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Meet Emma Kaufman

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Today we’d like to introduce you to Emma Kaufman.

Emma, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I was born & raised in San Francisco, in a multi-lingual home full of food, love & fun. I moved away for college and spent four years in Philadelphia at UPenn, majoring in Chinese & Japanese. Eastern philosophy still guides a lot of my practice & teaching to this day. College was a really stressful time for me; I adopted unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with my incessant stress, anxiety & depression. My acne was also through the roof & I gained about 30 pounds in total, so it was definitely a rough patch in my life.

After graduating, I moved back to SF to work at a startup candy company. I didn’t process my trauma until I was about 23 or so, and I found healing in therapy, hiring a life coach and diving deep into my internal journey. At the start of 2017, I made a big decision to move to Atlanta. I was itching for a new adventure, as I began to feel overstimulated and suffocated in San Francisco. Not to mention how expensive it was to live there! I chose Atlanta because I wanted to be closer to my grandparents, who lived in Raleigh and a job opportunity presented itself to me. So without knowing anyone or anything about Atlanta, I packed up and left my world behind. It wasn’t until I moved to Atlanta that the universe asked me to face myself. I mean really face myself–without the comfort of home, family, friends or support, to sit alone and be OK with not knowing what came next.

After a few years of working at my corporate job in Atlanta, I quit. Shortly after starting, I became increasingly aware that my work environment was toxic. I was temporarily distracted by chasing money & promotions, until one day it just wasn’t worth it anymore. My career was stifling my spirit and I would come home completely deflated each day. It was during these years that I found my calling of coaching!

I think somehow being a “coach” was always buried in my subconscious mind. Then one day, I just woke up & knew what I wanted to do. I wanted to support other people in their often scary and isolating journey to growth and self-discovery. I had this inner voice that told me over and over again: “Emma, you just have to do this–you are meant to guide & help others on their own human journey.” Part of me thinks I’ve done this work thousands of times in past lives because what I do comes intuitively and naturally through me. When your craft flows through you, it’s not something you really have to think about. I just show up with clear energy to help you wake up and pull back the curtain of fear so that you can see what awaits you on the other side. I think most of us have been conditioned by society to believe that “success” looks like having a corporate job, overworking ourselves and staying small. We have also been taught that answers should be found externally of us when the exact opposite is the case. You actually have all the answers you need within you, but the answers are so buried down by all of the fears & ego you have swirling around in your head! Part of my job is showing you how to connect with your intuition and let your mind take a backseat. You can do and be most anything if you are ready to truly own it and believe in yourself.

After I quit my corporate job, I took a long break to rest and recover. I reconnected with myself while deepening and strengthening my coaching practice, which was accompanied by joining a local consulting firm to broaden my reach to groups of people and local companies. Currently, I support all kinds of people and environments: I work 1:1 with individuals to help them lead beautiful lives and support corporate clients by guiding them, holding space for them to grow and supporting them to create new norms in the workplace–hint: it’s OK to be authentic at work and make six figures! The beauty about what I do is that I can hold space for pretty much anything you’re facing in life: career, life transitions, setting healthy boundaries, saying no or learning how to manifest to attract money and abundance.

So I guess that’s how I got to where I am today. In life, I’ve always been the person people go to for advice, to vent, to share secrets with or to be honest. It’s just something about my energy. I can’t really explain it to you. I remember taking the bus in SF and people would just spill their entire life story to me without any warning. Guiding & holding space for others is who I am at my core. I’m also expanding my work with energy and intuitive healing, which is transmitted during our sessions without you even realizing that your energy is changing or healing. It’s pretty cool stuff!

Has it been a smooth road?
Is the journey of life ever a smooth one?! My bumps and struggles are what make me who I am. I like to think of rejection or struggles as a redirection from the universe to guide me in my path: whatever is for me will not pass me by! One lesson I’ve been asked to learn in this lifetime is getting out of my own way & letting my ego fall back. What I mean by that, is not buying into the story my ego tries to convince me of or tell me that I’m not safe in the world. I’ve also learned that being an entrepreneur can sometimes be lonely or confusing. But it is within the unclear parts of life that we sometimes grow and learn the most. If you are able to release “HOW” your life will play out, the universe can work its magic to present you with lots of opportunities and the things you really want.

The other tough thing I’ve had to learn on my entrepreneurial journey is that some people aren’t meant to come along for the ride. The problem with change and taking risks is that people have already established their point of reference or perception of you. So when you make big changes, it may stir up something in THEM and some people just can’t handle it because they are reminded of avoiding their own personal growth they may be avoiding. Change is scary!!

When I first let people know I was quitting my corporate job, a lot of people were confused or had adverse reactions. Some people even unfollowed me on social media or distanced themselves from me! I can only assume my risk-taking triggered something inside of them & they felt threatened by change. People sometimes want you to stay the same so that their point of reference remains the same or so they don’t have to face their own growth awaiting them. If you stay the same, people feel safe and validated that they don’t have to do to the tough work involved in growth. Humans are meant to grow and change, so don’t let those people stop you from doing so.

We’d love to hear more about your work.
I love that all humans are unique and special in our own way. One thing people have told me is that my energy is very catalyzing–you know that I’m in a room and it wakes you up. I may either subconsciously trigger something you’re not ready to learn about or I may light the fire for you to embark on healing or growth. I also have a tendency to say things at the exact right time you need to hear them. No nonsense and always honest, but with lots of love. My coaching is fully intuitive, which means as I work with you, I’m getting signals from your spirit guides/angels or messages that the universe wants to send you through me. Through my energy, I invite you to access higher levels of yourself. The work I’m doing comes from my heart: I am a safe space for you to unravel and rebuild at your own pace.

When people ask me what I “do”, I tell them I’m in the business of holding space! Space holding means that I have the honor of being your guide on this journey called life–I set the space for you to squirm, figure it out and get to know themselves while guiding you along the way. I’m kind of like a life doctor. You turn to me when you are ready to heal unhealthy patterns and I help you do so by learning how to create a beautiful, healthy life.

As a coach, my main goal is to guide you & hold witness to your growth, face your fears, release limiting beliefs & welcome abundance into your life. You’d be surprised how much social conditioning can affect our self-worth, which affects our ability to call in the right jobs, people or opportunities in our lives. My job is to help you move through what is blocking you & embrace your fear so that you can evolve into the future version of yourself that you always wanted to be. I specialize in helping people wake up, embrace their own unique path, call in abundance & new opportunities, release fear & embrace change. The beautiful thing is that every human has the answers inside of them, but because we are so socially conditioned, we may have lost touch with our intuitive center, internal guidance or compass. Part of my job is helping you shed those layers to get in touch with yourself again.

How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
This is such an exciting time to be guiding & supporting others! I see the coaching industry continuing to evolve during and after this period of worldwide self-isolation. COVID-19 is just the beginning of a bunch of changes happening in our world. You may already feel it within yourself. It’s going to get more intuitive. You’re going to see people in the industry lean into energy and energy healing as part of their coaching practice. I’d also say that the consciousness and awareness level of the entire collective is continuing on the path to waking up. The coaching industry is going to reflect the need to support people as they make major soul shifts at a very deep and intuitive level.

As people begin to awaken and really embrace their personal journeys they’re going to want guidance. The key focus here will be about turning inward. Coaching is going to become more a “norm” instead of something you just see or hear about. It may evolve to focus on less logic and more feeling. Less sameness, more embracing uniqueness. Right now, 100% of my 1:1 clients are virtual. I see the coaching industry continuing to leverage technology and maybe even rely on virtual meetings as this pandemic continues. Healing doesn’t have to happen face to face. In fact, I think it can be very powerful to embark on a healing journey from the comfort of your own home. As a coach, this couldn’t be a better time to support people. More people are going to want to learn how to turn inwards & feel called to hire coaches as they awaken and let go of social conditioning. We are all on this journey together. As we take this next step in human evolution, I can’t wait to support you as you grow.

Contact Info:

Image Credit:
Images are all taken by Katie Parker: https://www.katieparkerphotography.com. She’s an incredible local photographer!

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Meet Buckhead Series Sponsor:

Ase Omavuaye Otite: I am a Nigerian-born author who is passionate about children and driven to protect their innocence. I have an extremely creative mind and identify myself as an artist. I love to express myself through art, especially photography, words, and music. I have discovered how great and freeing it is to be myself and it helps me unlock new ideas. I am an aunt and godmother to 27 nieces and nephews and play an active role in their lives. Engaging with the children in my life helps keep my inner child at the forefront when I am writing and creating art. My goal is to take readers’ imagination on a magical adventure, allowing children to connect to their creative side. I believe with my artistic ideas, I can accomplish that. My love and passion for children and technology in my personal life was the driving force that helped me write my children’s book, Happystarville. My book, Happystarville teaches great morals to young children; allowing them to see how the consequences of their actions don’t just affect them—but also everyone around them. Happystarville is available online at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart.

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