Jesse Hile didn't set out to build a coaching practice through strategy. His first client came because he showed up as himself — open, vulnerable, genuinely present — in a conversation with no agenda. That's still how he works today.

Jesse is an executive and performance coach, founder of Next Level Guidance, and also runs an education technology company serving underserved schools in Detroit and Indianapolis. In this conversation, he and James explore what it actually means to serve the conversation rather than the outcome — why the moment you start thinking about getting a client from a conversation is the moment you stop being fully in it, and what becomes possible when you let go of the result entirely and just show up for the person in front of you.

They get into the importance of listening to the specific language someone uses — ...