Reignite 90
My main Story Catching program. Short letters, group conversations and reflection in your everyday life help you notice what's been driving your choices and begin making choices that feel like your own. Explore Reignite 90
I'm Chad Petersen, the Story Catcher. I help people in midlife who've spent years being what everyone else needed figure out what they actually want and start making choices for themselves. We can work together online, or in person in Baños, Ecuador.
Short answer
The Story Catcher is Chad Petersen's coaching practice. He helps people navigating divorce or midlife notice the roles, rules and expectations shaping their choices, figure out what they actually want, and begin putting those choices into practice. Reignite 90 is the main program, alongside Ecuador retreats and one-on-one coaching.
My main Story Catching program. Short letters, group conversations and reflection in your everyday life help you notice what's been driving your choices and begin making choices that feel like your own. Explore Reignite 90
Step away from your usual routines for Story Catching, reflection and time in nature with a small group in Baños, Ecuador. Space to hear yourself and consider what you want next. Ask about the retreat
Private Story Catching conversations focused on what's happening in your life and the choices in front of you. A way to continue the work after Reignite 90, or talk with me about the individual support you're looking for. Ask about one-on-one coaching
Does this sound like you?
Your life may look fine from the outside and feel off on the inside. You have spent years being what everyone needed, and when someone asks what you want, even for dinner, you go blank. That is not a flaw. It is a habit, and habits can change.
You are not alone
Divorce, a career change or a shift in your responsibilities can bring a question you haven't asked yourself in years: what do I actually want now? Sometimes nothing dramatic has happened. You simply realize the life you've been living no longer feels like your own.
The question is not whether you can start over. It is what you want the next chapter to be, and that is the part most people skip. They move straight to fixing the schedule, the house or the dating profile, and wake up a year later in a different version of the same life.
The work I do starts one step earlier. Before you plan anything, we find out what you want, in your own words, and then you decide what to do about it.
The main program
Reignite 90 is my main Story Catching program. It's for people who've spent years responding to everyone else's needs and want to hear their own voice again. Through short letters, group conversations and reflection, you notice what's been shaping your choices and practice choosing what feels more honestly yours.
Look at the roles, rules and expectations you've picked up, and notice where they are still making choices for you.
Make room for preferences, questions and possibilities you usually dismiss before you give them a chance.
Try small choices in everyday situations and bring what you notice back to the group conversations.
“Uncovers the hidden stories and drivers I have had running on autopilot, enabling me to see and make changes at the root. Grateful for this and Chad!!”
“I really thought that, at 60 years old, I had some idea of what was driving my daily thoughts and actions. However, this program has really given me a thorough insight into where my thoughts and actions have come from. Life-changing work.”
“What I appreciate most is that this isn’t a program you outgrow. I believe you can get something from it regardless of where you are in life or how much personal work you’ve already done. Each time you revisit yourself through the lens of this process, the next piece of work has a way of revealing itself.”
Not ready to talk yet?
It is a 3-minute midlife quiz built on four animal archetypes. It gives you a starting point for seeing the story you have been living, not a label, and you can take it before you ever book a call.
About Chad
Chad Petersen is the Story Catcher, a narrative coach based in Baños, Ecuador. He helps people in midlife who've spent years meeting everyone else's expectations figure out what they actually want and begin making choices for themselves. His main program is Reignite 90, alongside Ecuador retreats and one-on-one coaching.
Before coaching, Chad spent his career telling other people's stories: a newspaper as a kid, then TV and radio, then 11 years running social media for three hospitals. Then his own story came apart, and he rebuilt it in the mountains of Ecuador, where he lives today.
You don't need to reinvent yourself. You just need to remember who you are.
Chad Petersen, the Story Catcher
Questions
Questions you might be asking as you figure out what you want next.
Start by noticing whose voice is answering. When nothing feels right, it is usually because the choices in front of you were built on someone else's expectations: a parent's, a spouse's, or the role you played for years. Write down what you think you should want, then ask where each item came from. Whatever is still standing after that question is the start of your answer.
Yes. Midlife can bring changes in work, relationships and responsibilities that leave you questioning what you want. Not knowing doesn't mean you've failed. You can begin by noticing the preferences and questions you've been setting aside.
It might feel like one. A lot of what gets called a midlife crisis is the moment you notice the life you've been living no longer fits. That isn't a breakdown. It's information, and it's the starting point for figuring out what you actually want now.
Divorce changes a relationship and a role, but it doesn't have to define everything about you. You can begin separating what you chose from what the marriage needed you to be, and deciding what you want to carry forward.
Gray divorce is the name people use for divorce after 50, often after a long marriage. Beyond the paperwork, it can leave you facing a question you haven't asked in decades: what do I want my life to look like now? You don't need the whole plan at once. Start with what you want more of, what no longer fits, and one choice that's yours.
Reignite 90 is the main place to begin this work in a group while living your everyday life. The retreat gives you time away in Ecuador, and one-on-one coaching gives you private space to focus on your own questions. A discovery call is a chance to talk about what you're looking for and whether any of these fits.
Yes. Reignite 90, the retreat and one-on-one coaching are for people in midlife, men and women. The work is the same: noticing the roles and expectations that have been making your choices, and figuring out what you actually want now.
Start small and practice. Make one decision a day based on what you want, even something as simple as where to eat, and notice how it feels to choose. Then look at the bigger patterns: whose approval you are still waiting for, and what you would do if you stopped waiting.
Yes. You don't have to change everything at once. Start with what no longer fits, what you want more of, and one choice you can try. The work is finding a direction that feels like yours, not meeting someone else's deadline for starting over.
No. A long marriage gives you years of showing up for other people, and that skill does not disappear. What usually needs rebuilding is the habit of asking what you want and trusting the answer. That can be learned at any age.
Because you have had years of practice deciding for everyone else and very little practice deciding for yourself. When every choice ran through what your family needed, nobody asked for your preferences, including you. They are still there, and they come back with use, one small decision at a time.
Because a life can meet every expectation and still not be yours. Feeling lost in a life that looks fine usually means you have been living by rules you picked up along the way, and some of them no longer fit. Naming those rules is often the first relief.
Give yourself time to grieve what ended, then get specific about what you want the next chapter to hold: where you live, how you spend your days, who you spend them with, and what you do that is only yours. You do not need the whole plan at once. You need the next honest decision.
You don't need the whole answer before we talk. Start with a discovery call to explore what you're looking for and whether Reignite 90, the retreat or one-on-one coaching is a fit.
Prefer to message first? WhatsApp +1 409-350-7865 or email [email protected]