Eri Kardos is a relationship expert who travels the world with her toddler and husband, who is another well known speaker and expert. She has balanced her family life and global relationship coaching with aplomb, somehow making it look easy to be an MBA-holding, book-publishing, Amazon alum with worldwide reach and, oh yeah, she’s also expecting baby #2. If anyone knows how to make communicating work in a relationship, it’s her.
Eri has a Bachelor’s degree in Sexual Psychology, an MBA from the world’s #1 international business school, and became a certified Integral Coach while working in Human Resources at Amazon, where she delivered leadership development and training. Given her background, it makes sense that Eri is deeply invested in and constantly curious about relationships and the inherent agreements that come with being in one.
Effective communication has long been touted as one of the markers of a successful relationship, whether romantic, professional, family, or friendship. Accepting that your relationship could use improvement is the first step, and Eri is an honest breath of fresh air in helping relationships grow with strong positive communication and teaching people to co-create the relationship they desire.
Having a relationship coach gives you an unbiased opinion and can introduce new perspectives and new ways to navigate conflicts, understand love languages, and increase intimacy. In her book, Relationship Agreements, which will be released January 24th, 2017, Eri discusses how you can unpack, articulate, and explore the spoken and unspoken agreements you have with your partner. It outlines where you are in your relationship and where you want to be - everything from sexual hopes and desires, to budgeting and financial plans, and life goals. For Eri, she and her partner look over, revise, and celebrate their agreement every six months, looking for new plans, goals, strategies, and making changes as they grow as individuals and together.
Instead of being some legally binding contract, this is a living, breathing document showing how people can celebrate their relationships and how they plan to communicate and continue to (re)design their ideal relationship together over time. This tool is for relationship structures of all types with people from diverse cultures all around the globe. Whatever identifying labels you connect with (straight, gay, lesbian, transexual, queer, monogamous, polyamorous, swinger, open, etc.) and whatever cultural and religious values you hold, Eri will help you navigate partnership challenges and design your ideal relationship. If you choose to be in polyamorous relationships, the agreement also needs to cover the logistics of having multiple partners and differing desires. Expectations and needs are clearly laid out, including how agreements and values are honored. This can be a great tool even if you’re in an already successful partnership and want to take it to the next level.
Eri has visited 49 countries, and she is an adventurous, eternally interesting woman. She speaks to groups all over the world, and has seen over and over again that the millennial generation is more open about their LGBTQ and/or polyamorous lifestyle, and are actively seeking great communication strategies. When speaking in the restrictive society within Jerusalem, she met with many young people in search of the freedom to explore new relationships that do not fit the traditional heterosexual model. This next generation is being more open and honest about pursuing that freedom and exploration.
Eri lives and breathes healthy communication and open honesty in relationships. She is open about sexuality and relationships, and the way these types of agreements have had an incredibly positive impact on her life as a professional, parent, and partner. Through working with her coaching clients she has seen first-hand the benefits honesty, authenticity, conflict-navigating strategies, and gratitude practices can have on partnerships. Hundreds around the world turn to Eri as the coach to help them fall more deeply in love with their partner, themselves, and their relationships, and now, you can turn to her book!