After the initial 4 weeks, I signed on for six months of coaching and the work of my soul really began. Kirstin set me on a path of self-awareness, a way of noticing without reacting, seeing without judging, and holding myself accountable without beating myself up. She is encouraging, directive, and curious, and she helped me grow to be that way too. With her help, I was able to soothe and connect with a version of myself that was clinging on to old hurts and calling out for attention; I learned how to give myself what I really needed: mercy, boundaries, and an anchor in my day-to-day busy life.

I’m a word person by nature and profession, and with Kirstin’s guidance I learned how to re-write the narratives that constantly ran through my brain so that I could watch, reflect and consider the scripts I had assigned myself and the people closest to me. I learned how to capture each thought in the present moment and make it work to my benefit. I was able to learn where my greatest professional skills and interests lay to make room for new opportunities. She provided endless outside resources: books, podcasts, homework to help me get the most of my coaching experience.

With Kirstin’s help I was able to define and change my tendencies to misuse sugar and zone-out into unproductive internet loops. I was able to make health and relationship adjustments that were not punitive. None of this was easy, and there were times I would get sassy, but Kirstin—ahhh, ever the professional—called my bluff when I needed it and held space for my growing pains. Coaching with Kirstin has indeed initiated life-long changes; as she promised, her lessons are not here and then gone—they are forever lessons, and an investment in her coaching is the first step to the best version of you.

As we began our work together I was battling an eating disorder, an addiction, that had dominated my life for over 45 years. I was carrying a tremendous burden of shame and self-loathing, feeling both helpless and hopeless. I was numb, disconnected from my emotions and from my body. A failed marriage was the source of tremendous guilt, and my relationship with my adult children was fraught with anxiety, tension and fear. I felt unworthy of love and utterly alone.

As I opened my life to Kirstin, she poured herself into me. I shared with her my pain, my fears, my despair. She listened intently, without judgement, and responded with tremendous compassion. She provided me with tools to help manage my thoughts and challenge the self-condemning stories that I had come to hold as truth in my life. She guided me down a path of self-discovery, self-acceptance and self-love, the bedrock of healing and living a conscious life.

With regard to my eating disorder she not only helped me understand its roots, thereby allowing me to move past the shame and into a place of self-compassion, but she also offered me practical tools and protocols to confront the addiction. She became my thought partner as we looked at specific situations and developed detailed plans for successfully navigating circumstances that in the past had triggered my eating disorder. I can proudly say that with Kirstin’s help and constant support I’ve been in recovery now for more than 18 months.

Kirstin helped me move past the guilt I felt from my failed marriage, and helped me craft a vision for the future of my relationship with my adult children. Again, we developed specific, actionable goals to improve those relationships. The changes have been astounding. I couldn’t be more grateful.

More that anything though, Kirstin has helped me cultivate love in my life and love of my life. I am able now to feel my feelings and experience my emotions, the depth and breadth of which are astounding. I have never felt so alive. In many ways I feel as if I’ve been a witness to my own resurrection. I can honestly say that through my work with Kirstin I have come to love my life, and believe that I am indeed worthy of love.

As a coach, I found Kirstin to be both engaged and engaging, compassionate and unwavering in her support. She is knowledgeable, intelligent, and has a wealth of life experience to draw on. She is attentive and has made herself available to me between our coaching sessions via text and email, to which she replies promptly and thoroughly, offering her wisdom, encouragement and gentle kindness. As a poet, writer, and teacher she sees the world from a unique, refreshing perspective. As a human being, she is simply delightful.

Working with Kirstin has had a profound impact on my life. Hands down, the best investment I’ve ever made.

Those previous 55 years were full of many fun, fulfilling and happy experiences, and also full of the pain, heartbreak and disappointment that comes with being a daughter, wife, mother, friend, employee and co-worker. I had built up some world-class armor and resilience that allowed me to be “successful” in all those roles - but also denied me the skills to live authentically. With her patient and thoughtful approach, Kirstin inspired me to open my heart and begin my work toward living a more vulnerable and wholehearted life.

Kirstin helped me reset the course of my life’s journey. She came to every conversation with a sincere desire to listen, understand, and help me develop the skills that I needed. She is loving, patient, and kind beyond measure. She helped me build a practice of meaningful self-care and mindfulness, inspired me to reconnect to my true passions, and connected me to a world of resources I never knew existed. It has been a breakthrough experience!

With her gentle but firm and intuitive approach, Kirstin hones in on what it is that blocks you, what you need to work on to get past the hurdles that are keeping you from living your best life. Her warmth and generosity as a person and a coach make you feel seen and understood, and she gives you the courage to be open, honest, and authentic so thatyou can go all in and feel comfortable examining who you are and what you need. She helps you see in yourself what you may not have the objectivity to even realize is there. Her vast knowledge and resources help equip you with what you need to focus on to get you to where you need to go.

My experience working with Kirstin has cracked open my life in the most glorious ways. It has not only changed my life for the better, but those around me as well. When you are able to thrive it has a radiating effect on those around you, and your relationships flourish. I've not only seen this enormous growth in myself, but in friends of mine who have also worked with Kirstin. I've seen them transform and grow and shine and it has been such a joy to witness.

I'm forever grateful to Kirstin for helping me realize what I could become, and for helping me get there, and I encourage everyone I know who needs that same kind of help to work with her. Her warmth, keen intelligence, and intuitive nature will help transform the lives of those who take that important step and sign up to work with her.

Four years ago, following several years during which I had been under a great deal of stress, I was bitten by a tick, and became extremely ill. For eighteen months I did not have the energy to get off the couch, and ended up resigning my position at the university where I worked.

My anxiety, which had been subtly - and at times less subtly - present throughout most of my life, went through the roof as I sought and failed to get my health and life under control. As time went on, and despite all my best efforts, I wasn’t getting better and I began to panic. Following that, I fell into a severe depression.

I began working with Kirstin a few months after I participated in a workshop offered by Kirstin in which she helped me see that I could change my perception and that that could possibly change and improve how I was approaching my illness and my life.

I realized that I could benefit from an additional, and different kind of help to that which I was receiving in counseling. I also realized that I had maxed out what I could achieve on my own with self-help websites and books. I wanted more for myself than simply living in survival mode the rest of my life. I also realized that if worst came to worst and I could not get my health and energy back, I needed to find a way to live with myself - and be happy - for both myself and my family’s sake.

I knew I needed help to get to that place. I knew what Kirstin had to offer professionally as a transformational life coach and educator, and personally, as a friend. I knew I could trust Kirstin completely, and I was pretty sure she could help me.

Kirstin is very, very good at listening and helping clients identify and articulate problems, limiting beliefs, and barriers that stand in the way of their self-esteem, health, happiness, and success, and then helping them move through and beyond those barriers.

Kirstin helped me identify my own limiting beliefs and behaviors, and worked with me to change those beliefs and behaviors. For example, she helped me understand that my urge to control was a strategy born out of a longstanding desire to keep my family and loved ones safe. She helped me view a behavior of which I was deeply ashamed with self-compassion and understanding, and this was critical to enabling me to accept, release, and change that behavior.

I am a reader and at every meeting during our work together, Kirstin gave me a list of resources to support the work we were doing together. This really helped me solidify my understanding and learning as we progressed.

Our work together focused a great deal on helping me to accept myself with compassion; particularly the ongoing fatigue and loss of stamina that I continued to experience and that was very difficult for me to accept. I had always based my self-worth on my ability to work well and work hard. I felt worthless. Kirstin helped me learn to accept and view myself with less judgment and more compassion. She also helped me become intentional in identifying and changing long-standing habits of critical and negative self-talk and general self-loathing that I had engaged in my entire life.

As we worked together to identify and change beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors, not only did my relationships with my family members improve, but so did my health, my energy and stamina, my self-esteem, and my happiness.

My healing journey has been a spiritual journey as well, for me, and Kirstin was able to support me in this aspect too. She helped me to better understand that the spiritual “surrender” that I experienced, but didn’t really understand, was something that others have also gone through as they have moved towards a life more in alignment with their spirit. Kirstin was always only affirming and never judgmental of the intuitions, synchronicities, miracles and manifestations, and other - that which I perceive as - spiritual happenings, that I experienced and shared with her.

Kirstin is not only a transformational life coach but also a poet, writer, and academic. Kirstin is one of the finest communicators I have ever met. This past year she has served as a writing mentor and coach for me as I have been writing the story of my spiritual and healing journey.

Kirstin has helped me understand myself better, learn to love and respect myself as I am, and has helped me transform my life. I know what it is to feel joy now and am happier than I ever have been. And wonderfully, I can report that four years later I have fully recovered my health and energy, and the underlying, ever present, anxiety I lived with for over forty years is gone.

Kirstin brings to her transformational coaching an exceptional ability to identify and articulate barriers and help clients navigate through and beyond them. She is positive, affirming, compassionate, loving, and one hundred percent trustworthy.

You are safe with Kirstin.

I no longer live in survival mode. I no longer live in fear. I feel joy. I see magic and miracles occurring all around me every day. I enjoy life and am no longer afraid of the future. I am much, much better at meeting challenges with self-compassion, a positive attitude, faith, and optimism. I am happy and relaxed and my relationships with my family members have deepened and improved. And, for the first time in my life, I feel good in my own skin.

I am okay.

My friend, Dr. Kirstin Hotelling Zona, played a huge role in helping me get to this beautiful place, and I will be forever grateful to her for her teaching and healing.

When I began working with Kirstin, I had no idea how many obstacles I was throwing in the way of my own power and happiness. I was astonished to learn that many of my hardships were self-imposed. Without realizing it, I was relinquishing my power and living by the rules of others all the while ensnaring myself in an unending cycle of frustration and anger felt in my personal and professional lives. Through systematic thought work, Kirstin helped me to notice when I was caught in the cycle and showed me how to take control of my thoughts and feelings.

With my increased self-awareness and the tools Kirstin taught me, I have a strategy to dive into and move through feelings intentionally without fear or discomfort. I also learned the absolute importance of compassion for self and self-care. Thanks to Kirstin’s coaching, I now embrace my entire selfhood (strengths and weaknesses) and celebrate who I am with compassion instead of self-judgment. For the first time, I feel authentic, more fully comfortable in my own skin and best able to meet my own needs.

One of my favorite things about working with Kirstin was her availability. The text messaging that she offered in between our sessions was an enormous benefit to working with her. Much of her coaching was done through those texts just when I needed her guidance as various issues arose throughout the week. I felt that she was always there for me which truly anchored me through this entire process.

During our collaboration, I assembled a large 3 ring binder (quite thick now) where I still keep my worksheets and session notes, as well as other work such as thought dumps, letters to self, and podcast notes. So now I have a manual to guide me as I “go it alone.” I actually see the world as a kinder place and I am eager to be an “all in” participant where before I would have chosen isolation and felt very alone. I feel that I understand myself and my relationships much better. In sharing my newfound insight with my son, he has also benefitted from Kirstin’s expertise. I will be forever grateful to Kirstin for her enormous impact on my quality of life. THANK YOU KIRSTIN!

Nothing has been more powerful and impactful in my personal growth and momentum, at midlife, than my work with Kirstin Hotelling Zona! Nothing.

I’ve been a mental health therapist for over twenty years. And with that comes a great dedication to my own personal growth and well-being. Traditional personal growth modalities were helpful and necessary, but something was missing. I still continued to have limited success in accessing emotional freedom that lead me to feeling more traction in my life. I wanted to not just settle into the life I had created but bring more joy to my daily existence. Bottom line? There were things I needed to change about how I was living.

First, I needed more than a platform to complain—and real, honest-to-goodness accountability for my life choices. I needed to feel empowered, motivated, and to see beyond my own limited scope of the world. And I got it!

I went to one of Kirstin’s retreats and I was honestly blown away by her skill set. And believe me when I say I was skeptical. I gained so much from just a day with her coaching that I could not stop thinking about it. She showed up authentic and real, giving us her best coaching. I ended that day wanting more, but the investment scared me; my husband and I are raising three sons and are not independently wealthy. But I was in pain, stuck, and knew I had to do something. I hired Kirstin and my work began within 24 hours. Once I took that step, I knew my life would change. I had just made a huge investment in myself and this work. It felt a bit like diving off a cliff into the unknown. But I knew I didn’t want to keep standing on the cliff, as it were.

Kirstin has been preparing for this role as a personal life coach her entire life - without even knowing it. She possesses a knowledge base, drawing from 20 years as a university professor, teacher, writer, mother, intuitive, and life coach, that has assisted me in a process that you can’t find in a therapist's office, a book, or a friend. I was launched into a process of evaluating everything about my life and what I wanted and needed.

The support and guidance was truly unimaginable. My connection with my Mastermind Group has been one of the greatest forms of support I have ever had outside of my friends and family. I can honestly say that my work with Kirstin has improved my life in ways I cannot explain, and I will be eternally grateful for the skills I have gained, the perspective, and the abundance of joy and responsibility I feel empowered to carry forth.

Every aspect of my life has improved, in some areas dramatically: my marriage, my parenting, my career, my friendships, and mostly, my own inner peace and well-being.

I first met with Kirstin after a friend shared with me about one of her upcoming retreats. Although it was a bit daunting to go to a retreat alone, I decided to do something for myself and attend. At the end of the day, Kirstin shared about her Life Coach services. I am a Master’s Level Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor and was at the time the Director of Residential Services at a homeless shelter. I was impressed with how knowledgeable Kirstin was, and she had an optimistic energy that made me want to learn more from her. Make no mistake—this was a huge financial commitment for me! But my desire to grow and my hope for a better quality of life won out, and I decided to make the investment in myself; it’s a decision that I have not regretted for one moment!

I really had no idea that so much would transpire in my life as the result of that one decision. Working long hours for little pay and being always on call had been my way of life. Kirstin gently challenged some of my beliefs about myself and the decisions I was making because of those beliefs, decisions that were often motivated by a mindset of scarcity, shame, fear, and blame. She has been my advisor, editor, accountability partner, and encourager (even cheerleader) along the way. She has opened up new doors for me professionally and personally that I would have never imagined walking through before. Kirstin has helped me transform my thinking, and therefore my life.

While working with Kirstin I have opened a private counseling practice, and I absolutely love my life now!! In addition to all of the skills and gifts that Kirstin has brought to my life, she has also provided the opportunity for me to work with a phenomenal group of women whom I love and respect immensely. Walking the journey of growth and change with these dear friends as we bear witness to each other’s transformation has been an added bonus that I could not have dreamed of.

I have come to trust Kirstin deeply and value her wise counsel. I have currently been working with Kirstin for a year and a half and truly have so much respect for her. I have learned that Kirstin does not simply talk the talk but walks the walk as well. She is continually learning and growing and offering new and exciting opportunities for learning and growth to those of us whom she coaches. She is one of the most genuine, loving and generous people I have ever met. She also loves me enough to challenge the old stories that I’ve been telling myself that keep me in bondage and offers me a path that has transformed my relationship with both myself and others. I’ve come to value her intuitive knowing and to trust the process. She is truly invested in those of us whom she works with. I’ve also never had need to question her love for me as an individual apart from our coaching contract. I would recommend her whole heartedly to anyone who is interested in making changes in their lives and living a more fully expressed and authentic life. Whatever your story or struggles…YOU are worth investing in and Kirstin has the skills to get you where you want to go.

Kirstin saved MY life.

That sounds a bit deep, doesn’t it? But it’s completely true.

Like so many people, I found myself lost and without purpose. Sure, like everyone else I would go to work, and take care of the very important job of taking care of others and my family, both jobs I had always aspired to in my youth. But there was a problem. I wasn’t taking care of myself, and it showed unconsciously in my words and actions in ways I didn’t intend or understand. And even bigger than that problem, I wasn’t aware that I was in need of help. Help to find out what really drives me; to find personal joy; to find true purpose again; to make my soul smile again as it did when I was a child; and help with so many other things.

Kirstin did all this and more.

Kirstin’s kind, gentle, and nonjudgmental approach was invaluable to make me feel compelled to look inside myself, to bravely ask myself why, to fearlessly chart my life’s course forward, to leave anger and judgement behind, and to replace it with empathy, compassion, and love. I wish I could impart to anyone who may be reading this the weight of these words, and how my life is forever changed for the better because of Kirstin. I feel I am a different person and a different man. This has been noticed by closest friends and colleagues, and more importantly, me. I am happy to have found Kirstin at the moment in my life when I did, and now look with curiosity and excitement to the future.

I hope my words can convey my feelings to anyone reading this, but I know words alone could never completely do justice to where I was before I started and the direction I am headed in now. I will be forever grateful for Kirstin‘s help in charting my life and helping me with the necessary skills for taking control of my life’s course, and I strongly recommend her services to anyone in need (and if you read this far, that’s probably you.)

Good luck to everyone reading this with living the best life possible… after all, isn’t that what this is really all about?

After attending one of Kirstin’s day retreats I decided to commit to 6 months of one-on-one coaching. I am a long-time entrepreneur running several businesses while juggling a family, and was feeling overwhelmed and stretched too thin to take care of myself. After working with Kirstin I have learned how to manage my time with proper planning techniques and how to best prioritize. I now feel like I have all the time I need to do whatever I want and I feel empowered to grow personally and professionally beyond my wildest dreams!

With Kirstin’s guidance I learned to replace self-judgement with celebration and trust. In a very practical way, I developed a reverence for my present and future self in the context of diet and exercise. Through introspection, meditation, and journaling, all taught and encouraged throughout my coaching experience, I have grown to live thrive within the seeming paradoxes of stillness and discovery, of distinctness and belonging, of contentment and growth, of exploration and home, of careerhood and motherhood, of empowerment and vulnerability. And what a magnificent place it is, my friends.

If you are looking for a safe space filled by one who will share a genuine and loving curiosity about your story and push you to discover your own authentic potential, look no more. You won’t regret investing in you.

Kirstin was instrumental at the beginning stages of my business in helping me not only refine my niche, but also my mindset. It is really hard as a new business owner to prioritize and not feel overwhelmed. Kirstin provided the guidance and support to help me through this unchartered territory of entrepreneurship.

Being able to consult with her regarding the best next steps for my business brought a lot of comfort and clarity. The encouragement she gives is sincere and really helped motivate me to continue to pursue my dreams.

On a personal level, Kirstin taught me how to take care of myself. Questions like “what is the most important thing you can give yourself today?” helped to reestablish myself as a priority. And I will never forget her response to a hurtful comment someone made to me. She said the most important thing that matters is that YOU care about your feelings. YOU care about your heart. Give to yourself. Bring yourself the love and comfort that you need. That truly helped empower my whole life.

Working with Kirstin has been a tremendous experience. She has helped me to grow and develop in so many ways and has greatly enhanced many areas of my life. Predominantly, I worked with Kirstin on improving personal relationships; but through this work, I saw so many other areas of my life transform, or bloom, as well.

I moved into a new job that I absolutely love. I have re-discovered hobbies I am passionate about; I have stronger relationships with family and friends, and I have even started seriously dating again after a divorce, something that seemed nearly impossible a year ago! The key to this was focusing on my thoughts and recognizing how they were shaping everything about and around me. In working with Kirstin, we set goals and worked together to achieve them. She was always available and there to help in any way needed.

I started my relationship with Kirstin with modest goals, and she encouraged me immediately to dream big. After only one year, my life has deepened and expanded in ways I hadn’t imagined possible. The daily texts with Kirstin and her careful consideration in her responses to me keep me both grounded and inspired as I reach for MORE in myself and my life. Especially important to me is her ability to move from her own voice, to careful listening, to poetry and other thinkers to find the keys that open something in my thinking. It works.

From first meeting Kirstin Hotelling Zona, she openly engaged me in a safe invitation to pursue my curiosity, discover strength and courage, and take action toward my deepest desires.

I’ve been working with Kirstin for about 7 months and it has been truly life-changing. Kirstin is deeply intuitive and remarkably intelligent in her work. Her gentle but effectively firm, no-nonsense coaching and leadership inspires me to engage in what is the most important work in my life so far. There is a passion and dedication in Kirstin’s coaching that makes me feel like I truly have an advocate, friend, mentor and teammate, all at once. This is an incredible feeling when you are confronting deeply emotional and challenging things while setting forth on an invigorating life-changing journey.

Through my work with Kirstin, I am recognizing the many ways I stand in the way of my own peace and happiness. I am identifying the ways that my creative and passionate journey has become buried in a lifestyle and world full of never ending demand and stimulus. I am learning how to cut through the fog to navigate the path to my fullest potential, to find my true self and my most authentic purpose.

Working with Kirstin is giving me the tools to sort through the clutter of a complex life, to become my truest self, and to practice daily the simple things that can bring peace, joy and abundance...to establish a foundation from which literally anything is possible. I can’t say enough about the work I am doing with Kirstin and the impact it is having on me. I am incredibly lucky to have this opportunity and to have her in my life.

Since beginning coaching with Kirstin only a few months ago, my business income has more than doubled. I attribute that directly to Kirstin helping me create specific steps for improving my behavior patterns, sticking to my goals, and revising my plans without self-deprecating.

My work with Kirstin has enabled me to forge a relationship with myself like I've never known. I am now able to have my own back and truly love myself and my past in a way that has been so healing!!

Working with Kirstin has literally changed my life. She has helped me to trust myself and to listen to those nudges and voices of authenticity and desire that I might have ignored or pushed aside.

Her genuine curiosity for learning and human potential guides her coaching. So if you truly want to transform your life, like seriously transform it, you've got to say YES to working with Kirstin.

I met Kirstin in one of her one-day retreats (September, 2017). I was invited by one of my good friends and it happened just at the right time. It was an amazing experience to be there with a group of great women and Kirsten as our facilitator/leader/coach. She created a very comfortable environment for all the participants, and even though not all of us knew each other, we felt good to be there sharing. At that time, I was going through a transition in my life, and I knew that changes were coming but did not know how to deal with them. I was overwhelmed, overthinking and going in circles in my head. Kirstin tailored a perfect retreat for all participants. She took into consideration our one-on-one conversations with her prior the retreat and prepared something very special and just for us.

This retreat helped me to put things in perspective, create a plan, and work on real goals. Also, it helped me to think on the balance sometimes we need in our lives in order to let things happen naturally. Kirstin is an amazing coach; she makes everyone feel important and she really cares about what her attendants are going through.

Coffee Hound is a well-established business of 16 years and is committed to our staff and community to be a business of high standards and continued growth. After working with Kirstin for 6 months in one-on-one life coaching I, along with my husband and partner Steve, decided to incorporate her skills in developing a staff retreat for our management team. This two-day retreat was a well-planned and well-executed strategic planning retreat designed to motivate and empower our managers to help us grow our business.

With Kirstin’s guidance not only did we do strategic planning, but the staff also left with all the tools needed to improve their personal lives, learn to be better managers, and develop skills to better communicate and organize. This retreat made our staff feel valued and empowered!