Episode 89

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Published on:

14th May 2026

Meet your Existential Kink: Carolyn Elliott x The Coached Podcast

What if the patterns you keep trying to escape are patterns some unconscious part of you is still invested in?

In this provocative and deeply philosophical episode of Coached with Coach Keren, Coach Keren Eldad sits down with Carolyn Elliott for a conversation about shadow work, suffering, individuation, spirituality, power, and the unconscious pleasures hidden beneath human behavior.

Carolyn - bestselling author of Existential Kink and founder of Immortal College - shares the personal experiences that led her to develop one of the most confronting frameworks in modern personal development: the idea that we may unconsciously derive pleasure from the very situations we consciously reject.

Together, Keren and Carolyn explore the relationship between shadow integration and freedom, why high achievers often remain trapped in repetitive cycles, and how true transformation begins when we stop performing healing and start telling the truth.

In this episode:

  • What “existential kink” actually means
  • Why the unconscious creates recurring life patterns
  • The hidden pleasure inside suffering, struggle, and martyrdom
  • Carolyn’s journey through addiction, recovery, and depth psychology
  • Why many people use spirituality as another achievement identity
  • The difference between performative healing and true integration
  • The role of humility, groundedness, and honesty in real growth
  • The connection between suffering and awakening
  • The danger of bypassing discomfort in coaching and personal growth
  • Why freedom often begins by embracing the parts of ourselves we fear most

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If this episode resonated with you, share it with someone who is ready to stop running from themselves — and start becoming whole.

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About the Podcast

COACHED with Coach Keren
Coaching mastery, personal transformation, leadership development, spiritual growth, burnout recovery, and business reinvention start here. Welcome to Season 5 of Coached: The Coaching Masters, where the world’s top teachers, coaches, spiritual guides, and conscious entrepreneurs share the real story behind transformation and leadership. Hosted by master coach Keren Eldad, this season explores the full arc of becoming a teacher and leader. Each episode explores coaching at its core, not as a polished highlight reel, but as a soul-centered journey. We go behind the scenes of coaching businesses, leadership breakthroughs, burnout recovery, and conscious entrepreneurship. You’ll discover how teachers turn personal pain into wisdom, purpose, and coaching mastery.

This season features transformative conversations with master teachers, bestselling authors and podcasters such as Byron Katie, founder of The Work, revealing how to break free from suffering. Dr. Kristin Neff, global authority on self-compassion, shares the truth behind inner kindness. Jessica Zweig opens up on collapse, rebirth, and her platform: The Spiritual Hustler. Danielle LaPorte speaks on softness, strength, and heart-centered leadership. Craig Siegel shares insights on business reinvention, financial success and transformation. Kurtis Lee Thomas dives into breathwork, burnout recovery, and becoming a true vessel for change.

What listeners will walk away with: personal transformation, leadership growth, spiritual insight, business breakthroughs — and all of the above. You’ll gain insight into your own journey through these role models. Reframe coaching leadership as a soulful, grounded path. Receive spiritual wisdom from teachers who embody what they teach. Discover business breakthroughs rooted in alignment, not hustle. And gain permission to evolve, unravel, and rebuild again and again.

In this season of Coached: The Coaching Masters, we explore emotional resilience, energetic alignment, spiritual awakening, business reinvention, leadership development, coaching business growth, and personal transformation. These honest conversations reveal the real work behind building coaching mastery and conscious entrepreneurship with integrity. Whether you're a coach, leader, entrepreneur, or in a season of reinvention, this podcast is your guide. You’ll gain insights from role models who’ve lived it, leadership development rooted in alignment, business reinvention strategies with purpose, spiritual growth grounded in wisdom, and burnout recovery guidance for rebuilding with intention.

Keren Eldad brings mastery, heart, and wisdom to each conversation, helping you evolve personally, spiritually, and professionally. If you are searching for coaching mastery, personal transformation, spiritual growth, leadership development, burnout recovery, business reinvention, coaching business growth, and conscious entrepreneurship, this season will be your essential companion. Join us for earned wisdom, deep transformation, and coaching that changes lives. Subscribe now to Coached: The Coaching Masters and begin your journey of conscious leadership, soulful business reinvention, and personal mastery.

About the Host: Keren Eldad (“Coach Keren”) is a top executive coach helping Founders, Olympic athletes and Fortune 500 leaders reach success. As the bestselling author of GILDED, she empowers individuals to redefine success and unlock their full potential. Recognized as a Top Ten Executive Coach by the ICF, Real Leaders, and Goop, Keren holds advanced degrees from The London School of Economics and the University of Jerusalem. With 500,000+ TEDx views and a global presence, her insights inspire leaders worldwide.


Resources
Website: https://www.kereneldad.com
Email: keren@kereneldad.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/coachkeren
Facebook: www.facebook.com/livewithenthusiasm

About your host

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Keren Eldad

A thought leader in the coaching world, Keren Eldad (“Coach Keren”) specializes in taking high achievers out of the futility of constant pursuit and into the greatest levels of success and fulfillment. Her coaching clients include Olympic athletes, politicians, Hollywood stars, supermodels, Special Forces operatives and serial entrepreneurs, as well as renowned global organizations such as Estée Lauder, J.P. Morgan, and Nike… She is also the founder of THE CLUB, a community of leaders, entrepreneurs and coaches who encourage and support each other to reach their fullest potential and make their greatest contribution.
Recognized as a Top Ten Executive Coach by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), Real Leaders Magazine, & Goop, Keren maintains gold-standard coaching credentials on top of her advanced academic degrees from The London School of Economics and the University of Jerusalem. She is also a former C-suite executive, who has lived and worked in 17 countries and on four continents, and now coaches leaders all around the globe in four languages: English, Spanish, Hebrew and French. With half a million views on her TEDx talks, and speaking engagements all over the world, Keren’s message seems to transcend borders. She hopes it resonates with you.
Coach Keren resides in Austin, Texas, with her husband, Ryan, and many beloved pets.
For booking and coaching consultations, contact: Lee@KerenEldad.com