About The Back Forty

Imagine there is way more in you to be expressed and fulfilled.  


Imagine and believe that you can restart...or, better yet, really start for the first time!

Consider that the only start that matters is the one you do now, and that life was actually designed that way. Your midlife opportunity is awakening to discover all that you've learned from a first half of R & D (research and development) and capitalizing on it to realize your own uniquely playful, passionate and purposeful second half.

You have yet to do what you came here to do. No matter what has come before -- be it perceived major successes or miserable failures -- as Frank Sinatra sings "The best is yet to come, and babe won't it be fine".

The Back Forty idea is radical. It says that whatever has come before does not determine what comes next. It's about a radical renewing of the mind into belief and action that have you play big. Come discover your Big Game Back Forty Future. It's what you came for.

Meet the Founders

Darrell Gurney
Co-Founder

Darrell is a Life Changer, Executive Coach, Licensed Spiritual Counselor, Consultant, and Career Advisor who has been supporting people in all walks of life for over 28 years. His clients play bigger, perform at peak levels, create thriving lives and businesses, and make empowered career and life transitions. The founder of The Back Forty and CareerGuy.com, he has written several books and edited professional journals on the topics of finding one’s passion, midlife pursuit of purpose, effective relationship building, and career transition. His work has been endorsed by best-selling authors and inspiring luminaries such as Harvey Mackay, Keith Ferrazzi, Dr. Ivan Misner, Rev. Michael Beckwith, and Cynthia Kersey, to name a few.

 

Darrell’s most recent work, The Back Forty: The Ride of Your Life. 7 Critical Embraces to Inspire a Radical Second Half of Play, Passion & Purpose, is an inspirational guide and companion for designing a fulfilling second half of life. The Back Forty INFUSE Program supports midlifers to create the second half as the best half, inspired by radical purpose, under the premise that “the best is yet to come and, babe, won’t it be fine!”

 

As a Licensed Spiritual Counselor, Darrell has studied multiple disciplines with many renowned leaders. He speaks and leads workshops and trainings for community and spiritual organizations, professional associations, and university and MBA programs such as Harvard and USC.

 

Darrell’s PlayGame™ coaching has empowered leaders to become their truest, most powerful self-expressions, producing extraordinary results in an innovative spirit of play. He consults with companies in a wide variety of industries and has been affiliated with some of the largest leadership organizations. Darrell is a personal and business brand strategist, whose “stealth” method of building relationships and thought leadership has helped people expand their reach within careers and client circles.

 

Darrell has a young-adult son, whom he co-parented as a single father from age 2½.  Having faced many midlife challenges including divorce, custody, and quest for purpose, Darrell has dedicated his own “Back Forty” to supporting others to make their second half their radically fulfilling best half.

Alexandra Levin
Co-Founder

Alexandra is an Executive Coach, Training and Development Expert, and Management Consultant who works with entrepreneurs, leaders, business owners, and professionals.  Her clients produce extraordinary results in their performance, directly impacting the bottom line, personal and professional results and financial success. Her expertise is in the areas of personal and professional success, satisfaction, performance, effectiveness, leadership development, management training, communication, customer service, sales, teamwork, business consulting, and human potential development.

 

Having worked as a leader and corporate executive for 25 years, Alexandra possesses strong leadership and management expertise to support organizations in vision, strategy development and fulfillment. This same capacity allows her to empower individuals in their own vision and future evolvement.

 

Alexandra co-created The Back Forty INFUSE Program, which supports midlifers to cause the second half of life as an inspiring, radical, and purposeful best half, based on the premise that “the best is yet to come and, babe, won’t it be fine!” 

 

She holds an MBA and an SPHR certification and delivers coaching, workshops, training programs and consulting on issues such as living an empowered life, transforming organizational culture, humanity in the work place, leadership, teamwork, and executive reinvention. 

 

A single mother of two young-adult daughters, she has been through many of life’s challenges. Emigrating from Russia at 19, after awaiting government sanction for 13 years, she left her parents behind, not knowing if she would ever see them again. Coming to America, she absorbed education and simple freedoms she never knew existed. After two marriages and building an admirable corporate career, her next half of life is directed towards the spiritual and inspirational empowerment of others.

 

Alexandra brings a couple unique perspectives to the Back Forty message. First, ask Alexandra why she's in love with her wrinkles, and check out her Back Forty IMBUE Journal, in which she encourages women to embrace their own unique, powerful essence. Also, incorporating her years of OD experience, through ConsciousOrg she brings the idea of organizational consciousness to companies to invent their own Back Forty future.