About Abigail Morgan Prout

Rooted in the windswept beauty of the Salish Sea on Lopez Island, my upbringing as a wild island hippie child instilled in me a profound respect for the natural world. The daughter of a conservationist mother and an Ivy League-educated activist father, I was reared with the understanding that Nature wasn't just a backdrop for our lives but the sacred text by which we lived. My parents, though divorced, united in their reverence for the environment and the grounding force of place.

My childhood was a tapestry of contrasts—summers on a cattle ranch in Northern Arizona, imbued with the spirit of adventure, and school years in a rustic homesteader house, where the rhythm of the earth and our relationship with land dictated our daily lives. My brother and I, companions in fort-building and explorers of darkened cedar groves and driftwood-strewn beaches, were shaped by the land that held our family's stories.

The hand-hewn, octagonal craftsman cabin on our island, a testament to my mother's vision and our collective labor, stands as a symbol of our connection to this land. My mother, now nationally recognized for her conservation efforts, and my father, a high school teacher who imparted the beauty of Native American reservations, modeled a life of listening to, being inspired by, and safeguarding the places we love.

Thirty-five years on Lopez have taught me the essence of belonging—to the land, to a community, and to family. My professional journey mirrors this integration of life and work, sitting at the confluence of leadership, intuition, and creativity. Trained first as a Marital and Family Child Therapist, Certified Art Therapist, and then as a seasoned Professional Certified Co-Active Coach, my vocation has been a testament to the transformative power of creativity and transformative relationships.

Over the last 24 years, I have dedicated myself to coaching, spending the past nine years as a faculty member at the Co-Active Training Institute, where I lead courses on coaching and leadership, and contribute as a blogger. My mission is steadfast: to kindle in others the fire of creative discipline as a conduit for personal and spiritual growth and leadership.