JONATHAN NEWBERRY
My closest friend would describe me as:
Reserved but opinionated, heady but not with a shred of pretension — down to earth and approachable all day long, especially once you really get to know me.
My coaching style is:
Laid back and informal, digging in quickly, I like to disarm situations with buckets of honesty and authenticity.
One belief that I have that influences my approach to coaching is:
We’re all the same deep down and none of us really know what we’re doing to get through it all. The deeper we get the more we realize we’re all the same..
One way I’ve challenged a norm or taken a leap in my life is:
Last fall I left what I thought was my dream job and stepped back into freelance life, then straight into a down-to-the-studs house remodel. Leaving a life of stress, but one of stability that made my ego happy, for a world of uncertainty has been a difficult one full of learning and freedom.
My story:
I grew up a preacher’s kid in Knoxville, a shy introspective child who was unbearably curious. I was always looking for questions answered or other ways to sponge up more in my life. As I got older that’s one of the few things that hasn’t changed. Even into college I can now see how I was living in a bubble of security, and I’ve spent my early adulthood trying to discover the curious life beyond it.
I’ve spent most of my work in the worlds of social innovation design, usually either designing and consulting on product or service reimagining. One day I realized there was this thing called human-centered design and slowly did everything I could to get closer to the people and projects with it at the center. I’ve been lucky to work with some of the places I dreamt of, spent way too much time on airplanes, and continue to explore those constant curiosities through new places and experiences. Now I’m trying to re-learn what it means to slow down, be purposeful, and use a global pandemic to bring a new pace of life to it all.