Interested in my Resume and CV? Shoot me an email, coachchip2010@gmail.com and I'll send them to you.
From Sales to Soul-Searching: A Coach’s Journey
Fresh out of UT Austin in ’86, I returned to Colorado with simple goals: fund my outdoor adventures and keep the fridge stocked with beer. Through my twenties, I bounced between jobs – from selling hiking boots to managing outdoor retail stores. Each role taught me something, though I didn’t know it at the time.
The thirties brought the usual suspects: marriage, mortgage, kids, and “real” jobs. I built a solid career in sales and marketing, working with great companies like Chaco Sandals and Colorado Yurt Company. On paper, everything looked perfect.
Then came the midlife wake-up call: “When did I decide to be a Sales and Marketing Manager?” I was good at it – building relationships, solving problems, being the go-to person everyone trusted with their challenges. But looking ahead, I saw decades of selling products without purpose. Something had to change.
With my wife Sara’s encouragement, I discovered The Coaches Training Institute and Co-Active Coaching. It clicked. Here was a way to use my natural talents for connecting with people to create meaningful change. In 2010, I founded Confluence Coaching and soon found myself bringing these skills to broader challenges – working with survivors of domestic violence, coordinating sexual assault and domestic, and leading statewide training initiatives.
Today, I lead the Delta County Collaborative Management Program, where we’ve helped over 200 families create positive change through Human Centered Coaching. I continue to coach individuals and organizations, helping them navigate what I call “The Squiggle” – that messy, non-linear path to meaningful change.
Home is Paonia, Colorado, where my wife Sara and I embrace mountain life between visits from our kids – Lene, pursuing her Masters in Speech Language Pathology, and Max, living his outdoor dreams in nearby Fruita. When I’m not coaching, you’ll find me on a river, trail, or sampling the North Fork Valley’s incredible local food and wine scene.
Want to talk about your own Squiggle? Let’s connect: coachchip2010@gmail.com
