At the age of 17, after dropping out of high school, Mr. O’Brien started his first 8 years in the business community with a Fortune 500 company’s land care division, where he quickly grew to a top producer company-wide in business development, operations & sales management capacities. At 25, he then elected to advance into a regional sales management role with an international franchise operation who specialized in commercial building maintenance, where he remained for 3 years.
After 11 years spent in Corporate America at the age of 28, he decided to leave the rat race to take a chance at entrepreneurship and formed his first company, The O’Brien Group, LLC. The firm mainly acquires real estate in the Boston and Costa Rican markets for long term investments, development, and rehabilitations. Other notable achievements and offerings include property management, buyer facilitation, design/build, landscape design & construction, development marketing and project funding capacities from the private equity sector.
During his ventures throughout Central America, he was introduced to the notion of biofuels at the industries infancy through the vast palm oil industry. In 2008, Mr. O’Brien joined Tennessee Bioenergy and its holding firm, Consolidated Bioenergy, as a Business Consultant to build out their startup venture. These entities specialized in converting renewable biomass resources such as animal fats, waste vegetable oils and restaurant cooking greases into biodiesel/renewable diesel fuel. After gaining this experience and educating himself from the ground up, in 2010 he elected to launch the biofuel commodity trading and logistics entity Universal Green Commodities to capitalize on the various arbitrage opportunities in the emerging market. Since, this company has become a household name across the industry as a premier originator of renewable feedstock supply and associated logistical provider to the bio-refineries throughout the US and Europe.
Mr. O’Brien first came across the material known as Petrified Wood whilst abroad on holiday in Bali, Indonesia in 2016 when scouring the local markets for unique finds. After meeting with local artisans, he immediately saw the opportunity in this material on a commercial level and fast became infatuated with it personally after buying several pieces for his home. Shortly thereafter, as his love affair with this material ignited and fanned, Mr. O’Brien put his robust network on the case and searched the globe for significant deposits of large, fossilized wood. Within a 3-year period he was able to develop a supply chain of critical mass from half a dozen countries to commercialize his passion at grand scale for the next several years ahead. Mr. O’Brien consolidates his life experience for this business to make this material readily available to the design and build trade professionals as well as the discerning homeowners, whom seek incredibly unique creative spaces with a commodity that very few in this world have had access to.
Now 44 years old and 27 strong years in international business, traveling to all continents and upwards of 55 countries, Mr. O’Brien has built multiple entrepreneurial success stories spanning the globe from the US east coast to the Far East. Specializing in originating, managing, and supplying various bulk physical commodities to multiple markets and industry, and with the logistical depth to transport via any mode, any size bulk commodity globally.
He is married, has two young children, and resides in Boston and Costa Rica. Interests include: The self-made, the unpretentious, world travel, cooking, cultural immersion, pyrotechnics, cycling, horticulture, meditation, and down to earth folks.
