After a series of traumatic events, Atara Weisberger’s journey to Israel sparked a profound spiritual awakening that reshaped her identity, faith, and life’s work. In this episode, she shares how she integrated fitness, motherhood, and soul into a purpose-led path—and how her book How to Soul emerged from that transformation.
What happens when your life is running smoothly—until it isn’t? In this deeply personal episode, Atara Weisberger shares how a series of traumatic events cracked open a spiritual awakening that would forever change the direction of her life.
Raised in a secular home and thriving in the world of fitness and health coaching, Atara’s move to Israel became the backdrop for a profound transformation. From embracing Orthodox Judaism to redefining success, motherhood, and purpose, her story is a powerful reminder that true wellness includes the soul.
We also explore her transition from physical coaching to transformational coaching, and how her new book, How to Soul, was born from this integrated path.
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
🔗 RESOURCES & LINKS
🌐 Atara’s Website: https://tribeholistichealth.com/
📘 Get the Book – How to Soul: www.howtosoulbook.com
📱 Follow Atara
The Deep Coach Podcast
Episode 10: From Fitness to Faith: A Holistic Coach’s Journey of Integration and Purpose with Atara Weisberger
[00:00:00] jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Atara, welcome. It is so wonderful to have you here with me. On your website, you have a line where you say, wellness is not a medical fix, but a way of living. And in talking with you, what health and wellness and exercise seemed to have been a part of your life from early on.
What, what was it about that that drew you so early, uh, in life,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: I mean, my family was always very outdoorsy. I grew up in Minnesota and we were always active and outside and it was pre-cell phones and I wasn't a television watcher and, you know, always kind of, we were always very active. But, um, in, I started running when I was in junior high and then I was a cheerleader in high school and I became a fitness instructor at like age 17. And I've been teaching ever since. I'm still teaching 30 plus years later. Um, and, uh, you know, so active, being active and [00:01:00] moving around was always like, I always considered myself to be an athlete. I always, it was just, it was just kind of part of my lifestyle, um, from a very young age. But I think that it was also like, I had a sense that it was not just a way to like. You know, look good and have something to do, but it really, I felt like it made a big difference in how my mind operated that being active really gave me kind of, it was always the one thing that no matter what was going on in my life could calm me down and center me. uh, and so that was just, that was something that like I always had in my life, so,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. What, what have you noticed, I guess jumping into this part since we are talking about exercise and nutrition and it is a passion of mine as well, what, what do you notice people that that have come to you over the years since you were younger to today? Most struggle with.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Ambivalence, wanting two things at the same [00:02:00] time. Like, I wanna get in shape, but I really wanna sleep in. I want to, I want this, but I also want that. think that's the number one thing. You know, I wanna quit smoking, but I really enjoy smoking. Right? So, or whatever. And I think that's the number one thing that people, that I've seen over the years that people struggle with is wanting those two opposite things at the same time. resolving for that ambivalence, which is normal, is a process that requires kind of a bigger picture overlaid on top of it. You know, we talk about in coaching all the time, right? Understanding your why, understanding what's important to you, understanding what do you want, even more than that, right? And uh, so I'd say that that's probably the number one thing that I've noticed. The other thing is, is that it's never about. Oftentimes the problem or the issue or what keeps them stuck isn't what they come in and present with. they come in and present like, I really want to get [00:03:00] fit, or I wanna lose weight, or I wanna have better sleeping hygiene, or I want to, whatever it is that they're, that they want to do. As we get into the actual behavior change piece of it, it becomes clear that there's something underpinning those habits to begin with. So you kind of have to back things out and back things out a little bit in order to really get at that, because those are strategies, right? We all have these living strategies and these coping strategies that we use, those strategies probably serve them at one point, and then they get to a point where they don't serve them so well anymore.
So we end up kind of backing into, you know, other aspects of the growth process, which is the part that I really love. So I.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah, I mean I speak to student coaches all the time and I tell them if it were, you know, what is the thing that folks are needing when they come to coaching? It's typically simple, you know, when it comes to health, nutrition, things like that, because.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Right?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: What is it? Exercise. The, the solution is just exercise.
Get up, do it, do the thing. What's a [00:04:00] solution? Eat healthier. Right? It's, it's quite straightforward. It's quite simple. And yet our, our mind is so complex and the habits, the belief systems, you know, all those things that we developed over the years are so ingrained that it's so difficult to do that simple thing, right?
for so many,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: It is. It is. And once it's a habit uprooting that habits are basically automation in your brain,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: right?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: and so uprooting that automation. Requires a lot of mindfulness and a lot of presence and a real focus on, on what you want next. uh, that's usually, that's the trick because, you know, a new behavior, it takes some time for it to, to become even familiar, let alone to replace an old habit, so to speak.
So
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: it's a, it's a process.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: What do you notice makes a difference between those that break through and those that stay remain stuck?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: [00:05:00] Wow. What a great question. Um, maybe the willingness to really be honest with themselves and in turn, to be honest with me, um, in the sessions at least, is to be able to say like to be able to really tap into. Why they came to me in the first place, what they most want. And to be honest about how they're feeling about their successes and their challenges along the way.
Being honest about when they, you know, if they set a goal for themselves when they kind of get tripped up by it. And, and to, and to be honest and open about that. Um, and to just kind of own the humanness of the process without getting discouraged, without beating themselves up, and just to stay present in the learning process.
I think that's the difference, you know, if you kind of take the hammer out and beat yourself with it every time you kind of fall short of whatever it [00:06:00] is you set out to do for yourself, it makes it harder, you know? And so I think it's just that, that compa self-compassion and, and kind of rigorous honesty, I think are two big pieces.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah. The third piece I would add to that, and you mentioned it before, is having a compelling why. Unfortunately, for so many people, it re, it require, they need sort of a, an activating event, you know, a health crisis, you know, something that happens in order for them to wake up. You know, it's very hard for people to be really proactive.
Because that why, you know, I think a lot of people live a just good enough sort of life. Their health is just good enough. They eat just good enough. They exercise or move just good enough, so to speak. For some people. Of course, some people are on the other end of that spectrum, but that kind of just good enough seems to be a, a challenge, you know, for folks that keep them, you know, stuck in poor patterns.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: And then you ask them what areas of your life is just good enough not Okay. And to figure that out, or help them figure [00:07:00] that out too. Because in all of our lives, we have areas where we're okay just being okay, whether it's health or it's relationship, or it's emotional or it's work or it's, you know, like, but most of us have an area where it's important to us to be superstars
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Kind of seeing if there's any connection between they're trying to go and areas of their life that they're not willing to be just good enough in is an interesting exploration also. So,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Feeling into it and trying to find out what those levers are for those people.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: yep. Exactly.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: What was your, what was your relationship to your spirituality growing up?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Hmm. So the family that, my family of origin, there was not, uh, it was not a spiritual household, let's just put it that way. and yet I, like, I didn't have a name for it at the time, but I was definitely a spiritual kid. I would say that nature was my. [00:08:00] Most powerful form of spirituality, nature, and music. Um, and, uh, if we end up, you know, getting to talk a little bit about how to soul, those are two of our, uh, two of the chapters in the book too. Um, about spirituality and nature and spirituality and music. Um, but I was always, um. I would say kind of intuition oriented, very oriented towards nature. I had spiritual outlets, but I didn't have a name for it as such. Um, and so there wasn't really any kind of spiritual context for me that was official. I mean, I sort of started to, like, I read certain books that I considered spiritual. I think the first spiritual book I read was a book called Many Lives, many Masters. I loved it. I was, I think I read it four times.
It was so compelling to me and this idea of, you know, that we can, that there's, you know, life after this one and that we can come back and we can be recreated and we get another chance. And like, all of that I thought was like so [00:09:00] fascinating. So I gravitated towards those. But I had no, no context or training or anything else.
Didn't know what to do with those feelings or what it was called. So that was kind of the, that was like that until my late twenties really.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Was Judaism part of your cult cultural life growing up before it became part of your life? Life later on?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Uh, yes and no. I mean, you know, I was raised in a house that kind of observed like three holiday days a year, and that was it. Otherwise, our life looked like everybody else's life that lived around us. Um, I mean, I knew that I, you know, I knew that I was Jewish and my parents were proud Jews and my, we were certainly, you know, very, you know, it was, it was, I, as you say, like a cultural framework to a certain extent.
But it had no practical import to my life. It didn't change, you know, anything that I did in my life, I just lived just like everybody else. [00:10:00] And so it, you know, there, there really wasn't, it didn't have any impact on me, truth be told. Uh, you know, in retrospect. So.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah. Can you describe the catalyst that sent you on a deeper journey?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Um, so I was living, uh, after graduate school. I moved out to Washington DC and I was living and working there, and I had traveled a lot and I had, know, been lots of different places, met lots of different people, and I definitely kind of had this sense like I didn't fully belong anywhere.
That was kind of the feeling that I had at the time. And I wasn't really searching. I mean, I had a good job and the person that I was, you know, my personal life that I was seeing was going well and I had friends and like, I wasn't, I didn't feel like I was like lacking overt that I could put my finger on, but I definitely felt like there's just that missing piece. Um, and then when I was in Washington, DC I [00:11:00] was working for an organization where we did urban greening projects and I was working in the public housing projects in Washington, DC. And there were a series of three things that happened within a short period of time in Washington. One is that I was outside during a drive-by shooting in Park Morton, which is the public housing complex where I was working. Everybody was fine, but it was a little terrifying. All the kids were fine. Everyone outside with me was fine. Uh, but that was very scary. Um, and then I'm a runner and I was on a running trail, a pretty public trail, but it was quiet. It was a day, it was quiet. I actually was assaulted on the trail. I was fine again, I got away.
Nothing happened to me. It was all okay, but another traumatic event. And my, and then there was a third piece to it. Um, but, uh, I said to myself at the time, I was like, I don't know what's going on. I just know I'm not supposed to be here. There's something. Something's [00:12:00] telling me that this is not the place for me, but I just didn't know where to go.
And soon after that happened, a close friend of mine that I grew up with in Minneapolis, um, told me about a program in Israel. And he had tried to kind of get me involved in, he had gone on to become more observant and or much more observant. And he was kind of trying to bring me along with him, you know, peripherally or whatever. And, uh, so he would send me different things and nothing really landed. And then at some point he said to me, you know what, I'd love for you to go on this program and I can send you for basically free to go to Israel for a month on this program. uh, I was like. Are you sure it's really free? Like, what's the catch here?
And he said, no, I think you really like it. It's all the things you like. It's travel, it's politics, it's, you know, it's, uh, meeting new people. It's like all the things that you like and there's some, you know, traditional learning that goes on also. And I was like, okay. So I took a leave of absence from my job.
I went to Israel for a [00:13:00] month I ended up staying there for a year and, uh, in different places. And, uh, and then back, moved my stuff outta Washington, DC put it in storage, and then went back to Israel again for a second year. Um, and spent another almost 12 months learning.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: What did you discover in that first month that made you wanna stay for another year and beyond?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: it was to date the most magical month of my life for sure. I met the deepest people I met. Other people who were seekers like me in ways that I didn't even know that I was, I felt like I was grounded in something that was so much bigger and so much deeper than anything I had ever experienced before.
And it was like in the air there. um, it was the first time in my life I was [00:14:00] 27 when I first went there. It was the first time in my life that I felt at home. And to this date, it's the, it's the place that I feel at home. And, uh, I go back and forth quite a bit and was there on October 7th and, uh, you know, have, have spent a lot of time there.
Um, and it was just this feeling that this is where I belong and it was. Was totally, there was nothing there that was familiar. It's not because I recognized anything. It's not because I recognized anybody. I didn't know anyone there. I mean, I met lots of people and, and, uh, you know, made, made friends there and all that.
But, but it's not 'cause it was familiar and yet it was utterly familiar to me. Like I had known it my whole soul existence. And that was very powerful,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Incredible. What did you begin to discover about yourself being there and living there?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: that I was part of a very, very, very old tradition. [00:15:00] And that, that our purpose li it was really like, what's, what's my purpose in life? And it completely and totally upended and reframed that purpose. And it didn't change who I was. It didn't make me different or have different interests. I just melded it like that.
That's an interesting part of it is like kind of melding what you want to take from pretation and figuring out how to synthesize it with during and post transformation. If there is such thing as post, I don't know that we're ever done. Right? We're never finished. We're just continuing. But from the point of perceived transition anyway is, is how do you, what do you keep? What do you take with you? What do you leave behind? And that was an interesting process and it was, uh, my approach was very different than a lot of the people around me who [00:16:00] I saw kind of really jettison a lot of who they were pre-transition, you know? And I was never really comfortable with that. Like there were things about my life and myself that I really liked and I wasn't really so interested in getting rid of those.
But I did want to add in all of the beauty that I saw in what I was experiencing. I dunno if that answered your question or if I just got off on a tangent.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: You did. You did. And I have a couple follow ups here. How did your, how did your family respond? So they weren't, uh, religious really, and now you have this awakening and this passion is ignited in inside of you. How did you communicate that to them and what did they respond to or how did they respond to that?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: I mean, they thought I was nuts. They really thought I was nuts. And it took them a few years to accept that this was like being an Orthodox Jew has a lot of, uh, ramifications in terms of lifestyle change. And they were really I think they [00:17:00] just chalked it up to some kind of phase. And 26 years later, I think they've realized that it's really not a phase. Um, so, you know, I wasn't married at the time yet, so it was really just like the only people who could react were friends and my parents and my sister. And, you know, they, uh, they definitely thought I was nuts. And they're like, why do you wanna do this? And they had lots of questions and lots of the same questions I had. and we would have some good discussions, you know, and now they're just, they're, they're very, you know, now I have kids who are adults and, and they're living the same lifestyle and as me, you know, and I think my family really sees. How they've turned out and, and, and are drawn to it, so.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: What were some of those questions they were asking you?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: A lot of questions about like, the role of women in Judaism
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Okay.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: what that looks like. Um, why, why we have, like, why we do the [00:18:00] things that we do, whether it's keeping the Sabbath or it's keeping kosher, or if it's like, why do we do those things? What's the rationale for them? Where does that all come from?
What is that? And we would have a lot of discussions and then they would ask more questions and, and you know, as long as they were curious, I was happy to converse with them. Never, ever wanted to push it on them. I would never, like spirituality as we know and believe is very much an individual choice. And our relationship with our creator is absolutely individual and our spirituality is individual and everybody has to find the path that resonates with them. But I was grateful for their curiosity. Um, once they decided that this wasn't a phase, which, you know, took a few years, then they started asking questions.
So was good.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: How, how long did it take you to become, I guess, orthodox?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Few years. I'm still working on it.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. And what, what does it mean to be orthodox in the tradition?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: [00:19:00] It means that you, um, it's like you really keep the traditional laws that are in the, what I guess is known as the Old Testament. Um, and it's just lots of different lifestyle pieces to it, but it's really, you know, keeping, keeping the major, the major tenants of, uh, of the Old Testament.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Was there any piece that was more challenging than others?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Oh, lots of them are challenging,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Like, like what?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: are challenging. I, so by nature I'm a really free spirit. And I'm not a great rule follower, which is of course the irony of the path I chose. and it, it was an adjustment, like just for example, I love travel and one of the biggest parts of travel for me is eating the foods wherever you go. Like that's, to me, that's, it's the people and the food and the scenery and right, and all the things. [00:20:00] and if you keep kosher, that really limits, you know, what you can do when you travel in terms of food. So like, something like that, I dress completely differently than I used to dress. Um, and some of the more like, um, human sensitive pieces of. observant Judaism. I really loved, like there's a real sensitivity to, there's a real, um, there's a real sensitivity to other people's feelings and being, you know, careful about how you behave and how you speak and, and how you act and, and all of that. And not saying everyone does a great job of that, but, but that's human as opposed to, you know, what the tradition says. And those things I found really beautiful. Lots of good insights into human nature. Some very powerful insights into human nature. Um, but, you know, some of the changing how I dress and changing how I eat and keeping the Sabbath on Saturdays, which also changes kind of what [00:21:00] you can do and where you can go and, and all of that.
Those were all, those were all challenges. Um, but I, you know, if, if you believe that something is true. That's again, the why, right? If you believe that, and if it resonates spiritually, then okay, so this is what you do. 'cause you have a bigger picture and you have a bigger value system that you're answering to.
So,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah. It's so beautiful. This is a very random, uh, superficial question, uh, but being that you're such a fitness, uh, enthusiast, how did that change how you dress running and, and working out and things like that? Did that change a lot?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: That's a great question. So it did, it does change what I wear, meaning like, I'm not gonna be out in a tank top and shorts, but I definitely dress more modestly running. But, but that's like one of the places where there are people who definitely would dress, um, even more modestly than I dressed, running.
But that's kind of one of those areas where I give myself a little bit of [00:22:00] leeway because. Like, I wanna feel like an athlete. I don't wanna feel like that. And what I wear definitely changes that. But like, you know, most things are pretty covered.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah, I would imagine,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Good question though.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: yeah. Just following,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: thought you were gonna go somewhere else with that question.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: tell me, I'm curious.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: I thought, I thought you were gonna say like, how did becoming observant? Did it, did it change the fact that I am active physically? uh, that's where I thought you were gonna go. And I was gonna say that the opposite is in fact true meaning that I brought fitness into my community. I opened up a women's fitness facility.
I've been coaching in the health and wellness space in my community for over 20 years. I actually did not the baby out with the bath water in almost anything that was meaningful to me. And fitness was one of those. Like when I first moved into this community in New Jersey, I was a marathon runner.
And, uh. I didn't always have time to get in the car, so I would definitely run through [00:23:00] the community sometimes, and this is non exaggeration, people would turn and look to see who was chasing me. 'cause they're like, why is this chick running down the road? Like, what's happening?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: And eventually now when you're in my community, like you see women running all over the place and it's amazing.
So big transformation there for the community also.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Times have changed. So you live in a predominantly Jewish community?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. And
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: are lots of other people around too, but yeah, it's primarily an Orthodox community.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Got it. Got it. Okay. So you, you mentioned that you didn't change in your core, but I would assume, given that you were still young, your orientation kind of shifted potentially
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Tell me what you mean by orientation.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: the direction of your life in terms of what, how, you know, how, where you wanted to take it. I wonder, I guess it did in part because you decided to move to Israel, so your orientation absolutely changed in that way. Uh, is there any other ways that it changed in terms of where you were, I guess, where you were heading [00:24:00] before Israel and where you started to head after?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: I think what really changed we, yes. Um, probably not exactly the answer that you would imagine, but so, um, my line of work was environmental work. So, that was, I went to graduate school for that and that was always gonna be, environmental science was kind of my focus headed out of graduate school, and that's what I was doing before I went to Israel. I did do some work around environmental issues in Israel also while I was there, which I really enjoyed. Um, but when I came back to New York after two years in Israel, um, I. a year later I got married. And so what really changed it was like starting to have kids. So I had, you know, three kids in four years and I was not necessarily the kind of person who ever thought that they would have kids.
That was not, I wasn't, you know, it's just not something that was like a life goal for me. But [00:25:00] through part of this transformation, you know, I came back, got married, had these three, ki had these three kids very quickly, and then I just needed more flexibility in my schedule. So at that point I became a personal trainer and, and a nutritionist, and opened up my own business and had lots of good flexibility for many years. So that was kind of more of the catalyst. But I still stayed in my wheelhouse. You know, my husband at the time said, you know, why don't you like, you need something more flexible. You can't keep doing the work that you're doing. You spend all this time working out. Why don't you just become a trainer? And I was like, yeah, solid idea. Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: sense.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: I did. And, uh, so that was really the refocus. And then eventually when the kids got bigger, opened up this fitness studio and it was really a wellness studio, not just a fitness studio, and kept that open for four years before doing Leon's program.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Incredible. How did becoming a mom change you?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Oh my gosh. [00:26:00] I mean it in every conceivable way.
I mean, if you wanna know like where your, where your buttons are that need to be worked on. You're about to have a baby, right?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: A second.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: first?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: My second. Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: you're already in the, in the chapter, so to speak.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Correct, correct.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: And how old is your first one?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Four. So not a teenager where they start really pressing the buttons. So
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Right, right.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: still young enough.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Being a parent's the greatest job you'll ever love to
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: old army saying, or whatever it was, you know?
I mean, it's just, uh, I, I just, it's an amazing, amazing journey and it just completely changes your whole orientation in life. it's like all of a sudden it's just not about you. And, uh, that just changes everything. But it's, it's the best job. I hear, I hear at work too, especially a lot like [00:27:00] people in their twenties and thirties, like they really don't wanna have kids.
I hear that all the time. I don't want kids, I don't want kids, I don't want kids. And I'm looking around at these people and thinking like, you're the people who should be having kids. Like, you know, you're like, you're, you're doing good and you have what to offer. And it seems like there's kind of that trend a little bit away from that, but, uh, but it's a beautiful adventure, so
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: It really is. It really is. It's a, it's a, every year that passes, it's a new chapter, a new challenge, a new opportunity, you know, discovering something new. Just seeing them grow and evolve. It's, uh, now I'm go going to, going through the experience of going from just one to two. And that's exciting. You know, it's, it's all, it's all fun, you know, it's, it's really, I'm loving it myself.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: What's your, what's your favorite thing to do? It's a girl or a boy. Your first one?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: My first as a boy, second as a girl. Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: so nice.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: favorite thing to do with him?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Uh, just play his games. He, he, he has such a creative mind, and so he's, whether it's being a Jedi [00:28:00] or pirate or
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Hmm.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: he, he loves that kind of stuff. Exploring swords, things like that. So roleplaying with him at home is awesome. You know, it's just
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: so fun.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: the lightness, the joy, the creativity.
It's, it's really a beautiful, um, thing to witness. You know, I just can sit there watching him, just, you know, uh, pretend to be one character and then be the other, and then get excited, and then jump here and jump there. It's, it's a really beautiful time.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: It's so nice to see their minds at work when they're unfettered
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yes. Yes.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: one's told them, you can't do this and you can't do that yet. You know?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. It's interesting actually, the other day he told my wife, I haven't heard it myself, that he's like, can you teach me how to dance? I don't know how to dance. We were both taken aback by that. Like where did he get that idea? Like what, he's so young. He just turned four a week ago. And I'm like, where in the world did he get that idea?
Because I, at least I remember being a very self-conscious kid, but that self-consciousness didn't really come until, you know, I was nine or 10,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Right.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: you know, at four. I was,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: [00:29:00] him?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: yeah. And he, he, he didn't really answer. And then we, we, you know, I started to get him excited about, you know, later we're gonna dance and we're gonna, you know, do this and do that.
And he, you know, that kind of oriented him to excitement again. But I'm very sensitive to, you know, the things that aed me as a little boy
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: making sure that I can support him in a way that I wasn't supported through those same, you know, uh, tribulations or trials or whatever. Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: It's a big gift to be able to, to have the, the, the self-reflection. To have the self-awareness know what you were experiencing and that you don't want the next generation, so to speak, to have to go through that. means that that was, that learning was, you know, gonna pay that forward.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah. And I'm sure what you're experiencing is no matter how good our parenting is, there's always things that our kids hold onto and, you know, things that they carry and have to work through, and that's, you know, [00:30:00] part of the human journey for everybody,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Right,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: no matter what, what is your relationship with that aspect of parenting?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: About that. There's always stuff that they're carrying,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah, just confronting your, your kids' own stuff that comes up as they grow.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Um. But there's stuff related to how I parented them or just their stuff in
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Whatever their stuff is, you know, everybody's stuff is different. Their self-consciousness, their resentments, their, you know, frustrations, you know, whatever that might be.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: I mean, that's where like, that's where so much of parenting, like the rubber hits the road in terms of parenting. Right. Because are the things where when we feel powerless or we feel responsible, or we feel lost, that we don't know how to guide them, right? In those situations, often where we make the parenting mistakes. And nice thing about. [00:31:00] Having kind of like the transformational coaching mindset, for example. And the awareness is, is this idea of allowing else's feelings and allowing somebody else's perspective without personalizing it, without driving all that inside you. Right? And to be able to maintain some kind of objectivity, not, I don't mean coldness, I don't mean we don't approach it with feeling, but I think we get into trouble as parents when we get scared that we don't have the answers or we don't know how to guide them, or we feel like we're being blamed or, and then it triggers our stuff.
And that's the thing about parenting is it's just like you really are constantly having to check in with yourself about how do I wanna respond? Sometimes we're aware of things like you are talking about some of the things you went through as a kid. Like you have an awareness of those, those are top of mind for you. [00:32:00] What about the parts of ourselves that we're not aware of? And then the first time a kid comes knocking on that door and it's like, what was that that I just felt right? It just takes high level self-awareness. Uh, I feel like to, you know, they're, they're, they're still gonna blame us for stuff.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Absolutely
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: it is.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: inevitable.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: it's gonna go.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Inevitable.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: It's
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: said that, you know, you, you, you kind of bucketed this under the, the bucket of parenting. But I would say, you know, that's not normal parenting. That's conscious parenting just 'cause most, I mean, at least my parents, a lot of parents that I saw growing up just, you know, parenting by default, parenting by survival, parenting by any means necessary, which is what, you know, they knew it wa there's no, there was no awareness of any other way and, and no, um, awareness that there was even something inside of them to work through or to be aware of, to manage, to regulate all those things.
And so.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Right,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: I am, I am grateful [00:33:00] for the generations that are now coming up, that there are a lot more conscious parents out there that have taken responsibility over their stuff and at least do the very best to, uh, cause as little harm, you know, in, in that relationship as is humanly possible. And if there is harm that is caused, at least there's an opportunity for repair because of the awareness that's there.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: right. Absolutely. I mean, I, I feel like relationships are really, I mean, unless somebody closes their heart, relationships can always be repaired. And I feel like the hurt can always be mended if both parties are open to that. Um, not easy, but, but I, I, I see you both. With my own parents and, and with older kids and all of that, that, that it really can always be healed.
There is always that possibility and that's a good thing to remember.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah, I, I wasn't necessarily gonna go here, [00:34:00] but this, this, your sharing, uh, connected me to this. One of the relationships that need most healing in this world is the Israel Palestine, you know, relationship that is happening. And you mentioned being in Israel on October 7th. What, first of all, what was that experience like for you?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: So I was into Jerusalem, um, and it was, uh, a Jewish holiday. It was the holiday in Hebrew week. It's called Sim Torah. And, um, I was staying in a friend's apartment and, um. I was sleeping. They had like the main, the main, uh, bedrooms on the main floor. And then downstairs was like a private room where I was staying. And, um, it was like seven o'clock in the morning. It was a Saturday morning, and I was woken up by what sounded to me like an ambulance. you know, when an ambulance siren comes, it comes in and then as it goes away, it fades. And this wasn't fading [00:35:00] and I realized it was an air raid siren, and I realized that there were missiles coming in. Um, so I ran upstairs and woke up the, the host family that I was staying with who had been friends of mine for a long time. They also have a home here in New Jersey. Um, and I said, I think every room, not every room, I'm sorry, many apartments and many homes in Israel have what they call a Ahmad, which is a bomb shelter.
One of the rooms, one of the bedrooms is usually a bombproof room. So I woke everybody up and I said, I think we need to go into the Ahmad. And so we did. you know, sirens kind of went on and off and on and off. And my daughter was also in Jerusalem at somebody else's house. And keep in mind that on the Sabbath, we don't use phones and we don't use cars, and we didn't know what was going on.
But slowly, slowly information started to kind of seep in. There were young, there were young guys who are coming out of synagogue that morning, and we saw them go home and put their, [00:36:00] you know, their gear on and get on buses and be taken down south, but nobody really knew what had happened. and so once things kind of quieted down, you know, in terms of like the bombs and all of that, so then we started to realize, and it took a couple of days before we really knew how bad the massacre really was, um, and what had happened and how much, much had. How much horror had really gone on. and then, you know, the country was just kind of on lockdown for a couple weeks after that. Um, 'cause no, you know, nobody really knew what was happening, what was gonna be. So that was, uh, my, my daughter was there, but somewhere else and I didn't know if she was okay or she wasn't okay or whatever. So we basically ended up walking around Jerusalem for hours trying to figure out if I could remember where she told me that she was gonna be staying. but you can't stray too far [00:37:00] just because sirens go off, you gotta find a, a bomb shelter. So was what that was like,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. How, I mean this, this is an impossible question to to answer, but how do we begin healing the rupture that is this relationship between these communities?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: you know, it would be such arrogance for me to say that I know the answer to that. I mean, great minds thought about this question, the Middle East question, and people who simplify this don't really understand the, the situation and how complicated it actually is. I think there's, it's really important to distinguish between terror and regular people like that the world is kind of denying that there are [00:38:00] actual terrorists and doing horrible things that have nothing to do with, you know, it doesn't matter what your reasons are. Slaughtering people and raping people and murdering people. Like, there is no reason for that. I think we have to distinguish between people who are just trying to survive and people whose mission it is to wreak havoc on the world and to, to do horrible things to other people, no matter what the reason is.
It's never justified. you know, it's, but, but it's so complicated and I, I, I really don't know.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: don't know.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: yeah. Yeah. It almost feels like there's not much to do other than, you know, we, in deep coaching, you hold the space for whatever wants to arise, and it's, I, you know, I default just holding space, holding space, holding space. We, we, we don't know where the opportunity lies and nobody does, [00:39:00] and. All we really can do is continue to hold space within our hearts for others, for the suffering.
And it's not easy because it's painful for everybody involved. There's a lot of suffering and unfortunate suffering everywhere. But man, yeah, this is just, um, it's gone beyond a Middle East thing. It's just a collective human, uh, crisis that, um, and pain bo the pain body is just there sent, you know, in that region.
Just so strong, you know? And, um, yeah, I don't know. Just one, one would hope that, um, eventually we find some light at the end of the tunnel in some sort of way that love somehow enters into, into everyone's heart. And, and we find a way forward.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: It's interesting because, you know, I, I think especially a lot of us with our kind of spiritual radar up, you know, I, I think you, there is a [00:40:00] sense of everything shifting, like, and shifting quickly. you know, I sort of feel like can hang on to the old tree and it's just gonna keep shaking and do we kind of let go that tree and see like if there are kind of greener pastures out there?
Meaning that there's changes is so rapid and so intense all around us. And I think the holding space idea is kind of the spiritual space right now. Not taking sides, not trying to force an outcome, not yes, it's like continuing to, to root for humanity, right? To continue to root for what is good about humanity [00:41:00] and what our potential is to be good. but. I, I, I think that there's, there's a kind of a general groundswell of change and that idea of just not holding on too tightly to anything may be ultimately the way that we survive all of these changes,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. And it's the scariest thing to do for folks involved in it.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: So it's scary. It's scary to let go of, like, you know, it's scary to be in that animated suspension place for sure.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Definitely.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: And especially when, when, I mean, just, there's so many parallels, but you know, the, when, when one goes through a spiritual upheaval, the, the old identities tend to fall away and new ones come. And so that, that feels tumultuous. And, and, and in this particular case, suspending sort of control feels like, you know, our physical bodies are at risk.
And in some ways they, and I'm not saying our, our physical [00:42:00] bodies, their physical body, the ones that are actually there physically are at risk. And that, that, you know, becomes a lot harder. You know, that's in our very, you know, the, the deepest part of our brains in the amygdala, it's like fight or flight.
We need to hold onto control or else we're doomed. And so how do you bypass that? You know, that's.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: think the people on the ground there can bypass it. I'm not talking about them. The, the, I'm thinking for those of us who are, who are kind of on the outside, or bystanders or, you know, onlookers, that's really what it is. Like, you know, reading something in a newspaper, reading something on TikTok doesn't make it.
So,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Right.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: you know, I've had a lot of discussions with people who have never been to the Middle East and have very, very strong opinions about what's going on there. And my answer to them is go, go see for yourself. If you wanna talk knowledgeably about [00:43:00] something,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: see it. see what's happening, go see what it's like in Gaza, go see what it's like in Israel.
Go see what, what's going on there and what the dynamic really is. And you know, just because there, there isn't any better source of information than firsthand information.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: you know, I just always encourage people because it's, you just have to see it to believe it, you know? And that what we read and what we hear and what gets kind of talked about and isn't always what it actually is.
And, uh, you know, good people on both sides and not so good people on both sides. And, know, but if I knew the way forward, I would, uh, you know, I'd run for some kind of office,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Oh man. Oh man.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: you know?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Do something about it for sure. Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Exactly.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Where and how. Yeah,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: questions,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: yeah,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: you.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: yeah. You're welcome. You're welcome.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Where and how did Deep [00:44:00] coaching come into your life?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: So after I
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: I.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: fitness studio, I, I knew I wanted to stay with some kind of coaching, but I, I was sort of wanting to move away from the focus on physical wellness and I really, I felt myself changing, know, I was like, my kids were getting bigger and, and I just was kind of growing up more and, and I just really like, wanted to, I found that the, the most fulfilling part of my work, even if I am working as a coach in kind of the physical wellness space, was. Those aha moments where somebody realized something about themselves, not just like, oh, okay, this is your goal for the week and okay, you hit your goal and you exercised three times and you, you know, ate your vegetables and you, whatever it is, is like the moments where somebody felt proud of themselves, the moment where they realized something, where they had those moments. Those were my favorite. And I was like, how [00:45:00] do I get more of that? And I literally did a Google search. I looked up like spiritual coaching or something like that, and I was like, there's no way I'm gonna find something. is silly. Right. And then I think it was probably the second thing I saw was from Leon and, uh, from the Center for Transformational Coaching. I started reading through it and I was like, dang, this is it. This is it. And, uh, called the center and found out a little bit more about it. And I was like. You know, you're in the right place where it's not just that you want to teach it, but you wanna be it.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: And I was like, I want to experience that. I want to experience what it means to move from the, you know, our transactional coaching into transformational coaching, which means that I have to go from being transactional with myself to transformational in my own mindset inside. And I was like, I just loved it. I loved the chorus. I thought the [00:46:00] instructors were, you know, not that this is an advertisement for the center, but, but I'm gonna plug it anyway, you know? And, uh, it was, it was just phenomenal. And, uh, yeah, I loved it.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. And in what ways have has the impact of that course? How, how did it change the way you held space in your coaching?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Oh gosh. It really makes
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: I.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: feel the value of supportive silence for somebody. Their process and the idea of creating a healing space that doesn't even need words. That it's just like really being in that circle with that person or with the people is just, that was something I just really worked on. And you know, you can do it even in [00:47:00] just conversations with people. It doesn't have to be in a coaching session, but to just be present in a very real way without an agenda. And that took a ton. It's still takes practice because, you know, like my career was telling people kinda what to do for 20 years, you know what I mean? And uh, and this was a whole different animal.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: What? Yeah. What was it like the practical side of holding that part of you at bay when you're working with someone?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Um. It actually was, it was easier than I thought it was gonna be. That's really the truth. I mean, it was like I was ready for it because overall, I've been embracing silence a lot more in my life. The older I get, the less I wanna talk, to what, what this interview might seem like, you know? But, uh, but the older I get, the less I wanna talk and the more I wanna listen.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: it wasn't all that [00:48:00] hard. I, you know, like I, I wanna hear other people and I've, I've, I've figured out that I don't learn anything when I'm talking. I learned things when I'm listening. And so it wasn't that bad 'cause I really wanted it and I was ready for it. And I appreciated people who I saw were able to do it. So,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Had a soul. Tell me more about that.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Mm. That's my fourth child. Yeah. So how to soul, um, how to soul came about because yes, as a result of some of the changes that I was making in coaching, but it was really having that sense, kind of what we're talking about, about all the change that's going on in the world, having the sense that people were increasingly disconnected from their authentic selves, and not everyone's gonna go to transformational coaching. [00:49:00] And I think that a lot of the suffering that people are dealing with now is really a result of a disconnect from themselves. And when you're disconnected from yourself, it's very hard to be connected to others in an authentic way. And if we can heal that, if we can, if. Get to a place where we understand who we are.
We understand what our mission and our purpose are, and we understand that everybody has, has a soul, that that's what everybody actually is. It completely transforms the way your relationships look, the way you deal with stress, the way you see life challenges, uh, the way you process information, because you're filtering it through something so different.
So opposite from ego, Like, [00:50:00] think about what it looks like when you filter something through your ego and when you filter something through your soul, like one, one is, one is like, I like to think of one as like abundant, right? The soul is abundant. What I, everything that I need, I have everything that you need.
You have. And if you have it and I don't, then I don't need it, And the pie in the spiritual world is infinite when you're living in that ego space. It's finite. The more you have, the less there is for me.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Hmm.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: And so the way you process information becomes completely different, or scenarios or, know, one of the examples I give in the book is over the years, lots of people have come to me for help to like get certified open businesses in the field.
Uh, whether it was like fitness or it was wellness coaching or whatever. And my perspective is like from a spiritual perspective, people had said to me, but they're gonna be in your own town. Like they're gonna be competition. And I said, like, in the spiritual world, there's no such thing as competition. [00:51:00] meant to be mine is gonna be mine. Whatever's meant to be yours is gonna be yours. And I'm never gonna be penalized on the spiritual level for helping another person make a living. It's just not the way the universe works in my humble opinion. But if you're coming from an ego place, it's like, no, I don't have time.
And I had this experience recently, actually, someone else who wrote a book in the same genre as me, someone directed me to her she thought that I was originally contacting her about her book. And um, and so she was like very open, very friendly, whatever. When I told her that someone directed me to her that maybe we could collab for both of our books, she stopped returning my calls. And I thought to myself, like, when you're living in an ego space like that, then you're running scared all the time.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Hmm.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: so to help people, the book is really about helping people understand like, who are you [00:52:00] actually, what's the piece of you that's, that's, that's. It's gonna be around for eternity. What's the piece of you that is connected to truth and connected to peace and connected to goodness and becomes your anchor and, and the glasses through which you filter everything, including yourself and your relationships with other people.
So whole here means your relationships are, are much more whole out there. And that's where How to Soul was born.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: It's incredible. Incredible. What, what do you speak to in the book about how to remain, uh, connected to the soul as you move through life, right? Disruptions happen, things happen, activating events, whatever it might be. How does one remain rooted in the soul?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: So we have lots of exercises and meditations, in the book, but also the, the last, so the first half of the book is really establishing like, what, what is the voice of the soul? What does that sound like? How do you know when you get there? How do you know what, how [00:53:00] do you know when you're experiencing that?
What to look for and, and you know, what evidence we have, so to speak, that who we fundamentally are as a soul. So that's the first half of the book. second half of the book are all of the resources that the divine has given us in the physical world that our channels for spirituality, nature, food, movement, parenting, these are all separate chapters of the book.
They go into the spiritual sources for. Those being vehicles for us to connect and then ideas for how to actually tap into those resources in order to stay connected.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Hmm. You wrote this book with Rabbi Dove Lipman. Right. What was your, what was the decision? How did you get to co-write this book with him?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: So we, I, [00:54:00] such an interesting story. He posted something on LinkedIn and I'm not someone who spends much time like I try, uh, I don't particularly enjoy social media. I use it for my business, but I don't really enjoy it so much. Um, but it's like one of those necessary things, whatever. But he posted something on, he, so he was a member of the Parliament in Israel, uh, he was like the first American born, uh. Member of Parliament in Israel in like 30 years. Um, but he was in Jewish education before that and very, you know, very learned. um, he posted something about Israel on his LinkedIn page and we had actually been at a summer camp unbeknownst to us together many, many years before that. And, uh, he posted something and I commented on it, I think he must have recognized, must have recognized my name from camp. And he reached out and he is like, oh, I think we know each other. And we had a conversation and he saw that I was into wellness and he was very interested in the fact that [00:55:00] the Orthodox community is so far behind, less so now, but at the time, you know, he felt like they were so far behind and what was I doing to kind of, you know, bring, bring the community up to speed in terms of health and wellness. And so we had a bunch of conversations about it and he said like, did you ever think about like writing a book? And I was like, well, yeah, like a million times but haven't done it. Um, and I said, the truth is, is that I would want to bring in, you know, biblical sources into that. he said, what if we write it together? And he'd work on the biblical sources and all from the original Hebrew, translated from original Hebrew. and I would kind of do a lot of the writing around it. So uh, we wrote two separate manuscripts. So the first manuscript was called Food Mood, and God. That was the first manuscript sent off to a developmental editor she looked at it and said that of all the things in the first [00:56:00] manuscript that we wrote, the pieces that she liked the most, she is not Jewish.
She's a professor from the University of Minnesota. And she said, these biblical sources that you have and the work and the, the chapters about the soul are the most unique and the most compelling. So we wrote an entirely with her help, we wrote an entirely separate manuscript, which became How to Soul. So it kind of had two, two totally different iterations.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Unbelievable. So you mentioned that this was your fourth child. Uh, what was the birthing process like with this fourth child? Co-writing it with someone? Did it feel, what did it feel like for you?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Well, it, I mean, writing to me is like. I mean, I, if I could sit and write all day for a living, I'd be a very, very happy lady. Uh, it just doesn't pay that much. So, um,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: I.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: but it was amazing. I loved it. So we didn't meet [00:57:00] in person, like, we worked from 6,000 miles away for almost two years before we actually were in the same room together. we wrote the entire first manuscript virtually. And then once we started working with this development editor and started looking for publishers and things like that, so then, you know, I would occasionally go to Israel. He would occasionally come to America, and we kind of worked that way. But it was funny because I would write and then it would be the middle of the night in Israel.
And so then the next day he would edit what I wrote. Then he'd write, then I'd edit what he wrote. And it was like this, it was like this brain back and forth. That was, it was, it was awesome.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: It was really awesome.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: It works. It works. You know, we, we have a global team at the center and we have folks in different time zones and you know, like you said, somebody picks it up in the, in the morning, their morning, then somebody leaves it by their evening, somebody else picks it up in their morning and it, it's like a baton being handed off [00:58:00] day by day.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Isn't that cool?
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. It's amazing.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: like a cool thing, and then you wake up the next day and you're like, oh, wow, it's done.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Cool.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: I dunno, I just went to sleep, woke up and it's there.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Awesome.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Love that.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: you've had a, um, just a really kind of winding career, but, but focused, you know, as well, you know, just building piece by piece. What advice would you give, um, coaches coming into the industry as they build their own practices and they try to make something of it, you know, um, I know it's a general question, but what general advice might you give someone?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: So there's. The art, and then there's the business of the art. And you can be an amazing, amazing coach. But the reality of it is, is that either you need to have a business partner [00:59:00] or it, it, I think the hardest thing that I see, the, the thing I see coaches struggle with the most is that piece of the business of coaching. Um, yes, hone your coaching skills, that's really important, but have like, spend some real time figuring out what your niche is gonna be. Like, the niche that speaks to you the most. Everybody's a coach these days. There's a coach for everything, right? And some are well-trained, some are not well-trained, which has an impact on our industry for sure. Um, but so get very clear. Or to the extent that you can on what kind of change you wanna make, what speaks to you what, but then you have to dovetail that with what is there a market for? So it's not always so fun to think in those practical terms, but it's necessary because if you [01:00:00] wanna keep doing your work, you have to think about the business stuff and getting educated, like getting good certifications and getting educated.
So you are one of the ones who is well trained, practicing your skills, and then really thinking like going inside and thinking about what, what resonates the most in terms of what I want to help people with, and where does that dovetail with, what is there a market for? I would say those, those few things.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. And there's so much resistance, uh, from student coaches or coaches coming into the industry to niche down. They see it as a limitation, and yet it's the, the only thing that will help them to, to stand out, like you said, in a, in a really saturated market,
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: right.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: you know?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: And it helps you focus it, it helps the coach themselves know who they're targeting. It's not just, it works in both directions,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Correct, correct.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: it's not just, okay, so then you narrow down [01:01:00] who you're gonna draw, but you also can focus on you're doing your outreach to and how, and go right to those places where those people are.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: That's right.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: uh, so it kind of swings in both directions. But it's hard because
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: know, not all of us who are good at our craft are good at the, the business of the craft.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. But at least in identifying you're so right and in, in identifying the niche. Because a lot of people think, you know, okay, I am a coach. I need to market. Marketing means social media. Social media means I have to post, you know, post videos, post content all the time. Sure. That that's one way to do it.
But if you understand who your niche is, you can very well meet those niches in person, in your, the city that you live in. Form relationships. You can get quite creative once you understand who your audience is, what their pain points are, and meet them where they are in ways that serve you and serve where you are in your developmental journey as a business owner.
You know?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: for sure. Like if you're, let's say you're a [01:02:00] cancer coach, you may never need to put anything ever on social media. If you build relationships with oncologists
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: That's right. That's
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: relationships with the cancer support community or whatever,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: right.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: it, it could be that you, all you need is access to a public library for your niche.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Sorry, I'm just gonna take a drink.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. All good.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: so you know, social media is one way, but as you say, it is, by no means the only way, and niching down is, is definitely a, a good idea
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Yeah. Yeah. As we wind down this conversation, if you can leave listeners with one invitation, so something that they can reflect on our practice in their own transformational journeys, what might that be?
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Hmm. Oh, good question. I think [01:03:00] learning to distinguish between the voice of the soul and the voice of the ego is, is a very worthwhile venture. And to be able to get quiet and find your center. To be able to tap into that place inside you always there and always accessible no matter what's going on, no matter where you are, no matter what's swirling around you, is, is to things that help ground you in that innermost part of yourself, that inner knowing and the inner calm and the inner peace, um, because it's just with you at all times and it becomes an anchor with time. Um, and so many, so [01:04:00] much of our wisdom is housed there in our hearts, in our souls. uh, I think the world will look a lot different if more of us are, are spending more time in that space.
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: Beautifully said, Atara. Thank you so much. it really is so clear that you're someone who not only has done the work, but is living the work, and most importantly, giving back to the world in your own way, in your own niche, in your own corner of the universe, and doing so with such heart, with such soul.
And yeah, it's really an honor to get to know you and appreciate your time and, everything that you're doing.
atara-weisberger_1_08-19-2025_171450: Likewise. I love the conversation. Thank you so much. Thank you for your time and your amazing questions. And, good luck with everything at the center. It's, uh, it is a transformational place,
jonathan-_1_08-19-2025_171450: