Amanda Bennallack Co Founder at Retune.life

Who are you and what business did you start?

Personal Development Coach. Founder of Retune.life – “Helping couples reconnect and build emotional intimacy.”

What’s your backstory and how did you come up with the idea?

I have had 3 long term relationships all of which were different and had issues that I realised I had contributed to, due to my upbringing. I was attracting the people and men in my life that psychologically I had unfinished business, the lessons in my life I needed to learn and move past. Studying Behavioural Psychology not only personally helped myself, it changed the trajectory of my own life.

In coaching individuals I discovered the common thread in their unhappiness was experiencing disconnection in their personal relationships. The miscommunication causing arguments and feeling stuck in unfulfilling marriages was due to the lack of awareness of what they can do better to help themselves. When we heal ourselves and make incremental changes, over time the ripple affect is great changes in our lives.

Extending my knowledge by formally studying Emotional Intimacy, I had the blueprint to help people build a healthy relationship with themselves and their partners, that was missing before.

I recently married an exceptionally emotionally intelligent man and together we’ve been applying our combined coaching knowledge, which led to the creation of Retune.Life. We realised that there isn’t much information for couples, especially a workshop facilitated by a couple who’ve done the hard yards, with over 70 years of combined relationship experience .. not all of it good! 🙂

The power of these communication skills enables couples to have a much better understanding of each other’s perspectives, to build the emotional connection they desire. We don’t know when we’re trapped in a behavioural pattern, which is creating the downward spiral in our relationship. With awareness and the right communications skills, we can repair and build a strong and deeply loving relationship.

It’s very gratifying to help couples be the best versions of themselves and demonstrate a healthy relationship for their children to model. Sadly, it is the dysfunction we experience in childhood that plays out again and again in our adult relationships. With implementing better ways to experience life, we can make great positive change in ourselves, which reflects in our families and our communities.

Helping make a better world, one couple at a time.

Describe the process of launching the business.

In September 2020, we built a mind map of what we knew in context to relationships. The bite sized chunks of learnings became a 2 day face to face workshop for couples which we launched in January 2021. During that time we consolidated our branding, purpose, mission, vision and values, as well as created all the workshop content, handouts and detailed running sheet, with the intention that we could eventually franchise the model. The website was launched in February after the successful January pilot.

Since launch, what has worked to attract and retain customers?

Referrals from clients and previous attendees are valuable due to the sensitive nature of our our work. We post relationship help ‘snippet’ videos on our retune.life Facebook and LinkedIn pages, to raise awareness and offer value.

How are you doing today and what does the future look like?

The extended lockdown in NSW has prevented our face to face workshops, so we have focused on 1:1 couple coaching via Zoom, as well as pivoting to create an on-line multi-module program to be launched next year. We intend for our on-line program to be available both locally and internationally, have selected the teaching platform and are about to undergo a formal strategic marketing and branding analysis.

We hear of many, many couples who have struggled during COVID and are confident from the excellent reviews, feedback and video testimonials we’ve received so far, that Retune will add significant value to couples who want to reignite the spark in their relationship.

Through starting the business, have you learned anything particularly helpful or advantageous?

Ideas are great, but it’s the planning, commitment and focus on implementation to bring a great idea to fruition, where the hard work is required.

It also helps to have a business coach or mentor, to hold us accountable for implementation.

What platform/tools do you use for your business?

Xero, PipeDrive CRM, Google Business (storage, sharing documents etc), various audio and video production software, Zoom, Canva.

What have been the most influential books, podcasts, or other resources?

We base our content on 45 yrs of science-based research from The Gottman Institute’s Love Lab, founded by John & Julie Gottman, The Imago Method from Harville Hendrix & Helen LaKelly Hunt, Esther Perel (a world renowned relationship coach) and some excellent TED and TEDx talks on relationships, intimacy and sex. The ‘Shame’ and ‘Power of Vulnerability’ research by Bren Brown.

Books:
Emotional Intimacy – by Robert Augustus Masters
Developing Habits for Relationship Success – by Brent J Atkinson
Attachment Theory – by Carl Rogers
Passionate Marriage – by David Schnarch
We: The Psychology of Romantic Love – by Robert A Johnson
Man Unplugged: Exploring The Inner Man – by John Broadbent

Advice for other entrepreneurs who want to get started or are just starting out?

Be patient with yourself, have a plan and invest in a business coach or mentor!

Where can we go to learn more?

www.retune.life