Welcome to Coffee House Coaching, where great conversations are brewed one powerful question at a time. I’m your host, Gary Nowak, and each episode is caffeinated by 8 thought-provoking, no-fluff questions designed to tap into the Coaches insight, impact and inner work of their practice.

Today’s guest is John Schuster where he described a philosophical conversation with a client on epistemology (a.k.a. “How do we know what we know?”).

"Presence, Poetry, and the Power of Stillness — Coaching with John Schuster."

📝 7 Summary Bullet Points:

• Presence is 50% of coaching—and worth 100% of your inner work.
• John blends coaching, mentoring, and consulting based on what the client truly needs.
• His journey through Jungian psychology and spiritual development deepened his coaching presence.
• He’s still refining how to love his clients more deeply while doing less “doing.”
• Not afraid to get philosophical, he once explored epistemology mid-session.
• Uses humor and tone as core tools—“Ha-ha, Aha, and Ahhh” are all welcome.
• Closed the show by singing Dylan’s Forever Young—a reminder that coaching, like life, is a beautiful ongoing journey.

Welcome to Coffee House Coaching, where great conversations are brewed one powerful question at a time. I’m your host, Gary Nowak, and each episode is caffeinated by 8 thought-provoking, no-fluff questions designed to tap into the Coaches insight, impact and inner work of their practice.

Today’s guest is Lola Gershfeld where she likes to slow down, tune in and dance through coaching.

Episode Highlights

• 🧠 Best advice? “Stop thinking about the next step—just feel the music.” Coaching and tango collide in a powerful metaphor for presence.
• 🪞 Deep self-work: Lola uses her own tools (like the Reconnection Form) to identify raw spots, fears, and triggers—starting with herself before guiding others.
• 🫀 Emotions are the play: her greatest joy is leading multi-person bonding conversations and watching teams heal and connect in real time.
• 🧰 Most “outrageous” move? Asking team members to emotionally reconnect face-to-face—even after years of not speaking.
• 💻 AI as emotional co-pilot: helps soften emails, polish writing, and create clearer communication (especially when speed trumps tone).
• 🧬 Coaching + family: co-hosting a podcast with her daughter strengthened both their emotional vocabularies and their bond.
• 🌪️ From overwhelmed to attuned: she slows herself down by shifting focus from self to client—and always centers on connection.
• 💃 Her dream? Never stop working. But also—more dancing. Always more Argentine tango.

Welcome to Coffee House Coaching, where great conversations are brewed one powerful question at a time. I’m your host, Gary Nowak, and each episode is steeped in 8 thought-provoking, no-fluff questions designed to tap into the Coaches insight, impact and inner work of their practice.

Today’s guest is Matt Williams - Most proud of: The resilience to build a coaching practice without a playbook, metrics, or much applause.

Episode Highlights

• 🕵️‍♂️ Early coaching lens? Prosecutorial. Today? Curious and collaborative.
• 🧭 Coaching roots go back to HP’s golden era under Bill & Dave—Matt learned leadership through coaching before it had a name.
• 📚 Favorite advice: “Be attentive to the lens you look through.”
• 🚧 Constantly working to give observations without advice—avoiding the “expert trap.”
• 🧠 Biggest discovery? Aligning with personal values is the foundation of authentic leadership.
• 😤 Told a control freak “you don’t control the outcome.” It went... exactly how you'd expect.
• 😂 Humor and sarcasm as subtle coaching tools—no games, just dry wit and sharp timing.
• 💻 Uses AI tools like Grammarly and Fathom for editing and transcripts, but insists the voice stays human.
• 🐟 Bucket list dream: Fly-fishing road trip through the Rockies with a (borrowed) dog and zero constraints.
• 💪 Most proud of: The resilience to build a coaching practice without a playbook, metrics, or much applause.