123 | How Kim signed her first coaching clients in month one (while raising two young children)

Speaker: 00:00:00

What does it take to transition from

a secure job to launching your own

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coaching business all whilst raising

two very, very young children?

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In this episode, I sit down with

Kim Holland, a career transition

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coach who specializes in helping

parents find fulfilling work

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that aligns with family life.

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Kim worked with me over the

last six to eight months or so.

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And very much reminds me of my own

story because I started my business when

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my children were about two and four.

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So it was kind of exhausting.

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And I also had a part-time job

on the side, just like Kim did.

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But she was a lot braver than me

and just went all in, quit the job,

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whereas I tried to quit the job and

then lost my nerve and gained three

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part-time jobs, as well as training as

a coach, as well as my business, and

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not forgetting a two and a 4-year-old

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. So i'm delighted to showcase

Kim making it a lot easier.

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I hope you enjoyed today's conversation

where Kim will share her journey from

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working with elite athletes to supporting

parents and how she's built her business

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from the ground up, we will cover the

challenges she faced, the strategies she

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has used, and the community support that

played a crucial role in her success.

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I hope you enjoy today's conversation.

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Hi Kim.

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Thank you so much for

agreeing to be a case study.

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I cannot wait to hear your journey.

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I usually learn so much on these

calls as to how it was from your

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perspective and the journey you've

made, especially 'cause we haven't

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properly caught up for a month or so.

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And I know things have been super busy.

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So please do share a bit about yourself.

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I am a career transition coach

specializing in helping parents who

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are feeling stuck, or lost in their

career since becoming a parent.

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And I help them figure out who they are,

what they need, what they can offer to

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the next role they want to go into, and,

help 'em put a plan together to get there.

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Yes.

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Love it.

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Well, you've absolutely nailed the

niche, so you get a tick from that one.

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And, can you think back to prior

to joining the program, so I guess

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it was about eight months ago,

I'm guessing now, and what was

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going on for you at that time?

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I.

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Yeah, I was still in an employed

role, so three days a week, but

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I had my kids on the other two

days, so felt like I was full-time.

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And I was working as a career

coach, so I'd been doing that for

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over 10 years, helping professional

athletes to transition from

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professional sport into a new career.

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And I was looking to do

something a bit different.

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I had become a parent myself a few years

prior to that and I wanted to move into

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the space of helping parents transition

into a new career, but I didn't have

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any business knowledge or knowledge

of how to set up or run a business.

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I had no idea how I was

going to get clients.

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So that's when I joined your program.

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And so for the first three months

of the program, I was still in my

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employed role and I was kind of doing

the program on the side on my, in my

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evenings, weekends, just trying to

get things set up behind the scenes

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to then launch when I had left my job.

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Totally.

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So how long ago was it

that you actually left?

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I left at the end of last year,

so the end of December,: 2024

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And then I launched my program January 25.

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Yeah.

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Amazing.

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I dunno how you did it.

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'cause I know your kids

are super young as well.

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So huge congratulations on finding

the energy to make the transition.

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So thinking back to when you were

considering joining the program,

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can you remember your thought

process around that period?

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Yeah, so I'd had the idea for quite a

while, but didn't really know how to get

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it off the ground and I downloaded your

coaches planner, and I filled it all out.

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Um, and it was really helpful and it

almost confirmed that it's what I wanted

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to do, but I still knew that I was gonna

need some help to actually get it started.

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I listened to your podcast

for ages before I signed up.

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And I just thought, how

am I gonna get clients?

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And I love the way that Jo markets

and the way that you get your

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clients in and it obviously works.

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You have had loads of us in the program.

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I thought that's how I

want to attract clients.

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'cause there's lots of different

ways out there, isn't there?

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There's loads of different ways

people get clients into their

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programs and some approaches you

resonate with and some you don't.

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And I thought, I want to learn

how to do it Jo's way and I'm not

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gonna get that by downloading free

resources as helpful as they are.

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I need to be.

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All in, and I'm not someone who

wants to spend years trial and

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error with, is this going to work?

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Is that going to work?

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I just wanted to learn from someone who'd

done it and been successful doing it so.

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That's when I hit go.

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Yay.

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I love it.

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I haven't heard it from that

perspective before, so that's

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really, really nice to hear.

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And thinking back then to your time in the

program, what was most helpful for you?

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Oh, so many things.

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I think the structure and the

process for me was really helpful.

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I'm quite a process driven person,

and I want to know what the steps

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are going to be to get to where I'm

trying to get to, and the modules

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were set out in such a simple, easy

to follow way that I could have the

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confidence that if I just followed that

and I did every module in the order,

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it came because it's so hard right?

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When you're starting out and you

feel like there's so much to do

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and it feels so chicken and egg,

do I do this first or that first?

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And I knew there was lots to do

and I had no idea what order.

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So the process was really helpful.

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But also the community, so having a

group of, I think there was 40 people

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in the program when I was in it.

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Alongside you who are all going through

the same process at the same time.

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And they're all at slightly

different stages of your program,

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but you're all, we're all trying

to achieve a similar thing.

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So being able to bounce ideas off

each other and having direct access

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to yourself, and also Jacqui, who was

great in the program to ask questions

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and I had loads of opportunities and

things that came up whilst in the

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program that I could just drop you a,

a note and say, how do I approach this?

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Or someone's come back

with this, what do I do?

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Because it was new to me.

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I know some people run their business

for a few years and then get in touch

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with you and say, I need some help.

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But I was literally starting from nothing.

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So from scratch, just an idea that I

knew I wanted to turn into a business.

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So yeah, the community, the

one-to-one support and the process.

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Yes.

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Love it.

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And I love how all in you were with it,

especially now thinking back to the fact

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you were working and obviously having

your kids on the other days and you

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were a hundred percent all in asking

for feedback, refining every step of

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the way, taking responsibility at the

same time as obviously taking feedback.

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So you are the model client.

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Tell me what's different now?

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What did you achieve as a result?

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Yeah.

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Well, because I had put in that groundwork

for the first three months of the

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program before I launched anything.

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Come January when I launched, I, within

that first month, took on my first

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two clients, which was just amazing.

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I mean, that's, that was kind of what

I hoped and why I did it that way.

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I don't know that I truly ever believed

it was going to happen that quickly.

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So yeah, that was amazing.

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And I'd also spoken on a couple

of podcasts and run a couple of

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in-person workshops all before

I'd even finished your program.

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And yeah, I'm, I don't think

any of that would've been

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possible in those timeframes.

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Without the support and without

having everything set up, and, and

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now I feel like I'm a month or so out

of the program, but I feel like I'm

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in a really good place in terms of

having everything I need ready to go.

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So when things come in, like someone

says, can you speak on this masterclass?

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I'm like, oh yeah, i've

got everything ready.

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I've got my lead magnet ready.

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Because they always say, if you are

a guest on a podcast or something,

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or delivering a session, do you have

a lead magnet you want to share?

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So I'm like, yes, I've got it.

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And it's linked to my email nurture

sequence and everything's just set up

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and if you put in the work at the start,

it becomes so much easier to be able

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to say yes to things because you're

not reinventing the wheel every time.

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You are just thinking, okay, what out

of the resources I've already built

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are going to suit this opportunity?

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So yeah, I feel like I'm in a really good

place having come out of the program, um,

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I'm ready to kick on to, the next thing.

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Yeah, totally.

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And I know you've got an amazing

month ahead with loads of

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opportunities coming up for you.

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How would you describe your

experience of working together?

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It honestly surpassed my expectations.

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I mean, I feel like I already

had quite a good idea.

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Having listened to so many of

your podcasts, you almost feel

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like you, I knew you a bit.

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But yeah, you are just so supportive

and warm, and genuinely care about the

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businesses of those in your program,

and that really, really comes across

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and also really generous in what you

share from your experience and also

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what you are facing in your business

and, where you've had success and maybe

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where you've had a challenge and you

were just really open with sharing

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everything that you knew so that we could

all learn from everything you've done.

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You've obviously done it for so

many years and had so much success.

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So being able to almost skip out some

of the bits that are not going to

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work because you know from your own

experience, they're not going to work.

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Yeah, that for me was the

thing that really stood out.

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Love it.

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Thank you so much.

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. And what was your biggest

takeaway from the program?

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For me, when you are setting up, or

even if you are experienced in business,

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when you are running it on your own.

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It's really difficult, but when

you actually open yourselves up

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to a community, like you have the

support and the bouncing ideas off

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other people realizing you are not

in it on your own, even though you

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can feel like you are at times.

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That was huge when I was getting started.

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And some of us from who were in the

program at the same time have kept in

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touch now and we meet for coworking

sessions and we have a WhatsApp group

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where we share our wins and ask each other

questions, run things by each other, and

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I think that is just so important and

almost a side product of being in your

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program that I hadn't really realized was

going to be so valuable when I joined.

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I was more joining for the, the content

and for your advice and guidance.

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But the community piece is, is so big.

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I.

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Love it.

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And I love how you've kept

in touch with people since.

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And I'm always, spying on

everyone's WhatsApp, wishing I

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was part of your, your group.

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But you do invite me to your coworking.

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Yes.

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And yeah.

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What's next for you?

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Yeah I've got a very busy month coming up.

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So I've been chatting with a couple

of organizations who place, people

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in roles, so they're recruitment

organizations, but they focus on

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flexible working, which is obviously a

big need or desire of a lot of parents.

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So their audience is very

well aligned with mine.

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I've been chatting to them about

how we can do some work together.

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So I've got some opportunities to

deliver masterclasses for them.

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Some affiliate coaching work for them and

a couple of other speaking opportunities.

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So June is all about

getting myself out there.

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Visibility is key.

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That's one thing I've learned from you.

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And so yeah, I am dedicating June

to putting myself out there and,

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talking about the work that I do.

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Yes.

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Totally.

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And if someone's listening and they

are struggling in their business in

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any capacity, maybe they've been years

in or maybe they are brand new, what

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advice would you share with them?

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Oh, I mean, I would say join your program.

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I mean, it's, yeah, it's, it

really has saved me, I think

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months, if not years of time.

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Yeah.

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I would not have got everything

together as quickly as I did

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if I hadn't joined the program.

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So I think if you're feeling, if you've

been in business for a while and you're

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feeling like you're going round in circles

and just not able to take that next step

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or to get those clients in, join the

program and you, you will not regret it.

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Thank you so much, Kim.

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It's been a joy to work with you and.

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Yeah, you are just one of

those proactive, clear people.

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Ask for help when you need it, accept

the help, implement it super quickly.

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And you've showed up, I think at every

call, you are always there, especially

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under such challenging circumstances.

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So, so happy that you are gaining and

attracting all the success that you

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deserve for everything that you are and

all of your experience to date as well.

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Thank you, Jo.

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I've loved it.

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Thank you for listening.

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I hope you loved Kim's story

as much as I loved hearing it.

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Her journey from employment to

entrepreneurship is inspiring for us all.

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Having the courage to show up on

podcasts, gain clients, show up on

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social media, create websites, nurture

emails, lead magnets, all of the

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things that you need to learn in that

initial six months is so, so inspiring.

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Kim's story highlights the importance

of clarity, structure, and community

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in building a successful business.

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If you would like to be supported through

a journey like Kim's of your own, then

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this is what I do inside my signature

program, the business of coaching.

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The final intake date before the

summer is the Tuesday, the 1st of July.

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If you join, then you will

essentially nab selves six weeks

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inside the program for free.

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Because we are a UK term time only

program, so your six month support period

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will be extended to cover those long

UK summer holidays, but you can still

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make huge progress in your business.

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If you want to be ready to make moves in

September, which is a really good time for

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people to make big changes in their life.

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Then you need to start right away.

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You will find the link to the Business

of Coaching Program in the show notes,

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and feel free to drop me a line with any

questions and I'll be happy to answer.

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And like I say at the end of

every episode, trust yourself.

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Believe in yourself and be the wise

gardener who keeps on watering the seed.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.