About
My Goals and Experiences
In the last third (or hopefully half) of my life, my goal is to use what I have learned, from the experiences I have had, to inspire and encourage people to pursue and reach their goals and potential, and to help ease people’s anxiety and suffering.
I have shared, below, a list of my experiences. While the list might appear to be a list of accomplishments, I see it more as a list of experiences where, within each of those experiences, there were as many failures, challenges, and setbacks as there were successes and wins. As I consult, coach and mentor, I draw equally from my setbacks and failures as from my successes.
One of the challenges that has been a constant and significant part of my life, from as far back as I can remember, is anxiety. A doctor or psychologist would label my “condition” as generalized anxiety disorder. I, however, prefer to not put a medical or psychiatric label on how I feel or who I am, and instead would simply say that “I’ve experienced my life while pretty constantly dealing with feelings of anxiety.” I bring my experience of learning how to live successfully (successfully, at least from my perspective), with anxiety into every aspect of my personal and professional life.
If there are things I have experienced or know that you feel might help you as you navigate life, please feel free to reach out. One-time advice is free of charge. You can learn more about my other services here.
My Experiences (presented in order of their depth of impact, significance and meaning to me)
Father of five: three adult children and we recently added to the family two teenagers who my wife Amy and I are guardian for.
Married to Amy for 25 years.
Emigrated from Norway with my parents when I was three years old. Watched my parents arrive in America with nothing and, through hard work, entrepreneurship and real estate investment, create their American dream.
Worked at my parents’ business (Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods) as a child, and into my teenage years, stocking shelves, sweeping the floor, cutting onions, making fish cakes, etc.
Anxiety. As mentioned, anxiety has been a significant part of my journey. While anxiety has made things quite unpleasant at times, it has also been an incredible teacher of lessons I would have never learned without it.
Founded Feed Washington, a 501c3 nonprofit whose mission is to end childhood hunger in Washington State. Over 1.1 million meals provided to-date.
Mentor. I enjoy having a handful of mentoring relationships in my life on an ongoing basis. I am particularly interested in mentoring entrepreneurs who are running businesses and non-profits in inner-city communities. These mentoring relationships are deeper than my coaching or consulting relationships, in that my mentoring involves an ongoing relationship with regular meetings and daily availability.
Certified Reiki energy healing master. I believe, as humans, we are operating in 2 realms simultaneously as we live here on earth: the spiritual/soul realm and the earthly realm. I became certified in Reiki to understand better how the spiritual realm impacts my life on earth.
Becoming the legal guardian of two teenagers. I now have significant experience with the guardianship process (at least in Washington State) and the practical and emotional aspects regarding the assimilation of two teenagers into our family.
Business Coach and Consultant. I am a certified executive coach and have been coaching and consulting with people on business and life matters for over 20 years. I especially enjoy the melding of business and life coaching, as most business matters are significantly impacted by people’s personal lives and psychology.
Managed the care of my parents in the final years of their life. Both of my parents have passed away in the last few years. Before their passing I managed their care, including end of life hospice planning and daily management, estate planning, and elder care facility evaluation.
Founder of Sol, a social media platform where I explore the concept of anxiety, with the goal of reducing the amount of anxiety and mental/emotional pain in the world, and giving hope to those suffering from anxiety.
Wheel of Fortune winner (the complete show; 2 jokes I was able work in with Pat Sajak)
Wellness Direct Care. Worked with my wife, Amy, to help her to start, and now run, her medical clinic, Wellness Direct Care.
With two partners, started a real estate brokerage and property management company from scratch. Owned and operated the brokerage (Sterling Johnston Real estate, which had over 100 real estate agents and 500 properties under management) for 20 years.
Sold my interest in Sterling Johnston Real Estate to my two partners. Successfully created, with my former partners, a mutually beneficial exit plan.
Mediator. I’m not a certified mediator, but I have successfully mediated multiple disagreements, primarily in the real estate industry. I also enjoy counseling people who are in the middle of a dispute to help craft win-win solutions with those they are in conflict with.
Legal advocate and consultant. While I am a licensed attorney, I am not currently a practicing attorney. Instead of practicing law, I prefer to use my legal background and skills counseling people on how to interact with their attorney so that legal fees, and the mental anguish related to legal disputes, are minimized. I have saved people tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and thousands of hours of mental anguish, by consulting with them before and during legal disputes.
Washington State real estate transaction expert. In my role as owner of Sterling Johnston Real Estate I was responsible for the brokering and management of thousands of real estate transactions over 20 years.
Small business and non-profit consultant. Provided small business consulting services to
Certified executive/life coach. When providing small business
JD/MBA from the University of Washington.
Licensed attorney in the State of Washington since 1992.
Division 1 soccer player at the University of Washington.
Multi-family/apartment building real estate investor and manager.
Took over Olsen Scandinavian Foods from my parents and owned and operated it for five years. Successfully sold the business to my employees.