In this 6‑questions‑in‑7‑minutes interview, host Pete Alexander talks with David Taylor‑Klaus, founder of DTW Coaching, about his work helping successful entrepreneurs reconnect with their families. David describes his coaching philosophy using a Michelangelo analogy—freeing clients from false layers to reveal their authentic selves. He laughs about “martyrpreneurs,” noting that many new coaches struggle to charge for their services and must develop confidence through action. When asked what chapter of a hypothetical business book companies should read, he emphasizes the importance of a clear introduction that explains the book’s purpose, urging authors to write the book they themselves needed. He critiques the common advice to “work harder,” arguing instead for operating in one’s “zone of genius,” delegating other tasks, and creating a life rhythm rather than seeking work‑life balance. He shares a personal burnout story, highlighting the need to heed early warning signs. David recommends fellow business leader Shelley Paxton, author of Soulbatical, for her work helping people retain their soul in corporate settings. He recounts his first job at a high‑volume McDonald’s in Atlanta, describing lessons about treating people well and the impact of negative mentors. Finally, he promotes his own book Mindset Mondays with DTK and the REWIRE framework, directing listeners to mindsetmondayswithdk.com.
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This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast, where business leaders share their insights. It is 6 questions in 7 minutes because successful business leaders are busy and rarely have more time to spare. So let's get to it. Question number 1: In a few sentences, please tell me who you are and what you do.
Fabulous. All right. First name is David, last name is Taylor Claus. I run a company called DTK Coaching, and what I do is I'm a parent, I'm a partner, I'm a son, and hopefully soon I'm a grandparent. But what I get paid for is the work that I do is reintroducing successful entrepreneurs to their families. And, and that I do that through coaching, which is I take the approach that Michelangelo took to sculpture. When they asked him how he carved such exquisite figures, he said, I don't. I merely free them from the stone. So the work I get to do is helping clients chip away everything that isn't true, isn't real, isn't them. And then from that place of their authenticity, they live, love, and lead from there.
Well, David, it's an absolute pleasure to have you on the show. Congratulations on the pending grandchild. And—
oh, not yet, but I'm hoping. Okay, okay.
And thank you for the very, very cool analogy. That's a wonderful one. Question number 2: What is something that What makes you smile and/or laugh about working in your industry?
Oh my God, martyrpreneurs. Um, there's a huge number of folks who are professional coaches, or sorry, wanting to be professional coaches, who are so enamored of the work that we do. These are the kind of things they say. Oh my God, this is such important work. How do I charge real money for it? I'm like, because if you don't, you have to go get a job. And it's a real challenge. New coaches stumble with being an entrepreneur and asking for the money. So I, I still giggle at it, and at the same time, I feel for them. It's part of the journey.
Yeah, yeah, that's— it's a, it's a matter of getting that confidence, I'm assuming. Am I right?
Yeah, well, confidence is the result. You've got to have the courage to take action, and the confidence comes from that. I think too many of them are waiting for the confidence to get started.
That's a good point. Question number 3: I have a fictitious book with all the answers for business. What chapter would you think most companies should read?
They should read the introduction because it's the one explains why the book exists. That's the thing that most people skip in a book, and understanding where you're coming from and why these are the answers that were needed. My coach challenged me, he said, write the book you needed to read. And I think if more authors did that, then more of these self-help books wouldn't be shelf-help. We'd actually have stuff that made a difference.
Mm-hmm. Yeah, and that's interesting. Take, you write the book that you would need. And it's, it's interesting. I'm an author myself. And I did that with my last book. And that's why it became a bestseller, because I did what I thought was the right book. And it worked. So I totally agree with you.
You have to know what you want for your— we all know what we want from our audience, you have to know what you want for them. And whether it's the busy executives who are listening to this podcast, or the folk you're writing for, if you don't know what you want for them, then you're writing for you. And that's, and that's harder to get folks to buy it.
Absolutely. That is very wise words. Thank you. Question number 4: other than the generic work harder, have a great attitude, and care for customers, what advice or insight would you give to other business leaders?
Stop listening to work harder. That's daft. No, honestly, it's— those are lies that we tell people. Right, it's not about working harder. It's about, first of all, finding what it is that inspires you about your work and leaning into your zone of genius, that which you are uniquely qualified to do, and giving away everything else to people inside your organization. And even if you're a company of one, you have other people outside you can give it to, to do those things. Every moment you spend out of your zone of genius, in the zone of excellence or competence or incompetence, you're cheating the folks you're there to serve. So this BS about work harder. No, that's why— look, the whole idea of work-life balance is killing us because it's a lie. It's— whose idea was it to put the word work first? That's what has us backwards. Work is just a component of our life, like family and faith and the other values-based things that move you. We shouldn't be trying to balance anything. This is about creating a life rhythm, a rhythm across all the elements and components of your life. So work with better rhythm means live with better rhythm. Then the work part is going smoothly. Work harder is the wrong direction.
I really, I totally agree with you, and I love how you put that there. It, it reminds me that from what I hear is that, you know, those people that are so busy and they say, I'm so busy I can't even have time to eat my lunch or something like that, because they're inundated with busy work, but busy work does not mean that you're being successful. It's just being, you know, letting, letting the work expand to whatever time you give it, and you're not doing the quality work. Am I, am I reading you correctly?
Yeah, non-essential busyness doesn't move your business forward. It just makes you feel good. Well, I'm busy, I must be doing well and doing what I need to do. And man, there are other ways to seek stimulation than overloading yourself.
Absolutely. Those are such strong words that our entrepreneurs that are listening are going to take heed of, I certainly hope. Question—
and wait, hold on, don't get me wrong, I did not learn this early enough. I waited till 10, 12 years in when I was burnt out and nearly suicidal. You know, this is a lesson that's learned by doing it wrong for a long time. The point is that you can listen when the universe whispers in your ear, or you can wait till it hits you in the head with a baseball bat. It's kind of your call, right? Alexis Arton taught me that, and you, you need to pay attention so that you learn these lessons before your body screams at you.
Yes, and I've— from personal experience myself, I can totally, totally relate to that. So thank you for adding that extra flavor to it. Question number 5: What other business leader like yourself would you like to acknowledge and invite to be on my podcast.
All right, I'll tell you. There's a woman named Shelley Paxton. She wrote a book called Soulbatical, and part of her journey was leaving the, the high-achieving, high-driven, male-dominated corporate environment to go recover her soul. She, she left as CMO of Harley-Davidson, and now she's on a journey to liberate a billion souls through her work around helping folks stay in corporate and nurture their all the way along. She's a remarkable human. And by the way, everything she teaches plays in the entrepreneur's world, not just corporate. Corporate's just worse at it.
Oh, touche, touche. I look forward to talking to her. Thank you for that referral. And our final question, question number 6: please tell me about your first job.
Oh, okay, so this one's not on LinkedIn, and no, it's not going to be on LinkedIn. When I was 15, I got a job working for John Hollingsworth, who ran the largest volume McDonald's here in Atlanta, Georgia, up in the suburbs. Um, I, uh, through some bad decisions I made, I needed to make some money to pay, pay off some damage that I had done, and that was the easiest place to get a job. And I learned what happens when, even in a grind environment that You elevate performance even in fast food by treating your people well and treating them like people. And I went on to have several bosses that were my negative mentors, you know, teaching me everything I never want to do in business. John Hollingsworth is still there years later because he's so good with leading people.
It's a great story too. I mean, and, and, you know, even in, in something like McDonald's, people don't realize that there's so many great learnings that you can have from it. And your story is a perfect example of that. Thank you so much for sharing. And thank you so much for being on the show. How can people find you?
Yeah, I'm a big fan of making things easy, right? So the, the book I released, uh, back in September is called Mindset Mondays with DTK. It's 52 ways to rewire your thinking and transform your life. So if you go to mindsetmondayswithdk.com, you'll find information about the book, the REWIRE framework you can download and play with, and more information on me.
Perfect. This is Professor Pete Alexander with the Winning at Business and Life podcast. Get hundreds of amazing business insights from previous guest episodes on your favorite podcast app. Thanks for listening.
