ABOUT US
Our mission to make work more meaningful for all is powered by our small yet mighty team. Founder Nick Duggan serves as our primary coach and facilitator, and we partner with additional highly-qualified coaches, facilitators, and specialists on a project-by-project basis. We're also incredibly grateful for our superstar team of independent contractors who help keep things running smoothly with behind-the-scenes support.
NICK DUGGAN
Leadership + Career Coach
Founder, Deeper Work
I've been developing people and organizations for more than 20 years, and I'm passionate about making work more meaningful for all. I combine my background in coaching and leadership development with my experience leading People + Culture teams to help leaders increase their impact and grow their careers.
About Nick
COACHING BACKGROUND
I've coached and advised senior executives, midlevel leaders, new managers, recent grads, small business owners, and people going through significant personal or career transitions. My coaching style is client-centered, holistic, practical, and adaptable. My primary goal is always to listen deeply to my clients and empower them to identify what they want to work on, then partner with them to make their vision a reality. I take a "whole person" approach, helping clients consider goals, challenges, and options from multiple perspectives such as physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. I naturally tend toward what I'd call a soul-centered coaching style, incorporating deep questions about meaning, guided visioning practices when appropriate, and openness to imagination, intuition, and inner guidance. But first and foremost I'm adaptable and responsive to my clients' needs, so if they prefer a more straightforward, practical approach then I lean into that style. I have a strong analytical, results-focused side, as well as solid business and leadership experience, and I bring these to my coaching relationships as well. I am a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), I completed my ICF-accredited coach training through Coach U, and I have pledged to adhere to the ICF Code of Ethics.
FINDING THE RIGHT COACH
I believe strongly in finding the right coach/client match, so I actively encourage potential clients to interview multiple coaches, and I make sure my own clients know that if our partnership is not working for them, to let me know. If we can work it out, that's great—but I also fully support my clients in finding a different coach who is a better match if that's what they need.
PROFESSIONAL HISTORY
Since 2003, I've offered leadership + career coaching in addition to full-time corporate roles. Most recently, I led Learning & Development and DEI for AppFolio. I grew the L&D function from its infancy into a full-fledged team focused primarily on leadership development, manager training, team development, and new hire onboarding. I also led the development of the company's first DEI strategy and built out a DEI team to bring that strategy to fruition. Prior to joining AppFolio, I led global employee and executive communications for the GoTo division of Citrix. While there, I completed a master's degree in Organizational Psychology from William James College. I began my career with roles in event planning and corporate training in healthcare-related companies such as DaVita, Prometheus Labs, The Zitter Group, and the American Heart Association, after graduating from UC Santa Barbara with a bachelor's degree in Communication.
LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE
During my time at Citrix I was a member of the senior leadership team for the global $680M, 1700-employee GoTo business unit. I supported the development of the division's business strategy, organizational changes, executive communications, and M&A activity including the eventual spin-off and merger of the business. At AppFolio I served on the companywide HR Leadership Team reporting directly to the Chief People Officer of a $470M, 1800-employee public company. Besides leading the company's L&D and DEI functions, I supported projects across HR, including driving the development of the company's annual People Strategy. At both companies, I also coached and consulted for executives and senior leaders across all functions and business units.
IDENTITY, INCLUSION, & ACKNOWLEDGMENT
As an out gay man, I am a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community. I care deeply about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I'm committed to being an active ally and advocate for people from all marginalized and underrepresented communities. I am a member of the Gay Coaches Alliance and a Founding Member of Coaching for Everyone, a nonprofit dedicated to providing coaching and leadership support to traditionally underserved and under-resourced BIPOC populations. I also hold a DEIB Certificate from The Kapor Center and am a certified Bold, Inclusive Conversations® facilitator.
I live and work on the traditional lands of the Chumash people, specifically the Barbareño Chumash. I encourage you to learn about Native peoples in your own area, to explore the issues and challenges facing these communities in the U.S. and around the world, and to support organizations working to improve life for Indigenous people, such as IllumiNative, a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to increasing the visibility of—and challenging the narrative about—Native peoples.
PERSONAL INTERESTS
I'm a huge sci-fi/fantasy and especially Star Trek fan—I grew up on Star Trek: The Next Generation, so that will always be my favorite. I'm an avid reader, also mostly of sci-fi/fantasy books. I can be a bit of a homebody, but I love nature and I love to drive, so road trips tend to be my preferred mode of travel, though I love exploring new places or relaxing on a tropical beach as well! I enjoy simple things like dinner or board games with close friends, or spending time with my nieces and nephew when I get the chance. My music tastes are eclectic, but my favorites are dance pop, 90s alternative, folk acoustic, and classic rock, along with the occasional new age, jazz and classical. I also love to sing, and I'm a baritone in the Santa Barbara Gay Men's Chorus.
Spirituality is really important to me—my personal spiritual practice is a blend of many different elements I've pulled together over the years. I believe there is value and truth in all spiritual paths, and I love learning from all the world's different traditions. I'm especially interested in meditation, mysticism, and metaphysics, and I've attended Unity/New Thought spiritual centers throughout much of my life. I'm also interested in Jungian and contemporary cross-cultural depth psychology, which explores human experience through the lens of the unconscious and the soul.
I'm eternally grateful (and admittedly very privileged) to live near the ocean in sunny Santa Barbara, on California's Central Coast. I grew up in the forested rural foothills of the Sierra Nevada in Northern California, so being able to walk on the beach with my feet in the surf every weekend is the fulfilment of a childhood dream.