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Mission Statement
At Small Pause Coaching, we help people slow down to create safety within themselves. This enables greater self-awareness, clearer choices, and more meaningful relationships in the moments that matter.
We believe real change doesn’t come from force or urgency, but from presence.
During the pause, people regulate their nervous system. They reconnect with their values. They rediscover choice.
From that place, energy is restored, and clarity emerges. New opportunities for personal and professional growth unfold naturally, leading to improved well-being and resilience.
Learning to live within the pause is not an escape from life; it is a way of meeting life with presence, intention, meaning, and care.
About Dave
My life has been shaped by moments that asked me to slow down, pay attention, and find a steadier way forward.
As a child, chronic asthma brought me in and out of hospitals, often alone in oxygen tents for days. Those early experiences taught me something I would only understand later: when life feels uncertain, presence matters. So does care. So does learning how to respond instead of react.
In my teenage years and early adulthood, I found strength through sports, outdoor adventure, and physical challenge. I also struggled with alcohol and drugs for more than a decade. Recovery at 25 became one of the defining turning points of my life. It taught me that real change does not come from force, perfection, or shame. It begins when we create enough safety within ourselves to reconnect with what matters.
That lesson has stayed with me through every part of my life: mountaineering, solo wilderness travel, parenting, leadership, recovery, and coaching.
Before founding Small Pause Coaching in 2017, I spent many years in local government leadership, where I learned that influence is not just about position or strategy. It is about how we show up with people, especially in moments of pressure, uncertainty, and change.
Today, I bring together lived experience, practical leadership, and professional coaching training through the Newfield Network, ICF accreditation, Equine Guided Learning, and HeartMath® trauma-sensitive coaching.
I call this work living inside the pause: the practice of slowing down enough to notice what is happening, reconnect with your values, and choose your next step with more clarity, steadiness, and care.
I live in Ladner Village, BC, with my blended family and four children. When I pause from work, I’m often on the water — kayaking, floating on lakes, or remembering that stillness is not empty. It is where we often find ourselves again.
This is what I bring to coaching: a grounded belief that people are not broken, that change does not need to be forced, and that even in uncertainty, there is usually one small honest step available.
Training, Credentials & Practice Foundations
My work is shaped by a combination of professional coach training, leadership experience, trauma-sensitive practice, somatic awareness, and experiential learning. These foundations help me support people in slowing down, listening more carefully, and making grounded choices in the moments that matter.
ICF ACC Accreditation
My Associate Certified Coach credential through the International Coaching Federation reflects a commitment to professional coaching standards, ethical practice, and ongoing development. It provides clients with confidence that the coaching relationship is grounded, respectful, and professionally held.
Newfield Network Coaching Certification
My coach training through the Newfield Network shaped much of how I understand change, learning, language, emotion, and the body. This training supports a deeper style of coaching that helps clients notice not only what they think, but how they observe, respond, relate, and act in the world.
HeartMath® Trauma-Sensitive Coaching
HeartMath® training supports my work with nervous system regulation, emotional awareness, and resilience. This foundation helps clients slow down, create internal safety, and access greater clarity when stress, pressure, or uncertainty are present.
Experiential Practices & Foundations
Equine Guided Learning
Equine Guided Learning brings coaching into an experiential setting where presence, trust, boundaries, and emotional awareness become visible in real time. Horses offer immediate, honest feedback that can help people access insight beyond what conversation alone can reach.
Leadership Experience
Alongside my coaching training, I bring years of real-world leadership experience in a large local government organization. This has shaped my practical understanding of trust, communication, accountability, team dynamics, and what it means to lead through complexity, pressure, and change.
The Values That Shape This Work
At Small Pause Coaching, values are not abstract ideas. They are part of how we slow down, make choices, repair relationships, and move through uncertainty.
These values shape how I coach, facilitate, and support people as they reconnect with what matters most.
Freedom
The space to pause, notice your choices, and respond from clarity rather than reaction.
Trust
The safety to explore honestly, experiment, and show up without needing to have it all figured out.
Creativity
The ability to see new possibilities when the body settles and the mind has room to breathe.
Community
The reminder that growth happens in relationship — with people who support, challenge, and reflect us.
Integrity
The practice of living, deciding, and leading in alignment with what matters most.