Meet founder of Ascent Life Coaching, Chad Gilham
Chad Gilham lived his previous life as a vice president of a landscaping company and then joined the ranks of his wife's family business. He was operating the business when a small inner tugging would not leave him alone. He always knew he was meant for greatness, but he wasn’t sure what that greatness was. He ignored the inner tugging for a while, causing him to go into a deep depression that he oftentimes couldn’t explain. Chad was an avid mountain climber; he had climbed his first 14,000 ft mountain when he was 26-years-old. He found that on the mountain he didn’t have to be tame—he could give in to the wild he felt while extending his body and mind past the point of exhaustion and exhilaration. On one of these climbs, he noticed a small creature, much like a beaver, standing on its hind legs barking at him. He passed by, but could still hear the creature barking after he was well out of eyesight. This is what would become known as the “inner barking marmot.” Chad realized that the inner voice he had been avoiding was his barking marmot. It was a consistent bark that let him know, “hey something isn’t right here, and you need to do something now.” Chad was afraid of letting his family down by walking away from the business, but after encouragement from his wife he turned in his keys and began re-creating his wild mind, body, and soul. He signed up for a leadership course with the American Alpine Institute where he would rock climb, hike, and camp for 36 days, while learning safety techniques and self arrest methods. Once he completed this course, he signed up for Martha Beck’s life coach training. His hope as a coach is to help stuck people realize their wild self again--either through extreme measures or a simple change in direction.