My work lives at the intersection of craft and consequence, whether we’re talking about your relationship to yourself, to others, or to your creative work. I help close the gap between what you mean and what you actually live and create.
For more than thirty years, I’ve worked at the crossroads of meaning and expression. I help individuals and authors clarify who they are, what they stand for, and how to best offer that truth into the world—through self-knowing, books, relationships, brands, businesses, and bold decisions.
The work is simple to describe, but hard to do: we close the gap between insight and expression, and the behavior needed to create it.
Clients come to me when they’re ready to level up not just in what they’re making, but in how they’re living. I specialize in the hard transitions: identity shifts, career reinventions, creative rebirths, relationship redefinitions, and the sacred mess of becoming something new.
I’ve worked with bestselling authors, startup founders, global executives, Fortune 500 companies, Buddhist teachers, and artists across disciplines. Together, we write books worth reading and build lives worth living.
I am a recognized sifu (師傅) and lineage holder in Northern Kung Fu, an ordained Zen priest, the award-winning author of 5 books, and have been participating in and leading men’s work for two decades.
Bi-monthly, I host Integral Edge, through Integral Life, where we make sense of the metacrisis era. The goal is to cut through polarization and trend-noise by integrating neuroscience, psychology, technology, and contemplative wisdom into what actually matters, and how to live it.
TRAININGS
Ordained Zen Priest who teaches Mondo Zen and Integral Zen under lineage of Junpo Denis Kelly Roshi and Doshin M.J. Nelson Roshi.
Certified Practitioner — Polarity Partnerships: using the Polarity Map®, principles, the Polarity Assessment™, and the 5-Step S.M.A.L.L.™ process.
Authorized Zen Sensei: this signifies a deep understanding and embodiment of Zen principles as well as proficiency in guiding and instructing others. (The title sensei is not granted lightly in Zen.)
Authorized Northern Kung Fu & Qi Gong Teacher: I was given the title of sifu (師傅) and made the lineage holder in 2014 under Da SiFu Master Jong Hoon Jeon in the White Tiger Academy lineage. Additional and ongoing trainings in western boxing, grappling, Muay Thai, Krav Maga, Jingua Hard Qi Gong, Iron Body, Tai Chi, and more.
Certified Mondo Zen Facilitator: helped to co-write a book on Mondo Zen and contributed extensively to the creation of this modern Zen koan process, created by Junpo Denis Kelly Roshi and continued by Mondo Zen.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Award-Winning Author: 5 books, 2 fiction and 3 non-fiction. A Heart Blown Open won the Nautilus Award for Silver and was a finalist the Foreword Book-of-the-Year Awards
Men’s Work: Lead twice-yearly retreats for men looking to up their game; have been in the same men’s group, with the same men, for nearly 20 years.
Integral Theory Expert: comprehensive knowledge of the work of Ken Wilber, Robert Kegan, Terri O’Fallon, and others, and application in day-to-day life. I worked for and with Ken Wilber from 2006-2009 and he has endorsed 4 of my 5 books.
Jin Gui “Golden Shield” Qi Gong: 15+ years training of this “iron style” of hard Qi Gong.
Somatic-Based Meditation: trained in and worked with Reggie Ray (co-founder of Naropa University and head of Dharma Ocean) and helped extend his community into the digital world.
Award-Winning Copywriter: I was selected as one of JD Supra’s “Top 1o Authors” in their Reader Choice Awards (out of 34,000 other writers)
