Coaching when everything is positive and exciting, filled with love and optimism is great. But it's not the whole truth of who we are as coaches. Who we are - if our work is to be of any real meaning, is only as good as our willingness to do the real down and dirty work: Coaching In Hard Times.

And times right now feel very, VERY hard.

The US has elected Donald Trump as president. And I, like millions of others both in the US and around the world, am devastated.

Trump is a bigoted, openly racist misogynist and a bully*. Him winning disrupts everything we've been told about justice, decency and right and wrong.

And many of us are struggling to process and wrap our heads around this situation. HOW do we make sense of it AND maintain our core values of grace, love and understanding when hatred and fear seem to be winning the day? And the default coaching industry responses of - 'lead with love, focus on the good, it will all be fine, love and light etc' seem to inadequate right now - but what's the alternative? How do we really apply coaching in hard times? What does this mean in practice and how on earth do we move on from here?

So today I have no answers but I'm drawing on some of my wisest teachers - both from my real and my online and literary life.

Things I'm talking about:

How will we move through this?

How can coaching add to the process and what are the traps we need to avoid? (spiritual bypassing anyone?)

Why coaching isn't all about 'look on the bright side' and is really about the messy, human middle space of tough emotions and an absence of easy answers

Why I don't yet know how I'm going to do the really hard stuff yet - but I know what it is and that it's essential it gets done

Wise words from Glennon Doyle Melton and Elizabeth Gilbert

A wonderful and powerful message from my dear friend Lara Heacock from Kind Over Matter

*I know that not everyone who voted for Trump is a racist. There are many reasons people voted for him - single issues, desire for change (any change), dislike for HRC, fear etc. And I KNOW this wasn't all fuelled by hate. But right now it's hard to get past the reality that such an unqualified, dangerously unstable racist is going to be the leader of the free world with access to the nuclear codes. In fact, it's terrifying.

But that's the work - to understand, to build bridges and understanding, to cultivate and encourage empathy and to make sure we heal some of this dark and deep divide that exists right now.

That's the work. It's not going to be easy but the stuff that really makes a difference in the world never is. It's time for us all to step up to the challenge.

Click to view: show page on Awesound

I know you want to build your coaching business so SO bad. You're prepared to work hard, to study hard and hoover up every bit of information and cutting edge strategy you can. I KNOW that.

But here's the thing.

Strategy is not enough to build the coaching business you crave.

In fact, too much strategy could very well be holding you back and keeping you further from that dream.

Strategy means nothing without action. And that next course, webinar or tele-series you think you need first? It's a BS story you're telling yourself.

How do I know? I did it too (still do occasionally, I've just learned to catch myself sooner!)

So in this episode of The Work Happy Coaching Podcast I'm going to share with you just why strategy is not enough to build that coaching business and how you can put what you already know to use to start making progress, getting clients and making money right now.

I'm going to cover:

Why strategy is not enough (and how too much is holding you back)

The number 1 thing that DOES make a difference when it comes to building a coaching business

How my biggest fear as a new business owner came true (and why it was the best things that could happen)

How to you manage your own resistance to taking action in your business.

Click to view: show page on Awesound

So I know I don't really have an air of cool about me but I sometimes like to convince myself I'm pulling it off. Until I interview someone like Andrea Owen and my totaly lack of coolness is exposed for all the world to see!

I love this woman!

Funny, smart, author and all round Kick Asser (have you seen Shit Life Coaches say? Genius I tell you!)

I love that Andrea doesn't suffer a huge amount of bullsh*t AND that she's got major opinions on what it really takes to make a living as a life coach - and she shares it with us today.

Click to view: show page on Awesound

It takes a village to build a successful coaching business - by which I mean, you really can't do it alone. So this week Holly and I are talking business growth - and how to surround yourself with the right people at the right time in your business.

This is a great companion episode to our last monthly episode where we talked about the difference between coaching, mentoring and masterminds.

What we discuss in this episode in this episode on How To Think Bigger-Surrounding Yourself With The Right People

- Why surrounding yourself with right people helps to create a 'new normal' for you

- Why having role models is vital

- How to know if you're surrounding yourself with the right people (and what happens if you're not)

- Where to find the right people at the right time for your business - whichever stage you're at

- The different types of support you need - and how to find it

Click to view: show page on Awesound

What's YOUR coaching superpower?

If you've been in business for more than 5 minutes you'll know how important it is to to know who you people are no where to find them. But even more important is how to explain how you help people.

And I honestly haven't come across anyone better helping people to do this than Maggy Sterner - and that's why she's this week's podcast guest.

Knowing your niche and having a clear way of explaining it to people is a fundamental piece to building your business - and yet it's SO HARD to do!

So this episode is a must listen if you want to grow your coaching business - you can't skip this step.

What we cover in this episode

-Why your niche is your superpower - and how finding it is essential to growing your business

-How to know what words to say to explain what you do

Maggy's simple process to listening to your heart in order to find your coaching superpower

-How to really OWN what makes you special and unique (and what's stopping you from doing it right now

-Why your niche needs to excavated - not chosen or plucked out of the air (and how to go about doing it).

Click to view: show page on Awesound

This comes up a lot for me as a business owner and it all comes up a lot for my clients and I get where it comes from. I get the fact that we have these images of people who are going out and doing all of this amazing stuff and looking so happy while they're doing it and that's only part of the story. You know we all have this edited reality of what social media does.

And you know people's lives are NOT what we see on the outside . We don't see the motivational speaker wanting to throw up before they walk on stage, we don't see the many, many sleepless nights tossing and turning, all the tears, the doubts, the ‘WTF? Am I doing???’ from the entrepreneur. When she's launching her new product, or posting her instagram story we assume that’s the whole thing - but it’s not.

Because the fear isn’t talked about nearly as much as the good stuff (look at my amazing launch, I made $x, I was interviewed by…etc.) So we assume it's not there. And because we don’t see them afraid but we know WE’RE afraid, we have this tendency to make the assumption that because we feel fear that that is therefore some sign that we're not ready.

And that's simply not true. Everyone is afraid at times. EVERYONE.

Your fear does not mean you’re not ready. Your fear just means you’re doing something new and untried and with no guarantees.

And that’s OK. That’s how it’s meant to be for you to grow.

I started off my business almost like five years ago.

And as many of you know for the first few years it was just a disaster confusing mess with a LOT of going backwards and forwards - not knowing what to do and trying a whole lot of stuff out of desperation. But I didn't make huge progress at all in those first few years and a lot of that was because I was clueless. I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't believe that I had the money to be able to invest in a coach and in fact of the things that my ego told me was that a coach could really help me. I didn't believe that somebody else could help me to do this. I believed I could figure out my out which was in hindsight a really big mistake. Yes I spent two years trying to figure out not go very far.

And so that helped me develop an awful lot of empathy with people who are also still trying to figure that out and bootstrap and DIY their business in the dark. But in hindsight I wish I'd have had the courage to have hired a coach because that would have saved me AT LEAST 18 months of angst and time and I'll never get that time back I can see that with hindsight now at the time I was so convinced that I could never afford it and I didn't have the money. And that a coach wouldn’t have been able to help me because I could figure it out on my own.

But that was my fear that that came up then and my fear kept me in procrastination. My fear kept me in DIY. My fear kept me in trying to bootstrap and take tiny as safe as possible baby steps forward.

In many ways my only saving grace I think was the fact that I'm just really bloody minded! and I just kept going and didn't give up on it because I knew that I wanted my own business. To coach people, to help them to have the courage to live happier lives and to show them another way. And I wanted to have the freedom to work for myself and be independent.

And so I kept going but my fear kept me playing small for those two years - really small. So I did what felt like the ‘safest’ option most of the time instead of hiring a coach which was too scary to even think about for a while. I was scared to invest - scared to take the financial step that was a real financial stretch - and meant I was playing for real at last.

But eventually I did. And investing in myself made an enormous difference to me personally and to my business and bottom line.

But that fear didn't go away. It doesn't go away. It shifts and changes but it's there. and the biggest mindset shift you need to make if you want coaching business success? Come to terms with the fear.

Click to view: show page on Awesound

Jo & Holly - what's the difference between coaching, mentoring and masterminding?

If you've ever wondered what the difference between coaching and mentoring is, and why some masterminds feel more like group coaching, this week's podcast episode aims to clear that up for you.

It's fair to say that there isn't one clear definition for either coaching, mentoring or masterminding. As an evolving industry, there's still confusion and difference of opinion as to which is which.

So in this episode Holly Worton and I give our own views, based on our extensive experience in the coaching industry about what we think the difference is AND to know which one you need at different times in your business.

Click to view: show page on Awesound

Today, we talk about business visibility: how do you know when it's time to step up and be more visible with your

business. This is something that we've both struggled with in the past: taking up space with our businesses and being

more visible. We hope this episode will be super useful and inspiring for you!

What You'll Learn

 Why visibility is about taking up space and what that looks like

 Why you really don't need to worry about getting all up in people's faces online

 What our visibility journeys have been like in business, and what things have held us back

 Some of the things we did to turn things around in terms of business visibility

 What it feels like to actually show up in a bigger way (it's not what you think)

 The lowdown on affirmations for belief changes

 Is this just a woman's issue, or does it show up for men, too?

 What kinds of things have been the biggest triggers for our visibility stuff and how we've overcome them

 The biggest things we've done that have created the most important shifts in our businesses

Click to view: show page on Awesound

Yes, summer is the time when many coaches find the clients start to disappear (don’t worry – September is a boom time for new clients – it’s that ‘back to school’ feeling we all get that makes many decide it’s the perfect time to do some work on themselves)

And this means that many coaches go into panic mode or start to wonder if this is a sign that their business isn’t going to work at all and they should give up on the whole thing.

So I want to say that before you chuck the whole thing in, there are LOTS of things you can do to overcome the summer business slump. In fact, I’m going to share 7 practical things you can do today that will shape up your business, create new clients and boost your income – all while wearing your flip flops and looking very cool in a pair of shades.

In fact, I’ve produced a special cheat sheet complete with all the strategies, scripts and ‘steal this’ templates so you can get to work right away. Want the cheat sheet for free? Just pop your details in the box below for immediate access.

Click to view: show page on Awesound

Why We Need To Talk About Coaching Scammers

A little while ago a coach in my circle was scammed by another coach (one she’d hired to help build her business). This certainly isn’t the first time it’s happened in the coaching industry but what struck me in this case was how graceful and eloquent the ‘victim’ was in outing herself and using her experience to try and help others.

April Julson not only shared her story to let others know they were not alone if they’d fallen victim to coaching scammers, but she also took the benefits of hindsight to produce a set of guidelines to try and prevent this from happening to other coaches out there.

Her stand was courageous, honest and vulnerable – just like the woman herself. So I knew I wanted to talk to her in more depth to get this information out there.

I was nervous about even talking about coaching scammers. I mean, we’re meant to be all ‘ra ra’ and ‘think positive’ in the coaching industry (not to mention focusing on what we want to attract rather than avoid – but regular listeners already know my problems with that way of thinking)

But I personally know a handful of people who’ve had this happen to them. A variation of it has happened to me (although my experience wasn’t a scam – more someone who was struggling with some personal stuff that leaked into her business dealing). And if it’s happening to people in my circle than the problem if definitely widespread enough to warrant a conversation.

Like any industry, the coaching world has it’s share of shady characters and we need to have this conversation so that we can be more vigilant as an industry, protect ourselves and each other and draw some very firm lines in the sand around what is and isn’t acceptable business practice – and what we can all do about it.

Whilst it’s thankfully rare and the vast majority of coaches are legit, honest professionals who practice with integrity, there are a few out there who aren’t. And even when the actions (plagiarism, not delivering fully on services, shoddy work and sometimes, total disappearing acts) aren’t always taken from a place of malice, the impact on those on the receiving end can be massive:

Reputations can be trashed, considerable sums of money lost, not to mention the enormous sense of shame many victims feel for being ‘naive’, ‘stupid’, or ‘too trustworthy’.

It can lead to feeling like the world is too dangerous, that they aren’t professional/tough/experienced enough to make it in the business world.

So this is a conversation I’m both nervous and determined to have. Nervous because I don’t want to scare emerging coaches and entrepreneurs into feeling that this is a shark tank they’re entering where they can’t trust anyone and will have to watch their backs forever. It’s NOT. Most people are brimming over with integrity and heart. But wanting to believe the best of people doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be aware and take some simple precautions.

In this episode about how to avoid coaching scammers, April Julson and I talk about:

Why there’s so much shame around being scammed – and why we NEED to have ways of supporting one another to combat this.

How our failure to talk about it makes us more vulnerable to unscrupulous people hijacking the coaching industry

Why being scammed is far from inevitable – and what you can (and must) do to prevent it happening to you

Why we as coaches have a responsibility to talk about this issue so that it doesn’t happen to others and we can end some of the shame victims carry when it happens to them.

Some key steps you can take to protect yourself and minimize your chances of being scammed

Click to view: show page on Awesound