Maria Christie – Featured Coach

Last updated on July 1, 2022

Maria Christie is the founder of Maria Christie Hypnotherapy & Coaching in London & Nicosia. We hope you enjoy this interview!

Coaching Focus: I support busy professionals to help them rapidly uncover, heal, and transform emotional wounds, limiting core beliefs and self-sabotaging patterns that hold them back from their full potential, inner peace, and well-being.

My unique tools as a clinical hypnotherapist (RTT™), BLAST Technique® practitioner, and Mindset Coach help my clients fast-track their transformation creating life-long confidence, self-worth, and a masterful mindset in just a few weeks.

Location: London & Nicosia, with international clients online

Connect: You can find Maria online at her website, as well as on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Tell us about your journey as a coach.

I trained in Personal and Professional Coaching in 2004 before coaching was as popular as it is now. I did this while working in my previous career as a Human Resources Manager in the luxury hotel industry.  

On my first day of training, I felt that I had arrived home, and I knew this would be my future career because of the high-touch support I could provide clients to become more confident and fulfilled and achieve their desires. I didn’t know how this would materialise at the time, I just knew somehow I would do it. 

It wasn’t until a few years later that I was ready to leave my previous career. I did business courses in the meantime to learn how to set up my own practice. I finally made the decision to leave my career and relocated to Nicosia to take the time to map out my future because I wasn’t fulfilled and knew I had to make big changes. 

When I started my coaching business in 2015, I noticed that many of my clients had been or were in therapy and were still struggling with emotional wounds and blocks even though they had been going for months and sometimes years.

I felt something was missing to help me fully transform my clients’ (and my) faulty beliefs and unhealed emotional wounds, without months or years of talk therapy.

I decided to train in Rapid Transformational Therapy after having experienced the powerful results personally.

I now help clients by working with both the conscious and unconscious mind to rapidly overcome their obstacles and stuck emotions and recode and embody new empowering beliefs, behaviours, and habits so they can excel in all areas of their lives.

I get to work with clients internationally online which is a privilege and joy, all while travelling myself. I feel very lucky that I have been able to cultivate my dream job and work with the most amazing clients. 

What courses, programs, or certifications have you done? Would you recommend them, and for whom?

• The Coaching Academy – Personal and Professional Coaching Diploma 
• Clinical Hypnotherapist (RTT – Marisa Peer)
• BLAST Technique® – Amygdala Desensitising Technique (ADT) 
• Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy (REBT) Life Coach 
• Certified Self-Esteem Elevation Coach
• Confidence Coaching 
• Relationship Coaching
• Treating Childhood Emotional Neglect (CEN) – Dr. Jonice Webb
• Working with Relationship Trauma: Managing Disorganised Attachment 
• Working with and Healing Shame 
• Somatic Experiencing 
• Healing Unresolved Trauma – Dr. Peter Levine 
• Unwinding Anxiety 
• Internal Family Systems Therapy 
• Suicide Risk Awareness & Prevention 
• Licensed Marisa Peer Anti-Bullying Trainer for schools 
• Accredited Member of the ACCPH (Accredited Counsellors, Coaches, Psychotherapists, Hypnotherapists) 

I have been continuing my education over the years because I personally enjoy it. It also makes me feel more confident and informed when helping my clients. I recommend doing what makes you feel comfortable at your own pace, and not falling into the trap of feeling you need more qualifications or certificates before you can get started or charge the rates you want to. I recommend getting started as early as possible to build your confidence and experience. In reality, your coaching certification is enough to be a successful coach.

What advice or perspective might you give to a new coach trying to get her first clients? Any advice they should ignore?

Trust in the tools and knowledge you have learned, believe in yourself, and feel proud of your progress as you build more and more experience by working with your clients.

It also doesn’t matter if you make the odd mistake here and there in the beginning. It’s all part of the learning journey.

Remember to be kind to yourself and help as many people as possible to build your experience. Your experience will also help you identify your niche over time if you’re not sure when you begin.

What are your thoughts on “choosing a niche” as a coach?

My niche has evolved over the years. I remember in the beginning feeling pressure to identify my niche. It kept me stuck for a long time. I needn’t have worried so much. I wish I had just started sooner instead of worrying about having the right niche because it will evolve and grow as you do.

Over time, my niche found me. I loved working with single women who wanted to rebuild their confidence to attract a new relationship.

After my hypnotherapy training, my niche evolved, and I now focus on helping clients rebuild their confidence and self-worth in any area of their life, whether that’s their business, relationship, self-image, or something else. 

My advice to new coaches is if you know the niche you’d love to focus on, start building your experience in this area while observing the need for this niche. It also has to be profitable for you.

There are few ways to approach this:

a. If you don’t know yet, you can get started coaching to gain experience and the niche will find you.

b. If you’re unsure of your niche, you can also select a profitable niche that feels good to you, and try it out. Again, with practice and experience, you will fine-tune your niche.

A side note here: there is an overwhelming amount of advice for coaches online about choosing your niche. It can also be very confusing in terms of knowing which advice to follow. It can also be quite costly to take several courses.

I advise my clients to be mindful, that there is never one perfect system or formula which guarantees success to run your coaching business.

There are several different ways you can do it, and it’s important to identify exactly what type of support you need at each stage of your personal and business growth and be selective and discerning about what advice you follow. Otherwise, you can get stuck in paralysis analysis or spend more money than you need to on another course.

What book has significantly influenced your life? 

The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle had a powerful impact on me at a time when I really needed to feel grounded and manage a traumatic event. I value his advice about being present, and I practice this daily to eliminate worry and anxiety.

If you received an extra $10,000 to spend on your business, how would you spend it and why?

This would go towards a 6-week summer online mentoring bootcamp I’m developing for teenage girls to help them cultivate self-worth and lasting confidence so that they can achieve their dreams.

Earlier in my business, I would have used this to outsource the parts of the business that I don’t enjoy or am not good at so that I can focus on my client sessions and group programmes (for example, websites, streamlining systems for documentation, social media, marketing, etc.)

Do you have a favorite affirmation or mantra?

There are so many that I’m inspired by, but the most powerful one is the most simple:

Unfortunately not enough people accept themselves fully, and we should.

When you feel overwhelmed, stressed, or have lost your focus or motivation, what do you do?

Exercise and movement is my favourite way to start the day to reduce overwhelm and stay focussed. I run or walk in a national park, and in the summer I go to the beach. I also do fun workouts that I find on Youtube.

I listen to hypnosis as my meditation. I also have a circle of close friends that I can talk to which I am grateful for. Laughter is also another huge stress reliever for me which I get a lot of by Facetiming my nieces and nephews or watching comedies.

Generally I tune in to what I need throughout the day and do what I need to stay balanced and calm, whether that’s not skipping meals, drinking plenty of water, taking a break to get fresh air, or playing with my dog.

I feel that our clients rely on us to be calm and centered, so it’s not only for our own health but an essential part of our service. 

Do you have any examples of how a “failure” set you up for later success?

I have several “failures” to choose from here. I’ve made choices in my business, life, and relationships in the past which weren’t the best choices at the time. In hindsight I know I wouldn’t make the same decisions now. I’ve learned not to ruminate on past failures and mistakes, which I used to do. I look back now and can instead see what I learned from the setbacks and mistakes I’ve made, which is a healthier approach.

It took a few years to get to this point and having a coach and hypnotherapy helped me change my mindset.

Those failures shaped me into the person I am, and they help me relate to my clients who have had similar experiences.

My advice to new coaches is not to anticipate “failure” but to expect that inevitably you will encounter setbacks and disappointments. These are all on the same road to success, and they build resilience and wisdom. 

I would also add that there is no shame in making mistakes or failing at something. It happens to everyone at some point in our lives, because it’s part of life. Just don’t let that define you. It’s developing other strengths in you that you otherwise didn’t know you had, which is valuable as a coach and in your own life.

Do you have any embarrassing (at the time) stories from your work as a coach? Or a time when putting yourself out there really paid off?

I’m naturally an introverted person, and I prefer my intimate and group client programmes.

Being visible online and on social media has been the biggest learning curve. I’m still getting comfortable with it, but it has been worth it to share posts and blogs. Doing these things built traction quickly for my business.

I’m preparing to launch my podcast and be more visible, and my natural inclination is to avoid it. But it’s worth it.

I’ve learned to go against my preference to be more private on public platforms, and to use the advantages of social media at the pace that I’m comfortable with, and not follow popular advice about how many times to post a day.

We’re lucky to have access to social media, and while it can be overwhelming, it’s worth pushing past any discomfort you may feel about it and posting in a way that’s comfortable for you.

If you could put a message on a huge billboard—getting a message out to millions—what would it say?

“Accept and love yourself. Don’t seek validation of your self-worth from outside of yourself.”

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Good luck to all new coaches. There isn’t a better time to support people. Believe in yourself and go for it.

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