Blog Posts For Our Practitioner Community

They say that things happen in threes and here’s a question that I’ve received three times in the last three weeks—some iteration of, “What about keeping my job and coaching too?”  

Stacey asked: 

“I feel a lot of pressure to quit my job and launch my business full time. Although my coaching business is growing, I don’t feel ready to leave my job. Being in that in-between place is really stressing me out. I can’t rely solely on my coaching income right now, but I might be able to if I took the leap, left my job, and gave my business more of my time. What was your experience in leaving the job you loved to coach full time?”

Jayme asked:

“Do you think it’s feasible to continue to work in a field that you really love while doing health coaching on the side and to keep the health coaching as more of a side hustle? In your experience, are there many people who are working as a part time health coach who can keep that as a sustainable part time gig and not fully transition to health coaching full time? Not that I am having an existential crisis over trying to figure out what my goals and game plan are. I just want to see how it has worked (or not worked) for others.”

These are both valid questions. I don’t have all the answers and everyone’s situation is unique.

What I share below is my opinion for solopreneurs who are on their own. In my practice, where I sometimes hire contract coaches, I don’t allow exclusively evening and weekend work. I don’t have a problem with them having a part-time job if needed, certainly, but they need to have at least some daytime/normal working hour availability. 

Here are my two cents on the above questions…

There are a lot of business “gurus” who would tell Stacey to jump ship and leave her job. That “you get out of it what you put into it” thing. This is true—you do get out of things what you put into them, but if I were Stacey, I’d stay at my job a while longer.

Here’s why: 

1. Her business is growing. So she’s doing something right. If she stays on this trajectory, it will likely grow to the point that she naturally “outgrows” her job. That’s exactly what happened to me, as painful as it was to leave a job I loved. I worked full time at my nonprofit job the first four years of my business (2006-2010). There then came a point where it was a no-brainer—I was forced to make a choice because my business had grown so significantly.
2. As a solopreneur, she can’t rely on her coaching income. (Yet, anyway.) I’m all for taking risks, but if you can’t pay the bills, that stress and anxiety will get in the way of the productivity and creativity needed to build a business. It will be difficult to make the right decisions and you could end up grasping at straws to bring in income, but they may not be the right straws—and they could lead you astray. Ultimately, you want to stack the bricks for a sustainable practice and you can’t do that from a place of fear or panic. 
3. She feels a lot of pressure. Ditto above. Feeling like you’re in a pressure cooker is not a good place from which to start a business. Or grow a business. Sure, many people (like me) work well under pressure, but there are different kinds of pressure. There’s the pressure of, say, a writing deadline. But the pressure to make a living from a business when the business isn’t yet in a place of holding its own is an unsettling place to be. 

I realize that these decisions may be easier for people who either have a life partner who has a decent income or for people who have savings, but many (like me) don’t want to draw from those wells. 

Again, I don’t claim to be the expert here, but to Stacey, I say, patience grasshopper. Be gentle with yourself. There’s nothing wrong with staying at your job until it’s truly time to leave. 

That said, if you’re only available during evenings and weekends to work with clients, I feel that it does send a message. It’s not a message that I personally want to portray to the world (and why I want my co-coaches having at least some daytime availability), but I’m not going to say that it’s wrong for others. 

I know that there are sooooo many “experts” out there saying, “Bigger, faster, do it now,” but ask yourself—do these folks who say, “Bigger, faster, do it now” have something they want to sell me? Are they promoting a program that claims to help me have a six-figure business in six months? 

If so, be wary. 

Don’t let someone else’s wants and needs (or obnoxious marketing strategies) overshadow what you know to be true for you. That said, there are a lot of good business coaches out there offering something real for emerging coaches. Invest in the program that feels right for you, then apply the principles when you’re ready. 

The health coaching industry isn’t going anywhere. There’s puh-lenty to go around and once you do take things full time (if that’s what you want), people will be waiting for you. 

To Jayme, I say, sure.

It’s feasible. I know several coaches who do this. They have no desire to go “all in” with their coaching business. They either work full time and do a little here, a little there on evenings and weekends (coaching, live workshops, and/or an online group class), or they work part time at their “regular” job and part time as a coach. 

Who says you can’t be a fantastic coach/educator and positively impact lives operating your business part time? 

That said, if this work IS your passion and you DO want to make this a full time endeavor, working full time elsewhere will certainly get in the way. I know this goes without saying, but what would be left over—physically, mentally, emotionally—to work with clients?

And for several people their other “part time job” is parenting. I worked semi-part time the first year and a half of my daughter’s life. And I wouldn’t trade that time with her for anything. 

I have friends who run their businesses part time so they can take care of their teenagers. 

At the end of the day, I think that ALL of us have had so many “right ways” crammed down our throats from all of the gurus and experts, many don’t know which end is up.

I feel that the best thing you can do is tap into your intuition, feel your way through things, and not let the distractors make you feel like you’re doing anything “wrong.” 

We are our own best experts and there are a lot of ways to slice and dice having an enjoyable practice—whatever you want that to look like.