A warm, lived-in home study in late afternoon — wood-paneled walls in light oak, a worn leather reading chair turned toward a window with sheer linen curtains, an open book and steaming teacup on a side table, bookshelves with framed photographs, and long golden shadows across a Persian rug. — Late afternoon, an open book, and the room a long career has built.

The Team

People who have lived this transition themselves.

Encore Career Lab is built by people, not consultants. Every member of the team has walked through their own version of the question we now help our members answer: what comes after the career you spent decades building?

Founder

Jack Calhoun

Founder, Encore Career Lab

Jack Calhoun spent more than three decades building companies that meet operators where they are — and where the world is heading. After the University of Georgia's Henry W. Grady College of Journalism, he launched his career as a journalist, then moved into sports marketing and licensing.

In the mid-1990s, Jack joined his father's small Atlanta investment firm, Capital Directions, and recognized an emerging trend: accounting firms beginning to offer financial services to their clients. He built a partnership program pairing Capital Directions' investment-management capabilities with the trusted client relationships CPA firms had already established. Under his leadership the program grew from $50M to more than $1.5B in assets under management. Jack became majority owner and managing partner before selling the firm in 2015.

What came next was unexpected. With no framework and no program to guide him, Jack's post-career phase was more disorienting than intoxicating. He realized the entire wealth-management industry was focused on the financial mechanics — taxes, estate planning, charitable giving — while almost entirely ignoring the human side of what makes a next chapter actually work: purpose, identity, contribution, and the desire to keep mattering.

That gap inspired Encore Career Lab in 2023.

The Practice

The full team.

Counsel from people who've each built — and then re-built — a career.

Tavi Meketon

Lead coach

Tavi Meketon is a business leader, strategist, and coach with more than four decades of experience guiding individuals and organizations through growth, transition, and reinvention. A former Chief Operating Officer and trusted advisor to executive teams, she has built and led businesses across complex industries — aligning people, strategy, and execution to measurable results.

Having navigated multiple career transitions herself, including leadership roles, business ownership, and reinvention later in life, Tavi understands the emotional and practical challenges high-achieving professionals face at inflection points. Her work blends coaching, facilitation, and strategic frameworks with real-world business judgment.

Bob Sofge

The Next Mission lead

Bob Sofge leads The Next Mission program at Encore Career Lab alongside Jack Calhoun. A retired Major General of the United States Marine Corps, he brings more than four decades of experience leading complex, high-stakes organizations and guiding leaders through transition, reinvention, and purpose-driven next chapters.

The Next Mission is the dedicated cohort for senior leaders — particularly those coming out of highly structured, mission-driven careers — who are redefining identity, impact, and contribution after their primary career is complete. Bob draws on deep experience helping accomplished leaders translate their expertise into meaningful civilian, advisory, board, and portfolio paths.

His final active-duty assignment was Commanding General, U.S. Marine Forces Europe and Africa. He previously served as Deputy Commander, Marine Forces Pacific; Assistant Chief of Staff, J5 for U.S. Forces Korea; and Deputy Commanding General, Combined Joint Operations Center Baghdad during Operation Inherent Resolve. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, holds a Master of Science in Strategy from the U.S. Army War College, an MBA from TUI University, and is a graduate of the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program.

Jimmy Dickey

Senior advisor

James "Jimmy" Dickey brings decades of C-level experience to Encore Career Lab. His career began at Trust Company Bank (now Truist) as an executive in factoring and commercial banking. He later led an internal acquisition at Home Buyers Warranty, then served in marketing, business development, and subsidiary management roles.

Jimmy became a founding member of DBD & Associates, a private equity fund, where he oversaw fundraising, investment selection, and board work across portfolio companies. He later served as CEO of Ovations Management Solutions — a technology company serving Fortune 500 customers — leading an internal restructuring that culminated in acquisition by Cendyn Corporation. Jimmy joined Cendyn as CFO, responsible for legal, tax, investments, M&A, business development, strategy, and accounting.

At every level, Jimmy has scaled businesses across industries and guided them through their most defining moments. He brings to Encore Career Lab a combination of financial acumen, operational expertise, and deal-making judgment sharpened by decades of leadership.

Begin

A small room. A few good questions. Eight considered weeks.

The average Encore Career Lab cohort is small enough that everyone is heard and large enough that nobody is alone in the question. The conversation begins with a thirty-minute call.

Begin the Conversation