Not every turnaround needs the same fix. As a turnaround CEO, I've had to reinvent a distressed acquisition from the ground up, cut a sprawling portfolio down to what actually worked, and rebuild a business through organic and inorganic growth at once — three different diagnoses, three different playbooks, and a comparable result each time. Here's what actually decides which one a business needs.

Twenty-five years after reading Digit magazine as a college student, I had the opportunity to acquire and rebuild the brand. Here's the story behind the acquisition, the turnaround, and the team that made it possible.