A Personal Message from Rich
I grew up in the Finger Lakes region of Upstate New York but have called Chapel Hill, North Carolina, home for more than three decades. I share my life with my wife, Tracy, our twin children, Alexandra and Owen, and the memory of our rescue dog, Chase, who brought us years of joy.
For more than 30 years, I have completed an extensive annual life plan—often exceeding 100 pages—to clarify my priorities, align my actions with my values, and intentionally design the life I want to live. That practice has shaped nearly every major decision I have made and ultimately became the foundation for Life Plan.
Immersing myself in nature has always been a source of inspiration, and my passion for photography stems from that connection. The photographs throughout this site were captured during adventures with friends and family. I've always believed that a good photographer knows more about beautiful places than the mechanics of the camera itself—it's the great equalizer.
In my free time, I enjoy hiking, traveling, exercising, reading (primarily psychology and philosophy), watching Michigan football and Carolina basketball, experimenting on the BBQ, making salsa from my family garden with my son, and occasionally attempting to play the guitar—though admittedly not always with success.
I am deeply interested in psychology, personal growth, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. Those interests eventually led me to explore the intersection of neuroscience, behavior, identity, and intentional living—subjects that became central to both my life-planning process and the work I do today.
THE BIRTH OF LIFE PLAN
In my twenties, I felt an early pull toward psychology and personal development. By my thirties, that interest had grown stronger, even as I built multiple businesses and enjoyed meaningful professional success. By my forties, it could no longer be ignored, and I finally chose to pursue it more intentionally.
Life Plan emerged from that calling—a blend of psychology, neuroscience, leadership, and decades of personal life-planning experience. It is designed to help people align their actions with their pure intentions and create lives marked by greater purpose, clarity, fulfillment, and impact.
With the support of family, friends, and colleagues, I have stepped fully into this next chapter as a writer, speaker, executive coach, and committed life planner. Today, I am sharing the lessons, practices, and insights gained through nearly three decades of intentional living in hopes that they can help others live more thoughtfully and intentionally as well.
"If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away."
-Henry David Thoreau
Rich’s Professional Journey
Entrepreneur
Rich’s career spans nearly three decades at the intersection of entrepreneurship, leadership, commercial real estate, and personal development. He has founded and helped build multiple companies, including commercial real estate service firms and a SaaS platform business that has operated profitably for more than a decade.
After building and successfully exiting a multi-million-dollar real estate firm in alignment with his original business plan, Rich turned his attention toward Life Plan — a platform rooted in the same intentional planning principles that shaped his career, leadership, and personal growth.
Leader
Rich has led teams across boutique firms, multi-service local offices, and large regional operations within a publicly traded company.
His leadership experience includes doubling production teams, tripling revenue, and quadrupling profits during his tenure, while also helping guide a region through an initial public offering and continued growth as a public company.
He is especially proud of building a culture recognized by the Triangle Business Journal as a “Best Place to Work” for six consecutive years.
Rich’s leadership approach blends practical business experience with psychology-backed management, motivation, and sales techniques designed to improve both performance and employee fulfillment.
Motivator
Rich has spent much of his career helping individuals and organizations unlock higher levels of performance, engagement, and personal fulfillment. Through leadership roles, executive coaching, workshops, and speaking engagements, he has challenged audiences to think bigger, lead more intentionally, and align their actions with their goals.
Over the years, he has spoken to audiences ranging from small leadership teams to large regional conferences, sharing insights on topics including:
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Personal and professional growth
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Leadership and team development
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Intentional living and life planning
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Psychology, motivation, and behavior change
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Entrepreneurship and business growth
At the heart of Rich’s message is a simple belief: meaningful success begins with clarity of purpose. When people align their actions with what matters most, extraordinary growth often follows.
Sales Strategist
Rich brings more than 30 years of sales and management experience across commercial real estate, entrepreneurship, and professional services.
Over his commercial real estate career, Rich completed more than 1,800 real estate transactions for major clients including Microsoft, RBC Bank, Northwestern Mutual, and numerous startups. He also received more than 75 letters of recommendation from clients.
Known by clients as a tireless advocate and by colleagues as a force of nature, Rich built his reputation through strategic thinking, creative problem-solving, and a deep commitment to helping others succeed.
Today, he brings that same sales discipline, planning mindset, and people-first approach to coaching, speaking, and Life Plan.
Rich’s Personal Philosophy
THERE IS ENDLESS INSPIRATION IN PURE INTENTIONS
While the latest in happiness research demonstrates that living every day with intention is our surest path to a more satisfying life, we are often overwhelmed and distracted by the pervasive influences at work in our environment. These influences span our earliest memories and upbringing all the way forward to the exact environmental surroundings that we’ve largely constructed and operate within today. They involve an overflowing collection of interactions with parents, siblings, friends, lovers, teachers, coaches, and influencers, as well as experiences that were deeply impactful and influential to the decisions we made thereafter. While some of these experiences are undoubtedly positive and affirming, others can unnecessarily alter or slow our path to our true potential and often go unnoticed, taking root in our subconscious. After our path is altered, we often find ourselves vigorously plodding through a life that fails to inspire us. Without true alignment with our purpose and passion, we can start to lack motivation or internal direction. We can feel lingering dissatisfaction in certain areas of our life, even when we may be operating at high levels of success by our own environment’s standards. This often serves to further confuse us—why am I feeling this way when things seem to be going so well?
I believe one objective in life should be to strive to reach our true potential—to impact the world in our own special way. At some point in our lives, it is very likely that we will need a thoughtful shift or recalibration of what is important to us and where we want to go, filtering out some of the aforementioned (unproductive) environmental influences and raising our awareness of the negative thoughts, distortions, and behaviors that have taken root and are now holding us back or taking us off course. With this heightened awareness, we can then re-establish pure intentions in our lives. Our pure intentions represent the aspirations of our true self, unpolluted by the noise of our external environment or past traumatic experiences. They may lead to very simple life changes or more complex changes. We may decide on a new occupation, more time with family, or perhaps we will find more energy in our day-to-day life. Perhaps we will engage in a pursuit that’s been nagging at us for as long as we can remember.
We know we have turned the corner when these pursuits occur without feelings of regret or longing for recognition (excessive ego-focus), even as our environment may actively try to pull us back to our former path. Feelings of self-assurance, increased energy, and independence all flow into our lives—a clear indication that we are back in alignment and the pursuit of our true potential lies before us.
Corporate Experience & Education
TRANSCEND COMMERCIAL
MANAGING PRINCIPAL/FOUNDER
Founder of Transcend Commercial, a boutique real estate advisory firm to serve longstanding corporate clients.
CUSHMAN & WAKEFIELD
MANAGING PRINCIPAL
Led a 75-member regional team for a full-service commercial real estate services firm. Achieved significant growth over six years in leadership, doubling production, tripling revenues, and earning recognition as a "Best Places to Work" by the Triangle Business Journal each year during my tenure.
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Managed the local office through an initial public offering on the NYSE.
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Served as a keynote speaker at the company's annual TAG conference, discussing personal motivation, scaling your business, and business planning.
SYNERGY COMMERCIAL ADVISORS MANAGING PRINCIPAL/FOUNDER
Founded a boutique commercial real estate firm that became one of the leading tenant representation and landlord agency firms in the Triangle. Grew the team and revenue over a seven-year period, leading to a successful exit to a national firm.
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The firm was awarded two of the most highly regarded agency leasing accounts in the Triangle market: American Tobacco in Downtown Durham and North Hills in Midtown Raleigh.
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Recognized as Small Business of the Year by the Morrisville Chamber of Commerce.
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Developed a SaaS business to manage the firm's data and accounting, later spinning it out as Realcore Applications.
GVA ADVANTIS
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Served 12-years as a commercial broker, ascending to be a Top 10 producer annually across the 13 office firm. Scaled personal team and created technology tools and resources to enhance client service.
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
Bachelor of Arts
Political Science & History
1995-1996
KEUKA COLLEGE
Political Science & History
1993-1994
Fast Facts About Rich
CAREER MILESTONES
Founder of multiple businesses, keynote speaker, and a recognized leader in commercial real estate.
HOBBIES
Photography, hiking, traveling, reading, and experimenting in the kitchen.
Did you know? Rich photographed most of the images you see on this website!
FAMILY LIFE
Proud husband, father, and dog lover!
PERSONAL RITUALS
For nearly 30 years, Rich has crafted an annual life plan, often totaling 100 or more pages and designed to guide the upcoming year with more intention and purpose.
Why Life Plan?
Life Plan is more than a platform—it’s a philosophy grounded in the belief that intentional living is the key to personal and professional success. Too often, we find ourselves stuck in patterns or influenced by external pressures that pull us away from our true aspirations. Life Plan provides a roadmap to help you recalibrate, align with your core values, and achieve meaningful, fulfilling goals.
Created by Rich Harris, Life Plan combines decades of experience in leadership and personal development with cutting-edge research in psychology and neuroscience. Whether you’re looking to overcome obstacles, improve relationships, or redefine success, Life Plan empowers you with the strategies and tools to design a life aligned with your highest potential.