Business coaching · Metro Vancouver

A business coach who has actually run a business.

One-on-one coaching for owner-operators in Langley, the Fraser Valley, and Metro Vancouver. A sounding board for the person who carries the weight, from someone who has carried it too.

If this sounds familiar

The hardest calls are the ones you make alone.

It really is lonely at the top. Your team can't be the people you think out loud with, not about the decisions that affect their jobs. The people at home love you, but they don't live inside the business the way you do. So the big calls, the ones that keep you up at night, you tend to make on your own.

You don't need someone to tell you what to do. You need a place to lay the problem out, hear the questions you haven't asked yourself, and walk away clearer. Someone who has sat where you sit, has no agenda, and will tell you the truth.

What coaching looks like

Regular, honest conversations about the real problems.

No scripts, no personality tests, no homework for the sake of it. We meet on a cadence that fits you and work through whatever is actually in front of you.

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Bring the real problem

The decision you're stuck on, the conversation you're avoiding, the number that doesn't feel right. We start where it actually hurts.

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Work the options

I ask the questions you haven't, pressure-test your thinking, and bring what I've seen work and fail. You leave with a clear way forward.

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Decide with a clear head

Big calls under pressure, leadership, hiring, partners, money. A steady outside view so you're deciding deliberately, not reacting.

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Be held to it

You say what you'll do. Next time we look at whether it happened. No blame, no hiding, just the accountability most owners never get.

James Robertson, Principal Consultant
Why me

I'm not coaching from a textbook.

For ten years I owned and ran a company through rapid growth, a pandemic, serious financial trouble, and a hard-won turnaround to a successful exit. I've made payroll when it was tight, led a team through bad news, and made the lonely calls myself.

That's what I bring to the table. Not theory, and not a framework I invented and put my name on. The judgment that comes from having actually done it, pointed at your situation. When I don't know something, I'll say so, which is worth more than a coach who pretends to know everything.

More about me

Common questions

Business coaching, answered plainly.

Is this business coaching or life coaching?

Business coaching. The focus is you as the owner and leader, and the real decisions you face running the company. It's about the business, and your role at the centre of it.

How is a business coach different from a consultant?

A consultant tends to come in and do the work with you. A coach helps you think more clearly and make better decisions yourself. I do both, depending on what you actually need, and I'll be honest about which one will help more.

Do you coach remotely or in person?

Coaching is usually remote using Microsoft Teams. However, I'm also happy to meet in person around Langley, the Fraser Valley, and Metro Vancouver.

How often do we meet?

On a cadence that fits you. For most owners that's a standing session every couple of weeks or once a month, with room to reach out when something can't wait.

Do I have to commit to a big engagement?

No. Coaching is a lower-commitment place to start. Some owners stay with coaching, and others grow into a larger engagement once it makes sense.

Related reading

From the blog.

Stop making the hard calls alone.

A discovery call is a straight conversation about what's on your plate and whether coaching would help. No pitch, no obligation.

Book a discovery call