Today we’d like to introduce you to Dave Labowitz.
Dave, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
My childhood was rough and unpleasant but I excelled in school and athletics until I was about 13 when my parents finally divorced. That was the age at which I learned to rebel, and the moment I figured that out things went sideways pretty quickly. I dropped out of high school after attending about half a year, quit sports, dabbled in drugs, and was thrown out of the house at 14. My father, who I hadn’t talked to in a year, took me in, and we spent the next few years growing up together; he was in and out of rehab; I was in and out of trouble.
After nearly being stabbed in a dispute which had nothing to do with me, I decided it was time to get on a different path before things became unrecoverable. This led to my getting my GED, a 4.0 semester in community college, getting into Washington College to study psychology, winning my actual high school diploma in a bet with my school district, and finally graduating Magna cum Laude.
After undergrad I studied engineering and became a software and databased developer, but after a couple of start/stop jobs came to the conclusions that I was better cut out for a role on the business side and that I loved working in startups. I decided on business school in order to learn what I didn’t know and, after falling in love with the campus on a tour, ended up getting my MBA from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management.
After grad school I jumped right into the start-up scene. I served as an executive leader in three startups and one turnaround. The first two startups have successfully exited and the third is kicking butt and likely to exit in the next few years. Along the way I learned and grew a ton, both on the job and in continuing education. I attended Insight Seminar’s first three personal growth seminars and studied Spiritual Psychology at The University of Santa Monica.
After a decade plus of 60+ hour weeks building startups, I decided to change my focus to business and leadership coaching for a few reasons. First, it is a way to cherry-pick my very favorite part of my career: I loved helping my team members learn, grow and succeed. As a coach, I get to do that full time. Second, I ran into some medical challenges and just didn’t have it in me to continue with the crazy hours and sleepless nights. Coaching allows me to be selective in terms of the people with whom I work and the hours I choose to commit. I had a blast in venture-backed startups but I won’t miss the middle-of-the-night IT emergencies!
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Ha! Very little in my life has been a smooth or straight road. However, the resiliency and grit I built overcoming my adversities has served me very well, and the last 15 years or so have been far smoother than my younger years. That being said, there is no shortage of struggles and victories in the life of a startup; far too many to name.
I’d say the most relevant struggle was my evolution as a leader. When I got my first executive leadership position I was young for the job, brash, and too ego-motivated. I was on point with metrics, KPIs, and SMART goals, but I was failing to bring the authenticity I needed to build meaningful relationships with my team. I got the very direct feedback from my boss, who became a mentor and close friend, that I need to work on my authenticity in the office and give trust more freely in order to get trust from others. I’ll never forget how much that feedback stung, but it was dead-on what I needed to hear.
I ultimately found my own definition of leadership: leadership is personal growth, performed in public. I learned to check my ego at the door, and that I didn’t have a “personal me” and a “professional me”; I simply had one authentic me. As I learned to show up at work as that person, everything changed. I now treasure the relationships I have with my former teams, peers and bosses in an entirely new way, and am honored that some of these folks have not just chosen to stay in touch, but to hire me as a coach.
Tell us about your business/company. What do you do, what do you specialize in, what are you known for, etc. What are you most proud of as a company? What sets you apart from others?
My mission is to help solopreneurs, entrepreneurs, and business leaders kick ass in business and in life. I coach people through business challenges and the personal challenges inextricably tied to them. My clients range from entrepreneurs looking to raise angel and/or VC funding, to solopreneurs learning to navigate as they launch or scale, to leaders in other organizations looking to hone their skills and improve their careers.
I’ve found that issues may start with a business problem but frequently end with working through personal upset. It’s my opportunity as a coach to help people not just figure out the business challenge they’re facing but to sort through how and why it triggered them so they can evolve from the experience into better leaders and happier professionals. I’m honored to have these opportunities to make meaningful and positive impacts on people’s lives.
The coaching industry is crowded and confusing due to lack of formal oversight. All it takes is a piece of chalk and a tile to hang your shingle and call yourself a coach, so it’s critical to qualify a coach before deciding to work with one. One of the things that sets me apart is my depth of experience in industry: I have raised over $12 million in equity financing for three different startups, all of which have been quite successful, and I’ve managed just about everything in those businesses at some point or another. Another thing that sets me apart is my personal history: my adversities are my strengths, and, as a coach, each one just gives me another topic I can understand and help a client with.
Finally, my formal education stands out: I have a BA in Psychology, an MBA, five years of leadership study with Vistage, have attended over 120 hours of personal growth seminars, and spent 10 months studying spiritual psychology and practicing facilitation.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
My childhood was messy, which left me with a huge chip on my shoulder. When I dropped out of high school the universal message from the world was, “You’re a screw up and you’ll never amount to anything.” When I finally got my GED and got into Washington College to study for my BA, I promised my father I would graduate. Getting through college without the background high school provides was quite a challenge, and the first commitment I ever really stuck to on my own.
On the day I graduated, I walked across the stage, took my diploma in hand, and looked out over the audience. I finally found my Dad, who was watching with tears in his eyes, and I felt a huge part of the chip on my shoulder slide away. That’s my favorite memory from childhood.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.davelabowitz.com
- Phone: 424-326-3283
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/davelabz
- Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/davelabz
- Other: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davelabowitz
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