Money comes and goes. You can make money, lose money, then make it back. Time, on the other hand, is precious and irreplaceable. An hour or day lost is never recaptured. We punish criminals by taking away their time. Don’t squander your time. Let’s address your issues now so that you can focus on the future.
Growing up, I started my career in a family business with my immigrant parents and brothers in Montreal, Canada.
Over the next forty-plus years, my business experience became further grounded in many facets of executive management, including roles as President & CEO, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Attorney, and CPA with private and public companies.
In addition to having been in private practice working with couples in La Jolla, California, my clinical experience has included working as a psychotherapist with both the Departments of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego and at the Veterans Health Administration, San Diego.
In this most recent phase of my career, I have been applying all of the above experiences to advise private businesses, partnerships, families, and boards. My emphasis has been on the resolution of conflict among and between business owners, particularly where there is a convergence of strong negative emotions and significant economic stakes. Bet the company stuff.
My formal education includes a Juris Doctor from the University of San Diego School of Law, a Masters in Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of San Diego School of Leadership and Education Sciences, a Diploma in Public Accounting from McGill University School of Graduate Studies, and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting and Finance from the McGill University School of Management.
Professionally, I am licensed in California as a CPA (inactive), an attorney (inactive), and a Marriage and Family Therapist.
My first career was working in the Bay Area at the dawn of the PC industry. During my twenty years in high technology, I worked with engineering teams in communications and public relations. My employers and clients included agencies, start-ups and global networking giants – IBM, British Telecom, Osborne Computers and Cisco Systems – to name a few of the more notable. My projects ranged from annual reports, customer and employee communications, business media and industry analyst tours.
Concurrent with my career in industry, I pursued a lifelong passion for awareness practices, energy dynamics and spiritual growth. I was ordained in 1985 through a non-denominational church and have since studied with leading teachers and organizations in meditation and healing.
When I left Silicon Valley for San Diego, I trained and licensed in Marriage and Family therapy. I practiced as a psychotherapist at UCSD in the Department of Psychiatry, Family Medicine program and also with the Veteran’s Health Administration, in marital counseling and career rehabilitation. In private practice I worked with clients recovering from negative family dynamics.
I closed my practice in 2015, and my days are now dedicated to handling The Zelnick Group “back office”, reading a lot of non-fiction books, enjoying Pilates and spinning classes. Occasionally I can also be found on the golf course chasing the little white ball.
I hold a Bachelor degree from the University of Colorado in Business Administration, a Masters from the University of San Diego School of Leadership Sciences in Marriage and Family Therapy, and a current license as a Marriage and Family Therapist.