Nick Duggan

I've been developing people and organizations for more than 20 years, and I'm passionate about making work more meaningful for all. I combine my background in coaching and leadership development with my experience leading People + Culture teams to help leaders increase their impact and grow their careers.

I've coached and advised senior executives, midlevel leaders, new managers, recent grads, small business owners, and people going through significant personal or career transitions. My coaching style is client-centered, holistic, practical, and adaptable. My primary goal is always to listen deeply to my clients and empower them to identify what they want to work on, then partner with them to make their vision a reality. I naturally tend toward what I'd call a soul-centered coaching style, incorporating deep questions about meaning, guided visioning practices when appropriate, and openness to imagination, intuition, and inner guidance. But first and foremost I'm adaptable and responsive to my clients' needs, so if they prefer a more straightforward, practical approach then I lean into that style. I have a strong analytical, results-focused side, as well as solid business and leadership experience, and I bring these to my coaching relationships as well. I am a member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF), I completed my ICF-accredited coach training through Coach U, and I have pledged to adhere to the ICF Code of Ethics.

Since 2003, I've offered leadership + career coaching in addition to full-time corporate roles. Most recently, I led Learning & Development and DEI for AppFolio, and previously led global employee and executive communications for the GoTo division of Citrix. I began my career with roles in event planning and corporate training in healthcare-related companies such as The Zitter Group, DaVita, Prometheus Labs, and the American Heart Association. I have a bachelor's degree in Communication from UC Santa Barbara, and a master's degree in Organizational Psychology from William James College. I care deeply about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and I'm committed to being an active ally and advocate for people from all marginalized and underrepresented communities. I am a Founding Member of Coaching for Everyone, a nonprofit dedicated to providing coaching and leadership support to traditionally underserved and under-resourced BIPOC populations. I also hold a DEIB Certificate from The Kapor Center and am a certified Bold, Inclusive Conversations® facilitator. 

On the personal side, I'm a huge scifi/fantasy fan, I love to travel (especially road trips), and I enjoy simple things like dinner or board games with close friends, or spending time with my nieces and nephew when I get the chance. My music tastes are eclectic, but my favorites are dance pop, 90s alternative, folk acoustic, and classic rock, along with the occasional new age, jazz and classical. I also love to sing, and I'm a baritone in the Santa Barbara Gay Men's Chorus. Spirituality is really important to me—my personal spiritual practice is a blend of many different elements I've pulled together over the years. I believe there is value and truth in all spiritual paths, and I love learning from all the world's different traditions. I'm especially interested in meditation, mysticism, and metaphysics, and I've attended Unity/New Thought spiritual centers throughout much of my life. I'm also interested in Jungian and contemporary cross-cultural depth psychology, which explores human experience through the lens of the unconscious and the soul. I'm eternally grateful (and admittedly very privileged) to live near the ocean in sunny Santa Barbara.