“I feel SEEN when I am coached by Todd. A masterful listener, Todd effectively witnesses and reflects what he sees and hears in his clients. He is empathetic, gentle, respectful, and great at holding space.
I have 7 friends who have been coached by Todd, and we all agree that he is amazing at creating an invitation to explore possibility. He is known for his imagination-rich approach of inviting people to "play in the light!" This means that Todd establishes a safe, relaxed, upbeat environment that frees his clients to imagine possibility in brand new ways. As a result of my sessions with Todd, I have frequently come away with fresh new perspectives about issues in which I originally felt stuck. You will thank yourself for giving yourself the gift of working with Todd. Thank you, Todd, for helping me to dance in the light!”
~Karen Isaacson, Ocean Inspired Healing Journeys
https://anchoredhealing.net
“Todd came at a perfect time in my life. I remember showing up on my first day to meet him and feeling overwhelmed with questions and expectations about myself and my business. His coaching brought so much clarity to my relationship with my business. I was able to really see what my self destructive patterns were and ultimate re-remember why I chose what I did for my profession!
I can happily say, that I sit here today so excited again about what I am doing while being very grounded and focused. I feel confident about where I am headed and my path becomes clearer everyday. I am so thankful for Todd because he was able to push me out of my comfort zone and give me a new perspective on my business while always being present and loving.”
-Ariela Najman, Interior Designer
“From the moment I began coaching with Todd, I knew I was in very skilled hands. His ability to listen, reflect, challenge, guide, and inspire me has led to major changes in how I currently live and experience life. I had been unable to grow as an artist and entrepreneur in several key ways. Todd's coaching has helped me (and continues to help me) create new habits, perceptions, and responses to my world that make me happier, wealthier, and wiser! For the first time in my many years in business, I’m not leaking my power with worry about money. Instead I am enjoying the momentum of having plenty of inspiring work and projects, and a deeper faith in myself and my future.”
~Daniel Mollner
"Todd is extremely intuitive and good at getting to the heart of an issue and reframing the problem. He helped me bring clarity and structure to my business so I could approach it with less struggle. Also, after a single session with my girlfriend and myself, she and I decided to move in together, which wasn't even on the table before!"
~Earl Vickers
Senior Software Engineer
“Todd Phillips is a powerful listener and has great thought architecture resources to offer to get you out of your limiting self talk and into what you truly want to create with your life. He helped me change blocked thinking patterns to supportive ones. With his help I was able to create, execute, and lead a workshop that had been a personal goal of mine for a long time.
Todd helped me to make a transition into a new career by supporting me to see myself through a new lens and shift the paradigm that was limiting me. Todd helped me achieve my goals, but most importantly he helped me think in a new way that allowed that change to be maintained”
~Tibisay Strazzera- Web Management /Video Production
"As a salesperson for some ten years with the Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce I was searching for some support in solving a personal image problem that was holding me back in my effectiveness in reaching my personal sales goals.I am happy to report that after only a few weeks of coaching sessions with Todd I have already seen a marked improvement in my sales and was able to increase my sales results over 20% in our recent Membership Drive. My self-image is more positive, I am more confidant, and most of all I am at peace with who I am. Todd brings a marvelous array of resources and tools into play when coaching his clients. His coaching style is excellent. His manner is warm and caring."
~Marva JacksonMembership Sales Coordinator, Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce
"Todd is phenomenal both as a coach and as a human spirit creating in this lifetime. Thanks to Todd I actually got my business up and running despite myself. What seemed like real obstacles to me where in fact of my own making. Todd supported me in seeing through those defense mechanisms I was using to stay safe. Magically it would seem, they shifted and I allowed myself to step into the unknown. I was so busy thinking rather than being that I couldn't see, until Todd stepped in, how I was limiting myself both from a business perspective and a personal growth perspective. Without Todd, I would still be swimming around in my head, thinking about what I wanted to do rather than being the person I so wanted to be. Thank you, Todd!"
~Sigrund Shoemaker
“Working with Todd has helped me see the issues that were so obvious, yet invisible to me. Our work helped me see the areas where story, resistance and fear were the real culprits, and to realize that areas of the story were not true. This new awareness has allowed me to have the ability to make better choices in my life and business as I have stepped into new perspectives, strategies and actions and am actively remarketing myself and my business. I recommend Todd’s work to anyone wanting a new outlook or change. We did good work together!”
~Scotty Rocket
"A real value that I’ve gotten from coaching is the ability to expand the box and see new possibilities in places where I was stuck. I have stepped into my life much more fully during the coaching process. I had to make some hard decisions along the way that I’d been avoiding; I laid some people off, I merged my company, and my marriage blew up. Through it all I learned to step into my life circumstances in powerful ways and saved my business and my marriage.
My relationships are much clearer and authentic now, which brings a wonderful richness to my life. I’m more connected to myself, and that has created spaciousness in my life in which distractions have naturally gone away. I have stopped drinking and have lost 30 pounds. I’ve found a rhythm and fearlessness in my life that wasn’t there before. Now, when I’m out of rhythm, I know it, and have the tools and skills to get back on track living the authentic, present, rich life that I’m committed to."
~Mark Block
"Todd Phillips is a catalyst. With amazing insight and communication skills Todd Phillips guides you in finding your own way. In contrast to “advising” or “telling” Todd assists you in discovering what works best for YOU. This approach is so powerful as you walk away from a meeting with Todd with an intangible experience that is yours to keep and an experience that you can integrate into your life.
Todd has challenged me to become the best person I can be while at the same time he has helped me to feel more confident, inspired and composed than ever before. This combination of skills is not only rarely seen, but also empowering beyond belief. I would highly recommend Todd Phillips for anyone who is ready to take their life to the next level and experience success both on an internal and external level."
~kym
“As my coach, Todd Phillips has helped me reconsider long standing notions that were holding me back. He worked with me to formulate strategies for a fully satisfying life. I greatly appreciate his compassionate and powerful approach to coaching.”
~Aaron Daly
"I am now able to look at things more objectively after working with Todd. I am more conscious of my part in how I make things happen in my life as well as taking responsibility for not letting things evolve in an unconscious way.
I first started coaching with Todd when I was near a breakthrough but feeling like I couldn't do what it was I wanted to do out of fear. Through hearing Todd's questions, getting support, and listening to myself, I went after and created what I was wanting. As I get out of my own way and let things happen it is exciting to realize my dreams! When challenges came up for me in my marriage of 32 years, Todd helped me look at my part in what had not been working and to make the changes to create something new. Through all these changes, the coaching process has brought more joy to my life."
~Gretchen Werner
“There are many times in one's life that there are just too many avenues to go down and I was standing at a crossroads. I thought I was looking for coaching to move my business forward but what I found, with Todd's help, was that I was needing more focus and encouragement on a personal level. Todd allowed me to explore roadblocks and to bring my personal focus in line with my business focus.
Todd is amazing at letting the process unfold and not managing thoughts and feelings. He allowed me to come to realizations on my own in a safe environment. Now I find myself more confident at work and in social circumstances. This has helped my business but more importantly coaching helped reduce my stress level, increase my overall health and create more harmony in my family. Thank you!
~Michele
"Todd coached me from being a frantic, ineffective problem solver to being brave, focused, and honestly committed to identifying and persuing my true dreams and desires. Being coached sped up my process times five and added valuable insight I never could have achieved or realized by myself. Todd is very talented coach and a wonderful person."
~Lisa Carlton
“Todd is a good active listener with a depth of Spiritual groundedness. In our sessions he allowed space for me to share and be authentically, made keen observations I wouldn’t have otherwise noticed, and fed them back to me in a way that was supportive and validating. He picked up threads from past conversations and wove them into the present in a way that revealed my values and strengths to me, and helped me to clarify my intent.”
~Antonina
"I'd been thinking about an artistic idea for a few years and came to Todd looking for a jolt to get it out the woodshed and into the light. Todd worked very quickly with me to help me gather all my ideas and encouraged me to put them down in a clear concise and very powerful vision, mission and values. He helped me work past some old "stories" that were getting in the way and after just a few sessions, my woodshed idea was brought into focus, found some momentum and is now in action! But the biggest benefit I took away from my work with Todd was being able to see how much I was trapping myself. The kind of reflection and partnership Todd offers is a great gift and benefit to anyone needing to get out of their own way in order to live up to their fullest and most creative potential."
~April Green - Bay Area Actor
"I have been receiving coaching from Todd Phillips over the last year as a part of an Artist’s Immersion Program. Our time together has been fruitful in many ways. Todd has amazing listening skills and is very articulate in reiterating what has been said, coalescing the main points, and finding where clarity and further exploration is needed. He uses both his humor and his deep spirituality to move things forward.
My work with him involved moving my mostly written book from its file in my computer to the publisher, where it now is waiting to be printed! I needed support and encouragement, which I got. I needed some help defining goals and breaking those up into tasks. This, I also got. When I got stuck somewhere in the writing process or in the tension, he joyfully helped me look at the soul lessons underneath the stuckness. He would give me good questions to ponder which would break up the blockage enough to get the writing started again and relieve whatever tension was holding me back. As a direct result of working with Todd, I feel much more confident about my skills as a writer! I have also gotten bolder in what I say and in my life in general.
Charity Dasenbrock
blog writer at www.charitydasenbrock.com,
"I know Todd Phillips to carry the far-reaching light of a gentle lantern. He has an incredible ability to shine new perspectives into dark areas of my life, to reconnect me with my mission, to meet me where I get stuck, and walk me back to the beauty and possibilities of my growing edges.
Todd reminds me of all there is to celebrate in the steps I am taking. I believe that Todd not only sees clearly, but is devoted to calling out my unique gifts, strengths, visions, and greatest dreams. Sensitive to what is effective for me, he draws from a spiritual source while generously sharing his expertise as a businessman, wayfinder, and strategist. Todd consistently drops me right into the joy and energy inherent in living with loving awareness, on-purpose."
~Lara Birchler, Teacher
“I came to Todd for coaching because I wanted to grow my business and wasn’t sure how to attract more clients. I was frustrated with trying to figure out the best strategies and another “conscious entrepreneur” recommended Todd to me. Working with Todd helped me see that a big piece of my relationship to my business was pushing, trying to figure it out and strategizing, rather than approaching it by embodying what I offer, what I stand for…and how coming from that perspective is so much more in alignment and integrity with who I really am and what I offer through my business. That was a big takeaway!
I really enjoyed my sessions with Todd and I felt safe being vulnerable with him. He is an excellent listener and has an incredible way of reflecting back everything I say in a way that expresses what I was trying to say, but in a much more concise and cohesive way, which really helped me gain clarity. He gave practices and asked questions that really invited me to go deep and learn what things I might be doing out of old survival mentality instead of embodied alignment with what I stand for in my role as a leader. He also was excellent about highlighting my gifts and celebrating all my accomplishments.
So through my work with Todd I’ve gained not only some useful business tips, but also an important mindset shift in my relationship with myself and my business that feels very helpful moving forward!
~D. Peri, Santa Cruz
“I loved working with Todd! He has a gift of being able to really listen, both to what was said and what was still under the surface of awareness that wanted to come out. I would say "oh yea!" with excitement a lot when he reflected back what he heard me saying. I felt so much clearer about what I wanted to do and how to express it after our sessions. I could feel how fully present he was with me and with what wanted to be birthed through me. He didn't have any preconceptions of what I needed to do or how to do it, but totally supported me in my vision. I highly recommend him!”
~Shira Stone, Sound Healer and Psychotherapist
https://www.thesoundingheart.com
“I came to Todd for coaching around unblocking my creativity. I heard about him through some friends who had received phenomenal results working with him. I’ve been in the creative arts doing theater, dance and music for most of my life, and I’ve always struggled with creating original work. It’s never been easy. I felt stuck and frustrated for years as I did everything I could think of, including attending workshops, going back to school to study music, joining choirs, taking composition classes etc. Within a month of beginning to work with Todd the floodgates of creativity opened and the creative flow has not stopped! It’s been almost three months since we started working together and I’ve successfully completed 5 new music tracks, shared them with others, gotten lots of positive feedback, and have also received many offers for creative collaboration.
I realized through our work that I had a lot of negative dialogue and feelings around my creativity that were keeping me stuck. Todd coached me on how to navigate myself out of those spaces and really connect to the excitement, fun and joy around my creative process. Now I work towards allowing my inspiration to motivate me through all areas of my life. The benefit has definitely worked its way into my whole life, as I feel more excited and upbeat about everything!
I am happy about the work, time and money I spent on hiring Todd Phillips as my life coach. I’d recommend anyone who’s feeling stuck in any are of their lives and looking for concrete results to hire Todd for help. Thanks Todd!”
~Mark Tanaka
Yoga Instructor
Musician/Artist
As a testament to the power and potency of life coaching with Todd Phillips, I share a journal entry I wrote 5 months after completing several months of coaching.
“…I woke this morning feeling an old familiar ughh, that ugly downward nose dive into despair and in-action. So, I quickly pulled myself up and grabbed the binder. After reading through the precious scrawling’s of wisdom that came from my sessions with Todd, ‘declarations, affirmations, responsible action plans’ I stand again resurrected, hopeful and happy to get back to work!”
I often refer to the binder. I came to Todd wanting some organizational support prioritizing my vocational and creative pursuits. I am one of those obsessive creatives with a strong inner critic, so I often find myself paralyzed. After our 1st session, we realized I had much more I wanted to put in order. What followed were several months of extraordinary individuation: rethinking my relationship to home, money, time and power dynamics etc... I learned to recognize and disengage from my habits of self-sabotage and victimization. I learned to coordinate positive action and take responsibility for my ambitions, hopes and dreams.
I am currently writing, performing and recording original songs for an album and engaging with my vocation with a new curiosity, creativity and excitement. And while I stumble from time to time, I get up! I trust in my resources and resilience. Todd has a unique way of physically grounding thinking processes in the here and now. I literally practiced “standing in my offering,” seeing myself fully resourced, and sharing the work I’m passionate about. He helped me identify my motivations, and set up the conditions for me to “feel my pull” and momentum. He has a phenomenal capacity to invite joy, positivity and potential into the room. He is playful, funny, and prayerful if you need it!
Todd is quick-witted and ingenious with reframing. He could often help me better articulate emerging intentions. When self-doubt, or old narratives would cloud my thinking, Todd could quickly find action-oriented language to keep me on track. I always left with embodied optimism and on a clear path. I highly recommend his coaching services!
~Song Nelson, Artist, Musician, and Parent
"Of all of the coaches I know, few have had what I was looking for: the capacity to think beyond the parameters of my box and see beyond my strategies; those which limit me from achieving what I say I want. Todd’s clear and supportive nature moved me toward even more accountability, efficiency, and power.
It’s one thing to have a coach that is smart. It is another to have a coach that is brilliant, creative, sensitive, and has the capacity to acknowledge each individual’s deep and rich essence. This man has the heart and soul to embrace his client’s humanity and the mind to be the thinking partner essential for empowering greatness. I highly recommend Todd as a coach and as a true friend."
~Rosie Kuhn, PHD,
Life Coach and Facilitator of the Transformational Coaching Training at the Institute of Transpersonal Psychology
“My coaching with Todd was valuable in assisting me to check out some of my old patterns and ways of thinking. I developed new skills and was given tools to challenge these patterns, and see what was working for me and what wasn't. Through our sessions I was able to uncover a more authentic, capable, and powerful person in myself, and become much less attached to my 'old story'.
Hooray for coaching!”
~Kat Kim
katkimdesign.com
"In the eighteen months before I began working with Todd I left a ten-year computer career, ended a five-year relationship, completed a master of arts degree, gave up competitive sports, sold my home, and moved from the community I had lived in for eight years. Needless to say I needed tools and encouragement to overhaul my life.
Todd brought focus, clarity, discipline, wisdom, sensitivity, and humor to the coaching experience with his keen listening, astute perception, and exceptional communication skills. He helped me recognize less-than-powerful patterns, identify the truth of my spirit, and embrace my infinite creativity and possibilities. He gave me new insight into the importance of cultivating a relationship with my inner and outer worlds, and provided critical support for making changes with courage, integrity, and elegance. I highly recommend Todd's coaching for those who wish to make deep and lasting transformation in their lives."
~Liza
“When I first came to see Todd, I was feeling scattered and unsure of myself. I had a few different projects that I wanted to work on, but none of them were getting completed because I kept jumping around between them all. Todd helped me to get grounded in what I really wanted to do – what my true passion was - and guided me back to that time-and-time again when I strayed too far afield. Since we started just over 1 year ago, I’ve completed my first book and a 12-module video training series on healthy eating!”
~Rob Aaron, Health Coach
week of April 29 - May 5, 2004
Best of Editors' Picks
Best Life Coach
Todd Phillips
Life Coach Todd Phillips runs a business that sports a very interesting moniker: Whose Life Is It Anyway? Ask him that question and he’ll probably answer: “It’s your life. And you can live it in a way that is richly satisfying, full, and balanced. What you put your attention and energy into, you actually draw into your life.” Phillips has been a professional life and business coach for more than four years and has created a wonderful following for himself locally. A lifecoach, by the way, is not a therapist. The main thrust of a coach is to support individuals stepping into their own lives more fully by providing structure, accountability and support to focus on the goals that are most important to them. And Phillips definitely assists othersin doing all that and more.
Sessions revolve around—do you love this?—you! You decide what goals are important to—you’ll love this—you. In other words, it’s all about—you’re gonna love this—you! But you in the healthiest sense. I sought out Phillips for a book project I wanted to gain clarity on and create structure around. The project was intense and, after a number of sessions with Phillips, I mapped out a plan for my project and brought into focus the details requesting my attention. I enjoyed coaching so much that I found myself delving into other areas of my life in which I wanted to create shifts. The bottom line?
I found Phillips’ professional techniques to be life-altering and truly rewarding. (And it would be remiss to not share that information with as many people as I can.) “As a coach, I support clients to build the skills that allow them to better distinguish and come from their essence,” Phillips says. Whose life is it anyway? Yours. Get to know it. Todd Phillips, Life and Business Coach
~Greg Archer
Editor of GT Weekly
What a terrific life coach! When dealing with highly personal issues including obstacles to growth, there can be so much uncertainty, and I certainly felt that before I chose to work with Todd. He made me feel so at ease from the very beginning, and helped me open my eyes to my own "stuckness".
I very honestly can attribute my greater expansion and openness to far greater possibilities in my life to my work with Todd. His approach is quite unique and extremely helpful, not just sweet and friendly, although he is delightful to work with and has a terrific sense of humor. When appropriate he was very willing to kind of kick me in the butt, which is to say he got me to open my eyes and all of my senses to where and how I was genuinely and unknowingly getting very much in my own way. I cannot thank him enough for that.
Todd is very caring and considerate as well, and always sought out avenues that best met MY intentions for myself. Long and the short of it is, I would not hesitate in the least to recommend him to anyone looking for help in either personal areas of business issues. He is one of a kind, and truly a genuine find.
~Joel Barnes, Interior Designer
"Todd's sessions are wonderful and life changing! What I appreciate most about Todd's coaching sessions is that I always feel the experience is whole and balanced - providing the full scope of a coaching session around my issue.
Todd provides a safe, loving, non-judgemental space in which he listens, reflects, and guides me to the core of the matter. Todd's sessions have helped me identify and acknowledge blocks and issues that are keeping me from my full expression of who I want to be. He is collaborative in coming up with goals and plans to heal and shift the energy around a situation.
Every time I have finished a session with Todd, I feel uplifted, lighter, ready and willing, and capable to change that area of my life. I feel that our sessions ignite a profound shift in me, and that I leave with a positive and hopeful perspective, along with achievable goals and tools to make my way there.
I also really appreciate Todd's prompt follow up emails and handouts - it assists me in integrating the session as well.
I highly recommend Todd for your coaching needs - his loving energy, experience and competence in coaching is a perfect combination for life changing results. Thank you Todd! :)"
~Beverly Molina, Author and Firefighter
"I came to coaching wanting to find more ease in my relationship to growth and facilitating positive change in my life. I have had a relationship of being self-critical and expecting perfection from myself in all areas of my life. This often leads to swinging between pushing myself to be as productive as possible and subsequently becoming exhausted and unable to accomplish all that I had set out to do. This led to frustration and doubt in my ability to be of service to the values that I held dear including being kind, compassionate and cultivating present centered awareness.
When I started coaching I quickly realized that I couldn't do everything all of the time and Todd helped me to discover a way of prioritizing and taking action in a part of my life that felt alive to me in the moment and to allow the other areas to take care of themselves without trying too hard and expending too much energy with unfulfilled promises.
Another great realization that I had during our time together was learning how to speak over my doubting and self-judgmental voices without suppressing them or letting them "run the show". I've found myself having fewer times when I am lost in confusion and unable to make decisions because I am able to practice being decisive in smaller areas of my life, like deciding what to eat from a dinner menu. When I practice what it's like to shift from being confused to being decisive in these easier decisions, then it becomes easier to make that shift with bigger decisions, like making career changes.
One of the things that I really enjoyed about Todd was his ability to honor my life perspective and the tools and philosophies that I have accepted as guiding factors for my life. He wasn't trying to fit me into a box and telling me what I "had to believe in" in order to have success. Todd accepted the framework that is part of my unique path, which for me is strongly influenced by Buddhism. When Todd would introduce new concepts or theories around growth or consciousness, it was always done without the expectation that I need to accept this new way of thinking about the world. I felt at ease and accepted by this way that he held our time together.
Overall I would recommend Todd to anyone who is looking for an authentic, down to earth coach who can help to shift the perspective that you hold on life to be empowering and satisfying."
~Travis Usinger