A Navy Veteran's Road Toward Coaching, Faith, and Understanding People Better
Growing up in Eugene, Oregon, shaped more of who I am than I realized at the time. Classmates weren’t always kind. Family wasn’t always easy either. By the time I reached adulthood, ridicule and hard treatment had already become familiar territory, though not something I ever got used to.
The Navy came next. Four years aboard FBM submarines in the North Atlantic during the Cold War taught me things no classroom could. Space was tight. Days blurred together. Out there, far from anything familiar, I found myself becoming the person shipmates turned to when they needed someone to talk to. I led Bible studies. I sat with sailors who carried more than they let on. Somewhere in those quiet hours below the surface, listening became second nature to me.
Civilian life brought its own version of hardship. Customers weren’t always fair. Coworkers weren’t always decent. None of it broke my belief that people need someone steady beside them, especially when they’re carrying something heavy.
As a veteran-owned life coach, I don’t approach coaching from a textbook. My faith plays a real role in how I sit with people, listen closely, and help them think through what’s next. Contemplative coaching, the practice I lean on most, asks me to stay present with a client while remaining open to whatever wisdom the moment offers. Years of service, struggle, and faith brought me here. Now I use all of it to help veterans, military members, and everyday people find their footing again.
The Purpose Behind Life Crafters Coaching
Every conversation I have with a client stems from one belief, that people deserve a place to speak honestly without fear of judgment. Building Life Crafters Coaching wasn’t about creating another coaching brand among many. Instead, it grew from years of watching people, myself included, struggle in silence rather than reach out. Veterans especially face this. Military culture teaches strength, sometimes at the cost of honesty. My goal has always been to close that gap, one conversation at a time.
My Vision
Picture a Pacific Northwest where veterans and military members never have to search far for someone who understands their world. That’s the vision guiding my work as a Navy veteran coach in Oregon. Fewer people carrying unspoken burdens alone. More honest conversations happening in living rooms, coffee shops, and quiet offices across Gladstone and beyond. Coaching shouldn’t feel like a last resort or a clinical requirement. It should feel like sitting across from someone who genuinely wants to understand your situation and walk through it with you.
My Mission
My mission stays simple: offer trauma-informed coaching that respects both lived military experience and personal faith. Clients come to me carrying different burdens, some from service, others from years of ordinary hardship. Whatever brought them here, my job remains the same: listen without judgment, ask honest questions, and help them consider what direction feels right. As a Christian life coach in Gladstone, I bring spiritual reflection into sessions when it serves the client, never forcing it where it doesn’t belong.
Grounded Coaching From a Fellow Veteran
Real Military Background
Four years aboard Navy submarines gave me firsthand understanding of military culture, discipline, and the isolation service can bring
Faith Woven Into Practice
My Christian faith shapes how I listen and reflect with clients, offered gently and never pushed onto anyone uninterested.
Years of Personal Hardship
Ridicule, abuse, and difficult relationships taught me what it feels like to be misunderstood by people who should have cared.
A Steady, Private Space
Every conversation stays confidential and judgment-free, giving you room to speak honestly without worrying about how you’ll be perceived
Setting Honest Expectations Before We Talk
Support Without a Clinical Label
Sessions with me focus on guidance and reflection, not diagnosis or treatment. I don’t replace therapy or medical care, and I’ll always be upfront if a situation calls for professional support beyond coaching
Sessions That Follow Your Lead
Conversations unfold naturally, without forced exercises or rehearsed frameworks. Some sessions stay quiet and reflective. Others dig into harder topics. Either way, you set the pace, and I follow your lead throughout.
Your Story Stays Between Us
Whatever you share stays between us. As David Hooker, trauma coach and founder of this practice, I built Life Crafters Coaching around discretion, respect, and a genuine commitment to your privacy.
Meet our team of therapists
Get to know the therapists at our practice—experienced professionals committed to helping you navigate life’s challenges, build resilience, and achieve meaningful growth.
Available Whenever You're Ready to Talk
Oregon
7005 Valley View Dr
Gladstone, Oregon 97027