A Quick Reminder Hello again! The last newsletter had a longer reflection, so I’m sending one final reminder about a couple of ways to gather this week. I’d love to see some of you there. Community gathering: supporting others through lossTuesday, October 20th, at 6pm CT Change Coaches is hosting a 60-min community gathering focused on supporting others through loss through coaching, community and peer support. Dr. Sherri Taylor will be our guest facilitator, and you’ll also have time to...
about 3 hours ago • 1 min read
A Note from LaTonya I've been sitting with something I'm hearing across all clients and within coaching groups. This year has been hard. And, for those of us who are navigating decently well, we are immediately hit with the next change. It never stops. That's exactly what today's issue is about. I'm opening up a group this November: Applied Leadership: Below the Surface. It's a 5-session group experience for leaders who need practical tools now, especially if you're navigating pressure,...
27 days ago • 8 min read
A Note from LaTonya This isn't my usual send day, but Telluride stayed with me in a way I wasn't expecting, and I wanted to share it while it was still fresh. I spent Labor Day weekend at the 53rd Annual Telluride Film Festival supporting my partner, whose documentary Sawyer Avenue, Sunday Afternoon made its US debut there. The film focuses on ICE detainments in Chicago and was part of a program called Stories of Resilience — alongside two other viscerally emotional shorts. Sarah Gavron's A...
about 1 month ago • 6 min read
A Note from LaTonya We are two weeks away from the start of the next cohort of Leading Below the Surface: Relational Coach Training aka Coaching Below the Surface, or CBTS. Cohort kicks off September 15th. If you've been showing up to every issue and something keeps pulling at you around this experience, but you haven't yet signed up, you know who you are. Maybe it's the timing. Maybe it's the investment. Maybe it's that you can't quite name what you'd get out of it yet. Here's what I know:...
about 2 months ago • 8 min read
A Note from LaTonya This one has already created some captivating conversations, and I'm genuinely glad it's out in the world. If you've read it already, thank you. I'd love to hear what landed for you; hit reply and tell me. This issue is about the difference between mindset and energy. Mindset is the surface. Energy is what's below it, and it's exactly the kind of work we go deeper on inside Coaching Below the Surface. This Issue's Reflection It was the spring of 2023, and calling it an...
2 months ago • 9 min read
A Note from LaTonya After relaunching this newsletter, I have received several notes from you about what I’ve been writing. Some of you wrote me about how the conflict article really helped; others wanted to break away from masking. I’ve enjoyed getting the replies from you. And, between this and being inspired by all of the leaders and coaches I’ve gotten to talk to recently, I’ve decided to do something different. I'm opening up 10 spots for 15-minute drop-in style connection calls. You set...
2 months ago • 1 min read
A *Quick* Note from LaTonya Whether it's the beach, a long bike ride, a walk, or even staying inside, I hope you are enjoying your version of summer! Mine has included ample beach and bike time. If you want to experience something different, I have an invite for you this Friday. Five cohorts in, and the community we've built continues to remind me why I started. When I started Coaching Below the Surface, I had a vision: a community of coaches and leaders doing this work differently. Not just...
3 months ago • 1 min read
A Note from LaTonya Conflict has really been on my mind! I recently read the book Let This Radicalize You, in which the authors, Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, devoted an entire chapter to it. They discussed activists giving up on each other, on organizing in community, because we don't agree on everything. It made me think about how much further we could go if we had the tools to stay in relationship even when every little thing isn't 100% aligned. It's also been on my mind because I'm...
3 months ago • 11 min read
A Note from LaTonya This weekend, the U.S. turned 250. And if you were paying attention, it was also a weekend of reckoning. A country still figuring out what it wants to be. Still navigating the tension between who it has been and who it's becoming. As heartbreaking, enraging, and even hopeful as it can be, I couldn't help but see myself in that. Transparently, I didn't do anything to "celebrate" this year. I contemplated, rested, wrote, ate good food, and reconnected with myself and the...
4 months ago • 9 min read