Washington, D.C. has no voting representation in Congress, which makes it an easy target. That’s precisely why this move matters beyond the Beltway: it’s a warning to every community that self-governance survives only if we defend it, loudly, before it’s gone.

The Trump Administration and its Department of Education are still leaning hard on America’s universities and colleges—bullying, intimidating, and weaponizing oversight as a political tool. Recent settlements may have closed a few chapters, but they’ve done nothing to quiet the fear and uncertainty blanketing campuses as a new academic year begins. Faculty, students, and administrators are returning not just with syllabi and welcome-week plans, but with the anxiety of knowing they could be the next target in a manufactured culture war.

This isn’t leadership. It’s not stewardship of education. It’s a cynical, transactional power play that undermines the very mission of higher learning: to create spaces for inquiry, dialogue, and growth. Authentic leadership—rooted in truth, curiosity, and radical kindness—protects the freedom to explore ideas, even uncomfortable ones. It nurtures the next generation of thinkers, leaders, and problem-solvers. It doesn’t try to score political points by dismantling the institutions that make that possible. As we head into this school year, my hope is that we double down on kindness, courage, and intellectual integrity—because the antidote to bullying is not retreat, it’s standing taller together.
"A government that fears its universities will always fear the truth." - Jim Fielding

Writing this book and creating all of my work around it has been the joy of my life. I also feel a tremendous responsibility as our community is under constant stress and attacks around the world, and especially here in the USA. I realize that I have a “platform” now and I need to use it to Amplify, Protect, and PROTEST appropriately.

By nature, I am an an optimistic person, but this world we live in has turned me into a realist and a pragmatist. I will never be a pessimist, but I have had to internalize many hard truths recently, and truly focus on controlling what I can control. Most importantly, I have to focus on controlling my reactions.

It is a daily struggle and discipline!!

I am grateful for the courage and the support to change my life almost completely in my late 50s and early 60s. I think it took me until now to live the life I was truly meant to experience. Staying present and learning every day feeds my soul and my brain.

In less than a month now, I will officially be married to an amazing man.

Our family and friends will gather in Traverse City on a hopefully gorgeous Fall weekend in Traverse City, Michigan. I am so excited and I feel like we all need this Party!

As Always, Thank You for being in Community and Conversation with me…….

You will never know how much I appreciate each and every one of you.

Jim