Behind the Business

Empathy, Energy, and Executive Coaching: The Amy Ballantyne Way

• Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce • Season 3 • Episode 4

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Amy Ballantyne is a multiple TEDx Speaker, Executive Life Coach, Workplace Wellness & Emotional Intelligence Trainer, Certified Trainer of Neuro Linguistic Programing, and Hypnosis, author of “Celebrate Yourself” and host of the podcast: Power to the People Pleasers. Her whole-person coaching approach serves executives, professionals and entrepreneurs to break through their barriers and excel to new heights.

On this episode, Amy talks about Embracing Worthiness and how she helps leaders live an Awesome Life. 

Let’s go “Behind the Business” with Amy Ballantyne.  

Get a look Behind the Business in Waterloo Region with Ian McLean, President & CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

Ian McLean:

Welcome to another episode of Behind the Business, presented by Gore Mutual. I'm your host, Ian McLean, President and CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterdoo Chamber of Commerce. This podcast is recorded on the traditional territory of the neutral Anishinabe and Hoden Ashone peoples. Each week I sit down for candid conversations where we go beyond the boardroom and behind the business to uncover the real stories of Waterdoo Region's business community. Well, today we're sitting down with Amy Ballantine, an executive life coach, two-time TEDx speaker, best-selling author, and the host of the podcast Power to the People Pleasers. Amy works with leaders and teams across Canada to strengthen emotional intelligence, build resilience, and create workplaces where wellness and worthiness are not just buzzwords. They're part of the culture. We talk to her about her personal journey into coaching, the lessons she's learned from both success and failure, and why she believes compassion and confidence are the future of leadership. Get ready for an inspiring, energetic conversation about mindset, business, and what it really means to live. As Amy puts it, an awesome life. Join me in the episode as we go behind the business with Amy Ballantine. Well, Amy, before the TEDx uh stages and the coaching practice you lead today, take us back to the beginning. What what did your early career look like? And how did that path evolve into the work that you're doing now?

Amy Ballantyne:

Yeah, I worked in higher education for a few years, and uh a primary focus of that job was mentoring student leaders. So I was already doing these similar kinds of behaviors of asking maybe some tough questions when they needed to hear that, giving them uh space for accountability and guidance. Uh and then I moved into working for a corporate training and team building company. And as you can imagine, this is where we were supporting companies to improve their communication, their teamwork, their camaraderie, their ability to work through difficult challenges together. Uh and in addition to that, uh, I also started my own business uh through a product partner called USANA Health Sciences, where I began doing wellness coaching. And that was the biggest uh starting point of the coaching side of things is helping people to uh make wellness more of a priority in their life.

Ian McLean:

Just in that coaching, was it is it focused on the full array of things like mental, physical. So I mean there's there's all kinds of when we say wellness, it can be work-life balance, it could be, you know, your your exercise regime, was it all of those things or or any of the above?

Amy Ballantyne:

Yes, it was all of those things. I believe in the whole person coaching approach. So uh I I always am led by the client. So what the client wants to start talking about first is where we begin. But it's kind of why I call it wellness, because there are so many pieces of the puzzle for us to feel great. Uh and and it is important that we're talking about each of those pieces and ensuring that we're moving the needle uh in all of them. Some people have exercise down pat, right? But it might be their nutrition or their stress management that's the problem. So I've always taken the approach, the holistic approach to supporting individuals.

Ian McLean:

Well, that leaves in terms of coaching, you know, I think more in the sports, in the sports part, uh, but coaching begins with personal transformation. So someone's got to, you know, you know, make a decision to do something. So what inspired you to start this journey of helping others unlock their own potential? Like, you know, you you were you were in sort of the space, but what was the kind of like the light went on or the aha saying that's what I want to do? How did that when did that happen? Or what what shifted so that that was uh um you determined that was the direction that that you wanted to go down?

Amy Ballantyne:

I always knew that I was going to help people in some way with their wellness. And and I actually believe that our wellness is greatly linked to our work life and our home life. So it's all encompassing for me. And that early decision actually was decades ago when I was a really young girl. My mom actually lost both of her parents before she was 10. So when I was a little girl, I heard about these people I would never have a relationship with. And the biggest message that I took away from that really young time was they didn't take care of themselves. That's how she would explain it to me, you know. And so that message has been playing in me for all of my life of I want to take care of myself so that I can live long enough so I might one day know my grandchildren and great-grandchildren if I'm fortunate enough to have that. And that has spurred on all a lot of my choices, why I went to Laurier for kinesiology, why I got involved with the wellness company. There are all of these pieces of the puzzle that have come together because I know that I'm meant to help people in that aspect of their life with their wellness.

Ian McLean:

So you you often talk about living an awesome life, and I I love that because that that sounds like it sounds like fun if you're saying living an awesome life. How do you define that for for people that you coach? Because I I mean that would strike me as being beauty's in the eye of the beholder, and an awesome life is really individual to the person that that's making that evaluation. So how do you define that as you coach someone? And what does that, I mean, I maybe the place to start, what does that look like for you? What's an awesome life for you? Because it's not going to be the same for anyone else.

Amy Ballantyne:

And you are taking the words right out of my mind. So good. Well, you know, I think one of the things that sets me apart as a coach, actually, is that I don't believe that I have the answers for you for your awesome life. I would want to hear what awesome means to you. What are all the pieces of your awesome life and how does that show up uh for you? Uh for me only in my model of reality, an awesome life means spending time with my husband, especially. He's a he's big into baseball, so making sure that I'm there to to cheer him on when he's coaching on the side. And and my kids are both into my my older two are both into rep uh baseball and softball, and and my youngest is a competitive dancer. So we're we're always busy and into sports, as you talked about being into sports. And for me, it's designing a life where I am the one that's making the choices to go for a walk, if that's what's needed in my life. I'm making healthy decisions around what we're eating 80% of the time, right? Uh and I I really live by this idea that I don't want to have regrets. Obviously, we all do. We have places where we've made mistakes. Our biggest learning moments come from those. But I I'm constantly thinking about what I can be doing to uh grow and uh improve myself so that I I can have the awesome life that I desire. And that again is is my version of the awesome life.

Ian McLean:

Well, and I I think that that's important, right? Family, sports, making time for the things that are important to you and not being you know put in the position of saying you gotta you gotta uh compromise one for the other. And I and I guess that's what that's where the the the home and work. I I I don't know how you you have an awesome life without for most of us, we we have to make a living. Yeah, and so you spend more time on most days in your work life than you do with your family or your kids, or so it's it it really is a choice, and so s making the choice uh is I mean, but that's a that's uh that's a discipline that that I think you're what I hear you saying is that's your your the way you portray it, but asking the questions so people come to their own conclusions is really important.

Amy Ballantyne:

And can I add to that the idea that uh you know when we think about balance being our time is not equal? That's where a lot of people get hung up, that they're they're wishing and hoping for balance in that there's an equality in time at home and at work. But that's that's why I believe some people are getting so stuck in this. Well, I can't possibly have balance because I work so much. And so I like to turn it around in the way that I teach on balance is balance is a feeling, not your work life and your home life being equal. It's a feeling. So when you go on vacation, Ian, what are the positive feelings that you feel when you're on vacation?

Ian McLean:

Yeah. Well, I just came back from three weeks, and I I for me it was I didn't care what we were doing because I was with my daughter. And I just said we we explored New Zealand and Australia and had three weeks with my 22-year-old, which God bless. I I mean it was a miracle. But for me, it wasn't about what we did. Yeah, and frankly, I would have taken the three weeks, whether it was Australia, New Zealand, or Chicago or Toronto. It was just spending that time. And and I I mean, I I I think that's an important one of not wishing to be somewhere else or wishing for something that you may not be able to. It it for me that it's more about the people I'm with and the time that I spend at work. That that to me is the work-life balance, is I love what I do. So work isn't something I I kind of don't want to spend time doing. But you know, it wasn't always that way.

Amy Ballantyne:

And so what are the feelings that came up for you when you were with your daughter? The feelings that you had when you were there.

Ian McLean:

Well, I you know, it's it's I've always spent a lot of time with them coaching and doing those things and being doing those things, and I don't get to do that anymore. So I was like, this is this is just just having that time where and it's an adult relationship. For me, it's different. I mean, people that have younger kids, it's it's uh like we traveled and and uh we went to uh uh Australia, went to New Zealand, traveled back to Australia for three weeks, and I was like the kid. I was like, well, what time do we leave for the airport tomorrow, Hannah? How do we get there? And she was, and for me, it was just like it was so nice to be with her, but it was also and one of the things that I loved about it was I was not in charge. I was not the CEO. I was like, so you paid a few bills, but I was I was like, you tell me what we're doing, and I'm I'm fine with that.

Amy Ballantyne:

Yeah, so you had some time to be childlike, you had some time to be curious, right? These moments of uh connection and love. So I'm pulling out the feelings, right? And so when we're looking at balance, it's looking at how can I access those feelings, even in the chaos of maybe when you're back at work and you're working long hours, how can you access those feelings of connection? For some people, it might be having a phone call with a loved one because that's what can actually fit into the moments of their life. So it's figuring out how do I access those feelings more? But that was a bit of a tangent.

Ian McLean:

No, but it's important because you know, uh on a day-to-day basis, like we're back and we're back at it, and I'm working, and she's at school in in Dalhousie, and my youngest is at University of Ottawa, but we talk every day. So even though it's like 10 minutes, it just it it's it's something that that that 10 minutes kind of recharges. So I I I think that's a good good frame because the equality of time doesn't equal uh doesn't equate the the the the the the the quality of the of the interaction. Listen, a lot of leaders are still coaching as something uh you turn to when things go wrong. Like that you only coach like everything's fine, and if there's a problem, then then you then you go to, well, we're gonna have to have a coaching session, or or you know, people look for that coaching when something goes wrong. How do you reframe that? Because I I mean I I you know part of leadership doesn't matter what you're doing, is coaching is part of what you do. It's it's it's you know learning and understanding who people are, how they interact, what what it takes to motivate them. There's a there's coaching in in everything you do. So it's it shouldn't be seen as and I I guess this is the where where you take this, is it's not seen as a remedial thing. It's something you should be investing in all the time.

Amy Ballantyne:

Yes, absolutely. And and and we both mentioned sports. It's that idea that the coach helps us be better. So it's not just when we're struggling or having a challenge. That certainly is a time when I have conversations with people, but it's also helping people to go to the next level. Being a person, and I'm sure you do this with your own team, being a person who maybe helps them see the blind spots that they're not seeing for themselves, shining the light where there could be more growth and get and development, maybe some reframing and in their thinking. And so it's it's really about helping leaders to see that uh the people around them. I I I use the analogy of the onion a lot. We have so many layers, and uh there's so much opportunity for us to learn about ourselves. And as we learn and develop new habits and new strategies, we're that much better in the workplace for for those leaders.

Ian McLean:

Well, and you I mean, the there's there's no I in team is is is an old one, but it's true. I mean, you can't do anything without without the team members doing the work. So the Behind the Business Podcast is made possible through the support of our title sponsor, Gore Mutual. Proudly Canadian, Gore Mutual has stayed true to one purpose for more than 185 years: insurance that does good. It's the reason they exist. They believe that when we focus on being good, doing good, and spreading good, we all thrive together. We're grateful for their continued commitment to our local communities and the positive impact they make every day. For more information, visit goremutual.ca. Listen, and I'm interested in this because I don't fully understand it. Your mission is to mission, so a goal or mission to inspire a hundred thousand people to embrace their worthiness. And I love it. Um, but it's not a word that you would generally hear in business. Like if I think back and think of all the, and there's been HR gobbledygook and coaching and stuff that some of it is like, oh my goodness. But in in all my years, I've never heard it expressed that way. What what is what does the concept of worthiness um mean, or how do you how do you flesh out what that means in the context of why it's important for leaders and teams today?

Amy Ballantyne:

So think about the the leadership team that you have around you. Any number of those people can be having thoughts like, I'm not good enough, I'm not good enough to speak up, or to do this project, I'm not smart enough for this, I shouldn't really be here, I I I got here by accident or or whatever. All of these inner dialogue moments that are suggesting they don't feel worthy of the moment, of the opportunity, and so on. And I can tell you that the majority of the leaders that I coach have this as one of their struggles, but it's not something that's spoken about around the boardroom table. It's not. So part of what I'm about is helping individuals. We're all humans at the end of the day, whether you're around this boardroom table or or that one, right? And uh we we do have a tendency, I'm generalizing here, but there is a large uh number of people who are struggling with these kinds of negative self-talk. Um well, certainly uh something like I'm not good enough, I'm not worthy, is a significant uh contributor to lack of confidence.

Ian McLean:

I've I've put myself in this position, but a lot of times you hear people say, well, you know, if you get the opportunity, just fake it till you make it. I'm not sure that's a great strategy. I mean, at some point you have to, everyone gets into a new position, and there is an element of I don't know what I'm doing, because you really don't until you've taken a job. But if you've got the skills and you've kind of you're moving in, you know, into that, a lot of times you say, I'll get it. I I I can in a minor way for a short period of time say I'm gonna do more listing, uh, I can fake it till I make it. But then I think there's others who just really say, I just have no idea. Like, how did I end up here? Is that what you're talking about when they say when they that worthiness part of saying, if it if it's less about the frequency of doing something, it's like, you know, can you golf? Well, if you've never golfed, sure, you can be on the golf course, but you're not gonna be very good.

Amy Ballantyne:

It's when they're beating themselves up.

Ian McLean:

Yeah.

Amy Ballantyne:

And and it's actually more about uh childhood stories that are coming up that are fueling this low self-worth, low self-esteem, uh beliefs that they're not, they're they're not worthy to be around the table. Or um I I coached an individual once who uh she had a client who she deemed to be quite um, we'll call it impressive, a lot of high credentials. And she sat across across from this individual and for a time until she got her act together, for a time she was questioning whether she was the right person for this individual when all along she was. But she needed to work through that negative self-image at the end of the year.

Ian McLean:

And I think lots of people have that, and I I think it's it's uh it's important, and I think it's a different way of expressing it that is probably uh worth exploring. Listen, the coaching industry, and I don't know whether it's COVID or whether it's like anyone, you know, like uh in many things, anyone can hang out a shingle. Yeah, um, but it certainly has the coaching industry in a lot of different ways, whether it's some sector specific or you know, sales coaching, because everything is is is in that context. How have you built the capacity or the credibility, I should say, and found your niche in a competitive field where it your your context of coaching is much more broad or holistic than what what others might say I can coach someone to on the sales technique as an example? Like, what how are you gonna close? Like that is you can certainly call that coaching, but it's a different type of it's more more narrow. How have you found that credibility and when there's lots of people saying they do coaching?

Amy Ballantyne:

So I think one of the things that has helped build my credibility over time is that I keep keeping on. I've been around for 17 years. Uh, yes, it started in wellness coaching, added life coaching, added executive coaching. Uh, all the while I had been coaching very high-level professionals and and within the last five years went and got the executive coaching certification. So I continue to up-level my certification skills and practice. I I'm a big uh proponent of being in the state of practice. So uh continuing to make sure that I am also being evaluated to ensure that my coaching style and strategy is effective for the person across from me. Of course, I can see it in the client and the results that they're getting and the experience that they write. And I gather those testimonials for the social proof, obviously. But I'm also, as a uh part of the International Coaching Federation, in order to stay within that, you have to have mentors check in on your coaching style and ensure that you are following a set of guidelines and principles. So it is interesting that you can go and become a coach by buying a program for $25 off the internet, but I can tell you that with every single year, I'm continuing to uplevel my skills. Last year I spent the entire year learning neurolingucming and hypnosis. So I've added that uh entire body of work as part of what I now offer in a different format of coaching called breakthrough coaching. So I really do believe part of it is the keep keeping on factor.

Ian McLean:

Um as a woman in in leadership and a business owner, and there's more, there is with every passing day, there are more women that are becoming um uh becoming b business owners and are and entrepreneurs. What challenges have you faced in in what is still for the most part a male-dominated uh space?

Amy Ballantyne:

I think the the biggest one is uh a gentleman taking credit for the work that I I had done. And you know, as I was thinking about this question for myself, if a client had come to me and shared this, I think uh the coaching that I would give back to that person, and and I'm giving to myself every time I talk as a coach, I'm speaking to myself as well, right? And uh the the coaching that I would give is we have an opportunity to strengthen our own, I call it the celebration muscle, to strengthen our own confidence in knowing who we are and what we bring to the table, and being our own advocate, our own cheerleader in these moments. And and sometimes sometimes things happen. And uh in this particular instance, it was a really great learning opportunity for me to grow as a human. And in some of the crappy moments in our life, this is the place where we have an opportunity to turn and look towards learning.

Ian McLean:

And and that's the advice you would give to if you were coaching someone. Is that the and the and I think you're giving yourself that same same advice? For sure. Yeah.

Amy Ballantyne:

For sure.

Ian McLean:

Yeah. Um, you've worked with organizations across the country. So you're you're in 17 years. I'm sure you'd have a long list of of folks uh um in in different sectors and and certainly across the region. Um I'm interested you in when you see the the landscape of uh of you know, no different for us. I mean, I know chamber leaders and chambers right across the country. Um we all I'm always interested in how we stack up as a region again in in in that context. How does Waterloo Region stack up in terms of culture and innovation and um you know and that leadership mindset?

Amy Ballantyne:

Yeah, for what I've from what I've seen personally, it I'm really impressed. So, leadership mindset, the the leaders are investing in growth opportunities for their their staff, for their teams. They're bringing in thing people like myself for coaching, they're having workshops, they're developing and investing their people. We know that Waterloo Region is uh a hub for innovation and for tech, and and that absolutely is is the case with new businesses starting all of the time here and businesses staying because we have such awesome resources, including places like the chamber for for these companies. So I think we are uh we're doing a really great job here in Waterloo Region.

Ian McLean:

It's good to know. Because it's a it's a very competitive landscape, not only within Canada, but globally. So being being at the forefront of lots of things, including, you know, uh on the people side is uh is important. Listen, we're almost out of time. We could keep talking and we could uh we could go off many down down many rabbit holes. However, we're gonna start to wrap up. You've already made a significant impact through your coaching and speaking and the power of the people pleasers podcast. So I'd be pleased to come on your podcast. I mean it's kind of a reciprocal thing. Um but what's next for you and for Ballantyne coaching?

Amy Ballantyne:

Yeah, so I'm really excited to be offering more in-person trainings. So coming up, there's uh hypnosis certification trainings, uh, a breakthrough boot camp, helping people to unlock uh in a in a far bigger way than a typical goal setting uh training offers. And I'm really excited to be a part of the innovation concept and adopting AI, and individuals can have me as a coach in their pocket coming soon uh with a new avatar. So I'm very, very excited for that.

Ian McLean:

Well, I uh AI, we could that we could spend a whole show on that because that is going to uh there's gonna be coaching required on how to use AI uh and and for every size and uh um you know every sector, every every job is gonna be AI is certainly changing things. So I'll look forward to watching that. Listen, at the um this this podcast is as much about hearing the stories of business leaders, uh, but as much as anything, it is about leadership. And uh so I always ask the same set of questions because I'm I'm always it's and it's there's no right or wrong answers here, but it's always interesting to hear what uh I don't know how many we've done of these, probably 30 or 40 podcasts. Everyone takes a different, you know, the question rings different in their own head and how they respond is is different. So in our rapid fire questions, uh if if I was to say, what would you tell your younger self? What would that be?

Amy Ballantyne:

It would be to trust your intuition and the my ability to connect to my emotions is a superpower. It's a strength, and that is my emotional guidance system guiding me to the things that I'm meant to do.

Ian McLean:

Um, what or who inspires you the most?

Amy Ballantyne:

My kids. They uh I absolutely believe 100% that they were sent to me so I could learn a variety of lessons, many lessons I continue.

Ian McLean:

Yeah, they challenge us and they force us to learn lessons, don't they?

Amy Ballantyne:

Yes, and for me to teach them. So it's this beautiful uh synergy.

Ian McLean:

Okay, if you weren't in your current career, I mean that's hard to, after this conversation, hard to imagine that. But if you weren't in your current career, what would you be doing instead?

Amy Ballantyne:

You know, I uh part of me would say a teacher, but I already feel like I do that. Um, but someone said to me recently, you should be uh an officiant of weddings. So that might actually happen someday. We'll see.

Ian McLean:

I I I can tell you that I've done one for a friend, even though it's not official because I'm not official, you would be great at doing that. So you can add that as a sideline, right? Like it's just one more thing to add to this table. Yes. Um it's it's interesting. Um, I'm always fascinated by this way people answer. What book are you reading, or which podcast are you into right now? And you can't say your own, and you can't say business to or you know, behind the business podcast, although I know that that's that's the one that you listen to. But what else would you be reading or listening to?

Amy Ballantyne:

Yeah, so um there's two books. One is um Lessons in Chemistry, so it's a fun read. Lessons in chemistry. It's a fun read. It's a fun read. There's a maybe a Netflix show about it too. There's a there's a series on it. Oh, yes, okay.

Ian McLean:

Now I know what you're gonna do.

Amy Ballantyne:

But it's uh there and there's an incredible paragraph at the end of the book that I almost brought to read to you because it is so good. Anyhow, the other book is How to Get Anything You Want by LC Lincoln Benedict.

Ian McLean:

So Okay, I'm now I'm gonna have to I'm I watched the series, I'll have to read the book. The book is quite good. Yeah, yeah. Okay, um, and what it is we just keep it local. What is one of your favorite local businesses here in Waterloo Region?

Amy Ballantyne:

Oh my goodness. So when I have uh when I invest time into just having Amy time, I go to Angel Treasures in St. Jacob's. It is one of my favorite places in this region. Hmm.

Ian McLean:

I'll have to check that out when we're when we're up to us visiting our friends at uh at home hardware. Yeah. Okay, and um just as we wrap up, so people can uh because it you're a fascinating uh um conversation we've had. I'm sure lots of people want to reach out to you. What's the best place for any of our listeners or those listen to the podcast or listening online to connect with you and learn more about your work?

Amy Ballantyne:

Uh if individuals are on LinkedIn, I would love to connect with them there. I'm also on Instagram as well and my website, amyvalentine.com.

Ian McLean:

Well, there you go. Well, thanks so much. I appreciate it. I you know, one of the most valuable um commodities that that leaders and and entrepreneurs have is time. So thank you for sharing some of yours with me.

Amy Ballantyne:

Thank you so much for having me here.

Ian McLean:

Thank you for joining us for another episode of Behind the Business, proudly presented by GoreMutual, insurance that does good. New episodes drop every Thursday, so be sure to tune in next week. You can also visit greater kwchamber.com to catch up on past episodes anytime. We'll see you next time as we continue to go behind the business.

People on this episode

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Ian McLean

Host
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Amy Ballantyne

Guest