COACHED with Coach Keren

In this Coaching Masters conversation, Coach Keren Eldad sits down with longtime private client Billy Goldberg to explore a central question:
Where do real leadership insights come from?
Billy now advises middle-market CEOs and leads through a framework he calls People Powered Profitability. But in this episode, we trace the source of those insights — back to his years inside coaching.
This is not a conversation about business tactics.
It is a conversation about how identity work, agency, ego death, and internal authorship shaped the way Billy now thinks, leads, and builds.
If you have ever wondered what coaching actually produces in a leader — this episode answers that question.

What We Explore
Agency as the foundation of leadership.
Billy shares how the breakthrough realization — “I have agency” — became the cornerstone of every decision he now helps CEOs make.
Redefining success internally.
Before coaching, success was external validation.
After coaching, success became self-authored alignment — which now informs how he advises executives.
Identity death as a leadership requirement.
Letting the “boy” identity die so adult leadership could emerge — and how that internal shift now shapes how he challenges his clients.
Soft skills as performance drivers.
The heart-centered leadership Billy teaches today grew directly from inner work around vulnerability, authorship, and embodied power.
The mountain range metaphor.
The nonlinear growth model he now uses with CEOs was born from his own coaching journey: descent precedes ascent.
Teachable authority.
Why staying coachable is the true differentiator between performed power and embodied leadership.

Series: Coaching Masters
Guest: Billy Goldberg — longtime private client of Coach Keren Eldad, Founding Partner of The Buckeye Group, Strategic Advisor to Middle Market CEOs

Memorable Quotes
“We have agency. We control the narrative.”
“Soft skills are the hard skills.”
“You can’t reach the next peak unless you go down and climb back up.”
“Use love as a business strategy.”

Resources Mentioned
You Are a Badass — Jen Sincero

Connect with Billy
The Buckeye Group
https://www.thebuckeyegroup.com/

Ready to Go Deeper?
Billy’s leadership framework did not come from a book.
It came from doing the work.
If you are building something and want your leadership to be embodied — not performed — that is exactly what we do inside coaching.
Book a Clarity Call:
https://calendly.com/kereneldad
Learn more:
https://www.KerenEldad.com
Mentioned in this episode:
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Series: Coaching Masters (Student Side)
Guest: Courtney Key Dalberg — Coach Keren Eldad Client, real estate leader, mother of four, and emerging voice in coaching and podcasting

Tune in for a deeply personal conversation with Coach Keren Eldad client Courtney Key Dalberg about what happens when the life that looks “right” stops fitting — and you choose truth anyway.
In this Coaching Masters (Student Side) episode, Courtney shares her journey through private coaching with Coach Keren: the perfectionism, productivity-as-numbing, identity deaths, grief stages, “The Opposite” principle, and the moment desire became non-negotiable.
This is not a theory episode.
This is a lived transformation.
Key Themes We Cover
Reinvention isn’t a personality trait; it’s a consequence of honesty. Courtney shares the shift from “I’m fine” to “I can’t undersell what I genuinely want anymore.”
What happens inside coaching. The identity deaths, the bargaining, the anger-as-desire, and the moments when purgatory is no longer an option.
Performance = control. Controlling work, body, image, approval — until surrender becomes the only path forward.
The Opposite Principle (Costanza). How doing the opposite of your conditioned pattern becomes a spiritual discipline.
Productivity as numbing. Why overachievers hide in busyness and how coaching interrupts that pattern.
Radical honesty with family systems. “Conflict, no repair,” guilt and shame patterns, and how inner work creates real repair.
Motherhood, ambition, and self-worth. What changes when worth becomes internal instead of earned.
What emerges on the other side. A new relationship, a new sense of agency, a podcast, and a coaching path of her own.

Memorable Lines
“There’s no arrival — just getting used to the ride.”
“Anger is desire — when it moves you up, it’s the hand that pulls you out of shame.”
“There is no box.”

Resources Mentioned
Books
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People — Stephen R. Covey
GILDED — Keren Eldad
On Death and Dying — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Frameworks
To Be Magnetic (TBM)
Human Design
Gene Keys
Kabbalah

Connect with Courtney
Bare & Brave Productions / Podcast: Am I Allowed To Do This? — COMING SOON https://www.instagram.com/bareandbrave.co/
Bio / team page: https://sullivanhayes.com/team/courtney-dahlberg-key/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/courtney_dahlberg_key/?hl=en

Ready to Go Deeper?
If you’re in that in-between place — successful on paper, struggling in private, exhausted by performing, or quietly bargaining with your own truth — this episode shows what real coaching work looks like.
Book a Free Clarity Call:
https://calendly.com/kereneldad
Learn more:
https://www.KerenEldad.com
Mentioned in this episode:
Book a Call

In today’s Coaching Masters episode, Coach Keren sits down with author, teacher, and sober-curious pioneer Amanda Kuda — a woman whose work is helping high achievers renegotiate their relationship with alcohol so they can step into their fullest potential, creativity, and spiritual clarity.
Amanda is the author of Bottled Potential, a guide to living alcohol-free, manifesting success, and stepping into the extraordinary. Her story isn’t one of clinical addiction — it’s the story of a woman who looked successful on the outside, yet felt misaligned within. Her journey takes us from Rainy Street to Reiki masters, from manifestation to hitting subtle emotional rock bottoms, and eventually, to freedom.
In this episode, we explore:
✨ What “gray-area drinking” really looks like
✨ Why you don’t have to hit bottom to make a change
✨ How alcohol silently suppresses intuition, creativity & magnetism
✨ The spiritual awakening that called Amanda forward
✨ Why suffering and awakening often arrive as a pair
✨ How a single permission slip can change a life
✨ The power of teachers, expanders & aligned mentorship
✨ How to choose a coach not by hype — but by resonance, integrity & soul
✨ The courage to walk away from the glamorized version of your life
This is not a conversation about addiction — it’s a conversation about alignment, clarity, and self-trust. It’s about noticing what isn’t working, even when it looks fine from the outside. It’s about making decisions that expand your future, not numb your present. It’s about courage.
And it’s a must-listen if you’ve ever wondered:
“Who might I be without the habits that dull me?”
About Amanda Kuda
Amanda is a coach, speaker, and the author of Bottled Potential. She supports high-achievers in becoming alcohol-free so they can elevate their vibration, manifestation capacity, and leadership. She is currently writing her second book (coming soon), and we will absolutely be having her back.
Website: https://www.amandakuda.com/
Follow Amanda: @amandakuda
Book: Bottled Potential

Listen, review & share if this resonates.
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For more on Coach Keren Eldad, visit: www.KerenEldad.com

Gilded: Breaking Free from the Cage of Ambition, Perfectionism, and the Relentless Pursuit of More
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Keren-Eldad/author/B0DS2TPZZL?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1769701903&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=23640b76-56b4-4eee-92f3-dad614654269

Coached Show Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed by guests on this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Coach Keren or With Enthusiasm. Nothing shared should be taken as an endorsement of specific advice, teachings, or opinions. This series is intended to showcase a range of teaching styles and business methodologies for educational and informational purposes only.
Mentioned in this episode:
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In this powerful Coaching Masters conversation, Coach Keren sits down with Vasavi Kumar, a licensed therapist, coach, speaker, voiceover artist, and bestselling author of Say It Out Loud, a book and methodology that have become a movement for those who are tired of hiding, tired of performing, and ready to live and speak from the core of who they really are.
Vasavi’s voice is unmistakable: bold, resonant, grounded, but it was forged in fire.
As a first-generation Indian American woman living with bipolar disorder, raised between cultures and expectations, and shaped by the emotional labor of mediating conflict in her home from a young age, Vasavi eventually reclaimed the one thing she had always possessed: her voice. And now she uses it to liberate others.
In this episode, we explore:
✨ How childhood roles shape our voice, visibility, and identity
✨ Why using your voice is not about volume — it’s about truth
✨ The difference between standing in your story and standing on it
✨ Why unhealed people cannot teach healing
✨ Authenticity vs. performance in the coaching and content world
✨ The epidemic of “polish” — and why visibility now requires humanity
✨ The real work behind becoming a world-class speaker, author, or leader
✨ The willingness to suck, be rejected, and evolve publicly
✨ How to turn lived experience into a powerful personal brand
✨ The creation of The Out Loud School — a global sanctuary for voice, practice, and visibility
✨ Her choice to be child-free and the freedom, clarity, and resonance that choice brings
Vasavi reminds us that your voice is not just a communication tool — it is your most powerful business asset, spiritual compass, and human truth-teller. And she shows us that the pathway to mastery in any field — coaching, writing, speaking, leadership — begins with the willingness to be seen mid-evolution rather than waiting for some imaginary and impossible version of “perfect.”
This conversation is both an activation and an invitation: to speak honestly, to show up fully, and to choose the life that is actually yours.
About Vasavi Kumar
Vasavi Kumar is the bestselling author of Say It Out Loud, the creator of The Out Loud School, and the host of the Say It Out Loud podcast. She merges clinical training, lived experience, storytelling, and voice mastery into a transformative body of work that helps people use their voices with clarity, courage, and intention.
Learn more about Vasavi and The Out Loud School on her website and social channels.
If this conversation moved you, please share it — especially with someone who is ready to stop hiding.
Website: https://vasavikumar.com/
Gilded: Breaking Free from the Cage of Ambition, Perfectionism, and the Relentless Pursuit of More
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Keren-Eldad/author/B0DS2TPZZL?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1769701903&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=23640b76-56b4-4eee-92f3-dad614654269

Coached Show Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed by guests on this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Coach Keren or With Enthusiasm. Nothing shared should be taken as an endorsement of specific advice, teachings, or opinions. This series is intended to showcase a range of teaching styles and business methodologies for educational and informational purposes only.

Mentioned in this episode:
Book a Call

In this rich and expansive episode of The Coached Podcast, I continue our Coaching Masters series with someone whose work and worldview bridge creativity, consciousness, and the courage to reinvent oneself again and again. I sit down with Nick Onken—celebrated creative entrepreneur, portrait photographer to icons (including my beloved Beebs), host of the NION Radio podcast, and author of The Philosophy of Identity Alchemy—to explore the deeper spiritual and psychological journey behind personal branding, creativity, and becoming who you truly are.
Book a call with Coach Keren: https://calendly.com/kereneldad/consultation?back=1
Nick’s story is a masterclass in individuation. Raised in a conservative religious environment and cultivated inside belief systems that never quite fit, he describes the slow, seven-year process of disentangling himself from inherited identities that had been embedded in the subconscious since childhood—something Carl Jung wrote about powerfully, and something so many high achievers, creators, and leaders will recognize in their own story. From that unraveling came a path into the arts, travel, photography, and eventually a profound internal collapse that forced him into what he now recognizes as multiple “dark nights of the soul”—those initiatory periods where everything you thought you were disintegrates so a truer self can emerge.
We talk about limiting beliefs, upper limits (thank you, Gay Hendricks), and the psychological fusion many of us experience between our identity and our work—especially in an era when industries are shifting overnight and reinvention is not a possibility but a mandate. We discuss the collapse of the commercial photography world, the arrival of social media, the shock of going from securing Nike-level campaigns to three years of crickets, and the ego death that followed.
Most importantly, we explore the philosophy that grew from those ashes: Identity Alchemy—Nick’s framework for consciously deconstructing who you were, curating who you want to become, and creating a personal brand and life expression that is intentionally crafted rather than unconsciously inherited. His premise is simple and extraordinarily potent: your identity is your greatest work of art.
We get into:
How early religious conditioning can embed subconscious fears that sabotage adult self-expression
The seven-year unraveling that led Nick out of inherited belief systems and into true creative agency
How burnout, imposter syndrome, and industry shifts catalyze reinvention
Why personal brands are more essential than ever in the age of AI
How to consciously design your identity, your space, your aesthetic, and your creative expression
Why reinvention is no longer optional—and how to pivot with enthusiasm
The magic thread that pulls all of us toward the next iteration of our becoming

If you are in a season of transition, reinvention, or re-evaluation—if you have ever wondered, “Who am I now?” or “What will I create next?”—this conversation will meet you exactly where you are.
Enjoy this masterful, soulful dialogue and prepare to walk away with an entirely new lens for seeing your life as your most powerful creative medium.
Links to Nick’s work:
https://photographedbyonken.com/
https://onkensworld.com/
https://www.instagram.com/nickonken/
Connect with Coach Keren:www.KerenEldad.com
If you love the Coaching Masters series, please subscribe, comment, and share.
Your support helps us bring you the world’s best teachers every single week.

Gilded: Breaking Free from the Cage of Ambition, Perfectionism, and the Relentless Pursuit of More
https://www.amazon.com/stores/Keren-Eldad/author/B0DS2TPZZL?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1769701903&sr=8-1&shoppingPortalEnabled=true&ccs_id=23640b76-56b4-4eee-92f3-dad614654269

Coached Show Disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed by guests on this show are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Coach Keren or With Enthusiasm. Nothing shared should be taken as an endorsement of specific advice, teachings, or opinions. This series is intended to showcase a range of teaching styles and business methodologies for educational and informational purposes only.
Mentioned in this episode:
Book a Call