How I Found My Perfect Coaching Niche & The Question That Helped! By Andrea Dray

Confident Coach with Niche

The night before my first day on the job I prepared three plates of lunch and taped instructions on the microwave so my precious babies wouldn’t starve! I was a stay at home mom until my children were ages 10, 9, and 6. How on earth would I, could I ever let my children come home to an empty house? How would they survive without me? The truth was – how would I survive that separation? How would I balance being the organized mom and wife that I was with being a newly working woman?

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My first day in the office – the children each called me to say that they arrived home from school and were about to heat up their lunch. As proud as I was of them for being so independent and supportive of my leaving them in order to join the workforce, the tears still flowed when I hung up the phone. But each day it got easier and easier. My husband and I agreed that he would prepare their breakfasts and I would prepare their lunches. I would throw laundry in the machine before walking out the door and then load the dryer upon my returning home. My new routine had actually become routine!

Days turned into months, months turned into years. Elementary school turned into junior high, junior high turned into high school. Suddenly what seemed to be so far into the future was becoming more like the past…

As my oldest son took the car out on his own, I looked through the door peephole, tears in my eyes praying for his safe return. My daughter and youngest son followed suit and each time I stood in the same position with the same emotions and flashbacks of the first time I left them in preschool. It was evident that my babies were growing into independent adults.

While both my husband and I welcomed the blessings and milestones of  boy scouts, girl scouts, high school, college and then the moving out on their own, for me it meant that I had to find out where I fit into this new scheme of things. I had to find a way to reinvent myself as my own person, not just as someone's wife and mother.

Luckily I had the foresight of what was ahead of me. So, as my children were starting to grow into adulthood I started investing in myself. I joined book clubs, attended political meetings, volunteered to host foreign exchange students. I started and kept to an exercise routine in my evenings and took the time to meet with women friends for a coffee or light dinner. After all, when we are the best versions of ourselves, we bring out the best in those around us!

In being my own best version I discovered that I was destined to become the certified life coach I am today. I love having a positive impact on people, I love helping people improve their own lives, and I love knowing that I can inspire people.

Reflecting back, deciding to be a coach was easy - the difficult part was knowing who I wanted to coach. True, I wanted to coach people but "people" was just too bland, the "Salt & Pepper" was missing. Although qualified life coaches can coach just about anyone; in order to be viewed as an expert and attract my ideal clients I knew I needed to have a specialty. Not only did I need to know who exactly I wanted to coach but the same who needed to want to coach with me.

I looked deep within myself asking the following questions:

  • Who would I get the most satisfaction out of helping?
  • Who would inspire me to be the best coach I can be?
  • Who would I want to be spending my valuable time and energy on?
  • Who would be drawn to me, my authentic self?
  • Who would benefit the most by being coached by me and why?

BINGO! Who would benefit the most by being coached by me and why? 

It became so crystal clear that I wondered why I needed to wonder in the first place. A stay at home mom is most capable of truly understanding another stay at home mom's desire to maintain herself as a woman, not just as a mother; a working woman is most capable of truly understanding another working woman's struggle with achieving work/life balance; a midlife woman can sincerely empathize with another midlife woman's yearning to reinvent herself after years of focusing on nurturing others.

We as coaches are here for our clients to guide them as best as possible to help them achieve whatever it is that they want to achieve in life. Life coaches don't need to have experience in what their clients are going through in order to coach them effectively. Still, a deeper bond between coaches and clients can be created if the clients feel a special understanding with their coaches. When clients feel that they are understood by their coaches they naturally feel a sense of comfort and confidence in their choosing the right coach.

When you are trying to figure out your who, consider the "Salt & Pepper" of your life story and ask yourself this one simple question:

  • Who would benefit the most by being coached by me and why?

If you liked this article and story about niches, you may also like:

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Contributing Author:

Andrea (Andi) Dray, owner of ANDi Coaching - A New Direction, shares her wisdom and powerful coaching tools with women across the globe whether they're stay at home moms or women executives working outside the home, whether they're women in their 20s and 30s or in their midlife or are empty nesters. Andi gives women a new direction in life by bringing them the clarity they need to make the right decisions - decisions that are right for THEM, helping them live the life they desire and deserve - a balanced life with more meaning, purpose, joy and satisfaction. You can reach Andi via Skype: andreadray, visit her website ANDi Coaching, connect with her on LinkedIn or follow her on Facebook.

Learn more about Andrea & see all their articles here >>

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14 Comments

  1. Stacia Friedman

    This is an inspiring and thoughtful personal essay on every woman's journey. Whether we have children or not, women are natural nurturers and coaches. We coach our friends on how to navigate the world of dating, college, marriage, motherhood and the workplace. We coach our kid or nieces and nephews. And when we come full circle, we reach out again to find the most meaningful way to share our experiences, resources and creativity with others.

    Reply
  2. Esther Sadowsky

    I am very impressed with the thoughts & insights shared by Andrea Dray. Having a niche in life defines your focus no matter what career path you take. It separates you from the "pack" and brings you the sort of clients you want and know you can help the most. Kudos to Andrea for creating a new niche for herself.

    Reply
  3. Gary

    I first of all want to say that I greatly appreciate the time, thought and authenticity that you have poured into such a short yet meaningful and impacting article. I have been facing a real block with deciding my niche and specialty and it has become more and more clear to me over the last week as I have stopped trying to find and figure it out, although I have found some clarity on my own your question has really affirmed the path that has presented itself to me and for this I thank you. I will be sharing this article among the coach training community I am a part of and I hope that many others will benefit from your experience and wisdom, thank you very much again and all the best,

    Kind Regards
    Gary Rankin

    Reply
    • Emma-Louise

      Dear Gary, it's very kind of you to say so and I'm glad the article was helpful. I'll pass your comments onto Andrea. Warmly, Emma-Louise

      Reply
    • Andrea Dray

      Hi Gary,

      Thank you for your kind words and for sharing with me how you have benefited from my article. It warms my heart knowing that my story positively impacts others. I'm expressing my gratitude as well for your desire to share this with your coach training community. Best of luck with your endeavors! Andrea Dray

      Reply
  4. Lynnette Embree

    This was a GREAT article. Thank you so much for sharing. As a certified life coach and now an certified assessment practitioner, I've moved more from life coaching to business coaching. However, as I recently read, ALL coaching is life coaching. Thank you again for the inspiration!!

    Reply

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