Chris Woods is a Certified Professional Coach and the author of the book "Balls & Brains: A framework for living your best life by overcoming fears and maximizing strengths." "Balls & Brains" is a no-nonsense, actionable guide for people seeking to break free from self-imposed limitations and step into their fullest potential. Chris Woods combines personal storytelling, psychological frameworks, and practical exercises to help readers overcome fear (Balls) and maximize their innate strengths (Brains).

This isn't just another self-help book, it's a roadmap for those who are tired of playing small and ready to lead with courage and clarity. Chris brings decades of experience as a four-time global C-suite executive and former Google sales leader. He has led at scale, made high-stakes decisions, and lived inside the pressure that comes with responsibility and ambition. He rose up from a rough upbringing in a tough area of Boston - the original "Good Will Hunting". At 40 years old, Chris flatlined in a hospital bed.

That moment forced him to confront not just his health, but how he was defining success and the internal fears driving his choices. It changed everything. Today, he coaches from lived experience—not theory. He helps leaders and professionals align who they are with what they do, so success feels energizing instead of exhausting.

https://chriswoodscoach.com/

Welcome to 12-Minute Converse with Jesus Believers.

God chose first to have a conversation with us, His creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Praise God for you, Chris.

It's a great pleasure to connect with you.

What part of the world are you in today?

So I am in the U.S. and I am in South Carolina in an area called Mount Pleasant, South Carolina.

So I'm right near the beach and I'm very blessed.

Oh, sounds good.

Sounds like a pleasant surprise.

Very well done.

Of the balls and of the brains that I saw, which is the name of the book, amazing audience, right?

Balls and Brains, right?

When you came up with the name, right, or whoever landed the name, was it a toss between do we go with this or not?

For sure.

And, you know, the reason why I chose to go with it, you reference it in the idea of your 12-Minute Conversations about respecting the audience and understanding today's day and age where people have short attention spans and there are a lot of things, you know, vying for their attention.

So I intentionally named it that way is by nature, it kind of catches people's attention and then they'll give you another 10 seconds to say, you know, what does that mean?

So my ideal audience, at least in this, is so much of young men who really need to hear this message and, you know, they live a life that there is a lot of things, you know, vying for their attention.

So that's meant to at least get them to stop and think about this and then give me the opportunity to have a conversation with them.

And where did you even learn that ability to understand how to listen and then react?

I worked for Google for years.

So I was an executive at Google for years and so really learned from that and understood the power of marketing and messaging.

So that was how I learned it from a mass marketing standpoint.

But really the inherent talents that I've had on that really were growing up that my mom instilled that in me is to be able to, you know, you're given two ears and one mouth for a reason to be able to listen more than you talk.

And then when you do make it worthwhile.

Were you parented by a single parent?

Or was your father involved as well?

Yeah, so my father died when I was two years old.

So I'm thank you.

I'm the youngest of five.

So I was raised by a single mother when she she went in to wake him up and he had passed away in the bed at 40 years old.

So she was forced to get a job and get a driver's license.

And so she really led by example.

And she was, you know, my role model growing up.

Boys and girls?

Yes.

So the youngest of five and I have two brothers and I have two sisters.

Wow.

Your mother is a hero.

She sure is.

So I owe everything to her.

I always wonder if when you lose your father at a young age, and you get to that age, what it feels like?

You know, it's really interesting that you pose that question, because, as I mentioned, he died at 40 years old.

And I actually flatlined in the hospital at 40 years old.

Come on.

Are you serious?

Yeah, serious.

So what brought it on is I was I got a tick bite.

So as I was doing yard work in Massachusetts, I got bit in the back by a tick that carried a disease called cardiac Lyme disease.

I was admitted to the hospital.

And during that time, I flatlined for a minute and four seconds.

And so I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by, you know, amazing doctors.

And they brought me back, you know, with the paddles, and then said, you know, Mr. Woods, we're going to install a pacemaker in your chest.

And you should now have another 50 years ahead of you.

Do you remember anything around it?

Do you remember like anything around the time between flatlining and then getting back up?

I remember coming back.

And I remember being able to hear the doctors and the nurses in the room, and hearing them say, you know, we now have a heartbeat, but I couldn't speak.

So I could hear them.

And it felt like I was listening to the room from somewhere else.

And then it took a little while for me to be able to come back fully into my senses, and then to be able to utter and speak and say, yes, I can hear you.

There's a book that I read called the spiritual man by watch money.

And he talks about the spirit, and the soul, and the physical side of who we are, right, the flesh.

Have you ever dug or dove deeply into where you possibly were before you talked about coming back into hearing into your body?

What is what it feels like?

Have you dove into that?

What I can recall is just a feeling that it wasn't my time yet.

So I've used that as in the years afterwards to try to then say, how do I want to spend these next 50 years.

And it really came down to two things.

And that was what has prompted me to write the book.

And it's the foundation of what I use in my coaching practice.

And the first thing is to recognize the fears that we have that we have allowed to hold us back that, you know, Jesus has said so many times, do not be afraid.

And, you know, we, we remind ourselves that but, you know, unless you really spend some time with it, oftentimes, you don't realize how much fear could impact, you know, your approach to life.

What's that been like for you seeing someone actually listen, and walk into their fullness?

I really do believe that this is what I'm here to do.

And it feels so energizing, and loving to see it happen for people, because I can see and they often see is the reason why they've reached out.

Oftentimes, they're referred through, you know, through a past client, that they say that, you know, they should reach out to me.

And it really is freeing them up.

And what I, a phrase I use oftentimes for them to think about it is, I like to move you from feeling that you're in a rowboat, to you're in a sailboat.

So you still want to decide, you know, where you want to go, and you can be putting in your efforts, but the process doesn't need to be you feeling like you're doing this all by yourself.

And so that really resonates with people.

And then when I see the fruits of the labor and see them living more freely in the gifts that they've been given, it is such a rewarding feeling.

And I believe that's what I'm here for.

Have you ever coached someone that felt as though they were exactly who you were, when you were younger, if at that point, they were younger as well?

Yes.

And that's another thing that I think that I've been guided to that person.

And that person has been guided to me for that exact reason, is the lessons that I've learned, and the gifts that I now have to share with people that we were we were put together, I also feel a very strong connection to Archangel Michael.

And I feel like he guides some people my way.

Five years from today, you're listening to this conversation, what's the message you leave for future Chris?

Keep going.

And, you know, it's kind of one of the things, you know, it was told by the, I forget one of the prophets said when walking through the desert is even, you know, praying for rain, even though you're not seeing it, you're not seeing the rain, and you're not seeing the wind, but dig the ditches, dig the ditches now because it's coming.

And there's a lot that I'm working on to make my, my practice and my impact be more worldwide.

So I feel like a lot of the work that I'm doing right now is digging those ditches ahead of the rain that's coming.

Is there any question that I could have asked that would have helped you serve us better?

I would if you would ask me what would be the two best things that I could advise someone to do who's trying to find their way as it relates to their career?

Yeah, go for it, please.

So I'd say the first thing is to get in touch with the fears that you have, that may be holding you back.

There is a quote I heard from someone asks you to ask yourself, who would I be in the absence of my concerns?

And when you do that exercise, it opens up who you'd be if you weren't letting fear hold you back.

And then the second part of it is to take a real inventory of your God given talents and abilities, and be honest with yourself and how much you're actually using them.

And if the answer is not a lot, start mapping a way that you can because that's what you're here for.

And you'll find that your life will feel a lot more free and in flow if you can lose your fears and dive into your God given talents.

This has been a great pleasure, one I treasure.

Thank you for being on what is inspired by 12 minute converse.