Katie: 00:02 Hi everybody, and thank you for tuning in to The Hustlenomics Podcast. I’m your host, Katie. And today, I am so excited to be talking with Michelle Short. She’s the owner and founder of RLC Life Coaching. So Michelle, thank you so much for coming on the show today. Thank you, Katie. I appreciate you having me. Absolutely. So do you mind telling us a little bit more about who you are and RLC life coaching?
Michelle: 00:23 Sure. So I’ve always been into helping other people. I actually got my first degree in psychology and then steered away from it after I graduated into it of all things completely unrelated. However, I still had this kind of passion for helping people. So about, I would say seven, eight years ago I went into life coach training, and I became certified as an executive certified master life coach and I started helping women sort of in their everyday lives kind of deal with family pressures, you know, creating boundaries, relationships, those kinds of things. But a lot of the women that were coming to me really wanted to build their businesses, and they had all kinds of different great ideas, and I just really started to get passionate about that and enjoyed it. So for the last six years or so, that’s what I’ve been focused on is helping women build their businesses, get their message out there, really start to build those clients and customer base. And it’s, it’s been great. So that’s what I’ve been doing for the last six years or so.
Katie: 01:27 Awesome. So it sounds like you’ve worked in a couple of different industries. So I’m interested, I’ve actually talked to a lot of people who have done that, myself included. So what kind of steered you in the direction of wanting to go out on your own instead of just finding another
Michelle: 01:39 Job? That’s a great question. And that’s actually something that I like to work with women on is really what is your reason why? What is your compelling reason that you want to build this thing that you’re working on? And really my reason was having kids. So when I was in a traditional nine to five, you know I had the kids in daycare when they were really little, and I wanted to be there for them after school. I wanted to pick them up either for homework and all that family stuff cause you only have them for so much time before they go off and graduate. So that was really my compelling kind of, I call it my selfish reason why I wanted to go into my own business so I could have flexible hours, have more control over my time. And I find that that’s what most women want is to have that flexibility, you know, to kind of control their own schedules.
Katie: 02:26 Yeah, absolutely. 100% that’s one of the main reasons why I did it as well. I just went full time, and I can’t tell you the quality of life has improved so much just cause I feel like I actually have control. And so can you explain to the listeners what life coaching is? I’m sure everybody’s heard the term or business coach or anything like that. It’s different for everybody. Different for every business. So how does that work for you, and how would you define it?
Michelle: 02:49 Absolutely. A life coach is very broad right now. It’s a very broad term. It encompasses a lot of things. But what I specifically do is focus on business building, and when you are business building, there are a lot of things that come up. A lot of people call them mindset issues, emotional issues, things that hold you back from getting where you could be. And so what I do is kind of take out all the fluff and the jargon of marketing. Because I am not a marketer, I am not a salesperson. That is not my background. But what I like to do is take out all that fluffy stuff and kind of get to what really works for you. And some of that means digging through some of those mindset issues, whether it be, you know, trying to price your products and services and not pricing them, you know, high enough because you’re not valuing them or if it’s time management, procrastination, we all have things that hold us back when we build our business and sometimes we can’t see it.
Michelle: 03:44 So part of the life coaching, the way I work is to not only go straight forward and do kind of that step by step approach of how do you market your business but then also dealing with those fears and those anxieties that can sometimes hold you back. And your background in psychology I’m sure helps with that a lot. It does actually. And you went to a course to get certified, right? I did, yes, I did. I went through a course to get certified. I guess I’ve spent seven, eight years now. But what I also do is certain days, just as my personal thing is, I basically recertify myself every year and take a hundred hours of training each year just to stay on top of what’s current. Okay. And out of curiosity, what type of training do you receive? Like what do they actually teach you in these courses?
Michelle: 04:28 That is a good question. It depends on the courses that you take. And I have a lot of opinions on courses, so if anyone wants help picking a course, just let me know. Cause I have a lot of background in that. But a lot of the courses, one, the one I took, it teaches you a lot about yourself. So how to handle your emotions. That’s a big deal. The how to set boundaries cause if you can’t set boundaries, it’s really hard to get your business going. A lot of relationships, the how-to of how to handle people. It could be your spouse, your significant other or coworkers, clients, customers, that kind of thing. So emotions, boundaries, relationships, time management, all of those parts and pieces are in the course. Okay. I would definitely like to come back to the boundaries and emotions. Still, as somebody who’s in the business of helping other people grow and become their best selves, I just imagine myself in that situation.
Katie: 05:19 I would feel tons of pressure to look like I have it all together all the time because people are holding up to you to help them get it together. Have you felt that pressure before?
Michelle: You know, that’s funny you say that because that is one of the biggest things we deal with is they call it kind of imposter syndrome or trying to be, you know, you’re the life coach, so you should have it all together. Nobody has it all together. And I think part of what I teach is a reality. You know, let’s look at reality. Other people’s lives aren’t perfect, either. You know, they have pictures going on vacation, and they’re here, and they’re there, and they’re everywhere, but they still have the same struggles that we, we all do. And so I like to keep things real, very realistic. You know, let’s just look at what you’re doing and the race that you’re running, and let’s focus on you.
Katie: 06:04, Okay. Absolutely. And you know, you hear the terms vulnerable and authenticity all the time when it comes to showing up on social media or just showing up in your business. Do you have any opinions on that? And kind of a second part to that question, what is your definition of like being authentic and being vulnerable?
Michelle: 06:22, That’s a great question too. Part of what I teach is your wow factor or what it is that you do that you bring to the table that sets you apart from your competition. So you have qualities about you and things that you’ve gone through, training experiences that make you different. And so part of what we want to do is look at what makes you different, what do you bring to the table that’s different because we can use that to market you and set you apart from your competition so that you’re not feeling like you’re in this big crowded market. So yeah, that’s, that’s something that we really look at and kind of dive into pretty deep.
Katie: 07:00, Yeah. And have you had, I’m sure you have heard this before, that like there’s nothing special about me. I don’t really have anything that different. Do you hear that a lot?
Michelle: 07:08 I do hear that a lot. And it’s sometimes it’s hard to look at ourselves. So a lot of times in coaching, you know, we asked the question, so what do you think your talents and gifts are? And most people are stunned and, they can maybe come up with two or three. But when I asked the question differently, and I say, what do your friends and family thank your talents and gifts are usually they can rattle off, you know, 10 or 15 because other people are better at seeing what we’re good at sometimes than we are.
Katie: 07:36 Absolutely. Yeah, I think that’s great advice. You know, I would’ve never thought to do that. That’s awesome. And so going back to the boundaries and emotions, I’ve talked about this a lot recently. I don’t know why it’s on my mind so much, but just the issue of, especially women in business struggle with this balance of not taking things too personally. I’m sure guys had the same problem. They just don’t talk about it. But I feel I struggle with taking things personally because I’m so connected to my work, and I’m so invested in it. And so when it doesn’t go well or if it doesn’t click for somebody, it takes a second for me to pull myself out of that. Have you come across that and what are some strategies that you maybe use yourself or that you give to your clients to not take things so personally in business all the time,
Michelle: 08:18 Right? So that happens all the time. I think, you know, we put something out there, and we hope it’s going to take off. And if it doesn’t, sometimes we take it personally, even though it’s not personal. And so having good control over your emotions is something that you want to work through. So emotions are very volatile at times. And so to have a clear understanding of what it is you feeling and be able to identify, it can oftentimes help you process through it. So if you can say, okay, I’m angry, you know, I’m angry that so-and-so had the same product I have and there’s took off in mine, or I’m jealous, or I’m, you know, sad or I’m whatever it is, envious, whatever the emotion is, if you can identify it, that’s the first step. You’re halfway there and processing through it. So that’s part of how you deal with the emotions.
Michelle: 09:09 Now, emotions are a huge gambit. So there’s a lot to deal with when it comes to emotions, but when it comes to not taking things personally, boundaries are it. Boundaries are exactly what you need to have and exactly what you need to process through. Boundaries are a way for you to take your reality and protect them. Meaning I believe that what I’m doing is providing a good service or providing a good product, and I am going to stick to that because that’s what I believe in. So my boundaries help me to stick to that and not let other people’s influence take that away from me.
Katie: 09:48 Yeah, 100% yeah, I liked that, and I’m sure it’s like just like any other muscle that you have to flex, you know, in your business, it’s something that you got to work on. Does it come naturally to everybody? But
Michelle: 09:58 Absolutely. Absolutely. Absolutely. I 100% believe in practice, and that’s flexing that business muscle. There are tons of different muscles we have for business, and you have to practice, practice, practice.
Katie: 10:12, Yeah. And since you’re in a business that’s so connected to people getting down and dirty in their emotions, and you know everything that they’re dealing with, how do you kind of take a step back at the end of the day and say, all right, I’m disconnecting, I’m not taking on any negative energy, any negative emotions that might’ve come at my day. Do you have a strategy to kind of disconnect and come back to center? Yes, yes. And I think that’s very important now. First of all, I’ve practiced my boundaries for a long time, so I’m a lot better,
Michelle: 10:39 Better at it now than I used to be. So I don’t get as frazzled at the end of the day, but I do have now, I don’t have a lot of vices. I don’t really drink. I don’t, you know, I don’t do anything like that. So at the end of the day, that’s not how I unwind. But what I do, and this is going to sound completely silly, but it takes my emotions and kind of puts them in check. One thing is being in nature. So if I can just sit outside for 20 minutes, I’m, it’ll help me calm down.
Another thing is a hot cup of tea and my dogs. So those are my three things that I do. If I’m feeling anxious and if I put them all together, you know, within 20 minutes, I’m good. I can set it all aside. I can refocus and kind of gained my clarity.
Katie: 11:20 Yeah, I liked the idea of picking like three things and putting it into kind of some routine that feels familiar. And I like that idea. That’s what I’m working on at the moment. I’ve gone through cycle through so many different things that I thought were relaxing me, and it’s like, Oh wait, if I really take a look at it, it’s stressing me out more.
Michelle: 11:37 Oh, absolutely. That’s so funny. That’s so true. You know, we talk about yoga and meditation and all these things. I’m not good at meditation. I wish I was, but I can’t focus like I’ve run around all over the place. So that doesn’t, for some reason I can’t do that very well, at least not yet. So it’s really important to set aside what society says is supposed to relax you and look at the things that actually you do connect to.
Katie: 12:02 Yes, 100%. I relate to that so much. I don’t drink coffee in the morning. I don’t, you know, like, like the yoga, I’m not trendy at all with how I relax. So I don’t do any of those things either. I can’t do coffee. I can’t do any of that. Yeah, no, I totally get that. So I’m glad you mentioned that. And this is another thing that has been on my mind a lot working in your business as well as on your business. So you know, I help a lot of people, social media for example, and I get so creatively burnt out working on all their stuff and trying to be 100% creative with them, that when it’s time for me to do my own, I’m just like, Oh, I don’t have anything left. So have you come across that, and you know any ways or tips that you have for the listeners to kind of get over that hump and work in your business as well as on it? Yes. So I actually ran into that a lot when I was in it
Michelle: 12:53 T because I worked in it for so long. I hated coming home and working on computers, and so I had like the lowest technology around because I didn’t want to do it after hours. I just couldn’t do it. So now, in my business, it’s funny because part of my whole scheme is that you have to have a plan. So at the end of everything I teach, the last piece is putting a plan together because that’s how you keep your sanity. That’s how you know, okay, on Mondays for three hours I’m going to work on my, you know, X, Y and Z , my social media so that you’re not trying to scatter it everywhere and fit 20 minutes in here and 20 minutes in there and keeping it just, you know, constantly bogging you down. You’ve got to have it scheduled in somewhere during your week so that you know, this is my time. And when you enjoy the thing that you do, it’s not work. It’s fun. What makes it not fun is trying to squeeze it in around everything else and all the stress.
Katie: 13:52 Right? Absolutely. I agree 100%, and your business is, you know, definitely one that’s based on trust with your clients, which I’m sure you know a lot of other creative businesses. You have to have that trust in that relationship. So how have you built that trust from the very first time somebody lands on your website? Because sometimes you don’t always get to talk to them first. So what are some ways that you help build that trust with that client? The minute they find out who you are. I think
Michelle: 14:18 Copy on your website is super, super important because it has to let your clients and customers know that you get them, that you understand the issues that they’re facing. That’s the whole point of your website. It’s not in this, not trying to sound controversial, but it’s not to tell everyone how great and wonderful you are. It’s to tell your clients how you can help them. So the copy on your website is super important, and it has to deliver your clear message within the first five words. Really. I mean, a lot of people say the first two or three sentences, but in this day and age, you don’t have that long. You have to capture them in the first four or five words, and they have to immediately relate to you in that, in that amount of time. I was going through your homepage or not your homepage, but your second page and I was reading stuff, and I was like, yeah, that’s me.
Michelle: 15:10 Oh man, that’s me too. So I totally understand what, what you’re talking about. So did you write all the copy yourself, or did you have somebody help me out with that? I wrote all the copy myself, and I wrote it because part of what I teach is figuring out what that copy is. So you need to understand the exact language that your clients are using because once you’ve been through a process and you, if you deal like you’re dealing with social media quite a bit, so you have some jargon. You have some language around that that your customers might not be that far along yet. So your sales copy has to mimic where they are, you have to meet them where they’re at. So that’s super important. Absolutely. And so going back to your clients and that client experience, do you do everything virtually over the phone?
Michelle: 15:58 Do you, do you meet in person? How does that work with your clients? I worked for quite a few years in person, and I think it really helped me gain some understanding and clarity on what people expect. I could get a real clear understanding from body language. Most everything I do now is virtual. I do have a couple of local clients, but everything at this point has gone virtual, and it actually did several years back where I have, even when I have local clients, they rather be on the phone because I live in a big metroplex. So to drive to the office can sometimes be a pain in traffic. And so, you know, a lot of times they would say, can we work over the phone? Which is perfectly fine. We can do everything in a virtual atmosphere. Awesome. And I’m glad you mentioned expectations because I’m sure that can get a little tricky when people are hiring a life coach, they, some people I’m sure they expect, Oh they’re going to fix everything.
Michelle: 16:52 I’m going to be making six figures. And they kind of put a lot of, a lot of their, you know, expectations and pressure on you to fix it for them. Or have you come across that, and how do you manage those expectations? Yes, that’s a good question. So you do get that a lot. Some authors I work with and they, they expect, you know, my book’s going to be a bestseller in the next two months. So you have to be really clear on the expectation of what are we going to do and what are you going to get at the end of this. So, you know, in my whole teaching now at the end, the expectation is one, you’re going to be super clear on what you do and what you offer, which means you’re going to be able to say you’re, you know, one-sentence pitch to anyone and they’re going to very clearly know what it is you do.
Michelle: 17:43 And so I go through a whole process on what does that pitch need to look like and what are the three or sometimes four, depending on what you do, components that that pitch is. And so once you’ve got that clarity, then you’ve got to put in some business foundations, some basic things that you need to have in place for your customers to reach you. And I really look at that in a very simple way and say, what would it take for you to take a complete stranger and convert them to a customer? What is the bare minimum? And that’s what we need to have in place first. Now all of that is going to be encompassing step one. So step one is going to be that clarity, that client language, you know those words that you’re using that that let your client know that you understand them.
Michelle: 18:27 And then step three in the process is to figure out how to get your products and services, massive exposure because that’s really what brings in the customers. So marketing is simply getting your stuff in front of a bunch of people. It’s just that simple. But we look at how do you do that? What are the ways that you can do it? And then what are the ways that fit for you? Because we all have natural talents, and we don’t want to forego those and make things harder and do something that is not really a natural gift to us. So that step three and then step four would be a master plan. So how do we put that plan together? And that’s really the answer to your question is once you’ve got that plan, you can repeat that plan. You can scale that plan; it’s yours at that point to adjust to how your business, how you want your business to grow.
Katie: 19:18 Right? And you do all of this work over a course, right? Like is it a certain amount of time that it lasts?
Michelle: 19:24 Yes, it’s a five-week course, and at the end of the five weeks, the expectation is you will have your clarity that will be done, you will know what your plan is moving forward, and at that point, you’ve got to execute the plan. So I can’t, you know, I can’t execute it for you. So that’s, that’s where I lay down the expectation is when you get to the end, this is what you’re going to have, and this plan will work for you, but you have to execute it.
Katie: 19:51 Right. And do you keep in contact with people after five weeks? How does that work with like a follow-up?
Michelle: 19:57, I do. So during the five weeks, they have full access to me, and so we work through all these parts and pieces. If they have any questions, they need clarity. If they want eyes on it, I’m there through the entire five weeks, and then we will follow up usually every two weeks or so after that just based on where they’re at. So it’s, it’s very I’m pretty easy going, so I just kind of, you know, wherever we need to go and however we need to do that.
Katie: 20:23, Yeah. And speaking of boundaries, you, you talk about setting boundaries with your clients, helping them do that. Have you had to set some pretty solid boundaries with your own clients just because they feel like you are at their disposal at 24 hours a day? Have you had to set those hard lines with them before? I have only had to do to
Michelle: 20:41 Do that once. And the reason I had to do it was cause I was getting constant, constant text messages all the time. And so what I did was I actually revised our agreement and basically said, you know what? I don’t; it’s more of a retainer situation. So you’ll pay a retainer, we’ll get you so much time, and you can use the time however you want. Five-minute increment here, a text there. So I got creative on how to handle that because I didn’t want to resent the situation. So I just had to get creative.
Katie: 21:13 Yes, I liked that. I liked that a lot. And you have an FAQ page, which I absolutely love because it’s all of these questions that we never want to be asked or questioned about. But we do get asked, right? Why is it so expensive? What if I can’t afford it? What if I’ve already done it with somebody else and it didn’t work? So why did you decide to put these on your site?
Michelle: 21:33 Because you’re really, you’re FAQ is, is if you’re in the sales copy, you handle a lot of the, you know, how does this work? What am I going to get? How am I going to feel? You know, people buy on emotion. So how am I going to feel at the end of it? But your FAQ needs to address those hard questions that if you take, you know, some people do discovery calls, and those are the kinds of questions you’re going to get in a discovery call. Is that blunt? You know, I can’t afford this or what if I can’t do it right now or I’ve already tried this, and it didn’t work. So how is this going to be any different? And my theory is, you know, again, I’m kind of straightforward, and that’s how I like to work. So let me straight forward answer your questions. Those are, those are going to be your answers, and if you have any other questions, you know, I’m certainly happy to answer them, but I like being very straightforward and very open.
Katie: 22:26 [Inaudible] I think it adds a level of transparency that increases that trust like you were talking about earlier. And so for anybody who’s listening, who might be interested in becoming a life coach or just intrigued by the whole idea, what are some steps they can take to kind of find out is this for me? You know, it might be too much heavy emotion for some people. So what are some steps that they can take to kind of figure out if this is the right path for them?
Michelle: 22:50 That’s a great question because there are so many different paths you can take in coaching. You can do relationship coaching, which is heavy. I mean, that’s some heavy stuff. I don’t, that’s an area I am pretty good at, but I don’t like to do because emotionally, that’s some heavy stuff. But you have to figure out where your passion is and then decide if that’s something you want to do. Now when you coach, you’re going to start to build boundaries, and I like to call it my bubble. So like my bubble is here in your bubble is there, and I’m going to let you keep all your stuff in your bubble, and I’m going to keep all my emotions and all my baggage and all my stuff in my bubble. And so that’s how I relate to not taking on other people’s things but to decide if it’s something you want to do.
Michelle: 23:36 I would say dabble in it. Now I’m going to give you my short version on life coaching courses. Right now, coaching is not regulated, and at some point, it will. So if you want to become a life coach, now’s the time to look into it. Once it’s regulated, it’s going to be super expensive, and there’s going to be yearly license fees, and all kinds of stuff for so right now’s the time to do it. If you’re not certain, there are very inexpensive online courses, you know, 60 $80 a hundred dollars, and you can take a course like that to get your feet wet and see if you’re interested in it. Then the courses range, I mean you can go all the way up to 20,000. I think some universities now are starting to teach it so it could get very expensive. But if you have any questions, honestly, your listeners are free to email me cause I do have a whole opinion on that, and I want to make sure people get the right coaching for what they’re looking for. Because some people want the letters behind their name, like, let’s say they’re going to get they’re up for a promotion and they have a main job, and they want to add some credentials. You don’t need a $20,000 course. So you know, you want to make sure you get the right course for what it is you want to do.
Katie: 24:48, Okay. And you work with building other people’s businesses. So you have a course that would suggest that you probably feel like it’s the gold standard.
Michelle: 24:58 Well, I’ll tell you the course that I want to take. Her name is Kendrick. I think it’s Shope is how you say it. She has a sales school course, which is very real. And I love her approach. Her approach is, you know, we don’t have to be yucky and achy and sales. We can be real and relatable and people, and I think that’s the best way to build a business so that you don’t feel like every day is work and you’re trying to coerce people into buying things because that’s the worst feeling ever. You want to be able to say, look, I have a great product or service, and if it’s for you, I’d love to share it with you. So she would be probably my number one right now.
Katie: 25:40 Awesome. And I’ll link to that in the show notes. Everybody can check it out if they’re interested in. Speaking of suggestions, do you have any books or courses or you already mentioned courses or podcasts or anything out there that you found helpful in your personal life, in your business? Anything that you would suggest to the listeners that might be helpful to them?
Michelle: 25:56 I’m very old school. I mean, I’m old school across the board. Everything I do is old school. I still write things on paper, my calendars on papers. So my favorite book and go by is the seven habits of highly effective people by Stephen Covey. He has one theory in that book. If you only follow that one theory, you can streamline your life and your business, and he talks about four quadrants and really where to be focusing your time. I think 90% of our issues today are because we’re in the wrong quadrants, we’re in too much drama where you’re no taking care of too many fires. We’re putting things out that don’t need to be, shouldn’t have come up in the first place. And so to me his whole quadrant theory, just that one piece of his book and a lot of others have similar theories, same concepts, his is pretty succinct so you can Google his quadrant and the boxes will tell you exactly where you want to live and where you don’t want to live. So if you can fashion your life and your business after the quadrants, which is what I tried to do, then things are a lot less stressful, a lot less dramatic, much easier.
Katie: 27:04 Awesome. Definitely, I’ll link to that as well. Is there anything coming up in your business or your life that you’re looking forward to and that you’re excited about?
Michelle: 27:13 I am excited because I’ve been coaching people, I’ve been coaching women to build their businesses for the last six years or so, and I’m putting the course onto a platform like a course platform. So I am super excited about that because it’s going to be our putting all of the nitty-gritty good content into a pretty nice package with a nice little bow. So I’m happy about that.
Katie: 27:35 Wonderful. That’s super exciting. And I’m sure everybody’s going to want to check out everything you’re doing and take a look at that course of your offerings. So can you tell the listeners how they can find you?
Michelle: 27:45 Yes. If they go to the website, it’s our LLC life coaching.com. They can find out all kinds of information there. There is a free download. It gives you those four steps that I mentioned in a nutshell. And the other thing that they can do is if they’re interested in finding out more information at the bottom of that download, it tells them how to get a sneak peek, which is an actual piece of the course. I think it’s the second module and I think it’s the first part. But it’s an actual course content of how I teach kind of what the format looks like. You know, I think the hard part of making a course is making it relatable, making it enjoyable, making it fun, making it real. And so putting a bunch of content together is not difficult. It’s making it fun. I think that is difficult. So that’s, it gives them a little taste of sort of how I teach and how I give examples. So if they want some more information, that would be a great way to get it.
Katie: 28:45 Awesome. Thanks. I will link to everything in the show notes that you send. And again, thanks for coming on the show today. It’s been such a pleasure to talk to you.
Michelle: 28:54 Thank you, Katie. I enjoy your podcast. I’m going to. I’m going to be listening more. I just like your style. It’s very casual and, and really
Katie: 29:02 Thank you so much. I appreciate it.
