ミックガワン コリー Cory Mcgowan
Leadership & Transformational Coach, Founder/Head Coach at Adventure Partner, Bear Dancer
Bio
My whole professional background has been in Japan, and has involved supporting people in their growth and development. I have worked at all levels of management, and gave up a ‘good’ life in Tokyo to return to the call of the mountains and wilds in Minakami, where I have been supporting leaders from around the world in my capacity as a leadership coach. You won’t meet many people who are as adventurous as I am, although it is not the type of adventure that gets much hype or attention, just the type of adventure that has me living exactly the life that I want to be living, deeply connected to the natural world around me, and grateful for all the messiness the world has to offer.
Message
I am likely not the guide you thought you were looking for. I can’t belay down a cliff or navigate a kayak through Class 5 rapids. I am not the bravest, wildest, or most fit guy you have ever met. However, if you understand that you are on a soul’s journey in this life, and that you could benefit from having a partner in that exploration, then it would not be a waste of your time to have a conversation with me. I am also very well connected in the Minakami area, and so the part of our work that does involve outdoor adventures will have the benefit of being supported by one of my partners who are professional, high level guides.
Guide Q&A
Q: What is your most memorable experience in nature?
In my 20s, I did a solo sea kayak expedition down the length of the Sea Of Cortes in Mexico for four months. It was a harrowing experience in many ways, but much less due to the surrounding environment (which could be quite unforgiving) and more because it was such an exploration of loneliness and fear. There is no place to hide from yourself during hours/days/weeks/months of paddling on the sea with the desert being the only visible land you can see. When I look back at it now, more than half my life ago, I wonder who the young man was who could have achieved that. And I know that man is alive and well in the way I spend my days now, especially supporting others on their own journeys.
Q: What does nature represent to you?
We are not separate from nature, we flow in and out of it (and vice versa) every day, no matter how far we may feel we are removed from it in city bound lives.
Q: What has nature taught you?
Come home. You have always been welcome here. Forget what you think you were coming here to seek and listen to the trees.
Q: What do you hope that people will get out of experiences with you as a guide?
I hope our work together will crack you open. We live in a time where the only way forward is to be cracked open by our experiences, and to question all that we are sure must be true, especially in terms of limitations and ‘problems’. In that, there lies a great opportunity to create things in the world we had previously not even dreamt were possible.
