About Me

I've been a lot of things in life, if you're looking for somthing to read quickly, this is a rough TL;DR:

My career in tech started by teaching myself how to code after college. Since then I've been an engineer focused on all aspects of the web platform and managed teams from 3 to 25 developers. I firmly belive that people should support people, and have been a leader and a coach both at work and in sports.

If you're looking for more about why you'd want to hire a coach, check out Why a coach?

My Career Path

My career journey began in the late 90's, with the role of an office manager in a four-person engineering software compmany. My entry into tech came shortly after when I tried to figure out what the '2MB of Web Space' offer accompanying my personal email account meant and how FTP worked. From there I picked up PHP and it was off to the races. I found real happiness in building tools for people and in finding graceful solution to complex problems.

As I worked, I found that I did best when I had a manager who trusted me and gave me just enough space to learn without my mistakes being too catistrophic. Eventually I became more of a platform engineer, thinking about how to empower developers and delight customers all in one shot.

Outside of work I've always been a part of sports teams. I played soccer, tennis, and swimming in high school, switched to D-1 rowing in college, and was a high level ultimate frisbee player and coach after college. I've always been a part of teams, collaborating to achive different goals in many different ways.

I stepped onto the manager's path because I was fascinated by the challenges of making teams successful. At first succeeding via that early manager energy, but then by engaging with management coaches, taking management classes online at Harvard and Columbia, and finding a network of management peers to learn from. Building long living successful processes and organizations has been some of the hardest and most rewarding work of my life.

Helping others succeed is a trait integral to my character. In all aspects of life I find immense joy in fostering success that aligns with personal values. And every success that it's fostered for the people that I've worked with confirms this value in me.

Why I coach

In 2019, through my peer manager network, I found part time work as a management coach. It's been work that lets me utilise my extensive experiences as a way to have great conversations that ensure others' success. It's the joy found in helping others grow and succeeed. My coaching methodology is strongly informed by the Gestalt and Co-Active Coaching frameworks that teach how to be a guide to help people find the solutions inside of them. That's a fancy way to say: You have great ideas within you, I want to help you find them, and not tell you stories from my life.

Over the years, I've learned that fostering success isn't just about supporting career progression. It's about promoting authentic growth, while remaining firmly rooted in personal values. My hope is that when you engage with me you're getting a coach laser focused on who you are and where you want to go. As your coach, I will stand committed to your success, providing you with the support you need to get to where you want to be.

Ethan