[3] During his youth, Coleman would work in the family business, from sweeping floors, to stocking shelves and selling furniture.
It was during his final months in university that he met his future wife Yvonne Hennebury, a nurse originally from St.
The two decided they wanted to have a big family, so after Yvonne gave birth to their second child she left nursing to be a stay-at-home mother.
The company is a subsidiary of Emera Inc., which is tasked with the design and construction of the Maritime Link portion of the Muskrat Falls hydro project.
He has served on numerous other boards, including Newfoundland Power, Fisher Institute of Applied Arts and Technology, Immaculate Heart of Mary private Catholic School, Council for Canadian Unity, Rocky Mountain Liquor Corporation, The North West Company, Fishery Products International, United Grocers Inc. and Canadian Council of Grocery Distributors.
The position became vacant on January 24, 2014, when Kathy Dunderdale stepped down as leader and as Premier of Newfoundland and Labrador, handing over the posts to Tom Marshall on an interim basis.
Despite being relatively unknown throughout the province Coleman was quickly perceived as the frontrunner in the race when it was believed that former premier Danny Williams had courted him to run.
On March 14, 2014, Coleman filed his nomination papers joining Bill Barry and Wayne Bennett in the leadership race.
[11] At his campaign launch Coleman denied being courted by Williams and said that while he reached out to the former premier he had considered entering politics for several years.
[13] Weeks into the leadership race the party disqualified Bennett after he made a series of inappropriate comments on Twitter.