In this "Success Leaves Clues" episode, Sarah sits down with Julija Martinkeviciute, a structural engineer turned coach who is already making massive strides just a few months into her journey with The Coaching Revolution.

Julija shares her major "penny-drop" moment about the power of marketing and why stripping away coaching jargon is the ultimate key to connecting with your ideal clients. If you've ever struggled to articulate what you do, felt intimidated by competition in your niche, or wondered why your audience isn't connecting with terms like "limiting beliefs" or "burnout," this episode is packed with actionable insights just for you.

Key Takeaways:

• Finding the Right Niche: Julija shares her transition from structural engineering to coaching engineers who are struggling to navigate high-stress environments and the transition into people management.

• The Power of Pre-Qualification: Effective marketing acts as a natural pre-qualification process. By the time a prospect reaches a discovery or sales call, they already know who you are and that you understand their problem, eliminating the need to "prove" the value of coaching.

• Ditching the Jargon: Translating "coach-speak" into "client-speak" is the defining skill that separates thriving coaching businesses from those that struggle.

• Abundance in Your Niche: Finding another coach in your specific niche should feel exciting rather than threatening, as your approaches can complement each other perfectly.

• Defining the Undefined: It is vital to break down broad buzzwords like "burnout" and "stress" into relatable, everyday client experiences and warning signs.

• Want vs. Need: People will only buy what they want. As business owners, we must understand what our clients actively desire and thoughtfully wrap the coaching they actually need around that want.

• The Ideal Client Avatar (ICA): Getting ultra-specific about your ICA ensures your marketing feels like a conversation with a real person. This hyper-focus allows you to ignore the rest of the world and direct your message entirely to the people you are meant to serve.

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In this solo episode, Sarah dives into the concept of pastoral care and why it’s the missing ingredient in most coaching business programs. Using her signature "blanket of security" metaphor, Sarah explains how to bridge the gap between what clients think they want and what they actually need to succeed.

What Does "Pastoral Care" Look Like in Practice?

Sarah details the high-touch support included in her program to help coaches move from anonymous names to collaborators and friends:

• Daily Interaction: Online community access for questions and a daily framework for marketing.

• The Virtual Water Cooler: Daily "Zoom Cafes" designed for hanging out and building relationships, not just working.

• Accountability in Action: Bi-weekly co-working blocks and weekly accountability calls to set the week up for success.

• Continuous Growth: Bi-weekly training sessions on business-building topics and extra 1-to-1 support when "life happens."

"We wrap what they want—knowledge and skills—into what they need: the support and accountability to implement them."

Ready to join the revolution? If you're tired of going it alone and want a coaching business that is supported by a community that has your back, listen in to hear how we are changing the business of coaching.

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There are plenty of people in your LinkedIn DMs promising "six figures in 90 days," but what does the reality of building a coaching business actually look like?

In this episode of Success Leaves Clues, Sarah sits down with Kirsty Fitzscott, a former head teacher now 15 months into her coaching journey. They strip away the hype to discuss the practical, pragmatic, and sometimes messy work of establishing a sustainable practice.

Kirsty Fitzscott is a coach for head teachers and the host of the new podcast, The Intentional Head. She helps educational leaders move past the daily grind to focus on strategic leadership.

Key Takeaways

1. The "90-Day" Myth vs. Reality Kirsty debunks the "get rich quick" marketing that targets new coaches. The reality is that building a viable business takes time:

• The Timeline: It typically takes two to three years to build a business, not three months.

• The Portfolio Approach: Most coaches won't make their money solely from 1:1 coaching immediately; building a "portfolio business" is often necessary.

• The Digital Footprint: It can feel like "screaming into the void," but every podcast, video, and article lays a path for clients to find you later.

2. Networking: Connection Over Sales Like many coaches, Kirsty initially hated networking because it felt like "selling". She reframed it successfully by realising:

• You aren't there to sell to the person in front of you; you are there to get to know them.

• Opportunities often come through "a link and a link and a link"—friends of friends or colleagues of the people you meet.

  
  

3. The Power of the "Golden Sentence " One of the most critical assets for a coach is their "Golden Sentence"—a single statement that explains exactly what they do.

• The Formula: "I work with [Client] to help them [Action/Stop Problem] so that they can [Result]".

• Kirsty's Example: "I help time-poor head teachers to stop the firefighting so they can actually get on with the strategic".

• Why It Works: It makes your work instantly accessible. Even if the person you are talking to isn't a head teacher, they might know one who is "firefighting" and make the connection.

4. Finding the Sweet Spot Kirsty discovered her niche was specifically Primary Head Teachers.

• The Logic: Unlike secondary schools, which have HR and IT departments, primary heads are often the sole decision-maker for over a thousand stakeholders.

• The "Shame" Factor: Many potential clients feel shame about their struggles. They need a safe, confidential space to ask questions they can't ask their governors or teams.

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Does the word "niche" make you cringe? You aren't alone. In this solo episode, Sarah tackles one of the biggest sticking points for new coaches: the fear that narrowing your focus means excluding people.

Sarah reframes niching from a constraint into a "magic wand" - one of the fastest paths to securing paying clients.

Key Takeaways

1. Reframing the "Niche" Concept - Many coaches struggle with niching because they view it as excluding people, which goes against the inclusive nature of coaching. Sarah suggests a mindset shift:

• Think of "niching" simply as having a target audience.

• Just like Waitrose (a high-end positioned supermarket in the UK) advertises in glossy magazines to reach premium buyers, you are simply placing your message where your likely buyers will see it.

2. Hobby vs. Business - Sarah delivers a "hard truth" about the financial reality of coaching:

• You cannot build a sustainable business on clients who cannot afford to pay you.
• If you do not have paying clients, you technically have a hobby, not a business.

3. The 3 Steps to Choosing a Viable Niche - To choose a niche that actually works, Sarah advises looking for three specific criteria:

• Language & Rhythm: Choose a group whose language you speak and whose "rhythm of life" you inherently understand.

• The Problem: Ensure the people in this niche have a specific problem that your coaching can help resolve.

• Financial Viability: Make sure this group is able to pay a professional rate for your services.

"Choosing a niche is for coaches like having a magic wand and one of the fastest paths to paying clients that I know of."

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Do you feel "grubby" or "salesy" when you think about marketing your coaching business? You are not alone. In this short episode, Sarah challenges the common belief that marketing requires being "shouty" or "braggy". She explains how marketing is actually just as client-focused as coaching itself, simply requiring a shift in perspective to help your ideal clients find you.

Key Takeaways:

• The "It Depends" Dilemma: Coaches often struggle to define outcomes because every client is unique and the results depend entirely on the individual's challenges and actions.

• The Visibility Reality Check: Many coaches believe that if their coaching is good enough, clients will magically find them, but clients cannot hire you if they don't know you exist.

• Marketing is Client-Focused: Just as coaching focuses on the client, good marketing focuses on the specific kind of client you love working with—the ones that make you say "yes" when you see their name in your diary.

• The "Coach Marketer" Role: To build a financially viable business, you must embrace the role of "coach marketer," which simply means becoming visible to your chosen clients and articulating the benefits of working with you.

Memorable Quote:

"No matter how wonderful your coaching is, clients can't find you if they don't know you exist."

The Simple Marketing Formula:Sarah breaks it down into two simple steps:

1. Become visible to the people you want as clients.

2. Articulate the benefits of working with you.

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About The Guest:

Yulianna Vilkos is a career journalist with over 20 years of experience in market-moving financial journalism in London. Originally moving from Ukraine to build a career in a major financial hub, she specialised in debt capital markets and bond deals within emerging markets. Her reporting was influential enough to move bond prices and market trends quite literally.

Driven by a lifelong interest in psychology and a desire to help people move forward, Yulianna transitioned into coaching. Unlike therapy, which she felt was too focused on the past or passive listening, coaching allowed her to use her personality and focus on the present to help others achieve their goals.

Today, Yulianna specialises in coaching senior financial journalists. She helps them navigate career transitions, leadership challenges, and the unique pressures of the industry, guiding them to design careers that align with their values and priorities. Her mission is to help journalists realise that their skills are transferable and valuable across many industries, empowering them to edit their own life stories rather than feeling trapped in someone else's.

About the Episode:

In this episode, Sarah chats with Yulianna Vilkos, a former financial journalist turned coach who found success by returning to her roots. After initially trying to build a generic personal brand on the advice of a business coach, Yulianna realised that her true strength lay in her 20-year background in financial journalism. She discusses her journey from reporting on debt capital markets to coaching senior journalists, the pitfalls of trying to be the next "Tony Robbins" without a multimillion-dollar budget, and why focusing on your existing strengths is the key to building a sustainable coaching business.

Key Topics Discussed:

• From Journalism to Coaching: Yulianna shares her 20-year history in London’s financial sector and why she pivoted from market-moving journalism to coaching.

• Why Not Therapy?: Yulianna explains why she chose coaching over psychotherapy, preferring a forward-looking, active approach to helping people.

• The Trap of "Generic" Business Coaching: Yulianna opens up about a negative experience with a business coach who advised her to ignore niches and focus solely on "personal branding" to emulate global giants like Tony Robbins—advice that ultimately didn't work for her lifestyle or goals.

• The "Tony Robbins" Fallacy: Sarah and Yulianna discuss why trying to market to "everyone" is a mistake for new coaches who lack the massive marketing budgets of global celebrities.
• Finding the "Hidden Treasure" Niche: How Yulianna rediscovered the value of her own network and experience, realising she was "sitting on a treasure" by choosing to coach financial journalists rather than starting from scratch.
• Coaching Journalists: The specific challenges journalists face, including transitioning to editors, burnout, losing interest in their beat, or feeling misaligned with organisational values.
• Market to Your Strengths: Yulianna’s core advice for both journalists and coaches: stop trying to fix weaknesses and instead build a career and business around what you are already good at.

Are you a coach struggling to find your niche or a journalist looking to pivot? Yulianna advises focusing on your strengths rather than fixing weaknesses.

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Success Leaves Clues: From Biology Teacher to Menopause Expert with Helen Clare

In this episode of the "Success Leaves Clues" series, Sarah sits down with Helen Clare, a senior mentor at The Coaching Revolution and the founder of the thriving business, Menopause in Schools.

Helen is the perfect example of how choosing a specific niche and understanding your ideal client can supercharge a coaching business. A former biology teacher, Helen utilised her background to build a portfolio career that supports schools and teachers through perimenopause and menopause.

Whether you are struggling to define your niche or afraid that narrowing your focus will limit your opportunities, this frank and insightful conversation is a must-listen.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The Power of a Clear Niche: How Helen transitioned from biology teacher to menopause coach by realising her ideal clients were the people she already knew and understood—teachers.

• What "Menopause in Schools" Actually Looks Like: Helen breaks down her portfolio business, which includes one-to-one coaching, writing menopause policies for schools, running staff workshops, and training "Menopause Champions" to support staff retention and well-being.

• Fearless Marketing: Why Helen isn't afraid to use frank language (like "vagina" or "menstrual flooding") on LinkedIn. She explains why normalising these conversations is vital and how it attracts the right clients rather than getting her banned.

• The "Special Case" Syndrome: Helen discusses the biggest trap new coaches fall into: believing their business is a "special case" where standard marketing rules don't apply.

• The "Bad Penny" Strategy: Why you don't need to be everywhere to be successful—you just need to be ubiquitous to the right people. Helen explains how to become a "bad penny" that your ideal clients keep seeing.

• Why Marketing to Everyone is Marketing to No One: A great analogy about gardening—why casting your seeds to the wind doesn't work, and why you need to "plant" your message where your audience actually hangs out.

Are you treating your coaching business like a "special case"?. Take a page out of Helen’s book: define your audience, speak their language, and stop casting your seeds to the wind!

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In this inspiring episode, Sarah is joined by Elizabeth Rosario, a woman who spent over 30 years in the NHS and over 20 years as a GP before transforming her career and mindset through coaching.

If you have ever felt like you "aren't the sort of person" who can market themselves or find clients, Elizabeth’s story is a must-listen. From a crisis of confidence in general practice to building a community interest company, Elizabeth shares her journey of moving from burnout to dreaming big.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The Power of Transferable Skills: How Elizabeth realised that despite 30 years of medical experience, she hadn't learned true active listening until she trained as a coach—and how that changed her patient interactions.

• Overcoming the Marketing Block: Elizabeth candidly discusses her resistance to "The Coaching Revolution" methods, her hatred of Facebook ("brag book"), and her panic over posting a simple selfie on LinkedIn.

• Finding a Powerful Niche: How working with the frailty team during COVID led Elizabeth to her specific niche: helping "guilt-ridden doctors" manage ageing parents so they can enjoy life again.

• Dreaming Bigger: How stepping out of her rut allowed her to envision a future where she changes the societal conversation around death and family dynamics.

This episode proves that you don't have to be a "showy off person" to be a successful coach. Elizabeth’s transition from a sceptic who said "I can't do that" to a passionate coach with a massive vision is the perfect motivation for anyone sitting on the fence about starting their own coaching journey.

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