ICF San Diego's Coffee & Conversations

Welcome to Coffee and Conversations, brought to you by the International Coaching Federation’s San Diego Chapter. Our host, Donald E. Coleman sits down with coaches, business leaders, and community influencers to explore how the *Power of Coaching* is transforming lives, organizations, and communities. Together, we’ll uncover insights, stories, and strategies that inspire growth, connection, and sustainable change. Whether you're a seasoned coach or simply curious about how ICF coaching can impact your world , you’re in the right place.

ICF San Diego's Coffee & Conversations is a business podcast hosted by ICF San Diego, with 59 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80.

ICF San Diego hosts ICF San Diego's Coffee & Conversations, a business show with 59 episodes published.

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  Episode #60

  Building Certainty

  Oct 5, 202648 minS4

  Send Us a Message “I’m well” sounds simple until you unpack what it really means: present, alive, and honest about where you are. In this episode, we have a deep, electric conversation with Pam Covarrubias , the creator and host of the Cafe Con Pam podcast, about what it takes to stop performing your life and start living from certainty. Pam takes us back to her corporate traveling days when she fell in love with podcasts but couldn’t find conversations led by immigrants, first-gen Latinas, or women who sounded like her. A vision board, a Craigslist microphone, and one perfectly timed divine connection later, she builds the show she wished existed. From there, we go into the moments that change everything : leaving a toxic relationship when the “next time” happens and nobody can save you, and recognizing how your body keeps score when your career no longer fits. Pam breaks down how burnout shows up as signals in the nervous system, why exit plans matter, and how self-responsibility can be compassionate instead of punishing. If you’re wrestling with career transitions, boundaries, or the fear of disappointing people, this conversation meets you where you are and still challenges you to tell the truth. Pam also shares her coaching framework for first-generation Latinas navigating Calladita Culture® , including the five wounds she sees again and again: silence, worth, power, commitment, and identity. We talk about somatic grounding, movement, nature as a teacher, and why the seasons of the earth can help you understand your own cycles. The biggest takeaway lands hard: confidence can be performance, but certainty is wholeness you can stand on. If this resonated, subscribe , share it with a friend who needs a nudge, and leave a review so more people can find these conversations. Support the show If you are interested in being a guest on the Podcast, please send an email to president@icf-sandiego.org . Please connect with us on our social media channels: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icfsan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icf_sd/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icf-sandiego Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICFSanDiego

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  Episode #59

  What The Iceberg Hides

  Aug 25, 202633 minS4

  Send Us a Message People see the peak of your story: the degree, the title, the “successful” highlight reel. But what if the part that actually made you strong is the part no one sees? We sit down with Dr. Inez González Perezchica to unpack the iceberg beneath achievement and why the hidden years matter for confidence, leadership, and a fulfilling life. Dr. Inez shares what it was like to be born in Tijuana, raised in Mexico, and then move to the United States during her senior year of high school, suddenly feeling like “the other” and losing her voice. We talk about the quiet loneliness that can follow big transitions and how that pain can be transformed into empathy, the kind that helps you notice the person standing alone and choose to make them feel they belong. Along the way, we get practical about self-confidence: why reflection is not optional, how revisiting old stories can free you, and how professional coaching and powerful inquiry help you find answers you already carry. We also explore roots, curiosity, and resilience across generations, as well as the real-world value of social capital: connecting people in ways that create opportunity and community. Then we close with a grounded definition of wholeness as fulfillment and a reminder that your past does not define your future. If you’re navigating identity shifts, a career pivot, leadership development, or a search for belonging, this conversation offers a steady path forward. Subscribe for more conversations like this, share this with someone who needs hope, and leave a review if it helps. What’s one part of your iceberg you’re finally ready to name? Support the show If you are interested in being a guest on the Podcast, please send an email to president@icf-sandiego.org . Please connect with us on our social media channels: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icfsan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icf_sd/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icf-sandiego Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICFSanDiego

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  Episode #58

  What If Wholeness Is The Real Core Competency

  Jun 29, 202649 minS4

  Send Us a Message Most people think they need better strategies to grow, lead, or coach well. Then a conversation like this exposes the real blocker: safety . When visibility has felt dangerous, when service has been tied to worth, or when spiritual and relational harm has shaped your nervous system, you do not fix it with another checklist. You fix it by integrating healing and coaching so your body can finally believe what your mind already understands. We talk with Hayley Surya, MCC , about why healing and coaching are complementary energies and why separating them often leaves clients with insight but no integration. We explore coaching as a calling, not just a learned skill set, and what it takes to hold a truly safe coaching container: showing up resourced, grounded, and free of the ego need to be right. Along the way , we get honest about cultural conditioning around serving, the difference between interdependence and codependence, and how overcompensating as a coach can quietly rob clients of their own agency. The conversation goes even deeper into memory, repair, and wholeness. We unpack how apology can create real proxy healing, why “healthy” means consistency rather than perfection, and how balancing inner polarities shapes every relationship in your life, from money and career to partnership and self-trust. If you care about ICF coaching , embodied leadership, trauma-informed practice, and real transformation, this will stay with you long after the audio ends. If this resonates, subscribe , share it with a coach or leader who needs depth over noise, and leave a review telling us what part challenged you most. Support the show If you are interested in being a guest on the Podcast, please send an email to president@icf-sandiego.org . Please connect with us on our social media channels: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icfsan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icf_sd/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icf-sandiego Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICFSanDiego

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  Episode #57

  How Triggers Reveal The Stories You Inherited

  Jun 5, 202653 minS4

  Send Us a Message The loudest voice shaping your life might not be your own, and once you see that, everything changes. We sit down with Dr. Cornelia Shipley Bearyman , executive coach, author, and Ph.D in metaphysics, for a conversation that starts playful and turns deeply human: grief, identity, and the hidden scripts we replay when we feel threatened, judged, or out of control. She shares the shock of losing her mother just five days after her wedding, and how other people’s reactions taught her a core lesson about perception: we see the world as we are, not as it is. From there, we explore the practical side of healing and mindset work. What do you do with the inner critic that says you’re unworthy, unlovable, or unsafe? How do you “return to sender” the stories you inherited? Dr. Berriman offers language you can use immediately, plus a powerful reframe on triggers: “hysterical is historical.” We also widen the lens to conscious leadership, faith, and uncertainty. We talk about choosing your hard, why control is a false construct, how support systems keep you grounded, and what the age of AI is forcing all of us to confront about being a human being rather than a human doing. If you’re navigating change, burnout, career pressure, or a deeper spiritual question, this one meets you where you are. Subscribe, Share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review with the biggest truth you’re ready to face. Support the show If you are interested in being a guest on the Podcast, please send an email to president@icf-sandiego.org . Please connect with us on our social media channels: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icfsan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icf_sd/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icf-sandiego Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICFSanDiego

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  Episode #56

  Activate Your Pause: A Conversation with John O'Brien

  May 29, 202635 minS4

  Send Us a Message The world feels loud on purpose, and it’s easy to forget we have choices when stress becomes the default setting. We sit down with Dr. John O’Brien , psychologist, coach, author, and founder of Activate Success, to get practical about the smallest habit that can change your day: the pause . Not a retreat, not a perfect routine, just a few seconds of breathing and noticing what’s happening inside you. That “sacred moment” creates space to define success on your terms, instead of chasing someone else’s definition. We also go straight into the bigger social noise that affects all of us: rising rudeness and incivility. John shares why he believes this trend has been building for decades, how loneliness and the loss of community connection make it worse, and why social media algorithms can quietly steer what we see and how we react. If you’ve felt pulled into outrage or trapped in reactive conversations, this part will land. From mindfulness to coaching, we keep circling back to agency. Mindfulness is not perfect focus; it’s noticing where your attention is and deciding whether it serves you. John also opens up about perfectionism, taking risks, and the “good enough” mindset that helped him write, speak, and even start a podcast while still learning. If you want more calm, better boundaries, and a clearer way to respond to the noise, you’ll leave with tools you can use today. Subscribe , Share this with a friend who needs a reset, and leave a review with your biggest takeaway. Support the show If you are interested in being a guest on the Podcast, please send an email to president@icf-sandiego.org . Please connect with us on our social media channels: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/icfsan Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/icf_sd/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/icf-sandiego Twitter: https://twitter.com/ICFSanDiego

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