We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Michael Overlie. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Michael below.

Michael, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I recently turned my coaching practice into a nonprofit. There are many reasons behind this but the main one is that I was feeling inauthentic in my approach to helping others. You see, I was following everyone else’s advice and processes. I thought I had to be this great big “success” in the eyes of others to be successful. I was beginning, once again, to forget who I was. This was an amazing realization for me as I have behaved this way off and on for most of my life. I have always wanted to help others but I hadn’t known what was underneath it all. I needed to begin to heal myself first and then show others another way they can show up in the world too.

Access to these types of resources is easy if you are 1) Willing to get into your sh!t and 2) If you have the money. Most men won’t work on their stuff due to stigma, societal pressures, cultural norms and the like. I am helping break these limiting ideas into the dust they are made of.

Michael, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I have a varied background in the trades, ski instruction and healthcare. I have always had a love of animals, especially dogs. In March of 2017 my older brother died. This absolutely devastated me. What happened while I was grieving his loss was simply amazing. My amazing dog introduced me to how I was showing up in the world and helped me see that there was another way to be. Darby the wonder dog, helped me heal and grow. I turned this into a coaching practice for Men, then a nonprofit so that I can reach more people and help them heal. Now I show other men how they can learn the most deep and profound lessons from their own dogs, creating emotional confidence so that they can enhance their other relationships and create new ones. We work together to help them first survive then thrive.

We are all carrying the wisdom we need, but we don’t know how to access it. Our dogs can help us do this, if we are willing to look at things differently.

Other than training/knowledge, what do you think is most helpful for succeeding in your field?

I love this question. What I have learned and deeply become aware of is that to succeed in any area, you have to have room or space to do so. We don’t necessarily need more information, we need more space. If you keep piling more and more data or whatever on top of what you know intrinsically, you are just burying your own wisdom. I know this firsthand! What if you could slow down, do less and become more successful? Not necessarily in monetary terms but in relation to peace and happiness? How amazing would that be? How much more creative could you be if you had the space to do so?

I get up at 3:30 most mornings, my partner gets up with me too. We have the most amazing way of starting the day. We make tea or coffee, sit and hold hands and spend some quiet time together. No big, deep conversations- just holding space. Later we break off and each do our own morning routines- exercise, meditation, whatever. This is our version of paying ourselves first in creating the life we want.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Recently I have been studying the Chinese Philosophy of Wu Wei. This is loosely translated as non-doing or doing nothing. It more appropriately correlates to “not forcing.” In our society we are doers. If we are not doing something, we are considered slackers! Nothing could be further from the truth.

Currently I am reading the books of Jason Gregory- Effortless Living, Fasting the Mind, The Science and Practice of Humility. Mind blowing reads.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.savetwo.org
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-overlie-529057208/
• Other: www.dogsandmen.com