Author: Dean Rasmussen Coaching 🏳️‍⚧️

I am a transgender man rebelling against the binary every chance I can. I am Ren (parent) to 5 uniquely awesome kids. Some of my favourite things to do are reading, writing, listening to podcasts, hanging out with my partner and our kids. I am passionate about parenting, personal development and growth, supporting my 2SLGBTQIA+ community, especially transgender folks and their families. In many ways I’m just your everyday guy, in other ways I am quite the anomaly!
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What I Know Now That I Wish I’d Known Then: The Coming Out Edition

Eight years ago I wrote about coming out. Today I’m writing about everything I wish I’d known then. The complexity of sexuality and attraction. The difference between sexual and romantic attraction. The word demisexual — and why finding it quietly changed things for me. And the mental patterns that kept me performing a life that didn’t fit long after I thought I’d figured myself out. This one’s personal. If you’re somewhere in your own process of becoming, I think it’ll land.

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Full Circle: Why I Left Life Coaching, Went Back to University, and Came Back Knowing This Is Exactly Where I Belong

A journey through doubt, growth, and coming home to my calling — queer and trans life coaching. There's a question I've been sitting with lately — one that makes me smile now, even though it once would have made me wince. Did I really spend years at university, just to come back and become a …

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How Unconscious Bias Nearly Derailed My Transition—and What It Taught Me About True Self-Discovery

I had lived forty years as a woman, birthed five children. My entire identity was wrapped up in being a mom—not just the title, but everything that came with it. I was the nurturer. The emotional center of the home. The one who anticipated needs, who created safety, who held space for everyone’s feelings. When …

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New Year, True You: Why Self-Acceptance Beats Self-Improvement

Every January, we’re bombarded with the same message: new year, new you. Transform yourself. Become unrecognizable. Leave the “old you” behind like a snake shedding its skin. But what if the problem isn’t who you are—it’s that you haven’t given yourself permission to fully be that person? The Exhausting Cycle of Reinvention I’ve worked with …

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The Leadership Gap Nobody Talks About: Why Your Good Intentions Aren’t Enough

We’ve all been there. You say something with the best intentions. You’re trying to be supportive, inclusive, or encouraging. But the reaction you get isn’t what you expected. Maybe there’s an awkward silence. A forced smile. Or worse, someone pulls away from you entirely. You meant well. So why did it land so poorly? This …

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The Courage to Lead from Values, Not Fear: A Guide to Authentic Living

How shifting from fear-based to values-based decision making can transform your life and leadership We live in a world that seems designed to trigger our fears. Fear of failure, fear of judgment, fear of missing out, fear of not being enough. These fears whisper constantly in our ears, shaping our choices, our relationships, and ultimately, …

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When the Mail Brings More Than Bills: An Envelope That Made Me Cry

Yesterday, an envelope arrived that stopped me in my tracks. Inside was something I never expected when I made the terrifying decision to go back to school in my 40s: my Golden Key International Honour Society certificate. I’m still processing it, honestly. And yes, I cried. Happy tears, proud tears, “I can’t believe this is …

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