Hi, I’m David.
I’ll be real, a website isn’t the best way to get to know me… I’d prefer you get to know me in person, on the phone, over tea, or someplace in wild nature, or better yet, in the kitchen. You’ll get a better feel for who I am in a conversation about your life and mine. But since we’re here…
I’m a feeler, a thinker, an artist, a dad, a leader, a student, an explorer, a risk taker, an activist, an inquisitor, a non-conformist, a surfer, a lover of life and the big questions, most of all… “How do we make the most of our short time on this planet?” As a sensitive and inquisitive person growing up, there were very few safe havens in this culture of domination and competition, and so I suffered to find my community, my purpose, my voice, my strength, and my identity as a man. It was learning through mentors and coaches that brought me here.
My passion for teaching & coaching came from my own journey of self-actualization and reinvention. Iron John Coaching is a project I’ve developed to pass on what I’ve learned from my trials and training so I might be of service to others who are in pursuit of the big questions too, who know there’s something more to make of their life, but they’re just not sure how to get to it. My practice is the result of a life’s-work and it is deeply personal to me. Serving others as a guide through life change is what I live and love to do.
I’m always a student as well as a teacher. Life-long learning through community education is one way I actualize my passions and my offering to clients. Over the past 25 years, I have worked with non-profits and social enterprises teaching and learning with Youth and Adults from all over the world with the aim of creating better functioning communities centered on social justice, compassionate understanding, and empowering human connection.
I’ve balanced my career path with work as a professional artist. I use the kitchen, the farm, the stage, the written word, and the forest as my classroom for youth and adults to create multidisciplinary learning experiences. In these alternative and vocational settings, I find that lessons take on a new practical significance as students’ understanding crystalizes.
My belief in transformation and human potential stems from the support I still receive from many coaches, therapists, mentors, and teachers along my path. I still work with my own set of teachers coaches and guides.
I look forward to meeting you…
David
Education | Training | Certifications
I received my Bachelor of Science in Human Development and Family Systems from the University of Vermont where I focused on poverty and homelessness issues and how real scarcity affects mental health. I worked in Community Mental Health services for a decade before following pathways more aligned with my authentic self. Building on my passion for environmental sustainability, I gained my Permaculture Design Certification from the Urban Permaculture Institute in San Francisco, and subsequently my teaching certification from the Permaculture Institute of Australia where I studied with Geoff & Nadia Lawton and served as a teacher’s assistant in Australia in 2010. Inspired to return to working in people systems from my work in Australia I again began my work in community skills education working on farms, in city government offices, non-profits and now in private practice.
I hold certifications in Cooperative Communication, Life Coaching, Mediation, and Body Work through the Folkloom School as a student of Nancy Shanteau. I hold additional certifications through trainings in Internal Family Systems, Positive Intelligence, and Psychedelic Integration. I participate in regular ongoing professional trainings with a variety of organizations and personal mentors to enhance my skills offerings.
Over the past 20 years, I have worked with non-profits and social enterprises teaching and learning with Youth and Adults from all over the world with the aim of creating better functioning communities centered on justice, understanding, and human connection. During the COVID19 pandemic, I acted as a volunteer facilitator with MENtors Driving Change, a non-profit focused on emotional literacy education for men and boys.
I’ve also balanced my career learning with work as a professional artist. I have often used the kitchen, the farm, the stage, the written word, and the forest as my classroom for youth and adults to create multidisciplinary learning experiences. In these alternative and vocational settings, I find that lessons take on a new practical significance as student’s understanding crystalizes.
Life-long learning through community education is one way I actualize my passions and my offering to clients. I’m always a student as well as a teacher. I’m also a graduate student focused on the use of psychedelics in conflict resolution and collective healing.
My passion for teaching & coaching comes from my own journey of self-actualization and reinvention. My belief in transformation and human potential stems from the support I still receive from many coaches, therapists, mentors, and teachers along my path.