Hi, I’m Gary.

I’m the founder of 2nd Ascent Coaching—a space for people who are tired of performing their worth, tired of self-help that bypasses real pain, and ready to return to something more honest.

I don’t coach people to fix themselves.
I walk with people as they remember who they are beneath the noise—beneath the perfectionism, the shame, the pressure to keep holding it all together.
This isn’t trauma recovery. It’s human reclamation.

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My story started 18 years ago...

I walked out of a psychiatric facility after a long, painful battle with alcohol. I was 38, newly sober, and felt like I was standing on shaky ground with nothing solid beneath me. While I remined sober, I struggled for 15 years to find my true path. Then I wrote the book I wish they had given me when I left the psych ward. And that changed everthing.  

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My work lives across four paths:

• Rewilding Your Soul – A deep journey of healing from disconnection through nature, story, and soul-aligned practice

• Heroic Kids – A family-based mentorship and storytelling experience that helps children grow into emotionally grounded, connected humans

• Leading Along the Edge – My work leaves people actually being leaders, not just knowing more about leadership. 

• Coaching & Courses – For anyone ready to stop circling their truth and start living inside it.​

 

And a little about my life...

I live with Tess, the love of my life—my first love, in fact, reunited after 35 years apart. We’re building a small farm in Pennsylvania where we’ll host rewilding retreats and create a living expression of everything we teach: reconnection with animals, land, self, and each other.

 

​I play pickleball, walk in the woods, read things that challenge me, and spend every week learning from my 8-year-old Little through Big Brothers Big Sisters.

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This isn’t just my work—it’s my life.

I want to build a school that heals.
I want to help people return to themselves.
I want to be part of creating a world where we all remember:
We belong.