Normalizing Non-Monogamy - Personal Stories of Polyamory, Swinging, and Beyond

Candace is a queer, polyamorous mom in her mid-forties who’s been exploring non-monogamy consensually for about 15 years and has been together with her husband for about 11 years. While it’s been 15 years since Candace started exploring non-monogamy consensually she vulnerably shares with us that during her twenties she was a habitual cheater and that it took hitting rock bottom at around age 30 for her to entirely reshape how she was doing relationships to be more aligned with her heart and values.  Of course, redesigning your entire approach to relationships is no small task! She explored swinging on her own for a few years before meeting her now-husband. Then, over the course of about 7 years they slowly expanded their relationship to where it is today… Candace is polyamorous, her husband is monogamish, they have what they call a “poly sphere” with about 50 people in it that spans the US, and they’re a bicoastal family living part of the year together on each coast and living part of the year separately on opposite coasts. We cover a ton in this powerful conversation with Candace and we’re excited to share it with all of you! Candace Klein is a lawyer, entrepreneur, and transformational leader whose work spans finance, technology, and human development. 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 the former co-author of Typhoon Honey: The Only Way Out Is Through, a book on emotional intelligence and transformational growth, and has recently published Polyagony: The Art of Repair in Open Relationships. Today, Candace lives on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, with her husband Andrew, their son Ivar, and their two dogs, Pan and Cinder. Check out the full show notes here. Join us at Relationship Recess in May 2026! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

We love getting to dig deep into the theory and psychology of human relating and relationships with therapists and it’s an extra special treat when the therapist is open to taking us behind the scenes of their own personal journey… That’s exactly what we get to do today with Bart! First, Bart brings us all the way back to his early childhood where he feels like he developed much earlier than his peers. Then he takes us through coming out at age 16, starting to explore non-monogamy in college, and ultimately landing in San Francisco where he continues to explore and discover what actually works for him in relationships. One thing we really love about this conversation is that Bart doesn’t just tell his story, he analyzes and philosophizes about it with us along the way. We also love that we’re never just talking about sexual or romantic partnerships with Bart, we’re talking about relationships of all kinds whether they’re sexual, platonic, friends, partners, or familial. Bart is an interpersonal psychotherapist based in San Francisco who works with individuals, couples, and polycules navigating non-traditional relationship structures. He developed Relational Capacity Therapy (RCT)—a framework that operationalizes Alfred Adler's Individual Psychology into five measurable capacities—and the Relational Maturity Index (RMI), a free assessment that helps people understand their relational patterns across different life contexts. You can learn more about Bart's therapeutic perspective and take the RMI at his website, InterpersonalPsychology.com. Check out the full show notes here. Join us at Relationship Recess in May 2026! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

Cyndee and Mitch are former pastors who have been together for a very long time and officially opened their marriage in 2022… However, their journey towards opening up spans nearly their entire relationship as they spent decades together shifting their mindsets while deconstructing and reframing religion to get to where they are today. Cyndee and Mitch currently describe themselves as “swingers with a poly heart” or more generically just “open.” Their main focus in non-monogamy is on forming genuine friendships that don’t fit into any particular box. For them, it’s all about the people… And the travel! Join us for this wonderful conversation as Cyndee and Mitch take us behind the scenes of their relationship and journey to opening up. Mitch has been a coach and consultant in multiple industries for over 30 years and today he’s working as a relationship coach with the team at Expansive Connection. Expansive Connection offers mindfulness based coaching for individuals, couples, and more-somes that seek to better understand themselves and their relationships. You can learn more about Mitch’s work and Expansive Connection on their website.  Check out the full show notes here. Join us at Relationship Recess in May 2026! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

This beautiful interview with Sarah is a powerful reminder that we’re all imperfect humans out here trying to figure out life and who we are in a world that really wants to stuff us into boxes that we rarely, if ever, fit into. Sarah spent a majority of their twenties in a mostly monogamous, heterosexual relationship before realizing about nine months after getting married that they were gay. Today, Sarah is a queer, non-binary, polyamorous, relationship anarchist in their mid-thirties who continues to be on an incredible journey of self-discovery and exploration. The journey truly never ends and we’re honored to have Sarah share their story with us today. Besides being a badass in their personal life… Sarah is also a Licensed Clinical Social Worker who centers queer, neurodivergent, kinky, and non‑monogamous folks and also specializes in ketamine assisted therapy. You can learn more about Sarah and all of their incredible work on their website courageousyoutherapy.com. Check out the full show notes here. Join us at Relationship Recess in May 2026! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing

We're joined today by Gary Ware from Breakthrough Play and Jase Lindgren from Multiamory for an incredible conversation about how we can use play as a form of resistance and rest in a world where we often feel overwhelmed by the stress and pressure to be constantly "on" as we try to keep up. We're exhausted ourselves and can imagine many of you are, as well. This episode is full of fascinating research and personal stories, plus tools, tips, and tricks to help us all slow down a little. If you are looking for a permission slip to take a breath... Don't skip this conversation! If you're ready to take your resistance to the next level... Gary and Jase are co-hosting our upcoming in-person event May 1-3, 2026 called Relationship Recess! You can learn more and grab your tickets here! Check out the full show notes here. Join us at Relationship Recess in May 2026! Join the most amazing community of open-minded humans on the planet!   Click here to order your very own NNM shirt! $10 Off - Online STI Testing