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. I’m 1/2 Irish and 1/2 French, as you might be able to tell from my last name. I am truely lucky in that I have the ability to be highly creative and very analytical. I do credit my Irish heritage for my ability to write with both wisdom and humor. I have authored, but not yet published, 4 children’s books. Yet, I have also authored technical training manuals, which I’m very good at but by necessity, require an entirely different style of writing.

I’m a problem solver and somewhat of a puzzle addict and rely on the WSJ and NYT to support this “hobby”. It started with crossword puzzles, which I still do, but has now been expanded to Wordle, Connections and Spelling Bee, where my need to achieve GENUIS status had become somewhat of a compulsion.

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. Now they are each happily married and each raising their own 2 children . . . THE GRANDS! 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.

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.

Much of my youth was spend playing sports, but hockey is where I was most talented. Sports can teach a lot about courage, conviction, teamwork and leadership. When I was a Freshman in high school they had a Varsity and a JV team and held tryouts for both teams. My Dad happened to be the head coach of the varsity team and when try-outs were over, I was the only freshman selected to the varsity team. There were numerous upset parents whose kids were named to the JV team who were in their sophomore, junior and senior years. I was small but fast and my Dad supported his decision with conviction. At the end of that season I was the teams leading scorer. My Dad and I still recall that chapter in life and laugh about it.