“Before Twin Engine Coffee began in 2013, another project began. Sitting in my office in Rome, Italy, a few years prior, I had a great job as an agricultural economist. I earned a Ph.D. from an excellent university. I advised countries all over the world in their evaluation and development of domestic food systems. For many, this was the beginning of a clear path to a ‘great career’. For me, something was missing. I wanted to be DOING. But how to make that seemingly small, but ‘oh so risky’ leap?

“I wasn’t quite sure how and that was even more frustrating for an independent, practical boot-strapper that I considered myself. At the time, Gideon was beginning his own new path as a coach. I decided to take him up on an offer of a session. I figured there would only be one, but what could it hurt?

“I was wrong . . . on both fronts. There were many more sessions; a few hurt a little as we worked together to identify many of my own semi-conscious ‘blocking’ fronts that were really in my way. Today they are not gone, but with Gideon’s help exploring disempowering thought patterns and asking provocative questions I became AWARE of them. I can now choose how they enter my life. And I chose to take them right along with me to Nicaragua, where my husband and I started Twin Engine Coffee.”

— Andrea Woolverton, Co-Founder, Twin Engine Coffee Company, León, Nicaragua

“I grew up with coaches that got in your face and yelled. Gideon Culman isn’t that kind of coach. He’s smarter than that – he’s not there to tell you what to do, he’s there to help you find what works for you. Even when the work was difficult, Gideon’s persistence and  passion helped sustain me – even when I wasn’t sure if I could make it.

“Gideon is great to work with because he’s easy to relate to, an interesting, kind guy with a great sense of humor – but he never lets that get in the way of saying what needs to be said. And sometimes what needs to be said is nothing. In this kind of work, the silences can be as important and powerful as anything else, and Gideon has the confidence and understanding to let those silences stand, allowing what’s important and powerful to emerge from it.

“Of all the great coaches I know of, not one of them went out and played the games for their players. What they did was help their players develop tools to take on whatever they might face in a game.  And what Riley, Jackson, and Parcels gave to Magic, Jordan, and Taylor, Gideon gave to me. We worked hard during the hour we spent together each week – developing insights, practices, and habits, – but the value came from how I was able to apply that learning during the other 167 hours of the week.

“Over the past few months I’ve developed some fantastic habits but perhaps the most valuable thing I got from working with Gideon is the tools to continue developing myself on my own.”

— Advertising Pro, New York, New York

“For me, Gideon was absolutely the right coach at the right time. I had imagined for years about changing careers, but found myself without an actual plan or deadline for making it happen, and I felt stuck. Gideon supported me with the foundational work of finding and honoring my own unique gifts, as well as mapping out focused actions. Every call he gently yet persistently helped me identify and clear out emotional roadblocks, making steady progress, until I accomplished precisely what I had sought Gideon’s coaching for, and within the exact timeframe I had stated. I moved on to an entirely different career, and it has provided me with the most growth and success I’ve ever had in my life. I am forever grateful to Gideon’s commitment and talent.”

– Recruiter, Washington, DC

“My coaching with Gideon Culman began in July 2013. When I first started my journey with him, I was full of grandiose dreams of conquering the world and solving all of the planets problems on my own. What I actually got was so much more.

“It is easy to lose sight of the powerful impact that coaching can have on your life and its easier still to miss how much of a factor your coach can be when your only focus of measurement is based on results. My focus when I started was to change a mildly successful, overweight middle age man into a conscious captain of industry with body of Adonis. I had convinced myself that the only thing I needed was a coach to push me and keep me on track and I could rule the world, and the beautiful thing is that Gideon never questioned it. He never thought it was impossible or outlandish, he never once held anything I said to be beyond me.

“It was in the face of this and over the course of a few months that Gideon patiently supported me in unravelling what I said I wanted from what I really did in fact want. It took around 5 months to see that I was coming exclusively from my ego with the projects and had set up targets that were meant for me to fail. Even more valuably, I started to receive insight into the patterns that I had put into place which kept me going in endless cycles of anger, repression, failure and anger. Once we saw this, pointed it out and shined a spotlight on it, my relationships, projects and even our coaching changed.

“I feel very much that Gideon is my partner in all of my projects which cover large swaths of my life. In the time we have been together (over 17 months as of the writing of this) I have earned more money than I have ever earned, I have moved into a house that is double the size but only 15% more per month, I have gone to two meditation retreats, seen Tibet, lost 10 kg of weight, improved my already excellent relationship with my wife, expanded my spiritual development, have completely shifted gears in my business into a whole other level and that doesn’t even count how much happier and less full of repressed anger and frustration I also am. The list is almost incomprehensible to understand.

“My work with Gideon has been invaluable, no matter how much I felt resistance or fear, remorse or doubt, he has consistently stood for my declarations and helped me to peel apart the old habits that have limited me while helping me establish new more beneficial structures that accelerate my progress. He challenged me, put it before to choose and often even supported me taking action on the spot despite my anxiety. An added benefit of this, has been that where I was previously critical and harsh with myself, I find new reserves of patience and reflection without criticism which my wife, business partners, clients and self all deeply appreciate.

“I can’t stress enough how much my life has shifted positively since I started working with Gideon. When I started I operated form a space of “I can only do it if I know it’s guaranteed” and now, my mantra is “Yes, and…” Everything is possible, thank you Gideon for being a fundamental part of that journey.”

— Managing Director, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

“I started working with Gideon because I was unhappy as a corporate lawyer and wanted to build a career as a writer. In the beginning, I thought that Gideon’s role would be simply this: to help me set career and creative goals and to make me stick to them. I thought that if I just had someone to force me to do the things I set out to do, I would have no choice but to do them because, although I could easily break a promise to myself (after all, who was I?), breaking a promise to someone else was was much more difficult and would leave me awash with guilt and anxiety. Coaching with Gideon ended up working on a much deeper, and, I believe, lasting, level.

“While in coaching, I set ambitious goals that I didn’t reach. The demands of my job were unpredictable and heavy, requiring early mornings and late nights on little to no notice. In the limited free time I had, my mind was a blank, unable to remember or focus, and my body ached and was overwhelmed with fatigue. I felt like a failure because I wasn’t doing everything. By carefully listening and asking questions, Gideon helped me realize that (1) it was okay not to do everything, (2) if I was to achieve what I wanted, I could not continue to put the demands of others over my own needs and (3) I needed, foremost, to devote less time to work and to feel physically better. I negotiated a part-time schedule with my employer and saw a doctor about my symptoms, actions I would not have taken until I began to believe it was acceptable to put myself first. I was diagnosed with a chronic autoimmune disease, news that I first found discouraging but that I have come to find helpful: knowing how my body is malfunctioning has allowed me to begin to find ways to heal it. I now feel stronger in my body, clearer in my mind and able to separate what I want from what others want from me, and I care about myself enough to keep the promises that are only for myself. Working with Gideon gave me the tools, the perspective, the inner strength to be my own coach. Thank you, Gideon.”

— Corporate Lawyer, Boston, Massachusetts

“I came to Gideon looking for coaching because I was ready to start using my life to accomplish my goals – but I wasn’t sure what they were, or how to figure them out, or how much I was capable of changing. I knew I wanted to save the world, and to be happy, but I wasn’t sure what those things were made of, or how to get there from here.

“At the beginning I was thinking of a life coach as someone who would keep me from slacking off from my plan, and help me think specific problems through. I was skeptical of the kind of mushy self-discovery part of coaching – the “ontological” piece, as Gideon called it – but I decided to go with him because our communication styles worked well together – he was willing to make me sit with discomfort if a question seemed unanswerable, and to ask me to try again if I gave a glib reply.

“In the first couple of weeks of coaching, I had goals – specific, precise goals, and plans to achieve them. More open friendships with people who shared my values. A plan to use my career to reduce existential risk. A body fit enough to be proud of. An outlet for artistic self-expression. This alone was worth a tremendous amount.

“But even more valuable was the attitude I learned when working with Gideon on trying to accomplish these goals. Gideon helped me notice when things weren’t happening the way I expected they would – and when my own attitudes toward schedules, planning, and goals were getting in the way of understanding what I could actually do, and doing it.

“Gideon taught me how to use a schedule, not as a straitjacket, but a map of the future. He taught me not to settle for beating myself up when I failed, but to ask myself what I had hoped to achieve from the failing strategy. He taught me to accept that I’m only one person, I can only take one step at a time – and only by accepting this did I learn to stumble less and take longer strides. He didn’t tell me to do these things – he just showed me how.

“I have better, deeper relationships with my friends, I’m taking control of my career again, and I had a few smaller things like fitness goals that I achieved so completely and decisively that I sometimes forget there was a time before I’d gotten there.”

— Tech Manager, San Francisco, California

“What do you choose? was the powerful question that Gideon Culman asked me after hearing my bucket load  of complaints about my career, stalled weight loss projects and what I thought was an unquenchable thirst to be a visionary leader and entrepreneur.

“I was skeptical about whether coaching would benefit me but after one sample coaching session withGideon I was hooked enough to explore it.  The unease of living life small no longer let me rest andGideon’s ability to cut through the excuses I used to constantly stop me from creating the life I wanted, was invaluable.

“With Gideon’s support I was able to exceed my goal of losing weight and with focused action and velocity. I also created my dream businesses as a life coach, motivational speaker and radio show host.  I became the visionary leader I knew I was meant to be and live life without apology.

“I’m grateful a trusted friend referred me to Gideon. Hiring him was one of the best decisions that I made. The benefits of his coaching expertise continue to pay dividends  every day and in all corners of my life. I am forever grateful.”

— Life Coach, West Virginia

“Gideon Culman is a Jedi Master of Coaching. I’m dead serious, he’s truly a special breed. Gideon has many  gifts; his intuition and active listening are extremely powerful. These coupled with his big heart causes me to feel held in a way I have never been before. His words are like a mirror reflecting awareness into my heart and soul. His passion and positive energy is nothing short of infectious. Last but not least, he sense of humor is unrivaled. He brings much levity when I bring so much significance or heaviness on a situation I’m struggling with. He’s able to normalize everything that I’ve create as being so convoluted. Gideon is brilliant and has certainly caused breakthroughs in my life. I am forever grateful for this relationship”

— Entrepreneur, Washington, DC