When Everyone Depends on You: Tyler LaBarge

The person who can fix anything often ends up fixing everything. That is the quiet trap Tyler LaBarge watched capable leaders fall into for years. The more dependable you become, the more people bring to your door, until one day you realize you cannot step away without the whole operation holding its breath. Tyler understands that pressure because he lived it. Today, as Co-Founder and Leadership Coach at Desert Roots Wellness, he helps business owners and high achievers build a different kind of success, one that leaves room for a life.

A Career Built One Step at a Time

Tyler LaBarge did not begin his career with a title. In 2003, he started by washing trucks at U.S. Truck Driver Training School. He earned his commercial driver's license, became an instructor, and worked across nearly every part of the organization. In January 2020, he became President and CEO. Along the way, he gained hands-on experience in operations, sales, team development, and workforce development.

That climb gave him something few coaches can claim: a ground-level understanding of what leadership actually asks of a person as their role changes. He learned operations, sales, team development, and the everyday weight of being accountable for a business and the people who depend on it. He did not study responsibility from a distance. He carried it.

Helping people find direction was part of his work long before Desert Roots Wellness existed. For years, Tyler guided graduates through career decisions, business planning, the transition to becoming owner-operators, and the time management skills they needed to reach their goals. That practical, direct way of helping people move forward still shapes how he coaches today.

The Pressure of Being the One Who Holds It Together

A central theme in Tyler's work is what happens when a committed, dependable person becomes responsible for everything. Business owners and leaders can find themselves answering every question, solving every problem, and struggling to step away even for a moment. It feels like dedication. Over time, it becomes exhaustion.

At Desert Roots Wellness, Tyler helps clients examine those patterns honestly. Why is delegation so hard? Why does it feel necessary to fix every issue personally? Why is it difficult to separate who you are from the role you carry? These are not abstract questions. They connect directly to how a business runs and how sustainable a leader's own life really is.

His answer is not to simply work less. It is to lead differently. Tyler helps clients strengthen delegation, communicate clear expectations, and develop people who can take real ownership of their work. As one of his coaching reflections puts it, "Your team needs your leadership. They also need the chance to build their own judgment, confidence, and ability to solve problems. The communication that you have with yourself and your team is the core of this practice”.

That perspective also extends to family businesses, where professional decisions ripple into personal relationships. Tyler understands those dynamics and brings care for people together with clear standards and accountability. He does not ask leaders to choose between high expectations and genuine respect for their teams. He shows them how to hold both. Furthermore, a leader shouldn’t have to labor each decision that he or she makes based on personal ties and relationships either. This is an area of intense focus that often goes unnoticed or intentionally ignored.

A Practice Built on Experience and Whole-Person Growth

Desert Roots Wellness launched in May 2026 when Tyler partnered with co-founder Samka Keranovic. The Scottsdale-based practice serves clients virtually and brings together practical business experience with a mind, body, and soul approach to personal growth.

What makes the practice distinctive is the blend. Tyler contributes experience developing teams, navigating business responsibilities, and helping people take a confident next step. Samka brings a background in executive leadership and private coaching, with a focus on boundaries, people-pleasing, self-trust, and self-abandonment. Together, they help clients consider both their inner patterns and the real demands around them.

The practice offers individual coaching, ongoing coaching programs, self-guided workbooks and digital resources, and corporate burnout-prevention training. The goal is consistent across all of it: to help people connect what they want for their lives with the choices they make every day. As Tyler frames his own mission, "I want to help people build a version of success that leaves room for their relationships, their well-being, and the life they are working so hard to create."

Clients describe lasting change. One shared that the coaching helped them make decisions based on their own priorities and feel less controlled by the fear of disappointing others, noting, "The techniques and tools they shared are things I use every single day." Another credited the guidance with professional growth and stronger boundaries, saying simply, "Their guidance has helped me advance in my career." Both testimonials describe working with Samka and Tyler together, and both point to tools that stayed useful long after the sessions ended.

Recognition and a Commitment to Give Back

In 2026, Desert Roots Wellness was named Best Burnout Prevention Coaching Service in Arizona of 2026 by Best of Best Review. The recognition belongs to the practice Tyler and Samka built together, and it reflects a growing demand for support that treats sustainability as a leadership skill rather than a weakness.

It is worth noting that coaching at Desert Roots Wellness is not therapy. The work focuses on awareness, habits, boundaries, and practical decisions that support both a person's ambitions and their well-being.

What Tyler Wants Leaders to Understand

The strongest lesson from Tyler's journey is that caring about people and maintaining clear expectations are not opposites. They belong together. A leader who develops capable people, communicates openly, and defines what belongs to whom builds something stronger than a business that depends entirely on one exhausted person.

Personal habits, workplace demands, and team practices all influence one another. Change one and the others shift. That is why Tyler's coaching addresses both the individual and the organization. Sustainable leadership is not only about mindset. It is about how a leader actually structures responsibility, trust, and time.

Building Success That Leaves Room for a Life

For high achievers, the hardest lesson is often the simplest one. Carrying everything yourself is not sustainable. Tyler helps clients see why they struggle to delegate, why they feel the need to fix every problem, and how to separate their identity from their professional role.

The changes are practical. Clearer communication. Stronger boundaries. Better-developed teams. Decisions that support both ambition and well-being. Readers who feel stretched thin will recognize themselves in this work, and they will find a coach who has lived the pressure he helps others manage.

If you are a leader, business owner, or professional who feels like everything depends on you, Desert Roots Wellness offers a path forward. Explore Tyler's coaching, learn about the programs, and book a free 30-minute Clarity Call with no obligation. It is a straightforward first step toward a more sustainable version of success and a life that leaves room for the things that matter most.

Take the next step toward a more personalized wellness journey with Desert Roots Wellness and learn more about Tyler LaBarge’s coaching approach. Stay connected with Tyler on LinkedIn and Instagram, and follow Desert Roots Wellness on Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube for helpful insights, practical guidance, and ongoing inspiration to support your personal growth and well-being.