Relatable, purposeful and cares so damn much.

Growing up in the Midwest, Tom was drawn to nature at a very early age.  Passionate about both marine biology and teaching, like many of us he didn’t necessarily know what his path was yet when he started school at The Ohio State University.  His adventures after graduation took him to Chicago, where he discovered that teaching didn’t just happen in classrooms, it happened in corporate america too.  

He started his career in learning & development as an editor within small boutique consulting firm Crawford & Associates where he found the work particularly energizing.  He eventually accepted a new role within the company in the Bay Area, completing over 80 projects for tech clients over 4 years while discovering he also had a particular love of working within a small business too.  

Tapping into his own entrepreneurial spirit, he left the firm in 2001 to start his first company, Insight Educational Consulting (IEC).  Together with his small and mighty team, Tom ran IEC for 8 and a half years, doing everything from developing talent management systems for tech companies to building learning programs in a variety of formats for Sales, Marketing and HR organizations.

It was during this time Tom was also approached to host a radio show about coaching, a topic he didn’t really know much about.  Over the course of his 2-year stint hosting Insight on Coaching, to his own surprise Tom discovered what he really wanted to be when he grew up was an executive coach. 

This a’ha stuck with Tom as he agreed to take on another opportunity:  going to work on “the inside”, accepting an offer to lead 4 teams within Apple’s Global Channel Sales Training org.  One of many things he enjoyed about his time at Apple was learning the role that culture plays in education, not only loving his travels in Europe and Asia but humbled by how meaningful it is when what we develop is truly designed to meet people where they’re at (literally!) 

His journey after Apple took him briefly to VMware and then to Facebook, a special place where he found himself not only thriving, but serving a group of people he’s always felt a particular kinship with:  managers.  Spending two of his six and a half years at Facebook as the company’s Head of Manager Effectiveness, the additional wisdom Tom gained from this community shines through in his work today. 

The icing on the cake? In parallel to his time at Facebook, Tom also fulfilled his dream of becoming an executive coach, graduating from The Hudson Institute in 2017.

Today you’ll find Tom both at our office in Geyserville and working with companies onsite, finding ways to help leaders, managers and other mammals flourish.