At 19, I knew I had to go west. So in 1976, I dropped out of college, got in my car, and drove from Western Pennsylvania to Colorado to become a ski bum. I spent that first winter in a mining shack above Telluride. When the snow melted, I backpacked throughout the American West, eventually emerging on the coast of Washington State, where a fisherman picked me up to be his crew.

After commercial fishing in Washington and Alaska, I started and operated a ski and outdoor shop and a cross-country ski area. In 1982, I also began teaching skiing. Teaching group and private lessons soon expanded to include training other instructors across the US and Europe, directing a ski and snowboard school near Seattle, guiding sea kayaking and biking trips, and leading a community nonprofit focused on life-skills training in Bellingham, WA.

The two threads tying all this together are my commitment to following my heart and my passion for helping others connect with who they are and what they want.

I shifted from guiding clients through outdoor adventures to guiding them through the uncertainties of transition, reinvention, and personal transformation so I could continue sharing the joy and wonder of being alive when I wasn’t teaching skiing or guiding in the outdoors.

Now based in Geneva, Switzerland, I work with individuals and organizations worldwide, including the World Trade Organization (WTO), to provide coaching on retirement and life transitions, which are often the most disorienting yet also the most profound phases of life.

To hear more about my experience as a ski instructor, trainer, and ski school director and how it shaped my work as a coach, check out these episodes of The Ski Instructor Podcast, where I reflect on my skiing journey through life, including my experiences as an American in Switzerland.