Ep #515: Journal Coaching with Ashley R. Wright

You are listening to The Life Coach School Podcast with Brooke Castillo episode number 515.

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: What’s up, everyone? Today is a fun day. We have a very special guest today who is going to talk to us about journal coaching. So Ashley Wright is our guest. She works for me at the School and we were talking about her business and she said I’m a journaling coach. I said, what is happening? I need to know every detail of every single thing that you're doing in your practice, it sounds amazing. Why don’t you come on the podcast?

So I am so excited that she’s here. This is all for me to understand what she does for coaching, for journaling, what she can do for me, what she can do for you.

Welcome to the podcast, Ashley.

Ashley: Welcome to me. Yay! I’m so excited to be here and I’m so excited about all the things we’re going to talk about today.

Brooke: Amazing. Okay, so give us a little bit of background as to how you got started as a coach and why journal coaching.

Ashley: Yes. Amazing question. So for me, I’ve been coaching, I guess for about seven years. And once I was hired here at The Life Coach School, I was like, oh, so now I need to become certified. So I went through that process, it was amazing. Just wanted more tools for the clients that I was already serving.

But specific to journaling, so the name of my business is called Strokes of Freedom, like a pen stroke.

Brooke: Oh, nice.

Ashley: So the root or foundation of that is that we get to write our way to freedom, right? No one has to wait for me to say, oh, now you’re free. Or for those who may be a part of a faith system, oh, now my pastor or whomever has said I’m free. Brooke has told me I’m free. Like they get to be empowered and write their way to freedom themselves.

And the next part I’m going to say, I’m sure every person who’s listening to this has experienced it. It was birthed from a place of like brokenness and just, honey, downright sadness, honestly. So I got through my very first breakup and the world was over. No one could tell me otherwise.

It was the most horrific thing in the world. I felt crazy. I felt like I was unraveling and I was journaling one night. And I’ve been journaling for over 25 years at this point, but I turned back to the pages, so to speak, because I had so much, my mind was going in so many different directions.

I was journaling one night and I was like, Lord, this could not be it. There has to be another reason. I can’t be crying in between sessions and crying in the shower and crying in the car. I can’t be crying all day. There has to be something else that happens in this space. And it was very clear in that moment that I had to give the art of writing back to people, the same way it’s helped me to mend and to heal and to make sense of things, it’s like offer that back to other people.

And so that’s what I started doing. And so that’s how the journaling coaching aspect even came about, because I think we are very afraid of where our minds go. And isolation becomes so big when we think, oh, it’s just me experiencing this. And so that was my thing. I’m like, my friends are tired of hearing me talk about it. They never said that, but in my brain I’m like, they don’t want to hear you talk about this man ever again. Like get over it.

And so I felt so alone. I again felt like I was unraveling. I couldn’t focus. It became such a distraction. And, Brooke, I tell you, when I really went back to the pages and just allowed myself to pour out onto them, it helped me to really see what was actually happening versus what I was telling myself.

So in that, I just set out on a mission to give the art of writing back to people so they can heal and mend and actually live a life that they want to live versus it being distractions, distractions, vibrating at a lower level or lower energy. So I’m on a mission just to, plain and simple, make the practicality of journaling become the best thing ever because it really helps our mind to just relax and to chill out.

Brooke: So let’s talk about exactly what journaling is because I have always had a journal for as long as I can remember. And I’ve always written down my thoughts and my ideas. When I was really young, it was all just like, you know, I went to camp today and I really liked this guy named Heath, you know? But then as I got older I started writing down ideas and thoughts and now I always have, like sitting on my desk right now, I have like two journals.

But oftentimes I’ll talk to people about journaling and they're puzzled. Like what exactly are you doing? Why are you writing everything down? So how would you define it for the people?

Ashley: I would define journaling as a tool that you get to use just to make sense of what’s happening in your brain. We will think on something over and over and over again. And we think that we’re problem solving in our brain. We think that we’re making sense of it. We think that we are preparing for that conversation and that we’re going to tell this person how we feel. We do all of that in our brain.

But, honey, when that thing is on paper, I tell people you operate best in like spaces of clarity. Journaling gives you that. And it’s a matter of just unloading, and we talk a lot about thought downloads and things like that here, but it’s a matter of literally dumping out what’s in your brain.

So if you just picture a bucket or a pail with blocks in it, journaling is like, hey, here’s my brain. I’m dumping it out and here’s all the things. I can actually see what’s in the bucket. And maybe I don’t want to keep the red blocks. Maybe I want to keep just the blue ones. So I think it helps us to think about what we’re thinking about. And it helps us to decipher what’s worth us spending our time on.

And when I think from the physical aspect, the idea of holding a pen and pressing that against paper, it allows you to also be very present. It’s like you are forced to be in that moment doing what you’re doing. So generally it just gives you the option to release all the things that’s happening in your brain.

Brooke: Yeah. I mean, I would say too, I think to your point about we have so much going on in our brain, so many thoughts, so many ideas. And a lot of it is so illogical, especially when you’re going through a breakup, right? Especially when you’re going through some kind of significant event in your life where your primitive brain is in fight or flight, it’s in survival mode and it’s terrified. And being able to journal out my thoughts and look at them with my brain, it’s like looking at the contents of my brain with my brain from kind of an alternative perspective is so profound to be able to do.

Well, I want to talk about your own personal practice. And then I want to talk about what you do with clients. When you’re journaling on your own, do you prompt yourself with certain prompts or do you just write what’s in your brain?

Ashley: It depends on why I’m sitting down to write. So I love a good prompt just because I tend to lead with exploration is going to always lead to discovery. So I don’t sit down with a goal of like, oh, once I’m done journaling, this is what I’m going to uncover. It’s like I’ll randomly choose a prompt, either from my question book or just randomly on the internet. Or just my brain, it always offers me something.

But yeah, I would say five times out of 10, I’m using a prompt. The other five, I’m just sitting down to just unload whatever’s on my brain.

Brooke: Okay. So give me an example of a prompt that you might use.

Ashley: Ooh, I love this question. I just love questions in general. So this particular prompt, one of my go-tos is what four words best describe my life right now and why? Because no matter what day of the week, it can be every month, it can be whenever you write on it, there’s always going to be something different.

Brooke: I think that’s so interesting. I’m just thinking about how you have to come up with that answer is fascinating to me, right? What are the four words that describe your life? Like what part of your life are you going to access?

Ashley: And that’s the thing, yeah.

Brooke: How are you thinking about it? Yeah, that’s great. I like that one.

Ashley: Yeah, and I think that’s what I love about prompts because they’re so subjective. I could ask you one prompt and another person the same exact prompt, and your brains will go two totally different directions.

Brooke: Totally different places, yeah.

Ashley: And so I love that, especially in group settings. One that I’ve tried out recently that people are scared of is what part of myself am I trying to avoid?

What I tell people, if there’s ever a time you hear a prompt or a question and you’re like, why is Ashley all in my business? That’s a journaling prompt you need to write on because that means I’ve been a fly on your wall somewhere and I’m all in your business and you need to make sure you write on it.

But people, I found, kind of let themselves be afraid of that because again, it’s like, what do we think about ourselves? What do we believe about ourselves? And then what’s true about ourselves? And journaling kind of, it exposes you. It puts you completely out on the pages. And you have no choice but to really face yourself while you’re writing or after you’ve been writing.

Brooke: Yeah. Another thing that I do, it’s not really a prompt, but I write letters to people that I never send. Like during breakups, I have all the letters, all the thoughts, all the anger, all the frustration. And sometimes I’ll read them to my friend and be like, should I send this? And they’re like, no, maybe not.

Ashley: Maybe not.

Brooke: But it is so cathartic to be able to get everything out on paper, get it out of my brain, like express what I’m feeling and recognize that it’s really just about myself needing that, it’s not necessarily about the other person.

Ashley: Yeah, there’s a lot of cleansing that’s involved there because I think there’s a lot that we don’t say to people, right? And so whenever we’re hurt, we want to say all the things and we also never want to talk to them again. So it’s like giving ourselves that room.

It’s like it unclogs us in a way because everybody holds onto so much. And so I think all the repressed stuff, anything that we didn’t say, stuff that we wanted to say, who we changed ourselves and molded ourselves into for that person.

So I think there’s like such clogging that happens internally and journaling or just writing that letter or even recording voice notes, like all of those things, it just helps for it to have a space to go. Like somewhere to escape so that way it’s not housed inside of our bodies or in our minds at all.

Brooke: Yeah, that’s so good. The other way that I use journaling, and I don’t know if you use this in your coaching, is for my ideas. And I think for a long time I was just trying to get everything out of there because I hadn’t been very conscious of it. But it was once I really started managing my brain, once I really started cleaning it out, there was so much wisdom in there. There were so many ideas in there. There was so much creativity there.

And that became another whole practice of validating my own ideas by putting them on a piece of paper and reading them like they were important.

Ashley: Yes.

Brooke: And so tell me, do you use that in your practice? How does that work?

Ashley: I do, especially for my own personal practice. So I have, I don’t know how many journals. So I have like an idea journal where it could be middle of the night, it could be a dream that I’ve had, whatever. The only thing that goes in there are like ideas and me mapping out business concepts. So it may be something I won’t do for another five years, but it’s there in case I want to go back and look at it.

Brooke: Right. Yeah.

Ashley: I have a relationship journal. I have a friendship journal. Like I have journals for different areas of life because even though all of our thoughts, especially for us sometimes as women, I compartmentalize well from what I’ve been told. And sometimes maybe it just spills over. So everything’s always connected.

But if I know I’m picking up my friendship journal, my brain is able to say, hey, I’m only writing about friendship in this moment. But the same is true for my idea journal, I have a prayer journal that I keep. I have some of like literally everything just because there’s so many areas of life, journaling supports in all of those different ways. Like in every facet of life, in every transition.

And what I tell people too, I think what’s great about the pages is that they’re so safe, no matter what we’re writing about, because they don’t – Like when we’re talking to humans, they want to tell us, oh, maybe you shouldn’t think like that or, oh, have you thought about this? They want to give their opinion.

And sometimes it’s helpful, but I tell people the pages just accept whatever we’re writing. So if I’m writing about friendship, my pages are not judging me to say, you know you were wrong, Ashley. You didn’t have to tell her about herself like that. They’re not convicting me in any way.

But to your point, it declutters the brain and I’m able to see it from a whole different lens just by getting it onto the pages, no matter what I’m writing about. Be it business, be it friendships, be it relationships, be it whatever, be it health. All of those things, it just gives you a different vantage point, just putting it on the pages.

Brooke: I think too, there are things like private thoughts of shame, private thoughts of insecurity or pain that you may not be ready to share with another human yet, right?

Ashley: Oh yeah.

Brooke: And you may not really even be ready to know it yet, right?

Ashley: Yeah.

Brooke: And I think that’s one thing that journaling really can do, is just being able to sit down, unload it. And I actually had someone say to me, I’m very afraid to write down my thoughts because I’m afraid someone will read them. I’m afraid someone will find them and read them.

And I think that’s in and of itself a fascinating kind of thing to explore, if you are afraid that the contents of your mind or the contents of what is going on in your brain is unsuitable for other humans to consume, right? That’s huge. And so a lot of times I’ve told them to write it down and then throw it away if you’re afraid of that, but still write it down.

Ashley: Yeah.

Brooke: What do you think about that?

Ashley: Also what I typically offer to my clients, Brooke, is that – And I just had someone, I host pop-ups in the area, like journaling pop-ups. And so people just meet me at a local place, we write for an hour. It’s amazing.

And what I was telling one person who was there, they’ve had their privacy violated in that way, like, oh, I used to keep a diary or journal and someone read it. And the mindset that I took on years ago, if I am brave and bold enough to write out all of the chaotic things that come to my mind, if someone else finds it, so what?

Because they can’t hold me captive to it. I am not held hostage by it. It’s simply, hey, this is what was on my mind. And no one else, I can’t give someone else the power to use that against me. Because I tell people while you’re writing, if you’re writing from a restricted place, you’re still not being honest with yourself.

Brooke: Right.

Ashley: So that’s the thing. It’s like, even if it’s scary, if it’s yucky, honey, if it’s just downright insane, let yourself write it without fear that someone’s ever, like without the fear that someone’s going to find it and read it and use it against you. Write it as though you’re documenting your life because we’re not humans who have bright rainbow, sunshiny days every single day. All of our thoughts aren’t pleasant. They’re not always welcome, but they’re real and they’re in our face.

So to me, it’s just, yeah, I’m like, no one has the power to use anything I’ve ever written down against me. It’s like, if anything, that’s another layer of freedom. Like, whew, somebody else knows.

Brooke: Yes, I got nothing to hide.

Ashley: Yeah, right, they read it all. The business is out in the street, whew, that’s a relief.

Brooke: That really is true freedom, I think. And if you’re working on something new and you’re really tender about it, I think taking precautions makes sense.

Okay, but I want to hear about these pop-ups. Tell me exactly what that’s about because that sounds amazing.

Ashley: Yeah, so about four or five years ago I was at this business retreat and I stayed in my hotel room for the night instead of going to dinner. And I was just doing some writing and thinking through what I wanted, like what the next step of business was. And God – I say God because in my brain, honey, it didn’t come from nobody else.

Brooke: Yeah, of course.

Ashley: So I’m like God gave me this idea to do journaling pop-ups and I’m like, okay, what does that look like? And it was really a matter of going to tea bars, going to the park, coffee shops, wherever, and posting like, hey y’all, I’m going to be here for an hour, for an hour and a half, grab your journal, come write with me.

But the goal was to create a space of release for people because we go through our day, our weeks, we go through months sometimes without ever really releasing or unloading. And so I have maybe like four prompts that I’ll curate prior to, but during it, say if someone’s like, no, I’m not really feeling those. I have them share a little bit about what’s happening, like how their week was. And then I offer them a unique prompt, like just for them. So that way it’s still a very personal experience.

But yeah, so we sit and we write, reflect. I do some coaching, ask a thousand questions because, again, that’s just my jam. But yeah, we just ask questions and it’s a great way to build community, but there’s so much awareness that people get in that hour, hour and a half together. And my goal is just to, it’s like giving people space and room to heal and mend through the art of journaling so that way they can just move on, like they can keep going.

So I think those pop-ups really create that space for them just to pause, to spend time with themselves and to release because we don’t do that enough, as humans.

Brooke: And I think there’s something magical about being in a room or being in a space with other people who are doing the same work that you’re doing, but not out loud. I was just telling this to my girlfriend, Kris, I was like, I want to go – We’re going to go on a work-cation together. We’re going to this beautiful place that has beautiful places to walk.

And we both are working on very separate things. We’re not collaborating, but we’ll be in the same room, both on our laptops doing your work. And there’s something about that energy that makes me more productive and makes me more stimulated, right?

And so I think that would be true in a journaling pop-up. Like when I think about that, like having everyone come to that space, I think I would be more inclined to sit and write and not be distracted and not be on my phone and not do the laundry, right? To be in that energy and then to be able to discuss it. I think that’s fantastic.

And you had told me briefly, and I was like, wait, don’t tell me yet about a session that you would do one-on-one with someone where they would actually be journaling during the session. So that is fascinating to me. Tell us all about that.

Ashley: Yeah, it kind of mimics the pop-ups, but again, it’s like that private one-on-one. So they can let me know ahead of time, hey, here’s a space I’m navigating. Here’s some clarity. Here’s a decision I want to make. And so based on what they share, I’ll curate different prompts for them. Most times it changes by the time we have the session, so I’ll do new prompts on the spot.

But in that, I hear from them, I listen, we journal together for 10 minutes and I write with them. And that’s what I love, I think, just about who I am as a coach. It’s like getting into the space with my client.

Brooke: Yeah.

Ashley: And so, yeah, we write together for 10 minutes and then –

Brooke: Yeah, sorry to interrupt you, but I think it’s so interesting because I think if I was trying to journal and I felt like you were waiting for me to finish, it would feel awkward.

Ashley: Yep, exactly. Exactly.

Brooke: The fact that you’re journaling and you’re answering the questions too, and you have energy around it, even if we never talk about what you write down, that is really extraordinary.

Ashley: It’s to your same point about what you and your girlfriend Kris are going to do with your work-cation. Body doubling is so powerful. It’s like, here’s you, you’re doing your own thing. I’m doing my own thing. We may never speak to each other while we’re in that space.

So I like to bring that type of that concept into my journaling sessions too because if I think back to when I was a therapist or even when I was in therapy, I feel like as I’m processing and doing my EMDR and my tapping, I feel like the therapist is just waiting for me. Like, okay, have you gotten your breakthrough yet?

Brooke: Yeah.

Ashley: It just feels so like, oh, let me just rush. Yeah, I’m good. I’ll see you next week.

Brooke: Right, right, right.

Ashley: And so for my clients, it’s like, no, I’m in this space with you. I’m actually doing something while you’re doing something. And once that 10 minutes is up, then we reflect. Most times I do share what I’ve written. I always give anyone who attends a pop-up or a private session, I give them space and room as well. Or we just reflect on it like, hey, what came up for you? Like what revelations do you have? How do you feel now that you’ve written?

So again, tie it back to the art of writing, how you can feel that difference just even in your body once you’ve been able to scribe some things down. But yeah, I’m all about just being in that moment with them, writing with them. It removes that intimidation or the people-pleasing aspect that so many of us have too. But yeah, it just kind of removes some of that and they just get to be. They just get to exist in that space.

Brooke: So as I’m listening to you talk, and I know that many life coaches listen to this podcast, I just think there’s so much opportunity for us to learn from this because when you say, I’m going to give you a prompt, and then I’m going to give you 10 minutes to answer it, if I was to ask you a question, the chances of you talking about it to me for 10 minutes are very low. Like that’s a long period of time.

But if I’m writing and I feel like I’m complete after three minutes and I still have seven more minutes, what am I going to access? What is going to come up? What have I now created a blank space around – and you’re still writing, so it’s not like you’re waiting for me – that I may discover that I wouldn’t have discovered in a regular coaching session that was timed and communicated in a different way. That is actually quite extraordinary. It’s like, oh, this came up for me, I wasn’t expecting.

Ashley: And that’s the thing. Go ahead.

Brooke: You tell them to just keep writing, right?

Ashley: Yeah, I let them know we’re going to write for 10 minutes. Most people just take full advantage of the 10. And then I like to peek up and check in because when we’re writing maybe a minute and 30 seconds, I can see them, I’m like, oh, they’re in it now. Like after three to five minutes, it’s like all of, like you said, it makes space so all this other stuff comes out.

So I never force them, of course, to write beyond, like if their time is complete. But I always do let them know, if you find yourself hitting that space where you’re reaching that choke point where it’s like, oh, I don’t know, this is a lot.

Brooke: Yeah, I don’t have anything else to say about this.

Ashley: Yeah, it’s like take a good deep breath in and out and just let your body regulate, let your mind reset because the thing is there’s something that’s coming up that maybe there’s some resistance that’s there or they just don’t want to take that next step.

So yeah, with that, it’s just they don’t have to write for the full time, but most definitely take advantage of it because they’re not – I don’t know, Brooke. I think it’s like they’re not restricted because again in conversation it’s like, oh, I’m rambling. I don’t want to ramble. But when you’re writing, it’s like, no, these pages exist for me to fill them up. Like they’re waiting for anything I have to say. And it just feels more open and less intimidating.

Brooke: So the structure of the session would be a prompt. We would write, then we’d discuss. Then we’d do another prompt, then we’d write, then we’d discuss?

Ashley: No, depending on how they – One prompt typically meets and exceeds the need.

Brooke: Okay, got it. Yeah.

Ashley: So we’ll take like the first five, seven minutes. Hey, what’s going on for you? Tell me how I can help you today. Blah, blah, blah. And then from there it ends up being more dialogue because, again, there’s questions getting their mind going. And then it’s like, hey, well we’re going to write together for 10 minutes. Here’s two prompts.

And I always offer more prompts because in case someone wants to write later, they have three or four on reserve. So it’s like you choose one right now for this session, you allow yourself to write on that and see what comes up. And it really is fascinating just to, again, to observe what they’re doing in that moment, because you can see so many things just unlocking.

But yeah, so we do that for 10 minutes and then we just ask more questions and coaching after that on whatever came up for them while they were writing.

Brooke: Oh got it. And then do you typically do an hour session?

Ashley: I do 45 minutes.

Brooke: 45 minutes, okay. Perfect. So I’m actually thinking that the implications of this process could be amazing in a group kind of Zoom session.

I was talking to my girlfriend, Kris. She teaches on leadership and she’s been doing these classes where the group comes and they work on their business, right? So they have like 10, 15 minutes and they’re like, okay, for 15 minutes, we’re going to write a job description or we’re going to create a vision statement or we’re going to do our values, whatever. And she gives them that period of time to be able to do that.

And I think in a group coaching session, what would be magical about that is instead of just coaching a few people on the call, it’s like giving the prompts and then having a discussion about the important things that came up for multiple people on the call. But everyone gets that process. Everyone gets the opportunity to have written.

And so, again, it’s that space where it’s silent. Everybody’s doing the energy. There’s no distractions, there’s no question, there’s no side conversation where it creates that space and that energy and that focus that I think could be amazing for group coaching sessions.

Ashley: And it is. So every Thursday I do a group called let’s write together. And so I do it every Thursday night. It’s hosted on zoom, all are free, you know, are welcome to attend. And that is exactly what we do. So it’s like the one-on-one, but just magnified in a group.

And the conversation that just builds from there, and I try to make sure people know I’m not like a relatable person. I don’t want to relate to everything. There’s some situations, honey, I don’t ever want to say, yeah, I can relate to that. But I’m very personable.

Brooke: You’re like, no.

Ashley: Yeah, like no thank you. I’m very personable, very conversational, very friendly. And in that space, the type of people who do have relatability are able to connect with each other.

At random a few weeks ago at an in-person pop-up that I did, there were two women farmers who were there. I was like, that’s wonderful. They were able to connect, they had a whole conversation.

Brooke: That’s amazing.

Ashley: One was experiencing grief and loss, and so kind of someone else connected with her on that end. It was like being able to be a facilitator and host in that space, knowing that people are getting the chance to build their own community with each other. And all I did was obey the fact that, hey, this is a space you need to host for people. And now other people are able to get connected.

So to your point with the virtual one, it’s beautiful to see that there’s no beauty or no sacredness that’s lost from in-person to virtual, that we’re all able to be on Zoom and still build those same connections, have those in-depth conversations and explore so much about ourselves.

One of the recent let’s write together calls, it was just a beautiful encounter of someone who was overcoming some stuff with her mom, like really was brand new, was fresh navigating it. And someone else just happened to be on the call, right. You know, happened to be on the call and had experienced a very similar situation with her mom. So she was able to pour into her and say, hey, here’s what I tried. You don’t have to try it, but I’m here to encourage you that this can look different and so on and so forth.

But it’s just like those intimate moments that because we came together, because we chose to write and share space together, healing happens, mending happens, forgiveness happens. It’s just, honestly, it baffles me.

Brooke: Well and what I love about it too, is you’re on video so everyone can see each other, everyone can feel each other’s energy. Nobody’s like muting or turning off their video. It’s like you are being present with each other.

So you host, can we invite the listeners to come to this?

Ashley: Oh, absolutely. Yeah.

Brooke: Okay. So it’s Thursday night. How do they – Because it’s free you said, right?

Ashley: Yeah. It’s free for now because I’m also in this space where everything can’t be free.

Brooke: Everything can’t always be free. But yeah, it is now.

Ashley: Yeah, but it is a free space for right now. But yes, every Thursday, 7 PM Eastern. If they head over to my Instagram, which is just Strokes of Freedom, like a pen stroke, I have the registration link and information that’s there.

And then once they complete that, I can either, it just automatically signs them up for each session. And then they’ll get a reminder every single week.

Brooke: Okay, so go to Instagram and go to Strokes of Freedom, make sure it’s Ashley Wright. And you can join. I mean, let’s think about this, do you think there is – I think you could have as many people on the call as would follow directions, right? So it’s like, we’re not speaking. We’re not asking questions. We’re all writing together. And just having it very clear because I’m thinking about this for anyone who’s a coach being able to do groups like this.

I think this is an extraordinarily powerful opportunity and doesn’t take a lot of preparation. And yeah, it’s beautiful.

Ashley: And I think that’s the thing, I’ve been invited by a couple of other coaches into their spaces and their groups. I get to facilitate that because I think that one thing that I have truly let myself lean into is like journaling in and of itself is a tool. And I have recently embraced the fact that that tool being in my hands is a whole different ball game, right?

Other people can facilitate these and I’m sure they do well. And I very much know that I’m gifted in this area based on the outcomes, based on people just continuing to come back. And also just, yeah, I think I’m just very much graced like for what it is that I do.

Brooke: I love that.

Ashley: So I love going into those different spaces because again, we don’t, especially for those who are serving as coaches, we want for our clients to get it, right? We can’t tell them how to live life or anything of that nature. But we’re like, for me, I focus a lot with my clients on the other side of your now, because some people can’t see beyond that.

It’s like what’s here and what’s now, that’s all that I know. And their main question is will it always be this way or will I always be this way? And so in that, there is another side to now.

So as coaches, you get to help your client to see that there is another side to it. Not that they have to be in a rush to get there and not that that’s better, but there’s another side to wherever they are right now. And that is what as a journaling coach, that is like my main mission to help people see the other side of their right now.

Brooke: And to help them access – I think this just gives you an opportunity truly to help your clients access their own wisdom that they may not even acknowledge is within them.

I could see this being so powerful with business coaching. For those people that are business coaches it’s like, I don’t have any ideas and I’m confused about what to do next. And just being like, okay, we’re going to write for 10 minutes about the actions that we could take or the things that we want to do or the things that we could offer. I think really amazing space holding for journaling is really amazing.

Okay. So let’s finish with this. If I wanted to work with you one-on-one, who would I be? You know, as someone, what would be appropriate to hire you? And then how would I do so?

Ashley: Yes, so there are two groups that people can fall into. Either you’ve given up on what’s possible for yourself and you’re like, there’s something that’s blocking me and I’m not able to identify it, but I haven’t done a whole lot of work. Because that’s the client where I’m like, let’s just create awareness and get you in that vein of exploring yourself, right?

Then there’s the other person who’s maybe like a seven or eight on our thought leadership scale, where it’s just a thing of they’re selective about the work that they choose to invest in. They’ve done the work. They know there’s more yet, again, they don’t know how to get from here to there. But they’ve done the work, it’s not unfamiliar to them.

My booking is going to be on my website at offers.strokesoffreedom.com or again, if they head over to my Instagram my link is there as well, just in case.

Brooke: Okay. Wait, I just want to pull it up. Offers?

Ashley: Yes, strokesoffreedom.com.

Brooke: Let’s have a look at this. Okay. Oh, this is great. Are you ready to believe you are good enough? Okay. And so if I click on, “I’m ready to believe.”

Ashley: Yeah, so that would take them to the Calendly and then there will be, if there is not now there should be a second link for an actual one-on-one session.

Brooke: Yeah, it says sales call.

Ashley :Yeah, so that’ll be 45 minutes. During that sales call we go through the same process we would in a private one-on-one. I just hear more from them about what it is they wanted to work on and then share with them exactly which program I think would be most suitable for them.

Brooke: Oh, that’s amazing. Okay. That’s great. So that 45 minute session is kind of required before you sign up for ongoing one-on-one coaching?

Ashley: Yes.

Brooke: Okay, I love that.

Ashley: Yeah, because I want for people to be confident in what they’re signing up for and it just gives me room to know like what other resources maybe even need to be in place prior to them becoming a client of mine, if I’m the one who’s best suited to support them. So it just gives both of us just that insight on if we’re a great fit for each other.

Brooke: I love the questions that you have on this. Like even just for journaling prompts. What is stopping me? By this time next year I want to be... If Ashley could help me with one main life area, it would be... And what I’m not seeking to gain. Those are amazing questions. Amazing because it really makes me think, okay, what do I not want from her? And lets you know, and we can have a conversation about that. That’s genius.

Ashley: Yeah.

Brooke: Okay. You guys, you got to go check out her site. Try some one-on-one coaching. I love the idea of being able to come on Thursday and just hold space with other people and journal and kind of create the energy around accessing my own wisdom, accessing my own brain in that way. That is genius. Who knew journal coaching?

Ashley: Yeah, it’s amazing. I’m here to blow up the world in the best way.

Brooke: It really is.

Ashley: Yeah, I love people to think, like you said, even accessing their own wisdom. We’re powerful people and we let a lot of the day-to-day things distract us from that. And I’ll say this because I know we both do have to go, if nobody hears anything else from this, one thing I talk to my clients about is the importance of recognize, honor, and release.

We get to recognize that this thing happened in life or that this is where I am. We get to honor that thing for what it brought into our lives or what it prompted to exit our lives. And then we get to release it because if it’s not something we need to take on the rest of our journey, it’s dead weight and we don’t want any of that.

Brooke: Ooh, that is so good. I think for me, one of the things where I think I would want to hire you and work with you is when we’re at a stage in our lives, I think one is needing to release something, struggling with something, suffering around something. But where I’m at in my life is I feel like I’m at a whole new – Ever since I turned 50, it’s like this whole new level of discovering what I want.

Ashley: Yes. Yes.

Brooke: Not really knowing what it is I want. It’s the weirdest, discombobulating feeling. And I think we go through those layers and I think journaling and giving ourselves space to really ponder that, that’s where I think this could be a huge benefit for me.

Ashley: I love that.

Brooke: Look for me on that calendar, girl.

Ashley: Yeah.

Brooke: All right, my friend. Well, thank you so much for coming on the podcast and sharing your wisdom with us and this opportunity. I think so many people are going to benefit from it. And I think people are definitely going to be hitting you up and wanting to be part of this amazing journey that you’re on.

Ashley: Awesome.

Brooke: So let me know how it all goes.

Ashley: Yes, thank you so much.

Brooke: All right, my friends, have a beautiful week, everyone. I’ll talk to you next week, bye bye.

Hey, if you’ve ever wanted to work with me as your coach, now is the time to do it. You can join me in Get Coached in Scholars by going to thelifecoachschool.com/join. This is going to be the best year ever. It’s your turn to change your life. Let’s go.