"Creating a personal financial statement in the Life of Meaning class helped me decide how I wanted to live the rest of my life, starting right now."
Chris Shonk '04
Credentials:
- Founder of Liahona Ventures
- Founder of Virtus Financial Group; cofounder of Gendeavor
- US Army Special Operations Forces, Special Warfare Soldier of the Year
- MBA, Acton MBA in Entrepreneurship; B.S., Campbell University
The oldest of eight children, Chris started his first business at 16. After graduating from college, he spent 4 years in the U.S. Army Special Operations. During his time there, Chris was chosen out of 2,500 Special Operations soldiers as Soldier of the Year. After the army, Chris worked at Merrill Lynch before cofounding Gendeavor, a business consulting firm.
Chris discusses his preconceptions about the business world: "Before the Acton MBA program, I thought that big business was where the captains of the industry reigned supreme. I had an infatuation with the complex. Yet when I spoke with friends and colleagues I most admired in those businesses, I found them to be tired, frustrated and downright miserable. None had a clear idea of their purpose, and most believed they were not living a life of meaning."
How Acton changed Chris's ideas: "After the empowerment I gained from the Acton MBA and its astute professors, I now possess a deep love for simplicity. I believe in people and execution, not technology and corporations. I learned that nothing can think as quickly or move as swiftly as the empowered entrepreneur who hasn't spent the last decade constructing bureaucracies, archaic systems and customer neglect."
Shortly after graduation, Chris founded his own company, Virtus Financial Group. After selling that company in 2006, Chris established Liahona Ventures. Liahona Ventures invests in new business opportunities and has just recently opened several Massage Envy stores in Austin.
