Ep #29: How to Build an Amazing Business with Becca Pike

Hey, this is Lindsay Dotzlaf and you are listening to Mastering Coaching Skills, episode 29.

To really compete in the coaching industry, you have to be great at coaching. That’s why every week, I will be answering your questions, sharing my stories, and offering tips and advice so you can be the best at what you do. Let’s get to work.

Friends, coaches, oh my goodness, I’m so excited to be back. Thank you for being patient with me over the last couple weeks. I hope to make up for all of it today with an amazing conversation with a friend, a past client, and a colleague, Becca Pike.

She is incredible. She has built two businesses that make multiple hundreds of thousands of dollars, coaching being one of them. And you just have so much to learn from her. So, we are going to dive into business and what she thinks it takes to build an amazing business, and we’re just going to have a lot of fun. So, take a listen. Learn a lot. And enjoy.

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Lindsay: Hello.

Becca: Hey, Lindsay. How are you?

Lindsay: I am doing pretty great. How are you today?

Becca: I am doing fantastic. I am excited to be here. Thank you for having me.

Lindsay: Yes, this is take-two. We’ve tried once already. But that’s okay. We decided already, the second is better than the first, no matter what.

Becca: Yeah, so we did a full podcast and had to throw it in the trash.

Lindsay: That’s alright. Mic issues.

Becca: Yes.

Lindsay: Tech is never my thing. I’m just glad it wasn’t on my side because usually I am the one who messes up all the tech things.

Becca: Yes, it was totally my fault and my microphone issues. But I just have a feeling that the universe made this happen and this is going to be like a fire episode.

Lindsay: Yes, totally agree. So, first introduce yourself to the listeners, who you are and what you do.

Becca: Awesome, thank you. My name is Becca Pike. I am a mom of four and a wife, but I also am the owner and founder of Massage Strong Lexington and the owner and founder of Hell Yes Coaching.

Lindsay: Love it. So, let’s just dive right in because we talked about this so much last time and it was so good and I just want to dive in with exactly what you just said, which is you have multiple businesses and tell us about that. Like, you’re a coach and you coach people on their businesses because you’ve had a couple. How do you think that that has affected you or helped you grow your coaching business? Because I’m sure there are probably lots of people listening – because I was the same way. I already had a business. I actually had like three businesses. And I’m sure that there are other people listening who, whether it’s a physical business, a direct sales business, whatever, they’ve been an entrepreneur already, how do you think that’s helped you in your coaching journey?

Becca: It’s been everything. The only reason that I can coach is because of all of the lessons I learned and the fails and the mistakes that I had. It’s funny, I don’t know if you know this, but my first business, I didn’t even know I was running a business. When I was 15, I started cleaning my mom’s friends’ houses. And my little 15-year-old brain, knowing nothing about business, was like, “You know what would be better is if my friends cleaned these houses and I got paid for it.”

I remember having a massive wad of cash in my dresser drawer, like in my underwear drawer as a teenager trying to save up for a car. And I had these friends cleaning houses for me for my clients. Anyway, I had no idea what I was doing, had no idea that I had contractors that I was paying out 1099s to.

But anyway, I eventually started Massage Strong. So, for anyone that’s listening, I live in Lexington, Kentucky and I became a massage therapist when I was about 24 years old. And I had no dreams of it becoming a business whatsoever. I honestly didn’t even listen to the business class that I had to go through in massage school because I thought that would never be me.

But after I became a massage therapist, I started working for a chiropractor. And I was working endless hours. Like, I got there at 7AM and I left at 7PM and I was newly pregnant with my first baby. And I was just workhorse-ing six days a week.

And this chiropractor allowed me on Sundays to come in and see my own clients and keep 100% of the profits. And little did he know, this was like the worst mistake of his life because an entrepreneurial beast was born whenever I realized that on Sundays, I was capable of making more money than the whole week combined.

It was like, holy crap, I am making as much money on Sundays as I am Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, through Saturday. So, I decided, maybe I am cut out for a business. What do I got to do? I just need to rent a place and have a massage table in it and start massaging people. And I just get to keep all of the money. This was as basic as my thoughts got. So, I had a friend who owned a jujitsu and Mui Thai business. You love this story, don’t you?

Lindsay: It’s my favorite part.

Becca: So, anybody that knows what jujitsu or Mui Thai is, it is a violent sport. It is a very well-respected sport in the world, but it’s violent and sweaty and most of the times you find these in warehouses with no air conditioning, whatever.

And so, he owned this place. Shoutout to Reaction MMA in Lexington, Kentucky. They really helped me when I came to him and I said, “Hey, I am very interested in renting out some of your space. I know that you’ve got some rooms in the back of the warehouse and I need a place to massage.”

And he let me come in and rent in exchange for weekly massages. Something, I don’t think I told you – and this is going to make you even happier – is not only was I pregnant in a warehouse where people had to walk past fighters fighting to get to my room, and they had to walk through a childcare room as well. So, they went through the warehouse. They went through the childcare room. And then they entered my room. And the part that I didn’t tell you is that I was sharing this room with a guy that lived there. Did I tell you this?

Lindsay: No. He lived in the room?

Becca: Lindsay, sometimes – in the room. My standards were so low at this point. And I will get into the whole reason that people even came to me at all, or that this was successful. But when you entered this room, there was a king-size bed, dressers, his boots. And sometimes, Lindsay, I would come in and he would be sleeping like with a girl and I have a client in five minutes.

Lindsay: No.

Becca: Lindsay, it was so ridiculous.

Lindsay: Okay, but this just makes it even a better story. And how it ties into everybody listening is, like, listen, when you are amazing at what you do, your clients are going to make it work. They don’t care. They’re like, “Yeah, that warehouse, sure.”

Becca: Well, and your listeners don’t even know why people kept coming. The truth is that in Lexington, Kentucky, it was hard to find a massage that was not relaxation, not spa. So, what I offered was this deep-tissue athletic performance pain-relief, injury therapy. More just like therapeutic physical therapy type of massage.

And I became very well-known. I was like that girl in the back of the warehouse gym, like the best-kept secret, blah, blah, blah. So, people kept coming to me and I became very successful very quickly in the massage world where I was just booked out for weeks in advance in this weird room where I had to kick Ben and his girlfriend out like five minutes before my clients showed up. And it was just the nastiest warehouse of all time.

But nonetheless, I was good at what I did and I had hit a niche. So, yes, anybody that’s listening that has this perfectionism bullshit running through their head, just so you know, I think the number one reason why I was successful in massage and in coaching was I didn’t need to be perfect. Almost everything was sloppy in the beginning as I was building my businesses. Knowing that I could go back and polish them up later, my main focus was on the quality of the work.

I don’t care if I have to present it to you in a garbage can. It is going to be amazing. It doesn’t matter what it looks like, right? And that has served me so much.

Lindsay: It really has. I was your coach for quite a while, and when I worked with you, one of the things that I loved is you were always just willing to move forward. It’s like, yeah, I’m just going to try. I’m just going to do it, see what happens. And that, for me, is a very fun type of client to work with because I never had to coach you on, “Oh, but I’m scared of this next thing. What if it’s hard? What if it doesn’t work?” You were always just like, “Well, it might not work, but let’s just try.”

Becca: Yeah, and just as a correction, I was always scared. I think I’ve been scared for years now. You know what I mean? And we get this. Entrepreneurs who are growing really quickly and scaling really fast, it requires being way outside your comfort zone and yes, that is, like, such a cliché, like Canva that you see on Instagram. But it is so true.

I have been so scared for five years. Every day, I’m doing something that haven’t done before and you did have to coach me on, like, “This is terrifying.” But I think that I have learned to just live with being scared. It’s like it’s just part of the job.

It’s like when you’re in really good shape you’re just sore for like years. It’s like it never goes away. I’m sore all the time from weight listing, it’s just part of my life.

Lindsay: Yeah, that’s true, thank you for clarifying that because that is a very important distinction to make. Of course you’re scared. I’m also scared all the time, in a like, “Hope this works…”

But I think what I was getting at was just that willingness to try it. It’s like, instead of waiting for what’s the right answer, which is what I see so many coaches do, so many entrepreneurs in general do it, where they’re like, “No, no, no but I don’t have the website yet and I don’t have the whatever, fill in the blank…

Becca: Yeah, and people from the outside are always like, “You just seem so confident.” And I’m like, “Okay, she didn’t see me crying in the shower this morning. It’s totally good.

Lindsay: Oh my gosh, that’s true. But I think confidence comes from just doing the thing. So, in some ways, you are very confident because you have just made so many things work that you might not be confident in exactly how it’s going to play out, but you’re confident in you.

Becca: Yeah, thank you. And you know what brings me way more anxiety than just doing the thing? Not doing the thing and thinking about it. If there is something that I know my business needs and it’s big and scary, if I sit in this indecision and if I’m not doing it, it brings me a ton of unease. Versus if I just rip the Band-Aid off and jump in the cold lake and just get it over with, A, I always find out that it’s not as bad as I thought it was going to be. And B, it’s over and it’s done and it’s time to drink Margaritas.

Lindsay: Or wine.

Becca: Or wine. Or vodka, it doesn’t matter.

Lindsay: Okay, so explain a little bit more about your massage business now.

Becca: Okay, so thankfully I started absorbing business content at a very fast pace. When I look back on those first two years, I had a podcast in my ears, a book in my hands, and I was asking people for business advice constantly. And I became very street-smart in my business.

So, no, I didn’t go get a business education. No, I didn’t become certified as a coach. No, I didn’t do any of these things. I just learned how to grow a business the old-school way. YouTube, books, asking people.

So, I decided that Lexington was voided in this type of massage and I started hiring people that gave this service. Like, only massage therapists that were kinesiology-based sports medicine type of therapists. And I just started learning how to have contractors. I learned how to market myself. I kind of started learning about Instagram and ads.

So, now fast forward to today, honestly that was five years ago, and now we have two brand-newbuilt locations, both of which have eight massage rooms. We have over 40 employees. We’re looking to expand into our third location next year in Louisville. It is a seven-figure business and it is going swimmingly well, especially now that the pandemic is calming down a little bit. That about put us into our grave but we survived the pandemic. I know a lot of businesses didn’t and my heart goes out to all of those people so deeply. So deeply. It was one of the scariest moments of my life. But here we are. We made it through. We are expanding. We are growing. And it all started in that room with Ben and the women that he brought in.

Lindsay: So funny. Well yes, and I remember being your coach when the pandemic hit and you had literally just signed papers to build your second building, right? And that was a lot.

Becca: We signed papers at the same time, simultaneously to triple our mortgage payment and double our overhead at Massage Strong. And I’m not talking a little bit of overhead, like a little bit of ad spend. I’m talking like tens of thousands of dollars more per month. And then, like a week later, they announced all the shutdowns. It was my birthday. I was turning 31 years old and we laid off all 30 employees in one day and shut the whole thing down, no income coming in. We didn’t have memberships. It was all a-la-carte. So, the day it shut down, income stopped completely.

And my ass reverted back to just survival, like I was driving and delivering CBD cream onto people’s doorsteps to keep the doors open. It was no joke. If it had gone on a few more months, I don’t know what would have happened. But thankfully Hell Yes Coaching was peaking and it was just doing its very best, probably because of the push that I needed. So, Hell Yes Coaching came in super clutch at that time.

But yeah, you were with me, you were coaching me. You saw all the franticness that happens and I thank you for being such an easy place to fell, you know. You really helped me out during that time.

Lindsay: Well, thank you. But that was my job.

Becca: Yeah, and you did damn good at it.

Lindsay: But yes, oh my gosh, I mean, I remember every week just thinking, “I hope things are getting better. Can’t wait to talk to her.” And I also am just so proud of you now, seeing what’s happening now after – I’m no longer your one-on-one coach, but just seeing what it’s like for you when things are opening back up and you’re finally able to just start making all the money.

Becca: Oh my gosh, I will never be more thankful. Like, every morning that our doors are open, I just want to pop champagne bottles and spray them across the room. Like, just wake up in a nightclub, that is how I feel when I wake up and we are allowed to be open and we’re allowed to see clients.

Lindsay: That’s so good. So okay, what other lessons do you think you learned from starting that first business that you have applied? Is there anything – I mean, we talked about a couple big ones. Is there anything else that we haven’t covered?

Becca: Well, I learned basic strategy. I started understanding how to manage people. I started understanding the psychology that people go through. I started understanding just the basic marketing, the basic consults, how to perform a consult, how to handle objections.

Like, when I came into the coaching world, I had a very basic foundation on all things business. I shouldn’t even say basic. I had a foundation. And it was pretty solid. But what I really want to get at is how much I had to baby-step to get there.

So, when I first started my massage business, I was as beginner as it gets. I didn’t know how to run a credit card for someone. I didn’t know how to schedule an appointment. I had a pencil and paper notebook that I carried around with me. When I had three or four people working for me and I was keeping up with them on this pencil and paper.

And so, for anyone out there that think that you need all this high-tech shit, you don’t. I think I was making like maybe $100,000 a year before I even got a software program or a website. And I know for a fact that in my coaching business, I was making well over 100 grand a year before I got a website. It was just old-school all the way and it still is that way in a lot of ways.

Lindsay: Yeah, I mean, that’s one thing definitely, coaching with me I’m always like, “No, you don’t need that. Nope, just keep going forward. You don’t need that. Cancel.”

Becca: Until I was like, “I’m going to get a podcast,” and you were like, “Yes, do it.”

Lindsay: And then I’m like, “Yeah, now you need all the things. Buy the mic. Now’s the time.” But you also now have an amazing website and just an incredible business structure. So, let’s talk about that a little bit because I think a lot of coaches that I work with, it’s just them. It’s just them coaching clients, either one on one or in groups, running their own business. But your structure is a little different.

Becca: Yes, my structure is very different. So, I am really modeling Hell Yes coaching after everything I know at Massage Strong. And what I know at Massage Strong is I’m really fantastic at massage. But you know what would be even better? All different types of flavors. And way more people than just myself.

Like, how can I remove myself from the brand in a way that I can let them flourish and let them fly? And the scalability is much bigger. Like, I can only massage so many people in a given week. But if I have 40 people massaging everyone that they can massage in a given week, the scalability is obvious.

So, I have brought that on with coaching. I feel like I am a very great coach in a lot of ways, but so are so many other people. There are some badass coaches out there. And there are some badass coaches out there that don’t necessarily want to do the hustle of the selling and they don’t want to put themselves out there, they don’t want to be a face. They want a client packaged and handed to them, of course.

But then, once they have that client, they’re capable of coaching very well. So, I have coaches that work for me and we offer business coaching and we also offer Zero to Coach, which is a certification course for 12 weeks and we also offer Three More. Three More is a sprint course. It’s only eight weeks long and it is choc-filled with challenges to help people have more clients, have three more clients. Although we do have people that have 10, 15 more clients at the end of the eight weeks.

So, yeah, that’s what we offer. It is a little bit different. It’s not just me running the show. I have lots of help and a really, really kick-ass team.

Lindsay: Yeah, I think that’s so fun just for everybody to hear that because I think that sometimes when let’s say you go to a certification program of some sort or you learn to coach from whoever your coach is, however you learn, you see that model and you think, “Oh, this is just what I’m going to do.” But I always say, like, let’s think of all the options. Maybe that’s not how you want to build your business. Maybe that’s not what you want your business to look like.

And I remember so many times you telling me, like, I just love to run a business. I like to do the coaching. I love the coaching. But really, I just want to be the owner. I want to run this business. You are excellent at it.

Becca: Thank you. I love delegation. It’s one of my strong suits. And not only delegating, like throwing tasks at other people. But really managing their minds.

Like, if I’m coaching anyone, I want to be coaching my staff. Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still coaching people and I’m still loving it. But when I look at myself in 10 years, am I coaching people? Not necessarily, besides my staff.

Like, I love the idea of creating a business – this is why I think entrepreneurs are so kick-ass. We can just take an idea out of our brain, out of thin air, like nothing. And we can form a structure and processes and create jobs in the community, like we can create a machine. We are creators. We’re like artists.

And to me, that’s what I live for. Coaching is fun. Coaching is fantastic. Like, my clients do get a lot of results. But man, I love starting businesses and watching them just turn into beasts.

Lindsay: Yes, that’s so fun. And I think it just suits you. Because a little bit about what we talked about before, where you’re like, “Let’s just go. Let’s just move. Let’s keep moving forward. Let’s just do it.” And I think that when you’re so good at that and you’re able to manage it and really hone that skill, you get to do that every day in the businesses you’ve created.

Becca: Exactly. And sometimes I joke that I actually have a gambling problem, but it’s accepted by society because I just call it starting businesses. Where I love to take my money and throw it at an idea and be like, “Does it work?” You know. And I live for those ups and downs.

And so, when people are like, “Do you have a hard time investing in your business?” I’m like, “No, I want my businesses to grow.” I want to take my money and feed my businesses and see what happens. And I understand the risk. I understand that all that money might leave, never to be seen again.

I also understand that that money could quadruple in the next six weeks. And so, we call it business-building. I call it maybe gambling. Either way, it’s a blast.

Lindsay: Yeah, and because I know you and I know how you work, let’s just be clear, you’re also paying yourself very well and you have a very managed backend of your business. It’s not like you’re just taking out 20,000 credit cards and just being irresponsible, that’s not what you’re doing.

Becca: No, we are a cash-positive business. I know how to delegate. I know how to also hire accountants and financial planners. And my husband’s an accountant. He would never be onboard. He is so, like, “Becca, this is what we’re going to do. We’re going to focus. We’re going to do this.” And so yeah, no, we’re doing great financially. And it is so fun to play with my extra money and see how I can make the business grow.

Lindsay: What do you think are the best – I don’t think I’ve ever asked you this. I have no idea what your answer will be, but what do you think are the best investments you have made in your coaching business?

Becca: Coaching and marketing, always. Getting myself coached – and I am not just saying this because we’re on a coaching podcast or because I’m a coach. Sometimes I think people think that I’m just trying to represent myself. But y’all, listen, getting myself coached – and that doesn’t have to always look one on one. It can also look like going to a retreat. I will go to retreats like Tony Robbins events or whatever. I will come back a different human, for real.

And when I can change myself as the leader, my teams change for the better, my vision changes for the better, it opens up a whole new box of creativity. To me, that’s the number one place to put your money is into your brain.

And then number two, of course, marketing. I’m a big believer in organic marketing. I think you can hit 250 grand without a paid ad. But the moment that you start the snowball effect of having a marketing team that is capable of making your website not look like ass and fixing it, that is also really fun to put your money into.

Lindsay: I mean, let’s be real clear. I have made a lot more than that without paying a marketing team.

Becca: Oh, have you? You’re still no paid ads at all?

Lindsay: Nothing.

Becca: That’s awesome, Lindsay. Good for you.

Lindsay: But there’s nothing wrong with doing it either. I’ve coached so many clients – obviously I coached you on your marketing, on paying people to do your marketing. I’ve coached so many coaches on this. And I always say, there is absolutely no right or wrong. I am not the coach to say, “No, no everyone should scale to a million without paid ads.” No way, do it your way. Do what you want.

Becca: Yeah, I completely agree.

Lindsay: I remember a few times as your coach, you would say like, “Lindsay, what are you even doing? You need Google ads, you need whatever…” things that I was like I don’t even know what that means, so okay.

Becca: That was so funny, I know right…

Lindsay: I’ll let someone know…

Becca: I’ll tell my VA. They’ll do something. I was going to say, that’s the case for everything. Because you were saying, you know, you can do it either way. And I know that we say this as coaches a lot, like, listen, what you’re doing isn’t wrong. But this is the truth. You can either have paid ads or not paid ads. You can either coach fully 100% yourself or you can hire coaches to coach for you.

It doesn’t matter how you do almost anything. Where everybody spends the most time spinning is in that indecision. That’s where you don’t want to be. It doesn’t matter what your decision is. There is no right answer. Just pick one and then make it work and go all in on it. And so, it doesn’t matter what you’re doing, unless you’re spinning, stop doing that. Get out of that indecision, out of that grey area, make a decision, and then go all in on it.

Lindsay: My favorite thing in my mastermind is when someone raises their hand for coaching and they’re like, “Well, really I just have a question.” I’m like, “Okay, we’ll see about that.” And they’re like, ask a question that is – well, basically they’re asking me, like, is this the right way? And my answer is always, “Listen, it does not matter at all. It’s definitely going to work if you decide it’s going to work.”

Becca: Exactly. I’ve noticed in my masterminds in the groups that I coach, there’s this culture now where as soon as they say, “I don’t know,” they immediately retract it. They’ve got I-don’t-know PTSD, like they’re terrified to say it. They’re like, “I just don’t know,” and then they’re like, “No, that’s not what I meant.” Because they know I’m going to call them on their bullshit.

And they’re like, “I do know. And if I did know, then it would be this, this, and this. Because anytime they say, “I don’t know,” I’m like, “No, try again. You do know What do you know?” And it’s just so funny to see that happen.

Lindsay: I have to say, sometimes I have to tell my students, “Okay, but take down the coaching that’s happening in the back of your brain right now and just, like, if you need to say, “I don’t know,” just say it and then I’m going to say… Then I’m going to walk you through it and we’re going to figure it out.

But it is interesting sometimes to coach coaches because you can always see them hesitating and thinking through their answer. And I’m like, “No, no, no, I want to hear your human answer. Just say it and then we’re going to talk through it because I want to hear what is happening in the back of your mind right now.

Becca: Yes, absolutely. Always, guys, whenever you’re with your coach, when you’re in a group or whatever, be vulnerable. And what I mean by that is don’t say what you think you’re supposed to say based on what your coach has already taught you.

And I notice myself doing it too, but I will notice my clients also saying things and then changing it really quickly to make sure that it aligns with the verbiage that they’ve been taught. Like, no, no, no, just give me your worst self so that we can start from there and figure it out.

Lindsay: Be a human and just show up and be a human so that I can actually help you. Otherwise if you just give me the answer that you’ve heard me say, then what do you need coaching on? If you think that’s the right answer, go for it.

Becca: Exactly.

Lindsay: Love it. Okay, let’s see. What about – so, one thing that I talk about n this podcast and that I help my students with is really leaning into being them in their coaching. And you and I have talked about this before, but just really owning the parts of you that are just you, that I see a lot of coaches think sometimes, “Well, I definitely need to change this about myself so that I can succeed in my business or be a great coach and I need to change this other thing and I need to be more like this person or do it the way this person does.” How would you describe your personality and your coaching style? How do those play together? So, I want you to talk about yourself and also me, like, how do you experience me as a coach?

Becca: So, I think a lot of times, coaches – and entrepreneurs do this as well in any industry. You can be a hair stylist looking over your shoulder at other hair stylists and trying to match them and their personality. You might see a successful coach and think, “Well, she’s super passionate. She talks so fast. I will never be like that.”

The other day, someone told me – and this will make you laugh out loud. He told me, “I don’t know if I can ever be as good of a coach as you because you are so nurturing.” No one has ever called me nurturing…

Lindsay: Really?

Becca: Yes, in fact I think people call me like the no-bullshit coach. I was like, are you talking to me? I’m nurturing? Oh my gosh.

Lindsay: I must be rubbing off on you. That is funny

Becca: Oh my gosh, you are. You know, the world needs so many different types of fill in the blank. Whether you’re a coach, whether you’re a hair stylist, whether you’re a massage therapist, people need to those woo-woo soft-spoken coaches. They need those badass loud-talking coaches. They need all of that stuff. There is an abundance of people who need exactly why you are. And I think for my coaching, the moment I stopped trying to be other people and started really tapping into myself and allowing my true Becca-ness to come out, you know – I had a rough past, a rough upbringing. I come from over-partying, over-men-ing, overdrinking, just a really different background.

And to this day, I don’t care how much money is in my bank account, I want to drink cheap beers barefoot in my creek listening to old-school Bob Dylan records and all of the things that probably no one is talking about in the coaching industry. And so, that comes out in my coaching.

I cuss a lot. I’m loud. You’re not supposed to interrupt people when you’re coaching. You’re supposed to hold the space. And I do find myself holding space for people and making sure they get what they came for on the coaching call. But also, at the same time, if they need to be stopped it’s like, “Stop, no. Stop saying that. That is not an okay thing to say to yourself.”

And so, I think that I’ve really allowed myself to become who I really am when I’m showing up as a coach. And so, when I was working with you, Lindsay, it was interesting because I worked with you for so long, over 12 months, or maybe right at 12 months, either way. You never wavered in who you were. You were always just this very calm and collected place for me to land.

And it didn’t matter if I came to the call calm and collected or out of my mind or whatever it was that I needed. You were still that same stable person and you are kind of soft-spoken and quiet and you don’t mind to stop and think before you speak, which is not something that I have in my body. And so, it’s interesting. I think you also taught me that I can be who I want to be just by being who you were and not changing day to day.

Lindsay: That’s great. Well, thank you.

Becca: You’re welcome.

Lindsay: And I don’t know, would you say I’m soft-spoken? I think I just let you talk, right? I let you get it out and then I’m like, “Okay, and…” It’s like a powerful energy with a…

Becca: I’ve got it. You’re not soft-spoken, but you are patient-spoken. You have the patience to allow all information to come into your ears, think about it, and patiently give your answer. It is very patient.

Lindsay: That’s good. I like that word. And what’s interesting too is one thing that comes up so often in my mastermind is when someone says, “What do you do when a client just keeps talking and talking and talking?” So, it’s funny you say this because my answer to that is always, “You interrupt them.” I’m patient, but also there comes a point where I’m like, “Okay, now we’re just walking in circles. Let me take over for a second. Give me the reins back and then you can talk some more.”

Becca: Absolutely 100%.

Lindsay: Like, how do you address this? Do you teach them a specific coaching style or do you let them kind of find their own?

Becca: So, in Zero to Coach, we have a 12-week curriculum that walks people from literally zero, like I just want to be a coach or I think I’m a coach but I haven’t made the money I want to make, all the way up at the end of the 12 weeks to becoming a full coach with paid clients.

We are the only certification course that I know of that is one on one. So, when you come onboard, you are assigned a one-on-one mentor and that person walks you through the whole 12-week curriculum.

Now, we don’t teach you what kind of coach you should be. Like, if you come and you’re like, “I am a business coach, I’m a health coach, I’m a weight loss coach,” whatever it is you want to be, that’s totally fine. What we do is we help you find your inner voice and how you want to coach and what feels best to you because you’re not going to be a successful coach if it doesn’t feel right or if you’re trying to emulate somebody else.

The 12-week course is figuring out exactly who your avatar is and deciding what it is that you want to coach and how you’re going to present it, how you’re going to price it, all of that. I don’t like telling people how to coach.

A lot of times, people become a lot like their coach, whoever it is that is coaching them, just because that’s what they see. And I don’t like that. I want people to look inward and decide what kind of coach they want to be.

So, we try to, again, hold space. We try to hold space to allow – this is probably why I hire people to do this because they’re probably better at holding space than I am. They allow you to figure out what it is that you’re looking for so that you can feel good in your coaching. You can ask all of the questions one on one right there to make sure that you are doing it in a way that feels good to your consumer.

Lindsay: I love that. While you were talking, it just made me think, I feel like this is probably the same thing you do as a mom.

Becca: Yeah, like holding space to allow them to become who they are. Yeah, for sure.

Lindsay: Yeah, there are so many times that I think being a parent – and anyone that’s listening that’s not a parent, you are also an amazing coach, I am positive of that. But there is something about being a parent, for me, that has really helped me, I think, be a better coach because my kids are so different. They’re so different from me. And I have to allow them, like I’ve gotten really good at just allowing them to be just who they are.

Becca: Yeah, exactly. And it’s so true. The more I think about it, it’s like with my children and with my clients, we have a strong moral compass. But outside of that moral compass, anything goes. Like, you want to wear that headband today to school, you want to wear those pants, you want to sing and dance, you want to – one of my kids is extremely feminine. One of my girls is very masculine. My boy loves bugs, my girl loves this. And they’re so different, everything goes. Whatever it is that you like or you want, as long as you are following this very intact moral compass – and I think that’s the same that we teach in Zero to Coach.

Lindsay: Yeah, and then one of them just loves to be super-sassy, and I told you, I think she’s my soulmate, and I haven’t actually met her yet, but someday, it’s happening.

Becca: Are you talking about my redhead?

Lindsay: Yes.

Becca: Oh man, girl, she is fire. I don’t understand how a three-year-old has so much personality.

Lindsay: I think she probably gets it from you.

Becca: We’re in for a treat with her.

Lindsay: Alright, so is there anything else that you want to talk about? I feel like we covered a lot of ground.

Becca: We did. We went all the way. Yeah, no, so you guys, I just want to leave a message for you guys. Please, please allow yourself to be a beginner. If you are in a beginner space, even if you just feel like a beginner, I feel a lot of times the thing that really lowers the axe, the thing that just chops your head off in entrepreneurship is this feeling that you need to keep up with the Joneses or you need to keep up with the person next to you and you’re allowing yourself to just be a beginner.

When I started Massage Strong, I was such a beginner. I asked for help. I was like, I don’t understand how to do this or that. I’m buying books to try to learn. I’m asking people. And I did the same thing in coaching.

Like, my first coaching people, they were just sending me Venmo to pay. Like, it was so sloppy. And I just allowed myself to be in that space so that, over time, I knew that it was going to polish up. I knew that it was going to become much more organized, but I didn’t rush that on myself and I allowed myself to be in that beginner space.

So, if you find yourself looking over your shoulder wondering why this coach does that and this coach does that, it’s time to stop and put your blinders on. One of the reasons that I think both of my businesses grew so fast was I just kept my head down, like, I didn’t even know that it was abnormal. I didn’t know it was crazy. I didn’t know it was weird to take a massage therapist and turn it into 40 massage therapists in two locations in five years. I had no idea. I just did what I needed to do every day and I was just bebopping around trying to figure out what the next best thing to do is. I didn’t obsess around what other people were doing.

It wasn’t until later that other massage therapist places that looked up to came to me and were like, “What the fuck are you doing? How is this happening? Why is it so big? What are you doing?” And then it occurred to me, I was so busy staying in my lane that I had no idea that this was, like, great.

Lindsay: Yes, thank you for saying that. I’ve worked with so many coaches who come to me in some place in their business, some of them have been coaches for quite a while, but maybe they’ve had another job the whole time. Like, they’ve kind of dabbled in it, having gone full-time in their coaching, and they have so many thoughts about, “But I’ve been a coach for five years or seven years or whatever, I should be further.” Okay, well that’s a terrible thought to have. That is definitely going to be the thought that keeps you stuck right where you are.

Becca: Yeah, it’s not helpful. And if it takes you 25 years to get to where you want to be, it doesn’t make you any less of a person, right? Just because you see someone that’s doing it quickly, doesn’t mean that you’re doing it wrong.

Lindsay: Totally. I think that even when it comes to in my mastermind where I teach coaching skills and help people be better at their coaching, I also just coach them a lot, of course no surprise, on their thoughts about their coaching or on their thoughts about where they should be because they’ve been a coach or because they got a certification from somewhere or because they fill in the blank, “Because of this, I should definitely know what I’m doing. I should be further along.” And that’s just never true.

Becca: Yeah, absolutely. And get help. Hire a coach. Put yourself in the communities. Even if you have to pay for these communities, put yourself in them to surround yourself with the people that are doing big things, that are also scared with you. And shameless plug, if you are having trouble getting clients, my Three More class opens June 9^th. It’s eight weeks. You’re going to be put in a community with lots of people. We have so much fun in there. The culture is amazing. We laugh, we joke, and we get shit done. Put yourself in these groups, guys. Put yourself in Dotzlaf’s – I call you Dotzlaf.

Put yourself in Dotzlaf’s mastermind and just start embodying where you want to be in three years. Embody that now. If you want to be a certain person three years from now, you have to start acting like that now. Put yourself in those positions.

Lindsay: I love to be a leader, but I will say, probably one of my number one secrets to creating success in my business and creating it kind of like you said, kind of quickly but not really realizing I was doing it that quicky is being the best student. That has always been my kind of secret weapon of, like, I go into every space, every mastermind I’m in, every program I do. I always think, I’m going to be the person that gets the most out of this. I’m going to be the best students.

And sometimes people think that that’s like, “Well, if I’m the best student then I can’t be the best leader, entrepreneur or whatever.” But it’s not true. I think it’s the opposite. The better student, the better you’re going to do.

Becca: And you taught me that too. Like, you always taught me that and I put that in my pocket and I ran with it and I will even put a twist on it with extreme ownership, if there’s any Jocko Willink fans in the house, but like extreme ownership is just saying that no matter what circumstance I am in, no matter what program I am in, no matter what I’m doing, it all lands on me. My results come from the way that I’m thinking and the actions that I’m taking.

So, when I go into programs, there is no, “Is this program going to work?” That doesn’t exist in my mind. What exists is, “Am I going to make this program work for me? Am I going to take out and extract the content and apply it to my life?” Because any program can work, depending on how you show up to it.

Lindsay: Yes, I’m fist-pumping over here, just so excited for that because I think that is so true. Is there anything else? Before we hop off, I’ll have you talk about how people can find you. But is there anything else that you want to talk about?

Becca: No, I think that we nailed it.

Lindsay: I’m so grateful that you said yes to being on for a second time. And I just love your perspective. I love how I haven’t had anyone on yet that’s really talked about the business side of coaching and I think it’s just such a fun thing to talk about. And where can people find you if they’re interested in anything you’ve said today, if they’re like, how do I work with Becca, or her team?

Becca: Awesome, thank you. So, you can find us at www.hellyescoachingonline.com. That will send you to the different pages for Zero to Coach and Three More as well as business coaching. We also have a free Facebook group called Hell Yes Entrepreneur Circle. We have fun in there. I give lots of advice, lots of videos. We also just share really funny gifs and memes and we have a good time. So, please, I would love to have you guys there.

Lindsay: And is that for all entrepreneurs or is that just for coaches?

Becca: That is for all entrepreneurs, where my heart and soul lies is with entrepreneurs of all kinds. Service-based entrepreneurs, I might add. So, that would definitely include coaches.

Lindsay: Yes, I’ve been in there. I’ve coached in there before. And there definitely is a very fun community and there are a lot of coaches in there.

Becca: There are. There are a ton of coaches in that community.

Lindsay: And you have something else coming very soon.

Becca: Yes, I have a podcast that is launching on June 2^nd. It will be released every Wednesday starting June 2^nd. I am so pumped. It will be called the Hell Yes Entrepreneur. And I have a lot up my sleeve with this podcast. So, be there or be square.

Lindsay: I am pretty excited for your podcast. I think you are made for podcasting. It’s going to be so good. And if anybody wants to get a hold of you, we will have all of the things linked up in the show notes. Anyone that’s listening, you can go to my website and find Becca there.

Becca: Absolutely, you can also follow me @1beccapike on Instagram, but that’s mainly just me drinking cheap beer in my creek with my kids. But fun nonetheless.

Lindsay: Yes, that’s my favorite part of you. I love your Instagram. I love following your kids because they’re adorable…

Becca: Can I clarify that my kids aren’t drinking the beer in the creek? I’m drinking the beer in the creek. You know what I mean? But teenage years are coming, so I don’t know what’s going to happen.

Lindsay: I love it. I can’t wait to come hang out in your creek and drink beer with you.

Becca: Oh my gosh, please do.

Lindsay: Alright, thank you so much for being on.

Becca: Thank you, Lindsay.

Lindsay: Bye.

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Thank you for listening to this episode with Becca Pike. Like I said, we will link up all of her information in the show notes just in case you heard anything that you want to go check out. Thank you for being here and I will see you next week.

Thanks for listening to this episode of Mastering Coaching Skills. If you want to learn more about my work, come visit me at lindsaydotzlafcoaching.com. That’s Lindsay with an A, D-O-T-Z-L-A-F.com. See you next week.