After spending 12 years building a successful career as CFO for investment management firms, Dan Watson ’99 began feeling like something was missing. “I was successful, but I never felt fulfilled,” he says. “It wasn’t tangible.”
As exciting as it was to ride the stock market’s ups and downs and use his acumen to come out on top, he could no longer ignore the seed of social consciousness that had been planted during his undergraduate years at University of Portland. “There’s this saying: The definition of Hell is dying and meeting the person you could have become,” he says. “I don’t want to have regrets that I didn’t apply myself and use my talents to help others.”
When he discovered that one of Portland’s most venerable home renovation companies was looking for a CFO in 2019, he recognized his chance to pivot to a more purpose-filled industry. “What we do at Neil Kelly is related to any human—how we live in and improve a home; things that have a direct impact on life, not just improve the bottom line of the affluent.”
Taking the leap into a leadership role in an unfamiliar industry takes a lot of confidence, more than a little bit of faith, and a mindset intent on learning, improving, and adapting—all skills he honed while earning his degree in accounting at UP.
“I’m always curious, so I was looking for the next way to grow. I was drawn to the company’s history of doing great work around Portland and the Pacific Northwest for 75-plus years. But I didn’t fit the box, I didn’t come from the construction industry. Thankfully, Tom Kelly liked how I was a problem solver, and he thought outside the box too.”
Almost immediately, Watson found himself not only grappling with the steep learning curve of a new industry, but also navigating the uncharted waters of the pandemic. “Going to a liberal arts university was crucial to my success because I learned how to be a critical thinker,” he says. “As you advance in your career, there are no textbooks for the issues and dilemmas you face. They’re not straightforward. You need the skills to solve problems and to work with others to solve them because you’re not going to do it all alone.”
Under Watson’s leadership, the company came through the pandemic even stronger and within two and a half years, he was promoted to CEO, becoming the first non-family member to lead the storied company into its next chapter.
With his new role, Watson was tasked with learning an entirely new set of skills in managing people, not just numbers. “It’s really challenging. As a CFO, I’m focused on measurement— data and results. The CEO role is much more undefined. You’re helping all of the pieces of the organization fit together. You’re trying to shape and bend culture, and you’re trying to motivate and inspire. It’s hard to measure, and as an accountant you’re always trying to measure.”
What he leans on most are the soft skills in empathy and relationship building that he formed during his time on The Bluff, where “teaching, faith, and service” aren’t just a motto but a way of life. “It’s the ability to be vulnerable and work together, to help each other learn and grow and be better versions of ourselves,” he says. “It’s living the virtues of faith in doing the right thing in what you say and do. And it’s service in taking care of others and creating relationships built on good communication—not just speaking but listening. Those are the values I carry with me, and I can trace them all back to the four years I spent at UP.”
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