I’ve spent years building and leading hospitality teams that have generated millions in revenue, and now, I help professionals like you tell your unique story on paper.

As an executive resume writer with hands-on experience in operations, I partner with leaders who have well-deserved accolades but struggle to position themselves for the next significant step. 

I've sat on the other side of the table as a hiring manager, so I know what stands out. I excel at transforming your complex, behind-the-scenes accomplishments into clear, compelling narratives that grab attention.

Whether your background is in hospitality, operations, or broader business leadership, my goal is simple: 
To position you as the clear choice for high-profile roles, promotions, and opportunities that truly align with your skills and aspirations.

Specialties include crafting executive and professional resumes, optimizing LinkedIn profiles, and guiding career transitions in the hospitality and operations fields. 

I take pride in working with a select number of clients each month, ensuring a personalized and high-quality experience for each one. If you’re ready to take your career to the next level, let’s connect!

Luke Duggan

People learn how to value your work by how you describe it.
If you minimize, they discount it.
If you generalize, they assume replaceability.
If you’re precise, they see you as credible.

It’s not about sounding impressive or grandiose (see what I did there😊).

It’s about being specific enough that your contribution can’t be mistaken.

📍 What does your language (and body language) teach people about your value?

Luke Duggan 

Executive Resume Writer | Led Multimillion $ Teams, Now I Help You Land High-Visibility Roles

Most senior resumes don’t fail because they lack results.
They fail because they hide judgment.

When you get to a certain rung on the career ladder, hiring leaders already assume competence.

What they’re scanning for is how you decide.

What you prioritize.
What you protect under pressure.
The tradeoffs you’re willing to make.

If your resume only lists outcomes, you look capable. (But at your level, aren't you capable?)

If it shows decisions, you look promotable.

📍 Where could you replace “what happened” with “how you chose”?

There’s a quiet difference between being trusted and being relied on.

Trusted leaders are respected.
Leaders who are “relied on” are leaned on.

They catch what others miss.
They stabilize moments before they escalate.
They absorb complexity so others can function.

But, 

Reliance doesn’t always translate to recognition.

I continue to see leaders who are essential day to day yet invisible on paper. 

Their resumes describe tasks, not gravity.

Careers don’t stall from a lack of contribution; they stall when the contribution isn’t articulated clearly.

📍 Where are you relied on but not fully recognized?

Building a solo business is not a clean upward line.
Some weeks, you do solid work, and nothing moves.
Some weeks, you have good conversations that go nowhere.
Some weeks, you question whether any of this is translating.

What keeps me going is not motivation.

It’s paying attention to what actually creates momentum, even when it’s small.

Which conversations led to follow-ups?
Which posts led to profile views?
Which work did people ask questions about?

Progress shows up quietly before it shows up financially.

📍 If you’re building something on your own, what’s the smallest signal you’ve noticed that tells you you’re not wasting your time?

When asked during an interview, “Tell me about a challenge you handled.”
Some provide a detailed answer that details the effort.
Others reveal leadership.

When you talk about what you did, you sound busy. We are all busy, right?

When you explain why you chose the solution when you had a split second to decide, you sound credible.

Authority shows up in decisions:
•	what you didn’t escalate
•	what you corrected early
•	what you chose to carry yourself

📍 What decision do you avoid naming directly when you tell your story?

Most leadership growth isn’t dramatic.
It’s directional.

What you reinforce.
What you let slide.
What you finally name instead of carrying quietly.

Either way, those choices compound.

Over time, they tell people exactly who you are to work for.

📍 If someone watched your last 30 days, what direction would they see? Firm, fair, and consistent or wishy washy when it matters most?

High performers often believe one thing will take care of everything else:
“If I keep delivering, the right people will notice.”

Sometimes they do.
Often times, they don’t.

However, consistency builds trust. Trust that you can handle the task at hand.

But trust alone doesn’t create opportunity.

I’ve seen impressive leaders stall not because they lacked results, but because they never articulated what those results actually required:

The judgment calls.
The tradeoffs.
The moments they stepped in when things could’ve gone sideways.

When you don’t name that work, others fill in the blanks, and they usually fill them in smaller than reality.

This isn’t about self-promotion.
It’s about accuracy.

If your work carries weight, it deserves to be described with the same care you put into doing it.

📍 What part of your contribution have you been assuming others “just know”?

Most professionals don’t undersell themselves on purpose.
They do it to stay comfortable.

They describe outcomes without decisions.
They mention results without pressure.
They talk about teams but not the weight they carried.
It sounds humble.
And yet it reads unclear.

Hiring decisions aren’t made on effort.
They’re made on trust.

And trust is built when someone can say:
•	Here’s what I saw
•	Here’s the call I made
•	Here’s what changed because of it

If you don’t give your work its proper shape, others will shrink it to something safer, and smaller.

📍 Where are you choosing comfort over clarity in how you talk about your work?

I don’t measure progress by how much I produce anymore.
I pay attention to resistance.

When decisions need less explaining.
When conversations don’t require backtracking.
When the work moves forward without constant justification.

Misaligned work creates drag, even when it looks productive.
Aligned work feels quieter, but it moves with purpose.

Lately, I’ve been noticing what no longer needs force.
That’s how I know I’m heading in the right direction.

📍 Where has your work started to feel clearer instead of heavier?

Most LinkedIn profiles are clean.
Polished.
Technically correct.
And completely interchangeable.

If someone finishes reading your profile and can’t clearly say:
• who you help
• how you think
• what problem you solve

you’re not positioned for the role you want, so you end up blending in.

Professionalism gets you seen.
But being specific gets you remembered.

📍 What do you want a decision-maker to know about you after 30 seconds?

Most people stall because their story stops evolving.
Their scope expands.
Their judgment deepens.
The risk they carry increases.

But they keep describing themselves the same way they did years ago.

That needs to change.
Hiring decisions are made on what is seen.

If your story hasn’t kept pace with your responsibility, your value gets misread.

Growth doesn’t require exaggeration.
It requires translation.

📍 Where has your responsibility increased without your narrative catching up?

Anyone can describe effort.
Leaders describe decisions.
What they chose.
What they ruled out.
What they took responsibility for when there wasn’t a clear answer.

Effort shows involvement.

Judgment shows readiness.

📍 What decision do you soften when it should be owned directly?

I used to say yes based on capacity.
If I could do the work, I would take the work.

What I pay attention to now is different.

I notice whether the work requires:
•	constant clarification
•	urgency without direction
•	emotional smoothing to keep things moving

That kind of work looks productive on the surface.
In reality, it drains judgment and hides impact.

The work that moves me forward doesn’t need performance.
It needs thinking, ownership, and decisions that hold.

📍 What kind of work keeps you busy but makes your contribution harder to see?

Most senior resumes don’t move forward because they don’t help the reader assess risk.
Hiring decisions at this level are about trust in the face of uncertainty.

On this sheet of paper, can this person show me they can:
make judgment calls without a playbook?
protect standards under pressure?
absorb complexity without creating noise?

Yes, most resumes demonstrate- “Here’s what I was responsible for.”

Effective resumes show: “I can be trusted to make the right decisions when it mattered.”

That sight difference can move someone from the “qualified” to the “shortlist” pile.

📍 Does your resume describe your role, or your reliability?

You’re reliable.
You deliver.
People trust you when things go wrong.
And slowly, that becomes your ceiling, and you’ve plateaued.
Because you’ve become operationally indispensable yet professionally invisible.

I see this when clients are:
•	people doing director-level thinking
•	carrying director-level consequences
•	while presenting themselves as “support” on paper

At this level, careers don’t stall from a lack of impact.

They stall because impact isn’t framed clearly enough to be valued.

Working harder won’t fix it.
Naming the work you’re already doing will.

📍 Where might your reliability be hiding in your leadership?

There’s a moment in interviews where the tone shifts.

It’s not when someone lists achievements.
It’s when they explain a decision.

Why did they choose one path over another?
Did they make a decision that was best for the business?

That’s when interviewers stop evaluating competence
and start evaluating judgment.

And judgment is what senior hiring is really about.

📍 What decision would immediately change how someone perceives your leadership if you owned it clearly?

How you describe the importance of your work (the task at hand) trains people to value it.

Generalize it, and it sounds too common.
Minimizing it discounts its impact.
Stay precise, and they feel the weight of what you want to accomplish.

Don’t make your own leadership voice invisible.

📍 Where could sharper language change how your work is taken seriously?

This year, I’ve stopped trying to measure progress by how motivated I feel.

Instead, I keep a simple weekly log:
What did I actually ship?
Who did I help make a decision?
What moved forward because I was involved?

No dashboards. No goals wallpaper.
Just a notebook and a pen at the end of each week.

It’s less inspiring, but it’s nice to measure (and see) the momentum.

📍 What would show up in your notebook if you tracked outcomes instead of effort?

Consistency helped me build trust early in my career.
It stopped helping when expectations changed.

At a certain level, showing up is assumed.

What people look for next is how you think.

If your value isn’t clearly articulated,
others decide for you, and they’ll get it wrong. Promise.

📍 Where might people misunderstand your contribution right now?

Most professionals don’t hit a wall because they lack skill.
They hit it because their story is outdated.

Their expertise has grown.
Their judgment is sharper.
The decisions they make carry more weight.
But they’re still describing themselves the same way they did years ago.

That disconnect comes across: 
In interviews.
When promotions become available.
In how seriously they’re taken.

📍 Where is your experience ahead of the way you currently explain it?

🔢I Coach Sales Teams to achieve consistent results by prioritizing accountability, strategic coaching, ICP focus and performance metrics | 1 on 1 and Group Coaching | LI Live and Podcast Host

When I first got into sales, I had a similar path as most. I was trying to figure out how to sell, and once I did that had my eye on being the top performer on my team, so I would be thought of as a leader and have a chance to be promoted into management.

A short year and a half later, I did all of that and was promoted. I was going to change everyone's life and get to teach the low performers how to be successful and sell. About a month and a half later, I was wondering what happened. Nobody seemed to be listening to me or at least improving like I thought they should. I was really good at chasing and closing deals because that is all I knew how to do. My boss kept telling me you are trying to be a hero "You can't save everyone."

My problem was I was subjective and emotional about everything. I had no management process. It wasn't until I figured out that I had to take the emotion out of it and make everything objective that I started to see results. 

Fast Forward 10 years later, with many successes and failures I created a 6 step process that helps takes the complication out of managing salespeople with a heavy focus on your team's Structure vs Pipeline:

1. ATM Approach- Where am I at with my team today
2. Interview Process- How do I hire more awesome Reps
3. Onboarding- How do I get new reps to revenue faster
4. Expectations- Set clear expectations so people know if they are good at their job or not
5. Coaching- How do I develop people using data
6. Ideal Customer Profile- Who are your target accounts

If interested in learning more you can visit my website to book a call or download my e-book on the ATM Approach.

mattdferguson.com

Matt Ferguson

That was awesome.

If you were rooting for the USA.
It didn’t seem like we were gonna get a shot on goal,
Let alone score.

But they hung in there long enough for the rules to change.

Sometimes that’s what you have to do.
Hang in there long enough
For something to change in your favor.

Then take advantage of it.
Even if it costs you a couple of teeth.

Congrats, USA, and great effort by Canada.
Hang in there Adam Halberstadt.

Coaching Sales Leaders to become more confident: Clarity + Accountability = Consistent Results

5 years ago, my day started as most did.

I put my daughter in the stroller, started walking, and called my brother.

I could tell you every detail about that convo.

Unfortunately, it was the last one.

Death is a weird thing.

When you lose someone.
It doesn't really get better.

You just kinda get used to it.

I always look for signs of him.
The best I know how is when I see his number.

78

I see it all the time.

On a license plate
My McDonald's number
The temperature in my car
Someone's street address on our walks

I smile and say to myself.

Hey Big Daddy

And go about my day.

If you see the number 78 today
Say hi to my brother Drew for me.

And then go call someone you love.

You never know when it will be the last time.

Small wins = Big wins

12 years ago this month, I was promoted from Top Performer to Sales Manager. Here are 12 things I know now that I wish I knew then.

1. My way wasn’t the only way.
2. You can’t make everyone you.
3. Don’t try to do everyone’s job.
4. 1-on-1’s are not a pipeline review
5. Look for the good in reps, not the bad.
6. Think before you react (Wait 20 minutes).
7. Make your people's lives easier, not harder.
8. Try to limit telling people “When I was a Rep.”
9. Make everything Objective versus Subjective.
10. People won’t follow you because you could sell.
11. Selling your team harder than selling prospects.
12. Being curious is more productive than being furious.

Sales Leaders, what would you add?

Read the quote below today.
And immediately read it 2 more times because...

I often:
Let someone's opinion bother me.
Let someone's behavior annoy me.
Let someone's mood affect me.

And have nobody to blame but myself.
All it does is slow me down.

Something I’m always working on.
Because most of the time…

The person I’m letting bother me.
Isn’t thinking about me at all.

I'm sure I'm not the only one.
So thought I would share.

An exercise every sales team should go through.
We spend way too much time dwelling on what goes wrong.

Earlier this week, I could see a team drowning.
Busy season.

A lot going on.
A lot going right…
But also a few things going wrong.

And like always, guess what gets all the attention?
The wrong.

You’ve seen it before:
Book a meeting → No show
Get a verbal yes → No signature
Finally get a yes → They cancel

So I did a simple exercise with the team.
First, we listed everything that could go wrong.

Then I asked:
“How often does it actually happen?”
One rep said,
“Every day.”

Then I asked,
“How does it make you feel?”
One rep quoted the movie The Replacements:
“Like I’m in quicksand.”

In the movie, the coach asks the players about their biggest fears.
The quarterback says quicksand.

Because once you're in it…
One problem leads to another.
And you can’t seem to get out.

I see this all the time in sales.
Something goes wrong, usually something we can’t control.

And suddenly we waste an entire day… week… or even month thinking about it.

Then we look back and ask:
“Why did we spend so much time on that?”

Like my dad always says:
It’s okay to be down.
Just don’t stay there.

We make most things bigger problems than they really are.
Talk it over with your team and get agreement on that.

Most things are just a small bump in the road.
Don't make it quicksand you can't get around or get out of.

Sales Leaders: How do you help your team reset when things start going wrong?

Ryan Holiday opened his talk on Stoicism with a simple point:
We’re dealing with the same problems people did thousands of years ago.
Then… a phone rang.

“They just didn’t have that.”
Technology has changed.
People haven’t.

Here are 3 ideas that stuck with me:
1. Discipline builds character
Easy to say. Hard to do.
I always come back to this:
Hard now → Easy later
Easy now → Hard later

2. Speak the truth, even when it’s not popular
Say what you know is right.
Not what gets likes.
Not what avoids conflict.
Short-term approval vs long-term respect.

3. Focus on what you control
Simple. Not easy.
We all drift.
But the more you control your inputs,
The better your outcomes.

All true 2,000 years ago.
Still true today.

It got me thinking about sales.

Pictured with me is Evan Romero, my first-ever client.
He’s about to make a jump I made 15 years ago:
Joining a startup with zero revenue.

A lot has changed since then.
But the fundamentals haven’t.

3 Things I will say over and over to him:

1. Know your ICP
Who do you solve real problems for?
Focus there. Ignore the rest.

2. Build your process
Figure out what works.
Then do it again and again.
Consistency over everything.

3. Know your math
Activity → Pipeline → Revenue
Know why you're doing things
So you keep doing them

We overcomplicate sales and life.

The basics aren't exciting.
But they work.

The game evolves. The fundamentals don’t.

Ryan McMichael- Loved your post this morning.
Recorded this yesterday!

Similar message
And as I commented on your post today.

Life is actually easier when you look at everything this way.

Ryans post in the comments.

When leading, it almost always comes back to the top.
Whether you’re cleaning up pee…
or trying to figure out why close rates are down.

My son told me he had to pee this morning.

So we took his pants and diaper off
and pointed him to the toilet.

By the time I realized he wasn’t tall enough…
It was too late.

He was proud of himself.
All I saw was the mess I had to clean up.

I laughed.
He had the best intentions.

I just didn’t set him up for complete success.
I see this with many sales teams

The leader has good intentions.

They put a process in place.
The reps think they’re doing a good job.

Then… they pee on the ground.
And we get frustrated with the rep.

Instead of asking ourselves:
How did this happen?

Just like I forgot the step stool.
Don’t get furious. Get curious.

Because most performance problems
are actually setup problems.

We’ve all heard it:
“Control what you can control.”
But most people never break it down.

I love how Keith Weightman does.

He simplifies it into 3 things:
1. Attitude
2. Effort
3. Skill Set

On the newest episode of The Podcast for Sales Managers, we went deeper.

Including his 5 Rules to Be Better in 2026.
Rule #1:
The 5-Hour Rule.
 1 hour a day.
 5 days a week.

Learning. Sharpening. Improving.

We also talked about:
• Why being your best doesn’t mean being “on” all the time
• Why systems > grinding harder
 Why long-term trust beats short-term wins


Links to full episode are in the comments.
Thanks for coming back on, Keith.

If you’ve ever said, “They should just know this by now…” read this.

The #1 mistake I see sales leaders make, including myself.
We assume.

We assume:
They know what to do.
They know the standard.
They know what happens if they miss it.

Most don't because we don't clarify this enough.
And nobody is a mind reader.

Easy Question to ask yourself:
At 4 pm on Friday, does your rep know if they had a good week?
If it’s fuzzy, you need to make this clear.

Role Clarity, Here is the definition:

"The degree to which employees understand their specific job duties, responsibilities, performance goals, and how their work contributes to the organization's objectives."

Clarity + Accountability = Consistent Results.

Most accountability problems are actually clarity problems.
Fix the first one. The second one gets easier.

Sales Leaders, here’s a shortcut for evaluating your reps:

A famous quote that relates to sales more than you think.

“You are the average of the 5 people that you spend the most time with.”

When you receive 3 different texts about the same thing before 5 am, you take notice.

As I read it in today's Daily Stoic message, I smiled.

My parents ingrained a similar message into me growing up.

“You are who you hang out with.”
Sometimes I listened, sometimes I didn’t.”

And over time, I have found it to be true.

Over the years in Sales, I have found the same to be true and say:

If you want to know the type of rep you have,
Go look at the best 5 opportunities they are working on.

Right targets, messaging, personas, etc...

I will add something said below:
What are they reading or listening to that is developing their skills?

If you have some people who are struggling.
Just look into these.

It will tell you all you need to know.

PS- The Daily Stoic is one page a day.
A great way to start or end your day.

The second biggest gripe I get from sales managers besides why can't they close more deals.



Why don't they close better deals?

Text below is a quick reminder.

What I almost always find is that "deals" aren't objectively defined.

Ask yourself today
Is my team working on the right deals?
Or the wrong deals?

Every second they spend on something wrong.
Takes away from something that is right.

If it isn't defined, do it today.
Everyone will thank you later when they see their paycheck.

You weren’t set up to succeed.
Or…
You were given the opportunity to define success.

Spoke with a friend of mine who recently started a new position.

- Every piece of tech you could have.
- Been sent 27 spreadsheets
- No expectations
- No onboarding

Their marching orders
Get in there and grow the vertical.

Btw- one they have never worked in.

The BAD news:
YOU HAVE VERY LITTLE DIRECTION.

The GOOD news:
YOU HAVE VERY LITTLE DIRECTION.

Everything has perspective.
There is no direction.
Because nobody really knows.

It allows you to come up with it.

Make a plan.
Show it to your boss.
Get alignment.

Then do it and report back.

Vs the alternative.

Wander around aimlessly.
Wait for direction.
Have no clue if you're doing the right thing.

Do you want to play Offense or Defense?
Be Proactive vs Reactive.

Give me offense every time.
The choice is yours.

Side note: I do not recommend doing this to new hires!

I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough of the “What were you like in the 90s” videos.

Maybe it’s the Goo Goo Dolls song.
Maybe it’s just realizing how fast it all went.

Because the saying is true:
Days are long.
Years are short.

And nowhere do you feel that more than in sales.
I talk to a lot of people in tough spots.

My two questions are always the same:
1. Do you believe in what you’re selling?
2. Can your boss actually help you grow?

If yes → stick with it.
If no → it might be time to move on.

Because before you know it…
You’re not talking about the 90s anymore.
You’re talking about the 2020s.

You don’t get these years back.

Below are some of my favorite pics of me and from the 90's.

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The Battle

Luke Duggan

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The Battle

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