Family Or Fiancé's Tracy McMillan On Challenges She Faced As A Couples Coach - Exclusive

When it comes to hurdles in personal relationships, most of us have gone through trials. Life is full of unexpected hurdles, and as soon as we've cleared one, another presents itself. You may feel as though you and your partner are taking a beating and that it's simply impossible to move forward — this is where a therapist or a life coach can come in handy. Once you have the right tools in place to overcome such difficulties, life can start flowing at a more manageable pace.

Reaching out for help at the onset can be really difficult, especially when it comes to admitting that something is awry in your relationship. Taking that crucial first step can be the start you need when it comes to settling scores regarding intimacy, familial issues, cultural differences, and more. No one knows this better than Tracy McMillan, a life coach who has made it her mission to help couples through some of the most difficult elements of life. 

Now, her work is materializing into a show, premiering on the Oprah Winfrey Network, entitled "Family or Fiancé." Will couples work past their differences and make it down the aisle, or will differences and tension get the better of them? Ahead of the show's premiere, The List sat down with Tracy McMillan to get all the info, and the challenges she's taken head-on will shock you.

It's one thing to seek help from a therapist and try to figure out your life, but wouldn't it be helpful to have someone tell you what to do? Cue Tracy McMillan, a life coach rather than a therapist, who makes it her goal to get to know clients and guide them in the right direction.

"The difference between me being a coach and a therapist is that a therapist is going to let you figure it out on your own, and I'm going to tell you what you're doing. I'm going to say, 'Here's what you're doing. Here's what you're doing wrong. Here's what you need to do to fix it,'" McMillan told us.

Just as you'd think everyone would take her advice, McMillan told us that one of the biggest challenges she's faced is clients who don't want to do the crucial work needed.

"There can be various obstacles that prevent people from doing that work. Some people have huge growth on the show, and then some people don't," McMillan said of "Family or Fiancé."

We'd love to think that if an experienced life coach came into our lives, we'd take everything they could offer us and then some. In Tracy McMillan's experience, only about a fifth of her clients truly take everything they can from her wealth of knowledge.

"The people who really, really get it is a fairly small group, about 20%. The people who get a little bit, that'd be another 50%. Then there's another 30% that are like, 'All right, we are definitely not getting it.' It's not over their heads — they just can't let it in for many reasons," McMillan told us of the challenges she's faced as a life coach.

Further explaining that she doesn't judge her clients, McMillan told us that her power comes from sitting in her chair, asserting her authority, and guiding people in any way she can. She also acknowledged that clients will only take so much guidance from her.

"I'm just here. I'm here if you want it," McMillan told us. "It's your story. It's your life — you can do with it whatever you want. That is freedom."

New episodes of "Family or Fiancé" air Saturdays at 9:00 p.m. ET on OWN.