Coaching & Rates
As a coach, I practice the flow between going your own way (working with your own authentic intentions, principles, and desires) and going with the flow (working with the world as you're experiencing it). I love partnering with folks who are making life transitions (personal or professional) or who simply want richer lives more awake to possibilities.
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I create a space for you to identify the progress you want to make, and I do that with support, empathy, curiosity, care, and professionalism, supported by my multidiscipline training and experience. I am especially attuned to help you discover your authentic goals, which might be covered up with lots of "shoulds" (those things we tell ourselves we "should" do and be). It's an essential part of going your own way!
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Whatever your thoughts, we can work together to design a program that’s right for you.​
David in January 2025. Credit: Louie Sciullo
To me, "go your own way" is a set of magical and transformative words. And there's a story behind them.
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I was 15, learning to drive with my sister, Susan, in backwoods Clarendon County, South Carolina. I’d already begun to see her as my most important mentor; nine years older, she’d helped me gain the sense that each of us has our own spark of divine fire, as George Bernard Shaw once wrote. She taught me about authenticity, exploration, and adventure.​
Click the image for a YouTube clip of the band playing the song!.
On this particular driving lesson in 1976, Fleetwood Mac’s “Go Your Own Way” came on the radio. Susan, who passed away in May 2024, looked at me with urgency and passion to say, “Never forget that, David. You should ALWAYS go your own way. Always!” That’s the gist of it — and given that moment and the times, I've never forgotten the principle.
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Now, let’s just forget, for a moment, that Lindsey Buckingham’s lyrics might instead evoke some not-so-pleasant breakup. We make what we want of art, of course, and I liked the song’s imperative to honor my own independent spark of divine fire. (Plus, it's a great record.)
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​So that’s the backdrop of my approach. I invite you to a 15-minute free consultation so we can discuss just how you’d like to go your own way — and how coaching can help.
Susan DeWitt in Spain, sometime in the early '80s.
Consultation
I offer a one-time 15- to 20-minute consultation so we can get to know each other and trade ideas about the coaching partnership we might have. It's the first step in any coaching agreement.
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Free!
Session by Session
Through 2025: Hourlong, session-to-session coaching.
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$60/hour
Packaged Programs
Through 2025: Best value! A series of 12 sessions on an intention, goal, or dream, which I've found can morph several times in our work together. Right now I offer freestyle, intention-led sessions as well as CoachVille's structured World Power program (which examines nine aspects of your life).
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$480/program; $160/month
Installment Payments
​and Sliding Scales Available
Background image: Rehoboth Beach, Del.
ABOUT mE
David in Woodstock, New York. Credit: Neil Genzlinger
I started coaching after helpful experiences as a client, followed by continuing study. I’m an associated certified coach (ACC) through the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and a CoachVille Professional Certified Coach (CVPCC) through the CoachVille Center for Coaching Mastery, founded by the father of modern coaching, Thomas Leonard. I'm trained to practice the ICF's core competencies as well as its ethical standards, which I take quite seriously. I love this work. ​
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To begin, I'm formally trained and experienced in the following areas:
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Coaching (see above)
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Teaching, with graduate education courses and student teaching at the University of South Carolina, plus workshops in diversity and more leading to my certification in English and theatre in the State of New York. I've got teaching experience at six colleges and two high schools, leading classrooms in writing, literature, journalism, acting, and career planning.
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Writing, with a master's degree in English with a focus in composition and pedagogy from the University of South Carolina, as well as a bachelor's degree in journalism; 27 years as an editor and writer in newspapers, including 18 at The New York Times; doctoral work at University of Tennessee; and post-master's work in creative nonfiction at Syracuse University.
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Acting, with master's and bachelor's degrees in theatre also (!) from the University of South Carolina, a certificate from Michael Howard Studios professional conservatory, years of acting and movement classes in New York City and elsewhere, NYC directing and playwriting experience, membership in the Screen Actors Guild, and nearly 100 roles in stage and film.
Currently I’m also working as a writing coach and editor with Bionews, where I help writers with rare diseases or their caregivers as they craft personal columns.
A few of the special ways I can help:​
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Presence. Through my acting training and 30+ years of meditation, I'm able to be present in sessions and augment the immediacy of the experience in a way that allows for discoveries.
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Dialogue. From a utopian philosophy class focused on Plato's Republic to the work of Paulo Freire and Myles Horton, I've become well versed in how much dialogue is essential to human development and progress.
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Career flexibility. I've learned through my four career paths (including management experience) that transitions and new beginnings are possible while maintaining a core, synthesized, and developing identity.
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Manifesting ideas. As a writing coach and teacher, I've learned to bring out what writers authentically want to say and ways to help them say it. These techniques apply well to life coaching.
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Growth mindset. I've been trained in Carol Dweck's Growth Mindset and other thinking in what's often called positive psychology.
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Creativity. With a thesis in creativity studies as part of the writing process (as well as a thesis in acting performance), I understand much about the creative journey and have been strongly influenced by the work of Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (“Finding Flow: The Psychology of Engagement with Everyday Life”), among others.
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Authenticity and diversity. As a gay man, I've experienced and seen how much listening to our authentic self matters. I've also become attuned to people from other groups who've felt disempowered by society, most recently the disabled community through my work with Bionews.
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Self-care. I learned through a suicide attempt and subsequent intensive group and individual counseling that the recovery process can be transformative. (I'm now a mental health advocate, though not a therapist.) I've also been a participant and team member at self-development workshops and retreats and can pass on those tools.
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Clarity. I've learned through having a family member who lived with addiction that I can love and support, but I can't fix and rescue. My clients are in charge of their own development; I am there to help through coaching. And coaching can help!
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In my time away from coaching and editing, I spend time reading, meditating, writing, playing with my two dogs, and (recently) singing. That latter endeavor has reminded me of the value of stepping outside our comfort zones to grow. (Our brains have neuroplasticity and can enjoy and benefit from the new!) I'm also a certified reiki practitioner.
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Though I can offer prepared programs, I fashion everything to the individual client. ​
David as Shamraeff in "The Seagull" in Riverside Park, New York City. Credit: Hudson Classical
Theatre Company
From the 2015 Washington, D.C., memorial service for my mentor, Bill Mould, a former French professor and dean of the South Carolina Honors College, as well as a fellow actor. Bill guided me to explore, challenge myself, engage constantly in learning, and go my own way. In his latter years he was a sculptor, demonstrating that change is always possible, learning is lifelong, and we can explore many possibilities.
Credit: David DeWitt
Interested? Please contact me for a free 15-minute Zoom consultation to learn more and see if we’re a good fit. Then we can get you started on a plan that helps you go your own way. ​
Testimonials
I’ve had so many insights and lightbulb moments from my ongoing coaching with
David DeWitt!
His detail-oriented, highly personalized approach has helped me identify paths to explore and focus on as I work towards an overarching goal for my life story as it plays out.
Coaching does work - if you also put in the work.
— Alliah C.
David is a wonderful, kind coach full of insight and guidance. I would recommend him to anyone looking for a life coach. You won’t go wrong working with him. He is helping me change age-old habits that clearly haven’t worked so well for me in the long run. I am grateful to be able to work with him.
— David B.
Through conversations and inquiries, David helped me in thinking through what it is that I’m looking for in life (while undergoing two major life changes: retirement and living abroad) and what’s already available to me. I found that, more often than not, the two are closer than you think, and that’s so important to realize.​
— Grace F.
I did this with David, and it was fantastic! Grab a spot now before he gets so popular you won’t be able to get one.
— Natalie P.
It is a rare gift when someone can reach down into your soul and pull out what you have deemed less-than-perfect ideas about yourself; then observe the thing without judgment that you have judged for years; and then carefully, easily redefine the thing and devise through gentle education how to move past all that holds you back. David is this gift. Do you and your life a favor and give yourself this gift. It changes everything. I know because it changed my everything.
— Tere' B.
In every session, David’s intelligence, empathy, perception, and insight informed questions that surprised and challenged me. In a time of personal and professional crisis, these revelations helped me find and follow a healthier, happier path. I think he could do the same for almost everyone.
— Guy M.
Contact
Got a question? Ask!
Go Your Own Way Coaching LLC
Lewes, Delaware
​​​Email: david@goyourownwaycoaching.com
“Don't be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams." — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Background image: The Great Smoky Mountains in East Tennessee.