Great coaching is about the client, not the coach. Still, people tend to be curious about someone they partner with in such an important way, so I'll briefly turn the spotlight around to answer a few common questions I receive from my great clients:

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“So Mike, how did you get into life coaching? What is your background?”
My whole life has steered me directly to this work. Traits I’ve had since childhood are those which best serve my clients and my own fulfillment today; most importantly, a deep curiosity about what makes people tick and a compulsive itch to experience more of what is possible in this life.

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I grew up in Southern California, a skinny, sun-fried kid with little self-confidence but a huge, romantic imagination. At about ten years old, I decided to become a pilot when I grew up. The dream stuck, so after graduating from UCLA, I headed off to Navy flight school in Pensacola, Florida. For the next decade, I lived all over the U.S. and in Japan, flew jets from the decks of aircraft carriers around the world, and instructed the next generation of intrepid young Naval Aviators.

 

After leaving the military, I've flown as a pilot for a major U.S. airline, owned and operated a small home improvement business, delivered corporate leadership seminars and collaborated on other diverse projects.

 

It was a loving but excruciatingly painful divorce which triggered the major deconstruction and renewal process which, ultimately, led me to this field of professional coaching. Tough revelations and even tougher decisions in my personal life, in parallel with formal training and certification, opened my eyes to the power of certain core principles and learnable skills which, quite simply, make life better. I continue to apply and hone those best practices every day, personally and professionally. 

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I reside in New York City and travel ... a lot ... worldwide. 

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“Are there any particular life experiences which inform your coaching?”
Yes. I am aware that a childhood of being “in the middle” between two wonderful sisters, divorced parents and step-parents, etc., deeply ingrained in me an appreciation of how widely we vary in our perspectives and struggles. Later life as a young aviator and flight instructor taught me a lot about shattering self-limiting beliefs and what great stuff there is on the other side of fear. The incredible sailors and Marines I led and followed impressed me with the unique capacities we each possess, as well as universal traits which ignore birthplace, ethnicity, or gender. My richest lessons, though, have come from personal relationships which continuously point me toward life’s highest meaning.

 

“What kind of clients do you most enjoy working with? Do you focus on a particular niche?”
I best serve those who feel a deep sense of some important calling – even if they can't yet name it – and a pressing hunger to answer it. Whether in career, relationships or self-development, this tends to appear as a nagging voice inside which whispers (or screams) something like, “There is richness here. You must explore it!” I enjoy working with people in all walks of life, and so choose not to limit my practice to any topical or demographic niche.

 

“What is the most important thing a new client should know about you, as their coach?”
I love this work. We may never meet in person, and there may great contrasts between the lives we lead, but when a new client and I partner in coaching, there is a shift. I commit to serving them wholeheartedly, and they seem to get it. We will get as real, raw, and messy as we need to in service of what they want most. I get terrific satisfaction from witnessing clients transform their lives, and am very aware that the fulfillment they create sends ripples far beyond our celebratory high-fives.