“When you’re triggered, you always have a choice: reactive or responsive.” Louise Evans
What if every difficult moment in your life came down to one simple truth: you have a choice?
In this rich and deeply human conversation, I sit down with Louise Evans, creator of the Five Chairs Framework, a powerful behavioral model that has transformed workplaces, schools, families, and relationships around the world.
Louise’s TEDx talk (with over 6 million views) introduced millions to five archetypal “chairs” that represent our possible responses when we’re triggered:
🟥 Red Chair (Jackal): Represents reactive, aggressive, and blaming behavior.
🟡 Yellow Chair (Hedgehog): Represents self-judgment, insecurity, and defensiveness.
🟢 Green Chair (Meerkat): Represents pause, awareness, and observation.
🔵 Blue Chair (Dolphin): Represents empathy, connection, and understanding.
🟣Purple Chair (Giraffe): Represents authenticity, courage, and high consciousness.
Louise reminds us that when we are triggered, we are not trapped. We can react or we can respond.
Biography
Founder and Director of The 5 Chairs project, Behavioral Coach, Corporate Trainer and Facilitator, Speaker, and Author of 5 Chairs 5 Choices.
Louise’s audiences routinely describe her as “captivating,” “inspiring,” “entertaining,” and “life-changing,” These qualities have been a throughline of her life.
Since childhood, Louise has had a determination and an enthusiasm for life. Three things have always been dear to her heart: people, travel, and the performing arts. A large part of her happiness today comes from being able to combine all three in bringing The 5 Chairs to the world.
Born in England to Welsh parents, she left home in her early 20s to work in the South of France which marked the beginning of her passion for travel. After France, she moved to Germany. Then, in 1986, she settled in Florence, Italy which she considers her spiritual home.
Florence, the cradle of the Renaissance, makes a perfect backdrop for Louise’s artistic vision: to bring forth a revolution in the way people behave and interact with each other — each person able to develop into their wiser, more noble and compassionate selves. In short, Louise’s modern Renaissance is to make the world a better place through “behavioral agility.”
Her professional journey began in educational organizations offering language and communication training to the corporate world. This suited her well. In this environment, she was able to use the skills she developed in the performing arts. Since, her audiences always remark about how much more entertaining she is than the average corporate trainer.
Her move to Italy marked the beginning of her life as an entrepreneur and as a serious world traveler. Her passion for exploring other cultures inspired her to specialize in Cross-Cultural Diversity Management and Global Leadership, which she offers to multinational companies across the world as a facilitator, trainer, and coach. Having visited 85 countries and experienced culture shock three times, Louise enjoys bringing multiple perspectives to the present moment to help people connect across their differences.
Personal development has always been central to Louise’s life.
Her desire for constant self-improvement was the driver of her own personal transformation in the presence of some extraordinary teachers, such as Thich Nhat Hahn, Eckhart Tolle of The Power of Now and Marshall Rosenberg, the founder of Non-Violent Communication. These spiritual influencers inspired her to bring her own contribution to the world through her first book 5 Chairs, 5 Choices, a ten-year project created to help leaders, teams, and staff model behaviors for more inclusive workplaces.
Louise’s passion is to work with the human side of organizations. She believes deeply in people’s ability to grow and transform. Louise helps others find the courage to ask themselves the questions they have never asked themselves before so that they can truly excel in their lives. Since 1996, she has dedicated her professional life to developing her training and coaching project The 5 Chairs which is the core of all her professional activities.
Her core mission today therefore is to offer the 5 Chairs model to help organisations, become places where people can express their leadership regardless of their role or title. The 5 Chairs is designed to create workplaces and homes where people can thrive and be happy.
Links
Own Your Behaviours, Master Your Communication, Determine Your Success | Louise Evans | TEDxGenova
https://www.linkedin.com/in/louise-evans-b67485
https://www.instagram.com/the5chairs_louiseevans
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Podcast Producer: Andrew Niklas Curtis
Production Intern: Nicole Stevens
Recording and post-production Lorenzo Maiani, Faminore Sound Agency