Why Coaching Raw?
Hi, I’m Shannon Kelly and I developed Coaching Raw in 2024 after working with hundreds of clients and teaching thousands of students.
There are numerous coaching programs out there; so many tools, theories, methodologies, cults of personality. So many people who claim to be coaching but are just telling people what to do. So many heady, analytical conversations, focused on problem-solving, and leading down the same old rabbit holes.
Most are missing what coaching should be at its core - raw, embodied, improvisational and alchemical. Most of all, fully present to each moment as it unfolds, knowing that there is no need to think, engineer outcomes, worry about performance, or get anywhere.
I am passionate about training coaches to be able to fully present with any client, any topic, and to be able to surrender to the true agents of change: the relationship, the magic, the moment, the heart-body-mind alignment.
Coaching has been co-opted
Coaching was born out of a desire to actualize human potential and raise consciousness, to embark on a relationship modality that married some of the best of consultative leadership and therapy, from a strengths-based, person-first approach.
Many of the founders and original luminaries of coaching came from the world of acting and theater. They understood that coaching at its best creates a felt experience through embodiment, imagination, expression, and connection. More art than science, more kinesthetic than cerebral, more open hearted than analytical. The best coaching models combine the best of psychology, the ancient wisdom traditions, improv and drama, and esoteric teachings.
While at its core, these elements remain, in a Wild West industry where anyone can call themselves a coach, we are now seeing an unwholesome underbelly of coaching: slick, advice-giving, problem solving, “expert” so-called “gurus” citing studies on end of the spectrum, and Instagram-ready aspirational striving for a better status quo but drenched in soft-focus love and light-speak on the other.
Coaching at its best should feel raw, real, and alchemical.
Authentic to the humans in the relationship. Full of the spectrum of emotions from tears and sadness to anger partnered with moments of levity fun, and laughter. The experience is alive, embodied, and therapeutic. It should be the hour in your week that stays with you evoking new questions, ways of seeing yourself, others and the circumstances surrounding you. There isn’t an on and off button to finding “success” but mini light bulb moments that lead to lasting impact.
You deserve a coach who deeply sees you, delights in you, and grows you. All human beings have shadows and blind spots, and as success grows, these become ever-more sophisticated and subtle. As you move from the hustle of early life into the midlife meaning phase, what once worked for you begins to ring hollow. This space of discontent, longing, and disorientation is a good sign, despite its discomfort.
Having a thought partner who can be a mirror reflecting your best qualities and your hidden patterns, stories, and limiting beliefs is invaluable.