It may sound cliché but every project is exciting. We don’t work for our clients; we partner with them. That means we work strategically in identifying the right marketing channels and lining up the right resources for the best possible outcome. Marketing is one of the most overwhelming areas in business and we pride ourselves in creating ease in our client’s life by providing a customized end-to-end marketing solution.
The coaching industry is now tremendous. It is a 15 billion dollar industry. Many professionals have left their office jobs to become highly successful coaches. At the same time, not everyone who starts a coaching business sees success. What does someone starting a career as a life coach, wellness coach, or business coach need to know to turn it into a very successful and rewarding career?
In this interview series, called “Five Things You Need To Create a Highly Successful Career As a Life or Business Coach” we are interviewing experienced and successful life coaches, wellness coaches, fitness coaches, business and executive coaches and other forms of coaches who share the strategies you need to create a successful career as a life or business coach.
In this particular interview, we had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Prati Kaufman.
Prati Kaufman is a Marketing and mindset coach combining 20+ years of marketing experience with energy assessment to help entrepreneurs turn their unique ideas into profits. She guides and empowers entrepreneurs to embrace processes and systems, creating synergy between marketing efforts and their own exceptional power of the mind.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and what brought you to this particular career path?
Growing up in a small town in India, my normal was to take bucket baths, walk barefoot and collect cow dung which was dried and used as fuel. This normal also included asking my father to fetch a bucket of water on his crutches and giving me a ride on his bicycle to my friend’s house. He would balance me, his cane and his heavy artificial leg as if it was nothing.
My father created space for his daughters to think for themselves, to dream, make mistakes and live our lives without labels. Maybe because his own dreams were shattered at the age of 18, when he was given a few hours to decide to either lose his leg or lose his life.
He showed us that we have a choice to use our experiences to either fuel us or limit us.
GROWING UP WITH A POWERFUL MINDSET allowed me to follow my heart which led me to go to an English-speaking college without knowing English, moving to Dubai with just $100 and 15 days to get a job, meeting my American husband in a Yahoo chat room and getting married two months after meeting him, and quitting my job without knowing what’s going to happen next.
After 20+ years in marketing across the globe, working with everything from local entrepreneurs to Fortune 500+ corporations, I quit my job four years ago. In those four years, I have grown from a one-person company to a full-service marketing agency. Together we partner with entrepreneurs and business owners to scale their business with laser-focused, integrated marketing strategy planning and execution. Our services include website design and development, organic and paid lead generation, search engine optimization, email marketing, social media content creation and management, video editing and graphic design.
You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Trusting your gut: Making quick decisions is one of the most important parts of leadership. There are times when things don’t make sense to the analytical mind but when it feels right in the gut, then it is right. I have always believed that the mind is used to just analyze the information and that the final decision needs to come from the gut.
My whole life journey doesn’t make sense logically but every decision I’ve made led me to the next place that I needed to be. From choosing to go to an English-speaking college without knowing English, to pursuing a career in marketing instead of working in hotels after getting a degree in hotel management, to moving to Dubai with just $100 in my pocket and with no connections, to marrying an American two months after meeting him, and finally to quitting my job without knowing what’s to happen next. The girl who once collected cow dung and used an outhouse is now a woman living the American Dream . It is a testimony to following my gut.
Resilience: Adversity is part of life. It has helped me adapt to changes and remain open to learning. Being resilient means looking at the big picture when faced with challenges and letting failures fuel the desire for success. It has kept me going when my life was completely falling apart because I knew nothing lasts forever and all I need to do is to ride the storm. This characteristic makes me feel like a superhuman, someone who is not afraid to face the fears and take action to make things better.
When I moved to America to be with my Texan husband, he was posted in Groton, CT. I was lonely and had no friends and family. I didn’t know how to drive. I remember spending hours daily at the nearby cemetery and crying my heart out- the only place I could walk to. I applied for a job at Radio Shack, 3 miles down the house. It was resilience that helped me walk there daily in my first coldest winter. I did whatever I needed to do to feel good rather than continue crying and complaining.
Curiosity: I was a curious child and always questioned everything I was told. It also led me to read everything I could lay my hands on. Curiosity makes us see all the possibilities; it is not meant to provide answers. Being curious has helped me stay open to all the possibilities and also stay flexible when things don’t go my way. Most importantly, it makes me appreciate people for who they are.
When I quit my job four years ago without knowing what to do next. I started going to networking events, listened to anyone who cared to talk to me and realized how many entrepreneurs struggle with marketing because they are not strategic enough. Even when they were doing everything right without the right mindset, it wasn’t producing the desired result. It was curiosity which helped me combine my passion for marketing, mindset and human energy into an offering. It also helps me to constantly innovate and stay flexible and understand the market trends.
How have habits played a role in your success? Can you share some success habits that have helped you in your journey?
Growing up in a disciplined household, waking up early, eating healthy, exercising daily and being respectful was part of daily living. The habit which has helped me the most besides having a healthy life style is self-discipline. Self-discipline is how I stay on course and stick to good habits which are necessary for keeping my mind, body and soul healthy. Self-discipline means doing the right thing even when no one is looking.
This will be intuitive to you but it will be helpful to spell this out directly. Can you help explain a few reasons why it is so important to create good habits? Can you share a story or give some examples?
A healthy mind lives in a healthy body and vice versa. Have you ever noticed how we don’t make the right decision when we are tired, angry or stressed out? It is hard to see the solution right in front of us when our body and mind are not functioning optimally.
I do five things daily for my well-being — exercise for 60 minutes, read for at least 15 minutes, meditate for 4 minutes, write three things I’m grateful for and watch funny videos for 10–15 minutes to laugh. Together they keep my energy vibration high.
A few days ago, we were launching a website and that means surviving on little sleep, prioritizing on the go and spending hours managing resources. At one point I was ready to blow up and knew it was time to take a break. Instead of pushing through, I went for a quick run and did a short meditation. That 30 minute break was the best thing I did for my team and the project. I came back refreshed, in a far better mood and managed to still launch on time. Younger Prati would have hollered, screamed and put unnecessary pressure on herself and others but this older and wiser Prati knows when to take a break.
Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?
Self-discipline — it means doing something for yourself, not others. Without self-discipline, it is so easy to give in to temptations.
Commitment — It is one of the most important things when developing a good habit. It means showing up fully and following through.
Intention — knowing why we want to have a particular habit makes it easy to cultivate habits. For example, I like structured days so I can be unstructured when needed.
To stop a bad habit, do a pain and pleasure analysis. When the pain is bigger than pleasure, we will break the bad habit. Tell yourself daily, “I’m the creator of my life and I don’t have to settle for what is.” Also don’t wait for situations to test you, test yourself. You learn a lot by challenging yourself and deliberately doing something out of your comfort zone. In May, I challenged myself to hike for 30 days straight without missing a single day. My intention was to observe my excuses and how I respond to them. I also knew spending time in nature will be transformational at a deeper level. I’m constantly challenging myself with little things like, brushing using my left hand, or leaving my bed unmade because I can’t stand an unmade bed or giving up on coffee for a day.
I call them drills to stay prepared for a crisis.
Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.”
― Henry Ford
It is a constant reminder to pay attention to my thoughts. When things don’t work out the way I expected, I know it is time for self-inquiry and to ask myself, am I really feeling this way? Am I in alignment? What do I need to do to stay focused?
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?
It may sound cliché but every project is exciting. We don’t work for our clients; we partner with them. That means we work strategically in identifying the right marketing channels and lining up the right resources for the best possible outcome. Marketing is one of the most overwhelming areas in business and we pride ourselves in creating ease in our client’s life by providing a customized end-to-end marketing solution.
Personally, I have a couple of very exciting ideas percolating- one is about helping people what they can do in a city depending on the location and their interest. And another is about Angel Investing in women entrepreneurs of villages in India. The idea is not just to give money but also to get their products/services in front of the right people and implement the right marketing tactics for revenue generation.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Many coaches are successful, but some are not very successful. From your experience or perspective, what are the main factors that distinguish successful coaches from unsuccessful ones? What are your “Five Things You Need To Create a Highly Successful Career As a Life or Business Coach”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.
Develop your trust muscle: Business is 80% mindset and 20% effort. It is also a lonely journey fraught with steep highs and lows. If we are constantly reacting with doubts and fear, we only make it harder for us to stay on course. I remember shaking with fear every time a potential client chose not to work with me. Coming from the corporate world, it was scary to not have a monthly income. One day, my brother who is a successful businessman, after seeing me go through deep anguish, asked me, “if I were to give you a million dollar on the condition that you have to stay home for a month, would you do it?” My immediate answer was no, no way. He made me realize that I became an entrepreneur because I love what I do. It is about the journey and not the final destination. That was the day I started working on building the trust muscle — trusting in myself, trusting the process, trusting that all will work out for the best. It changed everything in my business.
Be strategic: We entrepreneurs are known for getting so deep into tactics that we lose sight of the vision. We forget why we started on this path. Being strategic means knowing all the ways to get to the final destination and choosing a route and resources to get there. It’s like Google showing you the ways you can get to a place and then we can pick the best route and follow that voice of our invisible inner wisdom while still paying attention to what is going on around us. Research and prepare so that when things don’t go as planned, it is easier to shift and pivot.
Be strategic with time, people, money and your energy. Always ask, why am I doing it?
Know your values: This one is huge. At the beginning I worked with anyone who could pay, find the cheapest resources and collaborated with people who didn’t have the same values as I do. I ignored my values for short-term gain and because of that I delivered below average work and felt resentful. I lost clients and my confidence. It made me reevaluate everything and decide how to move forward without compromising my values. Now all my clients have been with us for a year or more and we consistently deliver high quality work and get referred.
Have free time to dream: Dreaming is as important as doing. If we are always doing and have no time to dream then business will get stagnant. If we are only dreaming but not taking action, dreams will remain dreams. Carve time for daydreaming. Sit in a field full of sunshine and flowers, hike without your phone, meditate, do things for the sheer pleasure of it without any end goal. Let your mind wander and wonder. Some of my best marketing ideas come while I’m doing nothing.
Don’t manage time, manage energy: We all have 24 hours in a day. Super successful people don’t get to where they are by managing time alone. Pay attention to what thoughts, people and activities drain your energy. Based on Energy Leadership Index Assessment, we all have the same seven levels of energy but each of us have a specific interplay of energy levels based on our conditioning. It can be shifted once we become aware of it.
In a low energy phase (feeling stressed, tired, angry, sad, fear, doubts etc.), it is best to take a break than to push through. That is the time I do mundane chores or get out in nature. In a high energy vibration, I make the important decision and do my most creative work. Our thoughts create our life and thoughts are energy. What we think is what we become so be deliberate with what your thoughts.
What are the most common mistakes you have seen coaches make when they start their business? What can be done to avoid those errors?
Not being strategic right from the start.
So many coaches are moving from doing one thing to another. Spending time working in the business but hardly pausing to ask if everything I’m doing is feeding into the big vision. Be strategic. Spend time working on your business, not just in your business. It will take longer to reach goals if you are focusing on tactics alone. Know your whys and allow it to lead you in making decisions.
Not putting value to their time:
If you are starting out you will try to do it all by youtubing, googling and attending every free workshop. Spending hours on googling how to make one small change on a website which a professional would have done in less than an hour. Buying DIY courses- $27 here, $147 there, $997 there…. Most of it either overwhelms or goes on the shelf. Treat your time as money and make sure it is spent on the activities which will generate revenue. Get creative with resources. Don’t overthink (waste of time). It’s better to do something and learn than sit in indecision.
Chasing shining objects:
Celebrate other people’s success but don’t chase their success. Get clear on what being successful means to you. Focus on what you want and how to get there, not how to get where others are. There are no shortcuts to success no matter what people say so stay grounded but don’t let others dictate how high or low you can fly. It is your life and you get to create it.
Invest time in market research
There is no way for you to know everything you need to know. Market research can help you identify the opportunities, understand the customers, refine the services, reduce the risk and find experts you want to connect with. It is critical in learning about the industry you are in and what other coaches are doing to be successful.
Don’t be afraid to ask for help:
Someone someplace already has done the work for you and has the answers you are looking for. Most people love to share their experiences and expertise; all you need to do is reach out to them and ask. Some lessons we need to learn on our own but most of them can be learned from others who have already been there and know what it takes to get to the next place.
Based on your experience and success, what are a few of the most important things a coach should know in order to create a Wow! Customer Experience? Please share a story or an example for each.
- Truly care for customers and focus on developing long-term relationships.
- Learn all that you can about the potential customer before meeting them
- Listen and read between the lines about their challenges
- Deliver more than promised.
- Spend time in market research
- Always look for ways to create better customer experience
The customer experience doesn’t start when you get the customer, it starts way before that. It is about how you show up on all marketing channels.
Lead generation is one of the most important aspects of any business, and particularly in coaching. What are the best ways for a coach to find customers? Can you share some of the strategies you use to generate good, qualified leads?
Reputation and word-of-mouth are still the best lead generation tactics. When starting out, the best lead generation strategy is to network, conduct workshops, build credibility and trust. Give it all you have when working with a customer and they will become the best source of lead generation. Show up consistently across all social media and it will generate leads within a year or two. Invest in Search Engine Optimization (SEO)- it is still underused in the coaching industry.
I use educational workshops, speaking, mentoring, networking and social media as my main lead generation. For the past 6 months I have been investing heavily in both organic and paid SEO as well. I’m at a place where I’m ready to invest in paid advertising to scale up. Basically, have a lead generation plan which can grow as you grow.
Coaches are similar to startup founders who often work extremely long hours and it’s easy to end up burning the candle at both ends. What would you recommend to your fellow coaches about how to best take care of their physical and mental wellness when starting their business?
- Minimize energy draining activities
- Prioritize health over everything
- Stop doing busy work.
- Stop chasing perfection. Done is better than not done.
- Get creative with outsourcing. If you can’t afford a copywriter, write the copy and have an editor fine tune it. If a web designer is not affordable, create a basic website and hire someone to code parts of it.
One of my friends, who is also a coach, has a good formula to avoid burnout. Imagine your business is a plate of food and there is only so much you can eat without getting sick. Decide what you want on your plate and make sure everything you do is in alignment with what you want.
Remember if you can’t show up for yourself fully, you can’t show up for others fully as well.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂
I would love to support young kids with their entrepreneurial ideas and encourage them to fail at something. Entrepreneurship is a crash course in developing a healthy and powerful mindset.
We are blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.
It would be Warren Buffet. I would love to know how he makes decisions about investing, what is critical to him and what is non-critical. How much influence does industry opinions have on his decision making? I want to get in his mind and observe everything that he is doing for a month.
How can our readers further follow your work online?
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pratikaufman/
Linkdin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pratikaufman/
Website: www.pratikaufman.com
Email: info@pratikaufman.com