Ep #389: How to Pay Your Coach Training Tuition Back

You are listening to The Life Coach School Podcast with Brooke Castillo, episode number 389.

Welcome to The Life Coach School Podcast, where it’s all about real clients, real problems and real coaching. And now your host, Master Coach Instructor, Brooke Castillo.

Brooke: Hello, my friends. Welcome to the podcast today. It’s so exciting, today, we’re going to talk about how to pay your coach training tuition back. I asked my staff to find me the best people to demonstrate how you can go through coach training, pay your tuition back, and maybe a little bit more on top of that.

So, they pulled together an amazing panel of people to talk to you guys today about, if you’re considering doing life coach training, if you’ve been through life coach training, if you’re wanting to know how to pay it back, these are the people to tell you how to do it. So, they’re going to share their story with you and they’re also going to maybe give some insight on how you too can do this same process.

These are amazing people. If you want to see us all on camera, we all look exceptionally good today. And so, if you want to see us on video, go to thelifecoachschool.com/389, you can see this all on video. So, welcome, you all to the podcast. Let’s just dive right in. I’ll go through around, just introduce yourself. Tell me when you went through training, maybe where you’re from. Let’s start with you, Samantha.

Samantha: Alright, I went through training at the end of 2020, beginning of 2021. So, I started almost exactly a year ago, September 2020. And I am in Denver Colorado.

Brooke: Okay, nice. And tell me what type of coaching you do.

Samantha: Yeah, so I’m a business coach. I work specifically with moms and I help them build super profitable online businesses while they raise kids.

Brooke: Beautiful. Alright. Kara, what about you?

Kara: I am a master certified coach here at The Life Coach School…

Brooke: Yes, someone just got certified…

Kara: Somebody just got certified…

Brooke: Amazing. Congrats.

Kara: And I work for The School. I teach in Scholars. I teach in the CCP program. I also have my own private coaching practice where I help part-time life coaches create consistent income in their businesses so they can leave their jobs without sacrificing their lifestyle. And I am in Atlanta, Georgia.

Brooke: Love it. Okay. Riece…

Riece: Hi. I went through certification in spring 2019 and gosh, I do a lot of things. I am an instructor for The School. I work for Rachel Hart. I have a private practice where I coach grumpy moms to learn to enjoy the job that they value most, so I love doing that. And I am in California.

Brooke: Awesome. Okay, Chris…

Chris: Hi. I went through certification in March 2020 and I am a Scholars coach, so I’m here every day coaching our amazing Scholars. I’m also an instructor in Scholars doing live calls and currently in the Certification Internship, where I’m becoming a coach instructor.

Brooke: Alright…

Chris: Yes. And I also have a private practice where I coach the Q-plus community, working on worthiness, belonging, and self-confidence.

Brooke: Amazing. Love it. What about you, Melissa?

Melissa: I am Melissa Parsons. I’m in Columbus, Ohio. I was in Chris’s class, so I started in March of 2020 and finished in September. I coach women with brains. Right? We all deserve a coach.

Brooke: I love it. I love it.

Melissa: The men do too. But you know, my niche is just women with brains. I’m just so excited to be here.

Brooke: I’m s excited you guys are here. So, one of the things that has come to my mind lately is that we need more coaches. And there’s a lot of people out there in the world that start following life coaches and they start thinking, “Oh my gosh, there’s so many life coaches. We’re so saturated. There are so many of us.”

And I’m like, “No, pull your head out of the social media life coach world. Go out into the real world. There’s lots of people that don’t know about us yet.” And so, I’m trying to get as many people to get certified as possible. And one of the things that is kind of an obstacle for people is the tuition and paying the tuition and going through certification.

And so, I thought a lot about, how can I help with this? And one of the things that’s really important to me is to have a very high-caliber school. An expensive school to get into, and that everybody pays the exact same amount. Nobody gets a discount. Nobody gets a free ride. None of that.

So, instead of lowering my price or discounting it or Groupon-ing The Life Coach School, what I decided is, how do we help our students who are coming through pay the tuition and then also pay themselves back? Because when you invest in your education, it truly is an investment.

Once you pay that money and you learn that knowledge, you have it for the rest of your life. It’s one of the best ways I know to utilize money. And once you pay that tuition back to yourself, everything after that is just pure profit, pure asset, pure enjoyment.

So, if we could get our students to pay themselves back, then everything after that will just be, I think, in true full abundance. And I have a vested interest in my coaches being super successful. So, I said, “Let’s create a course that we could give to our students called How to Pay Your Tuition Back and have a process for doing that.”

And one of the things that I asked them to do is to find you all – well, let’s find people that have actually done this and ask them how they did it and find out what their secrets are and what their tips are. So, Samantha, let’s start with you. I’d love for you to tell me, first of all, how you paid just your initial tuition back. And then anything that you did beyond that.

Samantha: Okay, so I feel a little like maybe not the typical, but maybe I’m wrong. I already had a business when I started. So, I was already a coach and I was already a six-figure coach. So, I was earning a lot. And I always knew I wanted to get certified with LCS…

Brooke: Why? You were already making 100K a year. Why did you need to come get certified with us?

Samantha: I know, I wanted to even before I had the business. It was like, “I’m going to do that.” But I started with Scholars. I utilized everything in there, built up the business. And then, when it was super easy to pay for, then I just paid for it.

Brooke: Love it. So good. So, even though – and this is important for how I want y’all to look at this. Even though you had the cash that you had earned to pay for it, tell us about the first money that you made after certification that, quote unquote, paid it back.

Samantha: Yes. So, it actually came in the form of a launch. And it was my first multiple six-figure launch, which came during certification, which was fantastic. And I think being in certification at the time helped me to have that launch.

Brooke: How so?

Samantha: Partly just the peer coaching that I got in there. But I think also the confidence that I got really honing my skills. Like, already being a coach, already knowing that I was a good coach, but being in certification and feeling like I was sharpening that and really developing those skills deeper, I think, took me into my launch with so much more confidence.

Brooke: I love that. Now, one of the things that I kind of have to like, “Okay, we’re going to talk about money and I’m going to ask everybody how much money they make” and all of those things – and I do this at dinner parties and everywhere. I ask everyone how much money they make.

And what’s so funny to me is I’ll go to dinner parties with friends who have known each other for a long time but I ask all the questions and they all get to know each other better because I’m like, “How much money do you make and why and how do you spend it…” and everything. So, will you share with us, as much as you’re willing to share with us, about what you’re making now and how you’re making it and all of that?

Samantha: Yeah, so I am now a million-dollar coach. So, while I was in certification, I hit that milestone too of one million in 12 months. And then promptly got coached on telling the world that because I had thoughts…

Brooke: Were you freaked out to tell us?

Samantha: I was. I was freaked out. And now I have just made a million in this year, so about nine months. So it’s like, now I’m shortening the timeline, which is so fun. And I do it with group programs. So, I have a large group program that is lifetime access, and then I have a high-ticket mastermind.

Brooke: I love it. So, when you think about this – and I’m relating this back to myself when I made a million dollars in one year, I remember thinking, “Why didn’t anyone ever talk to me about this possibility?” Like, why didn’t I know that I could do this and be an example?

And so, I love so much that my students make that much money. Because I used to hear all the time, “Well, Brooke, you can do it because you’re Brooke Castillo.” And I know that I’m just a total freakshow human being, like the rest of you all. You don’t know that because I come and I have makeup and my hair is done. But inside, it’s a craziness that’s happening. And maybe you even thought that yourself. What would you say to people who think, “Oh, you can do that, Samantha, but I can’t?”

Samantha: It boggles my mind that people say that. I used to be that person with you though. Like, I would think, “Yeah, Brooke can do that.” But I think the closer I got to it, like the more I made, I let my belief just kind of inch there, goal by goal. And then I got to this place where it was like, well I just see the math so clearly.

And I think it’s so much harder to make like 100K than a million. Like, once you make 100K, for sure you can make a million. And I tell people that all the time. Like, if you can make 100K, I will help you make a million in four years or less. Like, it’s easy.

Brooke: People don’t believe us.

Samantha: Of course, it’s not easy, but like, it is.

Brooke: It’s just getting ahold of that belief mindset and really understanding how the brain affects what you’re able to create. So, there is somebody listening – and I’m going to ask you all this question. But there’s somebody listening who is afraid to spend the money, who is afraid that they can’t make it back, is afraid that this will be one more thing that they invest in and that they can’t actually bet on themselves and win. What would be your advice to them?

Samantha: I think about two different things. I think best-case scenario and worst case. And my brain just loves a worst-case, so I just let it go there…

Brooke: So does mine…

Samantha: I just take it down that road and we just let it get really scary. And then I just think, like, okay, what would I do? And for me, the worst-case scenario is always, like, selling everything and moving in with my in-laws and living in their basement. And then I think, “Okay, I would probably figure out how to make some more money before I actually did that.” But even if, that’s a pretty good worst case.

And then best-case is always something amazing that I want. And I always think, isn’t it worth risking, to get that best case, risking the worst case to get the best case?

Brooke: Oh, that’s good, girl. I like that. Are you willing to risk the worst case in order for the possibility of the best case? It’s so good. So, someone is going to say, “But I don’t know how.”

Samantha: Yeah, that’s just dumb. We don’t know how to do anything. That is like, do you want to have the human experience? It is not knowing how to do something and then figuring out how to do it. Like, literally our whole life is doing that.

Brooke: Boom, that’s exactly right. Awesome. Okay, thank you so much. So, if people want to come find you, maybe they want to work with you because you’re going to help them make money. Where should they go? What should they do?

Samantha: They should go to samanthasiffring.com and they can find out everything they need to know about me right there. I also have a podcast called Online Business-Building Mommas.

Brooke: Alright, I like the name of that. Okay, Kara, let’s go to you.

Kara: Yes.

Brooke: Tell us everything.

Kara: Okay, I think the first question was, how did you make your first dollars back? Or how did I?

Brooke: Yeah, your tuition back.

Kara: Yeah, my tuition. So, I just went to people in my current network and audience and was like, what are your problems? What are your desires?

Brooke: I love it.

Kara: Because if you have a desire and you’re not getting it, outlearn and grow cultivation at CCP is obstacles in the way. And I know how to identify those and help you overcome those to get what you want. And then I said, okay, I think it was $100 an hour at that time, or per session I was charging.

Brooke: Let’s get granular here. The first person that you asked for money, what was that like? Tell me about that.

Kara: It was kind of scary. Actually, it was before CCP. I charged like $20 for a session. And it was amazing. I was like, “I get to help this person.” But after going through CCP and having the tools and being trained in The Model, I was like, “I can help anybody with anything.” So, it gave me such confidence.

And so, asking people for money, I was like, “How much do you value this desire you have?” It’s not about me. It’s about what’s your value you’re putting on that? Is it worth $100? You spend $100 on a nice dinner, right? So I’m like, “Okay, why not spend $100 to get closer to this desire you have?” So, I just kept doing that and I made about half of my tuition back before I developed a program.

Brooke: Wow, just by making offers?

Kara: Just by making offers, like, “What do you want?”

Brooke: And we teach you how to do that. But I mean, that takes a lot of guts. That takes a lot of overcoming your own brain noise. How were you able to do that?

Kara: I think because I was seeing the changes in my life, that I believe this works. And it wasn’t about me. It was about them and getting it out in the world.

Brooke: So good. Okay, so how long did it take you to make the tuition back? Do you know?

Kara: About 17 months, actually.

Brooke: 17 months, okay, cool. And then you paid back the tuition…

Kara: Yep.

Brooke: And then what happened?

Kara: I made a lot of money.

Brooke: Do you want to tell us how much?

Kara: Yes. More than I was making in my job. And that was my goal. Because I left my jo in October of 2020 and my goal was to replace my salary, which was about $190,000. I’ve made over $225,000, I think, since I left my job.

Brooke: Okay, so wait, what did you make in your first year?

Kara: My first year as a coach, I think, around $7000. Let’s see, I certified in March of 2019. So it was actually – I have it here - $8000.

Brooke: Okay, so that was in your first full year?

Kara: First full year as a coach, yes.

Brooke: Okay, and were you still working at that time.

Kara: Yes, I was.

Brooke: So, you were coaching part time.

Kara: Exactly, yes. I was coaching part time. And I had my own hang ups around loving the environment I was in. I was a CPA and I was in a high-powered environment. I loved the CFOs I was working with and all of this and I was like, “Am I going to get that in coaching? Will I get that?” And then I started working for the school in June of 2020 and I was like, “Oh yes, I’ll get it. These people are smart.” Like Coaching Scholars, I realized the same caliber of people are asking for coaching, So I’m like, “Of course I will.”

Brooke: So, you were working part time in your own business while you were a CPA. And then at some point you decided to quit being a CPA when you matched your own salary?

Kara: No, I hadn’t yet matched my salary. Yes. But I decided to quit when I came to mastermind in 2019 and I saw people walking across the stage and I was like, I can do that. They’re normal humans. Just seeing them in person, I was like – when I saw them on screen, they’re like TV personalities or something.

Brooke: Oh, interesting, Yeah.

Kara: But my brain shifted when I saw them at mastermind, I was like, “I can do that.” And so, I put in my notice two weeks later after I got back.

Brooke: Okay, that was scary, yeah?

Kara: No, actually. It wasn’t…

Brooke: Because your belief had kicked in. Ah, that’s so cool. Awesome.

Kara: Yes, I decided, I’m going to make $100,000 in my business.

Brooke: So then, you quit your job, you went full time, and now you’re making…

Kara: This year, so far, I have made $185,000.

Brooke: Okay, but I mean, is that allowed?

Kara: It’s absolutely allowed.

Brooke: So, a lot of people will ask me, “Do I need to quit my job in order to make more money? Can’t I do it part time?” You’ve kind of done a mixture of both. What would be your advice to someone who’s like, maybe they’re a CPA, like you, or maybe they’re an attorney or whatever. What would you recommend for them?

Kara: I would say make a decision. Make a decision to either quit and go all in. I personally didn’t love the idea of having two careers. Like, my job wasn’t just a job that I clocked in and out. It was a career that I was, like, growing and I decided I wanted a different career. And when I made that decision, my energy shifted. So, I would say, make a decision. Like, do you want coaching to be your career? And then decide that and then go after it with everything.

Brooke: And maybe you don’t want coaching to be your career. You can still do it part time, even with a career, and make extra money. Which is what you’ve proven.

Kara: Yes.

Brooke: I love it. Awesome. Okay, Riece, tell us your story.

Riece: So, one of the things that I figured out that I thought was really fun, just in talking to your team about earning my tuition back, was that I have earned my tuition back independently in five different ways. So, I thought that was kind of a cool thing to realize.

Brooke: Okay, let’s hear it.

Riece: Yeah, so I worked for the school as a contract coach and I earned my tuition back that way. I currently work for Rachel Hart in her business. She does overdrinking coaching. So, I earned my tuition back there. I have earned more than my tuition in my private practice, coaching moms.

I have earned my tuition back as an instructor for The School. And I have earned my tuition back in hosting live events. So, actually, I’m doing a live event in the fall for coaches too. And I realized that yeah, I’ve done it five different ways and it’s totally possible.

And I have so much to say about this because I think I’m kind of the poster child for, “I shouldn’t have been able to do that.” Because I went into certification with five kids, one of whom was still nursing at the time. That’s how little she was.

Brooke: What are you talking about?

Riece: I know. And so, when people are like, “oh, I don’t have time…” I’m like, “Oh my gosh, that is false.”

Brooke: How were you able to do that?

Riece: I just love it. I just love it; that’s how. I just love it.

Brooke: And you must manage your time well.

Riece: I don’t know about that.

Brooke: Oh really? Okay, interesting…

Riece: I mean, I do my best. I’m pretty good, I think. When you were talking so many specific numbers with everyone I was like, “Oh shoot, I don’t really know my specific numbers.” Because I do kind of operate on a pretty organized-chaos basis in general. Bu it really works for me and things happen and things get done.

And I don’t know a lot of my exact numbers, like you were asking for. But I do have a fun one that I do know, which is I had my first $10,000 month in July and then in August it was $18,000.

Brooke: Wow.

Riece: I know. So, that’s pretty fun and I’m excited about that.

Brooke: That’s amazing. I love it. So, what were you doing before?

Riece: I was just a stay-at-home mom with my kids. I was just – I mean not just. I was a stay-at-home mom…

Brooke: You had five kids…

Riece: With my five children, yes.

Brooke: There’s no just about it…

Riece: There’s no just. I don’t know why I said that.

Brooke: So, I know for sure there’s someone at home who’s a mom to their kids who is thinking, “How in the heck did she do all of that?” What would you tell them? How did you do it?

Riece: You know, I think I realized really early on that I was very passionate about this work. I think you made an excellent point when you started this podcast that it’s really easy when you get into the life coaching community and start following a lot of coaches to just feel like everybody knows this stuff, everybody’s talking about this stuff.

That is so not true. And I know my experience with it, it blew my mind that I had the kind of authority over my life that I ended up realizing that I had because I didn’t feel that way before I found coaching. And when that clicked for me and I looked around my life and saw everybody else that was operating like me, where they were very much at the mercy of their lives rather than being in the driver’s seat of it, I was like, everybody needs to know this.

Every human being needs to know this. And so, I really do think it’s possible, if you are passionate about this work, if it has made an impact for you personally and you’re drawn to this work, then you can absolutely create a business doing it.

Brooke: I love it. What were your thoughts before you signed up? Were you freaked out? Were you excited? What was going on?

Riece: I was a little freaked out. I was not like Samantha. I did not have $18,000 sitting around, ready for me to spend on this. So, it felt like a big investment for me. I will tell you something else that’s really funny. I could go on about this for a really long time because my husband does anesthesia.

He went to school for, gosh, I guess seven years to do that. And invested a lot of money; a lot, lot, lot of money. And he laughs so hard now because I am getting very competitive with his income right now and he’s like, “Okay, your ROI is so much better than mine.”

Brooke: This is what I try to tell people. I’m like, this is the cheapest education you will ever pay for. And that’s not to undermine the investment that it is. Because it’s significant. And it’s significant on purpose, right? For one reason, to deliver the value at the level that I do and pay the instructors at the level I do.

But also, we want people in this game that are serious. And so, I appreciate you saying that because I think, sometimes, you know, you had to have this discussion with your husband before? Or did you have the discussion?

Riece: Oh yeah.

Brooke: Yeah, so what was that like?

Riece: He wasn’t terribly concerned. I think he had a lot of faith in me, so he wasn’t terribly concerned about it. But I mean, one of the things that we’ve talked about – now, I’ve blown all these goals out of the water, by the way.

But one of the things that we talked about was, especially because of my situation, having a lot of kids at home, giving myself a pretty long timeline to make that money back. Now, I didn’t do it that way. I got in there and I started making money.

But at the time, it was like, you know, I’ll be honest, he’s been out of school for a long time. He still hasn’t made his back. He’s still paying off his student loans. I mean, I guess he’s made more than that, but he’s still paying off student loans right now.

Brooke: Oh my gosh, that’s so crazy. Isn’t that crazy?

Riece: And we talked about that. We were like, “Look, you’re still paying off student loans this long after you’re out of school. Maybe it’s okay if I don’t make all of my money back immediately…”

Brooke: So, how much time did you give yourself to pay it back?

Riece: I think we said four years originally.

Brooke: And how long did it take you to pay it back?

Riece: Oh, less than six months. Yeah.

Brooke: That’s what’s up.

Riece: I will say, it was very freeing at the time to just say, “Okay…” and if you look around, it’s so funny to me with coaches how we do this. Because we do tend to put these expectations – and obviously it’s possible. I think everyone on this panel can attest to the fact that it’s possible. But it is fascinating to me that other industries, it’s not a big deal if you’re making that much money that soon.

But for some reason, we think that we should be. And so, I think it was really freeing for me to go into it and just say, like, “It’s totally fine. I’m not in any rush. I don’t need to make this happen any sooner. And I really do think I brought that energy to what I did do, that I wanted to work for The School.

But I wasn’t like, “If I don’t get hired right now and work for The School right now that everything is lost.” And the same thing, you know – I think that was one of my superpowers in my consults was just that, like, I was okay with it not happening. I really genuinely down to my soul was okay with it not happening that soon. And I think it really helped.

Brooke: You know what? I’m so glad that you said that because this is how I feel about making $100 million. Like, everyone’s always like, “You could do it so much faster? You know that you could do it this year. You know, if you did this, this, this…” and I’m like, who’s in a hurry? I’m not in a hurry.

And some people, if they put it on their credit card or they’re borrowing against something, they’re in more of a hurry and I like sometimes when people are in a hurry because they don’t mess around. They get to work a lot faster.

But I also like this approach too where it’s like you were still working hard, coming from abundance, showing up and doing the work. You weren’t like relaxing, watching Netflix saying, “I don’t need to pay this back.” So that’s amazing. Riece, if people want to find you and maybe work with you privately, how do they do that?

Riece: So, you can go to my website. It’s riecemorris.com and you can also find me on Instagram. I don’t really post there very much but I’m @riecemorriscoaching on there as well.

Brooke: Okay, and I want to come back to you, Kara, because I didn’t ask you that question, and I know some people might want to come find you too.

Kara: Oh thanks, yes. It’s karagaisie.com.

Brooke: And we’ll have all of this in the show notes too. So, if you’re driving or whatever, don’t worry, you can just go to thelifecoachschool.com/389. Alright, Chris, tell us everything.

Chris: All the things…

Brooke: All the things.

Chris: All the things. So, I actually made all my money back right here at The Life Coach School as a contract coach.

Brooke: Nice. What was that like getting that job? Tell us.

Chris: Yeah, well…

Brooke: I don’t even know what that’s like. What’s it like to try to work for me?

Chris: It’s amazing. So, it wasn’t even really on my radar, to be honest with you. Like, I have a dance background. I’ve been a dance teacher for 25 years. I started teaching when I was 15. Like, what? And I thought I was going to work with artists and dancers. And then, I sort of shifted to wanting to work with the Q-plus community, especially with what was going on in the world, like March 2020 and on and everything, I was like, we need more representation. We need more faces like me.

And so, I was all geared up to do that. And then I was like, “Maybe I want to work for The Life Coach School.” Just like a full 180. And so, I literally, like, certification day was September 14th. I had my application in by September 29th.

Brooke: Wow, good for you.

Chris: A month later, I got an email about, like – well, I got all the requirements I needed and a month later I got an email about a meeting. And it all happened so fast that, like, I think my head was spinning. I don’t even know that I was able to fully metabolize what was going on because it was so fast for me and I was actually the first person hired from my cohort. So, it was so quick.

And I think, once I decided, it was like there was no question that it was the right job for me. Like, I didn’t have drama about it being the right job for me. I just was like, this feels like the right fit. I love everything about this company. I think I’m an amazing coach. And this will give me the opportunity to really hone my craft. And I work full time, so I coach all day every day and I just love it so much.

Brooke: I think that’s – maybe those of you listening that don’t understand, when you’re a coach in Scholars, you basically do back-to-back coaching sessions. You have no idea what the person’s bringing you. You have no idea where they’re from, what their problem is, anything.

So, that level of coaching every single day, that is how I became such a good coach, is I just had clients back to back to back to back every day. And so, if I were to go through certification, I would do it just like you did. I would work full time to hone my craft and to make the money back as fast as I could.

Chris: Yeah, and there’s no other experience like it, to be able – like you said, it’s like 20 minutes, or a Diamond gets a 40, right, and it’s like, you’re just one after the next. And I’ve coached on so many topics and met so many people.

Same like the money, like, I don’t even know what I’ve made year-to-date. Because I know what I’m contracted for, so I’m not stressed about it. Like, I’m not looking at the numbers. But for me, making back the tuition wasn’t even really – like, what do you mean by making back the tuition?

Because I was already incorporating all of the tools into my teaching with my students. And I work with them one on one. And so, I was using the open questions, to sort of like help them get better results with their work. So, it’s like I was already up-leveling and adding so much more value to what I already did. So, if it was like, if I didn’t become a coach, it didn’t matter because I was going to add more value to who I already was. And that’s worth it.

Brooke: Oh my god, that’s so well-said. That’s the thing for me is like investing in your brain, even if the ROI isn’t direct cash, the ROI may be the experience of living your life. And everybody’s like nodding their head frantically at me right now. Because it really is true.

It’s like, even if you wouldn’t make a dime back, people have told me, like, “It changed my life forever. And so, I didn’t make it through life coaching but I asked for a raise at work, or I was able to manage my money better.” So I love – that’s such a good point. So, you’re just contracting, or you have your own business as well?

Chris: So, I kind of put my own business on pause. Like, I was working with some people. And then once I went full time, I kind of finished up those contracts and now I’m just doing this. And then in January 2020, I’m looking at launching like a group program for my Q-plus peeps.

Brooke: Nice, okay. So, if people want to find out more about you…

Chris: Yeah, they can go to chrishale.co and there’s all the information about me. You can get on my mailing list or my Instagram is @theonly_chrishale, which is funny because I’m not the only one. My mother’s name is Chris Hale. I’m named after my mother, so it’s hilarious. Or, Join Scholars and you have the opportunity to coach with me and learn with me.

Brooke: That’s amazing. What would you say in terms of advice for someone that thinks maybe they’re not normal, they’re not mainstream, they’re not like Brooke Castillo and, “Is this going to work for me?” I have a lot of people that say, “Well, I’m different therefore I can’t. What would you say to them?”

Chris: I would say like, really go all in on your differences because there are so many people who feel that way. And that if you show up authentically, being different, you’re going to A, be an example of what’s possible. But B, you’re going to attract those people who feel the same way that you do, that you’re vibrating in that same space.

Brooke: That’s so good. And it doesn’t even matter if you’re different in the same way.

Chris: Right, exactly. Because it’s like when you resonate with what someone’s saying, it doesn’t really matter what the package is. And we can all attest to that. We’re all very different people. But we’re drawn to your message, to what we teach. And it doesn’t matter that we all look different, are different, any of that.

Brooke: I love it. I love that the human experience is so vast and so different and we all think that we’re the special snowflake that has the different suffering experience. I’m like, no, no, nobody has a corner on suffering. We’re all doing it in our way. So, I love what you said there, like go all in on what’s different. We need differences. We need the diversity in the coaching industry, in our helping profession.

Like, we need to be able to go to people that are different, that maybe not in the same way, but can help us overcome that. And it’s not even like overcoming our difference so we can be normal. But like what you said, doubling down on it so we’re not.

Chris: Yeah, who wants to be normal?

Brooke: I mean, I don’t. I mean, then you don’t have any haters. I mean, what would I do without you? I love you, haters. Okay, Melissa, let’s go to you.

Melissa: Alright, I was a pediatrician. I am a pediatrician still. I will always be a pediatrician, even though I don’t work as a pediatrician anymore. I became a product of life coaching. I joined Katrina Ubell’s Weight Loss for Doctors Only and worked with her for six months and I got my relationship with myself A-plus amazing… well, B-minus probably. 83%, right? And then I worked with Maggie Reyes because I knew I wanted to make my marriage better after I got relationship with myself…

Brooke: Shoutout to Maggie…

Melissa: Yeah, she’s the best. And at the end of our coaching, she said, “You’re such a powerful self-coacher, Melissa. You need to look into doing this. And you already are a coach. You know, you’ve been coaching in your peds practice for 18 years. You just don’t call yourself that.”

And so, I listened to Maggie and I very quickly signed up for certification and my little heart was beating out of my chest, just like it is right now, when I gave you my $18,000. But…

Brooke: It’s $21,000 now by the way. Yeah.

Melissa: Right, I’m glad I was an early adopter.

Brooke: And it keeps going up, so come on.

Melissa: Oh yeah, as it should. I mean, I knew within the first couple weeks. I was like, “I’ve already made my money back and I haven’t made a dime.” I mean, I knew. And I mean, talk about investing in my education. I’m still paying my $150,000 of med school loans back from 1995. So, I started when I was seven.

But you know, I started certification in March. I started my business in May. By the end of certification, I had made $60,000.

Brooke: What is happening? Congratulations. That’s amazing.

Melissa: And I just was like, “I believe in this work so deeply. And I had a funnel of people who knew, liked, and trusted me before I even knew what a frigging funnel was. And that’s really where I got my first 12 clients. Like, they were people that I knew from either pediatrics or yoga practice or soccer, you know, my sons playing soccer, you know, that type of thing.

So, I think being a product of my product, having people see the amazing change in my body, in my demeanor, in my love for life and that type of thing. So, I think that was it.

Brooke: I love that, “I’m a product of the product.” And I think that’s what, for me, when I talk about being an example of what is possible. I don’t have to sell life coaching. I am life coaching. People ask about that. Like, “What are you doing? How do you do this?” And it’s like, this. You manage your brain. This is how you do it. So, I love the way that you said that. So, you made 60K before certification was done?

Melissa: Yeah, before I got my certificate.

Brooke: So you started coaching while you were getting certified. I love this. And then how much have you made total since then? Or do you have those numbers?

Melissa: Oh girl, I have it right here.

Brooke: Oh, let’s go.

Melissa: $237,500.

Brooke: Is that allowed?

Melissa: It is allowed. It is encouraged.

Brooke: I love it. I love, love, love it when people make money. I think I like it more when other people make money than when I make it because just being able to believe in ourselves at that highest level – and so how long has it been? How long did it take you?

Melissa: 16 months.

Brooke: 16 months. So, people ask me all the time, like, “How long will it take me to make 100K?” How would you answer that? Just random someone asking you, how would you answer it?

Melissa: As long as you think it’s going to take you is exactly how long it’s going to take you.

Brooke: People are like, “No, that’s not true”

Melissa: I used to think that I was extra special super broken too, right?

Brooke: Nobody has a corner on broken.

Melissa: No. And I mean, really, the thing that I want people to know is there is beauty in the brokenness.

Brooke: Yes, that’s so good. People think, “I’m broken, therefore I can’t.” I think I’m broken, therefore I did. Like, my brokenness made me all this money. Say it again…

Melissa: And I have to show all these other people that they can do it too. Like, I see you.

Brooke: That’s so important. I think if you’re listening to this and you are tempted to think that those of us on this call are somehow different than you, we are different than you but we’re also the same as you because we’re humans that doubt ourselves and who didn’t know that this was possible.

And then, for whatever reason, decided that maybe it was. That is the only difference. And we didn’t give up. That is the only difference. And you may look and say, “No, you’re better than me.” I hear people say this all the time, “You’re better. Melissa is better than me. She was a pediatrician, so therefore she’s better than me in some way.”

No, that is not the case because you can’t make that argument with everyone on this call. You know, Riece was a stay-at-home mom, now what are you going to say? Now what have you got to say?

People kept saying to me, “Well the reason you’re successful is because you sell a business opportunity.” That’s the whole reason I started Scholars. Now what? I’m just going to keep knocking down all the reasons why you think you can’t do this for yourself.

Listen, the most important thing to me is that you believe in the possibility of what is in your heart and what you desire. And if you’re listening to this and you hear Melissa say she’s making $200,000-plus and you feel something inside of you say something like, “Wait, I can do that?” That’s what happened to me when I heard Amy Porterfield talk about a million dollars.

I’m like, “Wait a minute. That’s allowed? We can do that?” That’s all it takes. So, I appreciate y’all coming on this call so much just to offer that perspective to those people listening. Because they won’t believe me because they think I’m a unicorn. But are we all unicorns? Maybe, but don’t you want to be one too? Let’s go.

Melissa: The other thing I’ll say, Brooke, is to speak to your, “There are too many life coaches and not enough people needing coaching,” and that type of thing. One of the best visuals I’ve had for that was recently I was flying home and it was dark. And you see all the lights of the people in the houses and that type of thing. I’m like, there are so many people down there that have no idea that their thoughts create their feelings. Like zero idea.

Brooke: It’s funny, like even interviewing people for this marketing job that I have open right now who’ve never heard of me, who have no idea what The Life Coach School is. I’m like, “Oh my god, this makes me so happy. There’s more people to find and more people to help and more things to offer the world.”

And I feel like if you have this in your heart in any way, it’s not just for you that you’re doing this. This isn’t just an indulgence. It’s not about the money so you can buy yourself things. It’s not about that at all. And that’s fun too. I’m all in on that.

But also, don’t you want to show yourself what you’re made of so you can make a contribution? You don’t have to reach thousands of people. You had 12 clients.

Melissa: Right, and that’s just it. It came to me when I was trying to decide, do I continue being a pediatrician? I could have very easily done that for 12 more years, retired at 60 and gone off into the sunset. And I was like, “Okay, I could do that. Or I could challenge myself and do something I never, ever dreamed of doing. I mean, I’ve wanted to be a pediatrician since I was in frigging fourth grade.” So, I was already living my dream. Like, who says I can’t have another dream?

Brooke: What? Double down on the dreams, people. Double down. I love it.

Melissa: And then I got to the point where I was like, I almost feel selfish not sharing this with more people. Like, I feel like I have the key to the universe because of people like you guys, right?

Brooke: So, what would you say to someone who has a traditionally prestigious job that’s considering leaving it to become a life coach? How did you overcome that? Or did you?

Melissa: Come to the dark side. I mean, everybody knows what a pediatrician does and is; most everybody, right? But that’s okay. Just because you have gone to school for many years and put in practice and you have – like I had coworkers who loved me, families who love me, patients who love me. Like the people that really loved me were so happy that I was following my dream. You know, I had put on my bio on our website for my pediatric business, “When I grow up, I want to be a life coach.”

Brooke: What? That’s amazing.

Melissa: Yeah…

Brooke: Don’t get the wrong idea. None of us are really grown up over here.

Melissa: This is true.

Brooke: But we are working on it, people. We are working on it. Okay, so did you already tell us how we can find you?

Melissa: No, mam. But I will.

Brooke: Tell us.

Melissa: So, you can go to melissaparsonscoaching.com. I’m also on Instagram @coachmelissaparsonsmd.

Brooke: I love it. Awesome. Thank you guys so much for joining me. I am so delighted to hear all of your stories and how well you’re doing. And you know I love it when people make money. And you guys are killing it. And I love that it’s such a diverse group that did it in all different ways.

If you’re listening to this, I want you to know, this is possible for you. Like, all the attorneys get mad at me when I say stuff like that, but I’m like, “But it’s true. It’s absolutely true.” They’re like, “Don’t give them a false sense…” I’m not. I watch person after person after person. Go to the website. See how many people have made a million dollars. See how many people who have made 100K.

There’s no guarantee. You’ve got to show up and you have to do the work. But it is possible for you. If you want to know more about joining certification, we are launching a new class right now. You can sign up right now. Go to thelifecoachschool.com/certification. Be inspired by this. Be committed. Believe in yourself. It is possible for you.

Thank you guys so much for joining me today. I so appreciate you for taking the time to share your wisdom and your success by being an example of what is possible. It’s my honor to be your teacher. Thank you guys so much. Have a beautiful week, everyone. Talk to you soon. Bye.

Hey, if you enjoy listening to this podcast, you have to come check out Self-Coaching Scholars. It's my monthly coaching program where we take all this material and we apply it. We take it to the next level and we study it. Join me over at the TheLifeCoachSchool.com/join. Make sure you type in the TheLifeCoachSchool.com/join. I'd love to have you join me in Self-Coaching Scholars. See you there.