About Lester

My bio and answers to common questions are below. I look forward to meeting you soon!

My journey to you.

Dr. Clowes has spent the last few years building a coaching and consulting practice focused on human performance and leadership. His clients range across the globe, from Hollywood to the tech industry and back to education, and he still keeps one foot in the adolescent world. Before launching Re-Tri and Mighty Parents, Lester spent 16 years working in the educational industry in various capacities. He played key roles in starting dozens of schools from scratch while leading efforts in operations, marketing, hiring and training, and leadership development. And during these years he found himself constantly serving as mentor or coach to hundreds of professionals, which would lead to his decision to create his own practice. He earned his Bachelor’s in History from the University of Memphis, Master’s in Teaching from Christian Brothers University, and his Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the University of Southern California. His dissertation focused on the integration of technology and its interplay with culture and leadership, and his work was nominated for USC’s dissertation of the year in 2015.

The title he’s most proud of, though, is “Dad” to the two most awesome souls on the planet. He’ll debate anyone on the idea that anime is the highest form of screen-based media, that Batman needs a therapist or he’ll usher in the apocalypse, and that One Piece is the greatest story ever told in human history. He loves the gym, collectible card games, and Halo. He’s also served on the board of an esports league and still competes in different games.

How did I become a coach?

I’ve been obsessed – knowingly or unknowingly – since I was a child. I was first hooked on the idea in middle school, when a former science teacher of mine saw potential in me and brought me back to teach and mentor a new group of students. From there, I began my own tutoring/mentoring business in high school,was a peer/mentor in college, mentored at-risk youth throughout my 20s, and then committed myself for 8 years to growing an educational organization that was focused on the power of 1:1 coaching. While there I still worked with teens, but I also began tapping into my gift for pushing new leaders to realize the greatest versions of themselves. I’ve since coached hundreds of leaders in both their professional and personal lives. Peak performance is not a isolated effort of one part of yourself, after all, but a negotation between the many aspects of your whole person.

But professional coaching is a different world than parent coaching?

I get this question all the time and I absolutely love it. Yes, I coach professionals and I coach parents. I also still coach and mentor adolescents. And from all this experience there are a few promises I feel resolute in making to you. 1) The core aspects of human behavior are fundamental in nature, no matter if the person is 8 years old or 80, if it’s in the home or office, or what their goals might be. 2) We actually harm our efforts by partitioning our lives into “work”, “family”, “play”, etc. We learn a great leadership skill at work, but then leave it there instead of bringing it home with us. Instead of creating space for the different parts of “us” to negotiate with each other, we artifically limit each of their potential growth by separating them. 3) Over the years I’ve designed coaching frameworks that are research-based and real-world tested, and they’ve been refined across a range of settings. And their greatest power resides in the fact they haven’t been siloed to just one aspect of life – but all of them.

What experience do I have redesigning business elements?

I’ve spent the majority of my adult life immersed in business leadership and management. I’ve always possessed an entrepreneurial spirit, and when I joined an educational startup at 28yo that spirit was married with mentors and leaders that nurtured its growth. Over the next 8 years I received a real-world education in leadership, finance, strategic planning, human resources, and so much more. In 8 years we grew from one campus to 50+, and from 20 employees to 1,500+. In this time I hired, trained, and coached over 100 leaders, opened 20+ campuses, and played key roles in developing organizational initiatives in a range of topics. I was as curious as you might be now in how this depth of experience would translate to other orgnizations and industries. In the five years since I’ve consulted with dozens of organizations, and I’ve A) redesigned the performance philosophies and programming for a sales organization that resulted in 50% growth in the next 3 years, B) worked with the leadership team of a tech company to rethink its approach to culture and behavior, and in the next 12 months it achieved all key objectives in its 5 year plan, and much, much more. My philosophy is to approach any size of organization as a singular individual, and then break down its performance in key human elements – positive/negative habits, decision-making values, dreams and goals, etc. Once we know who we are, then we create clarity around our ideal future and reverse engineer that into achievable process.

Are you also available for public speaking opportunities?