The Coach Behind the Coaching Breakthrough: Sharn Rayner's Story of Reframe and Resilience

In this episode of The Love of Coaching, Sam sits down with her ANZCAL business partner Sharn Rayner - Master Trainer Coach, strategist, and now published author - for a conversation that moves between the tender and the tactical. Sharn walks us through the pinnacle moments that shaped her: a lifelong pull toward curiosity, a career built across sports coaching, strategy and leadership, and a breast cancer diagnosis she met not with panic, but with a plan.

She opens up about what reframing actually looks like when it's not performative - the quiet, deliberate work of choosing growth over dwelling, milestone by milestone, even when life throws the biggest curveballs.

The conversation also traces the friendship that's grown alongside Sam and Sharn's business partnership, and dives into Sharn's brand-new book, Behind The Coaching Breakthroughs - What Master Business Coaches Do Differently written to help talented coaches stop being invisible in their market and start building sustainable, differentiated businesses.

From the frameworks Sharn brings into her client work to her belief that the world simply needs more coaches, this episode is a masterclass in resilience, strategy, and staying true to your own path, even when you can't always see where it's leading.

5 Key Points

1. The cancer diagnosis, met with a plan, not panic. When her surgeon delivered the diagnosis, Sharn's first instinct was strategy. She reverse-engineered milestones (surgery, treatment, recovery, even a holiday on the other side) so she could stay grounded in the present, and in doing so, she ended up steadying her husband and family through it too.
2. Reframing is a lived skill, not a personality trait. Sharn shares that her ability to find opportunity in hardship - from a difficult childhood to breast cancer - isn't a "pretend" positivity. It's a conscious practice she's built and continues to actively work at, even admitting she has to talk herself through moments of overwhelm (like her book hitting #1 on Amazon).
3. The friendship behind the business partnership. Sam and Sharn open up about how their working relationship at ANZCAL evolved into a genuine friendship - built on complementary strengths (Sam's big-picture vision, Sharn's strategic execution) and a shared commitment to legacy and meaningful impact in the coaching industry.
4. Why she wrote Behind The Coaching Breakthroughs. Sharn didn't set out to be an author - the book grew out of years of working with coaches who were brilliant at their craft but invisible in their market, unsure how to differentiate themselves or charge what they're worth. Her mission: the world needs more coaches, and fewer of them should be leaving the industry because it doesn't feel viable.
5. Frameworks as a coaching superpower. Sharn encourages coaches to build their own frameworks rather than borrow someone else's - arguing that original thought leadership (like her own "PROMISE" framework) is one of the clearest ways coaches can stand out and create client breakthroughs.

To learn from Sharn you can head to her website twotidesconsulting.co.nz or reach out to Sharn on Linkedin

If you're a coach interested in becoming accreditated with ANZCAL - head to our website www.anzcal.org - we'd love to hear from you.