Connection Experiment by Coach Academy

Nathalie Blais, CEO and Founder of Coach Academy
  • 4.3 (13)
  • Self-Improvement
  • Updated Weekly

The Connection Experiment is all about human connection - and how everyday people are using connection to change the world. Join Nathalie Blais, ICF Master Certified Coach and Founder of Coach Academy as she dives into deep conversations about the importance of connection, community, and coaching with guests exploring what's possible when we are open to connection.

  1. 3d ago

    From 3 Employees To 170: What Comes After Success

    What does it actually take to grow a company from two customers to 170 people, and then walk toward something else entirely? Jesse Schuhlein spent over two decades building Zabre Technologies before training as a coach through Coach Academy. In this episode, he and Nathalie get into staying comfortable with the unknown, his "compassionate witnessing" practice with a small men's group, a decision-making framework he calls unit presidency, and how coach training rewired the way he gives feedback. Plus a real debate on where AI helps coaching and where it can't replace human connection. Jesse Schuhlein spent most of his career as a mechanical engineer, joining a friend's startup out of his living room in 2001 and helping grow it into Zabre Technologies, an engineering, manufacturing, and design company that now employs around 170 people. After years of finding fulfillment in that growth, he noticed the drive to keep scaling the company no longer excited him the way it once had, and he found himself drawn toward work with more direct human connection. Being coached himself led him to Coach Academy's leadership and performance coaching program, where Nathalie was his teacher. He later trained in Internal Family Systems (IFS) therapy as well. Jesse now works part-time at Zabre while coaching engineers, leaders, and entrepreneurs in technology companies, and runs small IFS groups. He can be found at rechargecoaching.ca. How can you be comfortable with the unknown when starting something new? Jesse Schuhlein, who helped grow a company from two customers to 170 employees, says the skill isn't seeing the full path, it's staying in motion without one. He describes trusting that things will unfold as long as you keep moving in the direction you've chosen, rather than waiting for certainty before you act. What is compassionate witnessing? Compassionate witnessing is a practice where a small group, in Jesse Schuhlein's case three friends, takes turns sharing an issue while the others simply reflect back what they notice: emotions, body language, energy, without offering advice or trying to fix anything. The goal is feeling truly seen, not solved. Can AI replace human coaching or connection? Both Jesse Schuhlein and Nathalie Blais say no. Jesse points to something in live human energy, even over video, that AI doesn't replicate. Nathalie adds a sharper concern: AI-generated work tends toward the generic, sourced from the most common denominator, which works against a coach's ability to develop their own distinct voice. What is a good decision-making framework for leaders? Jesse Schuhlein's company uses a model called unit presidency: before making a decision, ask what you'd do if you were the CEO, and what input you'd gather first. Practicing this shifts people from waiting to be told what to do toward thinking at a higher level, which reduces the need for constant management oversight. How should you give feedback as a leader? Jesse Schuhlein noticed his feedback style changed after coach training: he moved away from stating impact directly ("when you did this, here's the effect on me") and toward curiosity about what was actually behind the other person's decision. Asking first, rather than assuming, usually clarifies the situation and removes the sting.

  2. Aug 19

    Why This Lawyer Traded The Courtroom For Coaching

    What does it actually take to leave a 20-year legal career and become an executive coach? Jonathan Cullen spent two decades as in-house counsel, including at Pfizer, before making that shift, a decision driven primarily by his son Tristan's Down syndrome diagnosis. In this episode, he and Nathalie get into the batting-cage discipline of not giving advice even when a client's begging for it, and what actually separates coaching from mentoring. There's also the story of the fan email he sent author Greg McKeown that turned into years of work on Greg's book Effortless. Plus the smallest possible action for building a real friendship: putting an actual phone call on the calendar.Jonathan Cullen spent two decades practicing law, including years in intellectual property litigation and, later, as in-house counsel at Pfizer, before making a full transition to executive coaching. His shift toward coaching was shaped in large part by the birth of his son, Tristan, who has Down syndrome, an experience that reshaped how Jonathan thought about control and presence, both at home and at work. He now coaches primarily within the legal profession, drawing on his own background to work with lawyers navigating leadership and career transitions of their own. Jonathan also collaborated with author Greg McKeown, contributing research and writing support to McKeown's book Effortless. He lives with his wife and their two children, Olivia and Tristan, and can be found at jonathancullencoaching.com. What's the difference between coaching and mentoring? Coaching starts from a blank slate: listening and observing without needing to know the person's specific situation, then drawing out what's really driving them. Mentoring means sharing your own experience and advice directly. Jonathan Cullen, a former general counsel turned executive coach, says coaching often works better precisely because the coach doesn't already know the answer. How do you stop giving unsolicited advice as a leader? Notice the moments where advice feels easy to give. Jonathan Cullen calls it a softball right over the plate, and deliberately doesn't take the swing. Letting someone sit with their own question longer, instead of solving it for them, is uncomfortable at first but produces better results over time. How can you test a career change before committing to it? Try it in small, low-stakes doses first, evenings and weekends with real clients, before making it official. Jonathan Cullen calls this "wearing the shirt." By the time he formally left law for coaching, it barely felt like a decision, just the next step in something he'd already been doing. How should you compare a child's progress against other kids? Jonathan Cullen, whose son has Down syndrome, uses a personal baseline: comparing his son's progress to himself yesterday and the day before, rather than to other children's milestones. By that measure, his son is doing well, and the whole comparison feels different. It's a shift any parent can borrow, even outside a disability context. What's the smallest action that builds a deeper friendship? Pick a small number of people you actually want a deeper connection with and tell them directly. Then schedule an actual phone call, the way Jonathan Cullen made this a deliberate practice after realizing a broad, loose network of friends wasn't giving him real connection.

  3. Aug 12

    Revisiting the Connection Experiment Episode: From a Couch, to an Academy: 10 Years In One Room

    Originally Aired: April 15 2026Ten years ago, Coach Academy started on a couch with a single question about human connection. Today, more than 4,000 graduates carry those coaching skills into their work and lives.In this republished episode, founder Nathalie Blais reflects on building this community over the last decade. From cold emailing 120 strangers a day to scaling through COVID-19 and enduring a two-year legal battle to protect the company, the story has been about showing up.We are the most informed generation in history, and the loneliest. Technology gives us constant contact, yet fewer people have someone they can call at midnight. Coaching skills offer a direct way to build the presence, curiosity, and awareness needed to bridge that space. It is a practical way to practice being human with each other.To mark this milestone, Coach Academy is bringing people together in person for the 10-Year Anniversary Summit, Decade of Connection, in Toronto on February 1, 2027. Learn more about the special event.This episode is an invitation to find your people, put them in a room, and practice connection on purpose.

  4. Aug 5

    ⭐ She Built 40 Locations. Then Lost It All Overnight.

    Carla Catherwood built a 40-location dance empire with no degree and no business plan. Then she lost it all overnight when COVID hit. In this conversation, we dig into community vs. audience, why you can't franchise creativity, what the body knows about connection that most of us ignore, and why finding your "niche" might be the wrong question entirely. Two experiments for you this week: learn to receive, and put on your favorite song and just dance. Find Carla on Instagram: @carlacatherwood

  5. Jul 29

    Loneliness Is As Deadly As 15 Cigarettes A Day

    Why aren't connection skills taught in schools? Nathalie Blais spent 50,000 hours coaching, went to Harvard to research the question with 150+ educators worldwide, and took the answer to a TEDx stage. In this episode she goes beyond the 12-minute talk: the data behind the youth loneliness epidemic, the research linking teacher coaching to student achievement, and brand-new results from Bangkok Prep, an international school that spent 18 months embedding a coaching culture (88% of staff report direct benefits, with measurable gains for students). Plus the one skill you can practice this week: the shift from evaluating to acknowledging.FAQWhy aren't connection skills taught in schools? Research with 150+ educators worldwide points to one root cause: teachers are never trained in connection skills themselves. School systems train educators in content and classroom management, so connection gets left to chance, even though studies link the student-teacher relationship to both well-being and academic achievement.What is a coaching culture in a school? A coaching culture means educators use coaching-based communication (asking instead of telling, listening instead of fixing) as their default, in classrooms and in leadership. At Bangkok Prep, an 18-month coaching culture initiative produced accredited coaches on staff, a shift to collaborative inquiry, and 88% of staff reporting direct benefits.Does coaching teachers improve student outcomes? Yes. Ross (1992) and Shidler (2009) both found links between coaching teachers and student achievement, and Green, Grant & Rynsaardt (2007) found coaching increased hope and cognitive hardiness in high school students while decreasing depression.What's the difference between evaluating and acknowledging? Evaluating is giving your opinion of someone's experience ("at least your mom is still alive"), which can feel like judgment. Acknowledging is naming what you see in them ("I see how much you love your mother"), which creates belonging. Acknowledgment is a core coaching skill anyone can practice. Nathalie's TEDx talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKisZsC_TDwEducator As Coach program: https://canadacoachacademy.com/educator-as-coach/ U.S. Surgeon General (2023), Our Epidemic of Loneliness and Isolation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK595227/ Gallup Student Poll, engagement declining by grade level: https://www.edweek.org/leadership/gallup-student-poll-finds-engagement-in-school-dropping-by-grade-level/2016/03 Twenge, J. et al. (2020), "Increases in Depression, Self-Harm, and Suicide Among U.S. Adolescents After 2012," Psychiatric Research and Clinical Practice: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1176/appi.prcp.20190015 S.2350, National Strategy for Social Connection Act, 118th Congress: https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/2350/text Brené Brown, Dare to Lead (belonging and connection at work): https://brenebrown.com/hubs/dare-to-lead/ The Good Childhood Report, The Children's Society: https://www.childrenssociety.org.uk/information/professionals/resources/good-childhood-report Ross, J. A. (1992), "Teacher efficacy and the effect of coaching on student achievement," Canadian Journal of Education, 17(1), 51–65 Shidler, L. (2009), "The impact of time spent coaching for teacher efficacy on student achievement," Early Childhood Education Journal, 36(5), 453–460 Green, L. S., Grant, A. M., & Rynsaardt, J. (2007), "Evidence-based life coaching for senior high school students: Building hardiness and hope," International Coaching Psychology Review, 2(1) Murray-Harvey, R. (2010), "Relationship influences on students' academic achievement, psychological health and well-being at school," Educational & Child Psychology, 27(1) Bangkok Prep coaching culture impact review (18-month audit, Coach Academy partnership)

  6. Jul 22

    Trusting Your Instincts in a Career Transition

    Tanya Gibson spent fourteen years in the corporate world before a restructuring gave her the push she needed to leave and build Redefine Possibilities. This conversation covers what actually carried her through that leap: the instinct she couldn't fully explain, the hardest habit to unlearn as a new coach, and why she believes eight people in a room will always beat fifty-five. Connect with Tanya Gibson: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tanya-gibson/Connect with Coach Academy: coachacademy.comWatch more episodes: Spotify | YouTube

  7. Jul 15

    How AI is Making Humans Lonelier Than Ever Before

    There's a man in love with an AI named Astrid. She remembers everything, and she never disagrees with him. She's programmed to be anyone's dream. Astrid is an it, configured to please, and somebody gets paid every time she does.Nathalie unpacks what AI companionship is revealing about human connection, drawing on Esther Perel's research and trust researcher Rachel Botsman's definition of trust as "a confident relationship with the unknown." A 2025 MIT Media Lab and OpenAI study of 981 people and over 300,000 chatbot messages found the heaviest AI users were the loneliest.The question Nathalie gets asked most right now is whether AI will replace coaching. Her answer is no, and this episode explains why. Connection requires risk, the real possibility of being let down. An AI that never disappoints you trades real connection for a transaction dressed up as intimacy.This week's experiment: notice people leaving conversations, whether it's a glance at a phone or a change of subject.Then stay anyway, past the point of comfort, because real connection has wrinkles. That's how you know what's real.Ready to start your coaching journey? Learn more at coachacademy.com

  8. Jul 8

    From Unseen to Unstoppable:  What It Takes to Be Seen at Work

    Wanda Brown grew up around the corner from where The Wire was filmed. When her boss publicly humiliated her in front of eight colleagues, her brain did what Southwest Baltimore taught it to do. She wanted to take the earrings off. She didn't. What she did instead changed her career.She and Nathalie get into the difference between being overlooked and being invisible at work, how to reclaim your voice when someone talks over you, why feedback delivered in public isn't feedback, the Sunday scaries as a sign you've crossed into burnout, and the five-minute Friday practice that builds confidence that sticks.Ready to start your coaching journey? Learn more at canadacoachacademy.com. Connect with Wanda Brownhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/wanda-brown-leadership-coach/

See All (125)

Trailer

4.3
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

The Connection Experiment is all about human connection - and how everyday people are using connection to change the world. Join Nathalie Blais, ICF Master Certified Coach and Founder of Coach Academy as she dives into deep conversations about the importance of connection, community, and coaching with guests exploring what's possible when we are open to connection.

Information

  • Creator
    Nathalie Blais, CEO and Founder of Coach Academy
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    125
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Nathalie Blais, CEO and Founder of Coach Academy
  • Show Website
    Connection Experiment by Coach Academy

You Might Also Like