Dennis Geelen

Business Coach | Keynote Speaker | Author of The Happy Accidents newsletter and The Accidental Solopreneur book

I’ve spent most of my career helping people navigate change.

Sometimes that meant working with leadership teams and organizations.
Sometimes it meant coaching solopreneurs who were building something new after an unexpected turn.
And more recently, it’s meant telling true stories that remind us how unpredictable, strange, and meaningful real life can be.

At the core of everything I do is one idea:
people don’t change because of frameworks alone, they change because of perspective.

What I Do

I’m a speaker, author, and consultant who helps individuals and organizations make sense of uncertainty, transition, and unexpected opportunity.

My work focuses on:
 • Leadership and change
 • Human-centered decision making
 • Serendipity, timing, and “happy accidents”
 • Stories that challenge neat narratives about success and control

I’m currently building The Uncanny, a storytelling project exploring true stories that sound impossible but actually happened.

Who I Work With
 • Event organizers looking for keynote talks that are thoughtful, grounded, and story-driven
 • Organizations and nonprofits navigating change, leadership transitions, or cultural shifts
 • Individuals who want practical clarity through focused, one-hour coaching conversations

(I’m no longer actively promoting large programs or long-term coaching, but I still take on select conversations and workshops when there’s a strong fit.)

What I’ve Created
 • Author of The Zero In Formula and The Accidental Solopreneur
 • Host and creator of story-driven newsletters, podcasts, and short-form video content
 • Speaker on topics including change, leadership, serendipity, and starting before you feel ready

Want to Connect?

If you’re reaching out about:
 • Speaking engagements
 • A focused workshop or session
 • A thoughtful one-on-one coaching conversation

Feel free to DM me.

And if you’re someone who loves true stories that make you pause and say, “That can’t be real”…
you’ll probably enjoy what I’m building next.

Founder

Coaching and mentoring to help you start and scale your one-person business.

Most leadership training gets this backwards.

We teach people how to manage others…
before they know how to manage themselves.

And then we wonder why teams struggle.

There’re some uncomfortable truths we don’t like to acknowledge when it comes to leadership: 

- If you can’t manage your own reactions,
you can’t manage conflict.

- If you don’t understand your own personality, you’ll misread everyone else’s.

- If you don’t take responsibility for your results, you’ll blame your team.

- If you can’t prioritize your own time,
you’ll create chaos for everyone around you.

Contrary to what we like to think, leadership doesn’t start with strategy. 

It starts with self-awareness.

In my 12-week leadership coaching program through Zero In, the first four weeks are entirely about leading yourself.

It’s the foundation for everything that comes afterwards (where we then focus on leading individuals and then leading teams).

In those first four weeks, we dig into personality, stress triggers,
how others actually experience you,
how you respond under pressure,
and how you prioritize what matters.

Because once you can lead yourself…
leading others becomes exponentially easier.

If you’re serious about becoming the kind of leader people actually want to follow,
start there.

Speaker | Author | Consultant - Guiding organizations through leadership transitions and complexity

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Some of the most damaging leaders I’ve seen weren’t incompetent.

They were unregulated.

Don’t get me wrong, they were smart,  strategic, and experienced.

But they couldn’t manage themselves.

They couldn’t control their reactions in tense moments.

They took feedback personally.

They blamed circumstances when results slipped.

They said “yes” to everything and then created chaos trying to deliver.

And their teams paid the price.

Leadership isn’t just about vision or communication.

It’s about emotional control.
Self-awareness.
Responsibility.
Discipline with your time and energy.

If you can’t lead your own habits, emotions, and priorities, you end up outsourcing the consequences to everyone around you.

And that’s when trust erodes.

Have you ever worked for a leader who struggled to lead themselves?

What did that look like and how did it affect the team?

Is it your goals?
Is it your habits?
Is it your purpose?

Or is it actually none of those things?

Curt Sassak

Teaching Mid-Career Leaders how to navigate life & career transitions using my Proven Recipe / Improve the quality of your life / Create your next chapter by design, not default / Former Chef

Live workshop on July 28th:  Land your next 6-figure role faster. Stop getting ghosted. Start getting noticed. See my featured section for details

𝙎𝙪𝙘𝙘𝙚𝙨𝙨 𝙃𝙖𝙨 𝘼 𝘾𝙧𝙪𝙚𝙡 𝙎𝙚𝙣𝙨𝙚 𝙤𝙛 𝙃𝙪𝙢𝙤𝙧

Imagine eating your favorite dish every day for 20+ years, until one day it doesn’t taste good anymore.

Worse, is you don’t know why, and have no idea of what you want. 

That was me at 39.

Award-winning chef. Five-star kitchens. I had everything I wanted on paper. But inside? Empty. 

I had climbed every mountain only to find myself thinking,  “Is this it? What’s next”

I couldn't figure out why I felt like this, and it frustrated the f*ck out of me. 
I pushed through thinking it would pass. Wrong.

Eventually, it all caught up.
I was 60 lbs overweight, drinking to cope, lost $250K in potential earnings, and in a miserable career that no longer fit. 

So, at 40, I took a bold step: I reinvented myself in every way.

I left the only career I knew with no idea and not job; just the gut instinct that I had more to offer.

So I used what I knew:
Recipes.

A recipe is a process. It’s clarity + execution.
That’s how I reinvented myself. 

The result?
I’m in the best physical and mental shape of my life. And, I'm helping change lives for the better. 

I help high-functioning, high-achieving professionals (35+) who want freedom from a toxic job. Freedom to build something with meaning, and leave a legacy. 

You don’t need another “mindset guru” with motivational memes.
As one client put it: “Curt cuts through the noise fast. No fluff. Just results.”

That’s me.

A few wins:

→ Reena beat 457 applicants to land her dream hospital job.

→ Jordan pivoted to a new career he loves, with better pay and family time.

→ Matt said: “Curt didn’t just help my career. He helped me take back my life.”

Enter: The Career Recipe Boot Camp

Step 1: Gather Your Ingredients
 ✓ Get clear on your values, skills & goals
 ✓ Ditch the limiting beliefs holding you back

Step 2: Start Cooking
 ✓ Build a roadmap tailored to your life
 → So you move with purpose—not by default

This isn’t a pep talk. It’s a tactical reinvention plan.

You don’t need to burn it all down.
We build upon what you've already built.

You just need a better recipe.

Ready to cook something that feeds your soul?

Curt

DM me the word "Recipe," and let's write your next chapter. 

Common keywords:
Career coach. Personal development coach. Executive coach. Midlife career change. Career clarity. Personal reinvention. Transition coach.

So, you’re career driven, have had success, and now you feel like there are no more mountains to climb.

You got to the top of the “mountain,” and achieving your goals only to find you don’t feel fulfilled or happy. It’s like, WTF?

Your life/career no longer serves you. All you know is that you feel stuck and see no way out. You need to make a change. But doing what?

Then fear creeps in. You have questions.  “What do I do now?”  “I don’t know what else to do” 

“If I change careers how will I make enough to pay my bills?” and so on

These are the same questions (and more) I asked myself when I did a career change after 27 years as a chef and started over at 41 from zero.

Did you know a New York Times study found that 75% of Americans don’t have a clear sense of purpose?

And, there are serious health risks associated with a lack of purpose

A lack of purpose affects your self-worth, self-confidence, and self-esteem.
Which, in turn, can lead to depression, anxiety, substance abuse, and other health issues.
I experienced all of those.

The good news is this: You’re only 5 steps away from finding the purpose, fulfillment, and new career you so desperately want.

They are the same 5 steps I used to go from feeling lost/stuck and finding a purpose and fulfillment

All it requires from you is self-honesty and a commitment to change

I coach people through one-to-one sessions

You think asking for help is equivalent to failure? Yep, I used to think the same, but that’s your ego talking

Consider: If you’ve been stuck, and the steps you’ve taken have not yielded results, what makes you think anything will change by repeating what you’ve done?

What got you here will not get you THERE.

Just like a car needs realignment from time to time, our personal and professional vision needs realignment from time to time

So, you can remain stuck and lost, or you can send me a DM

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Dennis Geelen

Curt Sassak

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The Battle

Dennis Geelen

Curt Sassak

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dennis Geelen's LinkedIn Performance

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