Welcome to our Career Coach Portland Page.
In February of 2021, Tutor Portland began offering virtual career coaching sessions to residents of Portland. Tutor Portland was founded by Eric Earle in 2015. The company was originally started as Mentor Portland—and retains that name to this day (Mentor Portland LLC, which does business as Tutor Portland). Mentoring and Coaching have been part of our process since day one.
While Eric was living in San Francisco for some time in early 2021, he spoke with a few different career coaches in order to gain clarity on a tough career decision he was facing. Eric was trying to decide between his original vision (becoming a doctor and also opening up a hedge fund) or focusing purely on being a hedge fund manager and businessman. This was a tough choice for Eric. Eric spoke with several coaches over the phone. One of his coaches was able to help him gain clarity on his career choice. It was this moment that Eric realized he wanted to start a Career Coaching Company in Portland.
Looking back, it makes sense. Eric has taken a methodical approach to his career. He thought about almost every career under the sun. At one point in his life, he has seriously considered all of the following careers: college professor, yoga instructor, dance teacher, professional soccer player, lawyer, doctor, investor, entrepreneur, middle school teacher, Dale Carnegie Trainer, fireman, police officer, judge, politics, writer (there was a long stretch where he considered being a writer!), therapist, psychiatrist, travel blogger, pilot, PhD in Chemistry (researcher + professor), motivational speaker…. the list goes on.
For over a decade, Eric thought in-depth about all of these possibilities. What was the perfect fit? Which careers would be meaningful to him? Where could he best make an impact? Eric wrestled with these questions day in and day out.
Eric thought and experimented for years. He understood the gravity of his decision—this was his life. His work. His career.
This was about making an impact. It was about contributing. It was about making not only himself better—but lifting up his community and making his mark on the world.
One by one, Eric crossed-off careers.
In his mid-twenties, he settled on 5 choices: Doctor, Lawyer, Portfolio Manager, Professor, Entrepreneur. Eric realized that before he could decide between these choices, he needed more data. So he got a job in the ER. He loved it.
Eric had, at this time, already founded Tutor Portland—and had already been investing for several years. He knew that entrepreneurship and investing were two “careers” that he wanted to continue doing no matter what he chose. This led him to realize that maybe his life could be uniquely his own. Eric remembers thinking: “What if I had three careers?” He thought. He told himself: “I could just work twice as hard, or three times more efficiently…”
Most people he told this to thought he was crazy. People laughed at him. Eric even had career coaches laugh at him and say, “Do you know how hard doctors work?” “Do you know how difficult it is to start a hedge fund?”
But none of this deterred Eric. He stood, steadfast in his belief that he could achieve what he wanted for his life.
Slowly, a vision began to form.
Eric realized that he didn’t want to be a lawyer—even though his skills were perfectly suited for it. He had done speech and debate in high school. Both of his parents were attorneys. And the way Eric’s mind worked was the very blueprint of a brilliant legal mind. Eric had a perfectly rational mind that easily thought of every side to an argument—sifting through the strongest and weakest arguments effortlessly. But—the thing that was most important to Eric—was meaning. Eric wanted a life that was meaningful. He didn’t want to spend his life watching Netflix or tv re-runs. He didn’t want to go to work every day to a job that he hated. He wanted to make an impact. He wanted the world to be better because he was here.
And—for him—he realized law was not the best fit. It would not allow him to radically leave his mark on the world.
That left Eric with four jars of jam (4 career options) remaining. It felt good to be so concrete about his options. After teaching an undergraduate chemistry course, Eric realized that being a professor would be incredible—it would be challenging and exciting and meaningful. But he decided, based on his experience, that it wasn’t how he could have the biggest impact—and that he wouldn’t feel fulfilled being just a professor.
That left Eric, now, with three jars of jam.
By the time Eric was 28, his investments had been doing better than he had ever imagined. His returns had been compounding for the last 5-6 years at 30% per year. Tutor Portland was continuing to grow. And Eric had also founded a new tutoring company, zoomtutor.com. Eric finished studying for the MCAT. He decided that he would apply to medical school and see which schools (if any) offered him a slot. Eric viewed the application like an option on a stock. An option gives you the right, but not the obligation to buy. Eric knew that he was going to be successful no matter which path he took—so he would hold onto this option, and at a later date he would have the right to exercise it if he wanted to.
Speaking with a career coach helped Eric through a very difficult career choice. It gave him more clarity. Eric began to think about his extensive history thinking about working and experimenting with so many different options. With his years of insight he felt as though he was the perfect career coach. Eric has always loved mentoring and tutoring clients 1 on 1. He has become so busy in his other endeavors though, that he no longer tutors students. Career coaching—he thought—would be the perfect thing.
Eric is now accepting 1-2 career coaching clients at a time.
Please email Eric to schedule your free 30 minute coaching call.