The CoachVille Story
CoachVille launched as a global virtual community for coaches on June 2, 2001, founded by the late visionary Thomas J. Leonard, a key player in the creation of the field of personal and business coaching. Its mission... to improve the quality of coaching worldwide, and to provide a home for every coach. Its guiding principle: "Adding Value for the Joy of It." Thomas lived his words, and while in its early days, CoachVille membership was $79 for a lifetime, on August 29th, 2002 the doors to CoachVille were thrown wide open, and membership became free for all who wished to join the growing ranks of CoachVille coaches.
Thomas felt that "Everyone is a Coach." Not a professional coach perhaps, but certainly a coach in their own way. From his perspective coaching was a set of advanced communication and relating skills, with knowledge and experience woven in. Our best guess is that the greatest source of growth in coaching is actually in the non-professional sector, meaning that managers become more coach-like in their dealings, ministers weave in coaching skills to their professional skill set, even accountants round out their style to include a coaching approach. Thomas J. Leonard 't' In February 2003, Thomas, often know as the father of life coaching, passed away suddenly on February 11th, 2003. The will Thomas had prepared stated that Dave Buck would inherit his estate. Thomas had made Dave his sole beneficiary for the purposes of continuing the work of CoachVille. After his passing CoachVille was run for a short time by a management company selected by the executor of the estate. In January 2004 the estate distributed the “asset” known as CoachVille to Dave Buck and Dave became CoachVille CEO. > Founded, in 1992, Coach University, Thomas also... > Was the CEO of CoachVille.com, the largest network and trainer of coaches worldwide with 30,000+ with members in 100+ countries. Thomas enjoyed his life. ===================== Dave Buck Dave Buck (MBA) started his coaching career in 1997 and has worked one on one with nearly 1,000 individuals. Dave is a Master Certified Coach (MCC) with the International Coach Federation (ICF). Dave worked side-by-side with Thomas Leonard to create CoachVille in 2000 and became CoachVille C.E.O. and Head Coach of CoachVille after Thomas Leonard passed away in 2003. Dave was hand picked by Thomas to continue his work and expand his vision. Dave is a leader in the coaching industry; he was selected by the International Coach Federation to participate in the first ever Global Coaching Leaders Summit with 30 colleagues. In 2004 Dave was awarded the first annual International Coach Federation (ICF) Peace Maker award. Dave is a life long solo-preneur. He has an MBA from Monmouth University and has worked for himself since he was 19. Dave has taught an MBA program for the Seton Hall Stillman School of Business called "The Joy of Business". He has appeared on The Coaching Show, has been interviewed by Choice Magazine (a leading coaching publication) and Entrepreneur Magazine. Dave has been an athletic coach for many years and currently serves as the Assistant Men’s Soccer Coach at Seton Hall University, a position he has held for since 1995. Dave has a love of personal growth and world travel. He spent two summers playing soccer in Bolivia and the famous Tahuichi soccer academy. He explored the most sacred temples in the southern tip of India accompanied Sri Guruji (of Dr. Wayne Dyer's Meditations for Manifestation fame) He is still an active soccer player. In his younger years, Dave sang jazz in coffee houses and has fronted a big band. He occasionally weaves a capela performance of Jazz standards into his presentations. Dave is also a member of Jack Canfield’s (Chicken Soup for the Soul) Transformational Leadership Council. Dave has revolutionized the coaching profession by creating the Coach-Two-Win method™ that dramatically reduces the time required to become a masterful coach and Pattern Language Coaching™ – a masters tool kit for the craft of coaching. Robert J. Culpepper Robert J. Culpepper is the founder of The International School Of Coaching (TISOC) Robert has a wide range of business experience which spans more than 20 years and includes living and working in such diverse places as California's Silicon Valley; Oxford, England; Perth, Australia and Barcelona, Spain. He has been a key player in numerous small business start-ups as well as working as a corporate executive in two Fortune 500 company´s. His travels have taken him to 33 countries. Robert graduated from Old Dominion University in Virginia USA and holds degrees in Engineering and Business and also graduated as a Corporate Coach from Corporate Coach University International (CCUI). Robert is a Dr. Deepak Chopra Certified Mind-Body Educator and a Certified Professional Marketing Consultant (CPMC). He incorporates ancient wisdom with modern thinking to create a unique blend of real world, practical, yet enlightened solutions for his clients so that they can achieve success in both life and business. (bio's to follow soon):
Within its first 100 days, CoachVille grew to become the largest network of coaches worldwide, reaching 5,300 members. Currently CoachVille membership stands at 30,000+ with members in 175+ countries.
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Thomas had MANY accomplishments including:
> Founded, in 1994, the International Coach Federation (ICF)
> Started, in 1998, TeleClass.com, a virtual university that at its peak had over 20,000 students, offering over 100 classes during any given week.
> Wrote 28 personal and professional development programs, including Personal Foundation, Certified Strategist, Toleration-Free, Clean Sweep and SuperSensitive Person, A Perfect Life, Certified Critical Eye which are used by coaches, training firms, and Fortune 100 companies.
> Authored 6 coach-related books since 1998: Working Wisdom, The Portable Coach, Becoming a Coach and Simply Brilliant, and the Coaching Forms Book (6th edition) and The Distinctionary.
> Was featured on over 100 hours of commercially available audiotape sets demonstrating techniques and processes of coaching.
> Developed a popular website called which contains over 1,000 Top 10 Lists on all subjects.
> Was the founder of the Graduate School of Coaching, the most comprehensive coach training school (1000 courses in development), with 1400 students from 35 countries.
> Was the founder of the International Association of Coaching (IAC)
> Was the publisher the Today's Coach, the largest-circulation ezine in the coaching industry (30,000 subscribers).
> Conducted TeleClasses on coaching and professional development topics.
> Conducted workshops and conferences for coaches throughout the year.
> Worked on a number of creative projects.
> Was the owner/publisher of EzineVille, a collection of 20 ezines with 2 million unique subscribers.
www.CoachVille.com
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y CoachVille Spain. He is a founding member of CoachVille International (USA) and worked personally with Thomas J. Leonard as a member of his Research and Development (R&D) team. Under the guidance of Thomas, they developed the "CoachVille Coaching System" (including the 15 Proficiencies), "The 28 Principles
of Attraction", and other revolutionary coaching programs. In 2001, Thomas personally asked Robert to launch CoachVille Spain.
Allard, Thomas and Robert - London 2002
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Sandra Burela - Barcelona, Spain
Roberto Garcia de la Mora - Lisbon, Portugal and Mexico City
Arturo Orantes
Mexico: www.CoachingOntologico.com
Mirari Bereziartua Arotzena
Pais Vasco, Spain: www.CoachingAldaketa.com