I help leaders, and humans, grow faster than they realized they could.
I spent thirty years in technology leadership, from writing code to leading a global engineering organization of more than 500 people and a product portfolio of more than $500 million. Since 2021 I have coached more than 200 leaders across 2,000 hours, combining that experience with training in ontological coaching, neuroscience, and contemplative practice.
I coach senior leaders across technology, education, healthcare, financial services, and beyond. I am a Professional Certified Coach with the International Coaching Federation, a Newfield Network graduate in ontological coaching, and a Certified NeuroTransformational Coach through BEabove Leadership.
A fundamental tenet of coaching is that every client is whole, resourceful, and creative. My role isn’t to fix you. It’s to help you see more clearly and find your own way forward.
I don’t have a one-size-fits-all style. Every client arrives with different needs, and we shape the relationship together. By default, I show up as a coach: present, curious, and asking powerful questions.
Many clients also want me to mentor. They want to hear what worked for me when I was leading teams, and they appreciate stories from my three decades of leadership that show them others have faced the same challenges they’re facing now. I’m glad to share, always as perspective rather than prescription. Sometimes I’ll teach a framework from one of my workshops, and some clients appreciate meditative inquiry as a way to look beneath the surface of a challenge.
Any topic is fair game. A challenge at home often shapes how you show up at work, and the line between executive coaching and life coaching tends to fall away after a few sessions.
My coach training began with the Newfield Network, where I earned my certification in ontological coaching. Ontology is the study of being, and this approach looks at how you are being as a leader, not only at what you are doing.
We work across three domains that ontological coaches call BEL: body, emotion, and language. How you carry yourself, the moods and emotions you live in, and the conversations you have (and the ones you avoid) all shape what feels possible. A shift in any one of them opens new ways of acting.
Through BEabove Leadership, I became a Certified NeuroTransformational Coach. Understanding how the brain works helps clients see why these practices work: how stress narrows our thinking, how the brain’s task and default networks shape focus and strategic thinking, and how neuroplasticity makes lasting change possible.
When you understand why something works, you can keep applying it long after our engagement ends.
- 1989–1993William & MaryA degree in computer science and philosophy, two threads that still run through my work.
- 1993–1998Software developerWriting code for higher education at Datatel, determined to be a “Renaissance programmer.”
- 1998–2015Engineering leadershipManager, director, and vice president of software development at Datatel, then senior vice president at Ellucian, leading a global organization of more than 500.
- 2015–2021Customer engagement and productVice president roles leading customer engagement and then product management for a $500M+ portfolio. Mentoring other leaders was always my favorite part of the job.
- 2021–presentExecutive coachI left the executive trail to coach full time.
- 2022Newfield NetworkCertification in ontological coaching: how language, emotion, and the body shape the way we lead and live.
- 2023BEabove LeadershipCertified NeuroTransformational Coach, bringing neuroscience and consciousness into my coaching.
- Nov 2024WandermentAfter five decades in Virginia, I set out to discover where I want to put down roots, or whether I need to.
- 2026–27Nondual MeditationA two-year teacher training in nondual meditation with Jonathan Gustin.
- NowOn the roadLiving a few weeks to a few months at a time wherever I’m called, and coaching from wherever that is.
Living without a fixed home has stripped away a lot of what I used to think I needed. It has also made me a better coach. Every few weeks bring new people, new land, and new lessons, and I write about them in my Tales of Wanderment.
For clients, nothing changes: we meet on Zoom, on the same schedule, wherever I am. If you’re near my next waystation, I would love to meet in person.
Every path here starts with a conversation.
Twenty-five minutes, no preparation needed. Start with whatever is closest to what’s on your mind, and we’ll find the rest together.