MORE ABOUT ROACH
The Fun Stuff
I'm originally from Detroit, Michigan and still have a soft spot for Motown and Detroit sports. My family lived across the street from Eminem for a short stint - Yes, I’m serious, and no, I’ve never met him. Growing up my days were spent training and traveling as a competitive artistic roller skater and organizing fun activities for my friends and older brothers such as pick-up hockey games, all day rollerblading trips to Metro Beach, and trips to the “cheap show” ($1.50 movies). All the training and playing worked to my favor as I was a national champion roller skater at age nine. After retiring from my 12 year roller skating career at the seasoned age of 14, I got really into marching band and high school sports. I played club volleyball in college and decided to get over my hatred of running by running a marathon - that still makes me laugh at myself, but it worked! I also found my passion for cycling while recovering from an injury. While I’m no longer a competitive athlete, I am still active as I attempt to not injure myself mountain biking, rock climbing, and hiking. I lived in Oregon for a year after college and that’s where I fell in love with the outdoors. I met my lifelong friend “Hoog” while out there and in 2016 she and I rode our bicycles from Yorktown, Va to San Francisco, CA. I live in York, Pennsylvania with my wife, Kirstin, and rescue mutt, Luna. I only have one quarter of my left kidney and I've never tried coffee…but I love tea.
Side note about my nickname: Most people who know me personally or professionally call me “Roach”( like the bug). It’s an old high school nickname that has followed me for decades. When I started coaching, “Coach Roach” emerged naturally!
The Professional Stuff
I am a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC) with over 20 years of training, development, and leadership experience. Over the course of my career my favorite parts of my roles were always the development and transformation of humans and teams. Once I had this realization, I decided to lean into that aspect of my expertise and start doing it full-time.
I have a wide range of professional and life experience that has allowed me to work with a vast range of people and gain a unique skill set. I graduated as a first generation college student with my bachelor’s degree from Central Michigan University and my master’s degree from James Madison University. I worked in and volunteered for many opportunities that involved leading and developing teams. Some of my most unique experiences include being a part-time outdoor educator and guide for about 15 years. I led trips with people ranging from 10-50 years young on outdoor expeditions. That’s where I deeply developed my communication, compassion, and thriving in adverse situation skills; what could do that better than adventuring all day, pooping in a hole and not showering for weeks at a time? The magic of it all was taking the knowledge, skills, and abilities I gained from a lot of mentally and physically demanding situations and transferring it to working with people and teams in all kinds of professional organizations.
I’ve presented and trained thousands of people at numerous regional and national conferences, organizations, and special events as both a peer-reviewed and invited speaker on a wide range of topics including leadership, communication, and equity, diversity, and inclusion. If interested, you can peruse my CV here.