Today we’d like to introduce you to John McElhenney.
Hi John, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
After a lovely start, my 10-year marriage dissolved against my will and effort. I began writing. Songs. Poems. And a blog.
The Whole Parent was born, quickly picked up by Arianna Huffington for Huffington Post’s Divorce and Family sections. McElhenney continued to write about divorce, dating, co-parenting, and ultimately relationship-building skills, for keeping the love you find. That is the mission of The Whole Parent and my life coaching business. With millions of readers, and thousands of books sold, John continues to write, coach, and help both individuals and couples with communications skills, negotating a divorce with the focus of preserving the dignity and love of the parenting relationships. It’s for the kids.
Over the last several years, McElhenney has continued to write and perform music on local stages and his successful YouTube channel. He has published many books on dating, divorce, depression, and love poetry. Today, his writing is more focused on novels and a genre he is crafting, promoting, and exploring called #hyperfiction.
He lives in Austin with his two cats and two children, 23 daughter, and 25 son. He plays tennis and music daily and helps people find their own inner happiness before returning to the river of chaos that is dating and looking for love in our modern world.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
The divorce was the fracture that catapulted my writing (English BA, University of Texas, Austin) first as a blog. In the last sixteen years, McElhenney has been seeking a new partner and unfolding more and more of his ideas about love, something he calls “big love” and how to negotiate and cultvate a loving lifetime partner.
His music career started in college with his local band Felix Culpa, who was signed to Atlantic Records at the very first SXSW. As things go, the Atlantic record never came to fruition. John joined Blue Cartoon as lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter. For two albums, the band played festivals around the country and locally here in Austin, at clubs like BB Rovers, Saxon Pub, Liberty Lunch, and Steamboat. Those videos are available on YouTube.
His second fracturing moment was one of his children’s dip into drugs and addiction. His writing turned left with an urgency of a father hoping to save his son’s life. This new bloom began as a book of poetry, I’m Going To Tell the Truth Now, I’m Sorry, available on his unpublished writing site: mcelhenney.net. From the first book The One and the Zero, a new movement in McElhenney’s life was launched. His YouTube channel exploded over one summer from 500 subscribers to over 20,000. This inspiring result redirected much of his creativity over the next three years.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
I’m a life coach, yes, but I use creativity, The Artist’s Way concept of “creative recovery” and a host of sources like Brené Brown, Harvel Hendrix, and books like the 5 Love Languages and the Four Agreements.
The writing has eclipsed McElhenney’s song writing and music production, but he recently released Buzzie’s fifth studio album with producer Robert Harrison completely expanding the sound in a Sgt. Pepper’s way. He is putting together a live show and record release sequence for late 2026.
What do you like and dislike about the city?
Best: music community, tennis community, Barton Springs pool, Barkin Springs, and the greenbelt.
Worst: traffic, summer heat, political leadership aligned with anti-environmental, non-inclusive policies. The war on our homeless population by local authorities is both wrong and misguided.
Pricing:
- free first call
- sliding scale fee
- online resources
- online community for creatives
Contact Info:
- Website: https://smart.bio/johnmcelhenney/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johnmcelhenney/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/johnmcelhenneyatx
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jmacofearth/
- Twitter: https://x.com/jmacofearth
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jmacofearth
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/buzzie
- Other: https://mcelhenney.net/
