Rebuilding My Coaching Business for a Changing World

I’m not starting over. I’m starting differently. When I first built my coaching business, relationships, referrals and local partnerships played a significant role in how opportunities developed. Today, I’m rebuilding LITE Up™ in a very different environment — one shaped by virtual work, global competition, digital delivery, artificial intelligence and new possibilities for how a small business can reach people around the world.

Looking back at what worked, what didn’t and what has changed has helped me become clearer about what I want to build this time.

Building My Coaching Business the First Time

Like many new coaches, I needed experience before I could build a sustainable practice.

Initially, I bartered or offered pro bono coaching so I could practice, develop confidence and begin establishing credibility. My first paying clients came primarily through referrals and leads generated through networking and training services.

At the same time, I had a part-time marketing consulting contract. That bridge was essential while I completed my coach training, accumulated paid coaching hours, worked toward my ICF credentials and refined my specialization in leadership coaching.

If I were navigating that transition again, however, there is one thing I would change.

I would have remained in full-time employment longer while gaining experience and clarity.

I grew up in an entrepreneurial family, and perhaps because of that, entrepreneurship looked easier to me than it actually was. Once I was building my own business, I learned that every industry has its own key success factors. I also grew to appreciate that a small business takes time to develop. That experience is one reason I now encourage aspiring coaches to think carefully about the practical realities of becoming a coach while they train, practice and build their credentials.

Eventually, I created something that worked very well for me: full-time income through multiple part-time contracts. I worked fewer hours while earning the same or more per hour coaching and gained greater flexibility in the process.

What Worked in My Coaching Business

Networking and referrals were my strongest sources of business.

As my experience grew, I deliberately pursued relationships with agencies and consulting firms that could expose me to larger organizations and more senior coaching assignments.

Those relationships led to opportunities to work with high-growth businesses and Fortune 500 companies. I was also referred to coach executives participating in the Kellogg-Schulich Executive MBA program.

Former colleagues, clients and new relationships continued expanding my network.

One of the simplest lessons I learned?

Ask for the business.

That consistently generated conversations, referrals and opportunities.

Writing LITE Up Your Work and Life also helped differentiate me. It gave me a way to articulate the holistic approach to leadership and personal development that had already become central to my work.

My professional background mattered. So did coach training and ICF credentialing, particularly as I moved further into leadership and executive coaching.

Eventually, I was hired through an agency to deliver a consumer experience coaching program for a global Fortune 500 company. The program aligned naturally with my holistic approach.

Another important milestone came when I was invited to speak at the HRPA conference after filling the room the previous year while sharing my book.

Those moments helped me recognize that I had established more than a coaching practice. I had developed a distinctive way of working.

What I Would Do Differently

Not everything produced the same return.

Cold calling and poorly conceived lead-generation strategies did very little for me.

I also spent considerable money over the years on websites, advertising and exhibiting at events. I don’t necessarily consider those investments wasted. Every experience taught me something, and relationships sometimes produce opportunities long after we expect them to.

What I would change is the strategy surrounding those investments.

I would want a much clearer lead-generation plan, defined objectives and a timeframe for determining whether something was actually working.

I would also have started building digital assets earlier.

SEO. An audience. Digital products. A more deliberate path toward international reach.

Most importantly, I would have become less dependent on referrals, local networks and other organizations’ client pipelines.

Interestingly, that was already where I was heading before 2020.

Then the world changed.

The Coaching Market Changed Too

Virtual delivery dramatically expanded what is possible in coaching.

Geography matters far less than it once did. Coaches can work with clients from home, organizations can source coaching beyond their immediate market, and global platforms can connect coaches and clients digitally.

That means more competition.

It also means more opportunity.

The coaching profession itself continues to grow. The International Coaching Federation’s 2025 Global Coaching Study estimates that the number of coach practitioners worldwide reached nearly 123,000, up 15% from 2023. The study also found that 59% of coaches expect their revenue to grow, primarily through more clients and coaching engagements rather than higher fees.

Canada’s broader consulting market has also been changing. Statistics Canada reported that management, scientific and technical consulting services generated $39.9 billion in operating revenue in 2024. Revenue grew 50.1% between 2020 and 2024, with an increasing concentration of information technology consultants contributing to that growth.

Technology isn’t sitting alongside professional services anymore.

It is becoming part of how professional services are delivered.

For an independent coach, I think that calls us to uplevel.

Why I’m Thinking Beyond Canada

Building globally has become increasingly important to me.

Part of that is opportunity. Digital delivery makes it possible to reach people I would never have reached through a predominantly Toronto-based network.

Part of it is simply more interesting. I enjoy meeting people from different places, industries and perspectives.

And part of it is business risk management.

Operating from Canada while generating revenue from multiple international markets can reduce dependence on the economic conditions or currency of any single country.

The same digitization that increases my competition also increases my potential market.

I choose to see both sides of that equation.

What AI Changes for My Business

Artificial intelligence has added another dimension to what is now possible.

I’ve invested in learning how to use AI, and the return has already been significant in efficiency and cost savings as I rebuild my online coaching business.

More importantly, AI is helping me amplify my existing intellectual property and creativity.

Research, content development, SEO, marketing, analysis, administration and lead-generation systems can all be supported by technology. I’m still learning what is possible, one step at a time.

That doesn’t mean replacing the human coaching experience.

I see technology primarily as infrastructure — something that can create efficiencies and extend my reach so I have more time to do what I love: create meaningful self-leadership resources and work deeply with people when that human connection matters most.

What I’m Building This Time

This time, I’m building an online coaching business around intellectual property I have already created, delivered and proven: the Circle of LITE™ coaching framework, the LITE Up™ methodology, the LITE Up™ book, and my experience. I continue to create.

Content, SEO, LinkedIn, YouTube, the LITE Up Alignment Quiz and email all become different entry points into one coaching journey.

Someone may read an article today and do nothing.

They may watch a video three months from now.

Eventually, they may take the quiz, join my community, experience an online program or decide they are ready for personal coaching.

The intention isn’t to push someone through a funnel.

It is to create a journey that allows people to act when they are ready.

Why Evergreen Matters to Me

I don’t want the future of LITE Up™ to depend predominantly on how many one-to-one coaching hours I can personally deliver.

I still want to coach.

In fact, my ideal future includes personally working with a select number of executives navigating career or life transitions, and mentoring coaches who are developing their own practices and professional capabilities.

But I want the ideas, frameworks and resources I’ve spent years developing to travel much further than I personally can.

That is what attracts me to an evergreen business.

For me, evergreen isn’t simply about creating passive income.

It is about creating more time, freedom and creative space while amplifying the reach of work I believe can help people lead themselves well.

Becoming a Coach Is Only Part of the Journey

There is something else I understand much better today.

Becoming a skilled coach and building a viable coaching business are not the same thing.

Experience matters.

Becoming fully yourself as a coach matters.

So do business skills, positioning, relationships, patience and resilience.

Technology can create extraordinary leverage, but it cannot shortcut the process of developing the person behind the coaching.

My hope is that, once I have successfully built and tested this next version of LITE Up™, I can eventually share those success factors with other coaches and help them grow their businesses in a changing world.

But first, I need to build it.

That’s part of what makes this chapter exciting.

I know much more than I did the first time. I also know enough to understand that I cannot know the outcome in advance.

So I’m applying the same principles I ask my clients to practice: self-trust, clarity, purpose, patience and resilience.

I’m not starting over.

I’m starting differently.

Considering your own next chapter?

If you’re navigating a career or life transition — or considering becoming a coach — explore how I work with clients through coaching and mentor coaching.

Or, if you’re unsure, take the 2-minute LITE Up™ Alignment Quiz to discover where your energy may be asking for attention.