178 - Empowering Women for a Fulfilling Midlife Journey: A Client Conversation with Anne Thomas
Entrepreneurship can be both an inspiring and challenging journey. The Business Building Boutique has a community of empowered and like-minded women to lean on for emotional support as you build your coaching business. As coaches, we’re all working to have a meaningful, lasting impact in the world, no matter what our niche is.
In this episode, I sat down with a client, fellow coach, and friend, Anne Thomas. Anne specializes in helping midlife women navigate the changing dynamics of the empty nest phase and supports them in creating a fulfilling next chapter. Listen to learn more about the marketing that Anne does to support her successful coaching business.
Anne shares how the Business Building Boutique Program continues to help her keep the momentum in her business— from working on her branding, overcoming business drama through the program’s mindset coaching component, and finding a supportive community while she grows her business.
Tune in to this inspiring and insightful conversation!
👉 Connect with Anne:
Email address: annethomaslife@gmail.com
Website: www.annethomaslife.com
IG: @annethomaslife FB: @annethomaslifecoach
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/anne-thomas-life/
Offers and Freebies: https://www.linktr.ee/annethomaslife
👉 Create a profitable business that looks good and sets you up to be respected through the Fast Track Business Building Boutique Program
👉 Check out my FREE Canva Workshop and learn how to create stunning graphics for your coaching business!
👉 Watch the episode on YouTube or wherever you listen to podcasts!
👉 Book a free Coaching Business Assessment with me
Don’t forget to connect with me on social media: Instagram | Facebook| Pinterest
Transcript
Preview: I talk about hard things and I make it safe for clients to do the same. and I like to take away the stigma and the judgment that can be so destructive because a lot of times clients will come in and they'll be, they'll be filled with shame about something and it's not necessary. And my biggest thing for my clients is I always tell them that, you know, painful times can be informative and sometimes even necessary but suffering never is. So let's not take that pain to that next level which is going to be suffering and that, because that's never helpful. And so I try to kind of keep them, you know, balanced and right.
Intro: Hello, I'm Debbie Shadid, the host of the Life Coach Business Building podcast. If you are ready to have more clients in your life coach business, then you're in the right spot. Each week I'm gonna teach you super simple strategies to grow your business without feeling overwhelmed and without spending money on paid ads. If that sounds interesting. Stick around and let's get started.
Debbie: Welcome to today's podcast. Today I want to introduce you to a client that I've actually been working with for quite some time. And I don't know, maybe I should say client, fellow coach, and friend. I want y'all to meet Anne Thomas. Anne, will you introduce yourself and tell us who you help and just a little bit more about you.
Anne: I will. Thank you. It's just a pleasure to be here together. I've been looking forward to this. Hello, I'm Anne Thomas. I'm a certified life coach. I was certified with Life Coach School in 2021. I help women create a life that they love during the changing dynamics of an empty nest in midlife. And I'm familiar with this walk because I've been on it myself. I'm a product of my product.
Debbie: Yeah, I think that's how we all end up in our niches or most of us. So, tell me a little bit about the coaching that you do. And then just for the listeners, I want you to hang on because we're going to talk about the work that she's done with me.
And then we're going to wrap up and you're going to find out about how you can work with Anne, how you can connect with her, all the freebies and all this stuff. So let's talk about the coaching that you do, who you help and how you help them.
Anne: Well, I work with women, midlife women, because I've been through it. We're constantly evolving and that's a good thing. And usually, you know, there's some kind of transition era. If you're lucky, you know, you have to make changes and you have to kind of go with it. And when it came to empty nest, it's such a heartfelt time. It can be such a tug and, I was surprised when it was my turn to become an empty nester about the regret that I felt and the emotions that came up.
And so, I kind of put all that together and I had this thought, which wasn't helpful that, boy, the most important work I'm going to do in this life is now done. I've raised my children. And I thought, well, that's a n important thought. It's important to know that, There's so much more to give and there's so much more to do. And so I help women create that kind of momentum in their life that they're craving. And so I created a coaching program that has four basic fundamentals that we look at and we consider going forward to align their next chapter.
Debbie: Oh my gosh, that's so good. So when somebody is working to align their next chapter, I'm just curious, what are some of the things that come up?
Anne: Well, they look at, you know, really having lived in survival mode instead of thriving mode. It kind of picks their head up now that, you know, all the transaction parts of raising the children in that part of their life is kind of behind them and now what do they really want to do? And what are they good at?
They have to sometimes reestablish friendships. They have to kind of reinvent themselves. It's a fresh start. And so they want to do it in a real purposeful way, in an intentional way, instead of a default way. So we talk about what is their purpose? What do they see as their purpose? What do they see as their contributions going forward? Where do they get fulfillment? where do they grab their validation from? Because we want to bake all that into the next part too.
Debbie: So do you work in a group setting or do you work one to one?
Anne: I work one to one because it's very personal for them at this point. And so I have my program and it's basically two phases. The first six weeks are a lot of concepts. I'm a former teacher, so I use a lot of teaching to really tell stories and to get the points across to my clients about new skills that they can be developing and they can be using, you know, and put in their arsenal.
And then the second part of the program is just putting that into an implementation container. And we just coach and we just take their next step and we put the plan in place specifically for them. So that's a one-on-one coaching.
Debbie: So tell me, without giving a client's name, Maybe one or two clients, an outcome, like what their life looked like before or when they came to you and what their life looked like after coaching.
Anne: I'll take one client that is coming to mind first. And she came to me, woman my own age, and had some of the same things that I had just explained about. This is where she found herself. And she didn't really like the relationships that she had developed with her own children. You know, they were not respectful ones. And so we just kind of started talking about really what that looked like. And where are you in that? And what does that mean for you?
And what we do is we just kind of got into the conversations about limiting beliefs on her part for her own self and kind of opened it up because my job as a coach for her, I don't know what's right for her, but she does. And so I just show her her thinking along the way and what she claims to be important to her. And we just kind of bring that back up and revisit it. Sometimes we redefine it for her. and so we just finished our coaching not that long ago and she's gone out. She's gotten a part time job. Her relationship with her daughter is really, really solid and good. she's got a business that she's going to pick up and run with again. So she's got these things that she's really looking forward to building on her strengths.
Debbie: Oh, my gosh, that's so good. Thank you for sharing that. all right, gosh, you sound like you've got it all together, Anne. So tell me what brought you to me. Why did we start working together?
Anne: Well, I don't know if you remember, but I've hired you twice. Yeah, I couldn't get away. The first time I was I was just newly certified and I was just trying to determine really what my little boutique business was going to be.
I thought, you know, all you have to do is I love the coaching piece, but all this business and marketing and of it, you know, you just open up your briefcase and they just jump right in. I mean, isn't that how it works and it doesn't. And so, I needed someone that understood the business that I wanted to create, who took the time to know me and was important to me and really what I brought to my business and then how to put that out there in a way that people could relate to and could hear and know.
Oh, and the best part about that, stint together is that you started me on what is my very favorite thing that I do and that's my weekly email column and I've been doing that for almost two years now and I've grown my list and I get great feedback from that and it's just a way for me to communicate and to just supply some kind of you know Inspiration and support and encouragement to the people on my list about hey, this is what happened to me last week Just I just want you to know, you know, these types of things happen and nothing's gone wrong.
And this is what I did about it. And you can do it too. And, I think the biggest thing that I can offer them in that email thing is that you're not alone. You know, and, we all have these things that go on no matter what you look like and feel like or whatever some days or you're just not going to win and that's okay and you know how you deal with it.
And then the second time we worked together this round was more of the fine tuning of what we had put together initially. I got my coaching offer launched. You helped me with that kind of piecing it together, putting my workbook and my guide together. And doing that, I've got a lot of feedback from my friends who get my weekly email that I need to write a book. So that's kind of out there someplace, but you just provide such great structure and such great experience that I just thought I got to go back to that Debbie again, because she's smart.
Debbie: Well, thank you. I want to share something that Anne knows, but to all of you guys listening about launching your business. This is a little story about me that I'm going to insert in Anne's interview. So when Anne came to work with me, she came to work with me in a group program. And do you know how many people were in the group? One.
So, Anne was a group coaching client who met me, I think, two times a week for group coaching and she was a group of one, so she got a heck of a deal. My point in sharing this with you is that Anne and I worked together for our first time about two years ago, we decided. And I have been coaching for years as you guys know, but I didn't start coaching coaches exclusively until summer of 2021.
And I launched my first group program as a beta program, just like I teach my clients and I had 10 people in it and it went so great. And then I launched again and I had two people in it. And that was kind of like, Whoa, what happened there? And then I dusted myself off and I launched again and I ended up with sweet Anne, the only person in the group.
So we went on about that. I looked at what I had done again, which really just to explain nothing really goes wrong. That's just how it works when you're building and figuring out how to launch a group, even though I had launched this group many times before with a different niche. So it wasn't until my fourth launch that I started with 11 people on opening day.
And now I'll tell you. I work with almost 40 clients. So that's two years. Anne had that opportunity to be in that group of one. And so here she is back again, and she's in our fast track program. So anyway, thank you Anne for trusting me with your business growth two times, I really appreciate it. All right. So let's talk about what you've taken away from the coaching that we have done together.
Anne: Well, you taught me about branding and that you are your brand. And what I had seen of yours up to then was just so impeccable. You know, it's just like you, and when you meet you after seeing you and your branding and your marketing, when you get to meet you, you get exactly what you put out there, you know, just such a great message.
So I love the idea that you've taught me about just thoughtfully creating your presence in a space that reflects me as a coach and who I am as a coach and what I bring. So, I think that was the thing that I'll take away the most. And of course, you know, your marketing is phenomenal and the fast track process is, you know, so well thought through.
If you guys are considering doing this, you have to do this because you will be wasting your time anywhere else I promise. And that you're just an example based on your story you just told. You're an example of what's possible and you offer that to everybody else.
Debbie: Thank you. I try to be, not try. I am as straightforward as possible. As I know, Anne could attest to also. I feel it's my responsibility to be honest with my clients about what it takes to grow a business, even though I've been in business for years, what really happens during launches, what really happens as you're coaching people. All of those things that you aren't hearing the inside story on, I feel like it's my responsibility to share with you. so you want to share a little bit about office hours, the fast track office hours.
Anne: I don't miss them. They're great. Our group meets once a week and it's a 90-minute live session and we have access to Debbie. We have access to each other. We're a really close group of women. there's tears sometimes. There's celebrations sometimes, and it's so great. So even if I'm not sharing, one of my colleagues is sharing, but it's exactly a question that I have too.
And so regardless of your niche, all of it was really so relevant in that we're all building a business and building a brand together. So I look forward to it. And unless I'm out of town, I don't miss it.
Debbie: Yeah, it's super fun. The group. Oh, my goodness. The Fast Track. There's two different Fast Track times that you can join me. And both of the groups are really women who take this business building very seriously. And it's very inspiring. It creates a lot of momentum for everybody else.
Anne: Yeah. I mean, I do things because I was inspired by my colleagues. I said, Oh gosh, she did that. Gosh. How did you do that? And what, you know, we'll talk about it and then I'll, I'll give it a try.
Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. The best part about this is It's always encouraging you to try something new. You know, to not just stick with what you know, but to get good at something, keep that and then keep adding to, you know, your toolkit and keep adding to your offering that you can offer everybody. So that's the growth piece of it that I really enjoy.
Debbie: Yeah. Well, tell us what your plans are for your business.
Anne: Well, I enjoy the one on one coaching, so I'm going to continue doing that, certainly, and implementing regular roundtables and coffee chats as a way to kind of connect live, you know, with other people that have questions or whatever.
I'm of course going to continue my weekly emails. They've been, you know, really helpful and really gratifying. I do hear back a lot from a lot of my clients or a lot of my readers, and it's a great way for my readers to refer me to somebody else. It's what we call a nurturing sequence, right?
So they get on the email list and every Saturday morning at 5:41, they get a little email from Anne Thomas saying, you know, Hey, hang in there. You're doing great. This is an example of how you're doing great. You know, have you tried this or, you know, some kind of concept or what have you. I'm very funny in my emails. And sometimes I'm irreverent. I do try and keep it light, and try to keep it positive in a good way. So, I like keeping it focused and keeping it personal.
Debbie: Yeah. So let me just share the story about Anne. I know I've shared this before, but I'm going to repeat it again about her email list building because you're such a great example of somebody who did what I told you to do, even though it was like, I don't know if this is a good idea or not, but one of the things that she did was she gathered together her personal email contacts and she took it serious. I mean, she really got the list together. And when she put it together then, I said, you're going to email all those people. And some of them were people that you hadn't talked to in a long time. And you're going to tell them what you do. And, you're going to start emailing them regularly. And you did that.
Anne: I did. I haven't missed a week in two years.
Debbie: And you started with a list of what, how many people, and you're up to how many without running ads.
Anne: Oh, well, I took my Christmas list out, you know, and so that was like it's 90 names, and I put that in there. And then I just started talking about my business. And when I would meet somebody, I'm constantly just In conversation talking about what you do very innocently and we get to talking. I said, would you like, you know, give me your email address because I'd like you to see what I do. And so they go on my email address and I'm, uh, I just put my 319th person on there.
Debbie: That's so good. You guys, those are literally the first 90 that she knew and all the rest came because people who were reading it referred their friends to be added to it, or she met and talked to people. This is the deal. Talk about your business, and that's fantastic. And as a result of that, that's where her clients are coming from. Am I correct about that?
Anne: You are correct about that.
Debbie: Yeah. All right. Let's talk about the mindset coaching that I offer inside of the business building boutique. How important is that? And you want to share some thoughts about what that's done for you and for your business.
Anne: Yeah, I mean, it's the yin and the yang, right? you're the action line coach. you give us specific things to do to grow our business, but there's always drama about it. we're always questioning ourselves. We're always wondering, doubting, you know, and that's just part of the process. it's just Part of our brain trying to scan for danger, which is its job, right?
But you added a mindset coach Thais to your program, and it just makes it such a completely thorough component. She's in our meetings. She'll meet with us. She can see things that we can't see. and I watch her, Help us sometimes get out of the ditch, give us ideas. She's also a coach and she also has her own business.
So she's also done and is doing what we're all trying to do together. So it's really, really valuable. I think it's unique.
Debbie: Yeah, I think she really is a genius in the things that she's able to do. And I love it because if somebody asks me something and I decide to offer some coaching, she is definitely not afraid to say, now, just in a minute from a mindset perspective, I'm going to say, I disagree with you. And I'm like, I love that, that she's willing to do that and offer it because I'm always thinking about business growth and she's thinking about, you know, why people are stuck and from a different perspective. So, you're right. It's a great mix.
Anne: I think you're to be credited too, because you have provided that platform for everybody to meet on. And we do, we all come in, there's a great sisterhood in, you know, what we do and you made it safe for us. She makes it safe for us. We make it safe for each other. And it's just a place for us to go as a weary business owner and just kind of get with your buddies. kind of like the local pub. We just kind of sit down together and we kind of go, you're okay, going to be fine.
Debbie: That's right. It is like, Oh, we're all in this together, aren't we? Yeah. Yeah. Uh, so good. Well, let's talk about your coaching superpower back to you. tell us more about that.
Anne: I think what I do well as a coach is I talk about hard things and I make it safe for clients to do the same. and I like to take away the stigma and the judgment that can be so destructive because a lot of times clients will come in and they'll be, they'll be filled with shame about something and it's not necessary.
And my biggest thing for my clients is I always tell them that, you know, painful times can be informative and sometimes even necessary but suffering never is. So let's not take that pain to that next level which is going to be suffering and that, because that's never helpful.
And so I try to kind of keep them, you know, balanced and right. and I make them know that nothing's gone wrong and you're just being human and let's, for God's sake, knock it off. No, you're going to be fine. One of my clients told me one time, He said, you know, Anne, Your superpower is compassionate straight talk, I thought thank you.
Debbie: Yeah, no, that's good. I mean, that's good. That's yeah. wow. That's awesome. Well, I want you to tell me why somebody should hire you. But listen, for coaches listening, you guys should be hiring Anne because she can help you get to where you want to go in so many areas of your life. I mean, obviously she's not the business coach, but I always say coaches by coaching because we see the value of it. So why should somebody hire you, Anne?
Anne: Well, I think because so much has brought me to this point in my life. I was sharing earlier that my sister in law was visiting this weekend and we're sitting on the couch talking and we're talking about my business and she said, I hope you're really proud of what you've been able to accomplish.
And it was very humbling to hear, but, you know, I said, thank you. I am proud. I'm proud of myself. I'm really proud of my clients, you know, but if I think about it, it's just what everything I've done in my life so far has brought me to do. I mean, I've had wonderful careers in so many things, so many varied things from teaching to modeling to Xerox sales to banking to you know, you name it and now I'm coaching and I'm using everything from I'm using all of it you know when I get with my clients, so we put it all together for the real challenges and we keep focused on the coaching
Debbie: Yeah. Oh my goodness. So good. Well, okay. Is there anything else that we haven't talked about you or talked about the business building boutique or anything you want to add?
Anne: If there's any coaches out there that are, you know, kind of in their business and they've heard a Debbie or they're looking for some direction, I think you better get on the list before she gets full, you know, because she's going to get that way for sure.
If you haven't had a consult with her, it's like she can look at your business. She can know exactly what you want to do. Her questions are specific to getting the answers that she needs to be able to help you. And so she's very high touch. She knows her business and it was the best decision I've made and I'm with her two times and I'm going to renew again because it's what's been the difference in my business and getting me to where I need to be as a coach and getting it out there.
So, that's what I would say. That's why they need to look at the fast track because it's really results-oriented, results-driven, and you can do as much as you feel like you can. You know, in one way, it's self paced, but there's a lot to learn and there's a lot to do and you can do as much or as little. If you're working full time, you can put that in your schedule. If you're not, you can create a different process for yourself. But it really is very thorough and very thought through and like I said, I'm still loving it.
Debbie: Thank you so much. And we just continue. We have new things that Anne doesn't know about that are surprises that are coming on that we're working on.
We want to make sure that we provide everything that we can to make it as easy as possible to get the action things done that you need to get done. But of course, I think they're real sweet spot for all of us is when we get to meet each other every week during our open coaching time and connect and, you know, I get to tell everybody what to do and how to do it and all that kind of stuff. And then you guys get to decide. I don't want to do it that way. And then I get to come up with another idea for you.
Anne: And we've met. We’re able to meet in Dallas for a mastermind last year. So it was, it's doubly fun when you are working with someone online and you get to a very, you know, intimate relationship with each other, you know, you go through a lot together and then you get to meet somebody that's like, Oh, hi, feel like I already know you.
Debbie: Yeah, that was so fun. That was so fun. I don't know. Maybe eventually there's going to be a retreat in the Business Building Boutique because I think that those in person events, they're just great.
Anne: I mean, yeah, sign me up if you do it for sure.
Debbie: Yeah, I think they really are so no big, production expensive thing, just something to add on to for you guys to be able to come and join and for us to all be together for a few days. I don't need to make money off of that. I just, hey, you know, be able to have us all be together. So that would be super fun.
So, I'm going to leave Anne's website. Anne Thomas Life. It's Anne with an E. annethomaslife.com. so she's got some free things over on her website. Definitely you need to have a consultation with her. Anything else Anne, you wanna share?
Anne: I just, you know, I just think you should join the tribe. We're all in this together and we're doing really good work, all of us, in all different niches and, you know, we're just putting good out there.
Debbie: That's right. That's right. Oh my gosh. Thank you so much for being a blessing to me and for being part of the program and for supporting the other women in the group. We've just, you know, I think we just really love each other, honestly.
Anne: Yeah. It's my pleasure.
Debbie: Yeah. And the other women that are in there, wow, they're awesome. So you guys have a great week. Connect with Anne and then connect with me about your business. Can't wait to have you included in this awesome group of women. I'll talk to y'all later. Thank you.
Outro: Okay, ladies, that is it for today. Before we go, I want to invite you to head over to debbieshadid.com. I have this incredible Canva training, specifically designed for life coaches where I'm gonna teach you how to use Canva to create beautiful graphics to market your life coaching. All right. Have an amazing week. I'll talk to you very soon. Bye bye.