A Personal Update: I've Made a Significant Career Change
For years, I thought I could change the world — all by myself.
There is a small grain of truth to that belief, but it is otherwise unskilful. For an individual, a corporation, or an organization to create lasting change — to solve the world’s significant challenges and impact the common good — we need to first evolve to become the change we wish to see in the world and allow others to be inspired to follow our lead or to support other leaders whose mission we believe in.
This path is the commitment to self-mastery, social evolution, and global transformation. It requires the highest degree of personal and organizational responsibility to the common good, engendering trust and leading by supporting others.
Recently, I made a significant change in my life.
This was not quite a new direction, but a new path that's completely in alignment with what I stand for, my skills, my interests, and what brings meaning to my life. I came to a point in my career where I needed greater financial stability. So I started looking into impact-driven community organizations that are making a meaningful difference — preferably for LGBTQ+ individuals.
But first, let me share with you how I got to this point.
I started my coaching career in fitness and nutrition before pivoting into leadership coaching. I have been a student of personal development for over 25 years (attending the late Jim Rohn’s Leadership weekend training, and Anthony Robbins, Unleash the Power Within weekend).
What inspires me about coaching is helping people to see their gifts and the impact they can have — often more than what they believe they are capable of accomplishing.
In my work as a coach and in the messages I have been sharing in my articles and on my podcast, I have been exploring ways for LGBTQ+ creatives and change-makers to become more efficient at doing what they love to do, to have a bigger impact as leaders, and enjoy greater well-being in the process.
This is rewarding work at the individual level, but I still long for being part of something bigger than myself, especially in the area of social impact for equitable human rights, and freedom from all forms of prejudice. The question has long been, ‘How?’.
Looking back over my historical employment responsibilities, I see a pattern of supporting others.
My role has always been about helping individuals, communities, or organizations succeed at making an impact.
In my role as Audiotext Director at Pink Triangle Press — “Daring together to set love free” — my core responsibility was increasing income and profitability via our adult telephone dating service to fund three print publications in Toronto, Ottawa, and Vancouver, and to support the Press in funding initiatives at the community level across Canada.
As a former fitness trainer and nutrition coach, I cultivated a compassionate approach to health and well-being, helping clients see beyond quantitative goals of pounds lost or muscle mass gained. Instead, I helped them improve their well-being from the inside out, starting with how they thought and felt about themselves.
When I was the Executive Secretary of Inspire Awards — an organization that honours inspiring LGBTQ2S+ people, businesses, and organizations in the Greater Toronto Area — I showcased my attention to detail, organizational and communication skills, project ownership and self-management to spearhead a number of projects to increase brand awareness and engage with the community to create a unique, 10th Anniversary virtual event during the COVID lockdown restriction of 2021.
In my work as a personal leadership coach for LGBTQ+ creators and change-makers, in the words of a former client,
“He is a brilliant coach for any Queer person, member of the LGBTQ+ community, or anyone wanting to make a positive impact in their community.”
What inspires me about coaching is helping people to see their gifts and the impact they can have — often more than what they believe they are capable of accomplishing.
And now, I'm on a new, wonderful, and unplanned path.
At the beginning of October, I took on a full-time position as the Stewardship & Development Coordinator with Friends of Ruby in Toronto, Canada.
"Friends of Ruby supports 2SLGBTQIA+ youth (aged 16-29) through mental health supports, social services and housing. Our vision – a world where all lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex and two-spirit young people feel validated, and are involved and empowered to live healthier lives."
As a result, I'm in the midst of re-aligning my productivity, and thus my self-mastery, to work in a different environment. I'm now working at an office instead of at home. I've had to adjust my priorities and it's taking time to figure out how to do some of what I used to do in different ways and at different times.
This new role is a great fit for my skills and talents, my purpose and mission, my cultivation of queer empowerment, and what I'm doing at Friends of Ruby allows me to make a more immediate and direct impact on the lives of 2SLGBTQIA+ youth.
What this means is that my ability to create and publish new articles and Think Queerly Podcast episodes are limited.
Currently, I'm in the process of,
- Getting used to what's different and new working for an organization in a full-time role, and;
- Taking the time to consider what's most important to me about my writing and podcast.
I haven't yet decided how to proceed, but for the time being, know that my publishing frequency will be about twice per month. What I am looking into is outsourcing the editing of my podcast to allow me to focus on research and creation, and being able to publish two quality episodes per month.
I'm also still available for Self-Mastery & Productivity Coaching, but on a very limited basis and by referral only.
Discover more about how we can work together.
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