Hi, I'm Wayne!
I am a miracle. Once a corporate lawyer with a wonderful family and the material luxuries of success, my life was forever changed by a car accident in 2002. My body was broken. In the years since, I have undergone eight (8) spinal surgeries and experienced severe chronic pain, PTSD, major depression and addiction issues. I sought help across the U.S. without success. I reached a point of total hopelessness and despair.
In 2016, I fully committed to a 12-step recovery program and to work with a life coach, options I had previously rejected. Following a step-by-step action plan, my attitude and outlook upon life was transformed and with it my entire life. I still experience chronic pain, emotional challenges and moments of feeling stuck or unproductive. However, I have learned how to manage them and enjoy a life of great joy and fulfillment.
My step-by-step life coaching program draws upon my experiences and training to empower my clients to transform themselves and their lives. I firmly believe that if I could learn to transform my pain and challenges into a life of greater joy and fulfillment, I know you can too! So, join me to ...
“TAKE FLIGHT… LIVE YOUR DREAMS”
I love knowing about a person’s background and find it fun to make connections based
upon it. So, here’s a little background about me before I share specifically what led me to
become a life and health coach.
I was born in New York City and grew up in Bayside, Queens, NY. I grew up in the streets
and schoolyard playing all the street games famous in that era; stickball, stoop ball,
handball, punch ball, off the wall, slap ball and a fun version of tag called ringolevio. We
lived in a very small apartment in a 6-story brick building. Most of my friends lived between 8
different buildings covering an area of about 6 blocks. My childhood was packed with fun. However,
times were tough in my household and as a skinny, scrawny kid I was subject to getting
bullied in the neighborhood and school. I did not understand at the time, but my experiences
proved to be very traumatizing and contributed to a lifetime of struggles with fear, anxiety
and anger that permeated every aspect of my life.
We moved to a few times and lived in rural, Maryland and then Los Angeles, CA. It proved
to be a gift to have experienced living in such extremely different types of communities,
interacting with people from such a multitude of different backgrounds and socioeconomic
groups. I was a pretty good athlete, playing basketball, soccer and running track and field in
high school. I played basketball at UCLA on their JV team for a couple of years and went on to be a corporate lawyer and ultimately started my own law firm. In 2002 I was in an auto accident which forever altered the course of my life.
SO,WHY DID I BECOME A LIFE COACH?
On December 25, 2022, a little more than twenty years after the auto accident I decided to
share a summary of my journey to thank everyone who supported me during my years of
struggle seeking to recover from the physical, emotional and spiritual pain I suffered. One of
the more heart-breaking parts of my story I did not mention in the post is that about 10
years prior to the car accident, in 1993, I was in a skiing accident in which I caught an edge
of the ski in the snow and struck the ground with the top of my head. It is a miracle that I
was not permanently paralyzed below the neck.
I did rupture two discs and bruise my spinal cord which left my right arm paralyzed. I went through 18 months of physical therapy and eventually made a full recovery. I had escaped tragedy and made a recovery beyond what the doctors’ thought was possible. I would have a second chance at life to become the great father, husband and lawyer with the attendant material luxuries I always expected I would be.
This did not prove to be the case. I would subsequently suffer the auto accident which
changed my life forever. However, as I shared in a Facebook post referenced below, I have
come to understand that everything that I have ever experienced, including the trauma
experienced in my childhood are gifts. They are gifts which make me the transformed
person I am today; strong and resilient, vulnerable yet self-assured, empathetic,
compassionate, full of love, joy, hope and optimism, dedicated to the service of others!
THE DECEMBER 25TH FACEBOOK POST
“On this Hanukkah and Christmas day (2022), I want to share a message of deep love and gratitude to all my friends. The last 20 years have been a remarkable journey of pain and healing, discovery and recovery. This journey was not of my own choosing, but I am eternally grateful for it. Everything that happened was a gift and I would not be who I am and helping people in recovery and others as a life coach without these gifts and without each of you.
You have been angels along my path. You provided me with strength when I was weak, hope when I felt despair, faith when I had doubt and provided light when all I saw was darkness. I now have a life full of abundance and joy beyond anything I ever could have imagined. It is a miracle and one for which I will spend the rest of my life paying forward.
For those who are not familiar with my story, here is a synopsis. On Oct 2, 2002, I suffered significant injuries in a car accident which left me unable to continue practicing law and required me to sell my law practice. This accident forever changed the course of my life.
The injuries ultimately led to 8 spinal surgeries, numerous hospitalizations, well over a 100 invasive injections and procedures and gosh knows how much imaging. It is not a good thing when you show up in the hospital and people know your first name! However, more painful than that, were the physical, psychological, emotional, and spiritual consequences of the challenges of addiction, major depression and PTSD.
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I pursued every course of treatment I could find seeking to recover. Addiction, intensive trauma treatment centers, yoga and spirituality centers, wellness centers, dozens of traditional western medicine specialists, holistic health care providers, chiropractors, naturopaths, traditional Chinese medicine doctors, ayurvedic practitioners and Tibetan, Shamanistic and Mystic Jewish healers. If a healing modality and course of treatment existed, I probably tried it. None of these could ever get me completely healthy.
However, each center, each provider, each healer, you my angels and those I met on that journey, propelled me forward. Unfortunately, there came a time in 2015, when I injured my back in a freak accident which literally broke me in every respect. The light faded and all I could see was darkness. I withdrew, having lost all faith and, in that darkness, I nearly lost my life.
Beginning on April 24, 2016, with the support of my amazing family, friends, friends in recovery and a mentor/coach who is my Yoda, I have been able to heal the old physical, psychological, and spiritual wounds. Sure, I still experience pain, but I have developed a new relationship with it and use it in service to others.
I have spent the last 6+ years helping others in recovery. Other than being a husband and a parent, nothing has been more fulfilling than being of service and helping others. A couple of years ago, I decided to get certified as a health and life coach. I came to realize that all those years (and for much of my life) I was trapped in a prison of false beliefs (lies) about who I was and what I could do. I have escaped that prison and now have a life I never imagined possible.
NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED WITHOUT YOU!!!
As a life coach, I draw upon my experience, strength, hope and recovery to empower others to overcome those same challenges, the ones that keep them in prison; that block them from the life of fulfillment and joy they truly desire.
My life is dedicated to helping others and if I can be of help to anyone, PLEASE contact me.
My motto is TAKE FLIGHT…LIVE YOUR DREAMS! If I can do it, I know others can too!
You were born to “soar on wings like eagles” and I look forward to empowering you to Take Flight!
“He’s like a ball of light...he always brought hope and soaring joy where there was initially fear and limitation. Wayne has shown me that it IS possible to make your dreams come true.”