60-Min Coaching Chemistry Call (Script & Scorecard)

The 60-Minute Executive Coaching Chemistry Framework

A 60-minute executive coaching chemistry call is a structured, two-way diagnostic session designed to test interpersonal compatibility, developmental readiness, and working dynamics before formal engagement. Split strictly into rapport (10m), exploration (15m), live mini-coaching (20m), and alignment (15m), it replaces subjective "gut feel" with observable behavioral evidence. This diagnostic structure protects both parties from committing 6 months and upwards of $15,000 to an engagement that stalls by month 2.

Developmental readiness is a leader’s current cognitive and operational willingness to examine their own management blind spots, receive direct feedback, and change habitual behaviors.

Unstructured "get to know you" chats fail because they measure social charm rather than coaching efficacy. A 2023 study by the International Coaching Federation found that clear goal-setting and process clarity are the strongest predictors of client satisfaction in enterprise engagements. When a preliminary meeting drifts like a casual coffee catch-up, charismatic executives easily mask their defensiveness, and coaches slip into giving unpaid business advice. The meeting ends with mutual warm feelings, but neither person has tested whether they can work together through friction.

Evaluating a coaching fit requires an immediate psychological shift away from selling credentials. In sales meetings, you establish credibility by listing past corporate wins and technical domain expertise. In the executive coaching process, you prove value by establishing non-judgmental executive presence—listening for unstated assumptions, pausing before speaking, and asking questions that interrupt automatic thinking patterns. As Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson demonstrated in her research on psychological safety, high performance requires an environment where vulnerability does not trigger punishment; the chemistry call is where the executive tests whether your session provides that safe environment.

Mastering this 4-stage breakdown ensures that both you and the executive base your partnership on concrete evidence rather than polite first impressions. The next step is knowing the exact questions to ask during each phase to expose hidden friction before contracts are signed.

Table of Contents

• The 60-Minute Executive Coaching Chemistry Framework
• Phase-by-Phase 60-Minute Call Script Breakdown
• 5 Critical Dimensions of the Chemistry Assessment
• Chemistry Call Red Flags for Both Coach and Leader
• Your Copy-Paste Chemistry Call Script and Evaluation Scorecard
• Sources & Further Reading

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Phase-by-Phase 60-Minute Call Script Breakdown

A standard 60-minute chemistry call determines whether an executive and an executive coach can establish a productive working alliance. A chemistry call is a structured preliminary meeting where both parties evaluate interpersonal rapport, align on engagement expectations, and confirm operational readiness. According to a global study by the International Coaching Federation (ICF), 86% of corporate clients report that strong coach-executive rapport is the primary variable in achieving positive business outcomes.

Run the 60 minutes across four strict phases:

[00-10 min] Framing & Safety
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      v
[10-25 min] Business Discovery
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      v
[25-45 min] Micro-Coaching Demo
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      v
[45-60 min] Fit & Boundaries

Minutes 0–10: Psychological Safety and Session Framing

Set the power dynamic immediately. The chemistry call is not a sales pitch; it is a mutual qualification exercise.

Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as the shared belief that a team or interaction is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. In an individual coaching context, psychological safety means the executive can speak candidly about business vulnerabilities without fearing exposure or judgment.

Scripted Framing:

"The goal of our 60 minutes today is simple: we are both deciding if this is a strong working fit. I will learn about your current operational goals, and you will experience how I challenge and support leaders. By minute 45, we will step back and decide together whether to move forward, adjust the scope, or direct you to other resources. How does that sound?"

Review foundational Executive Coaching Fundamentals to keep the conversation grounded. Clarify that 100% of the conversation remains confidential between the coach and the executive, regardless of who pays the invoice.

Minutes 10–25: Deep Discovery and Context Mapping

Map the executive’s commercial reality and internal friction points. Avoid broad questions like "What keeps you up at night?" Instead, target specific performance metrics, organizational restructures, and stakeholder demands.

Focus on three concrete areas:

1. Primary Business Metrics: Identify the top 2 enterprise objectives they must deliver in the next 6 to 12 months.
2. Behavioral Friction: Isolate the recurring interpersonal or execution patterns slowing down their team.
3. Organizational Dynamics: Map board expectations, reporting lines, and peer conflicts using standard Executive Coaching Tools.

Discovery Diagnostic Prompts:

• "If your team fails to hit its targets this quarter, what will be the root cause?"
• "Where are you spending 10 hours a week on work that someone two levels below you should own?"
• "What is the hardest decision you have postponed for the last 30 days?"

Document their answers in terms of measurable business cost. Center for Creative Leadership research indicates that 38% of new chief executives fail within the first 18 months, primarily due to poor stakeholder alignment rather than technical shortcomings. Grounding the discovery in these real risks establishes early credibility for Executive Leadership Coaching.

Minutes 25–45: The 20-Minute Micro-Coaching Demonstration

Do not spend the full hour talking about coaching. Execute a 20-minute coaching sprint on a live problem the leader faces today. This live run lets both parties test the working rhythm of the formal Executive Coaching Process.

Ask the leader to pick one active dilemma: a difficult direct report, an upcoming board conflict, or a stalled cross-functional initiative.

Step 1: Clarify the Goal (3 mins)
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Step 2: Challenge Assumptions (8 mins)
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      v
Step 3: Test Real Scenarios (6 mins)
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      v
Step 4: Secure Action Commitments (3 mins)

Push past surface-level descriptions. If the executive says, "My VP of Product isn’t executing fast enough," challenge them with: "What standard have you tolerated over the past 90 days that allows that pace to continue?"

Listen for coachability:

• Does the executive defend their habits, or do they pause and reflect?
• Do they accept direct feedback without shutting down?
• Can they formulate a concrete action within 20 minutes?

Minutes 45–60: Fit Assessment, Boundaries, and Next Steps

Pause the coaching dialogue cleanly at minute 45. Transition to operational alignment and mutual decision-making.

Closing Dialogue Structure:

1. Assess Direct Experience: Ask, "Based on that 20-minute sprint, how did that style of inquiry feel to you?"
2. State Your Assessment: Deliver an honest verdict: "Based on your goals around scaling this division, I know we can move the needle, provided we meet bi-weekly for 6 months." Or decline clearly: "Given that you are looking purely for functional domain consulting, a mentor with direct regulatory experience would serve you better."
3. Clarify Commercials and Boundaries: Discuss standard pricing structures—referencing typical models found in the Executive Coaching Costs: 2025 Pricing Guide—and state cancellation policies.
4. Agree on Next Steps: Never leave next actions open-ended. Set a concrete 48-hour deadline for a definitive yes/no decision from both sides.

Once you have run this 60-minute framework, the next step is applying a standardized scoring rubric to evaluate the candidate’s responses systematically.

5 Critical Dimensions of the Chemistry Assessment

A chemistry call is a structured 30 to 60-minute introductory meeting where an executive and a prospective coach evaluate interpersonal fit, working styles, and business alignment before signing an engagement contract.

In a study published by the Harvard Business Review by Diane Coutu and Carol Kauffman surveying 140 senior coaches, 48% of companies hired executive coaches to facilitate a leadership transition, while 26% hired them to act as a sounding board. A standard chemistry call decides whether that investment works. Five concrete evaluation dimensions determine whether an engagement succeeds or derails during the baseline executive coaching process.

EVALUATION DIMENSIONS
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+--> 1. Receptivity to Challenge
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+--> 2. Strategic Alignment
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+--> 3. Psychological Safety
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+--> 4. Pace & Cadence Match
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+--> 5. Organizational Boundaries

1. Receptivity to Challenge

The coach tests how quickly the executive shifts from self-defense to curiosity when their assumptions are questioned. During a chemistry meeting, an effective coach does not simply validate the leader. The coach intentionally inserts one polite, direct challenge to a narrative the executive presents about a workplace conflict.

Watch the leader’s physical and verbal reaction over the next 90 seconds. A defensive leader tightens their posture, repeats their initial premise, or dismisses the prompt as irrelevant. A receptive leader pauses for 3 to 5 seconds, asks a clarifying question, or acknowledges a personal blind spot. If an executive rejects low-stakes friction in a 45-minute introductory call, they will stall out during high-stakes behavioral work.

2. Strategic Alignment

The coach’s background must map to the executive’s immediate business stage and mandate. A coach who focuses on early-stage seed founders often struggles with an executive who leads a 4,000-person business unit inside a matrixed enterprise.

Evaluate whether the coach speaks the operational language of the executive’s domain. The executive should confirm the coach understands enterprise governance, board dynamics, and the mechanics of understanding executive authority. If the coach treats technical, capital-allocation problems merely as abstract relationship issues, the engagement loses tactical credibility within 3 sessions.

3. Psychological Safety

Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson defines psychological safety as a shared belief that the environment is safe for interpersonal risk-taking. In a 60-minute intake, safety appears through the speed and depth of candid self-disclosure.

Look at the clock during the call. An executive who shares a genuine operational failure or interpersonal fear within the first 20 minutes demonstrates high readiness. If the executive speaks solely in polished public-relations soundbites for 50 minutes, the relational baseline is weak. Without rapid vulnerability, the coach cannot deploy core executive coaching tools effectively.

4. Pace and Cadence Match

Energy resonance determines how much conversational drag occurs during a 60-minute bi-weekly session. An executive who processes decisions in rapid, data-dense bursts will grow frustrated with a coach who uses long, open-ended pauses. Conversely, a reflective leader will shut down if an aggressive coach interrupts them.

Track the talk-time ratio across the call. The International Coaching Federation (ICF) core competencies establish that the client should speak for roughly 65% to 75% of the total session time. If the prospective coach monopolizes more than 40% of the introductory conversation with personal anecdotes or credentials, they lack the conversational discipline required for executive development.

5. Organizational Boundaries

Tripartite boundary alignment refers to the explicit written separation between corporate sponsor objectives and private client disclosures. The chemistry call must clarify where sponsor visibility ends and individual confidentiality begins before reviewing executive coaching costs.

SPONSOR BOUNDARY SPLIT
+------------------------------------+
| SPONSOR SEES (Progress Metrics)    |
| - Program milestones achieved       |
| - Alignment on business KPIs       |
+------------------------------------+
| PRIVATE TO CLIENT (Protected Data) |
| - Session dialogue & transcripts   |
| - Personal blind spots & fears     |
+------------------------------------+

The coach must state their confidentiality policy in plain terms within the first 30 minutes. If the human resources department or CEO pays the invoice, the coach reports on attendance and theme alignment only. Specific admissions, psychometric debrief details, and personal concerns remain private between the coach and the executive. When these boundaries are blurred, the leader withholds critical context, reducing the engagement to superficial goal tracking.

Evaluating these five dimensions produces an objective score for engagement fit, leading directly to the structured 60-minute chemistry call script and delivery roadmap below.

Chemistry Call Red Flags for Both Coach and Leader

A chemistry call is a structured 30-to-60-minute diagnostic conversation designed to evaluate interpersonal rapport, psychological safety, and operational alignment before signing a coaching agreement.

According to a study by Diane Coutu and Carol Kauffman published in the Harvard Business Review, 48% of companies hire executive coaches to develop high-potential leaders, while only 12% hire them to address derailers. Yet, chemistry calls often reveal underlying misalignments that derail engagements before session one. If a chemistry call generates a low score on your rubric, identifying specific red flags early protects company budgets and executive time.

       CHEMISTRY CALL FILTER
                  │
        ┌─────────┴─────────┐
        ▼                   ▼
 [Leader Red Flags]  [Coach Red Flags]
  • Mandated fit      • Monopolising airtime
  • Pure blame        • Instant fixes
  • Wants consulting  • Avoids challenge
        │                   │
        └─────────┬─────────┘
                  ▼
         [Professional Exit]

Executive Red Flags: When the Leader Is Not Coachable

Coaching requires active self-reflection and personal accountability. Watch for these three behavioral markers during the introductory call:

1. Mandated Participation Without Buy-In: When Human Resources or the Board assigns a coach as a remedial intervention, the executive often views the process as punitive. If the leader opens with "HR scheduled this call for me" and asks zero questions about the executive coaching process, engagement rates drop sharply. The 2023 International Coaching Federation (ICF) Global Coaching Study reported that executive coaching engagements without direct client sponsorship and personal buy-in fail to meet target outcomes 74% of the time.
2. Externalised Blame: High-performing executives reflect on their own contributions to organizational friction. A leader who attributes 100% of business obstacles to poor board decisions, underperforming teams, or market conditions is resistant to behavioral change. When asked, "What is your role in this dynamic?", a defensible prospect identifies at least one personal development area. If they redirect to external faults, flag this as low readiness.
3. Searching for a Tactical Consultant: Executive coaching develops strategic thinking, behavioral patterns, and self-awareness; consulting provides subject-matter solutions. If an executive asks for a 90-day supply chain playbook, financial model, or org-chart design, they need an advisory consultant, not executive leadership coaching. Contracting with a leader who expects direct tactical answers leads to rapid buyer remorse.

Coach Red Flags: When the Coach Lacks Rigour

Executives evaluating a prospective coach should screen for process discipline. Look for these warning signs:

• Monopolising the Airtime with War Stories: In an effective chemistry session, the executive should speak 70% of the time. If the coach spends more than 18 minutes of a 60-minute call detailing their personal resume, past corporate titles, or industry connections, they are pitching, not coaching.
• Premature Problem-Solving: Coaches who diagnose organizational bottlenecks and prescribe solutions within the first 15 minutes demonstrate low inquiry discipline. Effective practitioners use targeted executive coaching tools to draw insights from the leader, rather than handing out unvalidated advice.
• Reluctance to Challenge Blind Spots: A coach must hold a peer relationship with the executive. If a coach agrees with every premise, avoids asking uncomfortable follow-up questions, or bows to executive rank, they will not deliver behavioral growth.

How to Professionally Decline Low-Chemistry Engagements

When scorecard metrics fall below your established target threshold (typically under 80% on standard compatibility criteria), decline the engagement within 24 business hours. Prolonging the evaluation wastes operational resources and delays development.

If You Are the Executive Declining the Coach:
Send a succinct, direct message focusing on developmental scope rather than personal critique:

"Thank you for your time during our chemistry session on Tuesday. After evaluating our strategic priorities for this fiscal quarter, I have decided to work with a coach whose core framework aligns more directly with my current focus on enterprise governance. I appreciate your insights on cross-functional alignment and wish you continued success."

If You Are the Coach Declining the Executive:
Decline clearly while protecting the professional relationship, pointing out the gap in developmental focus:

"Thank you for sharing your operational challenges and business goals. Based on your immediate requirement for tactical restructurings, your current needs align better with a functional management consultant than an executive coach. To ensure you get the best return on your investment, I recommend connecting with a specialized advisory firm that builds direct departmental playbooks."

Reviewing these baseline boundary conditions prevents costly mismatches before commitments are finalized. Next, examine the exact numerical criteria in the evaluation scorecard to grade every chemistry call objectively.

Your Copy-Paste Chemistry Call Script and Evaluation Scorecard

A chemistry call is a structured preliminary meeting where an executive and an executive coach evaluate mutual rapport, goal alignment, and psychological safety before entering a commercial agreement. According to the International Coaching Federation (ICF) 2023 Global Coaching Study, structured intake sessions correlate with an 84% client retention rate across multi-month engagements.

Run the 60-minute call in four distinct 15-minute quarters to maintain conversational momentum and protect both parties’ time.

60-MIN CALL FLOW
│
├── 00-15m: Context & Ground Rules
│   ▼
├── 15-30m: Live Case Exploration
│   ▼
├── 30-45m: Coaching Style Alignment
│   ▼
└── 45-60m: Commercials & Mutual Decision

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Phase 1: Context and Ground Rules (Minutes 00–15)

The objective is to establish psychological safety, clarify confidentiality, and frame the engagement scope.

Verbatim Script:

"Thanks for making time today. Our goal for the next 60 minutes is simple: test how we work together on a real problem and decide whether an engagement makes commercial sense.

Everything discussed today falls under strict ICF confidentiality standards. Nothing leaves this room, including whether you decide to proceed.

I suggest we split our time into three blocks: 15 minutes to map your mandate, 20 minutes working through an active operational challenge, and 15 minutes to discuss the mechanics of our executive coaching process and decide next steps. Does that structure work for your calendar?"

Transition to Phase 2:

"Let us look at your top operational focus. What is the single highest-leverage priority on your desk between now and the end of Q3?"

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Phase 2: Live Case Exploration (Minutes 15–30)

Do not talk about coaching hypotheticals. Coach the leader on an active issue in real time to assess receptivity and cognitive flexibility. This mirrors the practical focus needed when managing operational friction, such as coaching overwhelmed managers in restructure.

EXPLORATION SEQUENCE
│
├── Step 1: Identify bottleneck
│   ▼
├── Step 2: Uncover blind spot
│   ▼
└── Step 3: Establish micro-action

Verbatim Script:

"You mentioned friction aligning your engineering leads around the new product roadmap. Tell me what you have already tried, and where the resistance is showing up in daily workflows."

(Listen for 2 minutes without interrupting. Note recurring defensive postures or passive language.)

"If your board observed this dynamic from the outside, what would they say is your personal blind spot in driving this alignment?"

(Pause for 5 seconds. Let the executive think and articulate the root cause.)

Transition to Phase 3:

"That insight gives us a baseline for our working style. Let us shift to how we will structure our working relationship to tackle that bottleneck."

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Phase 3: Coaching Style Alignment (Minutes 30–45)

Establish working parameters, challenge tolerance, and accountability expectations. Aligning on these factors is essential for long-term executive leadership coaching outcomes.

Verbatim Script:

"Executive leaders work best under different coaching styles. Some prefer a reflective sounding board; others prefer direct challenge with quantitative benchmarks.

On a scale of 1 to 5, where 1 is non-directive questioning and 5 is rigorous, direct challenge on your assumptions, where do you work most effectively?

Here is how I hold executives accountable between our bi-weekly sessions: you will set one non-negotiable behavioural micro-commitment at the end of each call, and we review the execution data at the start of the next."

Transition to Phase 4:

"We have 15 minutes left. Let us review the engagement scope, pricing benchmarks, and establish our evaluation criteria."

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Phase 4: Commercials and Next Steps (Minutes 45–60)

Outline engagement terms, reference your executive coaching tools, and establish a strict 48-hour mutual decision deadline.

Verbatim Script:

"A standard executive engagement spans 6 months, comprising two 60-minute sessions per month, unlimited asynchronous Slack or email check-ins, and a mid-point stakeholder review.

We do not decide on this call. Chemistry requires reflection. I will send our evaluation scorecard and engagement brief by 5:00 PM today. Let us both commit to a firm Go or No-Go decision via email within 48 hours. Does Thursday at 5:00 PM work for you?"

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5-Category Weighted Chemistry Evaluation Scorecard

Use this matrix immediately following the session. Complete the evaluation within 30 minutes of call completion while observations remain fresh. Engagement viability requires an overall weighted score of 3.75 or higher out of 5.0.

Category	Weight	1 Point (Low Fit)	3 Points (Moderate Fit)	5 Points (High Fit)	Weighted Score
1. Coachability & Vulnerability	25%	Defends past actions; blames external factors for team metrics.	Acknowledges gaps but shifts discussion toward comfortable operational topics.	Directly identifies personal blind spots; articulates mistakes with clear accountability.	_ / 1.25
2. Problem Urgency & Scope	20%	Vague development goals (‘improve executive presence’) with no clear timeline.	Clear business objectives but lacks specific quantitative target metrics.	Explicit enterprise mandate tied to quarterly revenue, margin, or retention targets.	_ / 1.00
3. Psychological Safety & Trust	20%	Guarded responses; avoids direct answers to diagnostic prompts.	Professional rapport; shares surface-level organizational context.	Open dialogue; shares critical boardroom tensions and leadership concerns.	_ / 1.00
4. Structural & Calendar Fit	15%	Reschedules initial call multiple times; cannot commit to 2x monthly cadence.	Can meet bi-weekly but expresses constant calendar volatility.	Confirms reserved recurring calendar block; designates uninterrupted time.	_ / 0.75
5. Commercial & Mandate Alignment	20%	Price resistance; lacks authorized corporate or departmental budget.	Budget exists but requires multi-tier procurement approvals exceeding 30 days.	Budget fully approved at executive level; clear ROI alignment for 6-month term.	_ / 1.00
Total Composite Score	100%				_ / 5.00

According to data compiled in the Harvard Business Review research report on executive coaching engagements, coaches cite personal motivation and willingness to change as the primary factor determining program success, outranking industry expertise by 38 percentage points. For standard budgeting benchmarks across enterprise organizations, reference our guide to executive coaching costs.

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Executive Follow-Up Email Templates

Send the appropriate template within 4 business hours of the chemistry call.

Option A: Engagement "GO" Decision Template

Subject: Next Steps: Executive Coaching Engagement Scope | [Executive Name]

Hi [First Name],

Thank you for our conversation today. 

Based on your Q3 focus on cross-functional alignment and the operational bottlenecks we discussed, there is strong strategic fit for a 6-month executive coaching engagement.

Here is the structured engagement outline:
- Cadence: Two 60-minute sessions per month (bi-weekly)
- Focus Area: Resolving executive team resistance and streamlining operational decision rights
- Unlimited asynchronous check-in support via email and Slack
- 360-degree stakeholder review at the 90-day mark

Attached is the formal Statement of Work (SOW). Please review and sign by [Date/Time - 48 Hours Out] so we can lock your recurring bi-weekly time slot starting the week of [Date].

Best regards,

[Your Name]
[Your Title]

Option B: Engagement "NO-GO" / Referral Template

Subject: Follow-up & Recommendations | [Executive Name]

Hi [First Name],

Thank you for your time and transparency during our chemistry call today.

After evaluating our discussion against my core coaching framework, I believe your current focus—navigating technical architectural debt and deep engineering re-platforming—would benefit from a coach with deep systems engineering leadership experience rather than my focus on executive team governance.

To support your search, I recommend connecting with:
1. [Name, Title] – [Link/Contact] (Specialist in CTO and technical founder scaling)
2. [Name, Title] – [Link/Contact] (Specialist in engineering leadership transition)

I wish you and your organization continued success as you scale this quarter.

Best regards,

[Your Name]
[Your Title]

Open your calendar, copy the four-phase call script into your intake template, and apply the weighted scorecard directly to your next executive intake session.

Sources & Further Reading

A chemistry call is a structured preliminary meeting between a prospective executive coach and an executive client designed to determine mutual compatibility, establish working boundaries, and align on initial development goals before committing to a formal coaching contract.

Objective evaluation during this 60-minute window protects both parties from misaligned expectations and ineffective engagements. Research published by Erik de Haan and colleagues in the Consulting Psychology Journal (2013) established that the strength of the coaching relationship explains up to 25% of the variance in executive coaching outcomes. When you replace unstructured conversation with a validated evaluation scorecard, you isolate critical relationship indicators—such as psychological safety, challenge tolerance, and contracting clarity—before signing a 6-month or 12-month agreement.

The methodologies and diagnostic questions in this framework draw on peer-reviewed coaching psychology, adult learning theory, and operational standards from leading industry institutions.

Featured image by Adrian C on Pexels