We were lucky to catch up with Jose-Antonio Valencia recently and have shared our conversation below.

Jose-Antonio, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?

My mission is clear, practical, and urgent: to reduce divorce rates by helping couples get married better, not faster.

The reality is that a divorce happens every 13 seconds in this country! Almost 7,000 divorces will occur by the end of this day! Let that sink in. We need to realize that 50% of marriages end up in divorce and about 35% of the ones that remain married are unhappy.

When we really understand all the devastating consequences that result from these numbers, we will take relationships more seriously and invest the time and resources necessary to avoid being part of those statistics.

I want people to stop following bad advice that will only lead them to more hurt, more disappointments, and more frustration. Relationship pain will bleed into so many other areas of your life.

I feel your hurt and I have felt your disappointments. Not only because I have coached too many people in the same situation but because I went through the same issues myself.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I have been a Life & Relationship Coach for about 9 years. After all these years working as a coach and as a church leader, I realized that most of my clients foundational issues and ultimate goals were related in one way or another to relationships and/or love-related topics.

I noticed that one of the main reasons we have relationship problems and make bad decisions is because we choose the wrong partner to start with. We do we do this because we don’t have a CLEAR idea of:

– Who I am and Who I want to become?
– Where am I going? What kind of life or purpose do I want to pursue?
– What kind of marriage and spouse fits this profile?

My Relationship Coaching is NOT based on learning shady tips and tricks to pick up hot chics or manipulate that cutie to make him fall in love with you. I understand that the singleness stage is not easy for many people. That pain, those disappointments, and that frustration can influence many singles to follow false teachings and take dangerous actions on this matter.

That is why I created my own courses and my own framework to help single people not only to SURVIVE the negative and tricky side of singleness but to THRIVE as Complete & Content individuals who are totally confident and equipped to attract and to enjoy the ultimate relationship of their lifetime.

For the people who are currently on a relationship, my goal is to help them confirm:

A. If the person they are dating is the right one for them.
B. If they are ready to take their relationship to the next level or not.
C. If they are capable of keeping that person around. I mean, if he or she is worth it, you gotta make sure they stay, right?

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

As a Relationship Coach I had to unlearn the most common mistake people do while dating and that is to FOLLOW YOUR HEART. Most people use this misguided advice as a foundation to start every relationship but they don’t know that this is probably the most dangerous and hurtful thing they can do.
In our society, all the movies, media and entertainment teach us to “follow our heart” as if it was the most important truth in life. We hear this all the time: trust your feelings, trust your gut, and look inside. The truth is that your heart lies to you all the time. You lie to yourself more than anybody else.

Following your feelings can lead to disaster. Blindly following your heart is a really bad idea. Most of our mistakes come from following our emotions instead of running them through an objective filter that can help us make the correct decisions.

Here is the thing. Your heart desires whatever you have been feeding it so it operates like a hound dog tracking a scent. As a Relationship Coach, my approach and my courses help you debunk that myth, understand what have you been feeding your heart with and why so that you can then replace it with a practical formula that actually works to achieve your dream relationship. It will help you heal your heart, become the right person, attract the right person, and make sure they stay too.

Even the Bible warns us about this by saying that our hearts are deceitful, they can be wicked and have secret motives. And that is why you all need to guard your heart above all else, for it is the wellspring of life.

Do not keep dating blindly anymore.

What do you think helped you build your reputation within your market?

I think reputation and credibility may come from a combination of different factors:

– Caring for your clients and loving what you do
– Preparation and education
– Experience
– Client satisfaction and testimonials from celebrity clients
– Media and press coverage
– Spirituality and faith

I have been a Life & Relationship Coach for 9 years, I have invested lots of resources in my education, I’ve had plenty of celebrity clients, and I have been featured dozens of times on TV, magazines and different media. But I believe that my Christian faith and spirituality are the most important things because I do what I do out of an authentic calling and a genuine desire to serve others.

Even though I am an active Christian and very involved in my church’s leadership team, I have still worked with clients who follow different spiritual beliefs. They even like when I share Bible wisdom with them without being preachy, pushy, or trying to convert anyone because it brings great value, powerful insights and practical knowledge even for non-believers.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @joseantonio.valencia

Image Credits
Photographers: Chad Andreo, Ekaterina Juskowski