Spotlight: Mark Cappellino

1 - Where are you from, and how did you choose to live in Middle Tennessee?

I’m from Rochester, NY. I moved to Nashville in 1996 once I chose to leave my hometown and my family business for a warmer climate and a new career. I’d lived in Atlanta after college, so I knew I liked this climate and I’m very close with my brother who is my only sibling and he’d moved to Nashville in 1992 to pursue his career as a music producer and recording engineer.

2 - What is your professional background, and why did you become a coach?

My first career was in manufacturing in the tech-before-digital era in business reprographics (think Xerox and Kodak). In that career as a Business Unit Leader and later VP of Marketing and Sales, I’d discovered (owned up to) a passion and aptitude for the people side of organizations. Organizational Development was really where my heart was/is. I would later be “discovered by coaching” only to learn that I’d been a coach all my life, as seems to be the case for most coaches.

3 - How did you choose your specialty area?

When I came to Nashville, I retooled by getting my MA at MTSU in Industrial and Organizational Psychology and concurrently started an OD consulting business with one of my professors. After five years, that led to my taking a role with Franke in Lavergne as the Director of OD worldwide, which is where I narrowed my focus to Leadership Development and Executive Coaching. That particular focus of coaching was the natural progression of my career up until that point. And having been the son of the boss (SOB) in my family business, I was pretty comfortable in the C-suite. Apparently, speaking truth to power and taking your father/CEO to task are poetically, complimentary skills.

4 - What are the greatest challenges and greatest rewards of your career?

The greatest challenge of my career (as with life) has been to maintain a learner’s mind and to maintain mental, emotional and spiritual health in order to show up for myself and my clients. George Leonard says that mastery is about practice not perfection. When I started coaching, I recognized it as a lifelong pursuit and that I’d not live long enough to master it even if I live to be 108. The greatest rewards have been the magic that shows up in conversations with clients and them realizing their voice as leaders. I particularly like working with first-time CEOs. But my favorite fruit is when a client declares that their relationship with a spouse or child has improved as a result of our working together.

5 - What is something that most ICFTN members would be surprised to learn about you?

I am a highly social, off-the-charts Introvert.

6 - How do you enjoy spending your free time?

I love to cook for family and friends. I love to travel. Mostly, I keep busy with hiking, cycling, and yoga.

Mark Cappellino