Coaching Case Studies
Training in coaching skills is an investment of your money, time and reputation… so it’s always good to know that other people have been there before you… and can highly recommend the courses.
Below, you’ll also read some Case Studies and Success Stories from coaches who have turned their dream of coaching into reality – we think you’ll find them inspiring.
Click on the names below to read their case study:
Penny Freeston
I attended the weekend course and started the ball rolling by making a tick-chart of dates of teleclasses, coaching sessions each week to keep to. After the book critique in August, I worked on the thesis between September and November, then took a week's holiday before I started to type the first draft.
Highlighting quotations in my textbooks saved me hours of searching for lost quotes. After Christmas, I kick-started the written exam by tackling it like a jigsaw puzzle – I did the easy bits first and left the most challenging till last by which time I had nearly finished and couldn't give up!
All this gave me the confidence and knowledge I needed to book the practical sessions with an assessor coach in February. Imagine my amazement when I passed everything with Distinctions when I had only hoped to scrape through!
I then started marketing myself and now have fee-paying clients and a coaching column in a London newspaper. I spent time re-organising large files into lots of individual ones so that I can refer to things quickly and save time. My last five clients have come from completely different sources so my advice is spread your net wide and see what happens! The extraordinary thing is that when I did the weekend course the timing didn't seem right – I couldn't see my way to doing any of this because of my teaching and writing commitments but once I got started I actually took on more teaching and writing and some very exciting creative projects as well.
Coaching has really given me the confidence and energy to 'dance with life' in so many ways. Now that I am qualified I am enjoying NLP classes, virtual circles and live demonstrations to keep up the momentum. Coaching really is a way of life! Thank you to The Academy for all your support.
"I'd like to reassure anyone who is wondering how they could fit in the study to their busy lives, that I work almost full-time from home, am married with one daughter still at home, another living round the corner frequently bringing our grandson to visit and an 88-year-old mother-in-law who moved in with us two years ago!" |
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Jo Black
I've been actively marketing my practice and it has really started to pay off. After having some business cards printed, I joined a business networking group. It was a great way to help me hone my marketing message and increase my confidence. I've received six excellent referrals so far, two of which have turned into clients. I gave a 10-minute talk on coaching to the group and from that have been asked to go along to a local accountant's firm to give a talk there.
I personalised one of the press releases provided by The Coaching Academy and sent it off to my local paper who decided to use it and interview me for a full-page feature. I had several enquiries on the back of it and I now have some brilliant publicity information to include in my enquiry pack.
I've set up a simple website and have started publishing a newsletter/ezine.
"I've had a good sign-up response from it and an enquiry. The thing I've learned with marketing is that it has to be a regular thing and it will build its own momentum. I'm now honing my niche and know that this helps to clarify my message even more and allows me to target my marketing more specifically." |
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Rebecca Crosbie
I had never been able to confidently use the telephone and although I have always found this "silly" about myself, was stubborn and prone to a tantrum or two when faced with a call! I am a confident person who loves meeting new people, but I always dreaded a ringing phone. I would pass on my responsibilities to others, ignore the constant ringing, switch everything to my machine and even lie and concoct reasons why I couldn't take my calls!
This may seem trivial, but to me this was my mountain and I was starting to behave in a manner I knew was not the real me. My coaching session enabled me to realise that I maybe once did have a valid reason for my issue (I was deaf for a period of my life) but actually a lot of my problem was habit. I came up with my plan of action and realised after my session, that I had NEVER told anyone about my misery with the phone before, and had never challenged my behaviour!
Within a week, I bought my new phone with headset for my coaching practice, upgraded my mobile, took my calls and even made some! It became easy and my relationships changed as family and friends now hear from me regularly. Today, my training is fun as most of it is on the phone, my anxiety has left, my confidence has soared and I am expecting my phone company any day now to let me know I am their customer of the month!
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Hetal Shah
I went on the January 2003 weekend and soon after I started coaching paying clients and after completing with my first client I received this feedback from his wife:
"He remains motivated and focused, and with it a far nicer person to live with because he's actually enjoying what he's doing. I have to say that I think you have really helped him to make the transition from being stressed-out and miserable to a well-motivated happy person, for which I thank you!"
| "It really is a great feeling to get feedback like that, especially when it's from the partner of the client! It's given me so much confidence as he was my first client. It made me realise how powerful coaching is and how far reaching its effects can be." |
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Usha Nair
Prior to my involvement in life coaching, I had a successful City career for 20 years. I held various roles whilst employed, however, the most recent was as a manager responsible for the development and performance of staff in the Customer Relationship environment.
I was unfortunately (this should now be fortunately) made redundant. After the initial shock, I started to reassess my life and what was important to me. I am a single mother and my greatest pride is having brought up my two children on my own for the last 13 years. Balancing family life, especially as a single mother, with a very demanding and challenging job was at times extremely difficult. However I survived – well I did until I was made redundant - then financial worries kicked in.
I knew then that I never wanted to be in this position again (being made redundant and feeling vulnerable and financially insecure) so I investigated a number of options that would allow me to do what I loved and provide me with a reasonable income. Through my discussions with various people and the use of the Internet, I discovered life coaching. I therefore made a decision to pursue my dream and build a career utilising my greatest strength – the development and coaching of others to maximise their potential.
With all this in mind, I knew I needed to learn all about coaching as quickly as possible and be confident enough to launch my practice.
I contacted The Coaching Academy and enrolled on their Coaching programme. Unfortunately, the earliest training weekend was not due to be held until 28th/29th June. Due to my financial constraints and my availability to train I placed a special request with The Academy to receive the work modules prior to the weekend. I immediately tackled the workbooks and assignments. Prior to attending the weekend I had completed assignments one and two.
The weekend provided me with further information and skills and was a great opportunity to network with other coaches. I met a number of people who I am in regular contact with.
Once back from the weekend, I completed the final assignment and was assessed on my practical coaching sessions.
"I launched my practice on 7th July - One2One Coaching – and signed up my first paying client in my first week. I was confident to launch my practice prior to receiving my accreditation as I had completed all of my assignments and had received positive feedback on my practical skills." |
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I am still developing my client base and have sown a number of seeds to both increase my exposure and my revenue:
- Written an article for a magazine and my local newspaper. Waiting for confirmation from the editors of its publication
- In the process of finalising relationships with two well-known health clubs in the City and one local health club.
- Scheduled to present a "Motivational and Inspirational " session to the Enterprise Club of my local Chamber of Commerce.
- Possibility of holding "Motivational and Inspirational" sessions with the local Chamber of Commerce Business Advisors and Mentors.
- In discussion with a recruitment agency in the City to provide my services to their candidates (confidence, self-esteem and self-belief).
- In discussion with the local Education Business Partnership to provide my coaching services on a freelance basis.
I am aware that some of these opportunities may not be successful. However, I believe that you need to be positive and prepared to try anything. I am continually looking at new ways to raise my profile to ensure that I succeed. I am also a member of different networking groups.
My key drivers during the study period and even now have been to provide financial security for my children, my passion for coaching and my stubbornness to succeed.
I am now a fully qualified coach doing what I enjoy with a number of exciting challenges ahead of me.
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Sharon Gaskin
I've been marketing my practice for about three months now and things are beginning to happen! The first thing I did was to think long and hard about a niche and I came up with the idea of Career Coaching for Women, a subject very close to my heart as a working mum of two small children. I set up my company, gave it a name (the result of several brainstorming sessions with friends), Female Futures, and set up a website. I also persuaded four other coaches, all Coaching Academy-trained to come on board with me as associates.
Since then, I have found several clients through the website and I'm getting a good response to the Tips sheets. Our company is on several women's and parenting sites as a link. I am running a workshop for a prominent women's association in September and have been approached by a new magazine aimed at working mothers to possibly run a Questions and Answers feature every month. And I've also been on BBC local radio!
"I'm really feeling positive about future business, even though it's early days. However, as I think has been said before, marketing is hard work and you have to be prepared to be persistent and not give up too easily!" |
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Lorraine Thomas
The Parent Coaching Academy
Lorraine Thomas is the UK's leading Parent Coach as featured in The Sunday Times, The Times, The Daily Mail, The Independent, on the BBC and ITV's This Morning. She is also a regular contributor to the national magazine Practical Parenting. She is the Chief Executive of The Parent Coaching Academy, a pioneering organisation working with parents who are motivated, passionate and committed to being the best parents possible.
Lorraine and her team of professional Parent Coaching Academy coaches support parents as they make major decisions about family life and develop creative ways to solve family problems. The Parent Coaching Academy works with parents of children of all ages in the UK, USA and Europe on all family issues.
It also runs a successful programme working with cutting-edge employers committed to developing initiatives to support parents in the workplace.
Lorraine is a working mother, with three young children, who is well aware of the challenges facing all parents and she knows from her own personal experience how coaching can transform people's lives.
She gave up a career as a successful television executive to qualify with The Coaching Academy and become a Parent Coach and establish the UK's first Parent Coaching Academy.
Lorraine has a first-class Honours Degree in Education from Cambridge and is accredited with Distinction by The Coaching Academy. She is a qualified teacher who has worked extensively with parents. She is also committed to contributing to the voluntary sector.
The Parent Coaching Academy is committed to supporting the pioneering national charity Parentalk and works in association with it on a range of initiatives. The Parent Coaching Academy and Parentalk are committed to inspiring parents and supporting them in the most rewarding, challenging and important job that they will do in their lives.
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Kenneth Attwell
I spent most of my working life in retail but it was never really me. When I left my job to become a life coach I thought it was my ideal job. I qualified with The Coaching Academy in 2003 and subsequently attended numerous courses including Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Thought Field Therapy (TFT) and a seminar with Anthony Robbins.
I quickly learnt that the term "life coach" can mean many different things to people and I soon realised that to be successful I would need to niche myself. First I tried weight loss, phobias and stopping smoking but I soon discovered that the latter was the most popular. I use a combination of NLP, TFT and coaching (I also stress to my clients that, if it does not work, they will get a full refund) and, as I am an ex-smoker, I know what it is like to give up. I really want to be the very best at what I do. I have read lots of books on smoking and attended different stop-smoking workshops as a 'smoker' just to see what they were like and spoke to people that had stopped smoking to find out what methods they used.
I have been doing it full-time since August 2003. I joined the Business Networking International (BNI), which I would suggest every coach should do, and subsequently found someone to do my website, business cards and flyers. The business has really taken off now and I have even been featured in the national press recently.
As far as I am aware, there are a very few dedicated "stop smoking" coaches around, which is very hard to believe as there are over 12 million smokers in the UK, 70% of whom wish to give up. My business is going so well now that I very rarely do one-to-one sessions but hold workshops for two or more people and run stop-smoking workshops for corporate clients.
I feel the keys to being a successful coach are 1) niche yourself 2) believe in yourself and your abilities and 3) be the very best!!!
"Finally, I would just like to add that I have picked up a brand new C Class Mercedes, before that I was driving an 'M' reg Vauxhall Corsa. This is due to my successful coaching practice. If I can make it happen so can you!" |
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