“Not many people can say with humble confidence that they have changed the lives of literally thousands, but you have. It's a legacy, your legacy of serving others with life changing wisdom. Your impact will continue to grow and shape the lives of so many people. You really will never know exactly how big it is. But there is one thing you must know without a doubt; I'm a better husband, a better father and a better person..." Read More

- Mike Maroney | CEO - Castlerock Capital, LLC

John Wright

John Wright Greyfield LegaciesJohn Wright prides himself on being a coach and teacher, who brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to everything he does.

As CEO and former Managing Partner of the Wright Financial Group, Inc., one of Northwestern Mutual Financial Network’s 92 Network Offices, he grew his office from $750 million to over $9 billion of insurance in force and has managed over $1 billion of assets, in his 26-year leadership tenure.

Arguably, Northwestern Mutual Financial Network is one of, if not the highest rated and finest financial services firms in the world and John recruited, trained and developed over 10% of this company’s field leadership. He has field leaders running and managing offices in Chicago, Madison, Minneapolis, Des Moines, Cincinnati, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Seattle, to name a few. That’s an amazing record. On top of this, he also is a performance coach for many professional athletes and “corporate” athletes outside of Northwestern Mutual.

John is sought after as a speaker on a national scale by both corporate leaders and professional athletes. He was voted top speaker at the NFL National Rookie Symposium six times. He has spoken to or facilitated life skills camps to the Indianapolis Colts, Chicago Bears, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns, Atlanta Falcons and Tennessee Titans. In 2010, he completed a rather amazing speaking trifecta. He spoke with Rochester High School (Illinois 4A Football State Champions), Auburn University football team NCAA National Champions), and the Green Bay Packers (Super Bowl Champions).

John’s 80-acre estate, which he calls Greyfield, has become a training center for a multitude of extremely successful people. CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, over one third of the managing partners at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, company leaders and Forum Reps of Northwestern, NFL Hall of Famers, Super Bowl champions, NFL All Pros, NBA All Pros, NCAA Champions, Olympic Gold Medalists, world famous authors, plus a lot of wonderful, everyday folks have come to have fun and to change the way they think. He believes that focus follows fun, and Greyfield certainly adds to that dimension as a training center, complete with a “field of dreams” football field, a World Class shooting facility, a high ropes Challenge course, a 9-hole golf course, 2 fishing ponds, tennis and basketball courts, and an equestrian facility.

Personally, John was an All-State and All-American high school football player in Wheaton, Illinois. He was a state champion and state record-holder in track. As an All-American and Academic All-American in college, John graduated from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign as the leading receiver in the school’s and Big Ten history, and 5th all-time in NCAA history.

John was a second-round draft choice by the Atlanta Falcons and was traded to the Detroit Lions during his rookie season. He became a starter with the Lions in his second year and sustained a career-ending injury, a severed Achilles tendon, during his third season. His son Johnny was also a first team Academic All-American; they are the only father-son first team Academic All-Americans in NCAA history. His daughter, Ashley, was a state champion and state record holder in track and cross country. He has been married to his wife Deanna for more than 45 years and they have 8 grandchildren.

John Wright Detroit Lions