About me

Hi I’m Dean Coates. I live and work in Bristol in the UK. Back in 2013 I sought the help of a coach to plan a transition from my job as a regional education manager to pursue my dream of starting an art dealing business with my partner. I found the experience so profoundly powerful that after 6 sessions I found the courage to leave my job and launch our business.

15 years down the line our business is still going strong and although it hasn’t all been plain sailing it has enriched my life with incredible people, international travel and an abundance of creativity. I wouldn’t have changed anything about the journey and so I am forever grateful to that coach for helping me to figure out the change I needed back then.

In 2017 I graduated with an MA in ceramics from Cardiff University and set up my own ceramics studio in a studio complex in south Bristol in the UK.

Having experienced coaching first hand and how empowering it is I decided to train as coach myself in 2024 and set up Rock Pool Coaching to coach people in the creative industries.