Who am I?

 

Excellent question.

 

Other than a coach and operator, I have played many roles in my life.

 

I grew up where the farmlands meet the suburbs in Salem, Oregon, in a large, conservative, baptist family. 

 

I played football (all league linebacker), loved snowboarding and skateboarding, and excelled in academics and business / speech competitions (state president / multiple national championships).

 

After high school, I went to West Point for two years (top 5% of my class), before leaving to study Mandarin in Beijing, China for one year.

 

After China, I enrolled at Stanford University, where I studied modern physics, Carl Jung and Analytical Psychology, feminism, queer studies, monks, Noam Chomsky, Gandhi, Zen Buddhism, and also became a docent at a local nature preserve (Jasper Ridge).

 

I eventually wrote a thesis on Tibetan Buddhism in America and received an Honor's Bachelors Degree in Interdisciplinary Humanities. 

 

After finishing school, the deeper learning began.  I became a preschool teacher for one year in Oakland, CA.

 

I spent several years professionally writing a musical in San Francisco.

 

Inspired by monks and Indian Sadhus (not to mention the Beats), I wandered California homelessly, hitchhiked, hopped freight trains, and lived in a redwood tree as part of a political protest, where I experienced a profound spiritual awakening.

 

After searching for a teacher, I became a monk for 3 years underneath one of the world's top spiritual masters (Le Tian Da Shi from China), and taught meditation and Qi Gong classes.

 

I was a general contractor for 8 years (triple award winning).

 

I became COO of a family office in LA, where I helped manage operations and wealth for a variety of successful families.

 

I wrote and performed 23 rap songs, many of which are "suicide songs" - songs that helped positively transform and express suicidal emotions (debut EP coming soon - subscribe to the newsletter or send me an email if you want to know when it drops).

 

Beneath all the searching and overachieving, I had a "Mount Everest" of hidden pain inside. 

 

I was severely abused as a child - sexually, physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

 

I experienced a myriad of dysfunctions in myself and others, including bi-polar, ADD/ADHD, narcissism, drug/alcohol addiction, sex/porn addiction, food addiction, workaholism, codependence, racism, sexism, homophobia, extreme shame / self-hatred, generational / unresolved trauma, and many forms of violence, both hidden and overt.

 

I spent my 30's teaching myself how to do deep trauma work, which I'm writing about in one of my books, Cry or Die (boys don't cry, but men do).

 

In my other book, FLO, I outline the spiritual life and time planning system I discovered / created which gave me the safety and power to overcome my inner demons and vaporize my addictions. 

 

(I've successfully helped dozens of coaching clients find their FLO.  Everyone has their own unique FLO, which a good coach can help them find.)

 

The more garbage I let go of, the more I realized that my mission in life is to help others uncover their souls and achieve true happiness, which is indicated by genuinely feeling good on all levels.

 

I work hard in my coaching and operations work to help my clients overcome dysfunction and get the lives and businesses that they really want.  This brings me deep joy.

 

When I'm not helping clients, I enjoy backpacking, exercising, dancing, kitchen alchemy, hangin with friends, and spending time at my beautiful home in Santa Barbara.

 

I know a lot about myself, and I'm still learning.

 

What I'd really like to know is ...

 

Who are you?