Six Weeks to Level Up
Awake University
Six Weeks
to Level Up
By J. Coz
Ready for What’s Next?
Some of the biggest changes in life start with the decision to show up.
Maybe it’s the feeling that you were made for more than you’re living right now. Maybe it’s a goal you set a long time ago that got buried under bad decisions, bills, and everyone else’s needs. Or maybe you just know, deep down, that it’s time.
Awake University’s six-week seminar is built for exactly that moment — for people who are ready to explore what could come next in their lives, at work, at home, and in their future.
Think of it as a catalyst. No one walks in and is handed a finished plan. Instead, participants receive something more valuable: the space to think, the tools to act, and a room full of people who want to see them win. 2026 marks the third cohort, and the program continues to evolve to deliver an even stronger experience for those who choose to take the leap.
The Importance of Investing in Self
The program is completely voluntary. No one is required to be there. Participants stay after work, off the clock, once a week for six weeks. After long shifts, when it would be so much easier to head home, they choose to invest in themselves.
That choice matters more than it might seem. Showing up on your own time is a statement all by itself. It says, “I believe my growth is worth it.” It says, “I’m not waiting for someone else to change my life.” And when participants look around the room, they see that everyone else made that same decision. That shared commitment changes the energy. It turns a group of coworkers into a community.
Each session is facilitated by Awake Co-Founders, leaders, and community partners who bring real experience to the table — including the hard-won lessons that come from living through unique experiences, evaluating BIG life choices, and learning from those around them. Presenters choose their own material, so every session has its own voice, its own stories, and practical takeaways participants can put to work right away.
Six Weeks, Six Foundations
Each week focuses on one area that shapes how we live and work. On its own, each foundation matters. Together, they form the framework for a life built on purpose.
Vision for Your Life
CEO Scott Gates
Shares his biggest inspiration on how he learned to filter the most important decisions in his life and why it matters. Without a vision, it’s easy for days to blur into routine. With a vision, every choice has a direction.
Health
CPO Maria Gates
Covers the physical and mental well-being that fuels everything else. Your dreams need a body and mind strong enough to carry them.
Relationships
CRO Andrew Darr
Looks at building connections that support you at work and at home. No one rises alone. The people around us can lift us up or hold us back, and learning to build, repair, and protect the relationships that matter can change everything.
Finances
COO John Engelstad
Offers practical tools for budgeting, saving, and building a stable future. Money stress follows people everywhere, and this session trades that weight for a plan, and for the freedom and confidence that comes with it.
Habits
Dr. Kevin Wright, Director of ASU’s Center for Correctional Solutions
Shares how small daily choices add up to lasting change. Transformation rarely happens in one dramatic moment. It happens in the ordinary decisions we make again and again, until who we are slowly becomes who we hoped to be.
Leadership
Director of Training & Safety Joe Mason
Explores how to lead yourself first, then others, whatever your title. Leadership isn’t a position; it’s how you navigate people and situations — how you handle pressure, keep your word, and show up for others when it counts.
Peel Back the Layers
Each session is co-facilitated by an Awake growth coach, someone who is there walking alongside participants as they put new ideas into practice. The goal is to leave each week with something real: a new perspective, a next step, and a little more belief in what’s possible.
Together, these sessions connect the dots between who people are today and who they want to become.
Move The Starting Line
At Awake, we believe in the potential of every person who walks through our doors, no matter where they started or what they’ve been through. Your past does not get the final word on your future. Awake University is one more way we put that belief into action — by creating room for people to learn, grow, and own their next step.
The starting line isn’t fixed. It moves the moment you decide to take a step forward.
Six weeks won’t change everything. But they can spark the shift that does.