Love of Coaching

In this episode, I sit down with my childhood friend John Shelly, a snowboard coach who has spent over two decades working at every level of the sport - from grassroots riders to Olympians and World Champions. John coached able-bodied and para athletes from twelve to thirty-nine years old, ran his own Snowboard Cross program for six years, and now coaches out of Whistler, Canada. Our conversation traces his path from a ski-obsessed teenager in New Zealand, to an almost professional cricket career and a self-taught snowboard racer who found his way onto the World Cup circuit almost by accident.

From there, we dig into what actually separates a good coach from a great one. John explains why sport-specific knowledge only gets a coach in the room, why frustration is often a sign that real learning is taking place, and why setting a precise, external target does more for an athlete's progress than telling them to simply "go faster" or "try harder."

He also speaks candidly about burnout, breakups, and the personal work that shaped how he coaches today - describing his role, at its core, as helping people express themselves as clearly as possible through whatever they've chosen to do.

• Coaching is self-expression, not correction. John's core philosophy: athletes are choosing to express themselves through their sport, and the coach's job is to help them do that as clearly as possible — not to change who they are or force them into a mould.
• Vague targets stall progress; specific ones accelerate it. Telling an athlete to "go faster" doesn't work. Giving them an exact, external target (e.g. "hit that same time again, to the thousandth of a second") lets the brain adapt with precision — and, counterintuitively, they usually end up going faster anyway.
• Frustration is often a sign that learning is happening. The brain only rewires when it gets a clear signal that something isn't working yet. John deliberately builds frustration into training at the right moments in the season, and eases off at others.
• Belief is a coaching tool, not a soft add-on. Referencing the Pygmalion effect, John is direct: coaches who don't believe an athlete can make it often produce riders who don't — because they never really gave them the chance.
• Knowledge of the sport gets you in the room; it isn't what makes you a great coach. Every top-level coach knows their sport deeply — that's table stakes. What separates a great coach is the ability to really see an athlete, read their internal experience, and adapt the approach to that individual.

In this episode, Sam sits down with fellow ANZCAL Trainer Master Coach Mel Abbott, founder of Empower Therapies, for a raw and generous conversation about healing.

At 18, a severe head injury derailed Mel's life entirely, leading to 11 years of illness that was eventually diagnosed as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome - and dismissed by doctors as something she would live with forever.

Mel shares what those years actually looked like, including the point where she felt like she just couldn't go on, and the anchor that kept her here. She also walks through the NLP-based approach that took her from over a decade of illness to full recovery in a matter of weeks, and why she now spends much of her time correcting the medical messaging she believes keeps chronically ill people stuck.

Five Key Takeaways

1. A single moment can divert an entire life. Mel's head injury at 18 ended her environmental science studies and led to 11 years on an invalid's benefit - a period she describes as consuming her entire 20s.
2. Being told "incurable" can be as damaging as the illness itself. Mel now presents at the National GP Conference urging doctors to stop delivering that message - three-quarters of her clients have been told their condition is incurable, yet around 80% of them go on to get well.
3. Recovery can happen fast once the nervous system is addressed. Using NLP techniques, Mel went from 11 years of chronic fatigue to feeling completely well within two weeks - a moment she pinpoints exactly, mid-walk around Rome.
4. Chronic illness is often rooted in a body stuck in a stress response. Mel explains how prolonged nervous system dysregulation can drain the body's organs and show up as chronic fatigue, chronic pain, autoimmune issues, and more - and why calming the body down is often the real starting point for healing.
5. What kept Mel alive wasn't a plan - it was her mum. Even at her lowest point, Mel says the thought of what it would do to her mother is what kept her here, a reminder of how connection can carry someone through the hardest chapters.

If you like to connect with Mel, you can find her here: Empower therapies

If you are a coach looking to stand out and belong to a powerful community of coaches who are deeply committed to their craft, Join us here: ANZCAL

This month, Sam is joined by astrologer and coach Chey for their regular deep dive into the transits shaping August and September - and what this means for coaches and their clients. Recorded in the middle of eclipse season, the conversation moves from the intensity of the Leo solar eclipse and the nodal shift into Leo/Aquarius, through the grounding, service-oriented energy of Virgo season, and out toward the opening notes of Libra at month's end.

Along the way, Chey shares her own real-time experience of this energy - the decision to leave a long-held legal career to step fully into astrology and coaching - as a living example of the themes she and Sam unpack: half-heartedness giving way to commitment, exhaustion giving way to resolve, and self-focused rebuilding giving way, by late September, to a renewed capacity for connection with others.

Five Key Takeaways

1. Eclipse energy asks for stillness, not action. With a Leo solar eclipse on the 12th of August and a Pisces lunar eclipse closing the month on the 28th, Chey describes this window as a kind of void - a good time to notice what no longer belongs, but not the moment to force big decisions.
2. Gate 29 and Gate 30 (from 18 August) trace a path from half-heartedness to commitment. Chey's own decision to leave her law career is offered as a real-world example of moving out of ambivalence and into a lighter, more devoted alignment with what feels more purposeful.
3. Late August brings the shift from exhaustion into resolve. As the sun enters Virgo on the 22nd and Gate 40 opens on the 28th, the conversation turns to healthy boundaries, rest without guilt, and treating self-care as a genuine coaching conversation rather than an indulgence.
4. September opens with new beginnings and practical building. The 11th of September's new moon in Virgo (alongside Mars moving into Leo) is highlighted as a strong time for setting intentions and taking the first concrete steps on what surfaced during eclipse season — with Gate 47 (9–15 September) turning old heaviness into something usable.
5. The month closes with a turn from self toward others. Gate 25 (20–26 September) moves through over-identification with struggle toward acceptance, alongside the sun's move into Libra, marks a shift from inward rebuilding toward balance, integrity, and relationship with others as October approaches.

In this episode of The Love of Coaching, Sam sits down with her ANZCAL business partner Sharn Rayner - Master Trainer Coach, strategist, and now published author - for a conversation that moves between the tender and the tactical. Sharn walks us through the pinnacle moments that shaped her: a lifelong pull toward curiosity, a career built across sports coaching, strategy and leadership, and a breast cancer diagnosis she met not with panic, but with a plan.

She opens up about what reframing actually looks like when it's not performative - the quiet, deliberate work of choosing growth over dwelling, milestone by milestone, even when life throws the biggest curveballs.

The conversation also traces the friendship that's grown alongside Sam and Sharn's business partnership, and dives into Sharn's brand-new book, Behind The Coaching Breakthroughs - What Master Business Coaches Do Differently written to help talented coaches stop being invisible in their market and start building sustainable, differentiated businesses.

From the frameworks Sharn brings into her client work to her belief that the world simply needs more coaches, this episode is a masterclass in resilience, strategy, and staying true to your own path, even when you can't always see where it's leading.

5 Key Points

1. The cancer diagnosis, met with a plan, not panic. When her surgeon delivered the diagnosis, Sharn's first instinct was strategy. She reverse-engineered milestones (surgery, treatment, recovery, even a holiday on the other side) so she could stay grounded in the present, and in doing so, she ended up steadying her husband and family through it too.
2. Reframing is a lived skill, not a personality trait. Sharn shares that her ability to find opportunity in hardship - from a difficult childhood to breast cancer - isn't a "pretend" positivity. It's a conscious practice she's built and continues to actively work at, even admitting she has to talk herself through moments of overwhelm (like her book hitting #1 on Amazon).
3. The friendship behind the business partnership. Sam and Sharn open up about how their working relationship at ANZCAL evolved into a genuine friendship - built on complementary strengths (Sam's big-picture vision, Sharn's strategic execution) and a shared commitment to legacy and meaningful impact in the coaching industry.
4. Why she wrote Behind The Coaching Breakthroughs. Sharn didn't set out to be an author - the book grew out of years of working with coaches who were brilliant at their craft but invisible in their market, unsure how to differentiate themselves or charge what they're worth. Her mission: the world needs more coaches, and fewer of them should be leaving the industry because it doesn't feel viable.
5. Frameworks as a coaching superpower. Sharn encourages coaches to build their own frameworks rather than borrow someone else's - arguing that original thought leadership (like her own "PROMISE" framework) is one of the clearest ways coaches can stand out and create client breakthroughs.

To learn from Sharn you can head to her website twotidesconsulting.co.nz or reach out to Sharn on Linkedin

If you're a coach interested in becoming accreditated with ANZCAL - head to our website www.anzcal.org - we'd love to hear from you.

In this episode, I sit down with Nikhil - a teacher, healer, and self-described mad scientist who was raised in a culture that never separated science from spirituality, and it shows in how he thinks about performance.

We go deep into flow, but we also explore its lesser-known counterpart: the clutch state, where you perform your best despite pressure rather than by floating into the zone. Along the way, we get into the neurochemistry behind flow, why leaders need to protect their decision-making bandwidth, and how far your nervous system actually extends beyond your body. This conversation blends hard science with ancient wisdom in a way that riffing off each other in a way where we lost track of time.

1. Flow follows focus - it doesn't come first.

Nikhil breaks the myth that you meditate or relax your way into flow. There's always a "ramp-up" period of discomfort and mental noise first. Flow arrives afterward, in a state neuroscientists call transient hypofrontality - when the inner voice in your brain finally goes quiet.

2. Flow isn't the only peak performance state - meet "clutch."

When pressure is high and you need to perform right now, flow isn't the goal. Clutch state is. Short, intense, and intentional - think the last quarter of a game or the final minute of a big pitch. It's an under-researched area Nikhil is actively studying.

3. The five neurotransmitters behind flow.

Dopamine, adrenaline, serotonin, anandamide, and endorphins all need to align for flow to happen. Nikhil unpacks what each one contributes, and why flow is only sustainable for about 90 minutes before your brain needs genuine recovery.

4. Attention architecture: why leaders need to protect their decision-making bandwidth.

The average leader makes 35,000–60,000 decisions a day. Nikhil explains why high performers like Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg simplified everyday choices (like their wardrobe) to preserve mental capacity for the decisions that actually matter.

5. Your nervous system doesn't stop at your skin.

Drawing on the theory of social conformity, Nikhil explains that your nervous system extends roughly three metres beyond your body, which is part of why the people closest to you shape your habits and state so strongly. He ties this into the quantum physics observer effect and the idea that we're active creators of our own reality.

Connect with Nikhil and learn more from on: LinkedIn | NikhilRughani.com | ShotOfCopy.com

If you are a coach who would like to learn about becoming an ANZCAL accredited coach, contact us here: www.anzcal.org | LinkedIn | Instagram

July is not a quiet month. Chey and I unpack one of the most significant astrological configurations in recorded history - four outer planets aligning at 4 degrees - alongside Mercury retrograde in Cancer, a powerful full moon in Capricorn, and a nodal axis shift that changes the emotional field entirely. Woven through it all are the Human Design gate transits for July, offering coaches a week-by-week lens for their own practice and their client work. If July feels big, there's a reason. This episode helps you navigate it.

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. A once-in-recorded-history astrological event is happening now — Four outer planets (Neptune, Pluto, Uranus and Jupiter) are aligning at 4 degrees in their respective signs simultaneously. French astrologer André Barbeau predicted this configuration would change the trajectory of humanity — and it's just beginning, with effects through to 2029.
2. Mercury retrograde in Cancer runs almost the entire month (until July 23) — an invitation to pause, feel, and respond from the body rather than the head. Old emotional patterns and stories may resurface — use them as a chance to assess what's still yours to carry.
3. The North Node sits in Gate 55 — the gate Ra Uru Hu identified as central to humanity's next evolutionary shift — pointing toward the 2027 Cross of Planning transition, where the emotional centre begins to function as sovereign navigation rather than reactive patterning.
4. On July 26, the nodal axis shifts — astrologically moving from Pisces/Virgo into Aquarius/Leo, and in Human Design from Gate 55/59 into Gate 30/29. The invitation deepens: release over-commitment made from obligation or fear, and move toward what genuinely lights you up.
5. July's overarching theme is intuition, self-trust and authentic expression — the month asks us to stop waiting for permission and recognise that authenticity is the permission. As Chey put it: "Stop waiting for permission — authenticity is the permission."

If you would like to connect with Chey for an chart reading, you can message her on Instagram - Two Moons

If you would like to learn more about your Human Design head to www.samanthahannah.co.nz

If you're a coach who like to join ANZCAL, we'd love to hear from you. Head to www.anzcal.org

Michelle Dalley is someone whose work genuinely makes me lean in and listen. In this conversation, we explore Havening - a psychosensory technique that uses the science of touch to shift the brain into a state where stress dissolves, performance unlocks, and lasting change becomes possible.

What I love most about Michelle's approach is how she brings this into the heart of leadership coaching - helping high performers regulate their nervous systems, clear what's blocking them, and step into high-pressure moments with real confidence. If you've ever wanted to understand the neuroscience behind why some people thrive under pressure and others freeze, this one's for you.

1. Havening works by creating delta wave states through soothing touch.

Three specific touch points — the face, upper arms, and palms — activate specialised skin receptors that shift the brain into delta wave state, the same state associated with deep sleep. This heightened neuroplasticity creates the conditions to release trauma encoding and re-encode new, resourceful states. It can be done in any moment, including discreetly in public, making it a genuinely accessible self-regulation tool.

2. Trauma encoding is at the root of much of what blocks high-performing leaders.

Michelle found consistently through leadership coaching that anxiety, imposter syndrome, and performance fears often trace back to earlier distressing experiences — frequently from school — that have been encoded in the brain as threat responses. Havening depotentiates that encoding, clearing the path for genuine growth rather than managing symptoms indefinitely.

3. A regulated coach or leader regulates the people around them.

Co-regulation is not soft language — it's neuroscience. Gallup research shows a person's direct leader accounts for 70% of their engagement at work. When leaders are dysregulated, their teams feel it and mirror it. When coaches are dysregulated, their clients feel that too. Self-regulation is not a personal luxury; it's a professional responsibility.

4. Havening and NLP combine to create rapid, deep-level state change.

Michelle has developed her own confidence-encoding process that layers Havening touch with NLP visualisation — anchoring peak performance states into the nervous system in a single session. She uses it to prepare clients for job interviews, high-stakes presentations, and critical conversations, with results she describes as immediate and lasting.

5. Investing in your own development is non-negotiable at master level.

Every year without exception, Michelle allocates significant resources to her own learning. She began her career technically-focused and emotionally closed. Every modality she now brings to clients — NLP, Havening, trauma-informed coaching — she first put herself through. Her breadth isn't a collection of credentials; it's a lived practice of becoming.

If you would like to get in touch with Michelle, you can find her here: website | Linkedin

This month, our resident astrologer Chey and I reunite to unpack the cosmic and energetic weather of June 2026 - and it's one of the most significant months of the year. From Uranus shifting into Gemini for the first time since the 1940s, to Jupiter moving into Leo at month's end, June is asking us to move from processing and preparation into courageous, heart-led action. With human design and astrology weaving together beautifully as always, this conversation is rich with practical coaching insights for navigating a month full of revelations, decisions, and new beginnings.

5 KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. June is a turning point — from reflection to action. The first half of 2026 has been about planting seeds and gathering information. June marks the shift into making decisions, backing yourself, and moving forward with what you've been quietly preparing for.
2. Lead from the heart, not just the head. With Mercury and Venus both in Cancer, June is calling for decisions that are felt, not just analysed. For coaches, this means creating space for emotionally honest, intuitive conversations — with clients and with yourself.
3. Uranus in Gemini is disrupting old mental patterns. For the first time since the 1940s, Uranus enters Gemini — bringing sudden insight, unexpected opportunities, and an invitation to release mental frameworks you've outgrown but are still clinging to.
4. Chiron entering Taurus begins a collective healing journey around worth. On June 19, an eight-year healing cycle begins around self-value, resources, and what truly sustains us. Expect themes of worthiness, scarcity, and redefining success to surface — in your clients and in yourself.
5. Jupiter enters Leo on June 29 — it's time to shine. After a year of emotional processing in Cancer, Jupiter's move into Leo is a cosmic green light for courageous self-expression, visibility, and joy. For coaches, this is the energy to launch, pitch, begin new client relationships, and step forward — not from pressure, but from genuine readiness.

If you would like to learn more from Chey, and have your chart read, you can message her on her instagram - Under Two Moons

Are you a coach wanting to stand out in the world? Becoming accredited gives you the edge! To learn more about ANZCAL and how to become an Accreditated ANZCAL coach, head to www.anzcal.org

In this episode, Sam sits down with Sara Wilson - coach, clinical hypnotherapist, author, and teacher - for a conversation that is as warm and surprising as it is deeply practical. Sara shares the extraordinary personal story that launched her into this work: watching her young son Jake, mid-cancer treatment, transform his mindset in a single hypnotherapy session.

From there, the conversation weaves through the power of the subconscious mind, what it really means to practise what you preach, how to build a coaching business that grows with you, and why helping children understand their own minds might be one of the most important things we can do for the world. Expect honesty, humour, a touch of magic, and more than a few moments that will make you stop and think.

5 Key Takeaways

1. Your 'why' will find you - often through hardship. Sara didn't plan a career in hypnotherapy. It found her in a hospital room, watching her son Jake take his medication for the first time after a single session, and thinking, I need to learn how to do that. Purpose rarely arrives on schedule.
2. The subconscious mind is always running the show. Whether it's a fear response, a habit, or a deeply held belief - so much of how we think, feel, and behave is driven by the unconscious. Understanding this is the first step to real, lasting change, for coaches, clients, and children alike.
3. You don't need a niche to start. Sara's advice to new coaches: stop waiting until you've found the perfect niche. Start seeing people. Your niche will reveal itself through the work, just as working with children emerged naturally for Sara through her own lived experience.
4. Coaching and hypnotherapy together are greater than the sum of their parts. When Sara added coaching to her hypnotherapy practice, she describes it as finding "the missing piece", the combination created a solution-focused, forward-paced way of working with people that neither modality could achieve alone.
5. Helping children understand their minds is a gift to the whole world. Sara's vision goes beyond individual sessions - she believes that equipping children with tools to calm their nervous systems, build confidence, and trust themselves creates a generation able to share their unique gifts. Her book 52 Ways to Help Your Child Grow Their Confidence and Happiness is a practical starting point for coaches, parents, and therapists working with children aged 5–12.

If would like to learn more from Sara, connect with her and buy her book, visit her website https://mindgarden.co.nz You'll be able to find all her services and social media here too.

If you're a coach interested in becoming an Accredited Coach with ANZCAL, head to our website www.anzcal.org We'd love to connect with you.

In this episode of The Love of Coaching, host Samantha Hannah sits down with Lindsey Brittian - Master Coach, founder of Turas, and creator of the True North Identity System - for a conversation that is as honest as it is inspiring.

Lindsey shares her remarkable journey from high-performing marketer in London to identity-led leadership coach in New Zealand, including the pivotal life moments that shaped who she is today. Together, Sam and Lindsey explore why so many leaders and coaches are struggling right now, what it really means to lead from your identity rather than from expectation, and how Lindsey's True North certification pathway is equipping coaches to make a deeper, more lasting impact in a rapidly changing world.

Whether you're new to coaching or a seasoned practitioner, this episode will challenge you to stop performing success - and start living it.

5 KEY POINTS FROM THE SHOW

1. Identity as the anchor - Lindsey explains why identity-led leadership gives people something to hold onto in volatile times, contrasting it with performance-led systems that can lead to burnout, misalignment, and loss of self.
2. The True North Identity System - A structured four-pillar methodology (Resilience, Space, Power, Resilience) designed to help individuals, teams, and organisations align who they are with how they lead, decide, and act.
3. A certification pathway for coaches — True North offers three progressive levels aligned with ANZCAL's certification structure: Life & Leadership, Business and Organisations.
4. Embrace the messy middle - Lindsey shares candidly about the trial, error, and pivots it took to build Turas - and why getting comfortable with being uncomfortable is a non-negotiable part of coaching and entrepreneurship.
5. Resilience is a must-have, not a nice-to-have - With over 40% of the global workforce facing burnout, Lindsey makes the case that resilience is now a core leadership capability - and that it's most powerful when built from your own identity, not borrowed from someone else's playbook.

You can contact Lindsey on her website www.turas.co.nz. You'll find all her social media handles and contact forms here as well.

If you are interested in becoming an Accredited Coach with ANZCAL head to our website www.anzcal.org We'd love to connect with you.