love your life
Coaching From Essence supports people on the journey from self-interest, status-seeking, scarcity, and survival to a life of essence, abundance, service, and trust.
Founder
Robert Ellis
Founder
Robert is an executive coach and the founder of Futurosity and the Coaching From Essence training program for executive coaches.
Robert has over 30 years of experience working with global companies—spanning startups, mid-stage, Fortune 500 giants, and non-profits— guiding leaders to take their impact to the next level at any stage of growth. His proven strength in coaching entrepreneurs and CEOs to become better leaders, think more strategically, create high-performing teams, foster future-friendly cultures, and deliver compelling presentations—including several high-profile IPO roadshows—has earned him praise from one client as “one of Silicon Valley’s best-kept secrets.”
He’s taught leadership and coached entrepreneurs at Singularity University, and developed Level UP, the leadership curriculum for the Global Startup Program.
He was one of the original coaches for the Nasdaq Milestone Maker program, helping late-early to mid-stage entrepreneurs grow their businesses to the next level.
He also taught Facing Challenge, Navigating Change: Leadership and The Hero’s Journey, an 8-week course at Stanford University using Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey as a framework to explore mindsets and skillsets for leading yourself and others on a heroic journey in business and in life.
Associates
The work of Coaching From Essence is being carried on by a global community of more than 300 coaches, including these extraordinary coaches who have worked intensively with Robert Ellis.
Vanessa Shaw
Coach to Executives, Board and Civic Leaders
Vanessa Shaw is known for her ability to gather people and invite depth. She brings a dynamic portfolio of experience. She has been a cofounder in Silicon Valley, built and scaled several businesses, been an organizational design consultant based in Europe and taught at international MBA programs. Her coaching clients are executive leaders at places like Tesla, The Pentagon, VISA, and Inc. Top 100 Fastest growing companies. Vanessa’s clients describe her as edgy, provocative, grounded and compassionate to the demands leaders face. She prides herself in building thoughtful and hyper-personalized experiences for her clients.
Doug Erwin
executive coach + non-profit exec
Doug is a serial entrepreneur turned nonprofit executive currently working as the Senior Vice President of Entrepreneurial Development at EDAWN. He’s committed to growing Northern Nevada’s startup and technology ecosystem and supporting entrepreneurs as they embark upon their own journeys.
Before devoting his work full-time to EDAWN, he cofounded six companies in different industries, including eCommerce, software development, medical diagnostics, and consumer products manufacturing. Through his entrepreneurial endeavors, he experienced first-hand the highs and lows of building companies, managing investors and partners, and the challenges associated with balancing family, self, and career.
LinkedIn
Reno, Nevada
Peter Kovacs
Culturally Intelligent Executive Coach
Peter is an Executive Coach, helping high performers, entrepreneurs, change-makers, and C-level executives to raise the game for their companies, careers, and impact. His clients include Amazon, NVIDIA, and Bain & Co.
Born in Hungary and raised in Algeria and Canada, Peter learned how to build bridges between people and cultures and tries to make the world a better place for all.
He founded 4 startups and made a successful exit from his last venture, V12 Software.
He also mentors at Singularity University, StartOut, Pathrise and the NASDAQ Entrepreneurial Center.
Greg Rickman
executive coach + Corporate speaker
Greg Rickman is an executive coach and corporate speaker. He works with CEOs, EVPs, and SVPs who are preparing for or navigating big changes, who want to significantly up-level their leadership skills, and who are creating something so big in their personal or professional lives they know they will need to evolve to create it, or who simply want to be happier, more satisfied, fulfilled, and effective.
With more than fifteen years of corporate experience in securities and real estate law, investment banking, and strategy consulting, and over two decades of intense personal growth and development across dozens of transformational disciplines, Greg brings a wealth of practical knowledge and experiential wisdom to his coaching.
Arielle Shnaidman
executive coach
Arielle helps leaders build their biggest dreams and reach their next level of success.
Through her unique blend of neurolinguistic programming, positive psychology, and performance coaching, she helps leaders identify the patterns that hold them back, gain new perspectives that move forward, and take the actions their future selves will thank them for.
Daniel Stillman
Executive Coach + Conversation Designer
Daniel Stillman designs conversations for a living and insists that you do, too. As an executive coach he works with clients of all shapes and sizes on leadership and team dynamics as well as on product and organizational innovation.
He also hosts The Conversation Factory podcast and is the author of “Good Talk: How to Design Conversations that Matter” a handbook for changemakers and innovators.
History
The first cohort of Coaching From Essence met in January 2020.
Before COVID-19 turned the world on its head, 21 coaches from as far away as Singapore and Chile met in an Airbnb in Brisbane, south of San Francisco. Over a long weekend, from Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon, they learned how to do powerful work, love what they do, and create practices that would support them financially to do the work they love.
After COVID-19 made it unsafe to meet in person, the program went online, making it available to people from all over the world. After several cohorts, the program was made completely free on the community forum. More than 300 coaches are now members of the Coaching From Essence community.
September 2022
The fifth cohort of Coaching From Essence meets in person at the beautiful Mount Madonna Center in Watsonville, California. The program is recorded and will be made available on the internet, completely FREE, in early 2023. The first draft of the Coaching From Essence book, a limited edition exclusively for participants (and a few friends), was published for the occasion.
March 2021
The fourth cohort meets online. Note: If you are taking the course on the community forum, start with the fourth cohort.
September 2020
The third cohort meets online.
May 2020
The second cohort meets online. Robert writes the first draft of the core curriculum and posts it to the community forum.
January 2020
The first cohort of 21 coaches meets in an Airbnb in Brisbane, south of San Francisco, for the first cohort of Coaching From Essence. There’s no written curriculum. Participants are given Moo books and a “Bingo Card,” a card with the core ideas and models.
September 2019
After Robert has coffee or lunch with numerous coaches curious about how he’s creating his successful practice, he posts an announcement on Facebook and creates an event on Eventbrite. Within a few days, more than 20 people register. Participants pay as much as $3500 to attend. After the fourth cohort meets in March 2021, Robert makes the training program completely free.