From Doorsteps to the C-Suite: The Journey That Built HUMN
My career started on the streets of Chicago (literally). At nineteen years old, I was knocking on doors selling windows and siding year-round, through snow, wind, and Midwest humidity. No safety net. No leads. Just a clipboard, a quota, and the elements. That job wasn’t glamorous, but it taught me lessons that would shape the rest of my career. How to handle rejection. How to read people. How to stay calm when things didn’t go your way. It showed me that sales wasn’t about persuasion, it was about connection. If you could earn someone’s trust on their front porch, you could earn it anywhere. That experience built my foundation. One built on grit, persistence, and the drive to keep elevating to the next level.
The Next Chapter: A Decade at CDW
After door-to-door, I wanted to test myself in a new environment. One where I could learn the business world from the inside. That’s when I joined CDW, where I would spend the next ten years of my career. It was wild because my first day was the day after graduating college and walking in, I still had no idea what CDW did to make money.
So how did I get hired? I remember bonding with the hiring manager over wrestling (I competed in Jiu Jitsu in college) and that’s where I learned about the power of relationships but then he asked me, “So why should I hire you?” and I’ll never forget my response…
“If I can sell windows and siding to people who weren’t expecting me I think I can sell technology to people who actually want it.”
(Dead silence)
“You’re hired.”
At CDW, I started selling technology to small and mid-sized businesses before working my way up into the enterprise space, helping large organizations design and implement full-scale technology solutions. This was where I learned how to translate complexity into clarity. How to listen before pitching, and how to sell strategy, not just hardware and software. It was the kind of sales that forced you to think big, move fast, and always be learning. During those years, I built lifelong relationships, developed operational discipline, and learned how technology could transform how people work and connect but it was also during this time that another part of my identity began to take shape.
The Spark: Finding Fitness
In 2018, while still at CDW, I started teaching group fitness classes in the evenings and on weekends. What started as a side passion quickly became something deeper. A creative outlet that reconnected me to people in a different way. This was also the year before my sobriety. It was no longer just about selling technology, it was about helping people push through limits, physically and mentally.
I didn’t realize it at the time, but that was the beginning of my pull into the health and wellness industry. Teaching fitness gave me the same rush I got from closing deals. Only this time, the win wasn’t revenue, it was impact.
The Shift: Moving Into Consulting
My last day at CDW was January 2021. After ten years, I decided it was time to elevate again. To move from selling technology to selling ideas. So much in my life was changing; I was two years sober and made the move from Chicago to Denver. Everything was changing at once (in typical Omar fashion). That’s when I joined Gartner, helping Fortune 500 companies make million-dollar decisions around strategy, innovation, and organizational transformation.
It was a completely different world. One built on research, influence, and strategic advisory. I wasn’t just selling solutions anymore. I was helping executives solve problems that shaped the future of their businesses. It was the difference between selling tangible solutions (hardware and software) to intangible solutions (advisory services).
At the same time, outside of work, my identity as an athlete was accelerating. I was competing in obstacle course races, ultramarathons, and mountain running. Testing my endurance physically while sharpening my mental discipline. Sponsors and brands wanting to talk and support my athletic journey. Another pull into the other side.
The parallel was undeniable: the same traits that helped me perform in sales (consistency, composure, and resilience) were the same ones that helped me perform on the mountain. As I write this now, I realize how much I was fighting my old self before finally realizing it was time for another big change.
The Leap: Building HUMN
My last day at Gartner was February 3, 2025. By that point, I had spent my entire adult life building skills around performance, communication, and leadership and I knew it was time to bring it all together. Every chapter (door-to-door, B2B, enterprise, consulting, and fitness) had been leading to this one. Each level demanded a new version of me, a new skill set, and a deeper belief in what was possible.
That’s what gave me the confidence to build HUMN. Not just as a business, but as a platform that reflects everything I’ve learned about human connection, growth, and performance. HUMN isn’t a gym or a clinic, it’s the sum of all those experiences: the grit from Chicago, the discipline from enterprise, the empathy from fitness, and the strategy from consulting.
The Lesson: Every Level Prepares You for the Next
When people ask how I found the courage to start HUMN, the answer is simple: I didn’t find it… I earned it. I call it my 14 year internship in Corporate America. Every stage of my journey (from standing on frozen porches to sitting across from executives) built the mindset I have today.
Sales taught me how to listen.
Enterprise taught me how to think.
Consulting taught me how to lead.
Fitness taught me how to endure.
All of it taught me how to believe in myself, in others, and in the power of elevating to the next level because whether you’re selling windows, technology, or a vision for a better future, success still starts with connection.
