Thinking about making a career change but don’t know where to start? Learn how people just like you were able to transition into coaching stress-free.
Do you feel trapped in your career?
Maybe you’ve been working the same position for years in the same team, and feel like you’re no longer learning new skills. Or maybe, like many corporate professionals, you’re just looking to explore a different career path that lights you up. Something where you can feel fulfilled in your work, spend time helping others, and give your authentic gifts along the way.
Well, if you find yourself asking “How do I shift to a career I love?”, but you don’t know where to start, I’ve got good news!
In today’s blog post, some of our top coaches here at the Brave Thinking Institute are sharing their advice on how they made the transition to coaching. You’ll find specific, actionable advice on topics like: changing career paths, finding new career opportunities they didn’t expect, and how to monetize soft skills they already had to hit the ground running in a new industry, (even when they had no other coaching experience).
This blog post is designed specifically for people who want to make a change in their career but don’t know how or where to start – so if that’s you, read on for some helpful tips!
Let’s dive right in…
“What’s It Actually Like To Make A Career Transition, And Can I Do It Gradually?”
“So my transition was not from corporate, but from my medical practice. And it really was a natural transition. I had trained as a life mastery consultant to bring that to our patients as an adjunct in our medical practice. And what I found was I really felt that what I offered in terms of the coaching with the patients was really the idea that living a vision driven life was a, and is, a foundational piece of healthcare of health and wellbeing. So over time, the more that I engaged in the coaching, the more natural it felt for me to be offering this to my patients and to our patients in the medical practice. It was this natural transition that occurred where I put down diagnosis and treatment plan and moved fully into helping people to design and live lives they absolutely love as a piece of healthcare and really what I feel is full spectrum health…
One of the tips that I always share in trainings with our coaches at the Brave Thinking Institute is this idea that there may be a bridging period where the coach is required to still go to a J-O-B while building their coaching business. And there may be this period of time where they’re not full on in the coaching. And I find that this oftentimes for coaches will create this kind of push me, pull you energy. And in order to really eliminate that and recalibrate that as an energy and create more coherence, what I invite our coaches to do is to make a decision that from this day forward you’re doing one thing and one thing only, and that is you are building a highly successful coaching business. And everything you do now falls under that umbrella, including every conversation you have, everywhere you go, including when you go to the J-O-B during the day, if that’s required.”
– Kirsten Welles, Master Coach of Coach Certification Division, and Life Mastery Consultant
“Is It Too Late To Change Careers At 45+? What If I’ve Already Worked My Way To The Top Of A Different Industry?”
“After working for 17 years as an executive in the hotel-hospitality industry, I found myself as a national vice president of sales and marketing and really feeling as if I had reached the career pinnacle in the industry that I was in. There really was no further place for me to grow inside of that industry. On the inside, I no longer felt that I was growing, that I was progressing…
And as I began to tap into the parts of my job that I really loved, and the parts of my job that I found over time had become tedious and frankly, somewhat annoying, it was all of the administrative meetings, and policy discussions, and budget reviews, and financial and tax ramification strategies. And these were the aspects of my job that I did not enjoy and found annoying. And when I felt lit up, when I felt excited and passionate, it was the moments where I had an opportunity to work with an individual that had their own dreams and goals…
And so when the opportunity was presented to me to become a business and life coach, I realized that this would give me a chance to spend much more of my energy, much more of my professional experience and skillset on exactly the part of the business that I was in, that I enjoyed the most. And so I went, I became certified as a life mastery consultant with the Brave Thinking Institute, and then went about working on trying to create the pivot in moving out of my career and into becoming a full time coach… The tip that I would give is to get certified and begin coaching right where you are.”
– John Boggs, CEO Brave Thinking Institute & Founder of Business & Leadership Division
“Compare the technical skills you have to how they can translate into coaching. If you are hesitant because you haven’t been a “coach” before and aren’t sure how your past skills translate into coaching, I encourage you to take a closer look at all that you have accomplished both inside and outside the corporate realm. I made the transition from working a corporate job for over 25 years to coaching when I was laid off. I used the skills I learned from going through the DreamBuilder program as a client prior to being laid off…
These skills helped me to discover my true calling, and make a purposeful shift. I first took a look at what I currently loved about the work I’ve done and it led me to consider corporate training. I liked that idea but I still had some hesitancy and the more I got curious about that, the more I realized I really wanted to help people in a more impactful way. I wanted to empower people to live their best lives, not just train them for a J-O-B. I wanted to train them for life itself. The more I leaned into the idea of becoming a transformational life coach the more I knew this is what I would love. I also realized that I’ve been called to do this work and the Universe had been whispering to me for many years…
Whenever I would hear motivational speakers or life coaches speak I thought, “I wish I could do that!”. Then I dismissed it because how could I transition from a life of working in corporate to a life coach? Maybe you’ve been hearing the same whisper. The truth is if you are considering a life as a coach, there’s a reason. Take the time to lean into it, explore it, and realize all that you have to offer this world.”
– Didi Selwa, Transformational Life Coach and Bestselling Author
“The success principles and actions from your corporate career will ensure a successful transition to your life coaching career. There are both universal principles of success and ones that are uniquely yours. Identifying and expanding on them is your marketing and enrollment content.”
– Marisa Harris, Life Coach, Presenter, & Consultant
“The reason I transitioned from being a therapist to being a coach is I realized my clients needed a structure of support like a curriculum to support them in staying with the positive changes they desired.
– Joan Menke Butler, MA, Life Mastery Consultant
“How Do I Know If I’m Really Meant For Coaching? It All Seems So Overwhelming!”
“My #1 Tip is give yourself permission to be a beginner again. Take the pressure off of yourself to have it all figured out and to be a pro right out of the gate. It’s easy to hold ourselves to the same standard of excellence we’ve developed in another career – and forget it took us years to create those skill-sets. Give yourself permission to try things out, to fail forward, and keep going. The most successful coaches I know are also the ones who are the most compassionate towards themselves and give themselves the room to grow into this new career.”
– Mat Boggs, Coach, Co-Founder of Brave Thinking Institute, Marketing Faculty of Coach Certification Division, Founder of Love & Relationships Division
“Follow Your Inner Guidance, Find a Mentor who has created the results you seek, follow a tested and proven coaching system, fail your way forward, and do the work on yourself to shift limiting beliefs. It’s not about the fame, money, notoriety, or physical stuff, but about the people you get to serve and support – focus on serving and you will succeed.”
– Jennifer Jimenez, Coach, Chief Innovation Officer of Brave Thinking Institute, Enrollment Specialist of Coach Certification Division, Founder of Health & Well-Being Division
“How Do I See My Dream Career Move Through To Completion?”
“When leaving one career and pivoting into a new one, it’s difficult to pick just one tip, but I would recommend making sure you have found a great mentor. I look for 3 things when partnering with a mentor: 1. Someone with a proven, successful track record in the exact field you are pivoting into.
2. Someone who loves mentoring others, with a system in place to guide you to success. 3. Someone who you can feel truly cares about you and your results.
Bottom line, a great mentor can not only cut your learning curve and speed up your success, but can boost your confidence making the entire journey more fun!“
– Rich Boggs, Creative Director of Brave Thinking Institute, Enrollment Faculty for Brave Thinking Institute Coach Certification
“My number one tip for transitioning from a corporate career to serving as a life coach is to have a mentor. To explain why I believe this, I’ll share my story of career transition as a teaching point. About a decade ago, I was in the midst of building my career as a banking attorney in risk management, and I noticed that while I liked some aspects of the work and my colleagues, I overall felt work was taking over my life. On top of that, I was concerned I had peaked in my industry…
I often felt like I was working harder and longer hours, and that this was the basic expectation. Even on vacations, I would feel stressed about what I was missing (or checking in) and not enjoying the moment. Through the last few years of this career, I found the Brave Thinking Institute. I was already a Minister, and was deeply interested in spirituality and personal development. As I began studying with the Brave Thinking Institute and with Mary and the Faculty as mentors, I started understanding that there were possibilities for a life outside of the current paradigms I had been living in since Law School. A pivotal understanding I gained from working with my mentors (that I now share with clients who want to change careers), is to come from the energy of the role you have in your vision…
My BTI mentors supported me, and I noticed as I continued to bridge, I gained more overall freedom and fulfillment. With my mentors support, I found more time for my partner, family, friends, and for life itself. I felt better and was healthier, and my income increased by 48percent (per hourly basis).”
– Katie Augustine, Senior Coach, Brave Thinking Institute
“Stay with the supporting structure, very closely! When I left my full-time job and dived into building my coaching business, I was struggling with procrastination. It almost felt like I didn’t know what to do to build my business and/or I had no motivation. At times I felt lost, stuck and frustrated. It is important to understand the mindsets difference between being an employee vs. being an entrepreneur, and the biggest game changer is the paradigm shifts in myself! The most impactful move I did was to say yes to the supporting structure I knew was going to change my self-limiting paradigms and for me to see results. I was right! It took me seeking support from the BTI faculty to support me during this process of believing in the Infinite abundance, and not let my fear and paradigm guide the way. Since then, my coaching business has grown 10+ times! I am now an active action taker, instead of the previous procrastinator. It is through expanding my own mindset and awareness I learned to vibrate at the level of my vision and my goals, and results show up! Stay with the supporting structure you would love!”
– Lin Yuan-Su, Success Coach
“How Can I Pivot My Career From Where I Am Now?”
“The #1 Tip I strongly suggest is to GIVE 100% focus on where you are NOW in your corporate career. That momentum will carry you as you transition and you will leave with integrity, focus, and a clean feeling of doing an outstanding job. Look at it as a completion of a time in your life as you VISION your coaching business. When I completed my career in one area, I focused on the enthusiasm that I held when I first started that career. The final days were spent in celebration with my co-workers as I needed that energy boost and my coaching business grew from that energy.
This is a highly vibrational affirmation to use as well……. “Everything required is completed in a relaxed and easy manner in ways that feel really good to me.”
– Judy Matejczyk, Life Mastery Consultant, Best Selling Author
“My tip during the transition is to consistently embrace gratitude. It is essential to the process. For, when unconditionally IN gratitude with where you are and with what you have—while also imagineering your dream as if in the now—your goal can be realized.
– Marilyn K. Lawrence, Bestselling Author and Brave Thinking Coach
“What Is Life Coaching And Is It Really A Viable Career Opportunity?”
“Life Coaching is a meaningful, inspiring and heart-centered way to connect deeply with the spiritual beings we are as we have this human experience together. Many of us working in the corporate world or in other fields may be feeling that we love the work we do, but that there is more for us to give to others and to ourselves…
When I entered the energy world of personal transformation and life coaching, it brought to life the fact that thoughts are truly always turning into things, and that manifestation is perpetually occurring. I began to see so clearly that we are all in a constant state of creating our lives. Life began to take on a whole new life! As I started on this brave and transformative new path as a Life Coach, the truth of this has become more and more vivid everyday…
My one tip to transition from a corporate career into life coaching is this: invest time and energy into creating a clear and authentic vision of what you would truly love to create in your life coaching practice. Get in touch with your true inner self and your intuition, alignment is key. Get into the energetic space of alignment of your vision, thoughts, feelings, vibration, and action. Once these are in alignment, the results you manifest will be the good you truly desire. Alignment makes it easy and effortless to take inspired action which leads to the results you desire.”
– Shauna Alexandria Gupta, Life Mastery Coach and Consultant
“How Do I Know If I’m Ready For A Life Coaching Vocation?”
“As I was making the transition from school teacher to full time coach, I found myself beginning to resent having to go to work every day when all I wanted to do was coach. I noticed this and realized it wasn’t who I wanted to be in the world- a person waiting for something to change. I began practicing walking into the school building as if I was a highly successful coach, back for a visit, here to inspire grown-ups and kids alike. An amazing thing happened- I did the best teaching I had ever done, and was the best colleague I’d ever been. By BEing who I wanted to be right where I found myself, I was able to do that ending really well, and within 6 months of starting my coaching business, had enough income to leave that job on a high note.”
– Lauren Brollier, Life Mastery Coach and Consultant
“The Why has to come from your heart. If it does, and you have a burning desire to serve others, the rest will fall into place. You have to know what a tremendous benefit your experience in the corporate world can be to your power as a coach. It’s an asset! The central message of coaching is that all human beings are guided and we are able to access the Infinite within us for all information. So already, your ability to listen to your own inner voice and say yes to your true calling is an inspiration to those who may not have had the courage to do the same. You can be a lighthouse for them. The main thing is to follow your heart. Trust that you will be sustained and provided for as you transition. Get the best training you can. But understand that if you are called to help others transform, it is because your channel for divine truth is required, and there are many who can only hear what they need to hear through it.”
– Claire Lautier, Consciousness Coach
“To Pivot successfully from one career to another my #1 Tip is – KNOW what your Values are! Go inside and determine where you are out of alignment. In my previous career I was getting gentle nudges for YEARS that I was not really serving what mattered most to me. I put my husband and children on the back burner to go to an office where I poured in my blood, sweat and tears, only to leave filling unappreciated and soul SUCKED! When I decided to put my core values first, put my family first, to listen to the nudge and make a move, I discovered MYSELF! AND I began earning MORE by doing what I loved. I feel more fulfilled than ever before, because I LISTENED to my higher self and aligned with my truest Values.”
– Bridget Flynn, Enrollment Director of Brave Thinking Institute
“Take time to go within and ask yourself the most important question you could ask, “What would my life look and feel like if it were exactly what I would love?” Since most of us aren’t taught to even think about what we would love, this answer may be completely unknown at first. You may have a vague idea of what you might want or at best you might have a picture of something you desire, but it could feel “unrealistic” and out of reach for you. If you keep asking for clarity with a deep level of sincerity and an expectation that the answer exists, even if you don’t know it right now, you WILL definitely discover the way…
I initially wasn’t sure what I wanted my life to be after my corporate life. I left my 20 year career as a project manager for major corporations when my dad was diagnosed with ALS. I was in between jobs after moving back to California to take care of my dad and it was an opportunity to create the next chapter of my life. I knew I had wanted to do heart-centered work so I decided to get a job at a non-profit organization helping foster youth. Suddenly that opportunity fell apart and I found myself at another non-profit company that within months also didn’t work out. After the 3rd failed attempt, I decided to finally take the time to go within and get to really know myself. I would spend time asking in the most authentic way what I was meant to be doing that I could just fall in love with and serve others at the highest level. And in the most remarkable way, within days I noticed an email from none other than the amazing Mary Morrissey inviting me to get certified as a DreamBuilder Coach. After watching her short introductory video I KNEW this was it!
You don’t get the entire career roadmap, but you do get a feeling about what is right in any given moment and if you listen and keep putting one foot in front of the other, you WILL get there and it’s likely to be much quicker and easier than your mind wants you to think! People and things kept showing up to support me in building my dream. Unexpected financial support, moral support, and ways of finding clients! In summary, it’s not about working harder to figure it out, it’s about getting still and quiet so the clarity arrives to guide you into your path on the other side of your corporate career! YOU CAN DO IT TOO!”
– Judy Hersch, Life Mastery Coach and Consultant
“Can I Really Change My Career & Become A Coach With No Experience?”
“My number one tip to transition from a corporate career into life coaching is to remember the past experience, knowledge and successes you do already have. It’s easy to think it’s a brand new career and you are starting from scratch but the truth is you have probably been mentoring and coaching
people throughout your career. You have likely given presentations (if it’s been to 1 person or hundreds of people), you have likely taken courses that will support you in building this business and in helping other people. Leverage your past experiences and successes to help boost your confidence and build a successful coaching practice.”
– Stacey Berger, Mindset Expert & Transformational Coach
“Failure is a blessing in disguise and setback is a redirection on the path of our dream journey. My transition from a corporate trainer into life coaching speaks this truth. Not just once but twice in my life that while my job and interpersonal relationships were at the peak performance, forces behind the scene appeared totally out of the blue to push me to the exit door. With time I learned to be curious and ask, would this setback mean a redirection to a career that I really love but dare not to start? The moment I thought about “being a full-time life coach”, my body felt alive, and my heart beat fast, with not only excitement for a brand new page of my life but also fear of uncertainties. I have a family to support and I am knocking the door of 50, is this the right choice? What if I hang on a little while? How should I start my business? Who am I? Will people pay so much for coaching in this poor economy?
This happened in mid-November 2020, three weeks after I started DreamBuilder Life Coaching Certification Program. Thank Goodness, Mary’s teachings have given me a heads up of all these paradigms. Befriending fear is a lesson that I must get a pass! The overwhelmingly successful stories of former DreamBuilder coaches were too good to be true, but very encouraging. At the end, there was only one big question left: would these happen to me too? Then I took a deep breath and answered, “stay focused, trust the process, and feel grateful.” I also said to myself, “if I don’t do it, I’ll never know the answer. If I make a wrong decision, I make it with a good reason!”
In February, I left the company, became a certified coach in March, and delivered my first Vision Workshop in April to 8 people, got my first client one week later. Then things happened seemingly effortlessly – my client number 2, 3, 4 came in May, and today I am meeting my client number 8! I love my life! Now I, too, have successful stories to tell on Facebook! Now I know I am not an exception, and neither are you! If you think that this is a result of major marketing campaigns or my fame, it is not true.
If you need one tip, I would say the same as Mary said, “Do what you can, with what you have, from where you are.” Follow your heart. Great ideas often drop into my head when I wake up or bathe. It is fine to take baby steps. Like hiking on a mountain, every step towards the direction of your destination will get you a bit higher where you can see more opportunities and reach more resources.
– Elizabeth Ng Dreambuilder Life Coach in Asia
“Get support, a coach. A coach can see what you can’t because they have a wider perspective from years of experience helping others do just what you are doing. A coach can spot when you are wanting to quit and provide the necessary encouragement and push that will move you in the career direction YOU really want to go. They have belief in you when you are having a hard time believing in yourself. You will understand the value of coaching, especially after utilizing a coach for yourself.”
– Annabelle Keil, Transformational Life Coach
“What Are My Next Steps If I Want To Become A Coach?”
Anyone can become a life coach with the right support, the real key is in making the decision to actually start! Hopefully this article has inspired you to take action on your dreams!
Whatever your current situation, know that you don’t have to feel stuck or trapped in a career you don’t love. With the right guidance, you can find a vocation that far surpasses your current income, and allows you to enjoy your free time while making a difference in the world. Life coaching is one of many options for people like you who are looking for more meaning in their work.
If you think life coaching might be a vocation you’d like to explore, we invite you to apply for a conversation with one of our programs experts, where you’ll learn all about what it takes to make it as a coach, and how we turn corporate professionals into powerful change makers!
Click here to start your coaching journey, and make your professional future even brighter than ever before.
If you think life coaching might be a vocation you’d like to explore, we invite you to apply for a conversation with one of our programs experts, where you’ll learn all about what it takes to make it as a coach, and how we turn corporate professionals into powerful changemakers!
What would making a career pivot mean to you? Click here to start your coaching journey, and make your professional future even brighter than ever before.
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