Keiver’s story: Finding the courage to take the leap

For more than two decades, Keiver Calp was a top performer in the automotive business – an award-winning sales professional who had earned his way into the one-per-cent clubs provincially, regionally and nationally.

But something was quietly wearing him down.

Around 2019, while managing a dealership, Keiver was referred to Vision coach Dave Veale. He arrived skeptical, assuming the sessions were really about making him more productive for his employer.

Dave cleared that up immediately.

“Just so we’re clear,” he told Keiver, “I’m here for you.”

That reframe changed everything. The things that mattered most – parenting, relationships, work – weren't making him happy anymore. He was getting angry and frustrated fast, and he didn't understand why.

Early in his coaching, Keiver admitted he went from zero to 100 in an instant – explosive with his kids, with his team, with anyone in his path. 

Dave pushed back.

“I think you’re idling at 90. To go from 90 to 100 isn’t that hard. We need to figure out what it’s going to take to get your idle down lower.”

Keiver knew immediately this wasn’t a performance improvement exercise. A 360 assessment followed – anonymous feedback that was hard to sit with but named things he already sensed.

One comment stayed with him: that when others didn’t see a solution as quickly as he did, he made them feel stupid. 

“I knew I was doing it,” he says. “It was done to me and that's how I learned to manage.”

The self-knowledge he built through coaching – about how he led, what he valued, where he genuinely excelled – made him a better manager and a more self-aware leader.

It also gave him the clarity to define what he wanted next: pure sales, betting on himself.

Years later, when a chance emerged to join The Smart Energy Company – helping farmers across Eastern Canada generate their own solar energy – it clicked.

Walking away from 23 years of automotive identity at 48 years of age, with no financial runway, was a daunting prospect.

But coaching had given him something to stand on. He jumped – and stuck the landing.

“How often do you get someone to validate you, to challenge you – someone who’s just there for you, to be literally your coach?”

Coaching helped Keiver become a better leader – and gave him the clarity and courage to build a job he actually wanted. Contact us to find out what it could do for you.