Hiyo! My name is Adam :) Here is a bit about me in relation to my practice:

Why did you decide to become a coach?

I've always been an inquisitive and self-motivated learner. I love to build, create, and improve things—including myself. I like to dive deep and explore my passions, from entrepreneurship and production, to art, fitness, music, poetry, and the science of relationships. I am regularly absorbing and synthesizing new knowledge with my experiences. I've learned a lot from books and traditional schooling. Still, many of my most impactful lessons were through trial and error (lots of error!) and developing my own methods of coping and problem-solving. I constantly make observations. I see patterns develop, especially during my time in the startup world as an operator and VC backed founder. And I've become more and more frustrated at how traditional education, popular culture, and business schooling still push many “soft-skills” aside and fail to prepare people adequately for healthy and fulfilling life and work. I watch critical skills like self-awareness, healthy communication, proactive personal growth, and mental health continue to take a backseat in people's minds or seem non-existent entirely. This is a persisting void and I recall viscerally what it was like to have to go through the process of navigating new identities and relationships, start careers, build companies, and grow in life and business with similar gaps of my own… alone, and without any guidance or direction. I am exceptionally passionate about changing this trend.

TLDR; whether a career, relationship, or healthy life, I learned how daunting it is to build something on your own and how difficult it is to find the kind of support that helps you get better faster. My goal is to shortcut some of that error and struggle for those going through the building process now.

Tell me about your approach. What makes you different as a coach?

Traditional coaching typically follows a Socratic style, that is, asking questions vs dispensing formal advice or “lessons”. This approach is slightly more akin to therapy where the coach is drawing realizations and learnings from within you as the client. The coach may offer reflections to things you say, but rarely “tells” you anything. This method can be frustrating at first but is extremely valuable and exceptionally effective at sparking self-awareness, creating long lasting change and self-sufficiency in a person. That is why I primarily draw on various coaching methods and schools of thought when working with my clients.

However, where most coaching may stop at that, given the breadth of my experience and background in creative practices, production, and entrepreneurship, I know I have more to give my clients and go further by offering insight and straight-forward constructive feedback as-needed. That is one of the reasons I call my approach Mentorship Coaching and not just coaching. Instead of having to hold back valuable experience and insight, I have an appropriate framework to disclose personal experience and provide constructive critique to clients when appropriate. My clients find this adds a whole new layer of richness and value to the relationship, their personal growth, and their career/company building process.

In my FAQ I cover many frequently asked questions that come up on Discovery calls and on my homepage you can find my my philosophy and approach.

Where are you based?

I live in San Francisco and work with clients both locally and remote. Most client sessions happen over the phone or video chat.

What is your favorite color??!

Blue…no, yelloooooooooooooo!

Actually, it’s green. I love plants and nature. Though I love wearing blue more than green. However, most days I’m embracing my inner Doug Funnie and Steve Jobs with a plain white T-shirt and black jeans…so there’s that! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯