Let’s rewind back to 2003. I was working in my full-time job doing work that I loved, actually. I discovered coaching and began pursuing it as a hobby outside of my job and had discovered that this is what I was born to do!
Then one day, totally unexpected, I was FIRED from my job. WHAT THE ?!?!?! This type-A, overachiever, perfectionist (back then anyways) does not get fired. That doesn’t happen to me! I went through so many emotions in that moment all at once. I was totally shocked, couldn’t believe it. Then I hit the pissed stage, then the embarrassed stage kicked in and I finally landed in fear. In a matter of moments, I actually thought I would be homeless, dying in a gutter, with no food and no clothes… In that moment, that’s how real my fear made everything feel.
After calling a close girlfriend and totally freaking out about what happened to me, she asked me “what’s the worst thing that could happen?!” After barking back at her “didn’t you hear me? I said I’m gonna be homeless, dead in a gutter with no clothes and no food!” She said “Good! I have an extra bedroom, we wear the same size clothes and I have more food in my pantry than I can eat.” What else are you worried about?”
And just like that, my fear dissipated. I faced my worst nightmare head on. And I realized that I was a smart woman, totally capable of whatever I put my mind to and I realized that while this was a total shock, it would not be the end of me. I realized that I could come out of this any way I wanted to.
And in that moment, I made a decision. I decided that rather than go get another job I would turn my hobby of coaching into a business. After all, this was my new found calling!
The only problem was I had NO experience in starting a business! I had only ever been an employee. I had no idea where to even begin, what to do or how to get started. I just knew I did NOT want to get a job and I needed to make money quickly.
And because I was also recently divorced at the time and on my own for the very first time in my life, I had to work smarter, not harder to get my business doing!
I became obsessed with learning everything that needed to be in place behind the scenes of my coaching business so it was organized and streamlined in advance before I dared to even try to get clients. I knew that when someone said YES to hiring me, I wanted to be 100% confident I could deliver on what I promised and I wanted to make sure nothing slipped through the cracks; after all, folks were going to be paying me for my services!
And because my super power is organization and efficiency (really, I geek out over this), it wasn’t too long before I had my entire business set up and launched. And within six months I had a full practice of 18 full-paying clients and was on my way to making over $50k in my first year… and I was having a blast and I hadn’t even finished my coach training.
Our stories and experiences don’t define us; but how we respond to them is where the real power lives!
In our upcoming Livecast, I’m going to share with you stories from 12 other coaches and their journeys, the obstacles they faced in starting their business, how they overcame them, the actions they took, the strategies they implemented and the results they’re now experiencing!
Follow me here, on our Public Page, to be notified when I go live with my 12 guests; real coaches getting real results… will you be the next success story?