I coach people because my life journey has encompassed many moments of crises, extreme joy and pain along the way.

I grew up in South Africa and have lived on three continents (Africa, Europe and US). I love the richness of diversity that the world has to offer. I live with my amazing wife, son and dog who seem to be on a never-ending mission to keep me on my toes! As a family, we have also lived in New York, Kenya, Switzerland, and Cape Town. 

Throughout my life, I have had to deal with several crises that have ranged from hard to heartbreaking and dire. 

There are few things harder to navigate than losing a loved one.  I lost both my father and my brother when I was in my 20s, and both were the hardest things I have ever had to go through. When you lose a loved one, your whole reality fractures, especially when it is unexpected.  You have to do whatever it takes to get from moment to moment and then process and navigate the grief for months and years afterward.  I learned that I needed help and these moments of crises are not ones you go through alone. Not an easy lesson, especially as a man.

Early on in my career, I was in a job that on paper was everything I should want, but my gut told me was not right for me. I tried hard to ignore this feeling as there were a lot of very logical reasons why I should not and could not leave this job.  Like most people, I knew that what was missing, was work with more meaning and impact. I eventually left the job and the identity behind and went on more of an inner journey to find out what I was really here to be doing.

During the professional crisis above, I was living in a city I didn’t want to be in and I was becoming depressed. I would daydream about going to South East Asia.  I took some time off and found myself in Jordan, thousands of miles away from anyone I knew, and had clarity that everything needed to change.  Sometime after that, I was backpacking around Cambodia where I met my wife, through a series of synchronicities. That is a story for another time! 

As an adult in my 20s I generally believed I was healthy. I went to the gym and ate salad periodically so I thought that ticked the box! The reality was that I was not as healthy as I thought one stage, simply to cope, I was smoking a pack of cigarettes a day which culminated in me being much sicker, more frequently than I should have been.  I quit smoking and have gone through a journey of realizing that health is the most important thing you have. One of my core missions has been to learn as much as I can about what it truly means to be healthy, physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.

As they say, “A healthy man has 1000 dreams, an unhealthy man only has one.”  – Unknown

While of these crises may seem clear and well-articulated, each was a messy process that I navigated with the help of loved ones and coaches and emerged stronger.

One common thread has been a deepening in a more conscious way of seeing life. I am a believer in meditation, breathing techniques, and some more spiritual tools that have helped me and my clients over the years.