Chuck & the Epic Rivers' Story
An unlikely start.
At 16, I dropped out of school, earned a GED, and took a couple of classes at the local Community College. I eventually scrapped my way through an undergraduate degree, worked in outdoor adventure, and was involved in non-profit outreach work with youth and at-risk communities.
A citizen of the planet.
Drawn to help the under-resourced, I moved to Cambodia for a few years. While working in Southeast Asia, I attended classes in the Philippines and completed a Master's in Organizational Leadership. Along the way, I was beginning to coach and train leaders and multi-cultural teams from all over the world, many of whom were doing challenging work in some of the most difficult places on the planet. I earned professional International Coach Federation (ICF) coaching credentials and started Epic Rivers in 2006.
Truthfully, even with "credentials" I wasn't ready to be an entrepreneur and run my own coaching practice.
An inside job.
Thankfully, amazing mentors knew I needed more experience in larger organizations to develop the art and science of coaching and developing leaders and to learn about complex organizational culture and change management from the inside.
I worked in leadership development for a large international disaster relief organization, supporting thousands of volunteers and leaders in 20+ countries, and then in healthcare focusing on leadership development for physician leaders and administrators.
Both industries had little tolerance for the theoretical and this honed my natural tendency toward simple and practical.
Elite leadership coaching & training.
Next, I had the amazing opportunity to serve as Head of Coaching at the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL Americas), a top-10 globally ranked provider of executive education.
I led and grew one of the largest coaching practices in the world for 5 years, with an incredible team supporting over 500 coaches delivering more than 20,000 hours of coaching annually, and training thousands of leaders in coaching and conversation skills. Revenue more than doubled and the work was fulfilling.
Change and transition.
When Covid hit our global business hard in 2020, I took the opportunity to shift gears and signed on as a Partner at Pilgrimage Professional Development Group, as a Strategic Advisor and Coach for AIIR Consulting, and as an Executive Coach for Kramer Leadership.
All three are ongoing partnerships I continue to enjoy with people I respect, doing work I love.
My primary focus is now Epic Rivers Leadership
and growing a team to build on an idea that started back in 2006.
Story to be continued...
