In this Business Blast Podcast episode, host Tyler Wagner interviews communication specialist and Hart Coaching Academy founder Christine Hart. Hart shares a story from her 20s about focusing on service and kindness rather than competition, emphasizing that treating people as humans leads to business success. She highlights listening as an underrated yet vital skill for both business and personal relationships, describing it as the secret to her success across consulting, mentoring, and conflict resolution. Hart offers her top business advice: "say yes and figure it out later," illustrating how opportunistic decision‑making has driven her achievements. When reflecting on advice for her younger self, she stresses the importance of discerning when to set timelines and goals versus when to let things flow. Discussing happiness, Hart reveals a personal breakthrough inspired by a book from Matt Kahn: embracing all aspects of oneself, including the shadow side, and loving whatever arises. She cites two life‑changing books—Tim Ferriss’s The 4‑Hour Workweek and Shakti Gawain’s Living in the Light—as catalysts for her entrepreneurial mindset and spiritual growth. Her favorite quote, by Ray Bradbury, is "Looking back over a lifetime, you see that love was the answer to everything," underscoring love as a central theme. The episode concludes with Hart’s online platforms: ChristineHartCoaching.com for business services and heartcoachingacademy.com for her training academy.
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Welcome to the Business Blast Podcast. I'm your host, Tyler Wagner. This episode is brought to you by Authors Unite. Authors Unite provides you with all the resources you need to become a successful author. You can learn more about Authors Unite and join the free community at authorsunite.com. Now let's jump into the episode.
All right everyone, welcome back to another episode of the Business Blast podcast. I'm your host Tyler Wagner. Today I have a very special guest. Her name is Christine Hart. She is a communication specialist and founder of Hart Coaching Academy. So welcome to the show, Christine.
Ah, thanks for having me, Tyler.
Of course, pumped to have you on. Uh, we'll dive in the first question I have for you is, what's the best story from your life that has an underlying valuable message?
Yeah, well, I was thinking on the business side, um, my first two businesses when I was in my 20s— I started both of them in my 20s— I had a lot of people around me that were very concerned with the, uh, competition, that maybe I was first to market, but then what about the competitors? And I think The best thing is that I didn't concern myself with that. I naturally don't have a competitive nature and I grew up that way. And perhaps times, you know, it wasn't a good thing that I wasn't competitive. But when it came to business, I just, you know, I was head down, provide a good service, be kind to people, treat people as humans, and your business will prosper. And that was, you know, That's kind of a good story of people, you know, people more concerned about competition than I ever was.
Yes. Yeah, I actually can relate to that too. I've always been like focused on competing with myself. Like, I just, I don't know, I think that's the best person to compete with, meaning like always be growing and stuff and not really worry about what other people are doing. So I feel you on that. The next question I have for you is, what is the most valuable piece of information we should know that is within your expertise or industry?
Sure. I would say the most valuable piece of information is the, the skill of listening. And listening is so underrated, but I think, and it's seen as a soft skill, but it's actually the driving force between a lot of, you know, business relationships, of course, personal relationships. And, and I find That has been the secret to my success in a lot of different ventures, whether I'm, you know, consulting, doing business consulting, or I'm mentoring, I'm working with other entrepreneurs, or I'm actually working with a couple in conflict, is you can't overestimate or underestimate or whatever, how valuable it is to become a good listener. So whatever you need to do, whether it's, you know, YouTube videos or reading books or just learning the different styles of listening is so, so valuable and will take you a lot farther because we're kind of in a world right now where people are not feeling heard. And, you know, a lot of people are feeling like in order to be heard, I got to pay somebody like a therapist to feel heard. And that's not how it should be. You should feel like you're being heard. And that's just because we don't have very good listening skills. And I could go on and on about that, but that's a big one.
And what's your best piece of overall business advice? So not necessarily industry specific.
Sure. Overall business advice is say yes and figure it out later. Honestly, 100%. That has been so many of my past success stories have been, yes, I can do that and then figure it out in both personal and professional world, but definitely in professional world.
And if you could give your younger self one piece of advice, what would that be?
Um, I think it's important to know when to set up time. I would tell her, like, you're awesome, but know when to set up timelines and know when it's not necessary. So I think I was setting up timelines in the wrong areas of my life and not in other areas of my life that I, that I should have been. So I think just knowing how to differentiate between when it's important to be on you know, to be setting goals and hitting them, and when it's just not.
And in your opinion, I'm excited for your answer on this one. In your opinion, what's the key to happiness?
Oh, you know what, Tyler? It's— I'm finally at a place, it's an awesome feeling where I can finally articulate what my personal secret is and what works for me. And I can articulate it because I finished reading a book that gave me you know, kind of solidified what had been going on in my brain. But it's whatever arises, love that. And that includes your shadow side. Because whatever success you get, if you're still dealing with your core issues, your shadow side, and not loving all sides of yourself, you just can't achieve happiness. And so I think that is at the very core. And it came from a book by Matt Kahn that I can finally articulate. Whatever arises, whatever, don't judge it, just just love it. And I think that's at the core. And then, you know, from there, it's setting up your life to experience joy and what brings you joy. But the first one has to come first. That's the secret. Rather than, I don't like that side of myself. It's like, just love it.
Yes. And I agree with that. Yeah. It's like processing everything and accepting everything. So, and what's the best— well, maybe this is the best book. What's the best book that you've read? And what's the number one thing you learned from that?
Sure. I mean, I was thinking about what has been life-changing for me as far as— and I would say Tim Ferriss's very first version, the white one that came out of The 4-Hour Workweek. I can remember reading that and not being able to sleep because I finally was like, this is what I've been looking for. And so I would say that was life-changing in that what was swirling around in my head as possibility he had created a book that made me not feel like a dreamer. You know, it made me feel like, oh, I can actually create this life that is swirling around. And I did just want to quickly say that Living in the Light is another one by Shakti Gawain, which was the very first spiritual book I read when I was 19. And it was definitely major life changes. Or nah, at 19, you know, but it set me off on the right track.
Yes. And The 4-Hour Workweek, Tim Ferriss, changed my entire life. So I'm all about Tim. And what is your favorite quote and why?
It's one I've actually had on my computer for about 5 years now. And it's, "Looking back over a lifetime, you see that love was the answer to everything." And it's by Ray Bradbury. And I just Adore that quote because at the end of the day, we're all humans and the way we act out is all our individual searches for validation, love, respect, whatever it is. But it all comes back to love.
Yes, that is beautiful. I love that. Thank you so much for coming on. The last question I have for you before we let you go is where's the best place for people to find you online?
Sure. For business, it's ChristineHartCoaching.com and Hart is H-A-R-T. Or for my training, my online training school is heartcoachingacademy.com.
Perfect. Thanks again, Christine. We really appreciate it.
Thanks for having me.
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