About

A third space we built on purpose.

We didn't want to flatten our voices to work together. We wanted a third space — a place where each voice was welcome, neither had to change, and what emerged was stronger than either alone.

Third Space began with two friends — Beau Johnson and Dr. Michael Brown. Both had spent years working with leaders. Both had crystallized their own ideas. Both wanted to work together.

But they had seen what happens when two strong voices try to write a book or build a company together. The ideas get watered down. Each voice becomes a muted version of itself. They didn't want that.

Over the years, Michael would come into Beau's space, or Beau would go into Michael's. Eventually they realized what they really wanted was a third space — a place where each voice was welcome, neither had to change, and what emerged was stronger than either alone.

Then they noticed something else. They weren't the only ones who wanted that. There are coaches, consultants, advisors, and guides everywhere who want to keep their own voice and perspective — but who also don't want to be alone in the work. They want a community where they can be sharpened and strengthened, not flattened.

That's what Third Space is.

The centerpiece is you

A few of the things we try to be — and a few we try not to be.

The leader becoming more fully themselves is the centerpiece of the room. Not us, not a system, not a personality. That choice has consequences for how we write, how we coach, and how we run a gathering.

We are

Insightful
Interested
Helpful
Generous
Warm and inviting
Clear and direct
Present and human

We are not

Comprehensive
Interesting
Clever
Gimmicky
Academic or corporate
Vague or churchy
Transactional

The founders

Two voices, kept whole.

Dr. Michael Brown

Co-founder & Faculty · Bowling Green, OH

Dr. Michael Brown is the founder of DMB Coaching and a co-founder of Third Space. He's been speaking, mentoring, and leading since 1991 — wearing the hats of management consultant, life coach, organizational architect, and (briefly, memorably) Walmart TV personality. His work centers on three things: purposes, relationships, and directions. He prefers transformation to information and short conversations to long ones. He's the architect of Third Space's On Purpose assessment and the Twelve Dimensions of Life model. He lives in Bowling Green, Ohio with his wife Teresa and a houseful of kids.

Purpose & callingOrg designCulture transformation

Beau Johnson

Co-founder & Faculty · Colorado

Beau Johnson is a coach and a co-founder of Third Space. He spends his days in foxholes with leaders fighting battles that matter — founders building, executives reorganizing, parents leading at home and at work. His work is less about systems and more about presence: helping a leader name what they already know but haven't said out loud yet.

CEO coachingFounder transitionsTeam conflict

The team

The coaches, consultants, and guides in the room.

We're a small but growing team of practitioners who serve leaders in their own voice — and who get sharper because of the company we keep.

Andy Alt

Faculty · Ohio

Andy is faculty across multiple Third Space cohorts and a senior coach at DMB Coaching.

Danielle Venable

Coordinator · Atlanta, GA

Danielle keeps the room running — coordinating cohorts, gatherings, and the hundred small things that make the work possible.

In the room

A few of the leaders in our cohorts and gatherings — alumni and current.

Jason Punzel

Alumni · Cohort '24

Joel Kessel

Alumni · Cohort '24

Michael Chisnell

Alumni · Cohort '24

Nick Zuniga

Alumni

Matthew Parrett

Operations

Casey Batezel

Alumni · Cohort '24

For coaches & consultants

Build the life you want — without doing it alone.

We don't take a percentage of your client revenue. We don't make you change your voice. We offer company in the work, distribution for your ideas, and a few of the best gatherings we know how to run.

Apply to join the team