Hi, I’m Jason.

I currently live in Portland, Maine, although I call the Pacific Northwest my home.

My current work involves property management and a few personal projects that may turn into businesses someday.

At the very least, I hope my projects help a few people do more of what they want to be doing.

Building and Exiting Companies

I’ve had two exits from companies that I started from scratch…

Qoala Group (now Center Street Digital) – is a web design and internet marketing company. Originally started in Pullman, WA, moved to Yakima, WA, and now headquartered in Portland, OR, CSD serves clients around the United States. It’s now run by my good friend and excellent operator, Matt McComas.

Qoala Group began as a one-man operation in 2011 as a web design and marketing company. In 2012, I purchased Davanti Studios – a web design company that also offered web hosting – and merged those clients with Qoala Group.

I continued to operate Qoala Group as I was co-founding my second endeavor in 2013…

Assurance Healthcare & Counseling Center is a Direct Primary Care clinic and counseling center based in Yakima, WA.

While running Qoala Group (I had one employee at the time), I started and ran the main business-side of Assurance Healthcare as CEO with my co-founders being care providers (my father-in-law and sister-in-law – a physician and mental health counselor respectively).

My role at Qoala Group slowly faded as I brought on my good friend and business partner Matt McComas, who purchased his initial shares of Qoala Group through sweat equity. I maintained my shares in the company as a passive owner while he ran the operations until purchasing the remainder of the company from me in 2023.

I remained CEO of Assurance Healthcare & Counseling Center, focusing on everything from sales, marketing, operations, some HR, tech, and strategic direction until April of 2025. Assurance continues to operate today, serving thousands of members in the Yakima Valley.

Both exits involved current business partners purchasing my shares of the company. No third-party buyers were involved.

My Strengths

I think one of the most helpful ways for me to learn about my strengths has been through StrengthsFinder. If you’re familiar with that, my top strengths are:

• Strategic
• Ideation
• Adaptable
• Achiever
• Relator

If you’re unfamiliar with StrengthsFinder, here’s how I think others have experienced my strengths:

• I like to think about the big picture, and easily connect a meaningful purpose to each job that is being done (or discontinue those that aren’t important). Every job and activity will have a purpose behind it that serves the ultimate goal.
• I like to try new things, but not just for the sake of trying them. I do it, I measure it, I evaluate it. Test, measure, analyze, modify, and repeat. I love data and creating actions steps based on data.
  • One caveat that I’ve learned… any change you implement in business results in a temporary 20% loss of something, so that change better be well thought-through and serve a better long-term goal. For this reason I do better in startup situations where nobody has established a ‘norm’ and we’re free to pivot quickly and efficiently.
• I like taking in new information, and can take ideas, thoughts, and snippets from one industry or craft and apply it (or a variation) to another quite easily. I love the process of troubleshooting and the creative process of solving problems.
• I like to plan, but that plan is never set in stone. I’m hardly frustrated when something alters my path. Throw a wrench into a situation and I’ll figure out how to use it to make it better.
• I like getting things done. I have a good work day when I can look back and recount what was accomplished. I also know how to relax, though, and have no problem spending a day reading out in the woods in a hammock.
• I like working with people and knowing what makes those people tick. I’m genuinely curious and enjoy many different kinds of people.

I’m generally a very open person, with an appreciation for other people and their gifts and differences. I believe in a growth mindset, and am always looking for ways to learn and improve myself and those around me.

My Weaknesses

Here’s what I don’t like doing, things I’m naturally bad at, and/or how people have been frustrated with me in the past.

• I don’t like maintenance work. I end up putting off routine tasks (or simply not doing those that aren’t important) and procrastinating. I love working for startups, but once everything is running smoothly, if I’m not growing and moving things forward, I get frustrated.
• While I believe I manage people well, I have a hard time with employees or co-workers that need micro-managing or aren’t sure how to create meaningful work for themselves.
• I’m not a great keynote or motivational speaker. I have no problem presenting in public or on stage (15-25 minutes is my sweet spot), but I prefer to keep presentations short and answer questions publicly to make sure I’m ‘scratching’ where the audience is ‘itching.’ I’m much for of a ‘how to do something’ communicator versus, ‘why you should be motivated to do that thing.’
• I can work for others who have very specific jobs for me to accomplish, but if there’s no room for creativity (their way is the only way it can be done), then I’ll likely procrastinate and find other things to do.
• I believe in others almost to a fault. As a leader, this means that I don’t give feedback as often as is likely necessary. I’ll make excuses for other people when I probably shouldn’t, or will downplay poor performance – especially if they have other positive attributes.

Where I Thrive

I enjoy consulting – but only with people that are self-motivated. I’m not a good long-term cheerleader, or someone that’s going to ‘light a fire’ under you.

Fixing problems thrills me. Need to be more efficient with your systems? I’d love to tackle that problem. Can’t figure out why people aren’t purchasing your product or service? I’d love to see where the disconnect is.

Building custom solutions. Whether it’s web applications, automated workflows, a piece of furniture or shelving, an operational system, or even a golf club – I’m thrilled to build custom solutions for others because I love building them for myself.

Learning. I really enjoy broadening my understanding of different domains. For example, I’m currently learning how to utilize tools like n8n to create automations and utilize LLMs to make doing certain tasks easier or done automatically. I’m also learning how to securely transmit data across the internet (it’s much harder and more complicated that I ever thought!).

Want to work together? I’d love to hear more – contact me here.