Hi, I'm David Jones.

​​I realized two things almost immediately:

 

1. I’d been coaching people my entire life. Helping people believe in themselves wasn’t a skill I learned — it was something that lived in me. It came naturally, instinctively, almost like breathing.

 

2. Productivity coaching was never just about productivity. Every conversation circled back to life balance, emotional strain, personal history, or internal conflict. You can’t separate a person’s professional performance from their personal world. Their motivations, fears, insecurities, and sense of worth all show up at work, whether they intend them to or not.

 

Then came the banking crisis of 2008. While the industry was collapsing, something in me was waking up. I decided it was time to build something of my own, something that would help companies improve productivity by improving the lives of their people.

 

That’s how CAPTIVE was born. Originally, it stood for Coaching and Professional Training to Increase the Value of the Enterprise or Employee.

 

I developed programs on leadership, engagement, and diversity. I marketed them to corporations and mid‑sized businesses. I knocked on doors, pitched executives, and worked my way through layers of decision‑makers.

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What took me too long to realize was that the process of reaching through multiple levels of personnel within the organization took a long time, and ultimately would be determined to be beneficial for the organization, solely dependent upon how foresightful EVPs and CEO’s were toward the programs and toward the level of care they had for their employees. Over the years of trying to work with these companies, I realized something else. Most companies claimed to welcome innovation, but the reality was a paradox – they wanted innovation, as long as it wasn’t new. 

 

Years passed, and I kept pushing. But something else was happening at the same time, something that would change everything.

 

The Shift I Didn’t See Coming

Over the years, I realized the biggest factor that changed my entire focus. I didn’t enjoy working solely to help people make more money, but the part of my work I was absolutely passionate about was the growth I saw in my individual coaching clients.

 

Furthermore, I discovered my gift was helping them improve their lives quickly. I began to live for the ability to help my clients become fulfilled, happy adults – free from the emotional damage they had from abuse, divorce, trauma, etc. 

 

I learned that I changed their lives not just by listening or through any type of therapy, but by teaching them all, in a very specific way, how their emotional system works. And that, with the proper direction and tools, they actually let me help them renovate their own emotional world and history. It was a powerful realization. And as clients would tell me, I’d changed or saved their lives, I realized this must be my sole focus and my purpose in life. And realizing one’s purpose is life-changing.

 

And then another realization landed — one that shaped everything that came next:

 

Eighty‑five to ninety percent of my clients were women.

 

As a man, I found that surprising. So I asked them why. Their answers were almost identical:

• “You don’t judge me.”

• “I can tell you actually care.”

• “You make me feel like you’re walking this journey with me.”

• “It doesn’t matter that you’re a man — I feel understood.”

 

And then one day, the final piece clicked:

 

If women — who make up half the population — cannot be seen as equals, then equality for anyone else is impossible. Not for people of color. Not for people with disabilities. Not for LGBTQ+ individuals. Not for anyone.

 

If women aren’t equal, no one can be.

 

That’s when I knew: My work had to be about empowering women. Helping them reclaim what society, culture, and generational conditioning stripped away. Helping them become the woman they were always meant to be — before the world told them otherwise.

 

To effectively give every bit of my passion and power, “To help her become the ‘She’ she was meant to be.”

That became my mission.

 

The Birth of APACHE

To do this work effectively, I needed a system — something measurable, teachable, and transformational.

So I created the APACHE Theory, built on seven specific pillars designed to help clients:

• reduce emotional pain

• eliminate fear

• break patterns

• accelerate growth

• reclaim their identity

• rebuild their emotional foundation

 

APACHE wasn’t just for clients. I built it to help therapists, counselors, clinicians, and other coaches engage their clients more quickly and effectively. When clinicians use APACHE, their patients grow more quickly, which means they can help more people.

 

Certification in APACHE became a way to elevate the work of anyone in the personal development or mental health field.

And that’s when CAPTIVE evolved into CAPTIVE Coaching & Empowerment. My comfort with acronyms dates back to my early years with the US Government.  CAPTIVE is an acronym for Coaching for Authentic Personal Transformation, Increasing Value & Empowerment.

 

The Long Road to Full Commitment

The transition took years. Partly because I had the knowledge, but didn’t know where to start. Partly because I doubted whether anyone would care what I had to say. And partly because I knew I needed help — someone who shared my passion, my mission, and my purpose.

 

Then came Elizabeth.

 

Elizabeth entered my life through what some people call fate, others call destiny, and some call pure luck. I was out of state visiting a dear friend for a weekend of golf. His daughter was marrying Elizabeth’s brother, and we all ended up at dinner together.

 

That’s all it took.

 

Elizabeth, my student, my collaborator, and the woman to whom I will pass my company, my work, and who will

continue my work well after I’m gone. Elizabeth, a graduate of Appalachian State, is driven to understand the inner workings of our emotions and is committed to empowering women with the same passion I have. She had literally decided days earlier that she wanted a career combining personal and emotional development, teaching, and empowerment — a job she didn’t believe existed.

 

Until we talked.

 

After giving her time to think it over, she accepted my offer. And in that moment, I knew I had found the missing piece — the person who would carry this work forward long after I’m gone. Together, we are building courses, workshops, retreats, and coaching programs designed to reach as many women as possible. To empower them. To heal them. To help them rise.

 

To help every good‑hearted woman become the “she” she was meant to be.