Six-Figure Coaching Business with No Certifications or Experience

Hey Friend!

In today’s TELL-ALL episode, I am sharing with you the EXACT steps I took to build a six-figure coaching business in under 2 years with zero experience, zero coaching certifications, and zero “credentials”.

I walk you through the specific steps I took to get my first client all the way to 36 recurring clients at its highest point.  I share what pricing model I followed, and how I scaled from $80-$800 / hour in 2 years.

If having a thriving, successful PROFITABLE coaching business is on your heart – this episode is a must-listen.

I pray this blesses you!

FULL EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION:

(00:00):
Hey, beautiful friend! Happy Thursday! I am here for today’s conversation with you. We’re gonna be talking about how I built a six-figure coaching business with zero coaching certifications, zero qualifications, and zero experience.

(00:20):
By the time it hit six figures it was less than 18 months into my coaching practice. So I’m super pumped to kind of lay the steps out for you guys of how I did this so you can follow along in my footsteps.

Because the world needs more faith-led coaches, more people who can help other people in their life, their business, their motherhood, or whatever the thing is that you are interested in coaching.

So grab a notebook and pen. This one is very tactical. Let’s do it!.

(01:48):
Now we’re about to dig into all the specifics of how I built a six-figure plus, multi six-figure actually by the end of the run of my coaching business with zero certifications and all the things that I’m just gonna lay it all out for you, guys, today.

(02:05):
But before I do, I do want you to know that Podcast to Profit, my 90-day immersion mastermind program still has a few spots left. If this has been on your heart, I want you to run to podcasttoprofitmastermind.com.

As of right now, we have 32 applications in, and there are only 30 spots.

(02:27):
Not everyone’s gonna finish their registration process. Not everyone is going to say yes. So there is probably room for you. I want you to not delay.

Run, get that app in before we close them down a week from today, we get started April 14th, it’s every Thursday, and we are gonna blow up your show.

(02:48):
You’re gonna be in the podcasting growth bootcamp that you didn’t know that you needed. My goal is to help you rank to help your show grow, to set up SEO and marketing and keywords and visibility.

To scale using evergreen methods to teach you how to start a coaching business like the one I’m gonna talk to you about today, how you can create passive revenue in your business through a course or a program.

(03:16):
I teach you my organic launch strategy, my live launch and everything that I teach you is partnered with God. Every single thing that we do in Podcast to Profit has him as the CEO.

So if you’ve been looking for a faith-centered podcast growth coach, Hi, Stef Gass, I’m so excited to do this work with you. Again, time is running out, spots are definitely running out.

(03:41):
So if this is on your heart run, podcasttoprofitmastermind.com 3, 2, 1 go. The show of your dreams is on the other side of 90 days. Let’s do it.

(03:55):
All right, let’s go tactics. How the heck did I build a six-figure coaching with zero certifications, zero experience, and zero background in coaching.

To God be the glory. I think the first thing that you guys have to understand is anyone and everyone is qualified to coach.

(04:18):
I don’t want you to get weirded out by the word coach. You can call it a mentor, a trainer, a coach, a strategist. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.

All you are doing is sitting down across a zoom from someone and helping them navigate their way out of a problem that you have already figured out.

(04:36):
That’s what’s happening. That’s it. We overcomplicate. And we create all these narratives in our minds around how we need some big, fancy qualification to help people solve a problem we’ve already solved. And that is absolutely not true.

(04:51):
So I wanna get that out there right now is that one of the biggest things that I think have helped me grow and scale so quickly is I wasn’t afraid to take action.

I’m not afraid to fail, invest in myself, say yes to things.

(05:06):
I’m not afraid of where the next dollar’s gonna come from, because I know God’s got this and through my action and obedience there it will always be fruit on the other side of that.

So I took action. Now let’s talk about how I actually began. So I started the podcast in 2018, in October of 2018, it was a direct leading from God.

(05:29):
I had a dream, I heard start a podcast. I said, Lord, are you crazy? Are you sure? Is that for me? And he said, go, girl, go, daughter. You’re doing the thing.

And so I started the show and I started with where I was at. I had no idea, believe me, what my micro niche was, who my avatar was.

(05:47):
I didn’t know y’all’s number one problem. I had no idea, but I just started. And I let him create that clarity as I took messy, action. Oh my goodness. Please don’t start a podcast as I did.

Had busted channel art, created my own website. Please do not Stef Gass it.

We have got to do things right from the very beginning, which is why I created Podcast Pro University to teach you how to actually start a podcast.

(06:18):
And my show did grow very quickly, but it could have done a lot better than it did early on. I could have had a lot more clarity if I would’ve just done it right. Instead of trying to do it myself, trying to duct tape it together, just do not do that.

Now, I did take action though, and it was very messy, but one thing that I definitely did well was that helped me grow a six-figure coaching business very quickly as I listened very carefully.

(06:45):
So as soon as people started to like the show I created our Facebook, actually, our Facebook community was already created. It was created way back when in my network marketing days.

And I just transitioned the group from that network marketing group into the podcast community. And people started to come into the community very quickly from the podcast.

(07:05):
And I started to really listen. I was a solopreneur y’all. It was just me. And I would just spend like an hour a week in the group.

And I would look at the language that they were using and see what the pain points were that they were saying.

(07:18):
And what I discovered is that everyone felt like I felt: I’m sick of social media, I wanna grow a business organically.

I wanna grow a business with God at the center, I’m confused as to why I’m not getting any followers any leads. How do I get more clients?

These specific words and verbiage kept coming up that I was like, Hey, what if I helped you start a podcast?

(07:39):
And once I started positioning myself on my show saying, I can coach you, I can help you figure out what your show would be about.

I knew that it was solving the problem that my people were actually asking for, instead of just creating a random thing.

(07:56):
Now, I’m guilty of that too. I created an Instagram course, you, guys, are totally rolling laughing, aren’t you? You’re like ha ha ha hypocrite. You had an Instagram course and now you hate Instagram.

(08:09):
Yes, you are correct. And isn’t God such a redeemer? Praise Him. But that came from me trying to create random things instead of listening, slowing down long enough to listen to what my person actually, what? Wanted, needed, and was asking for. Listen, so that’s number one.

(08:34):
Number two was I started out with some free conversations. When I started my podcast, I was probably bringing in a couple of thousand dollars a month.

I had some residual from my network marketing business. I’m embarrassed to say I had an Amazon merch t-shirt shop.

(08:57):
I was doing some stuff on the side, helping people with some social media consulting. I was kind of all over the place just to try to make some bills.

And I said, Hey, I saw that you needed some help, you need to know what your podcast would be about.

(09:11):
You need to know what your thing would be so you could start a show. And so I started doing some free coaching with people.

These were people maybe I knew, maybe that was in my Facebook community. And it was great. I call this the free five.

(09:25):
We do this strategy inside a Podcast to Profit really intentionally because it helps you get to know your own coaching style. It helps you see that you are qualified and equipped.

It helps you validate what your coaching offer will be. And it’s really easy. And it takes five hours of your time for your entire life to know that you know, that you could help people.

So after I did my first five people for free, I used them on my podcast. So I used those free coaching calls, and of you have to have a contract.

(09:56):
You need to have a release, all of that stuff I teach you guys in Podcast to Profit, but I started to air those on my podcast. And when people heard me coach on the show, they were like, Stef, can you do one of those clarity calls for me?

(10:13):
Well, my Lola, my listener actually labeled my coaching as a clarity call. They said, can you do a clarity call for me? And I was like, oh, that’s what that’s called. I had no idea what it was called. Sure, I’d love to.

(10:27):
I have no certification. I have absolutely no idea what I’m doing. I’ve only coached five people thus far. Yeah, sure.

And so I came up with an $80 price point because that’s what I was worth in the corporate job arena that I had left many years ago. And I said, yes.

(10:47):
And within about six months, I definitely was bringing in at least 10 to 15 coaching clients a month, all from the podcast, people hearing me coach on the show, people hearing other people, word of mouth, recommendations from people.

(11:08):
And I think the biggest thing that happened was people saw someone else get a result. They need that.

I was just doing something that was very simple for me. Here’s something really important for you, guys, to hear: you think that because something is easy for you, no one would pay for it or it’s not worth your coaching on that thing.

But the truth is is that if it’s easy for you, that is enough proof right there to show you that it’s probably very hard for everyone else because the things you are really good at, and they’re really easy for you, those are aligned with your giftings.

(11:44):
I’m gonna guarantee it right now. So those of you listening, who are like, I’m so great at building a morning routine, that’s gotta be so easy for everyone else. It’s not.

Those of you that are like, oh, I’m so great at decluttering and creating habits, you think that it’s just so easy, no one would ever coach with me. Absolutely untrue. Most people struggle with that.

(12:04):
Let’s say, you’re thinking, oh man, it’s so easy to get outta debt. I got outta debt in six months. No, that’s not easy for people. The thing you have walked through is the thing you’re qualified to coach on.

Hear me, the thing you’ve walked through and you’ve gotten to the other side of it is the exact thing you are qualified to coach other people through.

(12:31):
So that’s what happened for me, helping people get clarity on their calling and build the five-tier brand map it became something that I could just bust out.

I don’t care who it is, what you come to the table with, how confused you are at the end of a call with me, you know that you know what you were created to do.

You have the direction, you have clarity on your thing and you now can go plug it into Podcast Pro U and start the show every single time.

(12:56):
So I started coaching on that and it blew up. The next thing that I did, so that was step three. So step one was I listened. Step two was I did my free five, step three was I started live coaching on the podcast.

Step four is that there was a lot of urgency. Three years ago, my boys were two and five years old. They were small and it was hard.

(13:24):
And I only had probably 10 hours a week that I could be coaching people, which created a lot of number four, urgency. There weren’t that many spots. And so people were really feeling that fear of loss.

They were like, oh my gosh, I have to work with Stef. She only has this many spots and I’m gonna be pushed out a month. I’m gonna be put on a waitlist for two months.

And so people were really serious about getting on my schedule so that urgency created a lot of demand.

(13:55):
And then number five, I scaled my pricing accordingly. So I started at $80 if you recall, back in 2018, maybe January of 2019, as soon as I would hit my maximum coaching client list or my lid for how many people I could coach for three months in a row, I doubled my price.

(14:16):
So, I went from 180 to roughly 200. Then I went to 400 and then I went to 800 an hour. And every time I was hitting that three-month lid over and over again, I doubled the price.

And what this did is it created a lot of urgency, of course, because people were like I have to get in before the price goes up.

(14:38):
But secondly, it really created this intentionality around what my time was worth. And it allowed me to scale people upward, not just in like what I was earning, but in how much they were invested in the process.

There’s a difference between paying $80 and paying $800. You’re gonna actually show up and do some serious work if you are invested at $800.

(15:09):
The people would save up, these women would save up and they would invest in themselves at this level that they had never done it before. And I wasn’t doing that, you, guys to make truly, I wasn’t doing that to make a ton of money.

I was doing it because I did not have any more hours to give. Coaching is not scalable. So you have to scale your pricing in order to make a six-figure coaching business that still aligns with your life.

Let me say that again. Cause I think there’s a lot of people out there poo-pooing scaling your coaching prices, which I think is absolutely ridiculous. Why would you not scale your coaching prices?

Why would you not move up to a higher ticket price? You will hit a lid that feels awkward. I don’t feel comfortable going above 800 an hour and I’ve decided not to do that.

(15:58):
And I’ve actually decided just to get out of coaching altogether because I want to focus on some other avenues of my business.

But the point is, that in order to have a multi-six figure coaching business, sorry, but you’re gonna have to scale your prices and or discover a different solution for people which I’m gonna get to in a minute.

(16:16):
So I scaled the pricing really intentionally. And then within two years it was at $800 an hour and I was maxed, I had 36 recurring clients at one point, which is absolutely crazy town when you really think about the amount of time you have to pour into a business.

And I was doing two episodes a week on the show, I had a small team, one or two people by then, which was helpful.

(16:46):
Thank goodness Nina manages all my coaching clients and the inbox and the contracts and the scheduling. So that was very helpful, but I just could not take anyone else on.

And I really felt God’s leading to find a solution for my person to get them this answer without me.

(17:07):
And so in December of 2021, I had really surrendered this process to Him and was like, Lord, what do I do? Cannot keep coaching in this capacity.

Don’t wanna raise my prices anymore but want to help more people, I have a waiting list of dozens of women that are interested or that have put their names on the app. I can’t serve them.

(17:33):
And if through my mastermind and through our CEO retreat and through God’s leading and God’s prompting and His incredible goodness.

He’s always so good and He always has an answer for you and me, He helped me create the Clarify Your Calling course, which has replaced the coaching that I do.

(17:51):
So I was able to really create out of my six figure coaching business, which was around $178,000 of revenue in 2021, helped me create, move that into a scalable model, which is Clarify Your Calling.

And what’s so cool about that is after you’ve coached with people for a few years, you know what they need, you know what your framework will be like.

(18:17):
I think one of the biggest mistakes that people make is they skip the course without doing the work of actually sitting with people because the CYC framework it’s very different than what it would’ve been if I had created this course before ever coaching people.

Or even if I had coached 10 people, I just didn’t have enough data. And so I’m really glad that I waited to create it until it was something that God really prompted me to do.

(18:43):
This brings me to number six, which was automated, streamlined and created the passive stream from the coaching business.

So what I want you, guys, to understand is you can create a six-figure coaching business, and then there will be a day where you’ve capped out, you’ve maxed out and you cannot scale anymore.

(19:04):
And that is a day when you’ve gotta figure out step six, how to automate and create the passive option of what it is you’re doing inside your coaching. It doesn’t mean you have to quit coaching.

I love coaching. I am still going to coach people in my Podcast to Profit program that buy the coaching add-on because it’s so fulfilling for me, it is so much fun.

(19:29):
And I want to has still coach people in a very small capacity. So that’s what I’ve decided to do. And my students who buy a 30 minute unstuck, cool.

I’m here for four hours of coaching a week instead of 500. But what this has allowed, it created the doorway for me to build the passive revenue course. So here’s the thing.

(19:52):
Let’s do a recap, then bring it full circle for you. Number one, you listen to your Lola, whoever your avatar is on the show, listen, get in the DMS with them, get into the Facebook groups with them, look at what they actually are asking for.

And then pray and ask God to show you what that solution is that you’ve already walked through. That’s where you start coaching. If you don’t like the word coaching, use a different word, all you’re doing is helping people.

(20:20):
And when you guys join me in Podcast to Profit, I actually give you my coaching framework. I give you my coaching template. We build your coaching offer, your pitch together, all of the tech backend stuff so that you know exactly how to start your coaching business and how to scale it.

(20:40):
So those tech pieces, those questions that you have right now around the rest of this process, it’s all inside a Podcast to Profit for you. Step two is to coach your free five. Easy.

How do you do it? You do it on zoom. Done. Step three. You’re going to start sharing those free five snippets of them, at least on your podcast, in your Facebook group, let people know how these go down. The best thing ever was letting people see that this could be them.

(21:13):
They would visualize themselves sitting in the chair across from me getting coaching. And the thing is that everyone’s answer was different.

So even though they’re listening to me, coach the same way, time after time, after time, they couldn’t glean that revelation that they were praying for because their answers were super different than someone else that was sitting in the chair.

But they’re like, I need that answer. How do I get that answer? I think Stef has the answer. So that live coaching, sharing the coaching was just super pivotal.

(21:49):
Number four was I created a lot of urgency because I had super limited availability. Number five was I scaled pricing according to demand.

So every three months you max out on and you should know if you don’t know the hours that you can coach every week, you’re gonna need to know that.

(22:06):
Do not just take whoever, you will drown. You have got to set up a lot of boundaries and intentions around building a business around your life. So everything else in my life comes first.

And then I look at how much time is left over for my business and at what days I actually want to coach. And then I see how many hours I have in that day. That is what is offered no more, no less.

(22:33):
And then number six is once you’ve maxed out on your coaching pricing, the price that no longer feels scalable to you, the price that is your lid, the clients are just piling up left and right, you truly cannot continue helping everybody that is asking you for help.

It’s time to go to number six, which is to automate and find a passive option, which is gonna be a course.

(22:59):
So those are your steps. That is exactly how I built a six-figure coaching business with zero certifications, zero experience, within roughly a year and a half, two full years. So I know that you can do this.

It was super simple and easy. It took a lot of messy action and trial and error and getting out there and remembering I am qualified. I am enough to help someone through this thing that I’ve already walked through.

I know that God has equipped each of you with a very special gift. That is the reason that you’re here. It’s the reason that you believe in me. And it’s the reason that you listen to this podcast.

(23:40):
And it’s the reason that you come to my workshops and that you join me in the courses and that you’re going to join me in Podcast to Profit because you trust that this is the right answer for you.

That you can too build a scalable passive revenue business that maybe it starts with coaching and it ends with a course or it’s a hybrid, but it all partners and hinges on Him, on God being the CEO, on using your podcast, using your voice for His glory.

And kind of laying down all the other stuff so that you can be super intentional with building a business that has time and space for what actually matters God and scripture, and showing up and giving.

And volunteering and being a mom and going to your kids’ games and going on date nights with your husband and doing the things that light you up.

(24:26):
My favorite thing ever is going mountain bike riding. And my goal is to do it every single week. That’s the life I am building.

Not willing to sacrifice that life because people tell me I have to hustle or not show up enough in enough places.

(24:43):
That’s not true. The truth is you can have the life that you want if you stop getting in your own way. And I believe that all begins with having the right mentorship, having the right plan, having the steps to follow from somebody who’s already walked before you.

And finding the right group of people to keep you accountable, which is every single thing that I have built for you inside Podcast to Profit.

(25:09):
I’m so proud of this program. It is unlike anything I have ever seen out in the world, in the industry ever, because it’s not. When I started it a year and a half ago, I started with what I had and it was so great and it’s evolved.

And I just redid the entire program. In the last 90 days of my life, I built out a training and a tutorial and a framework for every single thing I teach you, you get a complete back office.

(25:40):
You have so much accountability. I have women in here that they’re full-on job is to support you and grade your homework and guide you and lead you. And we show up and we do training together, live on zoom every other week.

And then I do power coaching with you on the other weeks, you are just so in it for 90 days, there is zero chance, absolutely zero chance that you do not have a breakthrough, and the breakthroughs are so big and so crazy.

(26:08):
I’m just gonna read you a few of the testimonies coming out of Podcast to Profit 2.0, Liz Henderson with the Tough Love Mom says during P2P my weekly podcast downloads went from 965 per week to over 1600 per week.

And my four-month-old podcast hit 15,000 downloads after just nine weeks of P2P. I’ve had five one-on-one coaching calls, and I’m more clear than ever on the framework for my course.

(26:34):
Cason Schulze from Her Pursuit says my growth and download numbers have tripled since starting Podcast to Profit. Before this program, I did not have a true direction.

I rank top five, top 10, top 50 multiple weeks through the program. And I’m consistently ranking within the top 200 globally. And I’m working on building out my course.

(26:54):
Makenzie Oliver says, Stefanie taught me the power of niching down, sharing my story, and helping others believe in this possibility.

I’ve had 50% growth in my Facebook group, over 50 podcasts planned, outlined with SEO-specific titles. I have a coaching framework that I’ve pitched on my podcast and I’ve had almost 50% growth on my podcast.

Y’all if you want big wins like this, if you’re ready for a six-figure coaching business, I am ready for a scalable course, I’m ready to have my show rank, I am so here for this.

(27:26):
I want you to go to podcasttoprofitmastermind.com. Hurry, we start in two short weeks. You’ve gotta get that application in 3, 2, 1 go because we are almost completely full. We have 32 apps and we only have 30 spots.

Not everyone is going to go through that has applied. So be sure to head over there right now and get your application in. It is your time to shine.

(27:50):
I truly believe that God is leading and prompting you. And if your heart is being pulled right now, pay attention to it because there’s gonna be so much fruit on the other side of your obedience. I will meet you over there at podcasttoprofitmastermind.com.

(28:06):
God bless you, guys, may God shine his light upon you and be gracious to you. And I pray that He gives you confidence and strength and that he uses your voice for His glory and that He is just guiding you in every step, showing you the way that you should go and laying that path beneath your feet.

He is good, great and faithful and we are trusting in his plan. And through that, we are going to experience the overflow. Amen. God bless you. I’ll see you soon.