My passion for positively impacting society, yearning to build and nurture intimate relationships, and professional integrity drives me to forever grow in my coaching. My Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Central Florida is in English Creative Writing. As a published writer and poet with a collection in print, successful editor of two literary magazines, and former English department chair and teacher, my world has always revolved around stories. I was part of the Florida Teacher Leader Fellowship funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as well as becoming the Volusia County Schools Secondary English teacher of the year for 2014-15, and February 2021's Amazing Teacher for the News-Journal. I’ve published and presented on the works of James Joyce domestically as well as internationally and have published a well-reviewed book on teaching Joyce’s works in secondary school. I left teaching, in which I found myself focused on the quantity of people affected over quality, and went into coaching to reverse that impact and lead a more fulfilling life. As a coach, my world continues to revolve around stories – your stories. The subtle nuance between denotation and connotation can mean the difference between a new relationship or a catastrophic argument; the tone you use can speak volumes where your words fail; the way you develop the characters in your life influences how they impact the plot; and most importantly, the choices you make as the author determine all of this.
Having thoroughly interviewed two Nobel Laureates in Literature; twenty-four Pulitzer Prize recipients; eight U.S. Poets Laureate; an Oscar and Golden Globe winner; numerous editors, publishers, and acclaimed writers including Maya Angelou in her last recorded interview which is now in the Permanent Archives of the Library of Congress, I can say confidently that I've come to learn and appreciate the relationship between our lives and the stories we tell. It is truly astounding the impact language has on our behavior and it is a thrill for me, as a coach, and for my clients to look at the language of our narratives and find that "word as cunningly hidden in its maze of confused drapery as a fieldmouse in a nest of coloured ribbons..." as James Joyce wrote in Finnegans Wake.
The core values that drive me are: 1) passion-driven contribution – utilizing my passion to have a positive impact on society; 2) genuine relationships – building and nurturing genuine intimate relationships; and 3) professional integrity –having a passion for what I do and constantly striving to improve. And it is worth noting that the thing I probably take most seriously is my sense of humor. If we can't laugh, or at least smile at times, then what's the point?
I am a proud and exhausted father of two – a son and daughter – and married to a wonderful woman. We share our lives in Lake Mary, Florida where we enjoy going to playgrounds, farmer's markets, the swimming pool, visiting friends and family.
My training is through the Co-Active Institute in which I received over a hundred hours of education and real-time practice. I also worked with Master Coaches, always striving to learn and improve, and have trained heavily in Positive Intelligence, designed by Shirzad Chamine. I am also a proud Fellow of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate and I am a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. I also have an article on my narrative linguistic approach to coaching which was published in the May 2021 edition of Qorpus, a Brazilian scholarly journal managed by the Federal University of Santa Catarina.
I have certifications in: “Improving Your Business Through a Culture of Health” from HarvardX in association with Harvard Business School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; "Strategic Leadership in Healthcare" from DoaneX in association with Doane University; "Cultivating Entrepreneurship & Antifragility to Thrive in a Fast-Paced World" in association with MITx (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); and Talent Optimization Consultation through The Predictive Index.
It is the honor of my life when people share their stories with me and allow me to help them navigate their lives with purpose and clarity. Everyone has a story. What's yours?
“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
— George Bernard Shaw
Having thoroughly interviewed two Nobel Laureates in Literature; twenty-four Pulitzer Prize recipients; eight U.S. Poets Laureate; an Oscar and Golden Globe winner; numerous editors, publishers, and acclaimed writers including Maya Angelou in her last recorded interview which is now in the Permanent Archives of the Library of Congress, I can say confidently that I've come to learn and appreciate the relationship between our lives and the stories we tell. It is truly astounding the impact language has on our behavior and it is a thrill for me, as a coach, and for my clients to look at the language of our narratives and find that "word as cunningly hidden in its maze of confused drapery as a fieldmouse in a nest of coloured ribbons..." as James Joyce wrote in Finnegans Wake.
The core values that drive me are: 1) passion-driven contribution – utilizing my passion to have a positive impact on society; 2) genuine relationships – building and nurturing genuine intimate relationships; and 3) professional integrity –having a passion for what I do and constantly striving to improve. And it is worth noting that the thing I probably take most seriously is my sense of humor. If we can't laugh, or at least smile at times, then what's the point?
I am a proud and exhausted father of two – a son and daughter – and married to a wonderful woman. We share our lives in Lake Mary, Florida where we enjoy going to playgrounds, farmer's markets, the swimming pool, visiting friends and family.
My training is through the Co-Active Institute in which I received over a hundred hours of education and real-time practice. I also worked with Master Coaches, always striving to learn and improve, and have trained heavily in Positive Intelligence, designed by Shirzad Chamine. I am also a proud Fellow of the Institute of Coaching at McLean Hospital, a Harvard Medical School affiliate and I am a member of the American College of Healthcare Executives. I also have an article on my narrative linguistic approach to coaching which was published in the May 2021 edition of Qorpus, a Brazilian scholarly journal managed by the Federal University of Santa Catarina.
I have certifications in: “Improving Your Business Through a Culture of Health” from HarvardX in association with Harvard Business School and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; "Strategic Leadership in Healthcare" from DoaneX in association with Doane University; "Cultivating Entrepreneurship & Antifragility to Thrive in a Fast-Paced World" in association with MITx (Massachusetts Institute of Technology); and Talent Optimization Consultation through The Predictive Index.
It is the honor of my life when people share their stories with me and allow me to help them navigate their lives with purpose and clarity. Everyone has a story. What's yours?
“I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no "brief candle" for me. It is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.”
— George Bernard Shaw
Where we coach
There is a popular Sufi parable which says so much about why we move forward without making progress in our lives. We search for solutions to our problems in what is known as opposed to exploring the unknown.
An old man was walking home late one night when he saw a friend on his knees under a street light, searching for something. "What are you doing?" he asked his friend.
"I dropped the key to my house."
"I'll help you look." After a few minutes of frustrated searching, the old man asked, "Where exactly were you when you dropped this key?"
His friend pointed toward the darkness. "Over there."
"Then why are you looking for it here?"
"Because this is where the light is."
An old man was walking home late one night when he saw a friend on his knees under a street light, searching for something. "What are you doing?" he asked his friend.
"I dropped the key to my house."
"I'll help you look." After a few minutes of frustrated searching, the old man asked, "Where exactly were you when you dropped this key?"
His friend pointed toward the darkness. "Over there."
"Then why are you looking for it here?"
"Because this is where the light is."