Davidwford.com
Title
David W. Ford Empowerment Coaching by a Certified Life and Professional Coach
Description
My Background
I share my life story with the intent to allow my clients to see my human side. My life has had its ups and downs, and I had to overcome my own fears and limiting beliefs to get where I am today. I had to release my past, see the perfection in it, and realize that I was never a victim of circumstance or the people in my life. I went from living a life of fear, lack, and anger to one of love, harmony, and gratitude. I firmly believe that if I can do it, anyone can.
I was born in 1965, the youngest of five children, into an Air Force family. Two years later, my father was shot down over Hanoi and spent the next five and a half years as a POW. Upon his return, we began to move, which allowed me to live in several different states as well as out of the country. As with most POW families, my parents divorced and I returned to Sacramento with my mother and soon entered Jesuit High School. I then entered CSU, Sacramento and obtained a BA in English. In my last year of college, I decided to explore a military career and signed up with the United States Marine Corps. However, during OCS, I injured my back, which led to surgery. I next gave the Air Force a try but my back would have none of that. So, I entered law school in Salem, Oregon where I obtained my Doctor of Jurisprudence, cum laude, from Willamette University College of Law.
After law school, I entered the world of trial attorneys and eventually joined the law firm of Bolling, Walter & Gawthrop and became a partner. My law practice involved defending clients in personal injury lawsuits involving auto accidents, premises liability, products liability, employment law, and ADA claims. As I honed my trial practice and climbed the partnership ladder, I lost balance within myself and soon, law was all I was left with. I had three wonderful children who barely knew their father and my marriage ended in divorce. During this time, I was questioning the worth of being a lawyer, and began to see that being a lawyer had taken me away from who I really am. Instead, I had created a persona of the aggressive defense attorney. The problem was that I could not turn off that persona and it was causing so much suffering for not only me, but also for the people around me. I then began my process of discovering who I was and a commitment to be who I was discovering.
