Coaching as Benevolence

In this episode, L' Shawn and Eryn discuss patience in coaching and the coaching process. They explore how patience involves balancing "floating" and "swimming" - allowing time for reflection versus taking intentional action toward goals. The conversation covers how patience requires wisdom and trust, particularly in coaching relationships where coaches must be patient with clients' progress, the...

Eryn and L'Shawn interview Scott Sammons. Scott has spent 25 years building businesses around relationships and helping others do the same. Scott shares how he was fired by his first business coach for refusing transactional sales tactics and how he instead built a successful career by focusing on genuine human connection and authenticity. He explains his coaching philosophy, which emphasizes self...

L' Shawn and Eryn discuss the unexpected twists and turns that occur in coaching and healing modalities. L' Shawn shares insights from her family constellation certification course, including how seekers often experience transformations when representatives in the field reveal unexpected aspects of their situations, such as inner children appearing when adults expected to be represented. Eryn desc...

A blast from the past, this episode revisits one of Eryn and L' Shawn's first episodes of the podcast. Whether you are listening to this episode for the first time or a second time, the richness of the conversation will not disappoint. Eryn and L' Shawn talk about what Coaching as Benevolence means to them and how coaching techniques and strategies can be applied to every day life to help listener...

L' Shawn and Eryn revisit the title of their podcast, "Coaching as Benevolence," to explore its meaning and evolution over nine seasons. They discuss how coaching is often misunderstood as directive advice-giving, and emphasized their intention to make coaching concepts accessible and applicable to everyday life. The conversation highlights benevolence as a core value in coaching, focusing on kind...

In this episode, Eryn and L' Shawn interview Aaron King, a Jungian depth coach specializing in relationships. Aaron discusses his coaching approach and personal journey. The conversation covers Aaron's background transitioning from a 35-year career as an Emmy-winning creative director in entertainment to becoming a coach after hitting rock bottom with addiction and recovery. Aaron explains how he...

Eryn and L' Shawn discuss the question "Why is it so hard to ask for what you need?" They explore how unclear needs, shifting wants, and the myth of mind reading in relationships make it difficult to ask. Eryn shares an example from an art fair where she didn’t take a needed break due to ego and delegation concerns. L' Shawn reflects on trust issues, delegation challenges, and insights from a Fami...

This episode continues the conversation about flourishing, with L' Shawn and Eryn discussing what it means to flourish and how it shows up in their lives. L' Shawn shares how she experiences flourishing through learning and leadership development with Coloradans for the Common Good, particularly in preparing for an upcoming trip to New Orleans and engaging with diverse organizers. Eryn reflects on...

L' Shawn and Eryn discuss the concepts of hope, faith, and intention, drawing from L' Shawn’s reading of Melvin L. Rogers’ book, "The Darkened Light of Faith, Race, Democracy, and Freedom in African American Political Thought." L' Shawn explores hope as an active commitment to a desired outcome, linking it to historical struggles for justice and the role of faith in sustaining hope. Eryn connects...

In this episode, Eryn and L' Shawn wrap up the final section of their guided journal, "Flourish," with L' Shawn and Eryn discussing the themes of hope, intentionality, and personal growth. They reflect on how journaling can support living a meaningful and purposeful life, and share personal experiences with journaling practices. Eryn describes a new daily journaling method she found helpful, while...

Eryn and L' Shawn discuss the last prompt in the Act section of their guided journal, which encourages trying something a little different and stepping outside of one's comfort zone. Eryn and L' Shawn share personal experiences related to the prompt, such as Eryn's recent hike where she shifted her mindset to be more present and L' Shawn's opportunity to attend a leadership event that felt outside...

L' Shawn and Eryn discuss prompt six about gratitude and appreciation from their guided journal "Coaching Nuggets of Wisdom to Inspire. Explore. Act. Flourish: A guided journal to live your best life", focusing on how to embody these concepts intentionally and heartfeltly. They explore the distinction between gratitude (more intentional and shared) and appreciation (more passive and natural), with...

Eryn and L' Shawn discuss prompt five from their guided journal "Coaching Nuggets of Wisdom: to inspire, explore, act, flourish." They explore the concept of noticing things going well and what flows with ease in life, with Eryn sharing how she struggles to articulate what's flowing with ease versus what's simply going well. L' Shawn provides insights about ease and flow coming from Positive Intel...

L' Shawn and Eryn focus on exploring personal values in their discussion of their guided journal prompt from the "ACT" section. The conversation centers on understanding how values serve as a "North Star" for navigation in both personal and professional life, with L' Shawn emphasizing the importance of aligning decisions with both organizational values and personal integrity. Both participants exp...

L' Shawn and Eryn explore prompt three about feelings of play from their guided journal, where Eryn shares her recent experience taking tap dancing lessons and how her daughter enjoys watching her play. L' Shawn reflects on how her parents didn't model playfulness, making it challenging for her to incorporate play into adulthood, and discusses how her husband's playful interactions with their chil...

L' Shawn and Eryn work through the second prompt in the third section of their guided journal prompt about finding time for micro-moments of breathing and reflection, discussing how even brief moments of stillness can help people reconnect with their bodies and gain clarity before taking action. The conversation covers the importance of making these practices routine, the value of noticing without...

L' Shawn and Eryn focus on the "Act" section of their guided journal, exploring how feedback informs curiosity and enhances living. They discuss personal experiences with receiving feedback, with L' Shawn sharing how feedback from her cousin helped her reassess her decision-making process and Eryn describing how a colleague's feedback about caring too much about her career led to a career pivot. T...

L' Shawn and Eryn focus on the "float" prompt in section two of their guided journal, exploring the metaphor of floating in a large open sea as a way to surrender control and allow life to guide them to new places. L' Shawn shares how a recent YouTube video about Bashar's teachings on following what excites you inspired her to pursue two new passion areas: co-facilitating civic academies through C...

L' Shawn and Eryn conduct discuss prompt six in section 2 from their journal series focused on exploring heart space and ways of being. L' Shawn imagines her heart space as a luxurious palatial estate with nature surroundings where people could retreat and connect with their bodies. Eryn shares how her recent cardiac CT scan results were unexpectedly positive, leading her to explore how physical a...

L' Shawn and Eryn focus on journal prompt 5 in section 2 of their guided journal. The prompt is about grief and authenticity in supporting loved ones who are grieving. L' Shawn shares a personal story about losing a friend named Angus who died unexpectedly in Italy, discussing how geographic distance made the grieving process more complex and how Eryn's coaching helped her process the grief authen...

Eryn and L' Shawn conduct a guided journal discussion on prompt number 4 in the second section of their guided journal, "Coaching Nuggets of Wisdom to Inspire. Explore. Act. Flourish: A guided journal to live your best life." This section focuses on deeper exploration of their ways of being in the world and the prompt looks at emotional resilience. The prompt introduces the concept of buoyancy as...

Eryn and L' Shawn continue their review of their guided journal "Coaching Nuggets of Wisdom to Inspire. Explore. Act. Flourish: A guided journal to live your best life," focusing on the third prompt in the Explore section. L' Shawn shares how inspiration from a workday planting trees led to a powerful metaphor about plant roots growing in circles and how this connected to considering homeschooling...

L' Shawn and Eryn continue their survey of the "Explore" section, focusing on the journal prompt about believing in oneself and capacity to do hard things. They discuss how to approach past challenges by observing them objectively as if through an anthropologist's lens, identifying strengths, and applying lessons learned to current situations. L' Shawn shares her experience transitioning from teac...

L' Shawn and Eryn explore the concept of seasons as metaphors for personal growth and ways of being. They discuss how different seasons represent various life stages and emotional states, with L' Shawn sharing how she identifies with spring in her career transition and Eryn connecting seasonal imagery to personal rhythms and preferences. The conversation explores how individual ways of being can s...

Eryn and L' Shawn discuss prompt number seven from their guided journal's "Inspire" section, which explores how to lean into authenticity amidst fear. They examine the concept through a dinner party metaphor, where authenticity, fear, and growth are represented as different beings at the table. The conversation includes creative visualizations of these concepts as animals (squirrel for fear, swan...