Co-Founder & Lead Coach
Optimism isn't a feeling to chase.
It's a pattern you can build.
David Mitran is an ICF-certified executive and team coach, and the creator of the Strategic Optimism Framework™.
500+
Professionals coached
8+
Years of practice
5
Books published
2023
ICF-certified since
Overview
Most founders and decision-makers don't have a strategy problem. They have a sabotage problem.
The parts of them that block progress, delay decisions, and drain energy aren’t weaknesses to eliminate. They’re patterns to understand and redirect. The same energy spent in conflict with those parts is the energy available to build with.
David works with founders, entrepreneurs, and leaders to identify exactly where that internal conflict lives, and how to stop feeding it. Through individual coaching, executive coaching, team coaching, and workshop facilitation.
Credentials
Trained, tested, and re-certified. Not self-declared.
Applied Neuroscience & Brain Health
The Neuroscience Academy. 29 hours core competency + 11 hours resource development, completed December 2025.
ICF Certified Coach
International Coaching Federation. Awarded March 2023.
Positive Psychology — Research
Two-year independent research project analyzing 10+ books on optimism and 50+ studies in positive psychology and leadership resilience. This is the foundation of the Strategic Optimism Framework™. Between 2023 and 2025.
Transformational Leadership Coaching Programme
TPC Leadership, ICF-accredited (ACTP). 138.6 hours of coach training, completed November 2022.
“What surprises my clients most is the structure and the clarity that comes with it. Every session is measurable. Every shift is visible. Optimism isn't a feeling I help people chase. It's a pattern I help them build.”
How Sessions Work
Five steps, from first call to ongoing coaching.
1.
DISCOVERY CALL
A 60-minute call to discuss what’s going on, and whether working together makes sense for both sides.
2.
SETTING THE FOUNDATION
A 2-hour session to set a SMART goal, convert it into a mastery goal, and agree on how progress gets measured.
3.
STAKEHOLDER ALIGNMENT
If a manager or sponsor is involved, the goal gets aligned with their view too — before coaching starts, not after.
4.
THE COACHING STARTS
Typically 6–10 sessions, 60 minutes to 2 hours each, built around the goal set in step two.
5.
Ongoing collaboration
A new goal is set and a new number of sessions is decided on to achieve that goal.
What Progress Can Look Like
One client's self-reported progress, before and after.
This is one individual’s coaching engagement, self-reported on a 1–10 scale. This is not an average or a guarantee. Every engagement starts from a different baseline.
4 → 7
+75%
Clarity, after 1 session
3 → 8
+167%
Self-trust, after 1 session
18 → 84
+367%
Sales, after 1 month
6 → 3.5
−42%
Setbacks, after 1 month
In Their Words
What it's actually like to work with David.
“I went to him for coaching about starting my freelance career and he balanced really attentive listening with insightful observations and gentle challenges which really helped me clarify my thinking and take action.”
KR
Katherine Reid
Executive Director, J.P. Morgan
“I found myself growing in trust and psychological safety, thanks to David’s attentive and creative coaching style. His approach was truly transformational, allowing me to improve my behaviours and emotions significantly.”
JV
João Virott da Costa
Managing Partner, Bright Partners
“Optimism, done right, isn’t a mood. It’s strategic thinking.”
Beyond Coaching
The same discipline, applied to his own life.
Structure and consistency aren’t just what David teaches in a session. They’re tested in his own life first, long before they showed up in his work.
Turning 35 with a half-marathon — August 2026
A birthday achievement of celebrating good physical health.
Two Caminos de Santiago — 2022 & 2023
Walked from Porto in 2022, then from Lisbon in 2023. Both multi-week walks, both completed on foot.
5 self-published books — 2016–2018
Written and published over three years: The Power of 30-Day Challenges, How to Change Your Life, From Brain to Heart, Shift to Passion, and Subconscious Mechanics.
64km ultra-marathon — 2015
Finished, on foot, in one go. The kind of goal that only breaks down into something manageable with a plan.
TEDxYouth — 2014
Spoke in front of a room of 200+ people.
Also True About David
Start with a conversation, not a commitment.
A discovery call to find out exactly what’s in the way and whether working together is the right fit.