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In 2026, I will celebrate a decade as a Professional Life Coach.

I've sat across from CEOs and new mothers, artists and executives, twenty-somethings in crisis and seventy-somethings in reinvention. I've done my best to help each of them build more successful lives.

But the truth is, each one has helped me more than they'll ever know.

As we close this year, I’d like to thank as many of you as I can who trusted me so profoundly and, in the process, helped me transform my own life.

I’ve changed the names, but as they say in the luxury space—IYKYK.

Astrid, you believed in me as a Coach when I didn't yet believe in myself. Not fully.

You trusted me to advise you—and your most precious gift—your child. From you, I grew in confidence, compassion, and commitment. I learned how to coach more than one family member without compromising any individual’s confidence.

I watched you develop genuine ease and accept yourself with gratitude and wholeheartedly.

Thank you, Astrid.

Calla, you started as an apprentice and became my teacher.

You taught me what it looks like to walk through the world vulnerable, powerful, and feminine all at the same time. You showed up timid and, in no time, were roaring like the lioness I always knew you were.

You taught me to be bolder and more courageous.

Thank you, Calla.

Dee, you are a queen who had forgotten it.

Our work together was a PR job—you just needed Permission and Reminders. Watching you step into your power as a mother and Professional Coach was breathtakingly beautiful.

You taught me that our past can shape us, but never hold us back from the future shape we choose for ourselves.

Thank you, Dee.

Patricia, you belong to another reality, but have had to make this one work for you.

Your kind heart and deep empathy for others are your greatest strengths—and I had the difficult assignment of helping you use them appropriately. You are a giver who didn’t know how or where to draw boundaries. You were exhausted by your own generosity of soul.

Your most outstanding traits were also destroying your health and relationships. We had some work to do, and you showed up session after session, month after month, and gave it your all.

Thank you, Patricia.

David, you are older and wiser than I am, and I often feel like you are the actual Coach and I should be paying you—since it’s clear I’m the one benefiting most from our relationship.

Still, it didn’t start out that way, and I’ve seen you transform every part of your life. You have become the most committed husband, partner, father, and friend anyone could ask for.

You have taught me that there is literally no end to personal growth. And even when the body aches, the mind can still grow and expand.

Thank you, David.

Elton, you raised the bar for every other young adult I work with.

You came to me with questions and quickly realized you already had the answers inside you. You took those answers and turned them into committed actions, practiced daily, and created the adult identity you aspired to.

You were a leader in hiding, and I watched you claim that role with humility and heart. You confirmed my firm belief that we don’t have to sacrifice who we are to feel—and be—successful by worldly standards.

Thank you, Elton.

Peter, working with you was the adventure of a lifetime. You challenged me non-stop.

Your rapid growth required me to keep pace with you, and in the process, you made me into a more capable coach. You challenged, disapproved, questioned, and generally made me work hard to make a case for almost everything!

I grew to love you like my own son. Your success in every arena of your life felt like my own. You taught me the value of critical thinking so deeply that I went back to school because of you.

Thank you, Peter.

Ilaria, you were hiding from me and those around you when we first met. But I saw you. The real you.

The extraordinary and powerful businesswoman, wife, mother, and daughter, I knew you were ready to inhabit—fully and unapologetically. Old habits die hard, but you kept showing up and making sure they don’t resurrect.

It’s been the privilege of a lifetime to see you own your role as the future matriarch in a legendary family.

Thank you, Ilaria.

Raven, you are the most colorful bird—and you hired me to make you like all the other birds. Can you see the challenge?

Why would I want to turn a peacock into a chicken? You are one of the most creative and otherworldly creatures I’ve ever met, and my challenge is to preserve your incredible uniqueness while teaching you skills to navigate everyday life as the extraordinary creator that you are.

Like my client Dee, my work with you is often about PR—Permission and Reminders. But it goes both ways. Working with you reminds me of the power of deep feminine presence.

Thank you, Raven.

Joe, you are so brilliant that it was hard for me to stay focused on coaching you around how you get in your own way. Your genius knows no bounds—and that was not a good thing.

Working with you, I learned how to interrupt when good things—intelligence, generosity, compassion—are so abundant in one person that they overflow to their detriment.

“How could someone so brilliant, kind, and giving not be more successful and at ease in his life?” I would ask myself. I know we will keep looking for the answer, but with someone like you, the goalposts keep moving as soon as they’re reached.

So I’ll let you define success.

Thank you, Joe.

Gavin, you came to me in pieces, and you left a prince.

Your parents knew me when I was not much older than you were when we started working together, and knowing they had seen me grow over the decades meant a great deal to me. Most of my clients become like family to me, but because of my connection with your parents, you started like one.

I probably cut you more slack than other young adults I coach, but I knew I had to be patient until you could see in yourself what I saw in you—a man with a huge heart, brilliant mind, and deep curiosity.

You will always be family.

Thank you, Gavin.

Lana, you have trusted me through two distinct transitions in your life, and with each, you’ve taught me to be a little bolder, more thoughtful, and more gracious.

I’ve seen you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and, over time, quietly lighten that load without letting anyone down. The life you have created as a wife, mother, daughter, artist, philanthropist, and leader is a testament to your resilience, grit, and love of humanity.

Thank you, Lana.

Leah, we’ve been on a six-year journey of growth. You don’t quite see your full brilliance yet, but I do—and always have.

We are closing the gap between who you already are and who you believe you should be. When that happens, you’ll look at me and say, “Nothing has changed, but everything is different!”

You are perfect just as you are, and I’ll stick around until it’s as clear to you as it is to me.

Thank you, Leah.

Friends, these are just thirteen of you. There have been so many more—enough to fill a book.

So here’s my invitation: if you don’t recognize yourself in the stories above, reach out, and I’ll share your unique story with you.

Until then, thank you—all of you—for a decade I never could have imagined.

Here’s to the next one.

Journal