About Doug Hartzheim
Family Man
Doug Hartzheim is first a family man, married to Margo for nearly fifty years, and they have four children and ten grandchildren. Doug and Margo enjoy every moment they get with each of the kids and grandchildren. Fortunately, since most of the family lives in Bozeman, Montana, there is always something going on.
Doug and Margo have ranch property outside of Bozeman, and they enjoy spending time in the remoteness of this special place where deer, elk, and bear abound. There’s nothing like sitting by the fire and picking up a book or two and relaxing with no phones or media presence.
Ministry Leader
Several years back, Doug, and his son Daniel started a non-profit called Shepherd’s Heart. With the ministry, they intended to focus on a variety of needs in the Bozeman area and beyond, depending on just what needs came along. The Hartzheims had a warehouse they built with a large kitchen, where they could feed up to 200 people.
For nearly four years, ‘After Hours’ became a place for men in the valley to come by and grab a dinner of ribs and brew, with all the fixins’ and experience personal growth from the evening’s content. The monthly dinners came to a halt when Covid came along, but these were great times serving the greater community. Shepherd’s Heart then became a conduit for ‘Friends Helping Friends’, a Covid relief effort in Bozeman.
When the war started in Ukraine, Doug got on a plane a few weeks later to get the lay of the land and see if Shepherd’s Heart could help. Through a series of events, we partnered with a couple of churches in Poland to help house and assist refugees to assimilate into their new life in Poland. Throughout the week, refugees take language classes in Polish and English. The Life Center also provides food and clothing giveaways, events for the kids and young people, and a regular weekly routine of helping those already in Poland, as well as new arrivals. For more information on the work in Poland, see shepherdsheartmin.org.
Business, Politics, Polarization, and Becoming Independent Thinkers
Doug has owned multiple businesses over the course of nearly fifty years. Much of this has to do with manufacturing companies, plus many years in the financial services industry, primarily investing funds for banks into specialty products. The many facets of manufacturing, along with the challenge of getting products to the marketplace through different types of distributions, are the target of many of the articles that Doug has written about. Relationships, both healthy and unhealthy, are the subject of Doug’s attention, as he has written about his life in business. Whether it’s the use of credit, banking relationships, recruitment of key team members, developing strong sales habits and relationships, or just playing the game strongly, he has put much of his life lessons into writing a business guide for those just starting out, or those in mid-career that need to refocus. Many of those articles are here on this site.
More than anything else, Doug’s focus in recent years has turned towards issues having to do with the extreme polarization that currently plagues our nation. The lack of common sense associated with the resulting dysfunction of extreme viewpoints is often the culprit. Common sense that was present a few years ago appears to be completely absent from the behaviors of many that generate division, at times paralyzing the government and harming our republic. Through TheRationalTruth and CommonSensePolls, Doug and his team strive to illuminate the errors of adherence to extreme ideals, and those profiting from self-serving behavior.
Doug believes that each of us needs to consider rethinking individual positions that contribute to polarization. Clearly, if the nation is more divided than ever, the factions and divisions that each of us associates with have everything to do with the war that rages. Real people staged pallets of bricks in Portland to arm the protestors with something to cause harm to others. Individuals stormed the Capitol. Many bought into a belief system and were so convinced that they felt justified violating the trust of the rest of the entire nation. A few thousand inspired and emotional individuals tarnished the image of the republic that so many died to create and maintain. Emotional outbursts that lead to poor behavior need to be examined and checked, whether it is a two-year-old’s tantrum, or a forty-year-old swinging a baseball bat.
Doug’s resulting work specifically targets the emotive result of obscene displays of irrational behavior from those on both the left and the right, tied to unfounded, often self-serving ideals that, when examined, wouldn’t survive the scrutiny of basic street smarts. The examples he highlights should be enough to embarrass many a proud believer in their convictions, which often won’t pass even a mild test for truth. There is enough blame to go around as the nonsense is incoming from every angle. Yet, the voice of many a pundit or politician seems to be that of a pied piper leading their followers off the latest cliff of senselessness. The examples are many, and Doug has made it his mission to shine a bright light on the bizarre, laughable, and sometimes very serious current events that challenge historical norms and values.
We can all do a better job of examining our thoughts and motives, making necessary changes, rethinking positions, and it begins with seeking truth. Truth doesn’t come from one source on cable news. These days, the rigorous pursuit of truth requires more effort than perhaps any time in our nation’s history. This pursuit is the mission of TheRationalTruth.
