About Gary
From surviving to thriving — and helping others do the same.
“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”
– Nelson Mandela
I’m a coach, trainer, facilitator, and speaker, who’s spent a lifetime helping people think differently, communicate better, resolve conflict in healthier ways, and live more intentionally, not only in their personal lives, but with their interactions with others. But long before I ever called myself a coach, I was helping others navigate through change.
I grew up in a home ruled by fear, raised by two abusive and alcoholic parents who didn’t like each other. Even as a little kid, I knew something in our home wasn’t right; that there had to be a better life available to me. I just needed someone to show me how to create it. I found that better way by recruiting mentors who helped me change my perspectives and mindset. They taught me the tools to succeed.
With my new toolbox of goodies, a dogged persistence, a positive mindset, and an unstoppable determination I started slowly building a better life. Amazingly, by the tender age of ten, I was already using what I learned from my first mentor, my grandfather, to teach my parents the keys to healthier communication. In many ways, I’ve been coaching ever since.
I went on to become the first family member to go to and graduate college. To no one’s surprise, I graduated with a teaching degree; It fit well with my soul. Before starting my career, I decided to have some fun. I moved to the west coast and played a summer of professional beach volleyball. Though I quickly realized that I wasn’t good enough to make a career out of playing volleyball, the level of competition was literally “Olympic,” it was a great experience and the perfect segue between college and starting my career. So, with a trunk full of fond memories, I walked away from the beach and hit the pavement.
Over the next decade, I leveraged my communication and teaching skills to build a successful business career. I advanced quickly and held leadership positions at Northwest Airlines, AT&T, and Nestlé.
I was grateful for the opportunities, but troubled by the dysfunction I witnessed — office politics, poor leadership, cronyism, and toxic cultures that drove away talented people. I couldn’t change those systems, but I vowed that someday I would teach leaders and organizations how to be better.
A person’s journey through life is an unpredictable one. The flow from the highest peaks to the deepest valleys can happen in an instant. Sick of the corporate grind and yearning for something new, I decided it was time to chase my lifelong dream: playing professional golf. I quit my job and began training for the tour. I didn’t realize my decision had opened the door for the universe to test my resolve.
While riding my bicycle for stamina work, I was struck by a car running a red light. The force of the impact was so severe that it launched me off my bike into oncoming traffic.
A little over a year later, my friend Serendipity showed up to help me. Lost and desperate for answers, I randomly met a woman at a coffee shop. After spending a beautiful day together, she realized I was a nice, but very lost man, who was in dire need of some help. She suggested that I attend a leadership seminar that was coming up. It had helped turn her life around, and hopefully it would do the same for me. As I’ve seen throughout my lifetime, when Serendipity shows up, it’s never random, and I’d better pay attention and take action.
The seminar opened the door to my healing. I learned that the depth and breadth of my decade-long spiral was directly related to how ineffective I was at resolving the conflicts and challenges that appeared in my life. If I could learn to resolve conflicts in healthier ways, not only would I recover from my upsets more quickly, but I could also learn valuable lessons that could actually improve my life. As my grandfather used to say, 'Challenges are opportunities in disguise!'
With my expanded toolbox in hand, I made a quick pivot, got healthy, and then dedicated my life to helping others navigate their way through life’s inevitable conflicts. I started my coaching company soon afterwards, and I have been helping others ever since. I truly believe anybody can change or improve their life if they are willing to learn how to resolve their conflicts in healthier ways. We can’t change our mental programming without a trigger to initiate the change. Conflict is the perfect trigger. I’ve come to understand that conflict is one of life’s greatest gifts because it can provide us with the opportunity to improve.
I bring my decades of real-world and business experience and insight to my work with leaders — from plumbing and HVAC companies to general contractors, manufacturers, law firms, tradesmen, and service providers. I also coach individuals seeking to improve their leadership skills and personal growth. I deliver most of my business and personal coaching through my Catalyst Groups.
My sessions are designed to be innovative discovery and think tanks. I combine structure with open communication and trust, offering a purposeful challenge when the timing is right, some measured conflict, and then stir in my proven frameworks. I lead people to discover paradigm shifts, encourage growth, and add accountability; almost magically, innovation and transformation follow.
Along the way, I’ve earned multiple certifications (MBA in Organizational Change and HR, plus coaching credentials with John Maxwell, Franklin Covey, Leadership Coach Academy, ICF, NLP, and more). But my greatest credential is life itself. My book, Transform Your Legacy, tells more of the story — the mentors, the setbacks, the lessons, and my deep belief that we are all capable of more than we imagine
Helping others is what drives me. I get energized by the look on someone’s face when things finally click, or the freedom in a client’s posture when they let go of something heavy. The most gratifying messages are those that are more personal. “You helped save my marriage,” or “Our company will forever be grateful,” or “I never thought my life could be this good, thank you.” All fuels my passion to continue on my purpose of helping others live more joyous, successful, and fulfilling lives.
That’s why I do this work. It’s my purpose.
The injuries I sustained that day ended my chances of ever competing on the tour. My journey to the PGA had ended before it really started. I regrouped using my business and golf background to transition into golf course management.
That accident marked the beginning of my season of doom. Next, and in close succession, I lost my father and three of my closest mentors. All had been crucial in my development into a man; they were the hands that formed my clay. The losses were hard to fathom, and my inner struggles grew deeper.
During that time, I was in a marriage that nearly broke me. Looking back, I can see that I had a “white knight” tendency — drawn to rescue women in distress, even when the relationship had no real chance of working. A counselor once told me this urge was my unconscious attempt to repair the relationship I had with my mother. Whatever the cause, I was stuck in a marriage with someone so difficult and controlling that I could never save her.
My marriage had two distinct and repeating stages: work, which was rewarding and energizing, and home, which was exhausting and chaotic. I tried endlessly to fix things, convinced that if I worked hard enough, we would eventually find peace. But after seven years of constant conflict, criticism, and turmoil, I was completely drained. By the time it ended, I was left with depression, anxiety, financial strain, and the kind of scars you carry long after the paperwork is signed. If there’s such a thing as relationship PTSD, I had it. That chapter of my life left me worn down to the core — but also determined never again to ignore the cost of unhealthy relationships.
The final blow came when one of my closest friends died when American Airlines Flight 11 slammed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. That horrific act of violence was the last straw. I fell into the deepest and darkest spiral I had ever experienced, and I couldn’t find my way out.
