Tom McNutt -

Lifelong entrepreneur, Tom McNutt (’77), credits his education at Overlake as teaching him to think outside the box. In 1980, Tom purchased a small business producing and selling “psychedelic” paper framed glasses.  By the time he sold the last of 45,000 pairs, his biggest clients included a Smithsonian gift shop and the Chicago Museum of Contemporary Art. In the late 90s through 2002, Tom completed home remodels around the Greater Seattle area, including a two-year project for an Overlake classmate on Crane Island near Orcas, where architect Tim Becker (1975) and cabinet maker Eric Hvalsoe (sp?) (1975) were brought in to help with the estate plan.  

In 2002, Tom founded Boccemon, a company that makes bocce ball court surfaces out of finely rendered oyster shells. Though Tom is close to retiring at the time of the interview in 2024, over 20 years and a successful worldwide business later, Tom looks back on his four years at Overlake with gratitude. To this day, not only are Tom’s favorite people are friends from school, but Overlake is where he learned that life can have many different pathways. Like many students, Tom asked himself what he wanted to do, but Overlake helped him see that was the wrong question. What he learned to ask himself “What do I want to do NEXT?”  As retirement approaches, Tom is fairly certain there will be no shortage of things for him to try, and newly found time to try them.