Reedie Succeeds Reedie
Dave Gallison ’78 passes on his career counseling business to Aaron Good ’01
Dave Gallison ’78 was looking to retire and turn over the reins to his business, the Gallison Consulting website and practice. Fortunately, at a networking event, he met the perfect candidate in Reedie Aaron Good ’01.
It is akin to finding a garden gnome in the attic for two Reedies to both have master’s degrees and LPC licenses in counseling and specialize in the career field, he says. The only other Reed grad who likely comes close is prolific writer and presenter on all things career and college advancement Don Asher ’85 (Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t, and Why, and How to Get Any Job: Life Launch and Relaunch for Everyone Under 30)
For the closing act of Dave’s career, he offered and provided training in the art of career coaching for Aaron. Now, Aaron is busier than ever from Dave’s business referrals (and from his own mental health and career counseling business, Trailhead Counseling), and Dave is winding down to one day a week in private practice.
For Dave, career counseling has always aligned directly with his sense of personal mission: “I bring inspiration and connections to help others realize their highest potential.” To that end, he has offered practical advice to help clients maximize career success and enrich their lives with purpose.
Over the course of a long career Dave has directed a university career center (University of Portland), provided outplacement services for large employers like US Bank, Hewlett Packard, and Motorola, and managed a private vocational rehabilitation office. He has also held director-level positions in nonprofit social services, higher education, and health care administration and worked as a behavioral health care provider (Kaiser).
Careers looked at in retrospect tend to seem orderly and predictable (remember hindsight bias?). In truth, Dave’s progression was full of short-lived trials, mismatches and occasional successes, and he has 17 business cards to show for it! Putting all that experience of loss and hard-earned victory into play, however, Dave's last 8 years as a self-employed career counselor have focused on guiding others on their employment path.
Aaron Good, MS, CRC, LPC Intern, also found a circuitous path to the same field as Dave. Before Aaron counseled himself into a career as a mental health professional, he worked in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. He enjoyed a long career in information technology, first helping design professionals solve workflow problems at Adobe and then managing messaging and legal compliance systems at Nike.
Like Dave, Aaron works with individuals throughout their lifespan who want to improve their current job, find a new career more aligned with their values, or reaffirm the track they’re on. He covers the range of career issues, from understanding how anxiety and depression can impact our work and sense of purpose to the practical mechanics of assessment and job search. Over the course of a year, he has found it “tremendously fun” to partner with Dave in learning the ropes then taking over!
Dave’s goal in semiretirement is a less-scheduled life so he can focus more on issues he cares about, such as building community, travel, photography, and being a force for vitality in the world. He is grateful that Aaron is in place to accept stewardship of his counseling business and website, and admires how Aaron picks up on best practices and innovates further to better serve clients. Who knows, perhaps Dave will swap roles and be supervised by Aaron, who volunteers weekly with Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East!
Tags: Alumni