Facilitating Major Change: What Is Life Coaching?

Mike (00:02):

Brendon Collins made the jump from fitness coach to life coach. So what’s life coaching all about? Chris Cooper digs in on this edition of Two-Brain Radio.

Chris (00:10):

Hey everybody. Today we’re talking to Brendon Collins of CrossFit Strongsville. Brendon has had such an interesting journey from starting a gym through owning a gym, to eventually selling a gym and becoming a life coach that I thought I’d love to share this with all of you listeners out there. So Brendon, welcome back to Two-Brain Radio.

Brendon (00:31):

Thanks a lot. Coop feels good to be a repeat guest. Thanks for having me.

Chris (00:34):

It’s really awesome, man. So I’d love to start off with your story. What led you to opening a gym in the first place?

Brendon (00:41):

Yeah, and it gets critical that backstory, cuz it really does take me all the way through to present and the whole reason we’re having this conversation. So the reason I started at gym is because of kind of like one fateful night. <laugh> a number of years ago when I was talking to my wife. And at that time I was just an athlete and a coach. But I remember telling my wife when I coach, when I’m really coaching like one on one with a person and when they get it or they accomplish something or something clicks like that really makes me feel alive, like something inside of me, just leaps when that happens and that’s a rush, I don’t feel anywhere else in life. Like it’s so unique. I think this is what I’m called to do. And so from there I was like, I think I wanna open a gym, which is a very scary conversation to have with your wife.

Brendon (01:32):

and it just so happened to work out that the owner of the gym that I was coaching in at the time was thinking about selling. So it actually kind of fell into my lap that way, but even, and further back in that background, like years, I mean by years, I mean like 16 years ago now I was actually a pastor for a very short stint. So this idea of being in a role to help facilitate people’s life change in a meaningful way has been a long part of my story, coop, even going like way, way, way back, 20, less years ago. And I think stepping into that role as first a coach and then a gym owner was part of that, how do I facilitate meaningful life change for people? And that’s how I find myself coaching and then owning a gym. <laugh>

Chris (02:17):

What was the transition like from pastor to coach? Like obviously at some point you had to give up being a pastor to do this, right? Mm-hmm

Brendon (02:24):

<affirmative> yeah, there’s actually quite a gap between the two periods and I stopped becoming a pastor because there was like, political and moral, and ethical sort of implosions and failings with the church. I was a part of. So it was, it was really, really a messy stop. And so for a long time, I wanted nothing to do with that sort of life. I struggled even personally in my own faith. So I kept that sort of part of my life at arm’s length. You know, I took a job in insurance. Like I wanted nothing to do with facilitating meaningful life change in people. but like that itch never left that kind of like little tug on my heart never left. So in that long period of time, and that was probably almost 10 years at that point, like that desire never left. And I think it just really kind of came to the surface and manifested itself as, you know, a personal trainer, a CrossFit coach and then a gym owner. So they, although there’s a decade between them, I think they are very closely linked.

Chris (03:30):

Okay, man, that’s really interesting. So in that vein, did you, when you opened, were you already a CrossFit gym?

Brendon (03:37):

Yes. Yep. We were Strong Tower CrossFit in Middleburg Heights. I loved the CrossFit methodology. I loved the community based fitness. you know, being a former like team athlete, too, playing like baseball and soccer really spoke to me just having that atmosphere. I loved everything about it and I loved the life change that was happening inside that CrossFit affiliate.

Chris (03:57):

Super cool, man. Okay. So, how long did you own that gym and then like maybe let’s walk through your current transition.

Brendon (04:05):

Yeah. So I own the gym for five years. And I found Two-Braina year after I was an owner. I remember kind of saying like, what kind of mess did I just buy? And this isn’t working. And, I sat on vacation coop and I was sitting poolside side and I was reading, your books. I was reading help first. And, it was Two-Brainbusiness, 2.0 at that time. And I was like, all right, like maybe these folks could help. And I, as soon as I got home, I booked my first kind of discovery call with you. And I remember I wouldn’t let you get off the phone with me. I’m like, all right, well, well what’s next. And then beautifully, you hooked me up with Josh Martin as a mentor. And not only has he been an amazing mentor, he’s really turned into one of my closest and dearest friends.

Brendon (04:55):

So I can’t thank you enough for having great mentors and having such a significant impact on me that way. And then having Two-Brain through the pandemic, you know, that story’s been told so much how hard that was, especially for smaller affiliates and studio owners. Those last two years of working through the pandemic and trying to recover were very stressful and very difficult for us. And it actually got out to a point, where I kind of just was talking to my wife one night in the kitchen. I’m like, I’m just tired. I’m like really, really tired. I think the passion is waning a little bit. Like what do I do? And it just so happened that as I was having that conversation with my wife, there was an affiliate the next town over who it’s linked with a chiropractic center and the chiropractor and his wife found themselves as unwiting owners of an affiliate when the person who ran that one, left.

Brendon (05:54):

So they said, we run this affiliate. We don’t wanna close it down. It’s but it’s a lot of work. We don’t wanna do it. I think Brendon’s in a similar situation <laugh> so it just so happened that we were in similar situations at opposite ends of two different towns. and it was a beautiful merger. So it solved my problems. it solved their problems. Even my wife said, I don’t see it a downside to this, and this is really what you want. So I essentially, sold the majority stake of strong tower. And part of the business was to merge into their affiliate CrossFit Strongsville. We now have this beautiful, like 6,600 square foot gym. That’s part of a 20,000 square foot clinic where how a practical massage happens. It’s just a beautiful thing. And it kind of took all the weight off my shoulders and preserved my community and all that great stuff.

Brendon (06:46):

But the real thing was coop. Is it allowed space for me to get back to tha how do I facilitate meaningful life change? And that’s kind of when I got into life coaching and I’d been a beneficiary myself for a number of years of great counseling, I’m a huge, advocate like get counseling, see a therapist there’s so much benefit that could come from it. And then myself also being coached by, by a spiritual life coach. I was such a huge beneficiary of, and I just said, wow, there it is. Again, there’s the opportunity to kind of scratch that itch to step into that calling of facilitating meaningful, like more meaningful than thrusters and pull ups and vegetables for, you know, more meaningful life change, with people, on a very unique, very one-on-one. So I sit here today, a minority owner, in an affiliate that’s thriving and beautiful and healthy and coaching, a handful of selected individual clients, in kind of an integrated spiritual life cor coaching sort of way. And that’s where I am today. <laugh>

Chris (08:00):

That’s great, man. What an evolution

Brendon (08:03):

Wild

Chris (08:04):

<laugh> yeah, it’s amazing. I mean, but you deserve an amazing life. So this is great. before we get into like the specifics of what life coaching is and all that stuff, I’d love to just hear, like, you had such a tight bond with your gym and the community and mm-hmm, <affirmative> everything about it. Would you have made this move if that offer hadn’t just been so serendipitous? No,

Brendon (08:26):

No, no. Flat out hard. No. even when my wife and I were talking about it, one of the first things that came up was like, well, I could just close the gym and liquidate the assets. That would be the easiest, but there’s no way, like in my heart, I’m like, I can’t do that. Cause if I bump into one of these people in public, I would not be able to look them in the eye. And I was leery of a partnership. You know, you hear stories. and I was incredibly leery, not only just how would it work out between me and that partner, but how would that change and impact this culture I had built. So if this wasn’t like a grand slam home run that was confirmed multiple times over through serendipity, or I call like little God events. Like if it wasn’t confirmed multiple times over, it would not have happened.

Chris (09:18):

And are you still doing any coaching at the gym at all?

Brendon (09:20):

Yeah. I still coach one or two mornings a week. I’m a morning person, so I still get to interact. I even have an office I’ll probably head there next, as soon as we’re done and sit and work there for a while and chat with my partner. So yeah, absolutely. Still involved.

Chris (09:36):

Well, you, seem like an everything person, not just a morning person <laugh> and any time person,

Brendon (09:40):

It feels that way.

Chris (09:41):

Yeah. Well that’s great, man. Well, let’s talk about life coaching. When I started as a personal trainer 25 years ago. mm-hmm, <affirmative> a lot of people like mocked the idea of a personal trainer, like who are you to tell blank blank? And, so it was interesting because I think that’s kind of the point we are now with life coaching. You, hear that term, some of us have had good or bad experiences. Right. But a lot of us are still skeptical of it. So let’s start with like, what is life coaching?

Brendon (10:12):

Yeah. Ain’t that the question life coaching is difficult. I think honestly, I think life coaching is difficult to define, because it is, it takes so many forms. because there’s not one centralized governing agency. Like we can define CrossFit, right? Because CrossFit not only educates certifies, life coaching really doesn’t have that. There are different schools of thought. So it’s really hard to put your thumb on it. Sometimes it’s easier to say what life coaching is not. Okay. So life coaching is not therapy, right? Life coaches are not here to diagnose, treat, prevent, cure any sort of medical issue. Like it’s just not within the realm. Typically. Although not universal, typically life coaches are strategically forward looking. They’re not sometimes not too different than mentors, right. We could obviously deal with past and work through past trauma and things like that. But that’s where you get in that very fine line of, mm.

Brendon (11:12):

We should probably be talking to a therapist about this, right. cuz they’re especially trained and especially licensed for that. but life coaches, it’s a lot like mentoring. Sometimes we coach, sometimes we mentor. Sometimes we consult. Sometimes we just listen and encourage and lead people to their own insights. So because it is tough to define because it is hard to put a thumb on a specific definition of what it is. I think we’re rightfully so some people are leery because by that same effect, anybody can hang up a plaque and say, I’m a life coach. <laugh> I did a weekend conference and got a certificate and I’m a life coach now. So understandably so it’s difficult to define. And I think, although it’s not so much the case anymore, people can be leery of life coaching,

Chris (12:01):

Give an example of something where I would seek the counsel of a life coach.

Brendon (12:06):

Yeah. So I kind of answered that with my story. So I saw a therapist for a long time, especially dealing with the trauma of the fallout of my ministry vocation. And it really helped me work through a lot of that. brought up some things from my past that I’d yet to work through. But for me there got a point in time where I’m like, I feel like I’m getting my arms around the past. I feel like I know how to continue to work on and progress with that. But what’s like, for me, what’s next? Why am I here? What am I supposed to do? and that led me to start seeking out cautiously <laugh>, some life coaches and there was an audition process. I had to talk to quite a number of people to see that they really linked up.

Brendon (12:52):

But the life coach I ultimately hooked up with he’s helped me in a number of ways. get over my fear of trying new things. I’m a very, very cautious, very hedge your bets sort of guy. my life coach Matt has helped me greatly learn how to be curious and courageous and adventurous again. he’s helped me overcome these blocks and in my everyday life, that kind of keep me stuck where I’m at. So when I get overwhelmed, whether it’s with a, not like tasks before me, or just an idea of something, I completely shut down, Matt and I have worked through things like that where, it’s beyond just like a tip or trick you might see on Facebook or someone’s post really get beyond what I’m doing to shut myself down and learn to like take these things head on. I have a different kind of swagger when it comes to obstacles now.

Brendon (13:45):

So, those are some reasons I sought out a life coach and so much more was discovered. Cuz typically the reason why someone seeks out a life coach is not the real reason a good life coach gets underneath that life. Coaches are not there to solve your problems. They’re really there to help you get to the issues that are causing the problems. So the problems aren’t as much anymore. so I know again, a again of goes back to, it’s hard to put your thumb on what a life coach is and define it, but those are some reasons I sought it outta life coach as some of the benefits I got from a life coach.

Chris (14:20):

So for example, let’s say that somebody was having financial trouble. Would you give them financial advice or would, what would you do?

Brendon (14:28):

Yeah, I know that’s if it’s financial trouble, I know that’s out of the realm of my expertise. I could probably give something. So if it comes to like dollars and cents probably need to speak to a financial advisor, you probably need to speak to someone who’s maybe good with that consolidation if that’s the issue, something like that. But what I can talk about are the behaviors and attitudes and mindsets behind money. Those are some things I can do. I’m not gonna advise you on your portfolio, how to diversify your investments. But I will say is what sort of attitudes do you have about money that you might be conscious or unconscious of that have led to where you’re at now? For example, growing up, it was rich. People were to talked down about in my house. you know, rich people are bad. They’re liars. They cheat. All they want is money. So that put in my brain, money’s a bad thing. If you have money, you’re a bad person. So I didn’t want anything to do with money. I had to kind of learn about that thought pattern and reset how I thought about and perceive money. Now can a financial advisor put up a good plan for me? Yeah. But if my mindsets around money suck, it doesn’t matter how great that financial plan is. So they kinda would go hand in hand there

Chris (15:43):

So important. And I came from the same upbringing and now that I’m on the other side of that, you see that message everyone where that the villain is always rich. Andthe rich person in the Disney tale is always the villain, right?

Brendon (15:59):

<laugh> right. As opposed to seeing money and wealth as a tool to make your world a better place to impact other people’s lives. Once I had that mindset shift, it’s like, wow, now, any sort of money I get any sort of wealth I have. These are opportunities to not only make my world a better place, give my family a life they deserve. It’s now a tool to make things better and be part of my legacy, not just something to acquire and you know, like Scrooge Mcduck do backstrokes in my silos full of cash. <laugh> although that might be fun. I don’t know.

Chris (16:33):

You would probably invite 30 orphans to do that or something. <laugh>

Brendon (16:37):

Right. Like I just might, I just might <laugh> exactly.

Chris (16:42):

How often do you find yourself giving health and fitness advice to clients that you’re life coaching? If they’re not members of your gym mm-hmm

Brendon (16:49):

<affirmative> yeah. more oftentimes than not. Okay. So I kind of referred to myself as an integrated spiritual life coach. That’s where that integrated part comes in because I can coach someone through movement and nutrition and sleep, all these things. We actually talk about a lot inside of Two-Brain that it’s more than just your hour week. How are your sleep habits? How you hand to link stress, how is your nutrition? And we know that these things are just as, if not more important than what happens in the gym, kinda zooming out from that. I know that how you move, how you eat, how you sleep. Those things are critical components of a happy, healthy, holistic life, like from top to bottom. Cause what I woul is I would see people achieve amazing fitness goals and they would lose the weight and get shreded or hit the times on their benchmark workout, but still inside the incredibly unhappy people on the flip side of that, I would see people who had an okay diet, like loved coming to the gym three times a week.

Brendon (17:56):

But you know, they goofed around a little bit and have some fun, but they were deep down inside, incredibly happy, incredibly fulfilled. And that would make me sit back and go, wow, what is it about these two, this person has the six pack abs and the spot on the leaderboard, they look like they have it all from the outside, but inside it’s it’s like a tomb it’s empty, right? Like what’s that incongruency. And that’s really what kind of led me to this integrated style of life coaching. Cause I know our physical bodies are incredibly important without them. We can’t do the amazing things that we’re called to do in the life. It’s hard to leave a legacy when you die super young, right? Cause you had preventable chronic diseases that you could have prevented and lived longer and made a greater impact. That’s what led me to integrate these things, which I’ve been doing for years and years and years into my life coaching. So more often than not, is that unique? I think so. Not every life coach does that. but I certainly see the benefits that we do talk about it.

Chris (18:58):

Do you find different life coaches have different kind of areas of specialty where they might go deeper? Like you with health fitness? Yeah,

Brendon (19:05):

Yeah, yeah. Spot on. Especially because, like we alluded to earlier, there’s no one framework, there’s no one license saying, or accrediting agency to rule them all. So while life coaching can be a little bit of wild, wild west, not only in the way we do things, but in kind of the good and the bad, there’s certainly Charlottes out there, you know, staging themselves as life coaches. But I also think that speaks kind of the beauty of what life coaching is because it is so individualized and every person comes with a unique set of circumstances or issues or stories they’re telling themselves it’s really hard to have one life coaching framework that applies across the board. It’s just not a thing. That’s why I thought difficult to like life coach, to groups of people. There’s certain strategies I can give, but it’s such an individual custom bespoke sort of thing that each individual person I sit across from, it almost looks like a therapy session sometimes and the way we interact. so I think good coaches know good life. Coaches know that clients are unique, therefore their approach should be unique. Now I specialize in spiritual people. I work almost exclusively with people of faith, who understand that there’s like, a holistic approach to their life, mind, body, and soul. We might spend 80 to 90% of our mind and soul, but we we’re always talking about body in there too.

Chris (20:38):

That’s really interesting. And I am kind of circling the spirituality component. <laugh> one and we are gonna come there cause I know you’re gonna have a lot to say, but, another facet that I wanted to ask about was like family life and yeah. You know, relationships. And do you find, people approach you with challenges there?

Brendon (21:00):

Yeah, they do. because relations relationships are so incredibly important to the rest of your life. they, whether you’re single or in a relationship or married that relationship or lack thereof that stress could bleed over to every single aspect of your life, all it takes one disagreement or argument with a spouse or significant other for you to have a crappy day at the gym. If you choose to eat poorly for you to make a series, bad choices for it to, totally change your internal dialogue and the way you talk about yourself and view yourself in the story you tell yourself. So again, approaching it holistically as a life coach relationships are absolutely a part of it. Do people come to me with that being the number one reason, not so much. Usually people come to me saying, I can’t figure out what I’m supposed to do in life.

Brendon (21:51):

I think maybe I’m called to do this. What what’s God calling me to do? And we usually start there, but they’re surprised how quickly we start talking about these other areas of their life. Cause of how important they can be. so while it’s not the only issue, I don’t consider myself a relationship coach. There are coaches out there who spec like specialize just in that, you know, they’ll help you get the date, they’ll help you find the spouse. I think I zoom out a little bit more than that and while a part of it’s not the reason.

Chris (22:23):

Got it, man. Okay. Let’s talk about God. Spirituality is the core of your life coaching practice.

Brendon (22:30):

Yep.

Chris (22:31):

And how, how does that come across through your coaching? That might be different mm-hmm <affirmative> with somebody else who might make like financial advice, the core of their practice.

Brendon (22:39):

Yes. Yeah. So that’s a fantastic story and it really is the crux of what I decided to do. So kind of going back to the very beginning of our conversation, coop, I alluded to my time as a pastor. So I did this vocationally. It was my job. And even though I struggled in the aftermath, with my faith, with church, with all of that stuff like that part of my life has never gone away. And even over the years, it’s gotten significantly stronger. So because I have that as a foundational belief, when I see the world, when I see other people, everything is seen through like this God colored lens. And I see spirituality at work all around me, just kind of how I view things. So when people come to me with questions about their life and what they should do and their significance or their, their potential impact or what they’re called to do, if I can’t approach it through a God lens, it’s hard for me to get to a meaningful solution or an answer for them.

Brendon (23:43):

It’s hard for me to lead to the one insight. that’s gonna make that breakthrough if we can’t talk about God, cause I think God’s the author of it. So not to kinda over spiritualize things, but you know, if I take a Bible and I say, okay, what’s the one like common theme throughout this. It’s like, God’s telling a story. God’s telling the story of bringing people back to him, redeeming people’s lives, tell there’s this one story. And I think the cool part about that is instead of just being like robotic and you know, like we have a puppet master pulling our strings, we have choice. We have will, we can make choices and do things because we’re given that sort of freedom in life. God’s also called us to play a very particular role in that big story. So there’s a big story. And then we each have our role to play in that story.

Brendon (24:40):

So I get inspired by that. What is your story? And this big thing, what’s your role and this grand of life, what are the parts you’re gonna contribute? Let’s figure out what that is. And I even get like goosebumps now just talking about it. Cause that idea psychs me up so much coop that everybody has a role to play and everybody has a story in this bigger mission of life. And so that really what is what inspires me, let’s discuss that. Let’s live that out and, you know, talk about jumping outta bed in the morning. This is as about as close to perfect day as I think I’ve ever been

Chris (25:17):

Truly is. I really think that we’re gonna save and show the video of this now so that everybody can literally see the goosebumps. That’s great, man.

Brendon (25:30):

Yeah, that’s great. So I love doing that.

Chris (25:33):

One of your strengths, Brendon is you’re just an amazing connector. Like you say that Josh is one of your closest friends, but I think that 80% of the people who know you would probably describe you as one of their closest friends. So, do you find that that strength is and being a connector helps you when you have to go deeper on a topic? That’s not your specialty client.

Brendon (25:56):

Yeah. I think it does. It’s a help and a hindrance. I think it does because when I recognize there are things that are out of my zone of expertise. If I’m connected, I’m like, I there’s someone I trust that I have you talk to next. Right. Cause I I’ve kind of made those connections. but I think at the same time, if I connect too much, if I’m too caught up in my relationship with someone it’s hard for me to be objective, so I’ve recently had a life coaching client, which I ended their contract because we’ve become such good friends. I’m like, I’m just not in a really good position to kind of help push you anymore to bring you along to those insights. So our conversations sometimes go that way.

Brendon (26:47):

Absolutely. but that was one of the things I was, I was actually kind of happy to do that. you know, to preserve our friendship and to let that blossom, but sometimes being too much of a connector, could actually hinder what I do. So I have to find a little bit of objectivity. It’s a nice balance point, right? It’s not a, it’s not in a clinical environment where I need to be detached. I need to be able to connect with that person, have trust and respect. And more importantly to know like the subtext, they say something, but I’m like, I know this person well enough that we’re getting really close to something. Right. So what’s the next question I should ask? How should I lead them next? Cause a good life coach isn’t giving solutions and answers. A good life coach is asking the right question so that their client can get to that solution or answer themselves. Cause that’s when it clicks, that’s when it sticks. That’s when they go, huh? Yeah. Never thought of that before. And I’m like, see, you did it all by yourself. You didn’t even need me. so I kind of have to find that balancing act. I truly do.

Chris (27:55):

Well when you find it. Let me know.

Chris (27:58):

As you said, Josh Martin has become one of your closest friends and yes, it’s, you know, so sometimes in a business mentor you wanna maintain objectivity, but you care enough that you’ll like fly to the person’s house and babysit their kids so that they can get a day off <laugh>

Brendon (28:14):

That’s spot on. And that’s kind of, you know, I was aware of that at all times. I’m like, Josh, I don’t wanna overstep bounds. Like I don’t wanna like violate our mentor mentee relationship here. So, you know, as I, when I sold my gym or a majority stake in it, I officially ended my like mentoring with Josh. and the way I’m kind of excited, cause I’m like, oh, I don’t have to worry about like the constraints of our professional relationship now. you could just be Josh and I could just be Brendon and I can’t wait to hang out with you. So yeah. Is always on the forefront of my mind.

Chris (28:48):

Yeah. As good as he is a mentor, Josh Martin is an even better friend. So I’m excited for you.

Brendon (28:53):

Oh, an amazing human being. Absolutely amazing. Yep. Yep.

Chris (28:56):

So do you find that with some other life coaches, this, unwillingness I guess to refer out is maybe what’s hampering their reputation and I have a specific example. Yeah. So there there’s a woman in town who is very knowledgeable about family dynamics and she can, she can help people a lot, like improve their family relationships and home life. Mm-hmm <affirmative> the problem is that she also gives financial advice and her own finances are kind of a wreck. And like her husband has a company that screws people a lot. And in conversations with some of my clients, they’re skeptical about her coaching because they’re like, wow, you know, she’s bad at this one thing. And that translates into, she doesn’t know what she’s talking about.

Brendon (29:43):

Yep. Yeah, absolutely. It does. and that’s kind of, that was one of the big struggles with me transitioning into life. Coaching is I wanted to be very careful how I marketed myself, how I positioned myself, the sort of, I would take, I kind of said early on, like if I could find a way to create a word of mouth business where only people I have coached and have had success and trust me enough to say to someone else, Hey, you should probably talk to Brendon. Cause here’s how he helped me. That’s the way I would refer to prefer to do it, on a referral basis or as we call it affinity marketing. Right. Because my concern coop was if that I wanted to go wide and I wanted to go big in building, an audience, I might be forced to market myself in such a way that I wouldn’t be proud of.

Brendon (30:41):

That might misrepresent me. That forced me in a situation to say, I need to do whatever it takes to coach these clients, to get them the result or at least get their billing. and I don’t wanna be put in that situation at all. So what, where I find myself now is a small handful of select and vetted clients. I’ve turned away more clients than I’ve accepted, who I could work closely and intimately and powerfully with. and I think I just put up a website yesterday <laugh> and I don’t even know if I wanna keep it up. only because I don’t wanna be put in a situation through trying to scale to a place that I’m not comfortable of where my reputation, my integrity are gonna be brought into question or even to be put in a position where I can make a decision that might put my integrity and my reputation into question.

Brendon (31:38):

So there’s nothing wrong with life coaches, casting a wide net. That’s great for them, but I don’t wanna put myself in that situation for those very reasons. I don’t want anyone to have to tell a story about, oh, there’s this one guy, Brenda, he’ll do anything to close the sale. He’ll do anything to get someone in and keep them there and keep their billings coming. And I felt like I was, being sold a used car when I signed up for another six months with them. I don’t never wanna be in that. so I, that is real. That is a problem. and I think that’s why I approach my business the way I do

Chris (32:16):

So billionaires with six pack, abs.com. That’s not you then

Brendon (32:20):

<laugh> it is not me. <laugh> is that, is that a real URL? I’m about to Google

Chris (32:27):

10 minutes. Yeah, no <laugh> yeah. So one, one thing that I was reminiscing this morning on my truck drive about this conversation because you know, the term life coach is so similar to where a personal trainer was when I started. And the first two personal trainers in our city just started printing business cards and said, I’m a personal trainer. And the kickback that they got was who are you to say that, you know, more than everybody else, by the time I came along, there was a credentialing process. And so I could point to a diploma or a certificate that said, you know, Dr. Fred Hatfield says I’m a personal trainer and it was a lot easier then. So is there a credentialing process in life coaching now? Is there, are there some that are better than others?

Brendon (33:14):

Yes. It’s still kind of wild west. There are a number. there is one, Federation that coaching Federation that teaches a framework in credentials that has a very good reputation, but again, it’s, it’s their framework. So I have six different credentials. <laugh> specifically to life coaching and life coaching sort of stuff. I’ve also taken the Two-Brain mindset coaching, which I think is very similar, right? It gives some strategies along that way. So I think it matters to a degree, but again, like we talk about in two brain, like the question will pop up every now and again, Hey, should I go get this extra credential? And the answer more oftentimes than not is your clients probably don’t care if you’ve, if you have some credentialing that shows you’ve done some work great. If we’re able to get them great results with integrity, that’s significantly more important.

Brendon (34:15):

So because there’s so much credentialing and it is a little bit of wild west within life coaching life coaches can get really addicted to chasing the next course, the next seminar, the next certification and forget you’re, you’re here to impact lives. You’re here, you’re here to facilitate meaningful life change. In my case, I’m here to inspire people to discover and live their redemption story. If I’m out chasing certs all day, am I really doing at, probably not. Am I always trying to improve on my craft and become a better professional? Absolutely. So, yeah, I have a couple certs through transformation academy. It’s the, I, oh, I’m gonna mess up the accreditation firm. Look this,

Chris (35:00):

we can share links and show notes later. Brandon that’s I, I hearing you say that, I wonder if many people get a credential so that they feel like they have permission to do it. It’s really, for them not for the client.

Brendon (35:15):

I think it is to get started. So my fifth and I was pursuing my sixth, I kind of said to myself, okay, what am I doing here? <laugh> am I just trying to accumulate as many certs as possible? Or as with anything personal training, nutrition, life coaching, whatever am I taking this and this information and am I applying it to help people? Then more importantly, like I mentioned, at the beginning, I have a coach. I value coaching so much that I pay every month to have a coach and to have those conversations. So there comes a point in time where it’s like credentials. Yeah. What are you actively coaching? Do you have a coach? Do you have a mentor? So I’ve been mentored by coaches. I have a coach personally that I talk to. and those things I think are just as, if not more important than that third, fourth, fifth, sixth, or seventh credential in the area.

Chris (36:17):

It’s a great, and I can’t wait to hear how your thoughts evolve in a year from now. So I think we’re gonna do this again, but I think like one way for the, for the, business of life coaching to evolve is for everybody to know one good life coach that they hold in high esteem that they say, no, that guy’s legit. He’s not a, you know, he’s not faking it. And I think, you know, you should be that for a lot of people. So thanks anyone listening, if you’re skeptical about life coaching, if you’re not sure how it can benefit you, if you think it’s a hoax, Brendon Collins is the guy you wanna talk to because at the very least, I mean, he’s going to show you that you can have faith in one person.

Brendon (36:59):

I hope so. That is a tall order to live up to coop and I will do everything I can to live up to that. Yeah. I’m an open book about just the genre and the industry as a whole. so I would more than welcome, chats and conversations along those lines.

Chris (37:16):

Soren, if people wanna get in touch with you and ask questions about your coaching product or both life coaching in general, where can they do that?

Brendon (37:23):

Yeah. Yeah. So I I’ll share a link. I kind of do in Two-Brain style, a no sweat intro. I have a free 15 minute chat on my calendar that anybody could sign up for. So whether you wanna ask questions about life coaching as a vocation, or just questions about the industry like we’ve talked about, or if you’re interested in maybe be and coached yourself that free 15 minute chat. and I always go over 15 minutes. that’s a time where I’m more than happy to talk to anybody. It’s not a sell. I will serve the snot out of you. Like you’re my highest paying client. And to kind of frame the call, usually ask what would make this call powerful for you. And that’s how we start. And that’s where we, we go. So I’ll send you that link. You can put it in the show notes. It’s right to my calendar for free, you know, 15 minute call. I’m putting that air quotes. cause if we need to talk for 20 or 30 minutes, I will totally do that, but I’m, I’m here to serve. I’m here to help.

Chris (38:15):

So serve the snot out of you.com.

Brendon (38:19):

I’m gonna go find that one. Kidding. That’s good. Right after bill abs.com. <laugh>

Chris (38:24):

That’s great, man. Thanks for coming on. And you know, this is a big topic that has just been, you know, left in the shadows for over a decade. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, I think having some solid practitioners is really going to make everybody better. So Brendon, thank you for your journey, man. You’re you’re just such an inspiration.

Brendon (38:42):

Thanks. I appreciate you, man. Thanks.

Mike (38:46):

Want more shows just like this? Hit subscribe so you don’t miss an episode of Two-BrainRadio. Now here’s Chris with a final message.

Chris (38:53):

Thanks for listening to Two-Brain Radio. If you aren’t in the Gym Owners United group on Facebook, this is my personal invitation to join. It’s the only public Facebook group that I participate in. And I’m there all the time with tips, tactics, and free resources. I’d love to network with you and help you grow your business. Join Gym Owners United on Facebook.