Guiding ambitious professionals through inflection points

A trusted partner for endings, the in-between, and what’s next

I’ve supported leaders from

I’ve supported leaders from

You’ve reached the point where something needs to shift

You can sense that something in your life isn’t working anymore, but you can’t clearly articulate it.

Or you’re in the messy middle: disoriented, lost, asking deeper questions about identity, purpose, or legacy.

Or you’re stepping into a bigger role or a bold new idea, but you’re carrying the weight of what the situation asks of you.

This is where our work begins.

My philosophy

Transition is a natural part of life, especially in the midlife passage. To move through change is to be alive.

I see this work as a deep partnership where we grow and learn together. We may begin by exploring a career change, exhaustion, or your relationship to success, but what unfolds is a deeper look at how we show up in moments of upheaval, uncertainty, and possibility.

I believe change begins by being honest about where we are, without judgment or urgency. When we stop trying to outrun what’s uncomfortable and start tuning in, a deeper knowing begins to emerge. From that place, more becomes possible.

Midlife is an opening. You’ve lived long enough to know your gifts, patterns, values, and beliefs. Now the question becomes: what wants to change? What’s asking to be reimagined or released? This season is an opportunity to begin again, with greater clarity and intention.

This work doesn’t ask you to let go of your ambition, your edge, or your vision. Instead, it creates space to feel, to listen, and to access what you already know.

Transition is rarely clean or easy. But when we approach it with presence and honesty, it becomes a threshold that can reconnect us to meaning, wholeness, and a more aligned way of living. 

That’s why having a trusted partner on the path can offer the guidance, perspective, and support needed to move forward.

My approach

My approach blends elements of executive, life, and career coaching, weaving in mindfulness and embodiment. 

I’ve been training in this work for over a decade, including Conscious Leadership, Hakomi Mindful Somatic Psychotherapy, Internal Family Systems, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Soulcraft, the Enneagram, and Presence-Based Coaching. Each serves a different purpose depending on what's emerging.

Every coaching relationship is unique. The direction we take depends on your timing, questions, and intentions. Maybe we’re planning your sabbatical, examining the success scripts running your life, exploring new paths, or redefining your relationship to technology. Sometimes we follow a clear plan, other times we let the process unfold naturally.

Throughout the process, I offer tools, readings, practices, and prompts to deepen your insight and clarity. These might include values clarification, energy and calendar audits, future self visualizations, or somatic awareness practices.

To support this process, here are a few of the core methods I rely on:

Understanding Change

We explore not just what’s changing, but how change actually works. Using frameworks, we help you locate yourself in the arc of transformation and move through it with more clarity and trust.

Understanding Change

We explore not just what’s changing, but how change actually works. Using frameworks, we help you locate yourself in the arc of transformation and move through it with more clarity and trust.

Intentional Deceleration

We start by shifting out of habitual thinking and into mindful awareness. This creates space for deeper truths to surface.

Intentional Deceleration

We start by shifting out of habitual thinking and into mindful awareness. This creates space for deeper truths to surface.

Turning Toward Resistance

We explore the old narratives, protective parts, or inner conflicts that keep you stuck. Instead of pushing through, we bring curiosity and care to what’s holding on.

Turning Toward Resistance

We explore the old narratives, protective parts, or inner conflicts that keep you stuck. Instead of pushing through, we bring curiosity and care to what’s holding on.

Learning Through the Body

This work is experiential and rooted in real-time awareness. We track sensation, emotion, and impulse, letting the body lead and trusting it reveals what the mind can’t yet articulate.

Learning Through the Body

This work is experiential and rooted in real-time awareness. We track sensation, emotion, and impulse, letting the body lead and trusting it reveals what the mind can’t yet articulate.

Clarifying What Matters

Beneath burnout and misalignment, there’s often a desire for something more meaningful. We listen for your values, longings, gifts, and inner knowing, then let that guide what comes next.

Clarifying What Matters

Beneath burnout and misalignment, there’s often a desire for something more meaningful. We listen for your values, longings, gifts, and inner knowing, then let that guide what comes next.

Meaningful Experiments

This work is something you live into. Together, we design small, intentional experiments in your daily life to explore what’s emerging and learn by doing.

Meaningful Experiments

This work is something you live into. Together, we design small, intentional experiments in your daily life to explore what’s emerging and learn by doing.

Whether we work together a few months or a year, I’m here to help you reconnect with what matters, realign your life, and move forward with greater clarity and purpose.

From those I’ve worked with

Here are reflections from those who’ve experienced it firsthand.

“I worked with Steve when I was working my way through a difficult and sensitive professional transition. Steve helped me pull out my inner feelings and get clarity, define a clear end goal, work backwards to make a gameplan, and do so in a way that was considerate and respectful to all stakeholders involved. I am now on the other side, in a place where there is far more harmony between my work and my life, and I am grateful to Steve for helping me get there.”

Jason Jacobs

Founder & Venture Partner at MCJ

“I worked with Steve when I was working my way through a difficult and sensitive professional transition. Steve helped me pull out my inner feelings and get clarity, define a clear end goal, work backwards to make a gameplan, and do so in a way that was considerate and respectful to all stakeholders involved. I am now on the other side, in a place where there is far more harmony between my work and my life, and I am grateful to Steve for helping me get there.”

Jason Jacobs

Founder & Venture Partner at MCJ

“I worked with Steve when I was working my way through a difficult and sensitive professional transition. Steve helped me pull out my inner feelings and get clarity, define a clear end goal, work backwards to make a gameplan, and do so in a way that was considerate and respectful to all stakeholders involved. I am now on the other side, in a place where there is far more harmony between my work and my life, and I am grateful to Steve for helping me get there.”

Jason Jacobs

Founder & Venture Partner at MCJ

Frequently asked questions

Who do you work with?

My ideal clients are founders, executives, investors, creators, and mid-career professionals who are ambitious but know something needs to shift or want to redefine their relationship with work. 

They’re not looking for quick fixes and following someone else’s playbook. They are called to go deeper and unearth what’s actually driving them. They’re open to contemplative practices like meditation and journaling, and they’re genuinely committed to doing the work between our sessions, not just showing up and hoping something changes. 

This is for people ready to tune into what’s really happening inside and sit inside the biggest questions.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What actually happens in our sessions?

I move fluidly between coach, mentor, and advisor depending on what you need, blending inner work with strategic thinking. We typically start with mindfulness and a check-in, then go deep on one or two topics before taking time to integrate what came up.

During our work, I’ll offer prompts, exercises, and explorations that fit what we’re uncovering together. I can reference different tools, frameworks, and practices in real time and bring them into whatever we’re exploring based on your specific agenda and what’s most relevant for you.

Some sessions bring sharp clarity and actionable next steps. Others unfold slowly until something breaks through—a memory, a truth, an action, or insight that’s been waiting just beneath the surface. We don’t force breakthroughs. We create conditions for insight to emerge naturally.

How long does a coaching engagement last?

There’s no fixed timeline for transition or transformation. I ask for an energetic commitment of at least 3 to 6 months, but the relationship unfolds organically, shaped by what your intentions are and what’s emerging in your life.

Some clients work with me for three months and others for a year or more. We check in regularly and adjust as needed. What matters most is that the work continues to serve your evolution.

No coaching relationship should last forever. Our work is meant to reconnect you with your own clarity, power, and pace. There’s a natural endpoint when you no longer need this kind of support.

How often do we meet?

Most clients meet with me twice a month for 60 minutes. That rhythm tends to offer a good balance of spaciousness and momentum, but we’ll adjust based on what best supports you and the season you’re in.

Between sessions, I’m available for ongoing support, whether it’s reflection, spot coaching, or navigating something time-sensitive. You can reach me by text, voice memo, or email, whenever something meaningful arises.

What happens between sessions?

This is a living relationship, not a transaction. Consider me on your personal board of directors. 

After each session, I send detailed notes with personalized insights, reflections, and invitations for practice or contemplation. I may also share books, frameworks, or offer feedback on decisions or materials.

You’re welcome to reach out between sessions. I typically respond within 24 hours, often sooner.

The work continues between the calls in the everyday moments, the small choices, big decisions, and in how you meet what’s unfolding in your life.

How much time do I have to invest in coaching?

Our sessions are just one thread of the work.

Most clients spend a few hours each week in integration. That might mean journaling, walking without a phone, meditating, or simply reflecting on what’s unfolding. Some experiment with new ways of being. Others slow down to feel more deeply into what’s true.

The clients who get the most out of this work tend to create space around the sessions to digest insights, notice patterns, and tend to their inner landscape.

This work is about listening more closely, living more consciously, and letting the work shape your rhythm rather than your to-do list.

While nothing is required, I often share personalized practices, experiments, or prompts to support your process. These aren’t assignments. They’re invitations.

How long does it take to get results?

Some clients feel a shift in the first session. Others notice deeper change after a few months of steady inner work.

This isn’t linear work. It unfolds in layers, through awareness, insight, choice, and integration.

We track progress not just by outcomes, but by what shifts in your inner and outer life: how you make decisions, relate to others, trust yourself, or meet moments of uncertainty.

The real results often arrive through a felt sense of clarity, presence, and alignment with what’s most true.

How does your 1:1 coaching differ from the Downshift program?

Individual coaching is intimate, flexible, and personalized. It moves at your pace and centers your lived experience. We co-create the path based on what’s emerging, attuned to your season, your system, and your story.

The Downshift program is a cohort-based container built around a shared arc. It combines teaching, peer connection, guided practices, and structured reflection to support a specific transition.

Both are designed to support meaningful change. Some coaching clients have participated in the program. Others begin with one. We can explore what best serves where you are now.

Do you follow a specific coaching system?

There’s no fixed playbook. I draw from modalities like Internal Family Systems (IFS), Hakomi, Conscious Leadership, mindfulness, and more. The method always follows the moment, guided by what’s emerging in you, rather than a predetermined path.

While I weave in themes and practices from the Downshift program, like parts work, values clarification, somatic awareness, and conscious deceleration. Our work is not tied to method or structure. The coaching is attuned to your timing, willingness, needs, and season of life.

I focus on meeting you with presence and precision, and allowing the right work to emerge from the inside out.

What are your rates?

I work on a monthly retainer rather than a per-session fee.

Rates range from $1,500 to $4,000 per month, with most clients paying around $2,500. I use a sliding scale based on financial situation, not perceived value. My approach is to work with you to find a number that feels like a meaningful investment in your future without creating financial strain.

There’s no large upfront payment or long-term contract. We begin month to month and go from there.

Who do you work with?

My ideal clients are founders, executives, investors, creators, and mid-career professionals who are ambitious but know something needs to shift or want to redefine their relationship with work. 

They’re not looking for quick fixes and following someone else’s playbook. They are called to go deeper and unearth what’s actually driving them. They’re open to contemplative practices like meditation and journaling, and they’re genuinely committed to doing the work between our sessions, not just showing up and hoping something changes. 

This is for people ready to tune into what’s really happening inside and sit inside the biggest questions.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

What actually happens in our sessions?

I move fluidly between coach, mentor, and advisor depending on what you need, blending inner work with strategic thinking. We typically start with mindfulness and a check-in, then go deep on one or two topics before taking time to integrate what came up.

During our work, I’ll offer prompts, exercises, and explorations that fit what we’re uncovering together. I can reference different tools, frameworks, and practices in real time and bring them into whatever we’re exploring based on your specific agenda and what’s most relevant for you.

Some sessions bring sharp clarity and actionable next steps. Others unfold slowly until something breaks through—a memory, a truth, an action, or insight that’s been waiting just beneath the surface. We don’t force breakthroughs. We create conditions for insight to emerge naturally.

How long does a coaching engagement last?

There’s no fixed timeline for transition or transformation. I ask for an energetic commitment of at least 3 to 6 months, but the relationship unfolds organically, shaped by what your intentions are and what’s emerging in your life.

Some clients work with me for three months and others for a year or more. We check in regularly and adjust as needed. What matters most is that the work continues to serve your evolution.

No coaching relationship should last forever. Our work is meant to reconnect you with your own clarity, power, and pace. There’s a natural endpoint when you no longer need this kind of support.

How often do we meet?

Most clients meet with me twice a month for 60 minutes. That rhythm tends to offer a good balance of spaciousness and momentum, but we’ll adjust based on what best supports you and the season you’re in.

Between sessions, I’m available for ongoing support, whether it’s reflection, spot coaching, or navigating something time-sensitive. You can reach me by text, voice memo, or email, whenever something meaningful arises.

What happens between sessions?

This is a living relationship, not a transaction. Consider me on your personal board of directors. 

After each session, I send detailed notes with personalized insights, reflections, and invitations for practice or contemplation. I may also share books, frameworks, or offer feedback on decisions or materials.

You’re welcome to reach out between sessions. I typically respond within 24 hours, often sooner.

The work continues between the calls in the everyday moments, the small choices, big decisions, and in how you meet what’s unfolding in your life.

How much time do I have to invest in coaching?

Our sessions are just one thread of the work.

Most clients spend a few hours each week in integration. That might mean journaling, walking without a phone, meditating, or simply reflecting on what’s unfolding. Some experiment with new ways of being. Others slow down to feel more deeply into what’s true.

The clients who get the most out of this work tend to create space around the sessions to digest insights, notice patterns, and tend to their inner landscape.

This work is about listening more closely, living more consciously, and letting the work shape your rhythm rather than your to-do list.

While nothing is required, I often share personalized practices, experiments, or prompts to support your process. These aren’t assignments. They’re invitations.

How long does it take to get results?

Some clients feel a shift in the first session. Others notice deeper change after a few months of steady inner work.

This isn’t linear work. It unfolds in layers, through awareness, insight, choice, and integration.

We track progress not just by outcomes, but by what shifts in your inner and outer life: how you make decisions, relate to others, trust yourself, or meet moments of uncertainty.

The real results often arrive through a felt sense of clarity, presence, and alignment with what’s most true.

How does your 1:1 coaching differ from the Downshift program?

Individual coaching is intimate, flexible, and personalized. It moves at your pace and centers your lived experience. We co-create the path based on what’s emerging, attuned to your season, your system, and your story.

The Downshift program is a cohort-based container built around a shared arc. It combines teaching, peer connection, guided practices, and structured reflection to support a specific transition.

Both are designed to support meaningful change. Some coaching clients have participated in the program. Others begin with one. We can explore what best serves where you are now.

Do you follow a specific coaching system?

There’s no fixed playbook. I draw from modalities like Internal Family Systems (IFS), Hakomi, Conscious Leadership, mindfulness, and more. The method always follows the moment, guided by what’s emerging in you, rather than a predetermined path.

While I weave in themes and practices from the Downshift program, like parts work, values clarification, somatic awareness, and conscious deceleration. Our work is not tied to method or structure. The coaching is attuned to your timing, willingness, needs, and season of life.

I focus on meeting you with presence and precision, and allowing the right work to emerge from the inside out.

What are your rates?

I work on a monthly retainer rather than a per-session fee.

Rates range from $1,500 to $4,000 per month, with most clients paying around $2,500. I use a sliding scale based on financial situation, not perceived value. My approach is to work with you to find a number that feels like a meaningful investment in your future without creating financial strain.

There’s no large upfront payment or long-term contract. We begin month to month and go from there.

Made with

in New York

Copyright © 2025 Genuine Leaders, LLC. All rights reserved.

Made with

in New York

Copyright © 2025 Genuine Leaders, LLC. All rights reserved.

Made with

in New York

Copyright © 2025 Genuine Leaders, LLC. All rights reserved.