Hi, I’m James.
I became the coach I wish I'd had as a founder.
Here’s my story…
The Path Here
Three startups taught me that the biggest constraint isn't product, market, or capital—it's people. The messy, complicated, ego-driven dynamics that either accelerate growth or kill momentum.
My first company shows how random life can be. I ended up going from an early career in software sales to building a manufacturing operation inside the historic Ford Assembly Plant. We transformed recycled glass into high-end surfacing material, landed in the green building boom, and all the HGTV shows. Great product-market fit, but manufacturing is brutally hands-on. Every day brought new friction—team dynamics, supply chain politics, the reality of scaling something physical.
Resurrecting the old Ford Model T plant to bring manufacturing back to California. This time, making a green alternative to granite out of recycled glass.
We needed software that didn't exist. Through an investor connection, I met Marc Benioff when Salesforce was still "just a CRM." We became their first customer to build complex systems on their about-to-launch platform. That relationship pulled me into their world—suddenly I was the startup guy showing Fortune 500 companies what was possible with cloud software.
After our acquisition, Marc brought me to Salesforce to formalize their innovation advisory program. For four years, I worked with companies like Boeing, Home Depot, and Bank of America, helping them navigate digital transformation at the intersection of the Social, Mobile and Cloud trends.
Here's what I discovered: every time transformation failed, it came down to people problems. Not technology. Not strategy. People. Egos, incentives, politics—the invisible friction that kills innovation inside big companies.
The Breaking Point
My second startup, Centriq, reimagined the homeowner experience. Early traction looked promising, but we misread market signals. Made costly pivots. The whole exhausting dance of finding product-market fit while runway burns.
Then came the moment that changes everything for founders: my co-founder bailed. After his equity vested, he went back to the safety of corporate life. I was left carrying the vision, the team, the weight of everything alone.
That's when I hired my first executive coach. He was helpful as a sounding board, but he'd never lived the startup reality—the velocity, the ambiguity, the pressure. Still, the coaching model planted a seed. This wasn't about getting advice. It was about upgrading how I thought, decided, and led. I then navigated Centriq to a successful exit with the help of a fiercely committed team.
Why This Work Matters
My father worked his way from nothing to financial independence through sheer will and brutal labor. He achieved his goal: prove his own father wrong. But he never learned to be happy. Never learned to enjoy family or find meaning beyond work. He died lonely and empty, and my heart breaks for what he never discovered.
That story shapes everything I do. I was voted "Most Likely to Make a Million" in third grade and chased ambition hard. But I always had this voice asking: This can't be it, right?
After Centriq's acquisition, founders kept seeking me out for advice. The more I understood coaching, the more I realized: advice isn't the answer. Nobody knows your business like you do. But coaching—helping someone see what they can't see, upgrading their internal operating system—that creates lasting change.
The Problems That Keep You Up
The issues founders bring me aren't usually strategy problems. They come down to people problems. They’re hungry for clarity around big questions. Should I fire this person? Why can't my team execute without me in every decision? How do I have that conversation I've been avoiding with my co-founder? Why do I feel like I'm the only one who sees how fragile this all is?
These are the 3am questions. The friction that doesn't appear on dashboards but quietly kills execution.
I'm trained through the Co-Active Training Institute and Center for Executive Coaching, but here's what actually matters: I've sat in your chair. I know what it's like when everything depends on you, when you can't show weakness, when you need someone who truly gets the weight you're carrying.
Three companies. Two exits (so far). Zero bullshit.
My greatest work yet! #GirlDad #GoEdmontonOilers