The Team

Why I’m Bringing on Strategic Partners


Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working alongside some great people—leaders, consultants, and specialists who bring both depth and integrity to their work. These are not casual connections or generic affiliates; they are people I’ve personally collaborated with on complex projects that succeeded because of their skill, discernment, and steady leadership. Each brings a unique strength that complements what Discerning Partners already offers, allowing us to serve churches, ministries, and nonprofits with sharper insight and greater capacity.


The people listed here are partners I deeply respect—individuals who have proven, again and again, that they do what they say they will do, and they do it well. I’ve watched them navigate difficult situations with grace, guide teams through uncertainty, and deliver excellent outcomes. They share Discerning Partners’ conviction that strategic work is not about noise or novelty—it’s about clarity, stewardship, and helping organizations move confidently toward their calling.


By bringing them forward as trusted partners, I’m extending what Discerning Partners has always aimed to be: a place where churches and nonprofits can find not only expertise but people they can trust. These are professionals I would (and do) hire myself, and I’m proud to make their skills more widely available through our shared work.


For each of these partners, I asked them to answer a few questions that could help you to see if they are a good match for your needs. But before I share their answers, I wanted to tell you a bit about my experience with them. Here goes…

Dr. Bob Hyatt

Church Planting Guru, Coach, and Quite the Web Page Designer Guy


I have known Bob for probably 15 years, first as a church planter in Portland, OR and over the past number of years as a coach of church leaders. He is also a dear and trusted friend.



While that friendship makes collaborating more fun, that is not why I asked him to link up with Discerning Partners. The reason I asked him to do so is that he is very good at what he does. Several years ago, when I was still on the pastoral team of NLCF, we were running up on a problem that we just could not get to a point of agreement on with one of our leadership teams. Keep in mind I had been consulting by this point for over ten years, but I could not figure out how to resolve the issues we were facing. So I asked Bob to fly in and work with us on the issue, and this is no exaggeration, in ONE EVENING he had helped us to find resolution. One evening. And not the kind of resolution where there was a “winning” side and a “losing” one. Everyone felt heard, valued, and he just helped us find a way through it together, that is still working for us years later.


He is a guy that I will often ask the advice of on projects I am doing. I trust him and respect him. Also, he just redesigned my website (which he also does for lots of groups), so if you like it, hit him up!


And now, without (further) ado, here is Dr. Bob Hyatt


Tell us a little about yourself (where you live, what your job is, what you like doing in your spare time).



I live in Boise, Idaho, with my wife, Amy, and our three kids. I serve as the Director of Equipping and Spiritual Formation for the Ecclesia Network, where I have the privilege of mentoring and training pastors and church planters. Before that, I helped start and lead The Evergreen Community in Portland, Oregon, which I pastored for many years. My work—whether as a pastor, coach, or author—has always centered on helping people grow in their relationship with God and lead with greater authenticity, wisdom, and spiritual depth.

In my spare time, you can often find me in my woodshop, creating wooden signs and other pieces that I sell online and at local markets. I love the hands-on, reflective rhythm of working with wood—it’s a tangible balance to the more conversational and contemplative work I do in ministry. I’m also the co-author of Eldership and the Mission of God and Ministry Mantras, both of which explore healthy leadership and the kind of culture that helps communities of faith flourish.


Tell us how you got into coaching? 

My basic orientation is to give others what I wished I had been given along the way. In my church planting and pastoring journey, I began to connect with others who were looking to untangle some of the same knots I had dealt with personally and were facing many of the same challenges I had dealt with. I pretty quickly realized that just giving them my answers wasn’t serving them. I wanted to help them discover their own, and that led me to seek training as coach, someone who could help them get from where they were to where they felt God wanted them to be!


Are there particular types of coaching you prefer more than others? Do you have a focus or are you a generalist?

I focus mainly on Ministry Leaders, with a specialization on Church Planters and Lead Pastors, though I have coached many others, both in ministry and out of it.


What have people said they like/appreciate about your coaching in the past?

People who have worked with me often say they appreciate the combination of wisdom, clarity, and spiritual grounding that I bring to coaching. As both a pastor and a church planter, I draw from lived experience to offer insight that’s both deeply spiritual and intensely practical. Clients have described my approach as trusted, objective, and careful, helping them name and navigate the “good challenges” that come with leadership and ministry. They often find that my outside perspective lends credibility and renewed energy to their mission, particularly around the central work of spiritual formation and discipleship.

Others have said they value how I help them bring order and peace to complex seasons of life and leadership—organizing passions and priorities in ways that make the path forward clearer. Whether walking with a church planter discerning next steps, or a ministry leader wrestling with burnout, my posture is one of careful listening, thoughtful questioning, and Spirit-led encouragement. Many have noted that I help them stay true to their core values while adapting to a changing context, providing clarity, courage, and hope for the journey ahead.


Do you have any certifications?

I have my doctorate (DMin.) in Leadership and Spiritual Formation and I am certified with the ICF (International Coaches Federation) at the ACC level, currently pursuing the PCC level.

Jeanette Staats

Coach Extraordinaire, Administrative Whiz, and

Discerning Partners Materials Magician


I have worked with Jeanette for over twenty years and this is someone I simply trust in every environment she steps into. Having served with her on the NLCF staff team, then as one of my co-pastors, I have seen her deal with so many both normal and (let’s just call them) abnormal ministry situations that I am confident of her read of the situations she is in and that she will be able to maintain her Christ-like grace. She is both a trusted friend and a very smart, godly woman who genuinely enjoys helping those she works with see the road ahead more clearly and untangle the threads of situations to see where to go from here.


I have also come to greatly appreciate and respect her organizational skills that allow her to follow through with the steps laid out and to help those she is working with to do the same. But primarily I see her love of Jesus in the ways she serves everyone around her, from babies to retirees, everyone just seems to matter to Jeanette. 


She also has shockingly good penmanship, literally it is shockingly good. On one trip a group of us were on, the person running the group we were in tried to poach her because it was so good. While Discerning Partners doesn’t do a lot with her calligraphy skills, she is the one who makes our PowerPoint slide decks and print materials look as professional as they do. Okay, now Jeanette gets a turn to talk!

Tell us a little about yourself (where you live, what your job is, what you like doing in your spare time).

I serve as one of the pastors of New Life Christian Fellowship (NLCF) in Blacksburg, VA. I have 25 years of experience in full-time ministry, with the majority of that time focused on college students. I especially enjoy discipling students as well as coaching and encouraging the staff team as they live out their callings. Over the years, my ministry experience has also included children's ministry, local & international missions, and church-wide leadership & oversight.

In my spare time, I enjoy walks with my wild & loveable pup, Izzy, cheering on my beloved Hokies in just about any sport, and paddling on a sit-on-top kayak as I takes in the beauty of the New River Valley.


Tell us how you got into coaching?

My journey into coaching grew naturally out of years of discipling college students and mentoring young leaders. Over time, I found myself not only walking with people through spiritual growth, but also helping them navigate big life decisions, transitions, and leadership challenges. I realized how much I loved coming alongside others as they sought clarity, healing, and direction - coaching was a natural next step.

Are there particular types of coaching you prefer more than others? Do you have a focus or are you a generalist? 

My coaching primarily focuses on those in ministry, as well as individuals navigating a season of transition or feeling stuck. 


What have people said they like/appreciate about your coaching in the past?

People have said they appreciate the way I listen deeply and ask thoughtful questions that help them uncover what’s really going on beneath the surface. I’ve often heard that my coaching creates a safe, grace-filled space where they feel seen, heard, and gently challenged. Others have mentioned that my blend of practical wisdom, a grounded, faith-filled perspective, and ministry experience brings clarity and encouragement—especially in seasons of transition or when they feel stuck. 


Do you have any certifications?

Go & Tell Gals Certified

Sarah Forman

Graphic Designer and Translator for Non-Artistic People


One of the things that an artist needs to be able to do is see something in their heads and find a way to bring it out so the rest of us can experience it. It requires that artists hold tightly to that vision. But their “grip strength” to what they can see can sometimes make artists hard to work with (don’t come at me, I am just sharing some of my experience). For someone in graphic design, this can put them in a strange place. They have to be artistic certainly, but they are trying to bring out the vision or image in someone else’s head. Oftentimes, this is made harder by the fact that the person they are working with doesn’t always have the language to describe it (I would include myself in this group). 


What has consistently impressed me about Sarah Forman’s work is that she is truly an artist, you can see it in her work and I have the blessing of knowing her in real life; she is an artist. But she has that dual ability to ask good questions to get into the (oftentimes) non-artistic heads of her clients, come up with ideas and then hone them into exactly what the client is looking for. I have worked with her on small projects and on multi-million dollar ones, and she is consistent in all of them. When I started Discerning Partners I knew I would need to work with graphic designers along the way. She quickly became the only one I work with now. I trust her vision, her speed (when necessary), and her ability. 


Now I will let her speak a bit…

Tell us a little about yourself (where you live, what your job is, what you like doing in your spare time).

I’m a Richmond, Virginia–based (RVA!) graphic designer and art director who’s been obsessed with art & design since I could hold a crayon. When I’m not designing, you’ll usually find me outdoors — canoeing, camping, running marathons at a glacial speed, or somewhere deep in a nerdy D&D campaign with my fellow nerdy friends. I also love traveling, I’ve covered turf on every continent, even Antarctica, so I’m definitely pretty deep into the love of travel…I even like airports and airplane food. I know!


Tell us how you got into graphic design.

I’ve been making art since I was little, but I officially dove into design at Virginia Commonwealth University’s School of the Arts, where I earned my BFA in Communication Arts & Design with a focus on Digital Imaging. I tried everything from painting and animation to 3D rendering, but graphic design just clicked — the way it connects visuals to people and messages fascinated me. It felt like a perfect blend of creativity and purpose. Plus it’s really fun sometimes to dive into people’s heads and help pull those ideas out and turn them into a tangible thing. It’s cool! Fast forward to today and I’ve been whipping up graphic design for folks as a career now for 20+ years.

Are there particular types of projects you prefer more than others? Do you have a focus or are you a generalist?

I love variety! Doing just one type of design gets tedious, so I enjoy bouncing between creative and more structured projects. For example, I love crafting logos that capture the core of a brand and then expanding that identity into a cohesive design system. It’s cool when you can whip up a single solid image to clearly and successfully represent an entire entity — but, at the same time, I also appreciate the focus and organization that come with things like detailed text layouts. I actually find large text layouts, books, annual reports, stuff like that to be weirdly soothing. The balance keeps me sharp without me falling into ruts in one direction or the other.


What have people said they like/appreciate about your work in the past?

Clients often tell me they appreciate how approachable and easy I make the design process. Whether someone comes to me with no actual clue where to start or a head full of insane ideas, I meet them where they are and guide them through every step. My goal is to make collaboration fun, creative, and completely stress-free — with a finished product that feels authentic to them.


Sarah's Website: foggylondontowne.com