In my last post, I talked about being ready to work with a business coach—and I also shared insight from my coaching experience. Today, I’m excited to share another perspective on coaching from my client, Justine Clay (whose website I recently designed and developed). Justine coaches creative entrepreneurs and freelancers on how to share their unique gifts with the world. Here’s our Q&A:
Q. How do you know it’s time to work with a coach?
A. It varies from person to person. Some people need to be in extreme pain before they’ll hire a coach, while others see coaching and mentoring as crucial to their professional and personal development and always work with someone. Wherever you might fall on the spectrum, coaching is a great way to get unstuck, define goals, challenge assumptions, and take consistent action towards those goals. If you’re not making the impact or progress you’d like, it’s a good indicator that now might be the right time for you!
Q. How long does it take to get results?
A. I’ve played around with different time frames and, in my experience, 6 month programs are the sweet spot. With meetings every two weeks (12 in total), each covering a different module and assignment, it’s long enough to for my clients to get their positioning, messaging, and marketing strategy nailed down, but not so long they lose precious momentum. That said, my clients typically start seeing the impact of the work in their business much sooner than that. The power of intention, focus, and consistent action has a powerful effect on productivity, generating opportunities and getting results!
Q. How does a person decide whether one-on-one or group coaching is better for them?
A. It really depends on where you are in your business or career, what resources you have available for development, and your personal preference. The group program is perfect for people who are launching their freelance career or business, and want to get the business and marketing basics down before they make a larger investment with a coach. I’ve also had people who just love the community aspect and group support that’s built right in. One-on-one coaching is perfect for established creatives who have achieved a certain level of success on their own, but recognize value of the guidance and feedback of an industry professional in positioning their services more effectively to their target audience.
Q. What recommendations do you have for success with coaching?
A. Show up and do the work. If you’re invested there’s no limit to what you can achieve!
Q. Can you share some coaching success stories?
A. Yes! The success stories are what make everything worthwhile, so I’m happy to share a couple. I have a client who already had a successful design business when she signed up with me, but was looking to be more proactive in getting more ideal clients. While I don’t consider myself to be a life coach in any way shape or form, I do believe personal and professional development go hand-in-hand, so I work with the whole person. In our first session, I suggested a few ways she might invest in her own wellbeing, as well as that of her business. In the short while we’ve been working together she’s reported feeling more confident, dropping a dress size, and getting two new high-caliber clients. That’s the power of setting an intention, showing up, and doing the work!
Another success story was a client who was feeling so disheartened by where she was in business and life, that I feared I might not be able to help her get the results she wanted. As we neared the end of our work together she had a breakthrough and all the personal development work we’d been doing, alongside the professional work, started to kick in. She totally changed her mindset. She’s now fulfilling her dream of traveling around the world, working for the exact clients she wanted to be working with. It makes me so happy!
If you’re ready to work with a coach, I encourage you to go for it. Find the right one and make the investment!
Want to find out more about working with Justine? She offers a free 30-minute introductory call.
