128: Successful Coaching Practice Guidelines with Melinda Cohan (Part 1)
Many coaches trip up from living the coaching business of their dreams because they are trying to wear two hats at once. You need to be able to take off the coaching hat temporarily and put on the hat of the business owner, set up the structure for them to get clients to coach and then put the coaching hat back on.
My Guest: Melinda Cohan
Melinda is the CEO of The coach’s console. Her software training and coaching company that has helped thousands of coaches create profitable sustainable businesses. The software leverages the systems she created in her own coaching business for branding, list building, marketing, scheduling enrolling clients creating amazing client experiences managing group programs and online courses and integrating it all onto one cohesive platform. It removes the complexities of your business so you can feel confident and do the work that you love doing with your clients. And while the systems organize you she and her team blend coaching and training to help you create a clear and realistic path to sustainable income and impact.
Pivotal Moments:
· Melinda has been a coach for 17 years now.
· Originally Melinda enjoyed being an employee she was an interior designer.
· Melinda is a big believer and when you hear things multiple times you need to pay attention.
· From 3 different sources in a very short timeframe coaching came up. So she researched it and began doing it as a hobby. But then her corporate job fired her.
· Melinda felt she couldn’t be controlled by anyone. She wanted to be in control
· The Coach’s Console was born. They helped coaches around the world feel more comfortable as business owners as coaches.
· Coaches are the leaders that people are turning to help them navigate the chaos.
Advice:
When your enthusiasm as an entrepreneur places your skill set as the primary focus which is natural then you set yourself up for these villains to get really loud, so you don’t feel professional. But when you can take just a little bit of time and start a business so that you can do what you love. What do you need to create so that the natural buy product is the clients for me to do the thing I love? So it is a slightly different perspective.
Coach’s toolkit:
Get clear on the people you love working with. What are the challenges that keep these people up at night? That collection is your toolkit.
There are 5 things that will support them as a business owner: An understanding of the strategies that it takes to have a successful business.
1. Coaching
2. Content
3. Community
4. Technology – implementation
5. Tech Support
Current Business Struggle:
For 17 years Melinda has been putting herself out there. Before she began one of the struggles she had personally was the struggle of feeling invisible. The idea of putting herself out there was petrifying that is why she wanted to be an employee. Being a business owner you need to put yourself out there. She feels like she has overcome that. But when releasing her first book it was a whole new level of putting herself out there. Melinda is struggling with the vulnerability and transparency at a whole new level.
Quote
The definition of luck is when preparedness meets opportunity success is inevitable.
Links & Resources:
Part 2 of this episode where you hear more go to estierand.com/128-2
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About the author, Estie Rand
I love turning ideas into money, and helping others do the same. I help small business owners with everything from marketing to fiscal management, business plans to staffing, database architecture to work/life balance coaching and I love it all! What do you need help with today?