What if the relationships that are considered unconventional could teach every couple the skills that matter most: honesty, boundaries, and the art of repairing after things go wrong?
Every relationship, whatever its shape, runs on the same two engines: clear communication and the ability to come back together after a rupture. But most of us were never taught either one. We inherit our assumptions about love, we leave our expectations unspoken, and then we’re surprised when misunderstandings pile up into distance. There’s a paradox at the heart of it all: we long to be deeply connected AND fully ourselves, and nobody hands us the manual for doing both at once.
That’s why I was excited to talk with Candace Klein, a corporate executive, attorney, and relationship coach who focuses on emotional resilience and repair in all kinds of relationships. Candace is the author of Polyagony: The Art of Repair in Open Relating, and I’ll be upfront with you: this conversation lives openly in the world of polyamory and other non-traditional relationships. Candace speaks from that world with articulate care and real-world stories from her own life.
If those relationship styles are far from your own life, I invite you to listen anyway, because the skills she describes are the ones every relationship runs on: honesty before the conflict, boundaries that actually hold (and what to do if they don’t!), and communication clear enough that ruptures become doorways to deeper connection.
Here’s what you’ll get out of listening:
– The story behind Polyagony and Candace’s own journey, and what it taught her about every relationship
– The most common pitfalls when people open up, emotionally or structurally, and how to see them coming
– Where relationships of every shape most often fall apart
– The role clear communication plays in preventing misunderstandings before they start
– Practical strategies for honesty and healthy boundaries you can use in any relationship
– How to cultivate the emotional resilience that turns conflict into repair and repair into deeper intimacy
– Grounded advice, and real hope, for anyone considering a major relational shift or renegotiation
You can visit Polyagony to learn more about her book and download her free Group Dynamics ebook.
Candace’s Youtube channel is: www.youtube.com/@candaceklein9499
More about Candace Klein:
Candace Klein is a lawyer, entrepreneur, and transformational leader whose work spans finance, technology, and human development. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio, she graduated from the Salmon P. Chase College of Law and practiced law before founding and leading multiple mission-driven companies. She served as CEO of Bad Girl Ventures, a microfinance firm investing in female founders, and later founded Somolend, one of the first nationally available crowdfunding platforms. Through this work, Candace played a key role in shaping the JOBS Act, the legislation that made securities-based crowdfunding legal in the United States.
Over the past fifteen years, Candace has served in senior executive and C-suite roles across venture-backed startups and global payments companies, including Chief Commercial Officer of Lynx, a healthcare payments company, and Senior Vice President of Embedded Finance at FIS, a global payments firm with more than 66,000 employees.
She is also the former co-author of Typhoon Honey: The Only Way Out Is Through, a book on emotional intelligence and transformational growth.
Today, Candace leads The Liberation Company, where she facilitates emotional intelligence, somatic healing, and identity-based workshops designed to support deep personal and collective transformation. She lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with her husband Andrew, their son Ivar, and their two dogs, Pan and Cinde.
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