EvolutionFM Transcript: The Hidden Energy Leaks Draining Your Life Force Daily (Erin Coupe)

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Erin Coupe is a former high-powered executive turned consciousness coach who redefined success by choosing depth over hustle. In this riveting conversation, she shares how questioning the belief that we must wait until 65 to truly live launched her into a decade-long transformation. Burnt out and buried in busyness, Erin cracked open the truth about societal constructs, self-worth, and what it really means to “fit things in.” With sharp clarity and soulful wisdom, she unpacks energy leadership, subconscious sabotage, and the power of self-awareness as the first step to real change.

Her story is both relatable and radical—full of ugly cries, hard-earned peace, and the courage to let go of what drains you. As she explores the shift from productivity to presence and the role of spiritual leadership in a tech-driven world, Erin Coupe leaves us standing at the edge of a new vision for work, life, and the future we dare to create

Transcripts may contain a few typos. With many episodes lasting 1+ hour, it can be difficult to catch minor errors. Enjoy!

Scott Britton (00:00.725)

Erin, what's up? It's great to see you. Well, I'm excited for what I know will be a rich conversation given some of the past chats that we've had. And maybe just to kind of ground this, like, when did your transformation journey really kick off? What was happening in your life?

Erin Coupe (00:02.807)

You too, Scott.

Erin Coupe (00:23.042)

me, I certainly didn't realize I was on the journey until about a decade ago. And, you know, I was in corporate America and a very high stakes, high powered executive position, married with two young children at home, you know, commuting 10 hours a week, and really started to question the ways that I was living. And the question, the very first one I asked myself was,

Why do I believe that we have to just make it to 65 in order to live our lives? And that was where for me, that journey of transformation deep, it really got deep because I had to start to understand in my own mind what I was living within and what confines I had put around my own belief system. And by the way, be able to call BS on that as well.

Scott Britton (01:12.621)

Yeah, I mean, that's a real like earth shattering moment, right? When you're like, these are all just ideas. Like these are constructs that I thought were true, but there turns out they're just ideas.

Erin Coupe (01:30.75)

Exactly. Right. And it's like, who put those ideas there? And, you know, when you realize, wait a minute, it wasn't me. So what do I want to believe?

Scott Britton (01:39.511)

Hmm. Well, was there a particular like, like, aha, or inflection that made you even start to like question these things?

Erin Coupe (01:49.356)

I always described this as I had this feeling or this notion, but it wasn't necessarily a thought process. So there was this uneasiness within me where I just kept feeling like this can't be it. We can't be on this planet for the short time that we're on this planet. We have no idea how long we get, but it's not long in the scheme of things.

Scott Britton (02:06.061)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Coupe (02:16.678)

And how could we just be here solely to grind it out and try to make it to a certain age when we no longer have to work? Like, why is that the goal? And that notion, again, it wasn't thought, it wasn't intellectual. It was like a knowing within me. And that knowing is what eventually came out as questions. They came out as real words that I expressed to my husband.

And my deep, I would say deep yearning or seeking for new knowledge and new ways of being started after really starting to express what I was feeling for some time.

Scott Britton (02:55.543)

And I think this speaks to the heart of at least like how I perceive the your book, I can fit this in was that feeling of just like, there's more shit we got to do. And then there's more and there's more and there's more and more. It's like, it of just feels like it never ends, right? And it will never end.

Erin Coupe (03:10.254)

Right. Yeah. You know, it's so true and we don't get more time in the day. Right. So the whole point of my book is I can fit in the things that matter to me rather than waiting for some day in the future thinking, yeah, I'll fit in the things that matter later on. You know, as soon as I have this title or I make that amount of money or I live in that kind of place or I'm in that kind of relationship, then I'll start to really care about the things that fuel me.

then I'll start to take care of myself. Then I'll stop drinking, start working out, be more nutritious, meditate, whatever it is. Then I'll do those things. When in reality, we end up filling our lives with obligations and things that don't matter or things that drain us even, or people that drain us. And then we wonder why we don't ever fully know ourselves or live as a whole human being. We wonder why our energy is scattered.

We wonder why we're not achieving things that we dream about or wish we could have. We have to cut out the things that don't fit in our lives in order to put in the things that do.

Scott Britton (04:19.287)

when someone has this recognition, right, and I know you work with corporations and individuals and people who kind of like, are like, okay, shit, this isn't working, like, and they have the recognition, right, they're not choosing the activities that they want to be spending their time on. And they're not, you know, really living with who they know they can be, right? When I heard you talk, like, that's what came up for me was like, it was less of like, is there more, but it was just knowing that like, this isn't what I'm here for. Right? Like I'm here to do something

else and something bigger. And so what is the practical steps that you start to help people work through some of these knots and questions?

Erin Coupe (05:02.178)

Right. Step one, self-awareness. And you and I both know this, Scott, that self-awareness doesn't come easy, right? Because with self-awareness, which is ongoing, it's constantly, it's a journey, not a destination. But with self-awareness, especially in those early stages, it is that questioning of what is residing in your mind that

is driving your action or as I say, inaction. once you start to be aware of what's in your mind, then you can replace what's there. And I always ask people, like, you've got an iPhone, right, or a smartphone of some sort, and it tells you that you need to update the software. And so you gladly go in and hit the button and update the software. You're happy to be running your phone on the newest

Software so that you know it reserves the battery and all those things. Well Do you ever update the software in your own mind and most people are like what like how do I do that? so my I always say to them like your your thoughts and your beliefs are Ultimately creating your reality and if you're not gonna go in there and weed out the stuff that no longer serves you no longer fits in your mind and Put in the new stuff

that you want to be there, that you want to fit into your mind, that you want to drive your actions and life and your behaviors. If you're not going to do that, it's not going to happen on accident. No one's going to be able to press that update software button for you. And so the first step is always self-awareness. Now there are practical actions you can take from

specific journaling exercises I do with people to uncovering limiting beliefs, to rewiring those beliefs and putting in new thoughts and affirmations and doing meditations. There's all these practices within self-awareness that you can actually apply. But you've got to start somewhere. And you can't do 15 things at once. you've got to pick one or two, develop a cadence, a rhythm.

Scott Britton (07:17.077)

You completely agree. And a question that comes up for me is there's people that know this, right? They know it's like, I know that my belief is driving my action, right? But yet, I'm not going to spend 10 minutes on this when I'm going to spend 10 hours on busyness and activity. What do you make of that? Why? Why is it like that?

Erin Coupe (07:43.608)

I think why it's like that is because we have been taught that productivity and the external world is worth more than our own self-worth. So we've been told, busyness, being productive, being as efficient as possible, which means multitasking everything so you can do as much as possible, that that is what leads to ultimate success. Like that's what...

pushes you up the ladder, that's what earns you more money, that's what makes you more important, right? And so we have created this grandiosity out of busyness and productivity. And yet all of that is about this external vision of who we are. And so yet we're waiting for validation, we're waiting for reinforcement, we're waiting for approval. So we go and do all the things and let everyone know like, hey, look how important I am, you know, like.

Scott Britton (08:38.317)

Yeah.

Erin Coupe (08:38.528)

so busy everyone needs me I have no time in my calendar for myself how is that inspiring? how is that influential? and when you look at it you're like geez it's not like I don't have respect for those people I don't even feel sorry for those people I think wow they must really disrespect and dislike themselves

Scott Britton (09:00.387)

you know, I just had a conversation recently with a guy who was close to someone who wrote a book called, richer wiser, something that interviewed the top like investors in the world, like think like Warren Buffett and people like that who are really, really big time. And, they, someone asked him like, you know, who, who is most successful of all those people? And his answer was the

the people whose family still wants to spend time with them at the end of their lives. Because so many of these people with extreme success sacrificed everything from a relationship and family perspective to get that. Right? And in many cases, the family didn't want to hang out with them, right? Their kids didn't really want to be around them, right? Because they hadn't invested in that relationship. so...

Erin Coupe (09:54.412)

Right. You know, it's funny that you say that. I just had a conversation with someone recently, very similar to that. She's the daughter of a very, very wealthy family. And I didn't know this at first when we had first met, but she was telling me about her life journey and her story. And halfway through our conversation, she let me know what her family's business was. And they have many of them, and they also own a professional sports team. And she said, my dad was not a good man.

And he's no longer alive. She said, was not a good man. He caused so much turmoil in our family, and yet everyone on the outside was just like, my gosh, your dad is amazing. And she's like, that's a joke. Like he was awful. He was an awful human being. And so yeah, it's kind of funny what we will project outward for all of that, like I said, that validation and that approval.

And yet if our own families don't want to be around us, like what's it all for?

Scott Britton (10:56.003)

One of the concepts in your book that I thought is particularly resonant is this idea of kind of time management to energy leadership. And this is something that you're definitely not reading in the business school books, right? And I think as a recovering over-optimizer type person who is constantly trying to squeeze more out of every minute, like, I wish I would have had this lesson earlier. Talk to us about what that means to you.

Erin Coupe (11:25.324)

Yeah, mean, to me, energy is everything. And we've looked at energy as in how much energy can I exert, for example, at the end of my workday when I go to the gym? Or how much energy can I exert physically in my day to just power through and get to the point of dinner time and putting my kids to bed? And do I have anything left over?

When in reality, energy has to do with our entire wellbeing. So our emotional self, our mental self, our spiritual self, and our physical self. And we can't look at energy just as physical. So if you look at it not just as physical, where are you being drained or leaking energy when it comes to your emotions? So I explain this to people, like consider where you are.

really low vibe at times. Like what brings you to that level? What brings you to a level of guilt and shame and jealousy and envy and those kinds of things? You know, and some people might say, it's social media or they might say like, it's my mom or like, you know, a certain friend or whatever. And it's like, okay, well take stock of that because you need to understand when you're leaking energy.

It's like putting on your oxygen mask before, you know, helping the person next to you. Like you've got to refuel yourself or get yourself back to a level emotionally that is going to be resonant with where you want to be most often or more often because then only from there are you emotionally full. Are you emotionally balanced? Are you emotionally harmonizing and not letting yourself kind of fall down the drain or the tubes, right? Or spiral. You know, that's where people spiral.

Then you what sets in if you're spiraling is of course anxiety or depression or dark thoughts and all that kind of stuff Which is a different story the same goes mentally so your thoughts if your thoughts are low frequency if you're having a lot of dark thoughts energetically That is low vibe Energetically you're losing energy You have got to refuel your energy. You've got to think some different thoughts You have to refuel same goes physically hydration nutrition sleep all the things that we know

Erin Coupe (13:40.054)

If we are treating ourselves physically unwell, of course we're going to siphon energy. So we have to look at it like it's a more holistic approach. This is also like when it comes to spirituality, like belief in a higher power, whatever that power is, that's up to you. But having a bigger belief, working on yourself in a way where you are treating yourself and humanity like it's important, not like it's just, you know.

I'm just going to run my vessel, my body to the ground and who cares? We have to be constantly stewarding our energy in a way that is honoring our life, not dishonoring our life.

Scott Britton (14:17.528)

Hmm

Well, there's definitely some things I want to dig into to everything you just said, which, which, there's a lot of notes there that have resonated with me. One thing with the thoughts is, it seems to me like there's kind of the ways that you can consciously direct your mind, but then there's also lots of stuff that comes up automatically. And when you get on a healing consciousness journey, there's a lot of stuff that ain't pretty.

you know, like lots of things that come into my awareness where I'm like, Whoa, okay, that's, that's like a lot and scary. And, and so do you distinguish when you say like, you know, negative thoughts are low vibe, those type of clearing things versus like the ways we consciously direct our mind?

Erin Coupe (15:09.664)

Yeah, I think, know, when some of that like we're like an onion, right? So there's all these layers and yeah, there's so much stuff in the subconscious, which fortunately or unfortunately, we can't really control what gets stored there because it starts happening from such a young age before we have any context to direct it. But that stuff will come up and it's good when it comes up, even though it might feel heavy.

It might feel dark and it might be tough to process. Reality, it is, right? It's just, it's not easy stuff to face. But when that darker, heavier, more negative stuff comes out of the subconscious and rises up to be seen, all healing is, is being able to see it and to accept it and embrace it. And then what I always say is just engulf it in light, engulf it in light, engulf it in love, and just accept that it was a part of the past, but it does not get to control you.

Right? Now that is easier said than done. You know, it takes some practice with that and it does take, you know, an active engagement with it. But for example, in my book, the beginning, the introduction I wrote in my book about my childhood, I had a lot of stuff that was really, really stored deep in my subconscious that I did not want to let out. And I had to fight myself on it for a little while until I fully embraced it.

And I have these ugly crying sessions that I, know, I didn't record them, but I took some pictures of myself while I was in Vermont writing the book. And I'm like ugly crying and I'm sending it to my husband thinking like, you're not gonna believe what just came up, but I also don't believe I can actually share this in my book. And then I realized I have to, because that's part of my healing journey, right?

So when those things come up to be healed, to be seen, we don't need to fight them. We just need to embrace them. And they're not gonna be pretty, but not every thought has to be pretty or positive. You can see those, but you can still choose what you think about next.

Scott Britton (17:08.409)

Mm hmm. Yeah, I think that's a I really appreciate that distinguishment. how and you know, in terms of like this energetic leadership things, so identifying the activities, the things that are just the people right where we have the drainage, how does this connect to the beliefs and the subconscious, right? So like, we can do a better job of like, organizing our life through choices, right?

But then also, you know, what's the connection to the subconscious stuff around like that that line of work, which is maybe a little bit less like, okay, I'm not going to see this person anymore because they they annoy me, right? Or I'm gonna give myself time to work out like, how does this all connect?

Erin Coupe (17:55.086)

Well, I think it's funny. So I've recently found out, this is kind of weird, but like I have found out there's like a couple of family members and different parts of my extended family that have like unfollowed me on Instagram. I know. And so it is, but this is like a great conversation for this one. like at first what comes up when I find this out is like, am I hurt? Right?

Scott Britton (18:11.105)

Whoa, that's kind of intense. know, Christmas is going to be interesting.

Erin Coupe (18:25.004)

And if I am, like why? Right, so this is a part of what we do with stuff that comes up from the subconscious in general is question it. In reality, when stuff happens, we question it. So what I realize is that...

The message is just the message. It's the messenger that usually has something that they are trying to convey. And many times that might just be, for example, a projection. So in this instance, what came up for me was just, that's actually a good thing because now there's not something in my field that is draining me because I may not have known that they were draining me, but they were.

So now they're removed in that sense, right? These aren't people I really see often anyways, but in that sense, they're removed. I don't have to be hurt by it, but what I do have to do is hope and pray that they can heal whatever it is within themselves that they are triggered by. Because in that instance for them, I am just the messenger, right?

Scott Britton (19:34.627)

They're your messenger and you are their messenger.

Erin Coupe (19:36.842)

Exactly. So the message itself is for them to figure out and heal. And the message for me is for me to figure out and heal if there is one, right? That's for me to figure out. In reality, I don't think that there is for me. And I've already dug into it. The reason there's not is these are relationships that I have not cared for. So I would also say on the subconscious level, when this stuff

Scott Britton (19:58.307)

Hmm.

Erin Coupe (20:04.654)

Rises up to be known or to be seen and not the family member scenario, but just anything that comes up for someone Sometimes it's like that shadow stuff, you know, like when people hear the word shadow like your shadow self it's the parts of ourselves that sometimes we will shine or Stuff it down and act like it's not there That doesn't work. It will always come back up to be seen. So it's best to just embrace it, you know journal about it reflect on it

ask the questions to yourself and move through it and process rather than try to run from it.

Scott Britton (20:39.801)

Yeah, I think the quote is what you resist persists. And I definitely know that to be true. Like it's kind of an unwinnable game to try to just like, fight your own mind. You know, the all the acceptance and the welcoming of what is and then yeah, the the choice after that of like, okay, well,

Erin Coupe (20:43.982)

100%.

Scott Britton (21:03.287)

This is now my awareness, like what is my new reality or future belief or whatever it is like you have that you have that sovereignty, you have that agency, but you only get to do that after you've acknowledged what's there.

Erin Coupe (21:15.978)

Exactly, exactly. And that's where, you know, your question to do with like the energy stewardship being tied to some of the stuff with the subconscious. mean, the more that you lighten your load mentally, the more that you do see these things and not try to run from them, but allow them to be there and accept them and then choose the thoughts you want to have next. The more that you do that, you do become lighter.

And so as you become lighter, you will feel more energized.

Scott Britton (21:44.813)

Mm.

Scott Britton (21:50.359)

Yeah, yeah. I mean, what's really interesting in my experience that aligns with that is like, you know, after years of carrying around so many unconscious, so much unconscious anger and unconscious sadness, and like all this shit that I didn't even know was there. You know, I don't need all the stuff that I used to need to get through the day. Like I used to slam a cold bro. You know, I used to do all kinds of stimulants and

crap just to then drink at night, right to just kind of flip on the other end of it. And, and, you know, I find that I really don't need as much sleep. And I don't, I don't even drink any caffeine right now. And you just don't need it because that's actually your natural state. It just, you're, you're carrying a load that you don't know you're carrying with the consciousness stuff.

Erin Coupe (22:24.183)

Yeah.

Erin Coupe (22:43.234)

That is so true. I I talk about this a lot, but I used to feel so much resentment towards a lot of things and people in my life. I felt resentment towards motherhood. I felt resentment towards my husband, towards my jobs, towards my colleagues, towards certain clients. Like it was just nonstop. And this is all leading up to me really stepping into my own transformation and doing that hard inner work and really shifting my life by shifting my ways of being. But the reality was,

That was all me. That was the unconscious stuff that was just producing itself in my conscious world. Did I know I felt resentful? Yeah. At the time, did I think I could do anything about it? No. I had fallen into that old way of being or mindset that I am who I am. This is just me. And so yeah, I was doing the thing where it's, 530. I got to have a glass of wine. I got to take the edge off the day. It's like.

That edge off the day was really just an escape from my own mind, is what it was. And for some people it's binge eating or for some people it's gambling and for some people it's scrolling on social media. There's nothing wrong with having a drink or gambling here and there or whatever it is if you enjoy it. But if it's something you're choosing constantly every day, then it's problematic.

Scott Britton (24:03.181)

Yeah, I think there's a lot of parts of our consciousness that we can start to become aware of, not just through the thoughts or the emotions, but the compulsive behaviors and those automatic choices. A very simple example is being on an elevator, pulling out your phone. It's become so automatic, we don't think it's a weird thing, but it's like, what's behind that?

Right? Or like being in a being at a party and being like, oh, I'm going to go to the bathroom because the conversation is lulling.

It's like all this shit that we do, right? There's like, there's like gold in those, in those experiences for us to go in within and excavate, like, I'm insecure around other people. I'm afraid of being awkward. like, whatever it is, right, that's quietly controlling our experience that we don't know.

Erin Coupe (24:57.974)

Yes, that discomfort. When people get uncomfortable, they're going to seek the next thing to soothe themselves. It's like a baby with a pacifier or a baby sucking their thumb. It's like, we still are these little kids that just want to soothe ourselves on the inside.

Scott Britton (25:15.993)

Oh, yeah. Yeah, 100%. So, you know, this, this thing that I wanted to talk to you a little bit about is like, what is your relationship with time now? Right? It's like, I think as we explore, like spiritual circles, right, you just start to be around people like, time isn't real times a concept, right. And so there's like, these like metaphysical ideas, and then there's the practical reality of like, okay, I an hour between my next call.

Erin Coupe (25:44.055)

Right.

Scott Britton (25:44.899)

Time does seem pretty real at this moment. Like, how are you holding time amidst it all?

Erin Coupe (25:52.514)

Yes. It's such a good question because yes, I do play in both realms, you know, and most of my life is in the practical and yet parts of my life are in the spiritual and the metaphysical and the quantum, right? And so, well, I do believe outside of our 3D planet that time is not real. This is the life that I'm living at this time. And so, you know,

Scott Britton (26:19.033)

Mm.

Erin Coupe (26:20.906)

Age is a thing, right? Like I'll be 44 in a month. And I'm like, geez, in 16 years, I'm 60. Like that's nuts. And I think about my last 16 years and how fast they've gone, right? So there are those very viable aspects of time that we can't do anything about. And so when I think about time in my life, what I consider is where am I being present in my life?

Scott Britton (26:48.473)

Hmm.

Erin Coupe (26:48.628)

Each day I am not fighting against, know, even before you and I got on this call, we're both back to back today. And I'm just like, but it's fine. Like it's just how it is today. That's okay. I'm not, I don't have a problem with it. I'm not going to fight against it. I'm just going to move through it and be present through it.

Every single day, I just give myself grace. If I can be present where I'm choosing to be present, then I have done what I wanted to do that day. That's all I want is to be able to be present as much as possible in my life, not be constantly thinking about the next thing, not be constantly somewhere else, but physically in one place. So that's how I consider time. I'll consider energy more than I'll consider time all day long, but there is a calendar in front of me.

You know, I do run a business and I work more hours at the end of the day than I used to, but it doesn't feel like that because I'm so present within it that I know where I'm choosing to give my energy and attention is not only worthwhile, but I've chosen to do that. I don't have to do that. I've chosen to.

Scott Britton (27:55.873)

Yeah, I love that kind of answer. And I completely agree where it's like, I probably work more than I used to as well in many regards, but doesn't fit. It kind of isn't really a fair assessment because doesn't feel like work.

And so I guess like, I think it something that a lot of like you're running a business, you're you're growing your business as well on the side of like the book and all the things that you're doing. And there's a constant list of shit you could be doing. Right? Never. That's like the, the reality of being an entrepreneur, there's this constant opportunity, right? You can always be doing more and other things. And, and so how do you relate to that? Right? With like the

previous experience that you had where you couldn't fit it all in and now, but that was like when you were working for somebody else. Now you have this like incredible opportunity in front of you. Like that's something that I struggle with personally.

Erin Coupe (28:54.604)

Yeah, this is, feel like almost like a two-fold answer for me because for the first almost five years of my business, it was just me. It was me and I have my creative director who designed my, gosh, now my third website that I'm on. She's done all of these amazing projects for me on the creative side.

But it was really just an accountant that does work here and there. And that was it. And so I was creating everything, all of my content, then of course, servicing my clients, coaching my clients, delivering the keynotes, the workshops. And in reality, my business is me, right? It's erincoup.com. It's my business. It's me that the companies, the people engage with and hire. However,

What I realized is that I'm not going to continue to grow my business unless I look at this a little bit differently and start to bring in the people that can really help me take it to the next level. So a part of this, Scott, was actually being able to give up some control and to trust that I'm bringing in the right people to help me in whatever area is their focus. So for example,

Scott Britton (30:07.321)

Hmm.

Erin Coupe (30:16.91)

Like I have a 12 person team now, right? So like the main person was my husband when he said he wanted to join the business because he saw where it's going and the potential it has and he realized like you can't do it all. Like you need help. You need a right hand. And he came to me and said he wanted to join. Like that was like I never in a million years thought that would happen. So that was really incredible. From there it became okay.

we need resources and we need the right resources. So a marketing team, know, a social media team to help me out with some of that. Obviously I have my publisher and my editor. I have my creative director, you know, there's, you know, the illustrator, like all these different people that are part of this team that are all behind the same mission. And so that was a big thing for me was to be able to understand that I can bring in other people to help me. And that does not equal weakness.

You see, when I was in corporate, I was pretty much a solopreneur within a corporation. It was like, go out, build relationships, bring in the business, service the business, and keep going. So I never really, while I had resources around me, I never really had like a full team approach. I was just used to, I just have to do things and I'll just get them done. You know, I just kind of do it my way. It's ethical, it's moral, and I build great relationships and I just do it.

Scott Britton (31:33.239)

Hmm.

Erin Coupe (31:41.944)

So this has been a very new thing for me to trust people in this way and to give up control and to just trust that it's going in the right direction. It's not been easy. I mean, it's been like the new evolution of my, I think my growth as a human being.

Scott Britton (32:02.541)

Hmm, I can relate. Yeah, you you know, and what's what's interesting is like, yeah, I think just like the more and more you let go, there's this like, thing that happened to me at least where you start to let go, we start to have other people and then there's these these tendencies to like, like want to like, jump back right and control again and take it back right and I think

And then also like, okay, well, I'm just gonna fully let it go. Right. And then you like, kind of throw the baby out with the bathwater. And it's really this kind of middle, middle point that I found of being okay with delegation, but also then learning when to apply a certain standard, right? So like the people that you're working with.

Erin Coupe (32:42.23)

Yeah.

Erin Coupe (32:52.066)

You know, it's so interesting that you frame it that way because I had a conversation with one of my spiritual teachers recently about this and she said, what it is for you right now is that you're having to hold so many people accountable. And accountability for me has never been hard. Like I hold myself accountable and always have. Like my level of self-discipline is like pretty extreme given the childhood I came from.

I'm really good at just staying disciplined and working towards things. I'm very good at that. However, holding other people accountable, that's something I've had to learn how to do. And I do have very high standards. And so the way she described it is she said, think about this. What does a diamond come from? How does a diamond produce? It's from pressure. And she said,

What you do is you apply pressure to people, but gracefully, not forcefully. And when you apply pressure, you are creating a brighter diamond out of them and their work. And I thought that's really interesting because they're all learning so much about their own process because I push on them and I don't push with force. I push on them with questions and with, could we do it a different way?

How about we do it this way and not that way? And even my creative director recently, with my website and all the things we have going on in the back end of the website, she said, you know, she actually posted this on LinkedIn about me, but she said, Erin is the woman who never takes no for an answer, but does it with such grace. And she literally said to me when we talked about it, she goes, it's true. Every time I've told you no, you're like, no, there's definitely a way. Like, we'll figure this out.

You know, I'm like, that is who I am. But then holding that person accountable and holding my whole team accountable, that's not something I was prepared for, but I realized it has to be done. You know, people are going to have a lot on their plates and not always move through it with ease. And if you're not holding them accountable and pushing them harder to produce what you know they're capable of, they might not do it.

Scott Britton (35:08.237)

I appreciate you bringing this up, right? Because I think a lot of people hear a word like pressure in the business setting and they're like, well, that's not spiritual, right? Right? Like there's just this polarized thinking and that doesn't account for nuance. And, you know, the irony of that is, is think about your own evolution, right? It wouldn't have happened if you didn't have any pressure. It's just kind of how the universe works.

Erin Coupe (35:30.584)

Right. Yeah.

Right. And it's like, it's like power versus force by, you know, David Hawkins. It's like, if, if the pressure is applied with power, powers, I'm not saying authority, I'm saying power as in we can do this. I believe there's a better way. Let's think about it from a different angle. Let's come at it from another approach. Is there a simpler, better way to get it done?

Scott Britton (35:37.78)

Mm-hmm.

Erin Coupe (36:00.182)

or to achieve what my goal is, even if it's not something you've done before. Because the easy thing, right, and especially this is in business settings, the easy thing is to go, let's just do it how it's always been done, because it's gonna take too much to redo it or to overhaul it or to find another way. But if you're not being forceful in applying that pressure and you're not being authoritative or demeaning, like happens in business a lot of times, then the people are going to be okay with you pushing them a little bit.

and exploring what those alternatives are.

Scott Britton (36:32.862)

One question I wanted to ask you is, so, you you spend a lot of time working with corporations, speaking, workshops, and it feels like both of us are kind of early to the game a bit on this whole like integration of theater work and actual work. Like, what do you think the future of business and work looks like?

Erin Coupe (36:59.252)

man, I put a post on this just recently, but I believe that the people who fully know themselves and lead from a place of spirit and heart and connection are going to be the ones who lead the world. And this isn't going to be overnight. know, this is, as you know, this has been an unraveling for some time and it's going to be a rebuilding for some time. But

those that lead with force and ego and fear and all the things that we have seen historically, I believe that that's just not going to be the way of the future. It's those who do the inner work. It's those who can speak on a level of spirituality and beyond just logic, beyond just intellect, but understand

their emotions, understand frequencies and thoughts and creating reality. mean, people who understand these things are gonna be the ones who are actually leading humanity. And because of AI, I think we're gonna need even more people in that realm doing that kind of work because of the efficiencies, because of the automations.

Scott Britton (38:13.571)

Well, you know, trust me, I agree. But what's been interesting is historically, what we've seen is like there are like these, you know, peaceful societies, right? These people that are connected to their hearts and they're connected to the earth and they just get run over, right? Like think about like Native Americans in the US, right? And people just coming in with guns who wanted to just conquest the land, right? We've seen it time and time again where

that kind of more inter evolved being gets steamrolled. And I'm wondering why you think this might be different.

Erin Coupe (38:52.504)

think this might be different because the overall consciousness of humanity and our planet is making a shift. whereas historically, from what I have read in spiritual texts and things like that, historically, these were just societies that were making shifts. These weren't global humanity shifts. And so

If it's one society conquering another, you know, and their consciousness is on completely different playing fields, then, you know, we know, we know what happened in some of those stories you just described. But if overall consciousness is going to shift because of a new consciousness being introduced, AI, now,

I am not Nostradamus, so I don't have a crystal ball and know how this is all going to shake out. But I do know that if overall humanity is shifting, rising, if our planet is rising, then some of the weaker stuff, some of the heavier stuff, some of the lower vibe consciousness,

almost has to fall away because how can it stay with everything rising up? It's almost like an ocean, right? Like if an ocean or a body of water is gonna rise up, up, up, well then eventually some of the stuff that's heavier is falling to the bottom of it. So I just look at it almost like from that quantum physics perspective, it's like, how could it not, how could that not happen?

Scott Britton (40:06.701)

Hmm

Scott Britton (40:25.089)

Right. Yeah, it's like, it's like aligning to the current. If, if this is where the current of Earth and this experience is going, then it's only going to be a matter of time between those people that have become really good at swimming against it are going to wear themselves out. Yeah. And I, I, I, and I think that's kind of where I net out where it's like, and for me, it's just what I've seen in my own life is like when I align to the natural order,

Erin Coupe (40:41.25)

Yeah, great analogy.

Scott Britton (40:55.211)

of things, like good things happen, like life goes well. And so I think like the natural order is shifting. And aligning to it is the answer. And the mechanics of like what that looks like practically, like, you know, I don't know how that's going to shake out. But it does seem like that's kind of the higher order principle of what's going on.

Erin Coupe (41:09.729)

And it's.

Erin Coupe (41:13.739)

Right.

Erin Coupe (41:20.888)

I think you're right. And we have no idea what else is kind of happening or will happen. The thing is, if a lot of this is going to somehow harmonize from a humanity perspective, then I think we're still gonna see even more things go on. It's just, this is a duality, this planet. And so there's always gonna be good, bad, dark, light, positive, negative, whatever way we wanna look at it. And so...

Sometimes we just have to embrace that those things are going to happen, but also keep ourselves attuned, like you said, keep ourselves attuned with that natural order, with that natural rhythm and that belief.

Scott Britton (42:01.977)

Do you think that as more people step into authenticity, like, we're gonna see the same thing with like big comp, like lots of big companies, employing lots of people, or will work fundamentally shift where it's kind of like more like lots of people like doing their own little thing? You know what I mean?

Erin Coupe (42:22.038)

Yeah, like kind of like a bigger like gig economy type of thing. Yeah.

Scott Britton (42:25.783)

Yeah, I mean, I just think about like, whose natural authenticity is like being employee 8,8,422 at, you know, Salesforce where I used to work like, and maybe there is, but it just seems like most of us desire something that's more personally expressive than the corporate gig gig thing. And it just, kind of reshapes

Erin Coupe (42:35.874)

got.

Scott Britton (42:53.503)

what an economy looks like, if that's true.

Erin Coupe (42:55.436)

Right. Yeah, I mean, I can see that. And I also can see that not everyone is necessarily designed to be a business owner or would be good at it. Right. And so for a lot of people, the corporate world or working for someone else is actually a really good place to be. And it doesn't make them lesser than it doesn't make people who own their own businesses better than. what I believe will happen is that the people

Scott Britton (43:07.117)

That's true.

Erin Coupe (43:24.244)

and leadership in the corporate world as they are shifting, that world can also shift with it. So what people might find is that they're aligning themselves more with people they want to work for and work with. And that I believe is in the future, like that's a real possibility. People are going to be aligned with others that they naturally connect with, that they feel attuned to, that they feel like they're happy to be there every day and

and excited about the work that they do. And also, I mean, I always say this to everybody, but have a creative outlet on the side. It doesn't need to be a business, but like get that creative juice flowing, you know?

Scott Britton (44:00.131)

Yeah, totally.

couldn't agree more. Well, I guess we'll have to see how it all shakes out. But Erin, this has been a lot of fun. I want to give you an opportunity to share more about your book and also where people can learn more about all the cool things you do.

Erin Coupe (44:08.913)

I know.

Erin Coupe (44:20.916)

Yeah, thanks Scott. So my website, ErinCoupe.com. That is Coop like the car. So C-O-U-P-E. My book is called I Can Fit That In. So you'll find it on the website. And also I have a podcast under the same title that is on all the streaming platforms and on YouTube. And I'm on Instagram at Authentically EC.

Scott Britton (44:42.773)

Awesome. Well, thank you so much, Erin. This was a blast. yeah, just keep doing all the amazing things you're up to in the world.

Erin Coupe (44:45.73)

You're welcome.

You too. Thanks, Scott.