I tell stories.
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"I wanted to thank you for your skillful and artful professionalism. The storywork we did together was such a well designed entity of work; from the description, through the calls and the wrap up. Thank you."
-Mirona Motos |
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BIO (The wee-sized version)
I'm no fan of being labeled.. so here goes; I'm a storyteller, natural learning specialist, fly-fishing junkie, student of native traditions and the Hero’s Journey, proud dyslexic, facilitator of rites of passage programs, artist, community builder, and coffee lover (the cheap kind). After a love-hate relationship as a public school teacher, In 2005, I traded in my thirty-year life plan for the unknown. Instead, I co-founded Sagefire Institute with my wife Lynn. Using nature and story as the foundation for our work, we’ve help thousands of humans big and small, create lives rooted in who they truly are. My love of myth and mischief has provided me with some amazing opportunities and put me in front of audiences all over the country - and a few far away places, too. It's a well known fact that I was raised by coyotes and I'm now raising one of my own on the bones of an old farm hidden along a river somewhere in Westchester County, New York. You can find me there - fly-fishing of course. |
Fun Fact Cheat Sheet
Everything you need to know about Michael
RAISED BY COYOTES
(NOT WOLVES) |
PROUD DYSLEXIC
W/ A HINT OF ADHD |
WANDERS BUT IS
FAR FROM LOST |
THINKS MYTHS
ARE LIVING THINGS |
COUNTS TROUT
TO FALL ASLEEP |
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"Michael masterfully guided me to embrace my
'Original Medicine,' allowing me to share my vision
with the world in a much bigger way.
His mentoring has changed my life!
- Margaret Webb
Author of Parenting the Child You Didn't Expect While You Were Expecting -
"Michael's mentorship helped me to fully realize what I envisioned for my community, and helped me formalize actionable steps toward equity in nature-based education."
Atiya Wells
Executive Director, Backyard Basecamp -
“To choose to train with Michael is to choose to give yourself a gift. First, he shows you how intuition has always been present in your life. Secondly, he teaches you how to actively listen to that intuition during and long after working with him. Michael’s words become the teaching of the soul."
-Tim McGrath
Writer and Director, Surviving Theater 9 -
"I had so many personal and professional breakthroughs with Michael that it felt as though we packed 10 sessions into 4. After working with him, not only did I have clarity on where I wanted to take my business, I had a clear understanding of how to incorporate my true talents into my work and life."
-Allyson Scammell
Business Coach and Host of the She Grows podcast -
"Dude, today you were Yoda! Absolute fucking genius what you did!
The shift in me is crazy and I can’t even start to tell you
the magic that's been going on since."
-Tania Barber
Life Coach
The truth, the whole truth, and nothing
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I BIO (The long version)
I was raised by coyotes in the wild west of Westchester County, New York, which is neither wild, nor in the west. An artist at heart, I "chose" a sensible career path in education. Turned out… I loved teaching, hated the “system”as it seemed to care more for test scores than children. My fantasy of running away from it all led me to dive deep into wilderness survival skills, which in turn led me to study how native peoples design culture and mentored individuals into relationship with their “medicine" - game changer! In 2005, I finally bailed on working for "the man" and my wife Lynn and I co-founded Sagefire Institute, where we facilitated, studied, and taught the art of mentoring - storytelling is a huge part of it. Since then, I’ve helped design and facilitate wilderness rites of passage programs for the Institute for Natural Learning; co-led coaching workshops with Martha Beck, best selling author and columnist for O Magazine; authored Sit Spot and the Art of Inner Tracking; launched my own Nature-Based Coach Training program; and became a father. For 20 years now, I’ve been bringing a mix of myth and mischief to businesses, coaching retreats, writing workshops, schools, private gatherings, and more, in order to generate inspiration, conversation, and transformation. It’s not uncommon for the people I work with to suddenly shift gears and redesign their lives and work to reflect who they really are. You’ve been warned! When not talking about the magic of myths and fairytales, or mentoring someone toward greatness, I’m usually fly-fishing. I live with my with and daughter on the bones of an old farm that was built upon lands once cared for by the Wappinger tribe, an Eastern Algonquian Munsee-speaking Native American people. We have two cats - Harry Potter and Sir Percival Meowsalot, and more chickens than we no what to do with. |
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