Randi Levin: Five Things You Need To Create a Highly Successful Career As a Life or Business Coach

As a coach, you are not only the CEO of your coaching practice, you are the CEO of your life. When you lead by example, you attract into your life what you most want. It is almost like a magnetic field! The more you navigate, the more you manifest! The more you manifest, the more you self-lead!

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 Randi Levin.

Randi Levin CPC, founder & CEO, Randi Levin Coaching — is a nationally recognized transitional life strategist, keynote, author, thought-leader, and reinvention expert. Founders, entrepreneurs and those in transition hire her to empower bold decision-making to recalibrate, manage, and self-lead change and renewal. She supports her clients and audiences in redefining legacy and success in a moment-centric, action-forward way resulting in increased clarity, elevated self-leadership, and successful goal-setting and getting.

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?

Coaching is my own next chapter and reinvention. After almost 2 decades in corporate and a long gig as a SAHM, I successfully launched my coaching business, stepping bravely into the unknown as a founder and entrepreneur. I am proud to say that I am entering year 8 as a nationally recognized transitional life strategist and reinvention expert supporting others to recalibrate and choose anew in all aspects of their lives. I like to believe that coaching found me.

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?

• Creativity: Many times over the years I have been faced with situations that required me to build something from nothing. I always faced set-backs and challenges from the perspective of what is possible, creating in my mind’s eye the situation I most value. That ability to find the success, to build from nothing, to start over anew has been at the core of how I have led my life from my parent’s divorce as a teen to stepping into the unfamiliar mid-life as a thought leader and entrepreneur. I like to reference the book Harold and The Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson because the protagonist, Harold, creates and recreates the things in his life that he most needs with the assistance of an imaginary purple crayon. This crayon assists him in finding his way, slaying dragons, overcoming fear, and literally saving himself. This purple crayon is available to everyone in the form of their own creativity.
• Intuition: I like to say, you know when you know! The single longest relationship you will ever have is with yourself and yet, most of us don’t listen to ourselves enough. I feel like for me this has become an acquired skillset. In order to trust the world around us, we first must trust in ourselves and listen in to our own intuition. As a coach, this is a skillset that I tap into with all of my clients. I ask questions, initiate pauses, and follow through based meaningfully on intuition. I now understand that this is not a whimsical choice or random thought. Instead, my intuition has been curated and driven very soundly through honing my expertise and practicing my craft. Intuition is an integral part of the coaching process.
• Self-worth: When I started my coaching practice I hit the bullseye on understanding my value. This chapter, started in my 50’s has resonated so completely with me that it is the first time in my life that I clearly understand my legacy because I am actively leading it. I love living in the solid alignment of being a transitional coach, and I am humbled to make a difference in the lives of others. I don’t think that you can be a trusted resource for others, if you don’t honor and trust yourself, so I am jazzed that this moment in time is reflective of celebrating my values and the value that I add to the world.

How have habits played a role in your success? Can you share some success habits that have helped you in your journey?

I have a mantra that I use all the time that supports me in re-focusing in the moment. I simply ask myself, “How can I stay in the conversation?” How can I stay in the conversation with myself? How can I take some small action to stay relevant with that connection or client? What can I do right now? I also am phenomenal on consistently following up. If I meet someone, or agree to connect people, or have an open ended conversation or idea, I will continue to “stay in the conversation” with it and see it through. Lastly, I celebrate my successes and my client’s wins regularly as well. Something good that happens does not have to be over the top to be acknowledged. Every small step forward is a step forward and a reminder that we lead ourselves and lead our goals, not the other way around. My Personal Success Accelerator System was founded on the idea that creating and leaning into success inventories supports us in creating even more successes.

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?

One of the keys to this is not simply in creating good habits, but in leading them by design. This means that a habit that works today for you, may not work as well 2 years from now. So, it is important to not just create them, but re-access and re-create them so that they align with your current goals. Habits are choices that you gift to yourself, born from self-leadership. When they intersect your thoughts and your actions, they allow you to take action, to move past fear and to celebrate growth. Good habits, like recognizing successes or how you start and end your day, also support elevating energy and directing the flow of your day and the attainment of your goals. I start each day with the habit of personal time. I block my calendar to include time to exercise and literally to openly think. By the time I engage with meetings or clients, I have already fed my soul which is a great way to begin the day.

Speaking in general, what is the best way to develop good habits? Conversely, how can one stop bad habits?

The best way to create a good habit is to choose it and build it.

Picture a menu of the things you most want in your business and in your life. What do you want to lead? If you follow your dreams instead of managing them you may fall in the cracks between what you said you wanted and what you are actually currently doing in real time. Life changes. Think of the things you most want to change. Decide what tasks will support that change and create new habits that support you in driving this daily. The secret is to stay accountable and consistent in honoring those good habits. Good habits support goals and other good habits.

Bad habits tend to occur most when you are doing things that no longer align or serve you. Bad habits are self-sabotaging and tend to be older habits that have not been recalculated to match your current goals and needs. Often bad habits promote our fears rather than our successes. Remember that habits are not static, they are constantly in a state of renewal and recalibration. Use them as tools to validate and support your business and personal goals.

Can you share your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Why does that resonate with you so much?

“Say yes now and figure it out later.” ~ Richard Branson

I love this quote because it both implies and also rallies action rather than overthought. It is too easy to get caught in the fear of how you will achieve something. Especially true as a founder! Being in the doing is the only way through, so say yes and believe that you can. Being in action on what is meaningful to you now is the secret to success.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

I love, love, love, my 1:1 clients and working with them is always my happy place in my business. In addition, I founded The Recalibration Network on Facebook and Zoom at the beginning of the pandemic and it has grown to be a rich interactive community incorporating content, reinvention, mini-masterminds, and networking in a collaborative group environment. I am really proud of this community that continues to support so many.

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.

Build and flex a tenacity muscle: Being a founder is not a one and done flat line or a singular success streak. Many coaches give up because running a business and selling yourself is hard. You are not just a coach, you are a salesperson as well. The beautiful thing is that you get to build your practice from zero to where ever you want it to be. Those that stick with leading themselves stick with coaching because they keep evolving and growing. Early on in my coaching business, I pictured myself as an architect. As such, I envisioned the power that I had to not only build my business from nothing, but to re-decorate it at will. This is still a visualization that I use with my clients to keep possibilities and solutions in sight and reachable.

Innovate: Recognize and keep recalibrating your value-add as a coach. What keeps you current? What makes you memorable and distinct? Intersect those ideas! Resist the need to have to do what a fellow coach is doing. Everyone is on a different business journey and what you do in your practice needs to work for YOU. Lead from your own boundaries and your own story. Lead from a place of curiosity. The pandemic has reiterated this for me in so many ways. The best way for me to lead now is from a place of self-respect not only for recognizing my own value, but from resisting the temptation to compare myself to others. I love being curious about what I can do and then putting my own spin on what I do offer and decide is right in my business.

Master bold decisions: As a child (teen) of divorced parents, I stepped into adult decision-making while still in high school. As a result, I have always been a strong supporter of activating choices and finding solutions. It is these skill sets honed in my teen years that continue to serve me well personally, and form the foundation of my coaching practice as well. Bold decisions are your most under-rated and most powerful tool as a coach and a founder. I see so many new entrepreneurs and coaches give up their power by not committing to ideas, or not trying new things, or waiting for a perfect or right situation. This is classically displayed when coaching begins as a side hustle and choosing to take the leap into full time seems inaccessible. One of the boldest choices one can make when moving into becoming a coach is in owning their coaching practice as a business rather than a hobby. Leading your choices is essential to leading your life.

Believe: I admit that there were many years where wanting and waiting for the perfect moment did hold me back. I let “how” get in the way of purpose. Even when I was busy waiting for the perfect time and way to launch as a founder, I instinctively knew that I could do it. My belief was there, it was just a bit obstructed! I found myself redefining the concept of legacy. I was drawn not to the dictionary definition of legacy as the heritage and success we leave behind, but to my own definition of what it means to live a legendary life. If I could curate my success each day, right now, what was possible? It is from this fresh perspective of legacy that I founded Randi Levin Coaching. Based on belief in myself, right now. I learned to focus on what I wanted first and how I would get there came more organically!

Every fear that you have sits just on the flip side of belief. The more that you recognize your wins, harness your expertise, and understand your value, the less fear that you will experience in your life, and the more elevated your energy and your business will be. This is especially true in setting prices and selling your services. In order for others to understand your worth, you need to value yourself first.

Self-Lead: Leadership begins with self-leadership. While I knew that I wanted to be an entrepreneur, I became one with ZERO knowledge of how to do so. What I lacked in training, I owned in belief and confidence. When I signed up for coaching school, the coaching school representative took my credit card and said, “Start!” I remember thinking that no one would take me seriously before I became certified, yet I started that same day and I had my first clients before I took my first coaching class!

As a coach, you are not only the CEO of your coaching practice, you are the CEO of your life. When you lead by example, you attract into your life what you most want. It is almost like a magnetic field! The more you navigate, the more you manifest! The more you manifest, the more you self-lead!

What are the most common mistakes you have seen coaches make when they start their business? What can be done to avoid those errors?

• Waiting. Waiting to get certified, waiting to get a website up, waiting to launch. There is no perfect business nor a perfect moment. Begin. Start. Hone your craft. Practice.
• Not making decisions. Many new coaches come out of corporate and are not used to being the boss with all the decision-making power that goes along with it. Own it and embrace it personally and professionally. To not decide is a decision. Create boundaries and re-adjust often.
• Not hiring your own coach. You can’t do this alone. Not successfully. Good coaches have coaches. There is always something to learn. Hiring a coach shortens your own journey to success, keeps you in action and accountable, and supports you in staying on course.

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.

• Your client does not have a line down their face dividing their personal and professional lives. They are one human in 360 degrees. Remember to coach them in 360 degrees as well. A good coach can coach any client if they stay mindful of the whole life of the person or group they are coaching. What affects someone’s business impacts their personal life and what shows up in their personal life does usually make itself known in their business. Keep your coaching focused on their goals, but also on the sum total of the person you are coaching.
• Many coaches have a set and prescribed agenda for how they progress through each of their client sessions. I believe that the agenda belongs to the client and that as a good coach, you need to meet the client where they are rather than where you are in your coaching journey. Coach what the client needs and pivot accordingly.
• Be yourself. You are your brand and as such you not only represent you, you are essentially what a client is purchasing. So, be mindful of being authentic and genuine and letting yourself and your story bleed through your conversations, your marketing, your events, your sessions, and your workshops. People want to work with people they can relate to.

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?

• Network, Network, Network. The magic is not in the initial meeting or the initial conversation, but in the follow up. Get to know people and be memorable. Build upon those relationships.
• Be the expert. Get quoted. Write. Develop programs. Lead a class.
• Ask. Ask your current clients, your networking friends, and everyone you know who they know, and where you can be of service.
• Follow through. Don’t leave cash on the table. Find out what concerns potential clients have and clarify, clarify and clarify how you can be a resource for them when they are ready. No is rarely forever, it means not now, so build relationships everywhere that go the distance.
• Build community. Start a group, invite your network to events. Do free offerings to build interest. Introduce people.

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?

Create calendar blocks that capture all aspects of your life. Decide when you want to be forward facing with clients and community, and when you are working on, rather than in, your business. Block personal events directly onto your daily calendar as meetings with yourself rather than afterthoughts. Clarify your boundaries between work and play and reclarify often. If working on Sunday is productive, but taking off on Friday is wonderful, gift that to yourself. Remember that this is your business, and you get to decide what works for you.

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. :-)

A Live Your Legacy Movement sounds great to me! Legacy is not a look back from the end of life, but rather an opportunity to do and be great each and every day in the 24-hours you are living starting right now. So, a worldwide Legacy Movement would result in a richer, happier, more abundant life lived. More would get done. Less would be feared. Success would be dialed up every day!

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.

Meryl Steep would be my pick for a 1:1 intelligent conversation. People tell me all the time that I remind them of her and it is a great compliment because she is such an iconic actress. I love that Meryl Streep has for decades stepped into a myriad of different roles. She is not stereotypical, but rather she challenges herself to step into her craft anew over and over again. She reinvents herself for each role. I also think it is spectacular that Meryl continues to be iconic and meaningful in each distinct decade of her life. She is absolutely legendary.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

Visit my website, join me in The Recalibration Network or challenge yourself with my Personal Success Accelerator System

This was very inspiring. Thank you so much for the time you spent with this. We wish you continued success and good health!