Ed's training and business career began at Leo Burnett Advertising Agency in Chicago. There he got his feet wet on blue-chip brands like Nestlé, RCA (helping to launch the VCR), Dewar's White Label, Heinz, and Schlitz. At the same time, he was continuing his education at DePaul University. He joined Bayer Bess Vanderwarker Advertising Agency in 1987 as vice president of Strategic Planning where he continued to work for some of the best brands in the world. This included new product development, brand positioning, and market segmentation work for Gatorade, Ameritech, Kemper Insurance, and Boston Chicken. In 1994, Ed joined Boston Chicken as vice president of Concept and helped grow it into the world's largest home meal-replacement restaurant. Ed joined in 1997 as a senior consultant at Sterling-Rice Group. He has led the development of new products for GTE, positioning architecture for HP, TCI, and GTE, and need-state segmentation for General Mills and Globus & Cosmos.