Don’s Bio

My own path to this work started close to home, both as a parent, and long before that, as a struggling teenager myself. I spent much of my adolescence feeling like an outsider, searching for community and solid ground, and eventually numbing that disconnection rather than looking for real solutions. It took hitting some dangerously low points before I found my way forward towards healthy choices . Those experiences shape how I show up for families now.

As a parent of a teenager and young adult, I’ve also lived through the disconnection, worry, and hard conversations that come with raising kids through difficult chapters. I know how incredibly frustrating it can feel when you’re not sure what your child needs, when every choice seems incredibly hard, and you don’t know how to move forward.

Over the past 20 years, I’ve worked across nearly every part of the young adult support world as an experiential educator, a wilderness and adventure guide, a residential mentor, and director of an aftercare and independent living program for young adults. Most recently, I’ve supported families as an admission specialist, helping families figure out the next right step to support their loved one.

That range of experience has taught me that lasting change rarely happens in isolation. It happens when parents get support too. My coaching focuses on helping families nurture healthier relationships with their loved ones, establish clear communication, and move toward the accountability and independence everyone in the family is really after.

I’m a certified BALM Recovery Coach and an ICF-trained coach, and I believe growth is a lifelong process, for parents just as much as for the young people they love. In order to grow, something must change. I’m here to support families through that process.