Our Story
Ron Gilliland has been working as a professional coach since 2000. Prior to becoming a coach, he built a retail business from scratch and successfully sold it, which gave him time to reset. He discovered a powerful book on coaching that inspired him to invest in years of coach and leadership training.
After achieving a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies, and while in graduate school to become a Marriage and Family Therapist, he was offered an opportunity to work with InsideTrack, a coaching company, whose mission was increasing college and university graduation rates. Initially he worked with college students to help them get the most out of their education.
With an academic background in counseling psychology, he recognized a need for the coaches to receive the benefits of the holistic coaching program that they were delivering to students.
Speaking up at a company meeting that was focused on “coach sustainability,” he advocated for a coaching program to support the coaches, and the room exploded with applause. Over the years, his program expanded from being The Coaches Coach to serving everyone in the organization as the Employee Coach.
After 13 years with InsideTrack, he thought it was time to retire to working with fewer clients and a quieter lifestyle, but after four months he realized he couldn’t retire with a clear conscience. He was concerned for the health of the local community of businesses and nonprofits and the young people who were growing up in such tumultuous times.
Reflecting on his experience in business, Ron came to realize that the success he achieved for his retail business and in his corporate work was the result of more than knowledge and skill. That led to an epiphany; his success was the result of a set of community-building principles. Moreover, his experience taught him that the most sustainable and generative organizations are in themselves strong communities.
