Jo: I will just say I have not regretted it for a second. The change that it has made in my life has been beyond anything I could imagine. I went into it going, maybe this will be a new career path for me. I had no idea what the personal transformation for me would be. And so, man, when you get that green light and it is that strong, do it.
Nancy: Welcome to Your Permission Prescription. I’m Nancy Levin, founder of Levin Life Coach Academy, bestselling author, master life coach, and your host. I train life coaches, aspiring coaches, and anyone who wants to add coaching skills to their current career to elevate their life and their business. I’ve coached thousands of people to live life on their own terms, and now I coach, train, and certify other coaches to do the same.
If you are ready to give yourself permission to finally make yourself a priority and mobilize your vision, you’re in the right place. Let’s dive in.
Nancy: I’d like to introduce you to Lynn. Lynn is a certified Levin Life coach, and she graduated a little over a year ago. Lynn, welcome to the podcast.
Lynn: Hi, Nancy. Thank you for having me.
Nancy: Of course. I would love for you to share the impact of LLCA on you, your life and your business, how you’re using your certification and how the ongoing alumni community has supported you.
Lynn: Yeah, well, it’s almost like where do I start? I begin because being a part of LLCA getting my certification, it really has opened up my life in so many beautiful ways.
For a very long time, I desired to become a life coach 15 plus years ago, I had the desire. And what I was so grateful for is that I found a program that was very much in alignment, because that’s what I was looking for is that when I got to that place and point in my life where I said, okay, I am going to do this. I was also very specific in the program I was looking for.
I had done research and really wasn’t thrilled with what I was finding. And I really kind of put it out into the universe because I had criteria. And I thought if that program exists, I’m going to trust that it will come into my awareness and it did. And shortly after putting that out there, and that was through you.
And when I heard about the program that you offer through LLCA and your background and the program details, I absolutely right then and there knew this is the program and I jumped right in.
Nancy: I so appreciate you sharing that and sharing that you really did your research. And I’ve shared before that, the reason I created LLCA, the way that I did, was to fill the gap I saw in so many other certification programs.
Lynn: Oh yeah. And I, I think I’ve often have expressed this answer. I’m like my goodness, this program, it is number one, a well-oiled machine. There is depth and detail. There is support among support. And that’s the other thing that I’ve just so appreciated.
It really, it is a community that you step into and it really is a sense of a family that you step into because we all go on this journey together and and that support has continued in my life. And that’s the other thing that I really appreciated is that it wasn’t just getting my certification and then poof, you’re done.
There’s so much support that goes after in building your business, in growing the confidence, and becoming the CEO of your own company. And then going on the journey with other coaches who we are all like-minded and just having that continual support.
Nancy: Yeah, I think that that is so essential. And what I also recognize is that can really only come from the way we do this program, which is live and in real time.
So it’s not prerecorded, it’s not something that’s necessarily do on your own pace because we are all doing the work together at the same time.
Lynn: Well, and that’s, I agree. And that’s another thing I love so much is that we do come together live and there’s an energy and a synergy that comes with that.
And I agree, because when I’ve had exposure to other programs or courses that I’ve signed up for, when it’s a, pre-recorded, there’s just a lack of luster that at times can be behind that. And I’ll tell you the energy that LLCA provides and offers with us coming in together live it’s really irreplaceable.
Nancy: So tell me a bit about. How your life has changed post LLCA how your business has changed, how you’re using your certification in the world?
Lynn: Yeah. Well, by going through the program, the thing that I can definitely say is that there is a level of confidence that just comes in by being in this container of us, learning to be coaches and learning the different programs that we’re able to be certified in.
So that confidence is amazing and wonderful, and that is essential, beautiful ingredient that when you’re starting your business. Right. Having that confidence really just sets the stage in the foundation. So that then just being open of, okay, what are the different ways that I can really utilize my certification of serving others?
And one of the ways that I have found, so my business, I’m the founder of Live More Connected and there I have a community, so it’s a community of women. It’s a membership and this is where I use my certification. And so we come together every two weeks throughout the month and I am guiding them through the coaching and the certifications that I’ve received through LLCA and the benefit of this is that I have this beautiful range of women because it’s, for all ages and stages, we come together live so we have the energy of that.
It’s done in a way to where these women are saying it really works with their schedules, but yet it’s allowing them to very much feel that they’re moving forward in their lives in a very positive way. They have the community. So all of the women being like-minded so kind of a version of LLCA and the respect of giving that container and really allowing a person to grow and enhance and evolve. So it’s been so much fun I’ve absolutely enjoyed it.
Nancy: Yes. So you are certified in Reinvention Coaching and in Worthy coaching and Jump coaching?
Lynn: That’s right. Yes.
Nancy: And group coaching.
Lynn: That’s right. Exactly. And I, I was so excited to get through Group coaching, cuz I do love that again, that energy of the group. And so this is where I’m finding that I’m able to build this group, this community and really have that energy and the fun and just the deep, deep work as well.
So we have a lot of fun in this container but we’re also going to the depths of our inner selves and expanding and enhancing the best parts of ourselves.
Nancy: And what’s been your experience of staying in the ongoing alumni advanced training program and receiving additional coaching from me and additional coaching certifications?
How has that been for you?
Lynn: Yeah, well, it’s been amazing. I think that’s what another thing is so beautiful about LLCA is that you have this opportunity to continue to expand your knowledge, to gain additional certifications. So then you become more of a resource to your clients. Also, I find for myself because I’m continuing on. We’re going into our next certification.
Is the blueprint for relationships. And I’m extremely excited about that, but I also find that by keeping engaged in this, it allows me to continue to grow and I just feel better when I’m connected weekly with us coming together, it just makes my life better. And then by knowing that and experiencing that first hand, it makes me just so honored and excited that I can turn around and provide that for my clients and my community. So it’s been I highly recommend it.
And again, it continues to go on to where it helps you to develop that confidence that self-esteem, that knowing of where you’re going in your business as you’re on this, just because you continue to be in it with you, Nancy. And you’re amazing with guiding us, but then again with the other coaches, that are helping us, the other master coaches that support.
And it’s just, it’s been incredible. I literally highly recommend this program. It, whenever somebody reaches out to me and says, I’m thinking about life coaching, I say, I absolutely would recommend LLCA because I cannot say enough good things about the experience and the program and about you.
Nancy: Lynn, thank you so much for taking the time to share your experience in LLCA with me and with all of the listeners.
Lynn: Oh, it’s my complete honor so thank you. Thank you for inviting me.
Nancy: Welcome, Kathleen.
Kathleen: Thank you, Nancy. It’s nice to be with you.
Nancy: I’m so happy to have you here. So for everyone listening, Kathleen is an LLCA certified coach, and I’m excited to talk to you today.
Kathleen, share a little bit about where you were business life, pre-LLCA and where you are now.
Kathleen: Sure. I had a 35-year career in higher education in university development and alumni relations and grew into leadership roles in that. And when I took early retirement, I had had a great coach in a leadership program at Stanford University, and I saw the power of coaching.
And since I was retiring early, I thought, this is what I wanna do. And I found the NeuroLeadership Institute and the Results Coaching program. And I took that training and over, starting in 2019, I started my coaching business and had about 15 or 16 clients before I found you and Reinvention Coaching.
Nancy: And I’m curious, what was it about LLCA that had you enroll given that you were already a coach?
Kathleen: I was a coach and I love my work. I have amazing clients and I see their aha moments, but there were always times where I thought there’s something deeper that we just aren’t getting to. And I’m not quite sure how to go deeper without their permission or without the right amount of time.
I felt like I needed a structure to go deeper. So that was really important and I found you through the Grief Educator program through David Kessler. Yeah. Which I had gotten certified in. And you were one of the guest speakers. And when I listened to you talk about self-worth that’s when it really struck me that there was something powerful about what you were offering.
And so I knew that I had to explore it because I knew it would serve my clients in a deeper way.
Nancy: Thank you. Yes. And so you were working with clients in the container of Results coaching, right?
Kathleen: Two to three goals over six months. And what were the insights about getting, making progress on goals? So sometimes it would go, it would go a little bit deeper, but most of the time it was about what were the strategies and steps they needed to take to get there.
Nancy: And. I know, because you’ve shared with me that you have now been working with those same clients and doing Reinvention Coaching with them. Yes. What have you seen as a result of that?
Kathleen: Powerful insights that I had not heard before from my clients, a willingness to share what in their life led them to where they are today, and what they’re willing to release, and what they’re willing to integrate as part of what you train us in, in Reinvention Coaching.
And the willingness to trust the container of the coaching to open up, to really go deep and, and to share not just with me, but with themselves, the realization of what’s holding them back.
Nancy: And I’m curious, what have you noticed has shifted in yourself since going through LLCA?
Kathleen: Ah, well, it’s interesting when I created this coaching business, because I was going from a very large institutional environment to working on my own.
I felt a little bit at sea and Patrick Lencioni at The Table Group has a playbook that, what is your business about? And first there’s six questions. And the first one is – Why do we exist? And my statement for coaching. Flawed humans aspire to greatness. And through LLCA I realized I’m one of those flawed humans.
I didn’t want to believe that I had shadow beliefs or underlying commitments. I thought my life was pretty good and I was doing fine and I didn’t need this. And despite some personal challenges and family situations I’ve been through recently, I realized that I really did need it myself. And that the coaching I got through the program first through you working with us and then being able to coach each other.
It was extraordinary for me to learn about myself as a person and my beliefs and limits, but also to see how different people coach, which is something you don’t get to do, you know, there isn’t a waitress standing next to you, right? Like in a restaurant. And I learned so much from the person who, well, not only of course from you coaching us, but then one on one, the person who coached me who was so very different than I am, her style was different.
And I learned so much from her that I’ve incorporated.
Nancy: Beautiful. And maybe share a bit about your experience of how. The program is so hands on and high touch the mentors, the small peer groups.
Kathleen: I love this program because while I will look at a book and I’ll read things, I am so much better one-on-one. The fact that this marries both the academic side, all the research and knowledge you bring to the different topics, to each topic, whether it’s vision or calibration or whatever topic it might be.
You bring the research that comes with it, but then there’s so much hands on the group of people that are in the cohort. You get to know which is wonderful and you just have to listen to it for a moment, your warmth and energy that you bring every single session makes someone wanna come. It made me wanna show up even on days where I thought, oh, I’m not sure if I can do this.
It made me wanna show up. I didn’t personally, I didn’t wanna let you down. That might be my own issue. but, but that laughter always being able to be part of a group, which I missed in my previous working environment. I missed that when I came into coaching by myself. So that was a big help. The small group and the mentor situation was really useful.
We were able to create a trust to acknowledge that we were imperfect in this and that we were struggling. And yet we were worthy of succeeding and we were worthy of doing this and we helped each other out a lot. And then being able to dive into the deep dive in the December session for us, it was December session where we went through our examples.
That was so powerful to really have an intensive weekend where you really would dive into it. And what Linda brought to that was so important. Oh, I found that to be really, really useful. And then the, the workbook piece of it, so that you had things to work on each week and was also really helpful.
So for me, the interactive nature and the sense of community, I really believe there’s a sense of community.
Nancy: Yeah. I mean, I see it right away. It’s the alchemy of all of us being together. Creates something really powerful. And that’s quite frankly why I love training and certifying and teaching in this program because I love that I get to be in there with you, you know? I love that. It’s not just some prerecorded distanced kind of learning. I feel like we’re really in it together.
Kathleen: Absolutely. And one of the people I coached is getting married this weekend and I was able to chat with her on our call the other day and say, I’m so excited. I’ve been thinking about you, how’s the weather.
It was just it, even though we hadn’t been in contact for a couple of months, right. So there is a real sense of personal connection, even though it may not be, you know, friendships, maybe some will be maybe some won’t be, but it, there is a real sense of community of real
Nancy: And you know, that’s another really important piece in terms of the Alumni Springboard and then the ongoing alumni advanced training program.
Kathleen: The Alumni Springboard is exactly what I was missing. And it was part of the reason when you described the program. And the call that I sat in on and you described the program. I thought this is a financial investment, no questions, no question about it. But the Alumni Springboard was the piece that I thought you’re gonna help me launch.
And even though I already have a business and I’ve had 16 clients before this started, you’re gonna help me figure out how to launch and going through the business steps, this summer was so useful and, and you could be vulnerable and say, I don’t get how to do this. Right. And you can write your story and give it to people and have them give you feedback.
And even in the certification process, you know, to feel like you’re getting certified, I really prepared. And in it, it wasn’t just testing me. Linda actually helped me work through. My shadow belief, you know, just so clear and there’s such a trusting relationship that it was, it always feels like you’re about helping us succeed.
Nancy: Beautiful. Thank you. Thank you so much for what you shared. I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to continue supporting you in every way I can.
Kathleen: Thank you. And Nancy, I will say I have probably 10 to 15 years I see myself doing this. And if I think about helping clients that are young women in their thirties and forties.
The notion that I could help a hundred of them make a difference in their career. It just gives me a sense of purpose and direction. And I’m so grateful to you and your entire team for being the resource to help me launch. So thank you.
Nancy: You just gave me chills. Thank you.
How long have you been waiting to fulfill your dream of becoming a successful life coach? You might feel like you’re not ready, but honestly what’s going to change by waiting?
There’s a reason you’re watching me right now. So it’s time to give yourself permission to get off the fence and follow your heart. Whether you’re new to coaching or haven’t yet achieved the success you’re looking for, Levin Life Coach Academy will give you everything you need to become the coach you are meant to be.
I don’t want you looking back in a week or a month and wishing you had trusted your inner voice. Now it is time to choose you.
Head on over to nancylevin.com/yes. LLCA enrollment closes on September 29th at midnight. That link again, nancylevin.com/yes.
Nancy: Welcome, Michael.
Michael: Hello. Thank you for having me on here. So excited.
Nancy: Of course, my pleasure. I’m so excited to talk to you about the difference LLCA has made in your life. So you entered into LLCA already a certified coach.
Michael: Correct. Yes, I did.
Nancy: And what is it that had you come through this program?
Michael: Well, primarily the program that I was in prior was wonderful and was doing great things and I was coaching and growing and helping people along.
And then I became familiar with Nancy’s work and I saw that there was more, there was more of an expansion of the whole concept of coaching and it, what I like to say sort of in a more modern way or a more expansive way for clients. So I was very curious to see what it was all about. And then I loved, I entered into the Reinvention first module, which I was really excited about, not only for the potential for coaching other people, but for myself, because I knew that there were parts of me that still needed to be worked on.
Nancy: And share a little bit about how your personal life and your business was able to grow and expand once you were certified.
Michael: Well, first of all, I wanna say. Both of them were before LLCA were very exclusive, different, and now they are one. So my personal life specifically one of the greatest gifts that I got out of that, that time at being part of the Reinvention Coaching, and then becoming certified was that I received one of the greatest gifts, which was the ability to really look at myself and love myself. Something that for years and years, even as a certified coach, I was not really able to fully grasp and be okay with and sort of do that, look in the mirror kind of thing, and go, yeah, I love me.
I love who I am and I’m proud of who I am. So that was one of the biggest leaps for me was the ability to really just look at myself and turn everything toward me and give me the opportunity to love myself. And then from my coaching side, from the business side, it catapulted me forward. Let’s put it that way.
First of all, it got me to actually leave my full-time career that I have been on the back and forth seesaw for probably 8, 8 to 9 years, not having the courage or the strength or the understanding, or the feeling of security to actually make that leap. So I was able to make that leap, which was gigantic for me in my life, because now I’m finally doing what I really love.
And I wake up in the morning with a passion that I desire that I also tell my clients to have. So, you know, it’s sort of that thing where you need to, you gotta live your life the way you want, if you’re gonna be teaching other people who are assisting other people on their journey. So that was one of the biggest things for me.
And then what it did is within the program itself, it is so rich with information, and tools, and support, and community that really help you just jump off so easily. I was amazed. I always say it’s sort of like graduate school for coaches because I was amazed at what was given to us, handed to us, like right down to here’s some social media posts on how you can get started.
And here’s a way to do a book study and here’s how to be a, a group coach and like things. You would have to take a million different courses. And I spent a lot of money prior doing that where now it was all in one place in a very comfortable environment with amazing people who all were moving in this powerful direction.
So personally, it gave me the strength, the inner strength to love myself, to have the confidence and the courage. And then professionally, it gave me the tools that I had been trying to find in lots of different places, but the support was something that I had never found anywhere else. And that was really the difference for both professional and personal.
Nancy: That’s beautiful, Michael. Let’s dive into one of the pieces of LLCA that really sets it apart. The post certification, Alumni Springboard and ongoing alumni training program. How has your experience of that?
Michael: Been the Alumni Springboard. That program is amazing in my past certifications, it’s been, you know, Hey, congratulations, here’s your certificate.
And off you went and you tried to figure it out. But in the alumni program, you again are given these tools and given these opportunities, not only for additional certifications, which again, help you do more inner work, which has been monumental for me. But also again, you have these tools that are given to you to assist you in really determining who’s your ideal client, where you wanna go with that client, how you wanna speak to them, how to build your voice. You know, I had a website in place, but this, you know, they give me the tools to sort of go, let’s tune up this website and make it a little bit more functional.
Here’s how you tie it to social media. Here’s what you do to get new clients. Right out of the gate I had clients, which was really powerful and wonderful for me. So the other part of it, too, is that you’re on this journey with this group of people and you continue to be with them and you can’t wait to have your sessions with them because you get to share your heart, share your successes, share your challenges, and also just be part of a community that you know is out there and has your back.
There’s Facebook groups. There’s ways to connect with people. You’re making lifelong, not only business connections, but life connections with people. And I have learned the gift of that. And to honor that, and to know that I have all these other coaches that I could go to and say, Hey, I’m having a problem with this client.
Or this client seems to be struggling. And then you get all this great input and all this great support. So the alumni program, my opinion differentiates LLCA from anything else that I’m aware of, I’m sure there are other types of things like that, but not to the level and the ease of the way it’s presented in LLCA.
Nancy: And to anyone listening who might be sort of on the fence thinking, should I, or shouldn’t I, or maybe I’ll wait till next year or who’s really sort of on the fence about it. What might you say?
Michael: I would say give yourself this gift, even if you don’t want to be the life coach of the century, this is an opportunity to give yourself a very special gift that you’re not necessarily gonna find in other places, you know, really allow yourself to love yourself enough to go on this journey and to allow yourself to expand. As like we like to say, choose you, you know, allow yourself to choose you this time and jump in because I guarantee you, it is far beyond anything you can ever expect.
Nancy: Welcome, Holly.
Holly: Hello.
Nancy: So I would love for you to share with the listeners a bit about where you were before you enrolled in LLCA and the change that being certified inside of LLCA made for you in your life and in your professional world.
Holly: Sure. Well, where I was before LLCA was sitting there as a certified coach, working as a nonprofit executive.
Really having this feeling of it’s all or nothing. Like why haven’t you jumped to do this and what are you waiting for?
Nancy: I remember you and I have known each other work together and I heard you were starting this academy. And I remember, I think I talked to you the day it closed or the day after or something like that.
And I thought I have no business getting another certification and my whole body was telling me to do it. And so I thought, well, you know, it’ll be interesting to see how someone starts something and to go through it. And what it ended up happening was I was leading a team of people during the pandemic while I was in LLCA.
And what I got was this support for myself personally, and this structure to be held in while I was leading people through uncertainty and having to raise money and really show up, even when there was so much of me that needed tending to, and this really was the place for that. So total side benefit, if not the full benefit was my own personal support and coaching.
And then I really through even not just being certified in LLCA, but also with the mentor being a mentor. Yes. But also the alumni program there’s then, then this ongoing place and really an acceptance that I feel every time I show up on a call that I could come with my triumphs, with my despair and I’m supported just as I am where I am.
That has really allowed me to forgive myself for not having started a coaching business before, and even have some empathy for where I’ve been all those years ago, since I’ve been certified and kind of coaching on the side here and there and realizing that I have loved parts of my nonprofit work.
Like there are definitely parts of it that resonate with who I am, align with who I am, all the things. And I feel like what going through LLCA helped me do was seek out more of a blend. And so this last year I’ve been in a role with the same organization that includes more one on one coaching, consulting, leading strategy for fundraising.
That’s getting me closer to this. What would this blend look like? And so I feel like instead of being this like, oh, or nothing, and you have to leave everything behind, it’s more of pulling in all the parts of me. And that’s what I feel like happened with LLCA for me was I didn’t leave any part of me behind.
I got to know more parts and integrated all together with the coaching work.
Nancy: So you came into LLCA already having been a certified coach, and you weren’t really engaging in coaching others. What was the difference inside of LLCA? What made a difference for you that gave you the courage, the confidence to be able to really put your coaching to work?
Holly: Yeah. You know, I think, I think I’ve come to realize how much I have been doing it in my work. And, and I knew that to a certain extent, I think I didn’t appreciate how much it was a part of what I was doing in my nonprofit world. And then I had some clients on the side when I did the first certification and it just got to be so much work to have both exist.
And I feel like what LLCA did for me was there’s a consistency. So, you know, after you’re certified, then there’s an alumni program. So it’s always here. So before it was easy for me to say, oh, I can’t spend time here on finding clients or carving out time to coach them one on one, because I have to focus here on my nonprofit work and something about having a regular call and the accountability of it with LLCA has kept it in the forefront so I don’t just let it go “out to sea” again, like I did the first time around.
So I feel like there’s this, the supportive nature of it with not just what the program is, how alumni is set up. It’s also the people that I’ve met, who are some lifelong friends at this point, I think. Jury’s out. No, I’m just kidding.
Nancy: I think, you know, it’s, I think it’s safe to say.
Holly: Yeah, I think it’s safe to say there’s something about going through something like this together and continually with this same group, we’re all coming to it and learning something together. And have a shared language of sorts and a shared goal of at the end of the day, we wanna help people.
We wanna help them return to their own wisdom. And so there’s something about connecting with others at, from that place, with that intention, that’s super powerful. And it’s, it’s a drawing back to the work and the coaching of others’ dream, then being like a, Ugh, I gotta get on this call or, Ugh, I have to do this to get my business in order of more of like, what can this look like?
What is possible? And I think with just as I think about the people that I went through the program with were all very different. We’re coming from different backgrounds. I come from nonprofits, someone comes from law, someone comes from a cash records work. Someone is a kindergarten teacher.
There’s all these things. There’s all these different backgrounds that people come to the table with and then they’re creating what they want next. And it looks different. So I feel like there’s this possibility that’s here for me in a different way than was before, because I’m getting to see real time, the evolution of everyone’s work.
And for anyone listening, who might be on the fence trying to decide, should I enroll? Should I wait till next year? What, what might you say?
Holly: I would say get quiet and really listen to yourself.
Had I listened to all that goes on in my head, all the voices of, oh, this is ridiculous. It’s too much money. You already did a program. Why are you doing this? And not listen to every other part of my body that was like, hell yes, you need to do this. I can’t imagine where I’d be right now.
So I would say, really allow yourself to follow this desire if that’s what’s happening for you versus listening to all the gremlins that maybe have been running your life for decades.
I think the other part for me is really looking at I’m someone who really likes that freedom within a framework. And I feel like this has pushed me to do that in a way this work has pushed me to, to do that in a way that’s really powerful for me to own my own voice, it’s taken me a while to get there, to stand here and say that.
And I think that that’s an important part of this is when you go into anything, you don’t just wanna emulate someone and be like them. And they go out in the world and do their work. You want your work. And I feel like that’s the piece where, for me owning who I am has taken me a while to return to that place where I really do.
So I just think, give yourself the space and time. And if this is it for you follow it, we’ll be glad to see you. And if not, that’s okay too, but really listen to yourself.
Nancy: Thank you so much, Holly.
Holly: You’re welcome.
Nancy: Welcome Nichole.
Nichole: Thank you Nancy, for having me. I really appreciate it. I’m honored.
Nancy: oh, I’m honored. I’m thrilled to talk to you. I would love for you to share with the listeners a bit about where you were before you enrolled in LLCA and what had you enroll?
Nichole: Yeah, so I had been on my own journey of rediscovering, who I was, and what I like to say is I was on this journey of unbecoming and becoming so that I could become, I was on this journey of disentangling from so many things that kept me found so many things that kept me wrapped up in my story.
And so. I was, I had made progress, but I felt like I had kind of stalled out and I was looking for a, a program to, to help take me to that next level. And I’ve always known that I liked coaching and I liked being able to share my story and my experience. And I’ve had some really great opportunities and experiences in doing so, but I realized that I still needed help continuing to unlock parts of me that had not been dealt with that had been tucked down and hidden away.
But I also knew that. Oh, gosh, I think I could start coaching even though I’m not perfect just yet. I think there’s something I could do. And so I had been looking for a coaching platform for about a year and I tried something that was virtual and it just really wasn’t me. And I had a very dear friend of mine encourage me to really look at something that.
Was in alignment with what was important to me. And what is really important to me is empathy. What is really important to me is being able to get beneath the surface of who I am or others are to go deep and to make it personal and intentional. And so when I saw your advertisement on Facebook, I’m like, oh, that is so for me.
And I had seen you on Facebook a few times. And so your face was familiar to me and what you did was familiar, but the advertisement that I saw really spoke to me and when I made the call and I spoke with, you know, one of your, one of your business partners, if you will, I was like, yep. The deal is sealed.
I’m here. Everything that this coaching platform offered was in alignment with what is most important to mean? And it was in alignment with what I was wanting to continue to work on in my own personal transformation.
Nancy: Thank you for sharing that. And. What is the result for you now on the other side, being a certified Levin Life coach?
Nichole: Well, first of all, I feel a lot more aware and I feel like I’m not as much as a hot mess as I used to be. Okay.
Nichole: This program has really given me life. It has breathed life into my dark and dead in places. It helped me to rediscover my voice. It helped me to name some things. And one of the things that I just keep coming back to what really resonates with me is this concept of limiting and shadow beliefs.
This concept of understanding what are my underlying commitments and that my underlying commitments are so aligned to my shadow beliefs, my limiting beliefs. And so that really spoke to me big time. And so now that I’ve gone through the course, I feel much more aware of what my shadow beliefs are. I catch myself in the moment when I’m getting ready to think the wrong way, or maybe do the wrong thing.
I’m like, oh, wait a minute. Where is this coming from? Right. Why am I being triggered? Is this, am I trying to make this mean something about me that it doesn’t need to? Right.
Nichole: It’s just coming back to my shadow belief of not being good enough. Okay. Well, I’m committed to playing small, playing small beans, and I’m still rumbling with this shadow, this shadow belief of not being good enough.
I’m starting to connect the dots and I’m getting so excited as I’m talking about it.
Nancy: I see it. I love it.
Nichole: I wasn’t able to connect the dots before and I wasn’t able to put a name to those things and now I can. So, so in addition to all of that, I have also created my professional website and I did that based on your help and instruction and your business partners instructions.
And I took the advice of doing it on my own. So I did not get a web, a website producer, but I will next time. But I really appreciate the experience of being able to create something like this on my own and so I published that. And I have put that out. I’m proud to say that I have my first paid client.
So I am currently in the process of taking this person through Reinvention Coaching. And I am just looking forward to continuing to do my own work. And I’m also looking forward to continuing to talk to other individuals and be able to help expose them to the wonderful things that Reinvention coaching offers.
Nancy: And for anyone out there listening, who is considering enrolling this year, what do you have to offer them? How would you invite them in?
Nichole: Well, I would say that if you are sick and tired of being sick and tired. If you are continuing to go in the same circle and you’re not able to make progress or get out of that, do loop it’s time for you to try something new.
If you are tired of being so wrapped up in your stories in your past. And if there are things that are unresolved that are keeping you from being able to evolve, to move into your purpose, to move into your passion and the beauty and the authenticity of who you are, then this program is definitely meant for you.
I will add I really like the sense of community that this program offers. I love the fact that we have access to you. And I love your directness and your boldness. It is. It’s amazing. Okay. And I’m like, I wanna give that, I wanna put that on. Thank you for showing me that. But I love the sense of community that you and your team have cultivated.
It’s, I love the touchpoints every week. Even if you can’t make the meetings, you can watch the videos and I still feel connected and enjoy the sense of community on Facebook as well. So it’s a very safe space where anyone can show up and be their authentic selves and to ask questions and to have conversations without feeling like you’re going to be judged or feeling like gosh, maybe I should know this.
So thank you and your team for cultivating such an amazing, amazing community and such a safe place for us to be able to show up and to learn and explore and get outside of our comfort.
Nancy: Thank you, Nichole.
Nichole: Thank you.
Nancy: Hi Jo. Welcome to the podcast.
Jo: Hi Nancy. Thank you for having me.
Nancy: I am so excited to talk to you and I’d love for you to share where you were prior to enrolling in LLCA and what had you enroll?
Jo: Yeah, so I was at a point in my life where I was feeling extremely stuck. I had raised my children. I had taken on a new career.
What I thought was gonna be a new career after they left, because I just needed something to fill the gap. And honestly, I had been out of the workforce for a bit raising them and busy with their activities and things. And so I took this job not having any idea what my worth was, what my skills were, what I could still bring to the table, but I just knew that I needed something to fill the gap.
And so I did that for a couple of years and found myself working a ridiculous amount of hours for someone else building their brand successfully, but building a brand that my heart didn’t really care about. And I was exhausted. My relationship was really taking a toll. I had no idea how to honor myself or what I wanted.
I think that I went from one thing in life to the next checking all the boxes along the way and was just really at a place where I was like, I don’t really know what I wanna do or how to even move forward. And so. I was very fortunate that I, I had taken some other certifications along the way as my children were young, because I’ve always wanted to dip my toe in this area, but it never felt like the right time.
I felt like I was giving so much to everyone else along the way that I didn’t have anything else to give. And it just wasn’t the right time. So I left my job, not knowing what I was gonna do, but knowing that I couldn’t stay where I was anymore, I literally was at the tipping point of feeling like everything was about to just fall apart.
And so, as it turns out, I went on this beautiful trip with and met a friend that we have in common and I started talking to her about, I don’t know what the next step is. I just know that it has to be something different than what I’m living. I can’t come home from this trip and walk into the life that I’ve been living.
I literally was at that point. And so she, and I talked quite a bit about it and as fate would have it, she said, have you ever thought about coaching? And I said, yes, I’ve done a lot of this work. And she said, well, from everything you’ve told me of all the things that you’re looking for, she’s like, I just found out about this coaching program that’s opening. They might already be closed. She’s like, I’m not even sure, but she was like, I just feel like it would be such a natural fit for you.
And what I will say is that was really the extent of the conversation. I said, I’ll explore it. I went to go to bed that night and everything in my body was vibrating.
I’m not someone who viscerally feels, I wasn’t used to viscerally feeling a lot. I can’t say that anymore. tell that I’m this up.
Nancy: That’s right.
Jo: But, I wasn’t used to viscerally feeling things in my body and I couldn’t get it off my brain. I just kept going through, wait a minute. All the list of things that I’ve said I wanted this, this really could check the boxes, but you know, I know that I was one of the few people who came to you in year one who didn’t have experience with you in the past. And so, but I really trusted this friend and I just was like, I can’t even sleep. So I got up in the middle of the night, I Googled it.
I started reading about it. I got so excited. And then I saw that the program was literally starting that week. And I was like, oh wow. And let me tell you, I’m someone who habitually had not jumped into things. I did not know how to do that. Cause I had no real trust of myself. So I was like, oh, okay. I don’t know if it’s gonna work or it’s not gonna work, but I know that I have to reach out and I did and said, I don’t know if it’s even possible, but I wanna be a part.
I just knew that I wanted in, I didn’t even know any of the real details of the nitty gritty about it. So the next morning I get up and I go to breakfast with a beautiful friend who is my she’s my cheerleader friend. And she I’m telling her about it. Like, I can’t stop talking about it.
And she’s like, what are you waiting for? And I said, I don’t know. And I don’t really know that much. And she’s like, just take the leap, which is so funny to me when I think about the jump program. Right? So she’s like, just take the leap. What are you waiting for? There’s never gonna be the perfect time.
This is so perfect for you. You’ve always been that person for everyone. And do something for yourself. It was just such a beautiful affirmation. Thank God I had that friend, a couple of those friends and so I came home that day and I had a conversation with someone from the program which affirmed everything that I was feeling.
And she was like, why this program? And I said, you know what? Haven’t even explored any other programs, but what I’m gonna tell you is everything in my body is saying, yes. And that’s an unusual experience for me. I am not sure what I wanna do with this down the road. I’m not sure where this, but I knew that I was supposed to be there.
And so, as it turned out, it worked out great and I am blown away that, first of all, I trusted myself enough to take the leap. I had a little bit of out of body experience of, you know, what if, what am I getting myself into? But I just knew. I knew I was ready and I knew that I needed something that was gonna fulfill the inner part of me.
And that’s what I felt was for the first time that green light was absolutely do this. And so had a conversation with my husband who fortunately was like, okay, this is what you wanna do, do it. And then I enrolled the next day. So, I think I started the day after.
Nancy: I know. I mean, I remember, I remember our mutual friend reaching out to me saying, I know that this is the last minute, but.
And I remember. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jo: I love it. And I will just say I have not regretted it for a second. The change that has made in my life has been beyond anything I could imagine. I went into it going, maybe this will be a new career path for me. I had no idea what the personal transformation for me would be.
And so man, when you get that green. and it is that strong do it. that is what I will say.
Nancy: Yeah. Oh, I love this so much. Share a little bit about the personal shift that you experienced in the program and as a result of being certified, as well as professional, what, what shifted for you?
Jo: I don’t think I could really shift the professional until I shifted the personal.
Nancy: That’s right.
Jo: I kept saying, I just want everything to feel in alignment. I don’t feel like my life is in alignment. I could go do a career over here, but I don’t know. I just was craving that thing that I could embody. And I think for me, that’s been the biggest piece of it. So personally, like I said, I was that person who grew up, I had a dysfunctional early childhood, grew up very fast.
Came from an alcoholic family. Took care of things. And really just decided that this is how my life was gonna look, that I couldn’t control what my childhood was, but I could, by George, control my adult life. And so I was going to study hard. I was going to get the job. I went into a tech field very early on, was one of the first female programmers to come through our school and never once stopped to go, is this what makes you happy?
I just knew that I wanted to, honestly, make a lot of money. I didn’t wanna depend on anyone. I wanted to be self-sufficient. I was really good at that. And so that’s what I wanted to do. And I did that. And then met the guy, had the children never intended to be a stay home mom, but my husband traveled quite a bit.
My children had very nontraditional lives of coming in and out of school to do various things that they wanted to do. I was great at pumping everybody else up. I was really good at being a supporter. And honestly, you know, I, I had a very comfortable life, a very happy life. I mean, I had all the things that I thought this is what it takes to be happy.
And I checked all the boxes and as time went on and as they left home and had their own lives, I was left feeling like, wow, when is it ever gonna be my turn and thought that something would come to give me that turn, versus when am I gonna give myself the attention to put myself first? And so, yeah, so this, I think is coming at a time when we don’t face what we’re feeling, I didn’t come up from a family who knew how to communicate very well about feelings and things that were happening. Neither did my husband. So the strain on our marriage was great. I really, really was at that tipping point. When I left to go on that trip, I cried the entire way home on the airplane from another country.
And I just was like, I can’t go back to my life. It feels so dead and empty. That’s really where I was. And so stepping into this program for me, whew, was a doozy. And the thing that I love about LLCA is that we get the opportunity to go through that training first. We’re coached first. So the transformation that I made, I was really good at giving advice and stuff to other people.
I was like I said, I was a really good mental processor and very intuitive and smart about things that I would say I could do it for other people all day long and, and very much was that person in my friendships and relationships. But when it came to me, I just didn’t know how to turn the attention inward until I stepped into this program.
And that’s really what the first part of it was for me was a real analysis of this is where I am. What do I do about it? And. For me, this program has given me the toolbox to take back the ownership of my life. It’s not about everything being perfect. It’s not about there not being challenges. It’s not about any of that, but you know what?
It’s like. I now know how to look inside and use all the tools that I gain from this training and that I coach people to do every day to be able to create what I want, no matter what’s happening on the outside. And that is the best feeling in the world. So, you know, we, I could spend a whole podcast telling you details of the personal journey.
I think I’m gonna go past my time. it has been grand. It has been grand and it has saved my marriage. I will say that it has given me the ability to, I always knew that I couldn’t walk away from something until I knew I had done everything in my power that I could do that I knew how to do. I couldn’t just run.
I was, I had grown up with enough and done enough training and other things to know that that was the case. So I needed to figure out how to fill myself from the inside to go, okay, is this something that’s gonna work or not work? I knew my job didn’t and I knew that I didn’t know what my relationship would end up being, but the difference that has made in my, in my marriage, the difference that it has made with my adult children to be able to share with them, Ugh.
I mean, all the relationships in my life really are so much deeper, so much richer. And I had no idea that all that would come from this training. No. So I’m so grateful. Yeah.
Nancy: Thank you.
Jo: If I have another minute.
Nancy: You’ve got plenty of time, Jo, go for it.
Jo: So professionally, I will say that there were times when I was like, I’m tempted to just jump into the next thing.
And one of the biggest things that I said when I left my job was just because I can doesn’t mean that I should and I’ve heard you say the same thing, which is so interesting. I really had to assess what is it that I want, what is the desire? I had never asked myself that question before.
And so when I really sat down to do that, I realized that I could create professionally, whatever it is that I wanted from this. I could go full steam ahead and decide to be a speaker and decide to do different things and really pursue lots of outer things. I could work with individual clients. I could do groups.
I mean, there were so many options that were open to me. And the other thing that is so special about LLCA a is the continued growth is the continued enrichment. You know, we don’t just get a certification and it’s over. It just continues to enrich and with each certification, there’s a deeper layer that arises to be healed and to be seen.
And so the experience that I can offer my clients and it is an experience it’s not coming from a knowledge, it is an experience because I’ve experienced the work. And so the experience that I can share with them is. So deep and continues to be deeper and deeper all the time. The more that I stay in this.
So it’s such a beautiful program. Yeah. So grateful. Really.
Nancy: So for anyone who’s listening, who is thinking, should I shouldn’t I? Is now the time? What do you have to share?
Jo: Yeah. What I have to share is listen to yourself. It’s so easy for our brains to go into fear and well, now’s not the time and I can think of 9 million reasons not to do it, but there’s no time like the present to start focusing on yourself.
And the one thing I can say is, do I wish I had done it 30 years ago? Yes. But I wasn’t ready 30 years ago. So you’re ready when you’re ready. And if you’re on the fence and thinking about it, there’s something in you that’s pulling at, you to make a change. And I’m just telling you, there is nothing that I’ve experienced in the years of work that I’ve done that teaches you more about yourself than doing this program.
And of all the things, even if you never coach a day in your life, if you come out of this and you know yourself on a deep level, it doesn’t matter what you do. The fulfillment that you will have is great. So the fence is not a comfortable place. just jump like my friend said, you know, just take the leap.
It is so worth it. It is so worth it.
Nancy: Thanks so much for joining me today on Your Permission Prescription. For even more, I invite you to head on over to nancylevin.com and sign up for my newsletter, The Practice, and follow me on social media.
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