Let’s dive into some strategies that I’ve used in my own business and strategies that I have seen work in other people’s businesses and in their lives. I want you to build confidence as a fertility coach and practitioner and these are the steps that you can use to get you there.

Step number one, acknowledge your feelings. This is the first step and it’s recognizing and accepting that self doubt and imposter syndrome are normal. You’re not alone. Many successful professionals experience these same feelings. Again, I experienced this still after 10 years, but I’ve learned these strategies and so it doesn’t affect me as much as it used to. And now that’s what I want for you.

Strategy number two, reflect on your achievements. Make a list of all your accomplishments, your qualifications, your positive feedback from clients, your client testimonials, and revisit this list anytime you feel self doubt start to pop in. I have a vision board that sits right in front of me when I’m at my desk.

And anytime I feel that twinge of self doubt, I’m not enough, maybe I’m about to do a presentation or a webinar, Or get on a discovery call and that little voice in the back of my head says, you’re a fraud. You don’t know enough. Who do you think you are? Who are you to help this person? But then I have to remind myself, I’m Dr. Kela, and I’ve spent a lot of time and a lot of energy perfecting my protocols, perfecting my craft, getting my qualifications, my degrees, I do know enough and I am enough. And so I have to remind myself that constantly when that self doubt pops in.

Strategy number three, seek support. Connect with other professionals and fertility coaches and practitioners that are in the same field as you. You can share experiences and challenges. And you can get a different perspective and get reassurance that you’re on the right track. Don’t hesitate to seek mentorship or coaching for yourself. Coaches need coaches. I’m constantly enrolling in programs that are going to better myself. Not just my education, which I do that a lot because I love to learn. I love to bring new protocols and strategies and new things to help support my clients and patients. But I also love to learn business from people who have done what I am trying to do, so don’t hesitate to seek support at the end.

I’ll talk about the program that I created at the Hormone Puzzle Society’s Educational Institute that will certify you as a fertility and hormones coach. This is an amazing program with 10 weeks of business and marketing training, six weeks of mindset and self development. It’s an amazing program, so seek support if that’s something that you feel you need. I feel everybody needs some sort of support and definitely a certification or to continue learning.

Strategy number four, commit to ongoing education and professional development. The more knowledge and the more skilled you are, the better and more confident you will become.

Strategy number five is practice self compassion.  Treat yourself with kindness and understanding. Remember that it’s okay to make mistakes. And that perfectionism is not the goal for you or the client or patient. Focus on progress and growth. I love to say progress, not perfection. That’s such an amazing statement for you and for your clients and patients.

Strategy number six, set realistic goals. We’ve talked about block scheduling and this goes hand in hand with that. Break down your large goals into smaller, manageable steps. Celebrate each milestone, no matter how small it is. Build your confidence by the things that you’re completing and by the patients and clients that you’re helping to get the results that they’re after. Celebrate every win. I don’t care how small it is.

Strategy number seven is visualize your success. I do this so often. I imagine what it will look like Feel like, smell like, I embody what it will be to get the success that I’m after. Spend time visualizing your success, not only in building your business, but also in your coaching sessions.

I remember when I did my first coaching session, I was so nervous. I had imposter syndrome bad. I was so self conscious. I had my notes in front of me. I was so prepared, but then I was so scared that the person was going to ask me something that I didn’t know, or that I hadn’t studied, or that I hadn’t learned, and they were going to realize that I was a fraud, and that I was brand new, and I didn’t know what I was doing, and they were going to ask for their money back.

But you know what? That never happened. That has never happened in almost 10 years of business. Every person that I’ve worked with has been amazed at the amount of support and what I’ve been able to create with them. They’ve gotten so much success. They’ve created babies and businesses and all of this was because I wasn’t scared to put myself out there. And to share the knowledge that I did have with these clients and patients and students.

And number eight is affirmations and Positive self talk. I use affirmations all the time. You have to reinforce your belief and your abilities. And you have to train your brain to constantly remember this and to know this and to embody this.

We’ve already kind of touched on these, but you want to start with a warm welcome. I always thank my client or my potential client for taking their time to have a call with me.

I make them feel comfortable and appreciated. A lot of times people come on these calls and they’re really nervous. So I just want to make them feel comfortable. I want them to feel like they’re just having a conversation. I ask a few rapport building questions again. Some of the things I’ll ask is where are you from?

How did you find me? What made you want to book a call with me? And then I ask open ended questions. I have the client share their story, but then I’ll ask questions like Can you tell me a little bit more about that? Tell me about your cycle. Tell me about your nutrition. Have you ever had functional lab tests? Tell me what your main goals and concerns are. Tell me about your partner’s health. Tell me about your sleep, your hydration. I really try to actively listen and pay close attention to their responses. I take really good notes. I want to make sure I acknowledge their feelings and their experiences. An active listening builds trust and demonstrates empathy.

So make sure that you are doing that, you know, appropriately. And then after I hear all of their, you know, the problems they’re struggling with, their pain points, what they’ve tried in the past, and once I have a clear understanding of this, I’ll explain how my coaching packages can help solve these issues.

I always highlight my unique approach. I talk about success stories. I talk about the benefits of working with me and my team. I also address concerns. I’m prepared to answer questions, especially when they’re hard questions. I pride myself on being transparent and honest, and those are key pieces to this budding relationship.

And then once I hear their story and I hear their concerns and I’ve asked all the questions that I need to formulate a plan and when I think I can actually help somebody, again, I go into the call kind of knowing this, but I just want to gather as much information as I can and, and if I feel they’re a good fit for my program, then I outline what working together would look like.

And I’ve done shows about how to package your programs in the past, I’m not going to get into detail with that here. Go back and listen to my other shows where I talk about packaging your programs. But I recommend that you have I would say no more than two programs. That’s what I do and I find that that’s easy for somebody to understand and it’s not too confusing.

A confused mind never buys. So the ones that I do are a labs only package which includes one call with me, plus a treatment plan,

The second package that I do is a 12 week intensive coaching package, which includes three of our most popular labs, plus a coaching, plus weekly coaching calls. It’s more intensive, it’s more support, it’s more customization. So really decide what works best for you and your niche. And the one caveat I have with all of this is make sure your programs are clear, concise, know how they’re different, how they can help the client, and what the pricing is.

Be able to just let that roll off your tongue and say it really easily so it makes it super easy for the person to make a decision and buy. And remember, your client is not buying a program or a package. They’re enrolling in a solution to their problem. People hire me to help them get pregnant, not to go through a 12 week program.

Or not to run lab tests. They want me to help them get pregnant. How we do that? That’s irrelevant. This is what they’re paying for – a baby at the end. So then at the end of the call, you want to outline the next steps. You want to outline the key points. Whether you schedule a follow up call or you send additional information. You want to make sure that they know what to do next. And so that’s where the follow up comes in. 

And this is something that you’re going to need to have as clients get to know you, as potential clients get to know you. As you’re on social media, as you’re in your local community, when you’re doing talks or when you’re doing certain seminars, or you’re a guest on podcasts.

You want to make sure that you’re getting that know, like and trust factor established and you’re nurturing your potential leads. So a couple of things on how I’ve been able to do that is I try to give more than I received. I try to give a lot of free content, a lot of free information, free guidebooks, free recipes, free question-and-answer sessions with me.

I do a Facebook live and an Instagram live at least weekly. I want to make sure that I’m giving away a lot of free stuff because I want to help as many people as I possibly can. I think the last statistic that I saw was there are 43 million people in the world struggling with infertility. And so I want to help as many people as possible through my platform. And so I give away a lot of stuff for free. So I just want to make sure that my clients, my potential clients are nurtured. That they feel loved and that they’re helped by the information that I provide, whether they’re working with me individually or not.

So that’s one way that I nurture and, and that builds my know, like, and trust. People get to know me because they see me on a regular basis and they learn from me. Hopefully what I provide is helping them. And then. When they’re ready, if they’re ready to hire me, I hope that if they think of a fertility coach, I would hope they would think of me first.

The other thing is just showing that you care, you know, like, again, I give away so much for free. If somebody reaches out to me on social media and asks me a question, I try to reply pretty quickly. I try to always offer free calls. I just try to be there. I try to show that I’m there because I am there. I want people to know, like, and trust me. And so I find that the more I can build that relationship, the more my potential clients will want to work with me and I’ll want to work with them.