About Jim and Emily
Who We Are and What We Bring to Our Clients
We are a married couple who strive to live the very experience that many couples seek – a deeply vulnerable and intimate partnership. This is not easy; it's a lot of work. But by “walking the walk” we can relate to our clients' struggles and are able to respond from a place of informed, loving empathy, and respect. We are deeply honored by our client's trust in us. We strive to help them achieve their dream relationships.
[Read the full story of our unusual romantic journey (as posted on Facebook) at the bottom of this page.]
About EMILY LIU
Emily is the Founder of Soar to Greatness Now LLC (the predecessor of Epic Love Institute), a spiritual teacher and healer, Self-leadership expert, and the author of two books: “How to Permanently Erase Negative Self-Talk: So You Can Be Extraordinary” [2015] and “CLIMAX: Why Great Leaders Need Love Affairs (an enlightening leadership fable” [2020]. Emily is Level 1, 2, and 3 trained in the evidence-based Internal Family Systems (IFS) Self-leadership healing model and has been a Program Assistant in IFS Level 1 training. In addition, she has advanced training in Intimacy From the Inside-Out (IFIO) couples therapy modality (developed by Senior IFS trainer, Toni Herbine-Blank) that is based on the foundational IFS teachings.
Emily has been using IFS (as well as other modalities) since 2013 to guide couples and singles to heal the wounds that cause the bad patterns so they can achieve greater intimacy and spiritual depth in their relationships. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur in 2012 and finding her life’s calling as a relationship coach and healer, Emily was a pharmaceutical sales rep for Pfizer for 27 years. Emily has a B.S. in Nutrition from Cornell University.
About JIM GRIFFETH
Jim retired from a 37-year career as a high-tech executive, visionary, and entrepreneur. He founded companies and also led teams at established technology companies to achieve extraordinary results. As an Electrical Engineer with a B.S. from Brown University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, Jim imagined a very different kind of retirement; he was surprised and delighted to discover his calling to an encore career coaching couples and singles to achieve their dream relationships. Like Emily, Jim's coaching is informed by having had years of healing IFS therapy and he is Level 1 and 2 trained in the Internal Family Systems model.
Jim and Emily's Story
Jim and Emily met the old-fashioned way – through an online dating app. :) Their relationship accelerated quickly because they shared the language of the Internal Family Systems (IFS) healing and Self-leadership model. The IFS framework allowed Jim and Emily to safely have difficult and vulnerable conversations early in their relationship, thereby helping them build deep intimacy very quickly. In the first 4 months of dating, they successfully navigated 14 difficult conversations! They teach you how to have vulnerable and hard conversations so you can build a deeper connection with your partner.
As Jim and Emily's relationship progressed, Jim brainstormed with Emily for her YouTube videos about how to talk about getting relationships right. These discussions led Jim to realize that he could add tremendous value to Emily's business. In Month #3 of dating, the opportunity to join forces "accidentally" landed on their laps. So, Jim and Emily joined forces to create Epic Love Institute, with a mission to help couples and singles over 40 achieve the one thing that really matters: to be seen and heard at the deepest level with a great emotional, physical, and spiritual connection.
What Our Collaboration Means for You
Together, we bring both the man’s and woman’s perspectives to coaching our clients, especially the challenging dynamic where one person is the "thinker" and the other is the "feeler." (Jim is the logical "thinker" and Emily is the emotional "feeler.) Because we are not therapists, we are not bound by the rules that therapists must follow. In the patient/therapist hierarchy model, clients seldom learn anything about the therapist -- who they are, and what they have struggled with. You don't even know if they have achieved their dream intimate relationship filled with multi-dimensional intimacy. In contrast, when appropriate, our coaching model allows us to share with clients our personal relationship journey and how we have navigated similar challenges they come to us with. Thus, clients relate to us as equals and we can guide them to a depth they've never experienced before. We have climbed the steep "intimacy mountain" and we show our clients how to do the same.
