Today we’d like to introduce you to John Amann.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I was born and raised in Mankato, MN, by parents who were both educators. After attending 11 years of Catholic K – 12 schooling I attended Minnesota State University where my dad taught and coached golf. While in high school I taught myself to play guitar and was able to co-found a rock and roll band that helped me pay my way through college. Between an adventurous childhood neighborhood experience and the days of working to grow the band’s success, I developed an entrepreneurial spirit and once out of college joined a start up insurance company. It was an exciting opportunity to learn and do many things from medical underwriting to traveling internationally in marketing to executive leadership. Several years after becoming the president of what had become a $10 billion per year division of the company I began to feel unfulfilled as the entrepreneurial culture had waned. The skills I learned and cherished were incredible and I began to question why in none of my formal schooling was I exposed to such things. I eventually left my insurance career to support my wife as she was the president of a startup medical device company. This decision allowed me to focus on raising our two young daughters. The success of the company my wife was with led to an opportunity for me to develop a sales center and do public presentations to doctors and prospective patients and we eventually moved the family to TX to open a surgery center. While in TX, I was invited to join the board of Woodlands Preparatory School, a K – 12 school that served families from some 141 countries. It was a great experience where I witnessed the utmost excellence in academic focus. However, I sensed a void in the opportunity to impart entrepreneurial skills and spirit to the students so I began to promote the value of risk-taking at the school. Once the surgery center was up and running our family moved back to MN where I started a company called, Pursuit Academy. We designed a learning management system to impart entrepreneurial skills to elementary students. The goal was to at least help students pursue their paths as ‘entrepreneurs of their own lives.’ While working to deliver the program to area schools I became aware of a new school that was co-founded by Tom Bengston and NFL great, Matt Birk. Matt and I had gotten to know each other through our daughters before I moved to TX. Tom and Matt eventually invited me to become the first board member of Unity Catholic High School. The things they wanted to do at the school, from putting the Catholic faith at the center of all to imparting entrepreneurial acumen, were in direct parallel with my passions. After several years on the board I experienced a calling to serve as the school’s principal which I accepted. While I was not educated for a job in academia my leadership experience, combined with the amazingly talented administration and teachers at the school, helped create success. Looking back it’s as if God had been preparing me over many years of different experiences for the role of principal at Unity Catholic High School. My work at the school has been the most fulfilling adventure I’ve ever experienced.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
It’s hard to be a vigorous Catholic and look at life as a struggle as that’s the whole point of what Jesus teaches us. Earlier in my career and personal endeavors I certainly struggled during the times where I did not put God at the center of everything. What began and for many years lasted as thrilling entrepreneurial excitement eventually faded. In part, this was due to what might be referred to as the ‘agony of success’ which can happen when we achieve many of the material things we pursue and realize they do not fulfill us. I learned that chasing titles, money and social status and even the ‘perfect family life’ led to emptiness as I did not do it for God. Crossing big ‘finish lines’ only offered temporary happiness which is not the same as fulfillment. Fulfillment is something I believe we can only experience when walking in the faith in pursuit of Jesus. I did pray regularly to receive God’s will and that I could also learn to put it above my own desires. Many years before becoming involved with a Catholic school I said a Novena, a prayer to the Blessed Virgin Mary, requesting that I would one day be able to help Catholic schools do a better job at forming students more fully. Even though it was years before that particular prayer was answered, which I now understand as the time I needed to learn patience and to gather more experience, it was indeed answered. Learning patience of course helps us better trust in God. I now realize I’ve been blessed with many challenges and struggles that continue to make me more resilient in my faith and in my abilities to help others.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m currently a high school principal at Unity Catholic High School in Burnsville, MN. This is a role I assumed late in my career which had been mostly comprised of entrepreneurial business ventures. While I don’t remember for sure I’m almost certain I was voted by my graduating high school class as the least likely to become a principal, maybe poetic justice has been served. It seems that I specialize in the following leadership qualities: I tend to love everyone I encounter, I have a tendency to remain calm and to be humble, I’m a passionate risk taker who loves an unconventional vision and I love to see a group of unique people succeed using their individual gifts in parallel with others towards a common goal. What maybe sets me apart from others is that I’ve had such diverse experiences both personally and professionally. I could never seem to focus on a one-industry career or one avocation for that matter and when I look back I find it hard to believe how many different things I’ve tried and done. None of it in and of itself holds much meaning with the large exception that as a whole it has allowed me to hopefully understand and to be helpful to many people from many different walks of life. This is what we’re doing at Unity Catholic as we work to prepare students whether they’re on a path to college, the trades, the military and/or a life of vocation. I’m proud that I’ve been able to submit to God and to do an about face from the things I pursued earlier in my career. All the anxiety etc I experienced in those early years has vanished and that is a gift I cherish.
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
Because I was willing to pursue an entrepreneurial risk out of college by joining a startup company, I was able to secure 3 incredible mentors who were 20 – 30 years my senior. Choosing entrepreneurial risk usually leads to natural mentorship and networking opportunities as everyone involved is considered to be a key employee who needs guidance. Accepting the role of high school principal at a new school late in life was a risk and sure enough, I have gained many new mentors as a result. There is too much pressure put on merely finding financial stability which is often not a means to fulfillment. There is always more fulfillment in applying passion to risk. Failure leads to knowledge which can fuel the eventual success of a new direction or new endeavor so fear of failure is not an argument. Plus, risk is different than a gamble in that you have some control over it. Choosing a path of risk is exponentially more exciting than submitting to the peer pressure of going along to get along, that’s what bureaucrats do. Through prayer, I’ve learned to ask for what God wants of me instead of what I want from Him, the answer is almost always to pursue a risk. Nothing else I’ve attempted compares to these answered prayers. While they are rarely answered the way we want or expect, they are answered and in my experience have always led to more fulfillment. The amazing people I’ve become connected with are incredibly valuable to me as I continue to learn and to get closer to God. Whoever retains a hungry heart to learn and to help others will likely find themselves with constant mentors and endless networking opportunities.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://unitycatholicmn.org
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/unityhighschoolmn/
