John Hale is an effective leader and evangelist who bridges the secular worlds of business, travel, entertainment, and law to the Catholic faith. For nearly 30 years John has represented and served diverse clients from the Detroit Lions, the Pope’s Sistine Chapel Choir, the MET gala to faith leaders and pop music superstars. John has also navigated a large travel and event company through 9/11, the Great Recession and a global pandemic. Together he and his wife, Kristan, have been blessed with five faith-filled children: John Jr. and David who attend the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, Elizabeth and Anna, who attend Fr. Gabriel Richard Catholic High School in Ann Arbor, MI and Andrew who attends the University of Detroit Jesuit High School.
An engaging speaker whose real-world experiences have taken him around the globe, John will educate, uplift and entertain your audience with poignant and powerful talks complemented by healthy dose of humor. Topics range from faith led business leadership, practical ways to raise and father children, raising a family to remain in the faith, evangelizing through beauty, the arts, travel and entertainment.
John has been President and co-owner of Corporate Travel Service, a family-owned business founded in 1965, for more than 20 years. John and his team have planned events attended from everyone from Popes to Presidents. The company organizes full ship music cruise charters, educational tours, corporate events, music festivals on iconic stages worldwide, Catholic pilgrimages, family field trips and cultural tours. Representative clients include Fortune 500 companies, the Grand Ole Opry, Time Life, the Vatican Museums, the Sistine Chapel Choir, AEG sports and live entertainment group, the MET Gala, Alliance Defending Freedom, school districts, archdioceses, dioceses, parishes, universities, and media outlets throughout the United States.
John graduated from the Honor’s College of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and obtained his law degree from the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law. Upon graduation from law school, he clerked for Chief Justice Dorothy Comstock Riley on the Michigan Supreme Court. Following his clerkship, he was an associate attorney at Bodman, LLP serving, among other clients, the Detroit Lions and the Ford family. John later worked in litigation as in-house counsel at Ford Motor Company and is a 2021 AV Preeminent® Peer Rated Lawyer by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest peer rating standard awarded to attorneys who rank at the highest level of professional excellence.
In 2001, he left the practice of law to join the family business, at Corporate Travel Service. Currently, John serves as a Board of Director for the The Inn at St. John’s resort and Golf Club, a Board of Trustee and Board of Director of the Michigan Opera Theatre, Chair of the Archdiocese of Detroit Advancement Council, a member of the Board of Directors of the Catholic Foundation of Michigan, Chair of the Michigan Chapter of the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums; a member of the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem of Rhodes and of Malta, American Association; a member of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem, and the Ann Arbor Chapter of Legatus. John is a two-time finalist for the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
John and his wife have raised funds for the restoration of works of art in the Vatican Museums and have hosted and chaired countless fundraising events across the world for Catholic and cultural causes.
John previously served as a member of the Board of the following organizations: the University of Detroit Mercy School of Law Alumni Association, the Catholic Lawyers Society, the Isiah Thomas Foundation, the Lennon Crisis Pregnancy Center and the Barristers of the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association. John has also served as a member of the State Bar of Michigan Committee on Legal Education and Professional Standards.
Testimonials:
"Thank you so much for your presentation last evening. You are an excellent speaker and I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about your journey the past couple of years. I especially appreciated your humor which is so very needed right now. As a CEO of a hospital I can relate to your journey. We are now in a very heavy fourth surge of Covid and I arrived last evening stressed, tired, and seeking inspiration and joy. Thank you for being my inspiration and joy last evening John. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. Best wishes for a blessed Thanksgiving with family. God Bless." - Nancy, Chelsea, MI
