I don’t LOVE talking about the time that I made a bunch of money (for me, at least, back then) and then got found out to be a LESS THAN MEDIOCRE coach, FIRED quickly –and angrily– by many… all without a financial back up plan.
I was coming out of my HR business, which was BEAUTIFUL, honestly… but I didn’t love it. Didn’t love the work. And back then, the coaching industry was JUST being born. You have to remember that in 2004 or so, business coaches ALL showed pics of their mansion on a cliff overlooking the sea. They ALL drove cars with the doors that swung upward. They ALL (supposedly) made millions.
I LOVED business strategy even back then. But I didn’t feel like I was “successful enough” to coach others in business. So, I decided that I’d be a LIFE COACH. lol…
I thought I could help overwhelmed women live lives according to their own priorities. With no email list and no website and a personality that would make networking NO GOOD, I looked around to see WHO already talked to these women.
I found those make-and-take dinner places. Think: Super Suppers. There was also one that started with a D. I forget the name. Their clients were moms with money to spend on convenience options, who were SEEKING balance in their lives.
BINGO. I found an audience.
And guess what? They DID have a website, multiple locations through out the US, an email list AND a need for content for their email newsletter.
When i asked if I could write for them, they were an EASY and ECSTATIC hell yes.
Because i was an excellent marketer,
I got found out to be a LOUSY life coach….
FAST.
I was inpatient. Intolerant of constant excuses. Irritated by their need to continue to talk about the same issue week after week, and I did NOT shy away from saying such things.
PLUS, to be honest, my only REAL solution for an overwhelmed Mom who worked a corporate job? Quit your job. Go out on your own. Bet on yourself. I had nothing else to offer them, really.
Two things happened.
1) I stopped selling life coaching because I HATED delivering it. And
2) I met a small business owner in line at the post office. On a scrap sheet of paper, I drew them a quick strategy for how to quickly increase their income, by at least double. Two months later, they’d tripled their income.
With this new confidence, Michelle the business strategist was born. 😊
I figured that MAYBE not everyone WANTED to live in a mansion by the sea. I later found out that fancy car was rented for their photo shoot. (Maybe the house, too.) I learned that SOME people don’t want to be famous, they want to have a business that provides an ABOVE normal living for their families (For most, this is $400K – $500K… NOT multiple millions.) And also….
MAYBE they secreted RESENTED how visible their ill equipped competitors were. MAYBE they wanted to be RECOGNIZED for their expertise. MAYBE their MAIN desire is that their clients SEEK THEM OUT because constantly and desperately seeking clients was exhausting them… physically AND emotionally. MAYBE they wanted to do this WHILE being themselves and WITHOUT giving up their lives.
I was right.
When i look back and realize that there was a season when I was that coach … ill equipped, ill prepared, BUT WINNING clients that REALLY should have gone to a better coach, there IS a measure of regret.
But it taught me something EARLY ON: The woman who is SEEN and RECOGNIZED as an AUTHORITY is the one SOUGHT by clients.
If clients or patients have been hard for you to come by… If you feel RESENTFUL of how hard you have to work to get clients who should be EXCITED To work with you…
MAYBE… you’ve been trying to win a war against the wrong enemy.
TRUTH: The real reason you’re not getting the clients, the referrals, and the income you DESERVE isn’t the platform, the trends, or your niche. It’s that in a market full of qualified experts, the woman who wins is never the MOST qualified — she’s the MOST RECOGNIZED.
And recognition doesn’t come from more content. It comes from strategic authority PLACEMENT (literally: the PLACES you show up) that makes your expertise undeniable and your name inevitable.
WOWx was CREATED to give women that authority, that recognition. If you WANT to be seen, sought and cited, Message me.
