John's Bio
John Myrna's early years and the road less traveled
John started his business career working two paper routes to feed his avid electronics hobby. As a high school sophomore he moved into the big time with a leveraged buyout of his accordion teacher's music business. He received an early education in managing a declining market when the Beatles invaded and the accordion business took a nosedive. Effective market positioning and two acquisitions generated the cash flow to fund his BS in Electrical Engineering from New Jersey Institute of Technology. Following the road less traveled, John went from the big-city streets of central Newark to the big sky country of Bozeman, Montana. Two years later he left for the Army with a Masters degree in communications science and a life-long love of skiing and the West.
Fifteen years with Scientific Time Sharing Corporation (STSC)
John joined STSC in its first year to share in the lucrative computer time sharing business. During his 15-year tenure, STSC grew to over 250 employees, had a successful IPO and secondary offering, was acquired by a telephone company, and ended with an employee buyout. John became the General Manager of the core business after the triple blows of a back-to-back recession, the IBM 4300 with VM and the PC revolution knocked the time sharing business out of the sky. He turned his business unit around by shutting 18 offices, downsizing, and focusing on existing customers to generate enough cash flow to jump-start a very successful micro-computer software business.
Turnaround artist
Two months from bankruptcy and valued at "a quarter and two dead flies," VM Systems Group's board asked John to leave STSC and do his best to turn their company around. Within two years he consolidated the company's position as number two in its market, attracting venture capital and enhancing growth through product and competitor acquisition. John was now a recognized turnaround artist.
Founding Myrna Associates, Inc.
On July 4, 1991, John and his life-long partner --and wife-- Mary, formed Myrna Associates, dedicated to improving the competitiveness of America's small businesses. John's experiences have given him a passionate belief in the power of strategic planning to generate immediate bottom-line results, especially during a growth spurt, turnaround or other transitions. He distilled what he learned from leading organizations over 20 years into a formal program tailored for the small to medium-sized organization. Over a quarter of a century of continuous improvement has created a process that accomplishes more in a two-day team-planning meeting than in the two weeks required by traditional "big company" methods. Even organizations in crisis can find two days to invest in planning for success.
Total Quality Planning™
Success flows from the executive team's consensus and commitment to achieving a small number of goals through specific action plans. Myrna Associates' Total Quality Planning (TQP) process helps make this happen. Myrna Associates can take total responsibility for pre-planning, meeting facilitation and the transcribing and printing of a company's plan. All the company team has to do is show up for the intensive two-day retreat and they are guaranteed to have the final plan in their hands within a week! Myrna Associates backs its work with a no questions asked, 100% money-back guarantee.
John and Mary's family
John lives by the motto "It's one thing to be independent, but there's no reason to be alone." He is a frequent speaker on strategic planning, has been a Vistage Resource, and is now a Vistage Chair.
John and Mary's son Adam, a network engineer, followed in the family footsteps by founding his own software business when he was 13. He is currently with a computer services company in Maryland. Daughter Kathern is an Assistant Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Georgia. Daughter-in-law Jennifer manages John and Mary's two grandchildren and a popular culture blog. Mary passed away in 2021.