Last updated on July 18, 2022
Gretchen Hydo runs her coaching practice in Los Angeles, California, where she helps individuals and organizations transform themselves and achieve their dreams. In addition to her work as a keynote speaker and author, Gretchen also coaches other coaches to establish successful practices. We hope you enjoy this interview!
Coaching Focus: Break the rules, shed your secrets, change your life! Coaching for driven people, doing incredible things. Pull your big vision out of the future and into the present. Coaching helps achievers, dreamers, and doers explore what’s possible, take action and create their ripple effect.
Location: Los Angeles, California, USA
Connect: You can find Gretchen online at her website, as well as on Instagram and Facebook.
Tell us about your journey as a coach.
I love people—everything about them. It’s an honor to walk the journey with another human and to help them shift in big and small ways. Each shift can create a major change for them and for the people who they interact with.
When we work together, I become a client’s thinking partner. They’re no longer in this game alone. I roll up my sleeves and turn up the heat so that they can go to their next level of success.
When I coach, I focus on who you’re being, because it matters. As your insides change, the ripple you create in the world changes as well. Getting intentional about the power that you have within, and identifying and being purposeful about what you want to create, is my specialty.
Coaching with me is not for everyone. It’s for those who are willing to take deliberate actions toward creating a life they love. My signature gift is helping clients get laser-focused and honest about what they want to create and when they’re stuck so that they can move through it.
We want to destigmatize talking about money, including how much coaches make. Would you please share with our readers any relevant revenue figures from your business?
When I began in 2015, I brought in around $80,000. In 2017, I reached earnings of $250K, and in 2020 of $500K. My projected earnings for 2022 are $750K.
What advice or perspective might you give to a new coach trying to get her first clients? Any advice they should ignore?
Learn about business development. Coaching school teaches you how to coach but it does not teach you how to run a successful coaching business. Slowing down and connecting with clients, making sure they get an experience of what coaching is, and being fully present, go a long way in serving clients that end up being paying contracts.
Whatever you do, stay away from programs that promise if you use their “funnel” you will earn a hefty income. The way all of the $100K plus coaches that I coach earn their income is by one connection call at a time.
What are your thoughts on “choosing a niche” as a coach?
Before I was a coach I was a publicist, so I love this topic.
Choosing a niche isn’t necessary. What is necessary is knowing the personality traits of the people you want to serve. I myself work with driven people who are up to big things. I do not work with people who are unable to follow through, can’t keep commitments, and who have no income. It’s important to know the attributes your ideal clients possess. That way you will know when you meet one that they are more than likely a good fit.
Have a list of pain points and solutions that the people that you enjoy coaching share. You can mix and match when you are asked the question, “So, what do you do?”
The other piece of advice is to never, ever lead with “I’m a coach.” The minute you use an IMA—no one is listening.
Instead, you want to craft a statement that has a pain point and a solution like:
“So you know how a lot of coaches struggle with making money? They get out of coaching school and have coaching skills but have no idea where to find clients, what to charge, and how to get a thriving business started?”
Pause and let the other person answer—the more they talk, the more connection you will have.
“I help coaches learn the ins and outs of how to serve in order to sell so that they can get out from underneath the struggle of launching a business and understand how to be successful in ways that speak to who they are.”
Not once did I say I’m a coach.
If you use your own “I help people” statement and it rings true for them, they want to learn more.
What books have significantly influenced your life?
- The Prosperous Coach: Increase Income and Impact for You and Your Clients by Rich Litvin and Steve Chandler – This is a must-read for all coaches.
- Living Service: The Journey of a Prosperous Coach by Melissa Ford is also very impactful.
When you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or have lost your focus or motivation, what do you do?
I have a great virtual assistant that I give the tasks that drain me. I do an energy audit to see which of the tasks are not meaningful, and I let those go.
Do you have any examples of how a “failure” set you up for later success?
I don’t believe in failure—only in learning from things I’ve tried that have worked out differently than I thought they would. Most things don’t bomb if you put your all into it.
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