Meet the Coach

     My name is Jeff and I am the founder of Life Coach College and The Coaching Process. I am a Master Life Coach. I love coaching.

     From the time I was 15 years old I have been interested in self-help books, tapes and seminars. Like my friend Thomas Leonard, I felt like there should be more to life. I felt like life should be a gift, not a struggle. School and work should be a part of life, not a chore.

     Shortly thereafter I met a wonderful girl named Brenda, who many years later became my wife. As I went through high school I witnessed so many kids worried sick about how they would get through school and what would they would do with the rest of their life.

     Sure we had guidance counselors, but they took a narrow view of the future. A four year state school seemed to be the answer for everyone. They never listened to the kids to find out what they really wanted and how to get there.

     Brenda went to the guidance counselors at the start of her senior year of school and asked for help in figuring out how to arrange the classes she needed to graduate. The guidance counselor asked, "are you still dating Jeff?" Brenda answered yes, the guidance counselor snapped back, why don't you ask him, I am sure if there is a way to solve your dilemma, he can figure it out.

     That was almost 23 years ago and I never realized that people could see in me a quality or trait that I did not see in myself. It took an outside person to pick up on that quality. That is a big part of a coaches job.

     While attending college and working to support myself, I met a man named Glenn W. Turner. He was a motivational speaker and marketer. He promoted his own self-help courses using live demonstrations and offering tapes to explain the "how's and whys" of his courses. This was not a book on tape, this was a explanation of why we think the way we do and why we act the way we do. Glenn was not a doctor or therapist, he was a man who had hit bottom and pulled himself up by his bootstraps.

     Unfortunately he did not take his own advice and allowed himself to use his courses to form a multilevel marketing program and ended up serving time in the federal penitentiary.

     When I graduated from college I went into business and became very successful at a young age. From that business I expanded and expanded and found myself working 7 days a week.

     I discovered a talk radio host from New York named Bruce Williams. His show had just been syndicated and was being played on WDBO in Orlando where we lived. I listened each and every night to his show. Whether I was at work, at home or in the car. His show was called talknet and he gave advice on business, finance and life. It was like an Ann Landers for finance.

     In 1984 I married my wife Brenda, which to this day was the best choice I ever made. We have been married 19 years and have wonderful twin girls. Brenda is the level headed one in the family that kept me going through good times and bad. She was my coach. She helped me research, design and test many of my WifeCoaching concepts and programs.

     In 1986 I had just taken my seat on a plane, when a man sat down next to me and introduced himself to me, his name was Dr. Tag Powell. He might not remember this conversation, but he pulled out a plastic wrapped booklet and cassette tape and gave it to me. It was entitled "Enjoy Life More". I still have it to this day. It was a self-help program he had written and produced. We talked about it during the flight and when we went to leave the plane, he turned to me and said, you sound very successful and happy in life, but your gift will be to teach others to be successful and happy, just like you. That was 17 years ago and I remember it to this day.

     As the year passed, I found myself working more and more, trying to prove something to myself or maybe looking outside of myself for something. It no longer was about money, it was about my standing in the community. It was at a time when small businesses in America were thriving and people were trying to achieve more and more.

     In 1986 my dream was fulfilled, Bruce Williams was coming to Orlando to speak and I got to meet him at a cocktail party. He was my hero. It was the most interesting day in my life. Here is this guy, with kids my age, walking around a social event in cowboy boots. He was himself, he did not need anyone's reassurance that he was successful.

     Over the next few years we stayed in touch, Brenda and I went to New York and sat in on his radio show with him. Every time Bruce came to Orlando, we would go see him. It was then that I realized that my goal in life is to be similar to Bruce and help people figure out this maze we call life.

     In the next few years, I think I earned a degree in "Bruceology". I just loved the common sense advice he gave people. How he helped people. Although he helped a lot of people, I realized that just like with Dear Abby, you get your one minute of advice but no chance to follow up. No opportunity to give them feedback. How valuable is that one minute of advice.

     I remember talking with Bruce at one of his speaking engagements and I asked him how could someone buy one hour of his time. He just laughed like only Bruce could do and said, there is only one me, I don't have enough time for myself. It was then that I realized that someone needs to train people to be interactive advice professionals. One that could be available more than say Dear Abby or Ann Landers.

     I finally realized that your goals and dreams change everyday. What I wanted one year, I did not want the next. I had a friend named Woody and every time he would build up his business, it seemed that he would pack up and move somewhere else and start over. It did not make sense to me at the time because I was thinking, how could you give up all those clients and start over not knowing if you will be successful again. But he did and each time he became successful.

     About 10 years ago I decided that I was stressed out, overworked, underpaid, and yet I was successful and owning 3 business. We took trips and bought nice things, but I still did not seem to think this was what life was all about. So I decided to see a therapist. After weeks of sessions, I found myself spending many hours thinking about my past, which I could not control or change. I did not have a traumatic past, so I was not sure what she was looking for.

     Therapy was not helpful to me, it only clouded the thoughts and feelings. We never spent time on the future, we only dwelled on the past. I never came away feeling like I was in control. Instead I was still searching for something wrong in my past.

     Then I met a man who was psychiatrist. He was retired from the US Military and was the head of the local hospital mental health program. He taught me several little lessons that changed my life. I asked him if he had such a great concept, why did he not write a book or share it with his clients. He explained that people who come to see a therapist, expect therapy. People who go to a psychiatrist, expect to receive psychiatry, especially if an insurance company is paying the bill.

     I asked him who taught "life's lessons" and he thought for a minute and said, "no one does, anymore". What he went on to explain is that these little lessons were passed down from generation to generation. The older family members would teach these lessons to the younger generations. Today families are spread out, no one sits down and spends time learning these valuable lessons from our elders. Instead kids are playing on the computer, moms and dads are on the cell phones and we lead such busy lives.

     In 1994 I got that wake up call that many of us get. I decided to sell everything and move to the mountains. With little convincing, Brenda agreed and I sold everything we owned and moved to the North Georgia Mountains. We decided to build a retreat center on top of a mountain.

     While I was building the retreat center, I had visions of incorporating my teaching into the retreat center. We opened in 1997 with great business and little time to pursue any teaching myself. We expanded and expanded and in no time I found myself working day and night.

     During the course of 6 years, we hosted hundreds of marriage retreats, corporate team building conferences and retreats. People use to ask me if I picked up on any similarities in all the retreats. The more I studied this concept, the more I could focus on the problems people faced with life, relationships and career. There was always a common thread in these retreats.

     In the fall of 2002 I was approached by a religious organization that wanted to buy the retreat center for their own use. At first I turned down the offer thinking I was too young to retire. I contacted Thomas Leonard, he was always willing to listen but seldom gave advice.

     Thomas was not one for writing back long e mails. He wrote back that he started Coach U and loved what he did, but when the opportunity came along, he sold Coach U and had the freedom to do what he wanted and be financially secure. Later on he started Coachville, a web based coaching community. His advice was simple, you had a vision, you created it, you built it and now it is time to move on.

     In January 2003 the church came back with another offer and we sold the retreat center in February 2003. This was not an easy decision to sell one dream for another, but it taught me some very valuable lessons. I want to share those lessons with my clients and the students at Life Coach College.

     In February 2003, my friend and my mentor, Thomas Leonard passed away. Thomas is considered the founder of coaching. He spent years perfecting the coaching concept. He will be greatly missed by the coaching community.

     We still live in the beautiful North Georgia Mountains. I spend my time doing what I want to do, coaching, writing and reading. We have two beautiful black lab puppies that keep me busy along with being a full time dad, husband and friend.

     If you would like to know more about my coaching practice, Life Coach College or any of the other coaching web sites I operate, Please E Mail me directly. I personally respond to each and every e mail.

 

Coaching Sites operated by Life Coach Marketing

Life Coach College
Master Life Coach
The Coaching Process
WifeCoach
Registered Coach
US LifeCoach Association
Reality Court
Life Coach News
The Radio Coach
Store of Dreams