Apply as a coach

Your story is your qualification.

HILT coaches aren't hired for their credentials — they're chosen for their lived experience. If you've been through it and come out the other side, you have something real to offer.

Why HILT exists

From the founder

I'm a 100% disabled veteran and a formerly incarcerated person. In 2020, while fighting a criminal case, I was ordered to undergo a mental health evaluation. The diagnosis came back: PTSD, severe anxiety, severe depression, self-sabotage disorder, and suicidal ideation.

From the outside, my life looked fine. But inside, I was a mess. Life could be going great — and all of a sudden I'd want to die. I didn't understand why. Nobody had ever been able to explain it to me.

Then I spent a full year in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy through the Seattle VA. That changed my life forever. For the first time, someone could explain what was going on in my head. CBT gave me tools — real tools — to understand myself and manage my life.

In 2023, I started working with veterans as a Peer Specialist at the R&R House in Wisconsin through Mental Health America of Wisconsin. I also worked the phones on a veteran crisis hotline. I saw firsthand what it means when someone who's been through it shows up for someone who's still in it.

HILT — Hone Identity Lead Transform — exists because I know what it feels like to be lost inside your own mind, and I know what it feels like to find your way out. That's what we do here.

— HILT Founder

What we look for in a coach

Lived experience

You've navigated something hard — transition, mental health, incarceration, family strain — and you're on the other side of it.

Veteran status

You served. That shared foundation is what makes peer coaching work.

Willingness to be real

No scripts, no corporate language. Just honest conversation between people who get it.

Commitment to growth

You're still working on yourself. That's not a weakness — it's what makes you credible.

Ready to apply?

Fill out the form below. We review every application personally and will follow up within a few days.