by Peter Wolf.

Peter Wolf

I recently started my own company, Brandwolf Consulting LLC, and to set this company up and make it go live was a great experience. I’ve started companies in Europe before and the idea isn't new to me, but I have to say I’m pretty amazed how it went and what happened since I left PRS.

Support from friends and industry peers, family and associates has been tremendous and I’m still overwhelmed by messages I have been receiving ever since. Many old friends have re-connected with me, which has been a joy. I’ve also had a bit more time to work out and get myself in shape and, last but not least, I spent as much time with my son Damian as possible.

Change didn’t use to be a friend of mine. I used to think of it as something that may be screwing up my day and making my life miserable. It was a hard nut to crack for me at times. I guess people get comfortable with routines and procedures and they usually don’t like it when things are different than before. It’s funny how we get obsessed about certain ways things are supposed to be, each of us in his or her own way. There are different levels of change, though. Life changing events can occur sometimes, which make all these little issues we’re obsessing about relative in a way.

Leaving a company after 23 years of working together is certainly a fair amount of change I would say. In the beginning, I didn’t do much at all and tried to make sure that our family was okay. After a couple of weeks, I got into a heavy thinking mode and through thinking about how to set up the future, the recent past began to fade.

Starting Brandwolf Consulting was a logical step considering what I’ve been trying to do in the past 30 years. It was my wife, Sylvie, who came up with the name, actually. She’s been working with me off and on all these years since PRS Germany was founded in 1990. When it comes to branding, advertising, strategic planning and claims/copy, she’s one of the top professionals I know.

So, once the name was there, it was a natural process of thinking it through and setting it up and connecting with professionals and networkers. I would like to mention Scott Brunner of Quantum Sails (www.quantumsails.com), a true computer wizard, Markus Kaes in Germany, one of the best CDs I know (www.morgenstern-kaes.net), and Chris Buck (www.cctitle.net) my good friend and legal advisor. I would also like to mention Dale Gallimore and his team at BB&T Bank, Church Circle in Annapolis (www.bbt.com), who have been very supportive in helping to start Brandwolf.

When I heard that Joe Knaggs (press release) had left, too, we hooked up a couple of days later and talked for several days before traveling to Nashville together. We drove all the way, along the Smokeys, through Virginia and Tennessee, which is something I had never done before.

We kept talking and hooked up with associates in Nashville who have what it takes to become new friends. We were invited to do work shops about guitar building at the NFI (Nashville Film Institute, www.theNFI.com) run by Preema Thiagarajah who is an inspiring woman. We hung out with musicians and industry peers and did several interviews. It was a very uplifting trip all together and I look forward to working with Joe again.

I would like to thank everyone for their support and encouragement. It made me truly understand why I have chosen to live in this country. The amount of people with a positive and constructive attitude and energy towards change (and this change in particular) has been far greater than I ever imagined.

All the best ~

Peter