Rich’s Story

After 20+ years managing and mentoring teams in the tech industry, I found myself at my own crossroads. Having launched my kids into the world and achieved what I wanted in my career, I decided to focus more on helping others. Along with that, I made more time for my creative and outdoor pursuits. And I’m hard-pressed to find a pic of myself that isn’t hiking or biking in the mountains of the PNW.

Music and writing are my main creative outlets. I’ve played in several bands over the years and occasionally write music for other people’s projects.

I also run a writers group in Seattle where I try to create space and community for both casual and professional writers.

Why Coaching?

During my tech career, I realized my happiest and most fulfilling moments were around mentoring and helping peers work out personal and professional issues. As a manager, I loved to help folks achieve a better balance by moving toward their career and personal goals. Finally, running a writers’ group has continually shown me just how creative we all are at moving our stories forward (both fictional and non).

After a long search for reputable coach training, I was referred to CTI (Co-Active Training Institute). The more I learned about the Co-Active model, the more I saw how it dovetailed with my own experiences in mentoring.

Coaching, for me, is really about helping folks find a path that best suits them. It’s about carving your own trail, knowing that you have someone alongside to lean on.

The trail in this picture required hiking, scrambling, and bouldering to reach the top. It was a messy and hard trail that was difficult to even find in places. It was also totally worth it. So, there’s gotta be a metaphor or two in here :).