About Drew

 

• How Social Psychologist Became a Coach
  
  
• Professional Background (education and trainings)
  
  
• Just for Fun… More About Drew
  

How a Social Psychologist Became a Coach

Fate Took Me to a Ph.D. Program at Syracuse University

I always thought I was destined to be a college professor in social psychology. I love psychology and I get very good feedback as a teacher, so this seemed to be the right profession for me. (No, I'm not a therapist. Social psychology is the study of why people do what we do and the factors that influence our behavior.)

Deeply Invested, Yet Disenchanted

As I got closer to my goal of getting my Ph.D. and I began hitting the job market, I didn't get the feeling that teaching was truly valued by many colleges and universities.  Suddenly academia was not so attractive.  Yet this had been my plan for the last 5 years of my life and now I was thinking dropping it all? What was I going to do? A decision had to be made soon.

The Newsweek Article that Changed My Life

Just when I was started to apply for jobs I didn't really want (and thus knew I wouldn't get), I came across an article in Newsweek about coaching and a training program for coaching. Immediately after reading it, I knew that coaching was IT for me. It incorporated everything that I wanted — the freedom and independence that I need, a way to really help people enjoy their lives more, and a job that could make me financially independent. 

I remember sitting in my ratty La-Z-Boy chair, feeling as though my life would never be the same. The article was half a page, but I read it over and over and over. In the weeks to come, I told myself the truth — that although I had invested the last 3 years of my life in grad school, I no longer had any interest in academia or being a college professor.

This coaching thing was just too intriguing. Though I knew little about it, I knew that this was something that I would be very, very good at. I knew it because it was something that I was good at already — I'd been coaching friends and family my whole life.I had always been the guy that people came to discuss their challenges.

During the next year and a half, I continued to teach at Syracuse University, work on my Ph.D., and took classes at Coach University (the leading coach training school). I dragged my ass out of bed a couple of times a week and went to breakfast meetings in town telling people what I did as a personal coach. It took a while for people to understand what the hell I was talking about, but they were receptive to me and my message.

My plan was to transition straight from grad school to coaching full time. I had 10 paying clients at this point, completed my coach training, and had a brand spanking new Ph.D. on my wall. While I everybody else thought I was crazy for abandoning academia, I knew I was doing the right thing for me. Life was good.

In a week, I lost most of my clients and found myself staring down over $25,000 in student loans coming due, another $5000 in credit card debt, car payments, rent, blah, blah, blah… Things were downright scary. I found myself scanning the Internet for jobs, cursing myself in my darkest hours for being so foolish to pursue my dream…not in a very healthy place. 

Perseverance and Creating a New Life

But I did what I had to. I painted houses, taught statistics at Hobart and William Smith Colleges, and persevered in spreading the word about coaching. And over the next year or so, I was able to build up my clientele again, pay my rent, and keep the wolves at bay. While things are wonderful now, believe me, they were not always that way. There was a lot of faith (knowing?) on my part to stick with coaching.

Living the Laws of Practical Attraction

Eleven years later, and I’m still in the game. In that time I have coached over 700 people (from members of Fortune 100 companies to small business owners to folks just interested in learning more about themselves) on getting more of what makes them happy (e.g., more time, more money, less stress, more "success" — however they define the word, better relationships, a happier life, etc.)

I've focused my efforts on creating this website, my newsletter, and learning the rules of attracting what I really want to me. And it's been working well. Very well. I'm tapped into my passion, so things just flow from there. I attract all the clients I want and have been able to totally reverse my financial situation from one of poverty to prosperity.

Drew Rozell Ph.D –  Professional Background

Ph.D. Social Psychology, Syracuse University

1993-1996 Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY

M.S. Social Psychology, Syracuse University

1987-1991 SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY

Professional Training as a Coach

(this isn’t a hobby…)

August 1996 - present

• I spent over 6 years being trained and mentored as a coach at the world's leader in training professional and business coaches, Coach University. I graduated in 1999.
  
  
• In May 2002, I made another significant investment in my training and development and joined Thomas Leonard’s (considered the founding father of the coaching profession) The Graduate School of Coaching at Coachville.
  
  
  
• Certified Distributor for various DISC assessment tools (e.g., communication style, values, behaviors, 360° assessments, sales, etc.).See my sister site, DISCREPORTS.com for the full story…
   
• Most important, I am a Certified WaveMaker Coach and a Certified Trainer of The Core Dynamics of Common Problems. High octane stuff!
  
  
  
• I continue to learn and grow within the coaching community by attending additional coach trainings and conferences around the country.
   
• I practice what I preach. Over the years I have hired several wonderful coaches of my own and I continuously focus on my personal evolution through hiring mentors, reading, attending conferences and cutting-edge trainings.

"I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cab driver. Then they would be really educated."
– the late basketball coach & commentator, Al McGuire

Age 11 — paperboy — early AM's, heavy bags, lots of snow, uphill both ways, good character builder

Age 13 — janitor — I try to block it out from memory…especially cleaning the bathrooms

Age 14 — arcade attendant — The free games were nice, but the noise will get to you…

Age 16 — boat docker — My job was to put tie your boat to a post move it if another boat had to get out. I only remember falling in the lake once. Of course, about 100 people drinking on the deck started applauding…

Age 18 — warehouse worker — Would work up a good sweat. Fun people. Summer job while in college.

Age 20 — delivery guy — Put enough time in at the warehouse and they'll give you a set of wheels! Lots of freedom on the road. I liked that. Summer job while in college.

Age 20 — gas station attendant — my favorite phrase… "No, I really don't know why your car would be making that sound."

During this period, I took a year off to apply to graduate school. I vividly remember being so desperate for a job that I applied for a job cleaning pet cages in a mall store. I was unable to land that dream job however, making me question the value of graduating magna cum laude from college. So much for the liberal arts, huh?

Age 21 — waiter — In my opinion, anyone who goes out to eat should wait tables for at least 3 months. You see the very best and worst in people. Most important, you learn how to deal with people and how to tip properly.

Age 21 — bouncer — Mostly a piece of cake. Every once in a while, things could get pretty hairy though. Got in the middle of two fights in two years. You should have see the other guys

Age 21-24 — bartender — Another great opportunity to come in contact and learn from wide array of humanity. You see happy people, sad people, people in love, people meeting for the first time, people saying goodbye forever, some people drinking to remember, some people drinking to forget. Can be one of the greatest jobs to one of the most difficult.

Age 26-27 — house painter – Summer job from grad school. I liked being outdoors, overcoming my fear of heights, and the feeling of accomplishment that comes with working with your hands. You can always look at the finished product and say, "I did that." I like that feeling. Plus I really needed the money.

Age 28 — college professor — I really liked teaching. Fed my need for attention, I really enjoyed the students and by and large, I think they liked me. Again, another great opportunity to learn about people, how to treat them, and how to learn from them. Still, there were some things missing — like money. Once I let go to my attachment that I "should" be a college professor and started turning down offers that just didn't feel right, things started to flow for me. I have yet to spend a moment wishing I was still grading papers.

Age 26 — present (full time since age 28) — Coach — I feel incredibly lucky to have found coaching when I did. The best so far…