Bob’s interests cover a range of subject areas, from food and water resources to transportation and energy policy, to the economy. He holds a B.S. in English and a Masters of Public Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and studied geo-politics at Leicester University in England.
He started his career in the mail room of a New York advertising agency where he first learned to see patterns and he began to study market research.
A stockbroker for more than 46 years, Bob managed 750+ million dollars in assets until his retirement in 2023, and was named one of the top 1,200 financial brokers by Barron’s Magazine. His deep financial experience and ability to predict financial trends allowed him to foresee the subprime crisis and the S&L and Mutual Savings bank collapse.
A veteran of the Vietnam War, Bob volunteered to serve, enlisting as a private. But he was destined for bigger things. His unique ability to understand how the enemy thought earned him a direct commission into the U.S. Special Forces just nine months later. There he created the military-political system of intelligence analysis and later served as an agent recruiter in the field. For his service, Bob was awarded the Bronze Star and the Air Medal of Valor.
The chair of several commissions in Wisconsin, he currently operates the Tellier Foundation, an organization that focuses on children who have aged out of foster care, water initiatives, voting and animal welfare.
A colorful speaker and storyteller, Bob is passionately committed to helping audiences understand the importance of looking and planning ahead—and to providing insights and tools that can help them become more astute visionary thinkers. He recently was a guest lecturer at Marquette University, seeking to cultivate the next generation of future thinkers.
He saw how lenders were encouraging buyers to buy homes they couldn’t afford by taking out second loans with higher interest rates, often variable as down payments. He looked at past history when these kinds of loans caused banks to become insolvent during the Depression—and at what was happening with soaring foreclosures, late payments and tightening credit. He looked at instability overseas. And he foretold a major crisis in the coming year.
Bob wasn’t surprised by the rise of women in business either. Decades before it became a reality, he predicted that they would become a dominant force in the corporate world. He looked at advancements and innovation in industrialization and how technology was changing the economy. And he reasoned that since business is relationship-based and research shows women tend to use a more consensus-based approach to decision-making, they would emerge as effective C-suite executives, managers and entrepreneurs.
As for the skilled worker shortage we’re experiencing right now, Bob predicted it years ago—even when unemployment was at its highest. He believes this shortage will continue to generate more automated processes, in fields ranging from health care to manufacturing.
These are just of the few successful predictions Bob has made over the years. His keen observations and insights have yielded an impressive track record as a futurist. And he’s still going strong.
He saw how lenders were encouraging buyers to buy homes they couldn’t afford by taking out second loans with higher interest rates, often variable as down payments. He looked at past history when these kinds of loans caused banks to become insolvent during the Depression—and at what was happening with soaring foreclosures, late payments and tightening credit. He looked at instability overseas. And he foretold a major crisis in the coming year.
Bob wasn’t surprised by the rise of women in business either. Decades before it became a reality, he predicted that they would become a dominant force in the corporate world. He looked at advancements and innovation in industrialization and how technology was changing the economy. And he reasoned that since business is relationship-based and research shows women tend to use a more consensus-based approach to decision-making, they would emerge as effective C-suite executives, managers and entrepreneurs.
As for the skilled worker shortage we’re experiencing right now, Bob predicted it years ago—even when unemployment was at its highest. He believes this shortage will continue to generate more automated processes, in fields ranging from health care to manufacturing.
These are just of the few successful predictions Bob has made over the years. His keen observations and insights have yielded an impressive track record as a futurist. And he’s still going strong.
