Have you ever wondered what life coaches really do or if hiring a coach would be the right move for you?

Well, this week you’re in for a treat. I asked one of my clients, Sierra Nord, to hop on the show with me to talk about what we do! We cover everything from why you’d hire a coach, the types of coaching and programs that are out there, and the benefits of working with one.

Enjoy! xo, Janeen

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TRANSCRIPTION:

[00:00:00] Janeen: Well, Hey everybody. Welcome back to another week at the podcast. I am Janeen Alley and I am super excited to have a guest with me today. I have been getting some questions about coaching and whether or not having a life coach is something that is right for you. And so I decided to have one of my clients on who is one of my very favorite people in all the world, I’ve got Sierra Nord with me today,

[00:00:25] and before I jump in and interview her, I just wanna tell you a little bit about why life coaching can be an amazing fit for some people. One of the things that I’ve heard as far as comparing therapy with life coaching is that therapy and counseling helps us to heal from our past and life coaching helps us to create a new future for ourselves. One that we feel like we are incapable of achieving. Life coaches help us to work on goals that might feel impossible or [00:01:00] difficult. And I know from my experience, I love coaching, but I can tell you guys that coaching is amazing until I’m blue in the face I know that it might be difficult for you to believe since I’m a coach. So of course I’m gonna have a little bit of a bias towards it. But I wanted to have Sierra on today just to talk about her experience, working with a coach.

[00:01:20] And I know she works with me and I just wanna say, you don’t have to hire me as your coach, but I think finding somebody that is the perfect fit for you is possible for you, whether it’s me or somebody else. I really wanna encourage you to look into it if you feel like you’re stuck and you wanna move forward and you have some big things that you wanna work on, but you’re not exactly sure how to get there. So welcome Sierra. I am super excited that you’re here with me today.

[00:01:47] Sierra: Thanks. I’m so excited to be here too.

[00:01:50] Janeen: So. Awesome. Well, just tell me a little bit about why you ended up hiring a coach.

[00:01:56] Sierra: For sure. So it started a long time, actually the whole life [00:02:00] coaching thing probably years ago. I had a friend that was listening to a life coach podcast and she recommended it. So I listened to that for probably a couple of years, and I really loved the things that they were saying, it was really resonating with me, but that was kind of all that I ever did with it. And I mean, there was things I was trying to implement just by myself. But I kind of was feeling like, I need to take this another step further. And so when I found out about you and your program, it really spoke to me because I felt like I was really struggling with nutrition and health.

[00:02:37] And I felt like you really specialized in that as well as just everything. So I joined your program, the Soul-Filled Super Mamas and it was awesome. There was like great content. There was exercise things, meditation, yoga, but one of the things that I loved the most was that you had Group coaching. And so the group coaching, I’d just [00:03:00] listen to it every week. But I didn’t really, I never participated. I was kind of quietly in the program, just under the radar. But it was great. I loved learning about the model but to actually be in the group coaching calls, It just felt like I’d have to be really vulnerable or I wasn’t sure if I’d do it right.

[00:03:19] like, yeah. And so, anyway, so then I kind of was , all right, I think I need to take the next step. And so you had announced that you were having a wellness retreat. And I was like, all right, maybe this will be easier to, maybe get coached, try that out.

[00:03:37] So I went to that and it was awesome. I felt like I just could see how to prepare food better and to really take the things in the program and apply it to every day life with my family. Cuz it was great. It was at your house. All your kids were around. And I was like, oh my gosh, I can do this with kids.

[00:03:56] Like, you know, and then also I think one of the biggest things [00:04:00] for me. For the first time I was actually coached at your home mm-hmm and the women, there were just so awesome. And I just felt like everybody was so loving to each other and there was no judgment. And I think we all just kind of felt like, oh, we were all struggling with these things in some way.

[00:04:18] And so that was a huge moment for me to realize too, how powerful it was to be coached yourself and just be working so specific with your issues. So I came back from the retreat and all of a sudden I was like, all right, I was jumping on the group coaching calls mm-hmm and they were super helpful.

[00:04:38] I felt like I was getting so much more out of the program when I started using that tool as well. But still, I just was Feeling a little stuck, you know, cuz sometimes, the calls would come and I’d, I’d be like, oh I’m too busy. I won’t jump on this time. You know? And mm-hmm and so I was just like, I’ve gotta do something more.

[00:04:57] And I know that this is working and [00:05:00] I love the direction I’m going in and the things that I’m learning, but I just need, I need more. And so I saw that you had the one-on-one coaching and I was like, okay, maybe this is the thing that can catapult me, but I was a little hesitant cuz I was like, all right, this is more money, you know, mm-hmm but then at the same time, my husband, he’s an orthodontist,

[00:05:22] the year before he wanted to make some changes in his practice to elevate his practice as well, and to make it run better, more smoothly. And so he hired a consultant for a lot of money and at the time we were like kind of a leap of faith.

[00:05:40] But just seeing what benefits came from him, you know, spending that money to bring in a consultant and change systems and the way they did things. It just, I mean, he just said it was so beneficial. And so then I kind of thought to myself, well, I don’t own like a business or a practice or [00:06:00] anything. But why wouldn’t I want to spend extra money on something that could help to elevate everything in my life. You know, cuz I mean in essentially I feel like I do sometimes run a business, you know, with my home. Yes. And my kids and just the things that I wanna do. I just thought if I can invest in something that’s gonna help all of those aspects then for sure.

[00:06:22] Why wouldn’t I, why wouldn’t I do that? So.

[00:06:26] Janeen: Yes. Yes. Yes. You touched on a lot of really good things there. So I think that that is something I think moms hesitate about is investing in themselves. Okay. So just before I kind of dive into some of the other really good things that you mentioned there, what would you say to a mom that is kind of struggling with that?

[00:06:45] They feel guilty about investing. I’ve struggled with this myself in making the investment in my own coaching, because I feel like it’s taking things away from my family. What would you say to that?

[00:06:57] Sierra: I would just say it is it’s, it’s kind of a [00:07:00] leap of faith.

[00:07:00] Mm-hmm until you do it. And then once you see how it just makes everything, it just elevates everything. It’s easy, but that’s all you’re going from this, you know, hindsight, foresight kind of place. It is it’s tricky, but I will say this, my husband, when I told him I wanted to do it, he was like, oh, okay.

[00:07:20] Now, are you really sure about this? And, and now he’s all on board. Like he, he can see the difference in me and, and the change and even so much so that, it’s funny if he wants me to change or work on something, he’ll be like, you need to talk to Janeen about that. , you know, he, he just sees, he just sees the growth and the benefit. And it is, it is a sacrifice, but in that sacrifice too, there’s more commitment to your goals.

[00:07:48] Yeah. You know, sometimes when I felt like I wasn’t spending as much, you know, in the Soul-Filled Super Mamas, and it was so great, but because I wasn’t spending as much on that I wasn’t [00:08:00] as invested. Or it was okay if I missed, you know, here and there.

[00:08:03] Janeen: So, yeah. Yeah. And we’ll touch on a few of the different ways that you can work with coaches in just a second.

[00:08:10] But I, I love that and I, I find for myself. I just feel like my investment has benefited my kids. I know it’s not directly. It’s not a new pair of shoes. It’s not, you know, lessons or, or sports or something like that. But because I have invested in myself, I’m more intentional with myself. I show up. And I’m more present.

[00:08:30] I feel like I’m able to love them more the way that I’m acting and behaving. And it really does benefit the entire family when you invest in yourself as a mom. For sure. And I love it that also you kind of equated mom life to running a business because there are some definite similarities between the two things.

[00:08:48] For sure. So I love that. So thanks for bringing that up. Let’s talk a little bit about different ways that you can work with coaches and not just what, what is going on in my business, but also what you [00:09:00] can be looking for as somebody who might be seeking out a life coach.

[00:09:04] So, Sierra touched on membership programs. So my membership is called the soul filled super moms. And that is a membership that you can get into after you purchase a course then you have the opportunity to join my membership. At the beginning of my business, it wasn’t like that.

[00:09:19] You could actually jump into the membership first, but I find there’s benefit in taking the leap and investing in yourself so that you’re more committed to the group coaching program on the back end. And there’s, there’s benefits to both things, but there are lots of coaches out there that have a front end membership that you can be looking for.

[00:09:36] And like she said, it is low ticket, but to get the benefits out of our program like that you need to be self-motivated. Because the coaching calls can pass and if you don’t listen to ’em or if you don’t show up for ’em, you don’t get the benefits of that. So you do have to be somebody who can be on top of things in order to get your money’s worth out of a membership like that.

[00:09:56] Another way that you can work with a coach is by jumping into a [00:10:00] course that they have to offer. So I have currently The Burnout Breakthrough and coaches will have something that is specific for what it is that you’re looking for. So you can look into coaching based off of topic, depending on what it is that you wanna look for.

[00:10:13] And then Sierra also mentioned retreats those ways that you can work with coaches with retreats. And then of course one-on-one coaching. So Sierra, do you have anything that you wanna add to that?

[00:10:22] Sierra: I just, I don’t mean to go back a little bit, but just again, in the investment and how you said it, it really is not just an investment in me, but I have seen that it just has been an investment for all of my kids.

[00:10:35] And in ways that you maybe don’t even realize like With my kids one just quick example that I feel like I never would have parented this way if I hadn’t been doing this work is that one time my son he had to have two cavities filled and I knew he was gonna stress out about it.

[00:10:53] So I told him the morning of just kind of as close to the appointment as possible. And he got super [00:11:00] emotional about it. When I told him he started crying. I could tell he was super nervous. And one thing that we really work on in this is just feeling our emotions.

[00:11:09] And because I had been doing this. Instead of saying to him, Hey, you’re gonna be fine, buddy. It’s not gonna hurt that bad. And just brushing all of that away. Instead, I just went over and I just sat with him and I just gave him a big hug and I just let him kind of cry and be sad for a minute. And I said, you’re feeling really sad aren’t ya? And he’s like, yeah. And are you feeling kind of nervous and kind of scared about this and yeah. Yeah. He was, you know, and, I just let him sit with his emotions because I had learned to do that. Mm-hmm and, and then I gave him a big hug and I didn’t even say anything after that.

[00:11:42] And he just kind of like took some deep breaths and then he was on his way. And, and that was just a really big moment for me and I, and I couldn’t help, but think. Well, it’s too bad that I couldn’t have given that to my older boys. yeah, yeah.

[00:11:56] That I hadn’t invested earlier and learned these skills [00:12:00] earlier because I can help them start to learn some of these great tools at a young age.

[00:12:05] Mm-hmm

[00:12:06] Janeen: yeah. Oh my gosh. I love that. I love that so much. Okay. So tell me a little bit about the goals that you have that we worked on over the last several months together. Just tell me a little bit about that and then, I’d love for you to tell me the progress that you’ve made on those things.

[00:12:22] Sierra: Yeah. So you were great. You had this outline for me to start with, and it was like the big three mm-hmm . So I kind of looked over and thought, okay, what do I want my big three to be?

[00:12:33] Janeen: And the three, as in like big three goals that you’re working with. Yeah.

[00:12:38] Sierra: My big three goals.

[00:12:39] Yeah. And so the, the main thing that kind of made me really wanna do one on one is I had had this 10 pounds that I had wanted to lose for three years. yeah. And, I would maybe lose two pounds, you know, and then I was back up again or three pounds back up again, and I was just like, all right, I really want this to happen.

[00:12:58] And it felt [00:13:00] impossible to me, even though it didn’t seem like a lot of weight, it had been impossible for me up to that point. And so we made that one of my goals is a 10 pound weight loss. I also really wanted to make some picture books for my kids. And that was something I’d wanted to do for years as well.

[00:13:15] And then we also had a financial goal, to start getting ready for kind of a bigger purchase that we wanted to make as a family. Mm-hmm so those were kind of my three things . And I thought that, you know, okay, now that I’m accountable to somebody, these are all gonna happen really easy.

[00:13:30] But there was still a ton of work involved, and I’m confident that if I didn’t have, that one-on-one coaching, I would still be kind of floundering where, where I was.

[00:13:42] Janeen: So yeah, it is. It’s really interesting. The things that keep us stuck. Mm-hmm . Yeah. So tell me a little bit about the things that you feel like you’ve overcome because you were able to work with a coach and see what was going on in your brain. Yeah.

[00:13:55] Sierra: And I think that was what was great too, is sometimes I would think a certain thought was getting [00:14:00] me stuck, but then you would kind of say, oh, I think it’s actually this. And it was like, oh yes, that is actually it.

[00:14:07] But I just, you know, sometimes it’s hard for us to see. And so it’s just great to have two minds working, somebody from the outside, that’s maybe not as emotionally charged with all the things.

[00:14:19] So my first one was weight loss and we just started out slow,

[00:14:25] and, I was really surprised at how slow it was. I think I thought, okay, this is just gonna happen really fast. But you were so great to like, just remind me that that I was changing my lifestyle. These goals are so great that we were shooting for, but there is just so much more change that has to happen, you know, to even reach that goal.

[00:14:47] So it was great because too, I felt like a lot of times I would get stuck. I just knew that I could bring it up to you and our coaching calls. And, and honestly, it was kind of just amazing to watch that [00:15:00] slow progress happen. And the change until I was ultimately able to reach that weight loss goal. Which is still kind of mind blowing to me.

[00:15:08] But it was just a slow and steady. I think I thought, okay, I have these goals and then I’m gonna get ’em really quick. And then I’ll think of another goal. But instead that goal took the entire six months to do, so anyway. Yeah.

[00:15:22] Janeen: And I’m glad that you brought that up because this is for everyone listening.

[00:15:26] When you’re going after a goal, the goal is great. Having the end celebration day when you actually reach the goal is really fun, but that is fleeting. It’s something that happens. And then it’s gone. And if you’re expecting the goal to do the heavy work of the transformation for you like that day, , you know, the day that you arrive, you know, you’re expecting that day to do the transformation for you you’re missing the mark.

[00:15:52] You have to learn how to transform yourself so that the goal, once you get there, you’re just. I knew it was gonna happen. I knew it all [00:16:00] along that I was gonna get here because of the work that you’ve done. It’s not like some big surprise , you know what I mean? Because you’re actually doing the work to transform yourself, your mind, the things that you’re thinking. And that is what is challenging, because we don’t oftentimes think about the things that we’re thinking about. And we don’t think about how those thoughts are giving us results. And so working with a life coach, like I said, whether it’s me or whether it’s somebody else is going to help you see how the thoughts that you’re thinking are generating results in the moment and how oftentimes the results that you’re getting right now are not along the same trajectory of that goal. So you’re seeing how you can change your thoughts to be more in alignment with what it is that you want.

[00:16:42] Yeah. Make sense.

[00:16:43] Sierra: Oh yeah. And I love that because I think that, you do, you think, okay, 115 pounds, that’s like, that’s gonna be the prize.

[00:16:50] Yeah. But really the prize that I found out along the way is that I had built this confidence with myself of saying what I was gonna do and [00:17:00] following through. I had a freedom from food that I felt like was weighing me down, you know? And so those are also just these incredible nuggets that you get along the way with that 115 pounds, but you have to work at that.

[00:17:16] Yeah. And I think that’s why it becomes so rewarding is because there is just this consistent work involved in just watching your thoughts and changing them.

[00:17:27] Janeen: Yeah. And if you don’t do that, that’s why you get the goal and you bounce back is because you haven’t transformed yourself to be the weight that you wanna be or to be the goal that you’re trying to achieve.

[00:17:39] Yeah. And that’s why people get stuck. So if you are listening to this and you’re like, oh my gosh, this is why I am getting stuck in this goal. It might be worth it to invest. It’s definitely worth it. Not just mine. Yeah. It’s definitely worth investing in a coach to help you with that. So, cause doing it on your own is possible.

[00:17:59] I [00:18:00] mean, I, I self coach myself all the time, but I also have coaches because so often in our own minds it’s like, we’re, it’s like we’re on the inside of a bottle trying to read the label on the outside when it comes to our thoughts. It’s really difficult for us to see those things because we’re thinking them we’re believing them.

[00:18:17] And they feel factual to us, they feel like it’s something that is unshakable, but if it’s your thought, you can change it. So, yeah. Okay, cool. So what surprised you about working with a coach?

[00:18:30] Sierra: I think what surprised me. A lot of times, you know, there’s certain things you think you’re gonna be coached on to get to a certain goal, but sometimes it was totally different.

[00:18:40] I found that a lot of times around my weight loss goal it was relationship trouble that was causing me to buffer and overeat. So sometimes we’d figure out why I had overate and then I got coached on that like maybe around those relationships. Specifically, there was a family member and you [00:19:00] coached me on this so many times.

[00:19:02] It was just something that kept coming up and kept like bogging me down. We really worked through that and it was interesting too, the one thing I love about having a life coach is we were trying to figure out a thought that could kind of help me to love this family member, you know?

[00:19:19] And so the specific thought was like I love this family member for who they are and not what they contribute. and you were so good to clue in and be like, now, do you believe that thought? And I was like, no, I’m not there yet. like, I’m not there yet. And so you just tweaked it the tiniest bit and you just said, why don’t you say. I’m learning to love this family member for who they are and not what they contribute. And it was so powerful for me, just that tiny little switch. It was so powerful. I wrote the card. I wrote it on a card that saying, or that thought, [00:20:00] and I put it in my bag with me cuz we were going on a trip with family and it changed the whole experience that I had.

[00:20:07] Mm-hmm like, I really thought I was gonna go in and, be angry and frustrated with this family member and instead I just kept reminding myself, no, I’m learning to love this person. And if I made mistakes with my thoughts, I could just direct it right back to that thought. No, that was okay.

[00:20:24] That I got off track for a second. Cuz I’m just learning. I don’t have to be perfect at this. And I tell you that trip was just amazing and I felt so much love and peace and hope and that family member didn’t have to change at all. Yeah. For any of that to happen for me. Mm-hmm . And so that was powerful and that all stemmed from a weight loss goal that I had.

[00:20:48] Yeah. So it is just incredible to me and kind of surprising sometimes where the coaching would go, even though those were the goals that we were coaching on.

[00:20:58] Yeah. That really is the [00:21:00] point of having a goal is the, the self mastery that comes from achieving the goal.

[00:21:05] That is the gift. It’s not necessarily, like I said, the day that you arrive at the goal. You know, the day that you have the race or the day that you drop the weight or whatever it is. It is the experience and all the things that you’re learning about yourself and what you’re truly capable of along the way. So that has also been just such a huge blessing. It’s something that I wouldn’t have realized if I hadn’t been working with someone else for sure. Yeah. Okay. So what do you love about coaching?

[00:21:36] There’s so many things I love. I love that every week, I know that I can come and reset almost.

[00:21:45] I just, I love. When I’m doing one-on-one coaching. Like, I just don’t feel like my failures are a big deal anymore. It’s like that’s totally fine. Or I it’s okay. If I’m feeling like I’m stuck. Like I used to think, oh, I’ve gotta come to Janeen [00:22:00] and have met all these goals, but I, I learned that it’s okay if I made a mistake during the week, not a big deal. We were gonna talk about it and we were gonna figure out how to either one get unstuck or two, how to get excited about the goal again. It was just like I say, kind of a nice reset every week. And sometimes there were great accomplishments too.

[00:22:21] And you were so awesome to celebrate those things with me. Um, but I, I love that. I just love that it’s just this commitment, this accountability every week. And that’s where I just saw so much progress that I just loved.

[00:22:36] Janeen: Perfect. I love it. Thank you. Thank you so much for sharing everything that you shared . That was awesome. Is there anything else that you wanna share with my audience?

[00:22:45] Sierra: Yeah, one thing I love too about the one on one is you’re super great about writing down the things that we talked about and some insights that you had that I felt like were really beneficial and I love that you wrote ’em all [00:23:00] down and then over time I could go back and look at ’em,

[00:23:03] I could review ’em, and also that all of our sessions were recorded so I could go back and listen through and just have everything over our whole six month time.

[00:23:14] Janeen: So yeah. Yeah, it is. It’s fun for me to go back and see the progress that my clients have made, but I think that has been something that has been especially helpful to me as well with my coaching with my coaches is the progress that I’m able to see in myself over an extended period of time working with them. It’s kind of fun to see like, wow, I can’t believe like this is where we started and this is how far I’ve come

[00:23:40] in Three months or six months or a year, or however long that you end up working with your coach. So, yeah.

[00:23:46] Super cool. well, Sierra, Thank you so much for coming on the podcast today. I think we covered a lot of ground and I think this is going to be really insightful for people making decision about whether or not they wanna have a coach.

[00:23:58] Yeah. So thank you.

[00:23:58] Sierra: You’re so [00:24:00] welcome. I was happy to be

[00:24:00] here.

[00:24:01] Janeen: All right. Perfect. All right. You guys have a beautiful week and we’ll catch you guys next time. Talk to you soon. Bye.