I always wonder what to say in short, self-promotional pieces like this one.

Should I take your time to relate some biographical facts such as my name, my age, my marital and family status? Perhaps I should invite you on a short walk through my education background or professional engagements? Should we focus on what qualifies me to coach you or your daughter or son on various academic subjects or the college admissions process or professional skills and their application?

In truth, I don't think any of the above is a specific reason to engage me, yet I would be lying to say I think it meaningless. Leaving the standard resume stuff to the side for a moment, I want to share the essence of what I believe is the key dimension to this conversation: "the why" of bringing on a coach.

For me, the choice of having a coach is all about mastery. It begins and ends with the student's commitment to mastery and the coach's commitment to that mastery.

Mastery is about taking ownership of the process, enjoying the journey and giving those responsible for reading or engaging with one's work one's authentic voice.

Engage me, and that is what all the work will be in service of. (My authentic voice is OK with ending sentences in prepositions.) And, hard work though acquiring mastery is, it does not have to be stressful or painful. I believe the most effective path to mastery is through smiles and wows. I also believe that the closer we can get to helping the other person to articulate their own feelings/fears/concerns and facilitating their own discovery of method and means to deal with the situation the better off everyone is.

For many years I been informally tutoring (probably more than 200 students) on subjects including math, English, History, Philosophy, and the college application process (ACT and SAT test preparation and essay writing). This academic tutoring has been with students between the ages of 12 and 20. I have also tutored individuals (student and professionals) in the use of various software tools such as the Microsoft Office suite, Qlik, Xero, Basecamp, Airtable.

I have been working with some version of excel both as a banker and a business professional for more than 30 years. I have trained countless individuals (from work colleagues to students interning for me) both on the way excel works and how to make excel work to produce desired results. I use excel practically everyday; it is my "go to" tool for working with numbers and analytical concepts.

I have been writing and editing academic papers, blog posts, journal entries, business reports and correspondence, essays and books for more than 35 years. I love writing and reading and reading and editing other people's work. I would welcome reading yours.

I have presented many papers and talks on varied subjects over the last 40 years.

My son is a dyslexic and from grade four through eight he attended The Windward School, the preeminent school for dyslexics in the United States. The school is also recognized for its teacher's institute (teaching teachers how to teach) and its outreach to parents and providing them opportunities to understand and engage with the school's teaching methods and philosophy. I attended all the programs and "classes" made available to parents and have continued to study how dyslexics process information and learn. I also work regularly with my son (he is a sophomore at university).

I graduated from Wesleyan University, College of Social Studies with a BA in 1982. The College of Social Studies is a rigorous, multidisciplinary major focusing on History, Government, Political and Social Theory, and Economics. If memory serves I scored in the range of 1300-1400 on my SATs (back when the top score was 1600) and I took a some AP exams and received college credit for a few subjects including Calculus. I have also held Series 7, CFP and Health and Life Insurance Licenses.

I have worked both here in the United States and in Europe for large multinational organizations as well as small, start up businesses and everything in between. I have been an employee, an advisor and an owner and the specific roles I have played have varied considerably over time: Banker, Market Research Consultant, Data Analyst, Strategy Consultant, Computer Consultant, Software Developer, Business Development Executive, Senior Management (CMO, CSO, CEO, CFO, CTO). The industries I have worked in have also been an eclectic mix: finance, consulting, television, film, internet, high technology, fashion, commercial printing, design, manufacturing.