Jocelyn Michelle Reaves is the founder of Confidence Daily, a coaching practice in Chicago. In our interview, she recounts how she made the transition from the corporate world to the coaching world, and she gives her advice for coaches just getting started in the field.
Coaching Focus: Building confidence starts from within. Jocelyn Michelle helps clients build confidence using a 3-step process: clarity, consciousness, and confidence.
Location: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Connect: You can find Jocelyn online at her website as well as on Instagram, Facebook, and on the Confidence Conversations Podcast.
Tell us about your journey as a coach.
I started my career in the field of public health. After climbing the corporate ladder, I made the shift from healthcare executive to entrepreneur and independent consultant. My initial transition into coaching was unintentional and was ultimately born out of a need that became apparent from my work with entrepreneurs and startups through my consultancy, Fireside Insights.
During my time helping leaders with strategic marketing and scaling their brands, I noticed a single consistency: women with natural leadership abilities and ample potential playing small because they’ve fallen victim to imposter syndrome or lack mindset.
When you’re an entrepreneur, mindset is just as important as your business strategy, and I wanted to help my clients realize and actualize their potential so that they could be the highest possible versions of themselves as humans, leaders, and entrepreneurs.
After starting work with existing consulting clients in a coaching capacity, I got certified in business and life coaching. Today, my primary focus has shifted from consulting to coaching, where I continue to be driven by my passion to help people pursue their purpose with confidence and ease of mind.
I continue to deepen my knowledge in the field as a student of the Chopra Center and help other coaches connect with clients through CoachedIt.
What courses, programs, or certifications have you done?
- Transformation Academy
- Chopra Health Foundations
- Chopra Meditation Foundations
- Chopra Center Health Certification (currently enrolled)
What advice or perspective might you give to a new coach trying to get their first clients? Any advice they should ignore?
Go where the clients are! Get creative about your approach and try to expand your approach beyond social media and digital ads. People need to trust you before working with you, and one of the most meaningful and efficient ways to do this is through face-to-face meetings. So, start networking and remember to listen more than you speak or promote.
What are your thoughts on “choosing a niche” as a coach?
It’s easy to want to do it all, and you probably can. However, I highly recommend getting intentional about your coaching niche and who you serve so that you can intensify your ability to meet the needs of your client, while also continuing your coaching education in a manner that feels guided and well-informed.
Go where the clients are! Get creative about your approach and try to expand your approach beyond social media and digital ads
That being said, your niche may not be “traditional,” and that’s okay. For example, I take a mind-body approach to life and business, which is atypical but is something that I can focus on, study, and build upon. When determining your niche, get clear about what your passion is, who you want to help, and how you want to help them. Things will start to crystallize from there.
What books have significantly influenced your life? What are your key takeaways from these books?
The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle – This book helped me get rooted in the present moment and stop ruminating on the past or projecting into the future.
The Secret by Rhonda Byrne – In addition to understanding the Law of Attraction, this book offered me a change in perspective and shift in mindset from lack to abundance.
Atomic Habits by James Clear – This was a tactical guide to building new habits by becoming 1% better everyday.
Year of Yes by Shonda Rhimes – This memoir helped me get out of my shell and start saying yes to new opportunities, allowing me to embrace abundance.
What are some of your favorite affirmations, mantras, thoughts, and/or journal prompts currently? Why?
- “Love yourself enough to evolve out of places and spaces that don’t serve the highest version of you.”
- “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Your life is already a miracle of chance waiting for you to shape its destiny.” – Toni Morrison
When you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or have lost your focus or motivation, what do you do?
Take a break. Sometimes all you need is a good break or a little R&R. When I feel a lack of motivation or focus, I take a step away from my work and either take a nap, spend time in nature, or go for a walk. I find that the best creative inspiration happens when you’re away from your desk.
Meditate. Meditating helps me reconnect with myself and get centered. I meditate every morning and try to meditate every afternoon/early evening as well. I’ve found that meditating not only helps ease any feelings of stress or anxiety but has also helped me become more creative and intuitive.
The best creative inspiration happens when you’re away from your desk.
Journaling. Whether it’s writing what I’m grateful for at the end of the day or just doing a brain dump to clear my mind, journaling helps me get a better understanding of how I’m feeling by allowing an opportunity for me to read between the lines.
Do you have any examples of how a “failure” set you up for later success?
I have a Master’s Degree in Public Health, and when I stepped away from the corporate world to pursue the work that I do now, I had this sinking feeling that I’d wasted time and years of my life by getting a degree that I wasn’t actively using. However, the robust fundamental courses I took at Boston University School of Public Health actually taught me a lot of what I needed to operationalize my practice today, such as how to run a business, how to test a business strategy or approach, and understanding social emotional health in humans and our hierarchy of needs.
Long story short, life is always happening for you, and there are no failures or losses, there are just lessons and opportunities.
If you could put a message on a huge billboard—getting a message out to millions—what would it say and why?
“Look within; you already have everything you need.”
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