If you're a life coach, do you think the sector is totally oversaturated? Thinking of career change...

[Bollyhood]

Exactly that. Thinking of life coach as a different route workwise. Yet to refine my area of interest, but have a few ideas. I'm doing a lot of research but I'd love to hear people's thoughts who are currently working in that space.

To me, a life coach is like one of those people who claim to run a business just because they make a bit of money selling Avon on Facebook.

OP, it seems that on this forum anyone who is trying to do something a bit 'alternative' as a job, whether it is complementary therapies, life coaching or something in the creative industries will be immediately criticised.

I think it seems that many people can't thing beyond being an employee and the traditional 9 to 5 in an office. They will tear down anyone who wants to try something new and I think there is a bit of jealousy in there somewhere...

So my advice is to take some of these comments with a pinch of salt.

I think people are sensible to say that you will need to get some qualifications and find your niche to stand out from the competition and to point out that there already many people offering this type of services.

But it is totally inappropriate to call life coaches 'charlatans' or to seem to relish to bring you down....

I used to run a community project in London where we helped people with mental health issues and other complex needs find volunteering opportunities and jobs. I hired a life coach to run a few sessions for our clients focusing on developing self-confidence, improving communication skills and coping mechanism for dealing with anxiety and doubts. We also had female only sessions addressing because some of our clients had been through abusive relationships and again lacked confidence. The clients all that these sessions really helpful. Just another side of life coaching...

I completely agree. In my experience they are people who haven’t ‘done’ and cannot ‘do’ anything particularly, so they tell others what to do. It’s a made up and unnecessary layer between people and their own real professions.

I agree. An acquaintance of mine was really successful in a couple of sectors, and mentored others for a number of years, developing them as professionals and as individuals. She moved into life coaching because she figured she’d gotten as far as she wanted to in the sector she was in at the time, and why not continue developing others (which she loved), whilst earning from it…she seems to do alright, and is still very respected.

Without Googling, can you talk us through the GROW model?

If not, that's why you need to get coaching skills training.

Qualifications then add credibility and help persuade a client entrust you with their wellbeing and their cash.

People do successfully move from the 9-5 lowish salary to their own coaching business. But it's bloody hard work and if you don't have the finances for a team, you have to be your own business manager, social media person, headshot photographer, accountant, PA, etc

I think it seems that many people can't thing beyond being an employee and the traditional 9 to 5 in an office. They will tear down anyone who wants to try something new and I think there is a bit of jealousy in there somewhere...

😂
Yes, you go boss babe, you got this, haters gonna hate. 😂

With Sia ‘Unstoppable’ playing as the music in the reel 🤣🤣🤣

😂

Both Life coaches that i knew had chaotic lives. One had been married 3 times, lost her house because she couldn't manage her finances and the other one had 2 children that both left home the day they finished school and went no contact with her. Both her Brothers had very little to do with her and her mother was fed up bailing her out. Both useless and couldn't organise a piss up in a brewery.

Fuck me we've nailed it.

Life coach partnership, here we come. #blessed

I only know one life coach. She has hurled herself into one unsuitable relationship after another without thinking about the consequences of that on her own children, and gave up a reasonably successful career, replacing it with a stream of MLM schemes. She now offers advice to others, including “don’t get vaccinated” and “don’t use suncream. She makes almost no money, and I’d be surprised if she doesn’t get sued at some point.

Being a career coach or a mentor in a particular area is a very different matter, and one that can be very helpful, but I’d have thought that in our current economic climate it was a bit risky. I’m reasonably well-paid, and I don’t think I’d prioritise that on my spending list right now.

I think there's a lot to this. I work in a creative industry — definitely not 9-5 — and I agree with the point that mumsnet has a bias towards doing safe, predictable, normal things. I think a lot of life coaches really do help people out... but even those that do a good job of it often make a very marginal income.

I'm a qualified coach with 30 years experience. I'm the sort you work with when you are very senior and your employer pays.

I do this in addition to running a successful business in a related field.

I occasionally attend courses to update my qualifications and experience. Most of them are full of people wanting a career change and thinking this is a great way to earn lots of money for little work.

Reality is that the majority of them never go on to be successful coaches. They simply don't have the network, the credibility or the business acumen to find clients and build a successful practice.

I don't know what a Life Coach is but I do see an absolute dearth of women mostly, on LI wanting to coach me to be more confident, manage the menopause, lose weight, give up sugar, find a boyfriend etc

So market feels saturated to me.

My question is "Who are you and why should you coach me or anyone?"

Good grief OP! You asked a question...people are answering your question and asking for further clarification, and your responses are incredibly snippy!

Do you honestly think you'd be a great 'Life Coach' with the attitude that you are displaying here? 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Anyway...to answer your question, yes, it's a saturated market and you won't make money out of it.

Which is what everyone here is telling you - but you seem to want a different answer, so 🤷‍♀️

You could easily have done your own market research but chose to ask on here...at least be gracious enough to accept the responses you got (seeing as you are either too lazy or inept to do your own research!)

Seems like a reasonable question to me.

I think there's a lot to this. I work in a creative industry — definitely not 9-5 — and I agree with the point that mumsnet has a bias towards doing safe, predictable, normal things. I think a lot of life coaches really do help people out... but even those that do a good job of it often make a very marginal income.

On this thread, no one is saying they have a problem with a job not 9-5.

What they are saying me included is that many many 'life coaches' are themselves life failures and unqualified to coach. Like I said above, you wouldn't have tennis coaching from someone who couldn't demonstrate they could play tennis well and to an above average standard. No one should be 'life coaching' unless they have achieved above average and have track record of having attained a good life for themselves. Too many people turn to this as 'something else to do' because its basically unregulated, we all think we are qualified to give strangers our opinion and advice and because they are bummed out with their own life.

That's the problem with life coaching as a job. So if someone pitches up chewing on a piece of straw in a floaty dress twirling a strand of hair round their finger sighing 'I'm fed up with my low paid job and useless life, I think I'm going to become a life coach" they can set up in an instant and no one can stop them. Plenty do and that's why as a job it has a bad rep.

There are some good ones but like the link I posted above, they tend to be high achievers who have then fully committed to training and developing their own methods on the back of that training. Not bored housewife switching on a whim. (not saying that is the OP btw) so if someone arrives here saying that what they want to do, they will get a hard time because there will be an assumption that they are in the pray and a whim category of life failures until they say otherwise.

I’ve always thought that if you need someone to coach you with “life”, you’re much more likely than not to (1) not know a shit coach from a good coach (2) you’re not going to have much money to part with (3) coaching isn’t what you need.

I've hired coaches before. Not life but food related.

I also run a coworking space with meeting room bookings and we have several coaches as customers. For the most part they do incredibly well, they will often drop several hundred on meeting room space for their workshops and charge at least £250-300 a session per person.

So no, it's not saturated. People will pick you as a person to work with, so in that sense it's unlimited. But presenting yourself and building a name takes work in the beginning. As you can see from this thread there are lots of sceptical people, but those aren't your customers.

You need to build a brand around what you do, for example guesting on podcasts and starting your own podcast. People need a good taste of what you're about and the conversion path can be a long one, especially if you charge a lot.

It’s not something I think about a lot but have to say I agree with a lot of the sentiments on the thread.

my instinctive impression of life coaching is that it’s something people set up as with little or no qualifications, few make any proper money, as who can afford to have a life coach ongoing?

it does also seem a more vague/woo sort of therapist.

To add to my post, I’ve had exec coaching at work and also been on coaching courses when my then employer wanted to try and insource coaching much more cheaply under the guise of development for the new coaches.

I got quite a lot out of the coaching - I was in a pretty cut throat environment where seeking guidance internally was challenging and it helped me manage it for longer than I otherwise would have.

So I will admit when I did my coaching courses and was unhappy in my job I did fantasise about running away and doing coaching as a job. But on hard reflection I realised I would make a pretty terrible coach - the personality drivers I have that make me, personally, good at delivering at senior levels would actually make me a poor coach outside of specific circumstances. And that’s before I got onto the 120 other reasons why it wasn’t realistic.

I have a relative and also a friend who are trained life coaches. Both have been doing it for around 8 years but do this on top of a very flexible ft job as they can't make it work financially otherwise.

I know several (acquaintances rather than friends) two burnt out social work managers who are lovely but I wouldn’t trust to coach me out of a damp paper bag and a bloke who set up two successful small charities, is a CEO, and has an MBA and specialises in charity sector leaders - he seems on the level and may be helpful - but I wouldn’t use him either! If I need ‘coaching’ I’ll see a therapist (UKCP accredited), if I need careers advice I’ll see a career advisor and if I need support in my current role/progression I’ll get a workplace mentor with live experience of my direct field. Life coaches seem to vague, and/or under qualified to me!

Would also say its an unregulated industry so beware grifters!

As others have said, life coaching does feel very much like an MLM. I know one, seemingly very successful in her non-coaching career but very enthusiastically posting about her life coaching on SM too. Attends and/or presents at lots of events but the other attendees seem to be other people like her - life coaches. Not sure who is being helped.

Reiki is another thing like this - a pipeline of have someone perform reiki on you... become a reiki practitioner... become a reiki teacher. Not sure I know of anyone who has had reiki who hasn't eventually ended up taking a course so they can teach others how to do it.

I don’t believe Richard Williams played tennis. Not sure your analogy works on that front!