Today we’d like to introduce you to Geoffrey Wheeler.
Hi Geoffrey, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
I started out as an architect. Worked in it since 1994, got licensed in 2002, and lost my first architectural job EVER in October 2020 due to Covid reasons. That was only after reconsidering my career choice many times, almost since I got licensed. I had never felt like I belonged in that industry. I had discovered that that last architecture gig had gotten into my body and made me sick. The stress of working in corporate America was just more that I could handle. After being let go, my gut healed completely! So I thought, never again, will I ever do that.
The following 5 years would be very rough for me indeed. I tried various types of jobs, mostly adjacent to architecture. All good for the paycheck and that is about it. Full of stress and simply awful jobs. Then I tried, in vain, to find just a job to pay the bills, but the market for shit work at shit pay is pretty competitive and I am technically over qualified for all of it.
I lost 4 of my 5 original family members. And I lost a large group of friends I had had for 30 years, because now I could see the lies and manipulation…..bloody narcissists.
I even tried to start a non-profit idea I had had for a while, but that didn’t pan out. I started drawing and painting in 2022. And proceeded to make a coloring book of my drawn images (at my sister’s suggestion), printed the minimum I could and put them on Etsy and went around town trying to sell them. I sold less than 50 between my friends and one shop owner.
DOA, much like my photography web site that I opened around 2014, and finally closed around 2020 because there was no traffic being generated. I just didn’t want to go thru the pain of building a following on social media. Really hard to do when you are fully employed as an architect and before the likes of Metricool existed.
In late 2025, I got inspired. A friend of mine told me that he didn’t have anyone in his life who he could talk to like he can talk with me. That was all I needed. I birthed the idea of Conversation Companions that December, and built it up into something that could work in time for UH to start their spring semester. Conversation Companions is a listening service for people experiencing overwhelm, uncertainty, or just needing someone to actually hear them. My focus was originally college students, then I broadened it to nurses in retirement care facilities and memory care facilities. I did this because I understand the overwhelm that they feel and a lack of having someone who knows how to listen.
I was going about it all wrong though, so I started a revised ad campaign on social media just a few weeks ago.
My active listening skill has been with me my whole life. It wasn’t something I learned along the way. It just took over 50 years for me to figure out what the gift was and how to use it to help others.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
UGH, I told ya’ll about this in the last one. I’ve tried lots of things to promote my artwork or find work that will pay, anything.
All falling flat.
And I lost my dad in 2020, my brother in 2021, one of my sisters in 2025, and my mother in April this year. And the loss didn’t end with that. I lost a group of friends I had had for 30 years! Because I backed away from them, but it still was really very surreal. And the biggest hurdle has been money, or the lack of it. I have been broke since November 2020. And that has been so difficult to deal with because up to that point, I never had to worry about money too much. I was gainfully employed from 1994 until 2020. And now I don’t think I’ll ever get back to that lifesyle, but I’m ok with that. I am different than I was all that time. The last 5 years have been full of inner work for me. Unpicking all the crap I had absorbed growing up. I am currently my most authentic self to date, and I believe that makes me perfect for what I’m doing.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Since leaving architecture, I’ve been focusing more on my creativity. I build custom birds from recycled materials, mostly for myself, but soon for other people. I build my own journals for reflection and writing. I draw and paint when it suits me. And generally will try any artistic endeavor that my best friend puts in front of me.
My work is now Conversation Companions. I listen to people, reflect back what I heard, giving them clarity on their issue. It’s amazing work. I love it because I love connecting with people, and I love seeing them gain clarity right there in front of me. It is truly amazing! Most people are totally surprised and how helpful it can be to have anyone listen to them so they can hear it themselves. That tells you how bad things are today. I’ve heard we are experiencing a pandemic of loneliness. And I think that spreads to being heard and seen quite easily. This is something I can help, not therapy, not counseling, just a compassionate conversation does the trick. My active listening is what sets me apart. Most people have no idea how to listen.
I am also half of the podcast team that brings Blueprints for Belonging into the world every week. As you may gather by the name, we bring the world of architecture together with the concept of belonging. We started this podcast in June 2025. It’s available everywhere you get your podcasts.
Do you have any advice for those just starting out?
Only specific to my business. Communication is everything. How you interact with people matters. You don’t know what is in the back of someone’s train, so it behooves you to be kind to everyone.
I wish I had listened to the woman on an airplane over 20 years ago who told be to stop should-ing myself. But alas, I was not in the right place to hear that. I am now.
Pricing:
- $1 per miniute, 20 and 60 minute sessions
- first session is free….on Wednesdays
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.conversation-companions.com
- Youtube: @BlueprintsforBelonging-gwkp
