Our main objective here at the National Coach Academy is to enable aspiring coaches to reach their full professional potential. One of the most effective ways to educate students about the world of coaching is by offering them a window into the world of real, practicing coaches and showing them all the different ways coaches make a difference in the lives of their clients.
We hope today’s interview adds another insightful glimpse into the dynamic world of coaching.
Today we are interviewing Judith Auslander. Judith is a Life Coach, Hypnotherapist, and Wisdom Guide based in Beaverton, OR.
NCA: Can you describe your coaching practice and the kinds of clients you typically work with?
Judith: I received my coaching certificate back in 2006. In the beginning, oh my gosh, it was great. At that time, I did one-on-one coaching mostly with women who were going through some kind of life transformation. They weren’t looking for a counselor; they were looking for someone to speak to who could help with guiding them. My belief has been and remains to be that people have their own answers to things. What I’m there for is to brainstorm with them and to help open their mind up to what they already knew.
Things were going gangbusters until 2008, and we know 2008 was a hard year for everything. My business wasn’t functioning to a level where I could survive, so I decided to get a part time job. I went back to school and got a second Master’s, because of course, it made absolute sense. [laughing] After getting the second Master’s which I couldn’t find a job in, I wanted to rebuild my coaching practice.
But I realized a long time ago that I wanted something more. I could hear these limiting beliefs and it’s very hard in coaching to get to the root of those limiting beliefs or what’s causing them. Old messages from mom or dad or ex-husband, etc. I decided to add to my coaching practice something I had always wanted to do: hypnotherapy.
My practice is now a combination of both coaching and hypnotherapy. With both, I’m able to get to the root of things as well as coach them in how to change their lives. It’s a wonderful, wonderful combination.
NCA: In working with your clients today, what would you say is the most rewarding part of that process and on the flip side of that, what is the most challenging aspect of the work that you do?
Judith: The most challenging is always the marketing. No class I’ve ever taken in self-employment includes anything that really helps with marketing. Really going out there and marketing yourself is the way you get clients. You don’t just hang your shingle and the clients magically appear. Some people will say the hardest thing is getting clients. No, the hardest part is marketing yourself. Even though coaching and hypnosis have come aboveground, so to speak, as a means of helping oneself to achieve what you want in life, it’s still not the first thing that people often think of to make those changes.
You’ve got to really be out there marketing yourself. And it’s not our passion — myself included. Our passion is doing the work, not marketing what we do. The hardest part that almost every coach has, including myself, is self-promotion. There’s a part of us that wants to just say, “Oh, I’m a life coach.” There’s not a lot of energy in it. There are so many coaches out there who help other coaches with marketing and we’re inundated with those as soon as we hang our shingle.
The most rewarding part is without any doubt the shifts we see our clients make. When they’re able to step out of their muck and into their life and really start forward-thinking rather than backward-thinking, that they’re living in the present and they’re excited about today and what’s going to happen tomorrow. When your clients make that shift, there’s nothing like it. That’s your A-ha moment — when somebody gets it and they shift.
That’s easy to do with clients who are ready to shift, but it’s when those difficult ones walk away and they made that shift, it’s fantastic. There’s nothing like it in the world. What I love about coaching is that it’s very solution-focused, it’s goal oriented, and it’s quick.
Generally, new coaches paid a good sum of money to receive their coaching training, so another challenge is definitely the beginning of the outlay before money starts coming in. I don’t think everybody realizes that. When a new coach signs up for a coaching program, they’re not going to just hang their shingle as a coach and immediately afterwards start making money. They’re going to be laying out a whole lot more money before the money starts coming in.
Another thing, too. There are coaching programs that have specific genres that you’re leaning toward. Like forgiveness work, or coach training just for grief. If you know what your genre is, you could have more of an idea of who your perfect client is. But if you take just a generic coaching program, which is what I did, you are now left with, “Who is your perfect client? What is your genre?” You think when you first go into the program, “I’m going to be a life coach,” but it’s really at the very get-go that you have to start thinking about who your niche market is. That is so, so difficult.
The most rewarding part is without any doubt the shifts we see our clients make. When they’re able to step out of their muck and into their life and really start forward-thinking rather than backward-thinking, that they’re living in the present and they’re excited about today and what’s going to happen tomorrow. When your clients make that shift, there’s nothing like it.
NCA: What is one piece of advice that you would give to somebody who is in the beginning stage of their coaching career?
Judith: Get a mentor/coach. I highly recommend having a mentor that can be there for you. That you can call and guide you. And if you don’t have one, a lot of established coaches are more than willing to be there and help a new coach get started. What I have found is that coaches are very loving, caring people who truly care about other people and want to help you get started.
Don’t be afraid to reach out and say, “You happen to be a coach who’s working in an area that I just got my coaching certification in and this is an area that I would like to work in. Is there any way that we could find some time just to meet?” Most coaches are going to give you that time. They’re not going to charge you. They’re going to give it to you. You can take them out for a cup of coffee and pick their brain. Ask for help. That to me is one of the biggest things you can do.
The second biggest thing you can do is just be in trust. Be in trust that you know a lot more than you think you do. Realize that it’s more than likely you’re not going to do permanent harm to somebody.
Also, never give it away even if you’re brand new. If you’re going to say, “Hey, I’m just starting and I want to get some practice under my belt,” then the payment can be having them write a review you about you on Google or Yelp. A review can be the payment. That gets you started and that can start making you feel more competent. But don’t ever just give it away.
