I’ve been officially coaching as a solopreneur since 2017. This article isn’t going to fluff anything, that’s not my style. Here’s what you need to know about hiring a life coach, straight up.
- You need to understand where you are in life and where you want to go. You don’t need to know EXACTLY where you are going, but have a strong desire for change.
If you’ve found a good coach they will direct you and let you know immediately if they are not the right one for you. This is likely because if you aren’t the ideal client for them, they would be adapting their services greatly to serve you IF they did take you on as a coaching client. In this case, it’s better to be clear and move on, than wonder if it has anything to do with you. You want a coach that is a specialty store, not a general store. Why? Because generalists spread their energy a ton and specialists have focused energy and methods for their specific clients. Coaches can know a tremendous amount of helpful things, modalities, and methods…but a great coach will be laser focused on specific results and specific types of people to serve. My people are creatives! My specialty is in energy management and lifestyle design through organization and biometrics such as heart rate variability.
- You need to have available time to meet with your coach, & apply the concepts and guidance provided during your sessions.
Sometimes we assign homework as a way to push you out of your comfort zone. If you don’t have the time or can’t make the time a priority, you are NOT ready to hire a coach.
When I work with clients who say they want to change, but don’t do any homework, are late to sessions, or no-shows after hiring me, it is very clear they aren’t serious about their personal goals. Just like a fitness trainer can’t work out FOR you, a coach cannot do the work for you.
- Working with a coach is an investment. That’s by design. Otherwise, you would’ve already met your goals on your own.
(Note: I do not suggest hiring a coach if you have more than a manageable amount of debt. Debt is a weight and having further debt after hiring a coach is something to seriously consider before investing.)
While it may seem like a big investment in the beginning, if you’ve taken the time to have discovery calls with more than 1 coach, you will know who is best for you by your interaction with them.
A professional coach has clear guidelines for working together, clear outcomes which you establish together and a contract for working with you. When these things are in place, the likelihood of your results lasting and continuing to propel you toward your goals will be higher.
When I speak with potential clients such as musicians, artists, and creative entrepreneurs, I love seeing their potential and know that it is my purpose to always see them at their best. My expertise is in providing the tools needed to face anything life throws at you in a positive way.
These tools in my coaching practice include:
- Learning to manage personal energy using organization and simple biometrics like sleep hygiene and Heart rate variability
- Recognize when your nervous system is stressed, which can cause a negative emotional response and negative cycles of thought
- Develop clear routines and lifestyle habits which support you long-term and enhance your performance
- Provide tools for visualizing your future, breaking down big goals into action steps…and more
I often find people who are not ready to work with a coach haven’t considered how much effort it takes to re-route their thoughts, their beliefs, their habits, their behaviors and even their physical environment for optimizing life. Basically many people who aren’t ready, make excuses and fear the discomfort it requires to create lasting change. Transformation takes time and it does not happen overnight! Anyone telling you it does, is not being honest with you!
- Contracts are set in place to protect you AND the coach. Try not to be intimidated by them, if you are, have someone review it with you or ask the coach to review it with you. A good coach will gladly do so, because they have nothing to hide!
When it comes to the contract part of the agreement and arrangement, people can be very intimidated by the document. Reality check, the same way that a concrete business owner needs to protect themselves is how a professional coach, designer, artist, musician, record label, or photographer needs to protect themselves in the professional world.
A contract or agreement exists as a document to provide clarity about what each person is responsible for. Examples of responsibilities may include:
- Invoicing + Payment Schedule
- Homework
- Exact Services
- App or website logins
- Communication boundaries
- No-show/cancellation policy
- Testimonial releases (where your testimonial may appear and how it may be used.)
When you find a coach who has an agreement in place and their expectations for working with you are clear, then you know you’re working with a professional. When someone relies on hand written agreements, verbal agreements, or simple emails and doesn’t clarify exactly what the process or framework you’ll be going through is – you may want to double check your gut to think about what makes sense to you. Most of the time, those lacking clarity professionally will not create clarity for you as a client.
It is important to have a consultation with the coach to see if you’re a good fit, don’t assume that you’re a good fit or the coach is a good fit for you. Ever seen a sweet profile in online dating and IRL, they were uh…, not updating their pictures to put it nicely? Woulda been nice to have a video call first, right? Coaches maintain confidentiality with their clients and some of their most vulnerable thoughts, fears, disappointments, failures…while it is an honor to hold this space for clients, we also push, encourage, empower, and remind clients A LOT. So, making sure the coaching relationship is a good fit first, will prevent pain or strain in the professional relationship later.
- Being relatively flexible is important to both parties.
The coach needs to be relatively flexible with you without breaching the agreement and you need to be relatively flexible without breaching the agreement. There may be details about how you’re going to proceed between the client and the coach and the timeline, but most of the time a good coach will have a section about rescheduling, or a note about flexibility AND accountability.
If a coach doesn’t have anything in place regarding how they will hold you accountable, this is not a good sign. Coaching is about guiding you, pushing you and empowering you to take action toward your goals. In my coaching practice I text or send short audio messages to my private clients via a private dedicated app, 2 days a week for 90 day cycles and 1 day a week for my yearly group coaching membership! IF you aren’t ready to work with a coach you will find these messages annoying and like I’m bugging you. If you are ready for a coach you will feel these messages as indicators to stick with your goals, new habits, and new direction in designing your ideal lifestyle. You will see these messages as receiving guidance from me as a creative coach with valuable experience and insight.
I’ll say it again,
Coaches don’t do the work for you. They hold you accountable on your path to reaching your goals. Otherwise….you would’ve already reached those goals on your own!
Coaches don’t do the work for you. They hold you accountable on your path to reaching your goals.
- When a client is NOT ready to work with a coach, they will go more into areas of therapy that a professional licensed Medical Professional would advise someone or help someone with.
A big difference in therapy (besides therapists and counselors having to be licensed by a state or federal governing entity) is therapists are often focused on your past and coaches are often focused on your future.
We can’t deny that your past has shaped you, we can however push you to see what’s possible and remind you of your own potential to create the life you desire. Even on your worst day, as a coach I believe and SEE you at your best. We all have peaks and valleys, a coach is a beacon or lighthouse there through any terrain.
What I teach and coach creatives on is how to recognize or do the following:
- How to know when you’re in a valley and that the peak is just around the corner
- How to manage stress during the most stressful times
- How to optimize your sleep hygiene and heart rate variability for upping your nervous system function and develop resiliency
- What the types of Grit are there and how to develop each one. (Knowing when to rest, is 1 type of Grit.)
- Science is a language, so is the ancient, so is art, so is the spiritual. Choosing what works best for you in life may be 1 or a combination of all.
- How to harmonize care for your body, mind, AND creative spirit in the same 24 hours everyone gets
- How to develop a system for organizing that works for you and is unique to you.
- How to develop, change, or transform what I call “umbrella beliefs.”
- How to create an optimal environment for getting into deep focus, known as FLOW.
- How to create personal routines and guidelines as you navigate life and career obstacles.
As you can see, coaching involves many layers with each person! A good coach will steer you toward progress and forward, verses referencing the past too often. The right coach will notice when you are clinging to an old identity, behavior, or habit that doesn’t bring you forward. A great coach knows how to push you in the right way and guide you to rest when you’re pushing yourself too hard.
- Coaches ask questions which help you come to the conclusion and insights yourself.
This is THE major difference between a coach and a consultant. A consultant tells you what to do based on their experience. A coach assists in you coming to the conclusion mostly on your own, with their experience as a guide, not an instruction manual. When I provide examples in coaching I request permission to provide the suggestion or example to reference.
- If you have a “coach” feeding you answers, constantly giving advice, or even telling you what to do…you might want to reconsider why you think they are a coach and maybe whether you really seek a consultant.
- There’s a big difference in being guided to expand and being told what to think or do. Coaches don’t engage in telling people what to do, we can suggest and recommend, but we don’t tell, unless directly asked by you for what might be best based on our knowledge. Telling someone what to do can have serious legal implications, as well as, prevent the growth of the client. Consider this: How can you grow and learn, when you don’t have to do any thinking or realizing how you got to where you are or where you really desire to go!?!
- My methods are cultivated from empowerment and self-efficacy. I even have a coaching schedule that builds in months for clients to implement what they’ve learned independently. (During these months/times I am doing my own creative work and implementing what I’ve learned too!) Any coach who wants you to coach with them in a co-dependent manner or for purely selfish financial gain is not setting a good example or walking the walk.
- A good coach leads by example and is authentic.
Another sign of a good coach is that the coach practices what they are providing for you during their sessions. They will explain how they view and use certain tools, exercises, methods, thoughts, affirmations or whatever- in their own lives. IF they can’t demonstrate or explain how or why they’ve used their specific concepts, theories, tools, methods, books, supplements, products, etc. in their own life, then you have someone focused on $$ and now on your growth or progress.
You can ask these types of questions in a consultation call, that is the reason for a consultation call. If you cannot get a call with someone before working together, then make sure you understand what their refund policy is if they have one, or what their application process requires. A good coach will have an application process for bigger monetary investments because they don’t want to work with people who aren’t ready to work with them. The application is a simple step. As a coach I believe, if someone can’t follow those directions and submit a form (and have the patience to wait to be contacted after review) then you’re probably not a good candidate for coaching! Patience is key in personal development work. In my coaching practice we are playing the long game and not buying into convenience culture of “Six Figures in 90 days” or experiencing life-changing results after 1 session.
While we are on the subject of leading by example…
I get this question frequently, “What are your certifications?” and “What makes you qualified to coach?”
The truth is, if you believe qualifications are important to you, then seek a coach with qualifications and accolades you value. If you seek an expert in a field or someone with experience in an area you want to grow, then ask them about their experience in that field. Here’s an example from my own work:
- I’ve coached visual artists on their portfolio and cohesiveness of their work. I can do this because I’ve created portfolios and have a degree in Art Education. Does the degree make me better at what I do as a coach? Absolutely. Could I coach people without a degree? Some would say yes, some would say no. Both may agree that having made a lot of art, is what might more qualify me to coach a visual artist.
- I’ve coached writers and novelists. Do I have a writing degree? No, but I have written many songs and poems on my own and written in the academic world. I managed the 5th largest nonprofit literary center in the US, without being a “writer.” Does this make me a good person to work with writers? Some would say yes as a songwriter, some would say no, without a writing degree.
- I’ve worked with musicians who needed mindset work, not music performance work. Having the mind of a musician and having the experience of performing anything from classical music to live indie rock, impact the way I can connect and communicate with a musician as a coach. Does having worked at SONY in music publishing or at United Record Pressing in vinyl production management, or founded a nonprofit that has impacted 1000’s of people in learning to make music with kids, help? Some would say yes, some would say having a music degree would be preferred.
- I’ve worked with entrepreneurs & techies. I’ve worked with activists & creative 9 to 5-ers. I’ve had 9-5’s, I’ve worked at a tech company doing materials testing in quality assurance for 400 products a year. Being an entrepreneur running a business on my own, is helpful in working with these clients. Having changed environmental policy for all public universities in the state of TN during my activist days, gives me common ground with an activist. Do these things “qualify” me to coach these specific types of people?…that is determined by each person.
My suggestion is listen to your gut and…Google the person and try to see if there’s anything that sticks out about the person before you get on the phone with them. When you have questions or if you have questions about their ability as a coach, SIMPLY ASK! A good coach has no problem answering those questions and has nothing to hide.
- If this is a large investment for you, do not begin working with a coach UNTIL you have had a call with them.
Most coaches will have listings of their services on their website and sometimes a coach will not list their prices on their website because they want to customize a package for you or that’s how they like to screen interested parties. This can be intimidating to someone who has never worked with a coach, but if you’re interested in the coach and intrigued about what they offer, go ahead and fill out the application. From an application, you will most likely get on a discovery call.
The time “lost” in a 20 min phone call is well worth the investment, versus money lost IF you go with a coach that you’re really not sure about or already made a nonrefundable payment. This is your life here, don’t take it lightly and don’t ignore your gut, the contract details, and how a call goes. Sleep on it, if you need to.
Some coaches require a refundable deposit to get on a call. This to deter no-shows for the time set aside for your 1:1 call. Believe it or not there are lots of people who sign up to speak with coaches and don’t show up to the phone calls. Then, the coach sits there and blocks out that time and waits for them on the phone or on zoom or video conference and the person doesn’t show up! When you start working with a coach, you schedule your sessions and the coach makes it known that they’re setting aside that time for you specifically to serve you. The same applies on your end as the client. If you say you’re going to show up to a session, be there on time, eliminate distractions, and be fully present.
Here is a simple checklist for going into a call:
- Do some research on your coach, read all that is out there. Asking questions with answers already in a bio online will subtract from your time on the call for questions specific to you. What is it you specifically want to know?
- Write down your questions in advance.
- Be sure to have a quiet environment for the call. Headphones are very helpful
- Turn off all computer notifications and take the pets out before the call if you have them.
- Be open minded about the process. Sometimes it takes an adjustment period to sense how people communicate, to adjust to their tone and voice.
- Be a good listener. When in doubt, wait a touch longer to respond.
- If a coach makes you slightly uncomfortable by asking tactful questions that get right to your motivations for seeking a coach, be honest & know that a professional keeps every detail confidential.
(We have a lot to keep track of for each person, it is very unlikely we would spend time recounting anything because we are onto serving the next person fully & with great presence! Multi-tasking is a myth cognitively!)
- Decide beforehand, what your investment limit is and your timeframe for beginning work with a coach. This is intense work. Having too many major projects or life changes while working with a coach can be more than some can handle or want to handle. *I do not recommend investing in a coach if you have more debt than you can handle or that cannot be eliminated within 3 months of less.) This is relative to each person, but taking on more debt is not the best decision during times of intense change or transformation. This is my personal opinion, regarding the financial aspect of working with a coach. You don’t want your debt to ever show up as resentment toward your coach.
- Reflect on how or why you want to change or improve your lifestyle, business, body, nutrition, etc. Whatever you are hiring a coach for, reflect on WHY you haven’t been able to to do this work on your own? Doing it yourself is great and many people are successful, but there are times in life when a coach can guide you in a way no one else can. Whether it’s timing or life path, the right coach will make you wonder why you hadn’t hired one a long time ago!
* IF you have a coach that is flaky and not showing up on time and not communicating with you, then they are not a good coach and this is something to consider when you sign agreements. Look thoroughly at their refund policy and what they are intending and legally obligated to deliver, if they have an agreement. If they don’t have one, at a minimum get an email with what they will deliver in a time frame in an email to you. If you aren’t comfortable without working without an agreement, then don’t worry, there are plenty of coaches who have solid, clear agreements. IF you are scared to sign an agreement, you may want to reconsider why you have that fear? If you don’t believe someone will deliver on an agreement, then there is probably a reason or indicator that you aren’t comfortable with them as a business owner. This is totally fine. Keep searching until you find a coach who runs their business and presents themselves in a way you are actually comfortable with. There are tons of coaches out there for everything from voice work to dog training to changing careers.
My specialty is in working with creatives & entrepreneurs on improving deep focus (FLOW), optimizing their daily routines, and managing their energy through organization and lifestyle design.
THIS IS A BONUS for knowing whether you are ready to work with a CREATIVE COACH:
- What makes a good CREATIVE coach and how do you know you are ready for one?
- The first way to know you are ready for a creative coach is, you think outside the box already 🙂
A creative coach may have unconventional methods. They may assign wacky homework, or ask you to think about your goals in unconventional ways. For example, one of my clients was working on a book and I asked them to think about writing the book as if the book were a person they were in a relationship with. If the relationship isn’t fed and tended to, the connection withers. The characters seem less real, the act of writing with deep emotion is less likely because the relationship has no foundation and no consistency.
- Another indicator you are ready to work with a creative coach is you want to speak the same language as a creative person.
Ever tried to explain what you do to your family and….well they sorta smile and nod and you feel like you didn’t really get the reception that equals how hard you’ve worked as an artist or entrepreneur?…Yep. They mean well, they love ya, but they just maybe don’t get the details of creative life…I DO!
I understand how a coffee shop can take you to a time when everything falls away for a few hours. How paint can act differently depending on your mood and how you hold the brush. Or how running lines for a play taxes your memory, but how much you love it. Or how practicing scales can make you fall in love with your instrument over and over again, though it’s a struggle to do them sometimes.
Creativity comes from an infinite source, this is why FLOW feels timeless and like you’re completely engrossed in your art or activity. Being in flow is why you forget to use the bathroom and don’t realize how much time has passed. There is science behind it, but metaphorically, Flow IS the ultimate creative force that all creatives draw from. Entrepreneurs do the same in wanting to build something from nothing.
You are ready to work with a creative coach if you understand what the creative force is and you want to learn how to work within it, not against it.
- The last indicator you are ready to work with a creative coach is…you are willing to add DISCIPLINE to your creative practice. While discipline may seem confining, it’s actually the glue keeps you on track when chaos dances in and out of your life. Discipline can be the thing you lean on for consistency, when other areas of life are NOT consistent. So, if you aren’t willing to be disciplined with the work assigned or in showing up to work with a coach, you probably aren’t ready!
There’s a saying I like to remember when I begin to think my discipline sways it goes like this:
Suffer the pain of discipline or suffer the pain of regret.
When you work with me, we work with your Mind, Body, & Creative Spirit. In order to design a life that is super productive, meaningful, and has the freedom to be your best creative self these three areas must work in harmony.
I hope this article has given you some useful insight and if you made it to the end. Felicidades! Thanks for visiting the Hive. If you are interested in working with me, submit my interest form and schedule a free call. I’d love to hear about you, your art or business, and your biggest goals.
