BUSINESS GROWTH COACH FOR ENGINEERS
Meet Jeff Schuster
Engineer. Entrepreneur. Business Coach.
I help engineering and technical business owners delegate more effectively and make their best decisions to grow their business beyond themselves without burnout.
I’m a mechanical engineer who founded and led Ennovate Corporation for 16 years before selling it to Ameresco, a publicly traded company. For over a decade, I’ve coached small business owners in technical fields through their own business challenges.
I’m analytical by nature. I like understanding how things work, questioning assumptions, and making sense of complicated problems. I also know that running a business involves people, uncertainty, and decisions that rarely come with all the information we’d like.
Building a Company...
and Carrying its Weight
Before starting Ennovate, I worked in energy management for the U.S. Air Force as a civilian, then joined Honeywell. My work took me from engineering into sales and sales management.
In 1997, I left Honeywell and started Ennovate from a home office. Our early work involved helping electric utilities develop energy-services businesses. When those consulting contracts ended, I needed a new direction.
Colorado’s energy office was publishing requests for proposals for energy projects at public institutions. I responded to the first one and won, beating seven Fortune 500 companies.
That contract gave me the confidence to hire employees and grow. Ennovate eventually became a multimillion-dollar engineering and construction business with 30 employees across four states.
As the company grew, I felt I had to be on every sales call and get personally involved whenever a project ran into trouble. I took on work my engineers could handle.
After I sold my company to Ameresco, I stayed on as regional vice president for a little over a year. Eventually, I recognized that I was burned out on the energy services business and ready for something different.
“I was proud of what we built. I also carried more of the business than I understood at the time. When I sold Ennovate to Ameresco in 2013, it felt as though a 2,000-ton weight had been lifted from my shoulders.”
Why Mechanics & Mindset?
After resigning from Ameresco, I began consulting with small business owners. A colleague suggested coaching certification, which led me to the Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching, or iPEC.
That education changed how I understood my experience at Ennovate.
As an engineer, I had dismissed much of what people called “mindset” as touchy-feely. Coaching helped me recognize how my own assumptions and beliefs had contributed to the weight I was carrying.
I was also aware of how important practical business fundamentals were when coaching an owner. Pricing, contracts, sales, finances, systems, and leadership all have consequences.
Those experiences became the foundation of Mechanics & Mindset Business Coaching.
I connect well with engineers because I understand the impulse to find and fix problems. Likewise, I also understand how we can feel perfectly logical while untested assumptions limit the options we see.
A little more about me
I grew up in Eckert, a small town on Colorado’s Western Slope. Exploring the Grand Mesa as a kid helped develop a love of hiking that has stayed with me. The Colorado Rockies are still among my favorite places.
These days, my wife and I call Freeport, Florida, home. We’ve been married for 36 years and have two adult children- a son and daughter-in-law in California and a daughter and son-in-law in Alabama- and two grandsons.
Golf is one of my favorite sports, and I try to play weekly. I’m also a devoted Denver Broncos fan. I enjoy biking, listening to audiobooks, and searching for fossilized shark teeth on Southwest Florida’s beaches.
My wife and I love traveling and try to take a cruise each year to somewhere we haven’t been. I’m fascinated by the different cultures in our big world.
My Faith
I follow Jesus and am an avid student of the Bible.
I see our businesses, families, and all that we do as part of what Jesus described as the Kingdom of God. From that perspective, a business is much more than a money machine. It is a ministry; a place where our decisions and actions affect the people we employ, the customers we serve, our families, and the communities around us.
My faith influences how I think about business and my responsibilities as a coach. You don’t need to share my beliefs for us to work well together. I welcome you to share your own beliefs and perspective.
Professional Experience & Education
BS in Mechanical Engineering
Colorado State University 1987
Former Professional Engineer
Held PE licenses in Minnesota, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming & Montana (expired)
Certified Professional Coach
Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching (iPEC)
Business Consulting Cerification
Certified by the Association of Accredited Small Business Consultants
Authorship
Business Mechanics & Mindset (2019)
The Worktrap (2026)
Military Service
US Marine Corps Reserves (1984-1990)
Let's Get Aquainted
A complimentary 30-minute conversation about your business, your goals, and whether it makes sense to work together.