Episode 115
E115: What Are You Willing to Do to Stop Playing Small in Business With Gill Moakes
What are you willing to do to stop playing small?
That’s the provocative question Gill Moakes asked herself—and it completely changed the trajectory of her coaching business. In this episode of Scaling Expertise, I welcome Gill to talk about what it really takes to grow a coaching practice into a business that makes real money and real impact—without selling your soul to the algorithm.
Gill shares her journey from corporate to virtual assistant to powerhouse business coach, how personal loss pushed her to take bold leaps, and how she codified her one-on-one coaching into a scalable, step-by-step framework. We also dive deep into mindset shifts around “playing big,” pricing as women, and protecting your IP in the age of AI.
If you’ve been on the fence about growing your business in a way that feels aligned and expansive, this conversation is your permission slip.
Key Takeaways:
- Redefine Playing Big: Scaling doesn’t always mean going bigger—it means getting clearer and braver about what success looks like for you.
- Codify Your Coaching Journey: Turning your client experience into a step-by-step framework isn’t just helpful—it’s the foundation of a scalable business.
- Speak Like a Human: Ditch the coach speak. Messaging that resonates starts with the language your ideal clients actually use.
- Protect What You’ve Built: Your ideas, frameworks, and voice are assets. Own and protect your IP before someone else does.
- Raise the Bar (and the Price): Playing small often hides behind low pricing. Charge like you believe in the value you create.
Resources Mentioned in the Episode:
🔗 Visit Gill Moakes’ website
🔗 Book a call for The Coaching Business Academy
More About Our Guest:
Gill is an award-winning, international business coach who specialises in helping great coaches build phenomenal businesses. Gill is the founder of The Coaching Business Academy, the co-founder of Unapologetic Retreats and the host of the Heads Together podcast where she delivers a weekly dose of entrepreneurial real talk to coaches on the grow.
Connect with Gill Moakes:
Charity: MicroLoan Foundation
Connect with Erin to learn how to Turn Your Expertise into Scalable Recurring Revenue.
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/
Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos
Music credit: Paphos by Mountaineer
A Team Dklutr production
Transcript
Hello everyone.
Speaker:Welcome to this week's episode of Scaling
Speaker:Expertise, where we talk to experts who
Speaker:have scaled their expertise and also
Speaker:have tips about how you can scale yours.
Speaker:So this week I have a very
Speaker:exciting guest, Jill Mos.
Speaker:Welcome, Jill.
Speaker:Hey, thank you so much
Speaker:for having me, Erin.
Speaker:I'm very excited about today's episode.
Speaker:We, had a little pre-talk
Speaker:that's got me really, excited,
Speaker:but we'll get into all that.
Speaker:Before we get into all that, will you
Speaker:introduce yourself to the audience?
Speaker:Of
Speaker:course.
Speaker:Thank you.
Speaker:like you say, I'm Jill Mos.
Speaker:I'm based in the UK
Speaker:just outside of London.
Speaker:but I work with clients globally
Speaker:and I help ambitious coaches to grow
Speaker:outstandingly fabulous businesses.
Speaker:I help them make more money, more impact,
Speaker:and I help them have more satisfaction
Speaker:in what they're doing because I help
Speaker:them get clients who are really aligned.
Speaker:With their values, the way
Speaker:they think about the world.
Speaker:and that's what I do, and I do that
Speaker:via the Coaching Business Academy.
Speaker:Fantastic.
Speaker:tell us about your journey from where
Speaker:you started to where you are today.
Speaker:Oh my goodness.
Speaker:I come from a corporate background.
Speaker:and I did the sort of slightly
Speaker:unexpected, even though I'd been
Speaker:yearning after it for years, escape
Speaker:from corporate, started up my own
Speaker:business after I had a personal loss.
Speaker:I lost my husband to cancer.
Speaker:And there's nothing like something like
Speaker:that to make you think, you know what?
Speaker:Life really is too short Yes.
Speaker:To do anything other than the
Speaker:thing you really want to be doing.
Speaker:I made a really quick decision,
Speaker:I I quit my job without anything
Speaker:to go to, so it was quite, ugh.
Speaker:It was definitely a let's not bother
Speaker:with a plan B, and I decided to set
Speaker:up as a virtual assistant, mostly not
Speaker:because I had a burning urge to be a va.
Speaker:It was more because I just
Speaker:couldn't think of anything else
Speaker:that someone would pay me for.
Speaker:And I thought, I know myself
Speaker:way around a spreadsheet.
Speaker:I'd worked in insurance.
Speaker:I just didn't feel like I
Speaker:had that much else to offer.
Speaker:but it turns out I was a good
Speaker:va. I was very organized.
Speaker:I am very organized and I was
Speaker:really good at helping people get
Speaker:organized in their businesses.
Speaker:so I promoted myself from that to
Speaker:online business manager because.
Speaker:There is no better training ground,
Speaker:I think for, going into what I'm in
Speaker:now, which is business coaching than
Speaker:doing that operational support side.
Speaker:Because you see the insides of all
Speaker:these different businesses and so I
Speaker:was able to learn on the go all of the
Speaker:different processes, the backends of
Speaker:all these businesses, the marketing,
Speaker:the finance, and I just got this
Speaker:really great bird's eye view from
Speaker:being inside other people's businesses.
Speaker:It wasn't too long, after that, that I
Speaker:promoted myself again and each time I did
Speaker:it by just changing my email signature.
Speaker:By the way, this is like my
Speaker:serial method of self-promotion
Speaker:is changing my email title.
Speaker:I do the same thing.
Speaker:Yeah, like, oh, that sounds really good.
Speaker:Oh, that sounds so good.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:that's what I am now business coach.
Speaker:Brilliant.
Speaker:I should clarify that.
Speaker:I have since gone on to get a. ICF
Speaker:accreditation in coaching, but certainly
Speaker:I didn't at first, I just took what
Speaker:I knew and thought, you know what?
Speaker:I've learned a lot about what it
Speaker:really does take to grow a business.
Speaker:I can help other people do that.
Speaker:So that was how I started in coaching.
Speaker:And I didn't really
Speaker:have a particular niche.
Speaker:I've always worked with women,
Speaker:but I worked with women from
Speaker:lots of different walks of life.
Speaker:And I think that happened because
Speaker:of that background in working with,
Speaker:different, kinds of businesses.
Speaker:and I really loved coaching, and now I
Speaker:know that it's more than a job to me.
Speaker:It's just who I am.
Speaker:I'm a coach and that's who I am.
Speaker:I wanted to really help the
Speaker:people that I could see.
Speaker:Were coming behind me, and they
Speaker:were doing their coach training.
Speaker:And coach training is brilliant.
Speaker:It teaches you how to be a
Speaker:really great coach, and I don't
Speaker:teach my clients that at all.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That's like the non-negotiable, that
Speaker:has to be in place before they come
Speaker:to me in, in what I do now, but.
Speaker:What I was noticing was that these
Speaker:coaches were having great coach training,
Speaker:but it wasn't teaching them how to
Speaker:actually run a coaching business.
Speaker:It wasn't teaching them how
Speaker:to get coaching clients.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:wasn't teaching them how to market
Speaker:their business in a way that felt
Speaker:okay to them and didn't have them.
Speaker:Selling their soul to Mark
Speaker:Zuckerberg or whatever.
Speaker:he's not a listener, is he?
Speaker:I don't think so.
Speaker:So really that was how the, I decided to
Speaker:niche down and I started teaching coaches.
Speaker:So then it was a lot of my private
Speaker:clients were coaches and I I was coaching
Speaker:them to do the things that I'd done
Speaker:to build my coaching practice and.
Speaker:Then I suppose that's where the scaling
Speaker:story starts really is from there.
Speaker:And it's not that this
Speaker:isn't, a long way back.
Speaker:This is just towards the latter part
Speaker:of last year, I actually made that
Speaker:decision and thought, you know what?
Speaker:I could really package up what I teach.
Speaker:I was starting to think, you know
Speaker:what, this isn't so much coaching.
Speaker:Actually this is teaching.
Speaker:I'm teaching people what I've done.
Speaker:And I'm just distilling that into
Speaker:lessons and workbooks and, I could
Speaker:really package this up mm-hmm.
Speaker:And do this in a one to many setting.
Speaker:and then the Coaching Business Academy
Speaker:was born, is exactly what I do inside
Speaker:there, is teach really great coaches.
Speaker:They have to already be a great coach.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:But if they are a great coach, then
Speaker:that's where they come to learn
Speaker:how to build a great business.
Speaker:That's fantastic.
Speaker:You said a couple of
Speaker:things I wanna back up to.
Speaker:Hmm.
Speaker:One is, you mentioned the fact that
Speaker:you can be really great at what you
Speaker:do, an expert, whether you're a coach.
Speaker:And I also see this with lawyers,
Speaker:accountants, and other experts
Speaker:where they know their expertise,
Speaker:where they don't know how to run
Speaker:a business around their expertise.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And you see this again and again.
Speaker:I mean it's, schools are
Speaker:famously known for not.
Speaker:Teaching lawyers how to run
Speaker:law firms like these are Right.
Speaker:Completely different skill sets.
Speaker:And I imagine the same works with
Speaker:accountants and other professionals
Speaker:and for coaches, like learning your
Speaker:expertise it's a different skillset to be.
Speaker:the owner of a business and
Speaker:running a business as opposed to
Speaker:just practicing your expertise.
Speaker:And client acquisition is the
Speaker:hardest part of any business.
Speaker:and especially if you are an expert
Speaker:business, so if you're an expert
Speaker:coach, ex lawyer, what accountant,
Speaker:it's That part's the easy bit for you.
Speaker:That's not the hard bit That's right.
Speaker:The hard bit is client acquisition.
Speaker:Yes, and for me, the organization,
Speaker:I'm one of those, yes.
Speaker:I'm one of those lawyers that
Speaker:are like, gimme the big idea.
Speaker:Don't gimme the details.
Speaker:See, pros and cons are both pros and
Speaker:cons are both because you are probably
Speaker:not the person like I am that has to
Speaker:sit and color code a spreadsheet, yes.
Speaker:Till 11 o'clock at night, you know?
Speaker:I make a terrible contracts manager.
Speaker:Like you don't ever want
Speaker:me anywhere near that.
Speaker:so I love on your website you
Speaker:have, I'm ready to play big.
Speaker:And so that gets us to
Speaker:the question of scaling.
Speaker:So first tell me what your
Speaker:definition of scale or scaling is.
Speaker:'cause everyone seems to
Speaker:have a different definition.
Speaker:So what's yours?
Speaker:Yeah, I think that's a really good
Speaker:question, first of all, I would say, I
Speaker:think for me there's a difference between
Speaker:playing big and scaling, because I suppose
Speaker:playing big for me is about not tethering
Speaker:yourself to any preconceived idea you
Speaker:had of what might be available for you.
Speaker:So playing big isn't necessarily
Speaker:about scaling, it's not
Speaker:necessarily about growing.
Speaker:it sometimes can actually be about
Speaker:being brave enough to downshift
Speaker:to the thing that you really want.
Speaker:Sometimes.
Speaker:That could be your version of playing big.
Speaker:For me, I want it all.
Speaker:I want both.
Speaker:I wanna play big.
Speaker:I wanna scale.
Speaker:I wanna earn lots of money.
Speaker:I wanna help lots of people.
Speaker:But I don't think that has to be
Speaker:the definition of it for everybody.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:and I think being able to just say
Speaker:that unapologetically is something
Speaker:that's taken a while for me.
Speaker:I always felt like there was,
Speaker:and I think this is something
Speaker:we, I think we grow up with.
Speaker:I think from the family I came from,
Speaker:it was almost a bit, you don't be
Speaker:greedy, don't ask for more than
Speaker:your share or Don't be reckless.
Speaker:Always put money away for a rainy day.
Speaker:All of those kind of stories, it
Speaker:is taken a while, but now I really
Speaker:don't see any limits and so scaling
Speaker:my business feels like a real natural
Speaker:step and I don't feel like I'm so far
Speaker:the other side, I don't think I can
Speaker:say I have now scaled my business.
Speaker:I think I'm scaling my business.
Speaker:I think like launching the academy
Speaker:was definitely really the first.
Speaker:Step for me In scaling the business.
Speaker:So it's almost like I'm in
Speaker:that phase at the moment.
Speaker:And it's feeling really good.
Speaker:So then your definition of being ready to
Speaker:play big is a shift more than Absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And is that something absolutely right?
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I mean, working with mostly women,
Speaker:is it all women or just mostly women?
Speaker:In your, it's mostly women.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Alright.
Speaker:It's
Speaker:mostly women.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I do, I have worked with men before
Speaker:and I actually do have a client at the
Speaker:moment who's guy, but mostly it's women.
Speaker:It's, I don't, maybe men just
Speaker:don't like working with me.
Speaker:I think, I dunno.
Speaker:I think I scare them.
Speaker:You're intimidating.
Speaker:They're only human.
Speaker:They just.
Speaker:I feel like the mindset question comes
Speaker:up more with women than it does with men.
Speaker:is that your experience and
Speaker:what do you think that comes up?
Speaker:Absolutely.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I completely agree with you.
Speaker:And that just some of our, culture and
Speaker:how we're brought up to be more, humble,
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:I don't think it was ever okay.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:For us to want as much as the men wanted.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I think they've always, I think men
Speaker:have always been very comfortable
Speaker:in being ambitious mm-hmm.
Speaker:In wanting more, In, having big goals.
Speaker:and going after them.
Speaker:mainly because the patriarchy is set up
Speaker:in such a way that they were able to.
Speaker:and I think it, that's
Speaker:different for women.
Speaker:I think for women it's almost do we
Speaker:dare Could we really ask for that much?
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:women are more likely to set
Speaker:that internal bar At the level
Speaker:they think is available for men.
Speaker:Men are much less aware of
Speaker:any kind of internal bar.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:this takes me back a while from
Speaker:back in my corporate days and where
Speaker:there was, a. Legal department.
Speaker:I was in the film business at the time
Speaker:and know, we're all kind of equals
Speaker:and there were men and women in there.
Speaker:And one of the men, like he went and he
Speaker:demanded a raise because of his family.
Speaker:and I'm like, wait a minute, I'm doing the
Speaker:same thing he does, but he gets I've got
Speaker:a wife and kids, I'm like, wait a minute.
Speaker:What just happened?
Speaker:And was
Speaker:he wrong?
Speaker:Ask or were you wrong for not asking?
Speaker:Which is I That's
Speaker:exactly
Speaker:right.
Speaker:Exactly right.
Speaker:And I've never forgotten that.
Speaker:It's just like stuff Yeah.
Speaker:that's how they get more money.
Speaker:And he just, he had no qualms about just
Speaker:going and saying, Hey, gimme more money.
Speaker:Yes, I want more money.
Speaker:That's exactly
Speaker:right.
Speaker:That's exactly right.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:And as women, I just think we find that
Speaker:Harder.
Speaker:Well, of scaling and your academy, so
Speaker:let's talk about intellectual property.
Speaker:And so how did that, you had
Speaker:your one-on-one services.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Like how did you develop the academy?
Speaker:Was that part of Constantly having the
Speaker:same questions come up, the same concerns,
Speaker:the same solutions for your clients.
Speaker:Is that part of building your
Speaker:academy and how did you think
Speaker:about IP in that circumstance?
Speaker:Yeah, so I had noticed that there was a
Speaker:journey that I went on with every client,
Speaker:and I didn't really intentionally design
Speaker:it at the beginning when I was coaching
Speaker:one-to-one, but when I sat down to start
Speaker:thinking about how can I teach people to
Speaker:do what I've done, and I went back and
Speaker:thought to myself, well, what have I done?
Speaker:I realized that I was already coaching
Speaker:business owners to do what I'd done.
Speaker:On a one-to-one basis, I realized,
Speaker:I look back at all the different
Speaker:coaches that I'd worked with on a
Speaker:one-to-one basis, and it was a linear,
Speaker:it always started with their vision.
Speaker:It always went on to go setting goals.
Speaker:It always went onto their brand.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:It always then went onto their
Speaker:business model and then their
Speaker:marketing, and then their sales,
Speaker:and then their client delivery.
Speaker:So there was this.
Speaker:Linear.
Speaker:It it was a step-by-step process.
Speaker:And one of the things I teach
Speaker:because it's all very meta.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Because I realized that, I realized, well,
Speaker:okay, that needs to be in the academy.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:People need to understand that they
Speaker:need a signature coaching framework.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Which is the thing that they are
Speaker:repeatedly taking their clients through.
Speaker:And once they have that framework,
Speaker:They can take that and apply
Speaker:it to lots of different offers.
Speaker:You can have lots of different
Speaker:offers, but that kind of spine
Speaker:of the framework stays the same.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Once you have once you've unearthed what
Speaker:that is, Once I realized that, then it
Speaker:became easy for me to say, those steps,
Speaker:those kind of steps along that linear,
Speaker:those are the modules for the academy.
Speaker:That's exactly how I need to teach
Speaker:this, because if I'm gonna be true
Speaker:to really genuinely teaching people
Speaker:to do things the way I've done them.
Speaker:' cause I've never once said, join the
Speaker:academy and I'll teach you everything
Speaker:there is to know about growing a business.
Speaker:What I do say is join the academy.
Speaker:I'll tell you everything I
Speaker:know about growing my business.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:It's a very different thing, So if
Speaker:you or someone who to grow your
Speaker:coaching business via just very
Speaker:extreme use of social media and
Speaker:paid ads, I'm not gonna teach you.
Speaker:I'm not gonna deliver that.
Speaker:'cause that's not how I grew my business.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:My business grew through
Speaker:relationship marketing and Right.
Speaker:definitely a focus on that rather
Speaker:than on any social media, for example.
Speaker:In terms of the ip, I think we're
Speaker:probably, if you were marking
Speaker:me, you'd be giving me a must.
Speaker:Try harder right now.
Speaker:Oh, what's going on?
Speaker:But I have had your
Speaker:voice in my head so many times.
Speaker:Good.
Speaker:I have had your voice.
Speaker:Yeah, I have had your voice
Speaker:in my head and I've been like.
Speaker:Oh, I am not protecting
Speaker:this in the way I should be.
Speaker:I've always had quite a generous
Speaker:approach to anything I've created.
Speaker:So I've always shared pretty
Speaker:freely anything I've that.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And I've often said to
Speaker:clients, Hey, take it.
Speaker:Use it as a template, And
Speaker:that's really been my style.
Speaker:Which is okay or have been okay.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:When I was in my private coaching
Speaker:practice, I don't think it's okay now.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:Now I'm scaling, I'm getting it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I think it's taken till I got to
Speaker:now to the scaling part for me to.
Speaker:Get this and to really take, know,
Speaker:things I've learned from you and
Speaker:the podcast, and really understand
Speaker:it in terms of what it means.
Speaker:So it's definitely something
Speaker:that is on my immediate horizon,
Speaker:is making sure I'm taking the
Speaker:right steps to protect this now.
Speaker:I'm really aware of it.
Speaker:things like you if you are very kindly
Speaker:come and, uh, talk to, my, students
Speaker:and alumni because I'm so conscious.
Speaker:This is something that is
Speaker:not my area of expertise.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And I think that's really important
Speaker:is that I recognize that and
Speaker:it's something I need to work on.
Speaker:I'll say that you're probably not doing
Speaker:as badly as you think you are and that,
Speaker:the fact that you have basically codified
Speaker:your process, that in and of itself.
Speaker:For text your intellectual property,
Speaker:right as soon as you put it down.
Speaker:When you get it out of your head and put
Speaker:it down in, know, modules, workbooks,
Speaker:exercises, all those things when you put
Speaker:them down in writing and concrete form
Speaker:and they're yours and they're original.
Speaker:You own those things when you do that.
Speaker:And so there's a formality of,
Speaker:know, copyright registration, but
Speaker:that does not mean that you don't.
Speaker:Own them own just because
Speaker:you haven't registered them.
Speaker:I'm guessing you're doing much better than
Speaker:you think you are, and as far as sharing
Speaker:it, I mean, the fact that we share.
Speaker:Our knowledge, through podcasts,
Speaker:resources on our websites, there
Speaker:are all sorts of ways that we share
Speaker:our intellectual property for free.
Speaker:That doesn't mean we're giving
Speaker:it away for people to do
Speaker:whatever they want to with it.
Speaker:That means they get to use it in
Speaker:their businesses to help them.
Speaker:However we intended it to help
Speaker:them doesn't mean they can.
Speaker:Take it and resell it doesn't
Speaker:mean they can take it and put
Speaker:it into their own courses.
Speaker:You still are the owner of it, even
Speaker:if you are, publishing it for free.
Speaker:So
Speaker:that is very reassuring to know.
Speaker:I it's so interesting because I'm not
Speaker:sure I probably wasn't very protected
Speaker:when I just had the odd workbook
Speaker:here and there, or I just had the
Speaker:odd, most of it was in my head the
Speaker:way I took clients on that journey.
Speaker:So that wouldn't of course,
Speaker:have been protected.
Speaker:But so you are right and at least
Speaker:now I do have it all documented
Speaker:and it is in a Program framework
Speaker:That's Quite good to know.
Speaker:I still think I probably could try harder
Speaker:to understand it a little bit more.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Especially because of, with
Speaker:AI and that kind of thing.
Speaker:there's just so many muddy waters
Speaker:around it that I know I get a
Speaker:little confused about, and I
Speaker:think some of my students do too.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:we do, you know what's interesting about
Speaker:AI protection and people worry about.
Speaker:Some bad actor coming along and
Speaker:stealing their ip, but mostly
Speaker:it's how are we actually giving
Speaker:people permission to use it?
Speaker:And when you talk about ai, understanding
Speaker:how the platforms that we are using
Speaker:that have an AI functionality, what.
Speaker:Right.
Speaker:They have to use your data, so we need
Speaker:to be aware of when we're putting it into
Speaker:chat, GPT, like can they keep using this?
Speaker:We need to know that if we are using
Speaker:Otter AI to take notes during our calls.
Speaker:Do they have the right to use it?
Speaker:The answer is yes.
Speaker:And so making sure that we are aware
Speaker:of what platforms and what rights
Speaker:they have to use it, that's the
Speaker:biggest, most important issue with ai.
Speaker:Understanding what the terms of use are.
Speaker:So you know, if that's issue, isn't
Speaker:it.
Speaker:It's knowing it so that when you
Speaker:use it, I guess, then you're mm-hmm.
Speaker:using it in that full
Speaker:acknowledgement That's right.
Speaker:Of what can or can't happen with it's Do
Speaker:you know what something you said then,
Speaker:just made me realize something though?
Speaker:when I think about ai, I'm always
Speaker:thinking about chat GPT and stuff
Speaker:that Chat GPT creates or mm-hmm.
Speaker:The prompts.
Speaker:I give chat to GPT.
Speaker:I just suddenly realized, you
Speaker:just mentioned tools that use ai.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Of course Otter, things like
Speaker:that, but also things like Canva.
Speaker:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And I'm just thinking, oh my goodness.
Speaker:So for a lot of people canva's
Speaker:the ultimate, creative tool.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And they think they're creating
Speaker:something That's Right.
Speaker:Very original.
Speaker:But I suppose there is that
Speaker:kind of possibility isn't there?
Speaker:That if, because Canva has ai.
Speaker:I mean, it's because there was a
Speaker:time when people would sneak AI into
Speaker:a productivity tool without telling
Speaker:you, but now every time they add AI
Speaker:functionality, you get an email like
Speaker:we've just added an AI assistant.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:And then when that happens to a tool
Speaker:that you're using, I got one from
Speaker:Clickup, so Clickup has added this.
Speaker:And if you have client.
Speaker:Confidential information and whatever
Speaker:tool you're using, you wanna know
Speaker:what they're now doing with all that
Speaker:information that you have stored in there.
Speaker:So yeah, it's not just the chat
Speaker:GPEs, it's not the actively putting
Speaker:something into one of these platforms.
Speaker:Yeah,
Speaker:yeah.
Speaker:It's
Speaker:just using stuff you've always used.
Speaker:I
Speaker:mean, that's interesting.
Speaker:So with the academy.
Speaker:It's built out inside Kajabi.
Speaker:Kajabi makes a big deal now of when you
Speaker:go to set up a new program or a course or
Speaker:something like that inside of Kajabi, it
Speaker:gives you this option of putting in a bit
Speaker:about what your course is about, and then
Speaker:it will pre-populate modules and all of
Speaker:the information and things inside there.
Speaker:And I've never used that
Speaker:because it's really generic.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:That makes me think, you how many
Speaker:people out there think they're
Speaker:creating something very original
Speaker:with their course and actually
Speaker:could be duplicated so many times.
Speaker:Yes, yes.
Speaker:And as they add these.
Speaker:Functions, their terms.
Speaker:Sometimes the terms of
Speaker:use aren't catching up.
Speaker:Like they literally have just added it.
Speaker:And if you go to their website and look at
Speaker:their terms they're from five years ago,
Speaker:there's the exact same terms they've had.
Speaker:no, you need to make sure
Speaker:that, you understand how your
Speaker:information is being used.
Speaker:So, when you develop the academy, you
Speaker:mentioned that the journey that you took
Speaker:your one-on-one clients on, and then
Speaker:you use that to see the commonalities in
Speaker:order to develop your academy materials.
Speaker:And so I'm often asked how do I
Speaker:develop, my own materials and,
Speaker:Maybe someone has gone through ICF
Speaker:and they are using, resources that
Speaker:they receive from a certification
Speaker:program or somewhere else, and I
Speaker:tell them, look at your clients,
Speaker:That's the benefit of having a niche.
Speaker:When you have your own clients,
Speaker:that you're serving them
Speaker:over and over, you learn.
Speaker:what their pains are, how they're best
Speaker:helped the language that they use.
Speaker:That's the best way to find
Speaker:and create your own materials.
Speaker:Have you found that?
Speaker:Is that how you help your clients as
Speaker:well as they go about Oh my goodness.
Speaker:Signature.
Speaker:My goodness.
Speaker:I Absolutely right.
Speaker:That's exactly what I teach
Speaker:in the academy as well.
Speaker:So we have a module, for example, that is
Speaker:purely on creating a transformation table.
Speaker:So it's, that's about thinking about
Speaker:your client's pain points of where they
Speaker:are now and what their desired state is,
Speaker:as opposed to the pain point they are.
Speaker:So what's the pain point or what's
Speaker:the problem and what is the desired
Speaker:outcome And how does your coaching
Speaker:form a bridge between the two?
Speaker:So I teach 'em to absolutely,
Speaker:quantify that in a table because
Speaker:if you want to really, dial in your
Speaker:messaging, you are gonna keep coming
Speaker:back to that time and time again.
Speaker:Get as many of those pain points listed
Speaker:as you can down one side and as many
Speaker:desires as you can on the other side.
Speaker:And each time you are, how can my coaching
Speaker:help them go from one to the other?
Speaker:How can it be the bridge?
Speaker:I think that's absolutely what I teach
Speaker:inside the academy and what I do.
Speaker:The other thing, on the point you
Speaker:just made there is that in the
Speaker:Academy, I, one thing I teach is that
Speaker:we must talk to our ideal clients.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Even if you have never.
Speaker:Worked with a client yet you're fresh out
Speaker:of getting your coaching qualification.
Speaker:If you've never had a paid client, you
Speaker:need to be setting up 15 to 20 calls
Speaker:with ideal clients that aren't sales
Speaker:calls, that are interviews that where
Speaker:you are actually asking questions and
Speaker:really listening to the way they talk
Speaker:about yes, the things they struggle with.
Speaker:I just think that's so important.
Speaker:Especially I mean I found that
Speaker:certainly, 'cause the way I talk about
Speaker:intellectual property is different
Speaker:than the way my clients talk about it.
Speaker:And that has been a journey for
Speaker:me to understand like, they're not
Speaker:worried about intellectual property.
Speaker:They're worried about and
Speaker:making sure people don't steal
Speaker:or am I doing anything wrong?
Speaker:And, so it's completely
Speaker:different way of talking about.
Speaker:They're worried about than what I'm
Speaker:worried about, Or same thing, but we're
Speaker:coming at it from a different direction.
Speaker:That is such
Speaker:a good point.
Speaker:One of the things I, always I go
Speaker:on about, and I did a podcast about
Speaker:it a little while ago actually,
Speaker:was that as coaches, you know, we
Speaker:can't keep talking in coaches speak.
Speaker:Coaches have a terrible habit
Speaker:of saying things and using
Speaker:phrases like holding space.
Speaker:And stepping into your power
Speaker:That's okay if your clients are
Speaker:other coaches, because that's
Speaker:our own blooming language.
Speaker:We love talking like that.
Speaker:But actually, unless your clients
Speaker:are other coaches, then don't talk
Speaker:about holding space and all of those
Speaker:things because it's too coachy.
Speaker:They need to understand
Speaker:what does that even mean?
Speaker:coaching is somewhere you and I will have
Speaker:a really good conversation and you'll
Speaker:feel safe enough to be able to tell me
Speaker:what you are really thinking and I'll be
Speaker:able to ask you some good questions that
Speaker:might help you think about it differently.
Speaker:That is understandable.
Speaker:Yes, I'll hold space for you.
Speaker:is not particularly understandable
Speaker:for anyone other than a coach?
Speaker:Well, there's all sorts.
Speaker:corporate speak of I mean, everyone's
Speaker:got their own speak and making
Speaker:sure, as a, founder of your own
Speaker:business, making sure you're speaking
Speaker:the language of your clients.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:it is always a challenge.
Speaker:It's, I have a funny story
Speaker:about that corporate speak.
Speaker:I once went started a new job, and on
Speaker:the first day I went into a meeting and
Speaker:this guy kept talking about, yeah, but
Speaker:the thing is, does it wash its own face?
Speaker:Huh?
Speaker:And I'm thinking, I'm looking around
Speaker:like everyone else seems to know what he
Speaker:means and he just go, yeah, I mean, it's
Speaker:a good idea, but will it wash its face?
Speaker:He just kept saying it.
Speaker:I was Earth is that.
Speaker:and back then I was too timid to
Speaker:be able to go, excuse me, I have
Speaker:no idea what you're talking about.
Speaker:but I remember saying to someone
Speaker:afterwards, what on earth does,
Speaker:why would he keep talking about
Speaker:people washing their faces?
Speaker:they said, oh, it just
Speaker:means, is it profitable?
Speaker:What, I was trying to guess.
Speaker:I'm like,
Speaker:what could that possibly mean?
Speaker:That's crazy.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:I would love to know the origin of
Speaker:that expression, like Ill do that.
Speaker:Even make it into, we'll research
Speaker:it and I'll send it to you
Speaker:afterwards if it, maybe
Speaker:it's a brick thing.
Speaker:I dunno.
Speaker:We'll,
Speaker:we'll, let's talk about,
Speaker:what is coming up?
Speaker:What's new and exciting that's happening?
Speaker:What's new and exciting?
Speaker:I tell you what, one thing that's new
Speaker:and exciting that you might be interested
Speaker:but you're not, 'cause you are over
Speaker:the other side of the pond to me.
Speaker:I'm going to the podcast show.
Speaker:Ah, so I have a podcast as well.
Speaker:so I'm really like trying to.
Speaker:fall back in love with my podcast
Speaker:a little bit at the moment.
Speaker:How long have you had your
Speaker:podcast?
Speaker:three years.
Speaker:Okay.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Three years now.
Speaker:And I shouldn't say fall back in love with
Speaker:it 'cause I absolutely love podcasting.
Speaker:I think it's my favorite medium.
Speaker:I just love it.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:but there are some seasons when
Speaker:I was building out the academy, I
Speaker:just felt like I was Overwhelmed
Speaker:by all the stuff I had to do.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:And then trying to get that weekly
Speaker:podcast episode out as well.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Whew.
Speaker:that was quite tough.
Speaker:So I'm falling back in love
Speaker:with, the process of, mm-hmm.
Speaker:Podcasting, I'm going to the podcast
Speaker:show and the thing I'm working on
Speaker:a lot really at the moment is I've
Speaker:got another cohort of the coaching.
Speaker:Business Academy starts, uh, April 16th.
Speaker:Oh, wonderful.
Speaker:And then.
Speaker:We have an alumni group, so we've got
Speaker:three cohorts that are just finished now.
Speaker:we've got, those students are now forming
Speaker:an alumni group and what's lovely about
Speaker:that is that it's almost like a bit of
Speaker:an ideas hub because they all are coming
Speaker:up with suggestions of things that
Speaker:they'd like us all to do as a group.
Speaker:we're talking summits, we're
Speaker:talking all these big, lovely,
Speaker:great big dreams and ideas.
Speaker:So it's really exciting
Speaker:time actually at the moment.
Speaker:and of course I've always got my eye
Speaker:on retreats and things, I co-host
Speaker:retreats with, my partner Lauren Jones.
Speaker:awesome.
Speaker:Yeah.
Speaker:Lots of stuff going on.
Speaker:so as we wrap up.
Speaker:If you were to give one piece of advice
Speaker:to a new coach, what would it be?
Speaker:Understand your ideal clients
Speaker:better than you understand yourself.
Speaker:Mm. That would be the one piece of advice.
Speaker:Mm-hmm.
Speaker:I would give them is make it about
Speaker:them and the reason for that.
Speaker:' cause there's always a, so that and the so
Speaker:that is, so that you can craft messaging
Speaker:that your ideal clients understand.
Speaker:Without having to work for it.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Don't use clever copy.
Speaker:Don't use clever words.
Speaker:Don't use coach speak.
Speaker:Understand your ideal clients so
Speaker:well, and then talk their language
Speaker:back to them in your messaging,
Speaker:and that will make you connect.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:Clear is better than clever every time.
Speaker:Right?
Speaker:Definitely, definitely.
Speaker:thank you so much for this.
Speaker:Please tell everyone where
Speaker:they connect with you, find out
Speaker:more about what you're up to.
Speaker:Um, the platform I use
Speaker:the most is LinkedIn.
Speaker:I'm Jill Moss on LinkedIn.
Speaker:That's G-I-L-L-M-O-A-K-E-S.
Speaker:and my website is jill mos.com.
Speaker:So do come and have a little stalk around.
Speaker:Yes.
Speaker:lots of wonderful resources there.
Speaker:we'll make sure we have those
Speaker:links in the show notes.
Speaker:And thank you so much, Jill.
Speaker:It's been a pleasure.
Speaker:thank
Speaker:you so much for having me.
Speaker:thank you.
