top of page

Meet Michael

Equipping people and teams
to be powered by BLISS.

Meet

J Michael Drake

Michael Drake is a recognized authority in leadership and personal development, an innovator in the managed services market, and a consultant for recurring revenue organizations on their way to becoming industry leaders. 

​

A CEO from age 30, Michael’s three decades in business have included acting as a crisis manager, turnaround specialist, company founder, technology pioneer, and industry maven.

​

Michael founded the technology-as-a-service provider masterIT in 2006 and served as its CEO until November 2019, when he exited after their sale to private equity-backed VC3 of Columbia, South Carolina.

​

Under Michael’s leadership, masterIT achieved numerous industry recognitions including being the first and only mid-south provider to earn the MSP Alliance Accreditation and be ranked on both the MSPmentor 100 and MSPmentor 501 lists (the industry’s rankings of the most successful managed service providers globally) for eleven years in a row.

​

The business was also named among CRN Magazine’s 40 Most Innovative MSPs in North America, and Memphis Business Journal named masterIT a 2013 finalist for Business of the Year. In 2012, Michael was named to MSPmentor’s inaugural industry Hall of Fame class, and he was a finalist for Memphis Business Journal’s Executive of the Year.

​

Prior to founding masterIT, Michael served as the USA President, CEO, and Country Manager for European-based, publicly traded Econocom Group from 1993 to 2005.

​

Michael is a 1986 graduate of the University of Memphis with a BBA in Finance, and he held various banking positions in the mid-south prior to joining Econocom-USA in 1990.

​

Michael is currently serves as Chairman of the Methodist Healthcare Foundation Board and Finance Chair of the Christ Community Health Services Board. He also is an Advisory Board mem­ber for Methodist Healthcare’s Dennis H. Jones Living Well Network. He has served on the boards of ARTSmemphis, Crichton College, Boys & Girls Club of Greater Memphis, the University of Memphis’ MILE (Memphis Institute for Leadership Education) pro­gram, the Better Business Bureau of the Mid-South, and the Christian Psychological Center.

​

Michael and his wife, Alys, were married in 1991 and are parents to daughters Aden and Yates.

​

Michael is an author, keynote speaker and organizational consultant. Published in May, 2020, The Bliss Journey: Becoming the Hero of Your Own Story is a set of 14 principles for any organizational leader designed to help them and their teams develop a culture that drives impact and productivity.​

​​​

The Book has launched! 

And Michael speaks to Tom Koulopoulos about the journey that led him there (See The Bliss Journey page for excerpts)

Michael discusses the Bliss Journey in his personal and professional life

Service to the city and beyond explored in this interview on the We Believe in Memphis show.

bottom of page