From Carpentry to Coaching

Carpentry to Coaching
From the early 1990s to the mid-2000s, renovation carpentry was as much a part of my life as Martial Arts.

Creating Beauty
What kept me in renovation work over the years and what I loved about it was bringing joy to people, beauty to things, and order from chaos. And working in someone’s home to help them bring their vision to life is hugely satisfying. Seeing someone’s face light up when they saw their dream become reality was a wonderful and gratifying feeling.

Satisfaction and Pride
There is something immeasurably satisfying about cutting a perfect line while painting, truing a wall, hanging and finishing drywall, laying a floor or making the perfect joint in a baseboard or moulding. There is so much pride in completing a job and looking back on it and thinking, I did that, and more importantly, my clients are happy. 

Much like the original drawings of a project are the start of something beautiful, coaching also brings the beauty of what is to come into the world, like a great painter or sculptor who creates out of nothing or from a block of stone. My years as a renovation carpenter taught me how to envision, create and reveal beauty, and my coaching career has allowed me to continue to do so.

Mind Body Spirit
I went to University, trained in Martial Arts, and did renovations. Those were my constants, and they have served me well. University taught me how to think, Martial Arts taught me how to put up my dukes, and Carpentry taught me how to physically work with my hands to make my client’s dreams come true. I love all three.

Working with clients to create solutions and bring dreams into reality is among the most gratifying work I can think of, and it carries through in my coaching to this day. There is nothing quite like partnering with a client to bring beauty into the world. During my carpentry years, this beauty was external; now, in my coaching years, the beauty that comes into the world comes from within.