About Paul Goudreault

Possibly Identifies as a Dog

This is Smedley, he is an anthropomorphic cartoon dog created by Walter Lantz, most noted for Woody Woodpecker. The classic quote, which I still use today is “smart brains”; which apprears in a Chilly Willy cartoon titled, “I’m Cold” (link below). The reason this resonates is because Smedley thinks he’s doing something very smart, but in the end he is out-witted by a small penguin. As a decision maker and leader, I’ve always tried to stay humble and listen to input from multiple diverse sources. We all can’t be right all of the time. The more you know, the more you know what you don’t know.

As I learned from a famous professor at the University of Chicago, in life, and in accounting, there are many roads to the top of the mountain. I’ve had somewhat of a circuitous career journey and have immense knowledge across all business diciplines, but there are continuous learning opportunities every day of our lives; different paths to be explored and experienced. I don’t know that I’ll ever reach the top of the mountain, and frankly, I’m not sure that I ever want to, because that might mean that I’d be done learning.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=76Bp6u4Ike4

My Story

So many book ideas, so little time.

Personal Life

YES PLEASE! Life moves quickly when one is an active participant, whether at work or at play. Throughout every stage of my life, days were typically filled with activities, lots of activities. My phenominal spouse Jennifer manages the majority of our social calendar which is filled with time for family and friends. Family time has definitely transitioned over the years, beginning with raising 3 wonderful sons who were all active in sports. We attended a lot of games, coached a lot of games and took some great trips, which were always nature oriented. We did take a trip to Disney/Universal one time, which was followed by 4 days on the beaches south of St. Pete, FL. Everyone had more fun at the beach. We spared no expense at Disney/Universal, but the boys were more interested in chasing and capturing little lizards versus anything that these parks could offer. So from that point forward, vacations were always in the mountains or at the beach.

One of my lifelong dreams was always to get a sailboat, which we did when we had one kid in high school, another in junior high school and the final one in elementary school. Prior to buying a boat, our family vacation consisted of a week in Traverse City, MI taking sailing lessons and getting everyone certified to sail. This was of course met with a varied amount of enthusiasm, since there were books and tests involved. But we did it, and the following spring we purchased a used 30′ tall rig sloop and became avid weekend sailers and typically had a boat full of guests for our Saturday and Sunday “day trips” sailing out of Chicago on beautiful Lake Michigan.

As our boys became men, it was off to college, career pursuits and then beginning their own families. We now have 6 grand-kids living throughout the midwest. So your life transitions and you realize that more time is dedicated to family, both young and old. Jen and I are both blessed to have our parents, who are all in great health for being in their late 80’s and early 90’s.