Hi there, I’m Sam!
I’m an ambitious, high achieving millennial Life Coach and I help other ambitious, high achieving millennials who feel stuck and plateaued get unstuck—and get their mojo back.
…so they can look back at age 90 and say, “I lived the exact life I wanted—and left nothing on the table.”
Is that something you want?
Then I’m glad you’re checking me out.
I’m guessing you’re going through something sticky or you wouldn’t be here considering coaching.
If you’re feeling lost, stuck, and frustrated, know this: the fact that you’re here means you’re gonna get through this.
And what’s more: you’re gonna do something awesome with your life, something that feels fulfilling and satisfying and totally worth the trouble. Even by looking, you go a long way towards changing your circumstances—and your life. Keep going.
WHAT THE HECK IS “LIFE” COACHING?
You’re familiar with the concept of coaching, yeah? You’ve probably even had a few coaches back in the day (even if your baseball career concluded with a little league participation trophy).
And what do coaches do?
They work you. They train you. They push you. They see your potential when you sometimes can’t—and they stretch you beyond your limits so you can reach it.
What if Life (capital L) is one.epic.season—and it’s the only one you get?
You practice, practice, and practice. You grind; you work; you play; you compete. And if you play long and hard enough, you get bruised and sometimes injured.
You have to rest, heal, and rehab before getting back at it.
Look, you know how to play the game of Life. You’re doing it now.
The question is:
Do you want to be great at it? The best you can be? Unstoppable even?
To have done it exactly how you wanted and left nothing on the table?
To know in your heart on your final breath, you gave it your all?
If you do, you’re in the right place.
Life Coaching is where we do the work—the drills, exercises, reps, and conditioning—to find out…
What you want (to do/ your life to be)
What’s getting in the way (of you doing it/ living it that way)
and create a plan to get you off your hiney and doin the damn thing!
That’s the short answer anyway.
Read the long answer here: The Non-Fluffy Answer to “What is “Life” Coaching?”
How does LIFE COACHING work?
In “Life” Coaching, the work, is Thought Work.
Well gee, Sam. That sounds kinda hokey.
Is it? Or is every outcome of your life the result of a thought you had?
*Quick review of what psychologists call “The Behavior Chain.”
Thought → Feeling → Behavior/Action → Outcome/Result
Example:
Imagine two…Personal Trainers: Both trainers have the same skills, same resources, same client base available to them.
One thinks, “I’ll never make enough money to go to Paris.”
And the other thinks, “I can definitely make enough money to go to Paris.”
Which one is right? You know this already: they both are!
And here’s why:
“I’ll never make enough money to go to Paris” → sad, resigned, powerless, and uninspired → continue charging the same low rate →Never make enough money to go to Paris.
vs.
“I can definitely make enough money to go to Paris” → creative, confident, excited → raises rates and launches new service → Makes enough money to go to Paris.
It starts with a thought. We work with the thoughts & feelings so you can take effective action in the direction of your desired outcomes—the life you want to live.
Exercises look like guided Journaling and Visualizations.
Have you really stopped to think about what you want? Why you want it?
Have you really imagined what is possible—beyond the realm of probable? Imagined what it would feel like to achieve it?
Drills look like learning new skills to handle difficult Thoughts and Feelings.
Difficult thoughts and feelings get in the way. They stop us from doing the things we say we wanna do.
Fear, anxiety, shame. “What will everyone think?” “What if I fail?” “I’m too [blank.] and not enough [blank].”
Learn how to not get stuck by that. So you can stop not doing the thing you say you wanna do.
Reps look like Questions: Why, Why, Why, Why, Why? (And How? And What? And by When?)
It’s like hockey coach Herb Brooks of the 1980 Olympic team (or at least as the movie Miracle showed it—GREAT movie, btw.): Again. Again. Again…
We go further than you’ve ever been before, so you can know what you haven’t dared to know before: The Truth (capital T). Clarity about what you actually want. Clarity on what to do next.
Strength Training & Conditioning looks like: Questioning what you know to be True.
Seeking Disconfirmation: a fancy way of saying, “How might I be wrong about this?”
By far, this is clients least favorite work (in the beginning). Like first getting started in the gym, you might feel a little awkward, a little sore. It’s also the most powerful skill and leads to the biggest breakthroughs.
When clients nail this—when they get buff in this muscle—they become unstoppable. You don’t get stuck anymore. You get out of your own way.
What you’ll get from Life Coaching:
CLARITY: You’ll be able to say, “This is what I want. This is my plan for getting it. And this, is what I’m willing to do to get it.”
SKILLS: You’ll learn how to handle difficult Thoughts and Feelings so you can take Effective Action in the direction of your desired outcomes—aka—the life you want to live.
CONFIDENCE: You’ll learn to be an effective problem-solver and action taker, with the ability to break through any barrier.
Life Coaching conditions you to be strong + effective
From Stuck to Unstoppable.
What Clients say after coaching
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“I feel taller and more empowered. I also feel like I now have a "took kit" to use when problems arise.”
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“I feel more focused (less distractions, mental pulls) and more clear. Because the tools are repeatable I feel that the work we did is sustainable and I can keep coming back to it.”
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“After just 6 months, I secured one of my dream job offers closer to family, launched a startup with my co-founders, all while making strides in my personal life and health by making ample time for friends, family, exercise, and sleep.”
What Life Coaching IS nOT:
advice giving.
consulting.
therapy.
I will never ever tell you what to do with your life. First of all, How incredibly arrogant that would be! Second of all, you have plenty of other people trying to do that. I could no sooner tell you what is best for you than I could tell an acorn how to become an oak tree.
You have a divine intelligence inside of you.
My job?
To help you ACCESS it.
OWN IT.
ACT on it.
Why you, Sam?
Or as a colleague said to me over a beer and pizza the night before I was leading a coaching workshop IN FRONT OF 35 OF MY PEERS…
“What makes you qualified to be a life coach? For instance, I wouldn’t hire an athletic trainer that wasn’t in shape.”
Zing! Not exactly the hype beast pump-up I was looking for.
Fair question. I have a hunch you’re wondering the same thing.
So you want to know if I have my ‘Life’ together?
Maybe some of these details will interest you:
I have a home and family that I love, a business I’m obsessed with, confidence to go after what I want (don’t get between me and a cheeseburger), and a track record for achieving my goals (Ya Gotta Wanna).
B.A. in Rhetoric from U.C. Berkeley. Go Bears! (In truth I attended one football game in 4 years.)
12 Years of “real world” Corporate Experience:
7 Years in the Startup world slingin’ software and building things from scratch.
5 Years at Amazon learning how to write like a robot and advocate like hell: for me and my clients.
Drove 5 Personal Promotions and Raises.
Became a loved and respected step-mom to my two step-sons—and lemme tell ya: that ‘aint for the faint of heart!
Martha Beck Wayfinder Life Coach. [2024]
Built a Coaching Practice from scratch, I kid you not, a dream come true for me.
But here’s the thing.
All that stuff, it’s great and I’m proud of my accomplishments, (lord knows I’ve worked my own hiney off).
But that’s not why you’ll hire me.
So I have an education, a job, a family, and a roof over me head? I know what you’re thinking: That’s table stakes Sam.
And you’re right.
You’ll hire me because
I’ve been through my own personal hell and back, ended up really stuck, and got myself off the floor, taking big swings, and living the life I wanted. Full Stop.
I can help you do the same: get unstuck—and sprinting towards the life you always wanted, blasting through blockers and takin’ names.
Here’s my Story.
After graduating from UC Berkeley, I pranced around Buenos Aires in bodycon LBD’s sippin’ “fernet y coke” for a year before getting a “real job” as a sales rep for a tech company in Chicago where I would meet my future husband.
He was perfect. One of fairytale lore. His warmth, love, and generosity had earned him adoring titles from friends and family of “Sweet Angel” and “Wonder Boyfriend.” He left me sweet notes, snuck into my apartment to clean it before I got home from vacation, and always got up from what he was doing to greet me with a hug and kiss when I came home.
We got married. We had a pinterest-inspired outdoor wedding on Memorial Day at a winery in Southern California. We added a new Mini Cooper convertible and a goldendoodle puppy within the month.
Life was good.
I had everything I wanted and was on track to “have it all.”
Husband, Car, Dog: check, check, check.
House? On the horizon.
Family? Soon to follow.
I can’t exactly pinpoint an incident or a moment, but at some point I felt like something… wasn’t right.
I woke up one morning and realized I was in a life I no longer wanted.
And the tragedy of it?
I’d actively created every detail of it.
I felt ashamed. Divorce? How could I show my face at work? How would I tell my family? What would people think?
I felt selfish. How could I want more when I already had “all the things” you’re supposed to have. Worse, I would be hurting my best friend, who didn’t deserve it. The guilt wrecked me.
I felt lost. How did I get here?
I felt stuck. What do I do next?
I felt sad. So so so sad.
I didn’t want to stay, but I was just as scared of leaving.
I didn’t want to leave because I didn’t want to say goodbye to my husband; there was still so much good there.
And I didn’t want to stay because I didn’t want to let go of the possibility of another life. A different one. A better one.
So I sat. Paralyzed in this ‘in between’ state for nearly 18 months. Feeling heavy and scared. Feeling embarrassed and sorry for myself. Feeling confused and afraid to make a move, to make a decision. In a word, stuck.
What I had to learn the hard way was this: there is no easy way out. I couldn’t get there—to freedom and the seductive possibilities of a new life—without going there—to the depths of my heart to find the painful and inconvenient truth that lived there: I didn’t want to be married anymore.
To get unstuck, I’d have to acknowledge my truth. I’d have to accept it. I’d have to act on it.
It takes risk. It takes courage.
But I promise you this: IT is worth it.
I don’t recognize my life anymore, in the best of ways. I feel more grounded in my choices, more on purpose in my actions, and confident to pursue the things that fulfill me. And most importantly, I don’t care if other people aren’t on board. Bai Felicia.
Do you want to feel that way?
To be clear, confident, doing what you want, and unencumbered by what others will think?
Then Life Coaching is where. it’s. at.
Get clarity on what you want and free yourself to move towards it, with confidence.
New swagger, who dis?
Your mom won’t like it?
Your boss won’t like it?
Your friends won’t like it?
We can work with that. ( I PROMISE you, my choice to leave my handsome hubby was not a popular one. My choice to give up the chance for biological kids, even less.)
I want you to feel vibrant, energized, and unstoppable. I want you to feel FREE. Free to do what you want, not what everyone else thinks you should.
But don’t get it twisted. It ain’t easy. And it won’t be “perfect,” but it’ll be perfect for YOU.
And THAT,
is what I’m all about.
My Philosophy
Anything we do, I’ve done on myself.
I live it to give it. The frameworks and tools I bring to coaching, I’ve studied in depth, experienced first hand, and actively use on myself. I’m bringing them to you because they’ve worked for me. Because we’re each unique, not every one will float your boat or help you shift—and that’s okay. We’re developing a toolbox that is most effective for you.
There are no shortcuts or hacks to personal transformation.
Unless you’re Byron Katie or Eckhart Tolle, don’t expect an overnight awakening. Coaching in my experience is much more like the Calvin & Hobbes comic, “day by day, nothing seems to change, but pretty soon, everything is different.” I’m upfront that big changes take time, and you should be too.
You are capable—so you gotta wanna.
At the heart of any issue, you have a choice. What are you willing to do?
Together, we’ll explore what it takes to do what matters.
If you’re still here, my guess is that this resonates.
I've helped many clients figure out what’s holding them back—and freeing them to move forward.
I can help you find your footing, regain your strength, and learn to run again, with giddy in your step and peace in your heart.
still wondering if I’m Legit?
TAKE THE NEXT STEP:
Let’s get acquainted and see if we’re a good fit!