Notes from Chris

Episode 1179

In 2014, Lindsay Gordon had no idea what a career coach was—but people kept telling her that she should be one. She was working in tech support at Google at the time, and one of her duties was onboarding and training the new hires. She acted as a mentor, and noticed that many of them were incredibly stressed about their careers.

Over and over again, Lindsay was asked how they should talk to their managers and what they could do to make sure they didn’t get trapped in the clutches of the company forever. (Google gives, Google takes...)

As the months went by, she kept hearing that she was good at helping people navigate these issues. She still wasn’t sure how coaching worked, but with some quick searching she found out that career coaches help clients decide what next steps they should take in their jobs, both in the short-term and to build a better future.

Then she stumbled upon an 18-month program offered at the Extension School from San Francisco State University. This program would allow her to learn more to see if it was actually something she was interested in doing.

One weekend in the middle of her program, a friend of her husband’s came to visit. This friend was interested in what she was studying, and immediately asked if she would do a career exercise with him! It was great practice, and Lindsay didn’t think much of it until a week later when she got an email from him, asking “Will you be my coach?”

A part of her wanted to say no, but she ended up agreeing. Due to her lack of experience, Lindsay decided to charge about half as much for her services as most coaches that she found online were charging—still a good rate at $85/hour.

Time went on, and more and more people began asking if she was taking clients. This led to what she calls an “accidental side hustle.”

By investing her time and energy into a skill she knew she was good at, Lindsay was able to quickly find clients who trusted her. Since going full-time in 2016, Lindsay has grown her business to make $8,000 a month.

Her project for this year is to bring her program to companies. Lindsay hopes to help train managers and HR departments to have clear, confident and effective communication about career conversations. She’s also been taking professional baking courses … no doubt cooking up another skillset.

 

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  MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:

• Learn more about Lindsay and her business at her website, ALifeofOptions.com.

SEE ALSO:

• Dog Sled Trainer Becomes Women’s Fitness Coach: For two decades, she trained sled dogs in the woods of Minnesota—but after a personal transformation, she started a fitness and empowerment program for women ages 45-55.
• Physician Assistant Earns $12,000 In 10 Months Coaching Aspiring PAs: More than 20,000 people apply to Physician Assistant programs every year. This recent graduate gets paid to coach and prepare students for interviews.
• The Mystical Solution to Modern Love (and Money): A lifelong side hustler becomes a part-time relationship coach, starting a new service in response to a clear need.

Inspiration is good; inspiration combined with action is better. Now get back to work!

Yours in the revolution,

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