We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Courtney Johnson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Courtney below.

Alright, Courtney thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. Let’s kick things off with your mission – what is it and what’s the story behind why it’s your mission?

My mission is to create a world where people love being alive, where they are living from their core essence, and rid of what is not true for them — think conditioning, people pleasing, trauma, etc. My mission is to create a world where each person remembers how to live from an open heart, so that together we can transform our collective reality into a place of peace, harmony, and true power.

Maybe that sounds lofty haha! But to me, I know this is already our reality (the truth of our being), underneath all the bullsh**, the false conditioning, the unnecessary suffering, and the pain we inflict on each other. Underneath it all is a wounded heart that longs to be broken open, that longs to be allowed to feel alive once again.

Why is this my mission? As with most, because it’s personal to me. I came into this world a sensitive, open hearted, loving little human. And like many, was shocked to not see that reflected in the world at large.

Over time, after years of bullying, being in an emotionally abusive relationship for 10 years, and experiencing many unexpected deaths in my 20s, my heart began to close. I walked through the world in fear, and feeling alone.

Not only was this clearly not a fulfilling way to live, but it didn’t feel good to my system, my body. It didn’t feel pleasurable or correct to walk around closed off, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I knew I wanted to open to life again.

So I dedicated myself as a living experiment. Is it possible to live from my heart? Is it possible to feel all the way through all the old trauma so it doesn’t control me? Is it possible to heal from anxiety? Is it possible to speak my truth even though I can’t control what will happen next? Is it possible to over and over again, shed the conditioning that isn’t really me?

Yes. Yes, it is.

And this is where I guide people to — back to their own divinity, their own open heart, their truth, agency, and power.

Imagine how the world would change if we all lived from this place. This is my mission.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I like to call myself the relatable, relationship Dalai Lama. Yes, you can chuckle or roll your eyes haha. But here’s what I mean by that…

While we aren’t confined to working in this domain, my clients and I often begin in the realm of romantic relationship, because this is the realm where all of our crap shows up the most, all the stuff that isn’t really us: our old wounds, our dysfunctional patterns, our greatest fears, our traumas.

We want to be amazing people, but with our partner, we can be our worst or more fearful self. We know we aren’t showing up how we want to, but we feel disempowered to change it. It can become our own personal wheel of suffering.

So yes, we start there…but where do we really go?

We learn and enact the life principles underneath everything: how the world works, how we work, the way of peace, power, and harmony. I start in relationships because who we are in relationship is who we are. Who are you when things don’t go your way? Who are you when things are hard? Who are you when you’re scared?

I invite people to go underneath all of that, underneath the patterns, underneath the pain of the past, to the part of them that is already divine, that is already perfect.

And when people can connect with that, their life changes.

They learn to love their life, not as they wish it were, but as it is.

And this is to re-learn how to live with an open heart.

Have you ever had to pivot?

My coaching business was actually birthed during an unexpected career pivot, and is a beautiful illustration of one of my favorite life principles: Everything is a gift, if we create it to be so.

I was working as an Engineering Manager at a tech start-up. There were many things I loved about that job, but overall I was drowning there. Drowning in too much work, too many direct reports, in over my head, and spiritually depleted. I longed for the day we would get a VP of Engineering that could help take things off of my plate, and support me.

However, when we finally did hire a VP of Engineering, I knew something was off within the first 3 days of our budding “relationship.” Five days later, he wanted me out of his department. Why? Who knows really. I suppose at the end of the day, I just didn’t fit in his vision.

It was tough. I was angry. It felt unjust. I was incredibly sad to be forced away from the people and teams I had cared for, the teams I felt I had nurtured and held together in the absence of higher leadership.

As we always do, I had a choice. I left as gracefully as possible even though I was angry. I took a few weeks of rest, and started applying for new jobs. I got an offer for a really awesome tech company, with a great salary and a 4-day work week.

But as I sat down at my computer to sign the offer, I couldn’t do it. Instead, I typed up an unexpected email politely declining. Why? So that I could take the leap into my long-held dream of creating a coaching business.

This decision was incredibly difficult. While the choice was made, the direction was wildly unclear. No one rolled out the red carpet for me. But I felt, ya know what? If it’s going to be a challenge, if it’s going to be hard…I’d rather be challenged in the direction of my dreams, in the direction of my aliveness.

I was no longer willing to be complicit in my own depletion.

And so here we are, years later! I know I’ll look back at that choice as one of the best pivots of my life.

We’d love to hear about how you keep in touch with clients.

I foster brand loyalty by being truly devoted to my clients and their dreams.

When I decide to work with someone, I am very honest with them and myself. Do we both honestly feel that this partnership is going to walk them close to their dreams? If yes, then I’m all in!

My clients can feel my truthfulness, my commitment to their deepest vision, and my genuine care for them. They know I’m learning, studying, experimenting, and contemplating on their behalf. They trust me. At the end of the day, I think that’s what really matters and why my people stay with me.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.openheartscoaching.me/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/open.hearts.coaching/
• Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@open.hearts.coach?_t=8nSHsbNo5aJ7_r=1

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