Obsidian Ridge Partners is a strategic advisory firm built around a small number of clients and serious work. The story behind that, and the people doing it, are below.
Most advisory firms grow by adding clients. We grow by going deeper with the ones we have. The math is simple: every engagement gets the full attention of the people doing the work, or the work isn't worth doing. That's why our client list is intentionally short and our waitlist is real.
The audit-first model exists for the same reason. Before we commit to anything long-term, we spend focused time with your business. You walk away with clarity. Sometimes that turns into a multi-year relationship. Sometimes the audit itself is the whole engagement. Either outcome is fine — what isn't fine is selling work that doesn't fit.
Sustainable beats explosive. Audit whether people are thriving, not just whether numbers are climbing.
Lots of people have ideas. Few have real intent. We help you clarify the why before the what.
You are probably not Luke Skywalker. Build systems that outlast you.
Creative freedom within aligned boundaries. Autonomy within strategy. Both, not one.
Every audit and engagement is led directly by one of us. When you hire ORP, you get the people whose names are on the door.
"Health before growth. Sustainable beats explosive every single time."
David founded Obsidian Ridge Partners after thirty-plus years spanning manufacturing, industrial, and construction — most prominently as a leader in audio-visual and acoustics design. His career covered professional theater and live production acoustics, audio imaging, projection, lighting, and staging for hundreds of churches, ministries, and performance venues across the country. As Principal and Vice President at some of the top firms in the industry, he saw the same patterns repeat at every scale: the systems that worked at half the size break under growth, and the people running them know it long before the numbers show it. His track record of thought leadership and growing multiple companies is well known in the industry. Today, as owner or partner in a portfolio of companies spanning technical, construction, manufacturing, and medical, David is focused on helping others take the next step in theirs.
He studied psychology and theology in college and never quite left either field. His leadership philosophy borrows from both — fractal thinking, servant leadership, intent before vision — and is laid out in his 2024 book You Don't Know Sheep: An Unconventional Field Guide for Today's Faith Leader (Five Crow Press). He has spoken at the National Association of Broadcasters, Live Design International, InfoComm, Worship Facilities Expo, the American Institute of Architects, and at more than thirty other leadership conferences across the country.
What clients hire him for: the ability to sit across from a founder, ask the question nobody else is asking, and build a real path forward from the answer.
"Build capability and clarity. Then do the systems work that makes it stick."
Kevin is Operations Manager and a founding leader at Obsidian Ridge Partners. He holds a B.S. in Finance and an M.B.A. in Strategic Leadership, and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Communication and Arts at Liberty University.
His background spans two decades of operational and technical leadership. A career in audio engineering and production management took him inside some of the largest events and most iconic venues in the country, shaping his instinct for how complex systems run. That foundation carried over into senior leadership roles across multi-million-dollar organizations, where his focus shifted to the structures and processes that make high-performing teams repeatable.
What Kevin brings to ORP engagements is that combination in practice: working directly with owners and leaders to build capability and clarity, then doing the operations and systems work that makes it stick.
Get on the list and we'll reach out when we have a spot. Most introductory calls happen within two business weeks of joining.
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