Usuario:BourbonBarrelKY/Taller

Jason G. Ballard (born June 12, 1973) is an American business owner, entrepreneur, international business and executive coach, and military veteran. After 30-years^[1] of distinguished service in the United States Military, various government organizations, politics, and private sector companies, he has dedicated his life to elevating others to higher levels of success as a top-ranked coach, consultant, and advisor to business leaders around the world.

Early life and education[editar]

Ballard, the oldest of two children of Jerry and Susan Ballard, was raised in the small town of Land O’ Lakes, Florida. He was brought up with blue-collar roots and started his life living and working on the family ranch. He was always active in sports and loved to watch the Florida State Seminoles play football. In his teenage years, he began learning about business and entrepreneurism while working in the family business where the values of hard work, discipline, and how to succeed in business were instilled at a young age. From there, Ballard went on to serve his country in the Armed Forces, become the first person in his family to receive a college education, and successfully lead a host of award-winning organizations across the globe.

Ballard attended numerous educational institutions throughout his career. He received a BS degree in Computer Science from Troy State University, an MBA from Columbia Southern University, and an MS degree from Air University. In addition, he also holds numerous professional certifications in business, leadership, management, coaching, training, and technology.

Ballard is married to Lisa M. Ballard, a Florence, Alabama native. They have two daughters.

Career Highlights[editar]

Ballard’s first official job in his long and distinctive career was working in his father’s family business, Ballard Construction. He worked alongside his father building and remodeling residential homes and commercial buildings throughout Central Florida. He loved the trade industry, building things with his hands, and seeing the smiles on the faces of customers when jobs were complete. Working in the family-owned company gave him a strong foundation of business, a higher standard of excellence to live by, and a greater appreciation of customer relationships that carried with him throughout his entire career. While he enjoyed the construction business, Ballard also had a different vision for his life.

In 1991, Ballard decided to pursue his calling in architecture and made a career change. He was hired by Cox Lumber Company, where he was able to leverage his construction background to design and manufacture roof and floor structural systems for prominent developers, builders, architects, and engineering firms across the State of Florida. Ballard flourished as a structural designer and started putting himself through college, but quickly realized he needed additional resources in order to achieve his personal goals.

While working in the architecture and building industry, Ballard’s entrepreneurial insight allowed him to seize a market opportunity around facility maintenance and groundskeeping. To meet the demand and provide himself another means of support for his educational aspirations, Ballard started his first company, Ballard Landscape and Lawn Service. In a short amount of time, he capitalized on his industry relationships and built a thriving business in the Tampa Bay area. After 2-years of success in the landscape and lawn care industry, he sold the business to fulfill his desire to serve in a broader capacity.

In 1994, Ballard enlisted in the United States Air Force where he started out in the technology field. During that time, Ballard had come to realize his true passion for leadership through the mentorship of several senior leaders that influenced his life. Soon thereafter, he completed his bachelor’s degree and became a commissioned officer himself. As he rose through the ranks, he would go on to lead over 12 diverse organizations to success (during both peacetime and while deployed in combat zones) in various functional areas of technology, security, intelligence, multimedia, logistics, supply chain, aircraft maintenance, civil engineering, human resources, contracting, finance, research and development, and many others. His most noteworthy assignments included:

Keesler Air Force Base (Mississippi)
Tyndall Air Force Base (Florida)
Laughlin Air Force Base (Texas)
Langley Air Force Base (Virginia)
Riyadh Air Base (Saudi Arabia)
King Faisal Air Force Base (Saudi Arabia)
Royal Air Force Mildenhall (United Kingdom)
Naval Support Base – Souda Bay (Crete)
Royal Air Force Lakenheath (United Kingdom)
Al Udeid Air Force Base (Qatar)
Schriever Air Force Base (Colorado)
Camp Victory Joint Operations Base (Iraq)
Peterson Air Force Base (Colorado)
Guantanamo Bay Joint Operations Base (Cuba)
Offutt Air Force Base (Nebraska)

In addition to serving as a leader and commander in various organizations, Ballard was also entrusted to serve as an executive advisor to many military generals, elected officials, and senior government leaders. His keen insight, knowledge, and expertise proved invaluable in shaping international policy, developing strategies, building alliances, responding to emergency and crisis situations, and providing peace and stability in the world. Ballard truly enjoyed serving his country and working with so many committed people. For him, it was the experience of a lifetime. With over 20 years of dedicated service, Ballard decided to transition from the military and begin a new phase of his career with his family.

In 2014, Ballard retired from active duty and pursued a career in the civilian sector. He moved his family to the State of Kentucky to lead and advise in the political arena. He accepted an executive leadership position working for Mayor Greg Fischer of the City of Louisville, where his leadership was instrumental in Louisville emerging as one of the top-performing cities in America. During his tenure, the city produced over 12 billion dollars in economic development, completed one of the nation’s largest infrastructure projects that provided new roadways and bridges enhancing commerce in the Midwest, added 1,500 new businesses, produced more than 60,000 new jobs, and earned national recognition for being one of the most innovative and efficient cities in the U.S.

After leaving politics, Ballard returned to his entrepreneurial origins to serve beside a fellow veteran and colleague as a C-Suite leader in the Rivera Holding Group. There his leadership and business experience were leveraged in growing a technology consulting firm and launching a new cyber security software company that ultimately achieved over 6 million dollars in contracts in the first year and a half of being in business. The hard work, dedication, and crowning achievements of both organizations culminated in being nationally recognized by Ernst and Young with the 2018 Entrepreneur of the Year Award. At its high point, Ballard decided to leave Rivera Holding Group to start another company of his own that would allow him to help other aspiring business leaders accomplish their dreams.

In 2018, Ballard started Soar Higher Coaching and Training, which provides business and executive coaching, consulting, advising, training, and assessment services to leaders and organizations around the globe. In partnership with Brian Tracy and FocalPoint International, Ballard’s company offers a wide range of customized programs based on his 30+ years of real-world leadership experience and the best practices known in the business. That winning combination, in conjunction with Ballard’s unique ability to connect with people, has empowered countless others to realize their full potential, helped grow the next generation of leaders and set people up for success in ways they never thought possible. He continues to work today as a personal coach and confidant to business owners, executives, entrepreneurs, and leaders, helping them reduce risk, make better decisions, and lead their organizations to the next level of success. Learn more by visiting: https://soarhighercoaching.com.

Military Service[editar]

Allegiance – United States of America
Branch/Service – United States Air Force
Years of Service – 1994 – 2014
Major Operations – Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Northern Watch, Operation Southern Watch, Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa, and Joint Task Force – Guantanamo
Military Awards
- Defense Meritorious Service Medal ^[2]
- Meritorious Service Medal
- Joint Service Commendation Medal
- Air Force Commendation Medal ^[3]
- Air Force Achievement Medal ^[2]
- Joint Meritorious Unit Award ^[3]
- Meritorious Unit Award ^[4]
- Air Force Outstanding Unit Award ^[4]
- Air Force Organizational Excellence Award ^[3]
- Air Force Good Conduct Medal ^[2]
- National Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star ^[1]
- Iraq Campaign Medal with Bronze Star ^[2]
- Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
- Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
- Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal
- Air Force Expeditionary Service Award

Major Awards[editar]

2020 Business & Executive Coach of the Year by FocalPoint International
2018 Kentucky Colonel by Office of the Governor – Commonwealth of Kentucky
2017 Best Technology Integration by Governing
2016 Government Innovation by Living Cities
2016 Salute to Veteran Leaders by Louisville Business First
2015 Best of the Web by Center for Digital Government
2014 Get Your Business Online by Google
2014 Top U.S. Digital City – Louisville by eRepublic
2012 Executive Leadership Officer of the Year by U.S. Air Force
2010 Lance P. Sijan Leadership Award by U.S. Air Force
Over 40 individual, team, and organizational awards for excellence

Notes[editar]

References[editar]

External links[editar]

Wikimedia Commons alberga una categoría multimedia sobre BourbonBarrelKY/Taller.

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[FB-1] ttps://www.facebook.com/FocalPointBusinessCoach/posts/congratulations-to-jason-ballard-the-recipient-of-this-years-brian-tracy-award-f/4363186497058689/

[KyCo-2] ttps://www.kycolonels.org/

[GoVT-3] ttps://www.govtech.com/dc/digital-cities/digital-cities-survey-2017.html

[Lou-4] ttps://louisvilleky.gov/government/civic-innovation-and-technology/awards

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