Ridge was founded by Bob and Dot Bolton in 1972. They had studied with Carl Rogers, Thomas Gordon, Virginia Satir, and other pioneers of the human potential movement, observing not just what they taught but how they taught. They took the best of what they learned, added their own special sauce, and began leading workshops of their own. They never could have imagined that, 50 years later, tens of thousands of people would benefit from those trainings.
Dot and Bob chose to name our firm Ridge as a tribute to Martin Buber who advocated living life “on the narrow ridge” — a state of mind and heart that blends integrity, acceptance, and interpersonal skill even when dealing with contradictory opinions and values. While our content and training methods have changed since our founding, our commitment to helping people truly meet each other on Buber’s ridge while walking it ourselves has never been stronger.
Dot and Bob died in 2019. Both were 91. Among the gifts they left us are four books, including the best-selling People Skills: How to Assert Yourself, Listen to Others, and Resolve Conflicts which has over 500,000 copies in print. You can learn more about their books, the essence of their lives’ work, here.