The Coaching Mixer

Erin Aquin & Elana McKernan

Honest conversations on life, coaching, the industry while sipping our favourite beverages

  1. MAY 5

    Ep 31. Long-Term Clients Without the Codependency Spiral (Part 2)

    Tune in to part two of the long-term client conversation, perfect for any coach who has ever wondered where the line is between support and slowly becoming someone's decision-making system. Elana and Erin talk about how to build long-term coaching relationships that are warm, real, and deeply effective without slipping into unhealthy authority dynamics or turning sessions into renewal pitches. The Drinks Erin's sipping a bourbon-lime-ginger drink while Elana's got honey + ginger vodka topped with seltzer and a splash of pineapple juice. They discuss: Why "I'm the expert" branding can quietly train clients to hand over their authority. The difference between being a thinking partner and being the person clients can't function without. How to receive client appreciation without inflating your ego or deflecting the whole compliment into the void. Why sales conversations inside paid sessions can mess with presence and trust. If you're a coach... Listen if you want clients who stick around because the work is good, not because they feel like they'll fall apart without you. (Also: ginger is apparently the unofficial beverage of boundary-setting.) Links Find Erin on Instagram: @besuperabound Find Elana on Instagram: @elanamckernan Connect with us: Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here. Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com

    25 min
  2. APR 28

    Ep 30. Ginger Bitters & Big Feelings: Long-Term Clients Without the Codependency Spiral

    A listener asked: How do you support clients long-term without accidentally becoming their emotional support human, their outsourced decision-making brain, or their personal "always be closing" sales funnel? Erin and Elana get into the uncomfortable truth, that "dependency" is not a villain. It is a spectrum. But coaching that ends up training people to distrust themselves is problematic. And yes, they also talk about the marketing version of coaching that's basically: "Your life is terrible, I'm the cure, please renew for six more months." Huge ick. The spicy bits: Being the "expert coach" can accidentally train clients to hand over their authority.  Long-term coaching can be clean and powerful when approached as a collaborator, thinking partner, and extra brain, not authority figure with a payment link. Sales conversations inside paid sessions feel gross (for everyone). If you're tracking breakthroughs mostly so you can prove the transformation at renewal time, you are no longer fully on their side. The dependency tells to listen for: The client keeps giving the coach all the credit. The client keeps asking what the coach thinks they should do. The client seems unable to decide without external validation. You will discover: One sentence that instantly cleans up the power dynamic (and makes clients trust themselves more). The tiny line between celebrating wins and low-key running a renewal pitch (and how to tell which spot you're in). How to take the compliment and give the power back, without deflecting or claiming credit you did not earn. If you're a coach listening to this… This episode is basically permission to stop doing coaching like it's a performance review plus a sales close.  Connect with us: Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here.

    31 min
  3. APR 22

    Ep 29. Spicy Cherry Plot Twist: How to Create Without Suffering for It

    If you've been telling yourself that your creative work "doesn't count" unless it's hard, dramatic, or all-consuming, this episode is a gentle (and very real) reset.  In this Coaching Mixer conversation, Erin and Elana talk about what it actually looks like to create when you have clients, responsibilities, and a life. They unpack why "going all-in" is often a pressure story (and sometimes a privilege story), and how tiny, consistent steps can build serious creative momentum over time. You will walk away with a calmer, clearer way to create work you care about, without any needless suffering. Also, because this is the Coaching Mixer: Elena is sipping a cocktail with egg white foam (and leaving the last weird foamy bit behind), and Erin's drink gets better as it goes, with spicy little cherries that are, honestly, the whole plot twist at the end.  This is for you if you are a business owner who wants to write, share, or build something meaningful, but you keep getting stuck in Static like: "If I cannot do it perfectly, I should not start." "If it feels easy, it does not count." "If I do not have hours a day, I am not a real creator." In this episode, you'll learn: Why creativity tends to shut down when the stakes feel too high How to separate "creating" from "sharing," so you can get the work moving again Why five minutes a day is not a consolation prize. It can be the whole method. The trap of "all-in" thinking, and how to build something sustainable instead A powerful reframe: what if your creative project right now is building the conditions that make creativity possible? Connect with us: Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here.

    30 min
  4. APR 7

    Ep 28: Letting Go of "Doing It Right" over Whiskey

    If you've been trying to "do creativity right" and it's making you avoid the work, this episode is for you. Erin and Elana talk about how to stop forcing someone else's process, choose a next step you can actually do today, and create from real life instead of performance. They get into: Why your best content often comes from what you're currently struggling with. The myth that you can't coach or teach something until you've fully solved it.  What your audience actually needs from you: probably not perfect lighting, a power suit, and a scripted TED Talk. More likely it's you, being human. What they are drinking: Elana's sipping a whiskey sour with egg white. Erin's having whiskey with black walnut liqueur, a drop of amaretto, and spicy maraschino cherries. One idea to try If you've been stuck, ask: What would feel easy or at least doable as the next step? Then do that.   Connect with us: Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here.

    31 min
  5. APR 1

    Ep 27: Sips and Shifts—Why Every Client Needs a Different Medicine (pt. 2)

    In part two of our episode we talk about why warmth is not the opposite of serious coaching but a pathway to lasting changes for clients. Sometimes warmth is the most serious thing you can offer a client who sees themselves in harsh light. We talk about what actually helps clients who find the "tough love" storyline tempting, and swap notes on the kinds of tools that feel like medicine instead of a cookie-cutter script. A few things we get into: Deep curiosity as a genuinely healing force (yes, even in business coaching) Creating low-stakes "rehearsal" space, where imagining something is not the same as committing to it Inviting different selves into the room (including your "CEO self") Past-self and younger-self work, including playful ways to reconnect with joy Role play for hard conversations and marketing Beverages for the show: Erin is drinking a carrot–apple–ginger–celery–lime–beet juice. Elana has an apple cider seltzer with berries. Connect with us: Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here.

    30 min
  6. MAR 23

    Ep. 26 Sips and Shifts: Why Every Client Needs a Different Medicine

    In this episode of The Coaching Mixer, hosts Erin Aquin and Elana Mckernan talk about "different kinds of medicine" in coaching. Not every moment calls for a mindset reframe. Sometimes it calls for a pause, a practice, or plain old validation. Also, beverages matter: Erin is drinking a carrot–apple–ginger–celery–lime–beet juice (vampire lips included). Elana has an apple cider seltzer with berries (with the berries plopped in, of course). In this conversation, you'll hear: Why a "reset" can be less about deprivation and more about changing patterns with care. How coaches can get a little dogmatic with one method, and what it looks like to loosen the grip. The difference between creating space to feel and "letting someone wallow." A practical way to work with harsh inner narratives, and how treating them like an alarm bell that signals something needs attention often leads to better outcomes. How full-attention listening can be its own form of medicine, without rushing to "fix" someone. A surprisingly useful theater trick for tough rooms: find one thing you can genuinely appreciate, and go from there. Connect With the hosts Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here.

    32 min
  7. Ep 25: Coaching Without Preaching

    MAR 11

    Ep 25: Coaching Without Preaching

    Sometimes your client says something that isn't socially or personally acceptable to you. Suddenly might find yourself feeling distracted by their comment and unable to stay in your lane as a Coach. These are the moments when curiosity matters and where real change can happen.   In this week's Coaching Mixer, Erin and Elana talk about what to do when a client's worldview is wildly different from yours, how to stay human without preaching, and when it might be wise, to end a coaching relationship or session. In this episode, you'll hear: Why screaming your position online is not the same as creating change in a real relationship. What it takes to stay curious when a client shares something you disagree with, or find unsettling. Thoughts on what your job is as a coach  The difference between "I like you" and "I'm fascinated by you," and why fascination might be the more useful coaching approach. This is part 2 of the conversation started on episode 24 of this show. Connect With the Hosts Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here.

    31 min
  8. Ep 24: The "Hell No" Filter: Boundaries, Beliefs, and Business Coaching

    MAR 4

    Ep 24: The "Hell No" Filter: Boundaries, Beliefs, and Business Coaching

    Grab a blanket and a mug: we're answering listener questions while getting a little buzzed on cozy winter spirits. Things get deep, a little spicy, and surprisingly "medicinal" as we dive into what happens when a coaching session hits close to home. How do you handle a client whose worldview makes you cringe? Can you coach someone you fundamentally disagree with? We explore the boundary between professional curiosity and personal "hell no's." What's in the Mug? Elana: Spiked Hot Cocoa. Heavy on the Bailey's, sweet, creamy, and definitely not for kids (despite the "Best Dad Ever" mug—don't ask, we don't have children). Erin: A "Medicinal" Hot Toddy. Lemon, cinnamon, honey, and a healthy pour of bourbon courtesy of Steve. It tastes like health, but feels like a party. Why You Should Listen If you've ever sat across from someone (or a Zoom screen) and thought, "Did they really just say that?"—this episode is for you. We pull back the curtain on the "Internal Coach Freakout" and discuss: The Humanity Pivot: How to use your own life experiences to open a client's mind without making the session all about you. The Abhorrent Perspective Filter: Why being a coach doesn't mean you have to help everyone (especially if they're writing a TradWife guide to toppling feminism). Relational Investigation: How the safest spaces allow for the ugliest thoughts to be examined, questioned, and ultimately transformed. The Power of the Pause: Naming the sticky moments in a session to deepen the trust rather than running away from the discomfort. Key Takeaways Conflict of Interest: If you don't want your client to be successful because of their goals/values, you probably shouldn't be their coach. The Barometer of Trust: True coaching can't happen if a client feels they have to hide parts of themselves, even the messy parts. Curiosity over Reaction: Asking "How old is that belief?" is often more effective than "Why would you say that?"  Connect With Us Erin Aquin is a Master Certified Life Coach and co-author of the #1 bestseller "Superabound: Live the Life the Universe is Dreaming For You." She provides whole life coaching for business owners, integrating success and personal fulfillment through her unique all-in-one approach. Learn more at besuperabound.com Elana McKernan is a Master Certified Life and Creativity Coach who specializes in helping perfectionists create more by treating themselves better. You can check out her free content here and learn more about coaching with her here.

    26 min

Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
3 Ratings

About

Honest conversations on life, coaching, the industry while sipping our favourite beverages