Who is Phil Gerbyshak?

A brief introduction to your Happy AF host

Hey there - we interrupt the usual Happy AF insights with a little backstory and who I am, and what I do, and explains how I can help you and others like you.

Hi, I'm Phil Gerbyshak! My career has been as diverse as my passion for productivity.

I started my journey in the Navy, delivering email by hand and loading up crypto to encrypt top-secret message traffic. From there, I taught myself how to build websites by hand coding in HTML, and I even created a website dedicated to the 1980s that's still online today (oops! I can't remember the password).

My love for technology continued to grow, and I became a peer trainer at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, where I taught people to build websites, use Microsoft Office, and send email when hardly anyone was online. I also sold high-speed internet (DSL or digital subscriber line) when it wasn't very high speed and worked as a stockbroker at one of the first online stock trading firms.

I then worked as a VP of IT for a financial services company, leading a team that supported 100 apps, 6 business units, and 2500 employees around the world, with a pager on one hip and a Blackberry device on the other. I trained financial advisors and their assistants, investment bankers, research analysts, and more, how to leverage technology to be more profitable.

In 2008 I gave a two year notice, and I started my own institute, going full time in 2010. I’ve bounced back into corporate jobs twice during that time, once to work with the Wall Street banks and financial institutions, and currently to work with sales reps who solve problems with main street companies all over the world.

I've been coaching, training, and speaking about technology for over 20 years now, and I've been an early adopter of blogging, podcasting, and social media. Currently, I focus on sales enablement and apps that help businesses and their people make more money, be more productive, and have more freedom to do what they love. I'm also working on a book called Pocket Productivity (coming soon) to help small business owners achieve their goals.

I'm a devoted husband and bonus dad to two amazing kiddos, as well as three crazy dogs. When I'm not helping people with sales enablement, you can find me on a beach in Florida, reading the latest business book, or playing pinball just about anywhere in the world. If you're interested in learning more about my work, head over to PhilGerby.com, where I frequently post articles, podcasts, and videos to help small business owners and consultants around the world.