Life Coaching as a Career

Hi There!!

Over the past couple of months, I’ve had an influx of people reach out to me wanting to know more about life coaching as a possible career for themselves. Honestly, this is so refreshing, because after getting certified back in 2015 I quickly realized coaching was way more mainstream in places like New York and California than it was in Texas at the time.

So today’s post is for those of you who are interested in learning more about life coaching as a career. Hope you find it helpful!

Getting Certified

Let me start by saying when I got certified four years ago it was not a requirement to be certified in order to call yourself a life coach.

I’ve heard rumors over the years that at some point it will be a requirement to be certified, but as of 2015 it was not. In fact, my life coach at the time, Christine Hassler, had not formally gone through a life coaching certification at the time and she is an amazing and highly sought-after coach.

When I approached her about wanting to become a certified life coach myself she recommended a reputable company she’d heard great things about, iPEC (Institute for Professional Excellence in Coaching). After researching a few other companies I decided to go with iPEC, which was a 9-month program that cost around $10,000.

iPEC

Here’s what I took away from the iPEC certification program:

• great tools and exercises to use with my clients
• a ton of practice coaching my fellow classmates
• helpful feedback and teaching from the phenomenal instructors

By the end of the program I felt capable and confident to start charging for my services.

One thing you don’t really get in class, which in hindsight would have been extremely helpful, was more information on how to build a sustainable coaching business. In all fairness, I believe they offered tele-classes and other programs I could have paid extra for on that specific topic.

In hindsight, I should have taken those classes. I say this because having the tools and skills to be a great coach AND the tools and skills to run a successful business are both very important in order to create a successful coaching business. Keep this in mind when choosing a certification program, because trust me, it’s vital.

Things I wish I would have known

After getting certified and starting my businesses, I figured I’d make the majority of my income from coaching.

As time went by, reality set in. I would have to have X amount of clients every day/week/month and charge X amount, while continuing to keep my pipeline filled, just to make enough money to support my family.

I also didn’t factor in it takes time to build your business and clientele. I realized there is only so much time in a day and only one me, meaning eventually there would be a ceiling on my business. Also, if I stayed booked all day, every day, there would be little freedom/flexibility, which is very important to me as a single mom.

In order to grow my business earnings I would need to charge more and/or hire other coaches to coach for me and pay me a percentage of their earnings. After processing all of this and getting really honest with myself about the season of life I was in at the time, which was basically getting my sea legs as a solo-provider, I decided to make speaking my primary source of income and allow my coaching business to grow more organically and build over time.

This has proven to be a good strategy for me personally, because it allows me to take on as many coaching clients as I feel I can support, while not being solely dependent on my coaching business to support my family.

I’ve found coaching to be a truly fulfilling career, especially when I get the opportunity to work with people who are motivated to make a positive change in their lives and are ready and willing to do the inner and outer work it takes to get unstuck. My favorite part is seeing someone self-discover who they really are, what they are born to do, and then supporting them as they take their first steps into the unknown.

God created me to encourage and empower others to see who they really are and what they are capable of. Getting to be a part of someone’s journey is an honor and fills my soul.

So if you’re looking for a fulfilling career, coaching is definitely worth looking into. And if you do decide to check it out, remember: Do your research when it comes to selecting a certification program, make sure the company you’re considering has a course on building your coaching business, and finally, think through your long-term business plan before getting started. Then make a decision and go make it happen! You’ve got this!

Thank you for spending time with me today! Love and Blessings.