About Tom Atkins

The short version

Tom Atkins is a John Maxwell certified life coach, consultant, speaker and teacher. He is also a published poet, writer, photographer, artist, spiritual counselor and part-time Methodist pastor.

He founded Quarry House in 2011, after thirty years in broadcast, audio-visual and media-centric IT.

The long version

Tom spent three decades in media technology before he ever coached anyone, and most of it was spent building things that had not existed before.

In 1991 he was one of the first four employees of the Whitlock Group, which grew into a top-five systems integrator. In 1998 he became a partner and Vice President of Sales & Marketing at TGS, Inc., where he spearheaded the industry’s transition to HDTV and helped drive 200% growth per year for five consecutive years, until the company was acquired by Ascent Media.

In 2005 he joined Diversified Systems and built the Mid-Atlantic Division from nothing to $22 million in sales, later taking on corporate marketing as well. Throughout that period he was also a strategic partner in the Kingma Agency.

In 2011 he founded Quarry House, and has been coaching and consulting ever since.

What he believes

“Business is about promises made and promises kept. Everything else is fluff.”

That belief shapes how the practice runs. Tom limits his number of clients on purpose, so that each client has his fully focused attention — and he will have a first conversation with anyone, free, whether or not he is taking new clients.

“Everything great starts with a conversation.”

Away from the desk

Tom is married with three children and two cats. He lives in Vermont and works with clients worldwide. He pastors two small Methodist churches, and keeps an art studio in an old Presbyterian church just over the New York border.

He writes at The Quarry House Blog and The Wisdom Letters, and shows his painting and photography at The Art of Tom Atkins. All of it is listed on the publications page.