G-BLLC06DBK9 520165642414387 69 | The right environment to grow your coaching business - Women in The Coaching Arena

Episode 69

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Published on:

4th Jul 2024

69 | The right environment to grow your coaching business

There are three core foundations crucial for building a successful coaching business. Drawing from her recent in-person event and her Business of Coaching programme, Jo explores how community, strategy, and commitment create the right environment for your coaching business to thrive. Discover practical insights, real-life examples, and actionable tips to transform your approach to business building.

Timestamps:

[00:00:00] - Introduction and overview of the episode

[00:01:00] - First pillar: Community

[00:02:00] - The importance of in-person connections and casual networking

[00:03:00] - Online co-working as a community-building tool

[00:04:00] - The benefits of diverse perspectives in a business community

[00:05:00] - Second pillar: Strategy

[00:06:00] - The importance of having a clear business strategy

[00:07:00] - Financial planning and emotional aspects of money

[00:08:00] - Simplifying business growth through clear steps

[00:09:00] - Third pillar: Commitment

[00:10:00] - Creating an environment that fosters commitment and accountability

[00:11:00] - Success story: Transitioning to a full-time coaching business

[00:12:00] - Evaluating business investments and support

[00:13:00] - Closing thoughts and resources

Useful Links

How to secure more coaching clients' free training

Download the 12 ways to get clients now

Learn about The Business of Coaching programme

Connect with Jo on LinkedIn

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If you’re kind enough to leave a review, please do let Jo know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: joanna@joannalottcoaching.com

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Transcript
Speaker:

Hello and welcome to Women in

the Coaching Arena podcast.

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I'm so glad you are here.

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I'm Jo Lott, a business mentor

and ICF accredited coach

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

and I help coaches to

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build brilliant businesses.

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I know that when you prepare to enter

the arena, there is fear, self doubt,

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comparison, anxiety, uncertainty.

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You can tend to armor up and

protect yourself from vulnerability.

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In this podcast, I'll be sharing

honest, not hype, practical and

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emotional tools to support you to make

the difference that you are here for.

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Dare greatly.

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You belong in this arena.

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Hello, welcome to episode 69

of women in the coaching arena.

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I am so glad you are here.

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It's been a really busy

time for me right now.

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I had my first large in-person event

on Friday, which went brilliantly.

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And today at four o'clock, I am talking

at coaching summit, so it's been all go,

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but I'm excited to share today the three

core foundations of building your business

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that are crucial for your success.

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And what they are may surprise you.

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So starting with our first

pillar, which is community.

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Nearly every case study I have says this

was really important and they didn't

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realize how important it was beforehand.

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But I think this lonely world you can

get into of sitting on your own all day

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behind a computer, looking at everyone

else's shiny social media feeling

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like you're not getting anywhere.

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It's not going fast enough.

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All of the things.

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And feeling stuck without anyone to share

and be able to figure out a way forward.

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That's why I love group coaching

for business building, because yes

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one-to-one is great, but I think

that added extra of community helps

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more so than one-to-one coaching.

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On our in-person day, everyone really

enjoyed being able to say things aloud

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to other people who actually get it.

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Being able to brainstorm,

get ideas from each other and

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champion each other to succeed.

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I feel like in that room we created

a different type of space than is

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usually displayed on social media.

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A space where you knew that everyone was

having similar challenges to you rather

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than feeling like you were the only one.

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So it was an absolute joy to be part of,

I create this in my online community,

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but it's really made me want to bring

more imperson into things because.

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You know, you miss the chat at the T

point, for example, just things that

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you used to be able to do with people.

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So this Friday I've thrown in

a casual office hours chats.

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Where people can just drop in, drop

out as they feel like, if they want

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to say hi, if they want to chat to

me and get feedback on anything,

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or if they want to chat to others.

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In a more relaxed space than our official

Tuesday group call, which is usually a

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bit of a teach, breakout rooms, you know,

it has a structure, so I'm excited to be

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able to just rock up and see what comes.

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And that's, really exciting.

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My community has also started co-working

together recently, which I love.

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So coworking.

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If you haven't done it before online

means turning up at a call at certain time

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where you are going to work on something.

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So you might say at the beginning of

the call, I'm going to write my email

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nurture sequence in the next two hours.

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And then everyone will say

what they intend to do.

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Then they may check in in 45 minutes,

just have a five minute break.

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Say, how are you getting on?

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And then everyone goes on mute and

continues and some people have fed

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back that it's been amazing because

it's all too easy to avoid our work

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with the washing, or the cleaning,

the organizing the school trips and

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all the other admin tasks that are way

easier to do than writing your nurture

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sequence or marketing your business.

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So have a think about how you can

bring that connection, but also that

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structure that you need in your business.

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If you are missing that type of

structure in your business, come

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join me in the business of coaching.

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Ask yourself is saying yes

to this opportunity, going

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to get me closer to my goal.

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Along with the coworking and the

general cheerleading and supporting,

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what I also love about community

in business is getting diverse

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perspectives on your business challenges.

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We have people that are acing it on Tik

TOK, others that doing great on Instagram,

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people that are doing fabulous on linked

in, there are all sorts of different ways

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that people use to build their business.

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And if you are within a

community, you can say.

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I've got absolutely no idea how to create

a real and someone will come back going.

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I'm happy to talk this afternoon.

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Would that help?

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And it's just a joy to see people.

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Especially women.

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Championing other women, knowing that

we all want each other to succeed.

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Our second pillar that we covered

on my in-person day, that also

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is a key part of my business of

coaching program is strategy.

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So knowing what you're meant to be

doing in your business and having

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a clear roadmap to get there.

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We had a great speaker on the day,

Jane Johnson, who gave a really good

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analogy and said, you wouldn't just

wander out of the house thinking, I

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hope I make it to the Roehampton club

today, which is where my event was.

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You would have looked up the map,

looked up your train time, looked

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up the route and ensured that

you have a plan to get there.

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So it was really interesting.

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And Jane shared, that 80% of

businesses fail in the first two years.

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But only 20% of business

owners have a strategy.

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So she said that's quite

an interesting thing.

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So is it the 20% that have a

strategy that actually succeed?

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So that was quite some wake

up call for many people in the

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room, because it's something.

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We forget.

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You are doing something that's hard.

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That most people have not

got the courage to do.

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Therefore you are going to have

to get as much support and help

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inspiration everything you can on

this journey to ensure that you

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are part of that 20% who succeed?

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Have you got your overall

business model clear in your mind.

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Your ideal client.

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Your offer, your messaging.

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Marketing.

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Sales approach.

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Operational efficiency,

financial planning.

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How are you for all of these things and

thinking about financial planning, we

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also had a great speaker at my event.

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Antje Langsch.

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I can link to her in the show notes.

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Who did a talk about how

emotional finances are for us.

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And so it's not just the belief

that perhaps we are not good at

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numbers that comes up for many of us.

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It's often the emotional baggage

of am I worthy to receive.

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So I think the financial aspect runs deep.

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And it's something that I used to

work on a lot in the start of my

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business, the money mindset aspect.

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But you still always need to keep working

on it because you hit another ceiling,

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another ceiling, and it's like, how

can we continue to develop personally?

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So you develop your

capacity to receive more.

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One of my favorites quotes

from a case study that I have

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is from Kate waterfall hill.

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Who's a leadership coach and

she just said, I just followed

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the steps and it works.

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So I just love the fact when

someone can make it so simple.

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When you can distangle yourself

from the emotional side, which is

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what generally gets in our way.

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Business could be so simple.

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So, it's back to, how can you get

support on the emotional procrastination?

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All of the things that are in the

way of you following the steps

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and knowing that it will work.

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Our, third pillar in our dare, greatly day

and it was so in my program is commitment.

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So, this is more than just saying

that you're going to do something.

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It's about following through even when the

going gets tough and it will get tough.

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But it's also the structure to

help you maintain this commitment

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and hold you accountable.

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It's having to show up every week and

perhaps complete an action review to

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see what you have done that month.

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It's about going in breakout rooms

every single week discussing what are

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your priorities, or what is your plan?

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All of the things on a weekly reminder

to keep giving you that inspiration,

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keep seeing this is possible for you.

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So, yes, you need to bring that

commitment and courage, but also you.

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need to put yourself in an environment

which creates that commitment and courage.

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Another great client of mine, Natasha,

who was, I was about to say lacking

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in commitment in her business.

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That sounds a bit harsh, but she was

wanting to do things on her business.

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But not doing anything.

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Through our work together, She showed up

and she has built a brilliant business.

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She's just launched her

first group coaching program.

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So I cannot wait to contact

her and see how that went.

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But she has really stepped up

into this business since working

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together, which is an absolute joy.

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When we first started working together,

she was just bringing in 2% of her

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income through coaching and by the end

of the six months she had switched that

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over to 50% income through coaching.

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So know that this is possible for you.

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Another question you can ask yourself

if you are considering getting support

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in your business or any decision

at all is will this investment

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give me four to 10 times the amount

of the investment in my lifetime.

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So it's not just throughout the program.

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It's multiplies and every single

decision you make cumulates over time.

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So that is how I build businesses.

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That is the environment I believe women

in particular need to build a business.

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That's not saying men never joined the

program because men also need this.

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But I do think women are really tribal and

I also spoke about on my in-person day and

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others confirmed it was true at the end,

that women clarify things through talking.

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So.

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So.

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in other words, you can't just

sit on your own, writing out your

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niche statement for the 10th time.

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You need to be able to actually have a

conversation, keep talking, keep talking,

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and you will gain that clarity as you go.

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So I hope this helps you to think about

how you can get that community, that

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strategy and commitment in your life.

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And if you want a ready-made version,

that is what I do because I have created

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exactly what I wish I could find.

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And actually I'm on the brink of

just signing up to a program, which

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makes me remember why it's so nerve

wracking when you make this decision.

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So I do know this.

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But it literally feels like it's

everything that I've been trying to

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create myself and trying to find over

years of investing in business coaches.

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So it's very exciting.

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I will keep you posted.

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And I have no doubt.

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If I join this program, things

are going to change massively

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in my business going forward.

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So I cannot wait to keep you posted.

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So drop me a line on

LinkedIn as Joanna Lott.

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I would love to hear from you and

hear your insights from this episode.

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And like I say, at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe

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in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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.

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About the Podcast

Women in The Coaching Arena
Helping compassionate coaches to grow their coaching businesses with practical and emotional tools so that more brilliant coaches build brilliant coaching businesses
Are you a coach who's passionate about making a difference and building a thriving coaching business? Join Joanna Lott, a business mentor and ICF certified coach, as she shares practical and emotional tools to help you succeed in the coaching arena.

In each weekly Thursday episode of The Women in the Coaching Arena Podcast, Joanna provides valuable insights and actionable advice on various topics, such as business strategy, marketing, mindset, energy and entrepreneurship. Whether you're just starting or have years of experience, this podcast is for you.

You have a gift that needs to be shared and Joanna is here to help you do it.

About your host

Profile picture for Joanna Lott

Joanna Lott

Joanna Lott helps coaches stand out and get clients - with honesty not hype.

She has 20 years’ experience of working within HR and Governance in trade unions and financial services.

After qualifying as an ICF Executive Coach she set about learning everything she could about business, sales and marketing and quickly built a profitable career and executive coaching business around her young family.

Other coaches started asking her how she did it, so she’s supported 35 coaches in the last year alone to help them to build their business and get clients so they can make a living doing work they love.